Monthly Archives: September 2010

Tweets on 2010-09-23

  • Ooh, there's a rather nice terrace overlooking the riverside. Bit late in week to be finding out tho. #ldconf #
  • Good grief, does Don Foster have any *new* jokes? #
  • Lib Dem #ldconf reps get to quiz three secretaries of state and a chief secretary. Wonder if they can all type. #
  • I know so many who've left already, so pleasantly surprised at how full hall is for final sesh. (@ Echo Arena Liverpool w/ @andyreeves) #
  • Looks like Adam Boulton has an entourage. #
  • @jamesgraham thanks. spent lunchtime gazing at that tie, now have to see again. Ps don't you mean fiancée? in reply to jamesgraham #
  • @ruddick thanks btw for pointing us at Baltic Fleet – had a great night last night. in reply to ruddick #
  • This is quite good: "10 things I've learned from the Lib Dem conference" – Andrew Sparrow http://bit.ly/cj1gw6 << the 10 things are low down #

  • Me 'n' @helenduffett are putting the empty wheel out of its misery before heading home. http://flic.kr/p/8D8sak #
  • We've been round 6 times! I don't think they're going to let us off until someone else wants to get on. #
  • @edfordham was the first the "who on earth" one? in reply to edfordham #

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Not too late to volunteer for multilingual blogging

Last week we posted an initial call for contributors to help Lib Dem Voice celebrate Day of Multilingual Blogging this Sunday.

If that sounds like something you might be interested in, do please get in touch with me – <!–
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sto_user='alex'
document.write('‘ + sto_user + ‘@’ +sto_dom + ‘‘)
//–>alex – alex.hat.libdemvoice.org.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one)

Full details are in our original post here.

The old and the new parquet at Nottingham station

They’re renewing the parquet in the Distribution Hall at Nottingham railway station – a process that is taking weeks. It must be quite painstaking work. It does feel a bit of a shame – presumably the old wood saw a bit of history? I don’t know if they’re just replacing it or cleaning and repairing the old wood.
– Taken at 8:40 PM on September 22, 2010 – uploaded by ShoZu

PODCAST: Cabinet Minister Q&A

Our final podcast from the conference floor was the penultimate session, a Q&A with cabinet ministers Danny Alexander, Chris Huhne, Michael Moore and Vince Cable.

The last session at Lib Dem conference is usually reserved for the Leader’s Speech – but that was not possible this time as Nick Clegg had to fly out to the UN.

It’s quite a shock for Liberal Democrats to get to quizz cabinet ministers, but it’s something they took in their stride with relative ease. This was taped from the reserved press section – and it’s interesting that over a dozen journalists had stayed till this last minute to see what might be learned.

The questions take a wide variety of topics, and bring some interesting answers. Danny Alexander confirms that all departments will have to do equality and carbon impact assessments when preparing cuts; Vince reveals a new hobby; and there are some strong answers to strong questions about cuts to science funding.

Tweets on 2010-09-22

  • W00t! Party colleagues have come to talk to us – and they've brought pork pies! #
  • @ajmy it's a quid pro quo arrangement – Clegg will approve Cameron's speech before it is delivered to Tory conf. in reply to ajmy #
  • @Tijs_ Cameron saw Clegg's speech and Clegg will see Cameron's before it is delivered. in reply to Tijs_ #
  • @LeonBaloo increase in personal allowance is not for everyone, but basic rate taxpayers only: http://bit.ly/aSGVJA in reply to LeonBaloo #
  • CAn anyone recommend any typing exercises to try and fix the problem where you CApitalize TWo LEtters of each word rather than the first? #
  • @LeonBaloo exactly – that means more rich people will be taxed higher to pay for allowances scheme. People over threshold do not benefit. in reply to LeonBaloo #
  • @leonbalo : "higher-rate taxpayers won’t benefit from the increase in the allowance… they are actually going to be worse off,” #
  • Key LDV activity currently focussing on "MaltaWatch" as Chris Huhne speaks, @stephentall @markpack #
  • @dr_nick only works in Word! in reply to dr_nick #
  • @LeonBaloo wtf? 900,000 lowest paid taken out of taxation entirely, paid for by higher rate taxpayers. How is that not progressive? in reply to LeonBaloo #
  • @alexfolkes srsly, the worst line in the huhne speech your spotted was "I can announce" ?! in reply to alexfolkes #
  • @WarrenPearce yeah, ta, spotted fairly quickly and switched to mobile twitter while they sort it out. in reply to WarrenPearce #
  • @pimlicat hope to see you at Liberal Drinks, shortly before Glee Club? 🙂 in reply to pimlicat #
  • @LeonBaloo you're now classing top two quintiles of earners as "lower wages" ? in reply to LeonBaloo #
  • @dr_nick most of my typing is probably in email, web browsers etc. Don't actually write that many documents. in reply to dr_nick #
  • @leonbaloo the higher tax bracket is being extended to people who earn amongst the highest in the country, why call it lower wages? #
  • @leonbaloo perhaps you'd prefer benefit cuts, VAT rise and NO redistribution from highest to lowest earners? #
  • @LeonBaloo we're trying to *unscrew* the country – turns out it's no fun at all! in reply to LeonBaloo #
  • @LeonBaloo Clegg's big thing yesterday was "judge us by end of 2015" which concerns those of us up for election next year too. in reply to LeonBaloo #
  • @LeonBaloo and don't forget vast majority of actual spending not announced yet – waiting for CSR in October. in reply to LeonBaloo #
  • Have you parked in the arena carpark? There's vital information in tomorrow's conference daily on how to claim your reduced rate parking. #
  • Eek is that the time? I am going to Lib Drinks, honest! #ldconf #
  • Baltic Fleet barkeep says delegates have drunk him out of nitrokeg beer – and if they didn't brew their own real ale we'd have drunk all … #
  • RT @facesake: "…let's stick with regular Monopoly, the game is crazy enough as it is. How can an iron be a landlord?" #
  • Hehe, guy alone in pub tapping earnestly into phone. Walk past and see he's playing Angry Birds. #
  • I ❤ (@ American Pizza Slice) http://4sq.com/ayMD5m #
  • One tiny, tiny little bottle of sherry can't hurt, right? (@ Tesco Superstore) http://4sq.com/8LHPcg #
  • A really excellent pub. (@ The Baltic Fleet) http://4sq.com/csB0kL #
  • Stop it, @CharlotteGore you're breaking @dabr. Spaces, please. in reply to CharlotteGore #
  • I was feeling ever so slightly guilty about the tiny bottle of sherry until I saw @willhowells' twitter feed. #
  • @CharlotteGore I am not The Man, cher Charlotte. I am A Man, a man with a broken twitter and a glass of sherry. in reply to CharlotteGore #
  • I have been to Glee Club loads over the last decade and have no recollection of Paddy Ashdown's Joke. #
  • Nick Clegg "demonizing bankers" on midnight news. Fine by me. #
  • @CharlotteGore James Last CD? in reply to CharlotteGore #
  • @CharlotteGore I never thought of you as an ice bitch if that helps? More of an evil banker needing oppression. in reply to CharlotteGore #

