Snap happy Curly and photo laws

Posted by on Apr 30, 2008 in updates | 11 comments A guest post by Curly who was shocked to become a police suspect after innocently taking pics at a funfair: This guest post highlights an issue I feel strongly about and and has recently been featured by the media, including the BBC, Amateur Photography, Radio 5 Live, as well as the House of Commons. Misplaced and irrational fears over terrorism and paedophiles is leading to situations where...
read more

How could Rosemarie Fritzl know nothing?

Posted by on Apr 29, 2008 in updates | 26 comments I find it impossible to believe that the mother of imprisoned Elisabeth Fritzl had no idea that something strange was happening in her house. How could her evil husband, Josef Fritzl, 73, sneak in food and clothing for his daughter and three captive children over 24 years without her noticing anything odd? And what about good old-fashioned woman’s intuition, did Rosemarie Fritzl really...
read more

Robert Sturdy and food shortages

Posted by on Apr 29, 2008 in updates | 1 comment This is my MEP Robert Sturdy’s report following last week’s sitting in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He raises a good point about increased prices of fertilisers, many poor farmers are unable to afford it and this further exacerbates the global food crisis. The prospect of travelling to Strasbourg for the week has never filled me with any great sense of joy, and this time was...
read more

Obesity in the 18th century

Posted by on Apr 28, 2008 in updates | 7 comments Obesity might be the scourge of the modern age. But I wonder if anyone in the UK today can beat the record of Daniel  Lambert who, in the 18th century, tipped the scales at a staggering 52 stone 11lbs! His waist measured an awesome 9ft 4 in. Daniel maximised on his obesity by becoming a freak show and charging people to peek at his huge bodily discomfort. I came across his story at the...
read more

The beginning of food rationing

Posted by on Apr 24, 2008 in updates | 39 comments Rice rationing has begun to bite in Britain and the US only a couple of days after my post on food security. In Britain rice is being rationed by shopkeepers in Asian neighbourhoods to prevent hoarding. Tilda, the biggest importer of basmati rice, said that its buyers — who sell to the curry and Chinese restaurant trade as well as to families — are restricting customers to two bags...
read more

The Sun backs Boris

Posted by on Apr 22, 2008 in updates | 12 comments    Boris Johnson has been given the boost he badly needs which could help him secure victory in the London Mayoral race. It is believed to be the first time a Conservative has been endorsed by The Sun since they backed Tony Blair in 1997. It’s payback time now. As the UK’s leading paper, it undoubtedly plays an influential role, it has picked up the mood of the people, the...
read more

How long will we remain the land of plenty?

Posted by on Apr 21, 2008 in updates | 13 comments Am I the only shopper who has noticed that shelves in supermarket stores are not as plentiful as they used to be? In the last few weeks when I’ve popped into Tesco, it’s almost like the pre-Christmas rush has taken place, there are lots of unfilled spaces on the shelves. I’ve just read that one of the UK’s biggest meat processing companies has been forced to close a...
read more

Prescott and bulimia

Posted by on Apr 20, 2008 in updates | 18 comments Reading John Prescott’s frank admission about his battle with bulimia in today’s Sunday Times was really eye-opening. I thought it was a disorder which only affected women. Gorging on food was his way of dealing with stress instead of turning to the bottle, though he admits to binging on vodka a couple of times a year. He has described in his memoirs how be became bulimic back in the...
read more

Cramming a 31 hour day

Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 in updates | 15 comments I’m not surprised to learn that we are cramming the equivalent of 31 hours into a day, according to this latest report. Researchers have found that typical middle-class city people now have so many timesaving gadgets that they can cram into 24 hours the same quantity of tasks that a decade ago would have taken 31 hours to complete. I find that quite a depressing thought, how long before...
read more

Can love conquer great age differences?

Posted by on Apr 17, 2008 in updates | 20 comments Following the announcement that former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, 78, plans to marry his 43-year-old partner, economist Maike Richter as soon as he recovers from a fall, one wonders how love can conquer such a great age difference. She’s young enough to be his granddaughter. The BBC Have Your Say site lists some other high profile couples with large age gaps.  Michael Douglas is...
read more

If Microsoft isn’t listening, who is?

Posted by on Apr 15, 2008 in updates | 17 