  • Not sure I recognise this roadsign http://flic.kr/p/8D3jDF #
  • Wow – haven't seen this before. A Deaf guy signing from platform with an interpreter speaking his words. #ldconf – the only UK Deaf cllr. #
  • Excellent contribution from Cllr Stephen Dering there. #ldconf #
  • @gesinegesine Liverpool – apparently it points to Chinatown. in reply to gesinegesine #
  • @nikkithomson apparently, but still ringing no bells with me. in reply to nikkithomson #
  • Just read Cable speech. Hooting at some of the lines. This leftwinger v happy with it #ldconf (@stephentall) #
  • @stephentall maybe I'm not as leftwing as I thought 🙂 in reply to stephentall #
  • Good grief, this vote is incredibly complicated. #ldconf #
  • Checked out at 8.15am, which was a bit of a shock to the system. (@ base2stay) http://4sq.com/cfvxKL #

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PODCAST: Equal marriage debate

After a brief hiatus during which our podcast host migrated us to an account we hadn’t asked for during our busiest week, we can now bring you, in full, the debate on LGBT marriage from Tuesday’s conference floor.

This debate may not necessarily be of interest to the wider public, but certainly anyone who loves Lib Dem conference will recognise many of the aspects of the debate.

Highlights for me include Dr Evan Harris’s explanation, in the opening minutes of the debate of his stint as the only openly gay Lib Dem MP despite not actually being gay; the Voice’s own Sara Bedford recounting her experiences of taking young children to Pride marches (as blogged here) (19’38″); and Brian Paddick’s personal experience of his own gay marriage in Norway (40’00). Also of note, after warnings about the “Methodist wing” inhibiting change, was the queue of three speakers from Religious Society of Friends wanting to explain the stance the Quakers had decided on at a recent meeting (25’00), culminating with Lucy Care telling us that the Quakers had even discussed that, if it proved not possible to register gay marriages, they might renounce their right to solemnize heterosexual marriage.

Veterans of conference will also enjoy the unexpected reference back, the point of order raised and the chair’s attempt to cope with it. This is almost certainly inaudible on the recording, as it was barely audible in person.

A brief review of the debate is available on the Voice, and edited highlights of the debate should appear in Friday’s Pod Delusion
.

Techi nerdgasm II: portholes

My colleagues believe that the most animated I’ve been all week was when explaining to them what the portholes in the walls are for.

Portholes

Basically, when theatres and arenas used to be built, they tried to bury enough cabling in the walls to satisfy all the end users. In older theatres this is much more of a problem since the technical parts of stagecraft have changed so much in the last years. In more recent buildings like this – and in particular versatile multi-use buildings which take on a lot of touring shows using their own equipment, it simply isn’t possible to predict what sort of cabling might be necessary and bury it all in the walls at construction for a building that will hopefully have a life of 30-50 years.

So instead they make it as easy as possible for incoming technical teams to recable the building the best they can, by making sure there are these portholes running through the building. There are also suitable cable supports between the portholes to hold the weight of a ton of multicore after it’s brought in.

Huhne on Nuclear

Chris Huhne, currently giving his speech to conference:

I say again there will be no subsidy to nuclear, for a very clear reason: it is a mature technology, not an infant needing nurture. Every person in my department has a very clear motivation to ensure that the full costs of nuclear – present and future – are fully taken into account. More than half our budget – £1.7bn a year – goes on the clean-up costs of old nuclear facilities. Britain had artificially cheap nuclear electricity for decades.

While I was on holiday in Wales, I met a camper in the caff doing his crossword, and in the conversation that ensued after I filled in “fast growing asian weed (5)” as KUDZU, he told me worked for the government monitoring nuclear pollution in our seas. His job involved cutting up mutated flatfish to work out how old they are.  Their eye positioning is apparently particularly susceptible to nuclear pollution and they have rings in their fishy ears that show their age like tree rings.

The last thing he told me was – never go to Dounreay.  A dog allowed to run free on the beach died from nuclear related death within six months.

I have no idea whether this guy was someone to take seriously – it all sounds a little unlikely, and I have often been mocked in the past for my scientific ignorance.  But Dounreay beach is not at the top of my to-visit list.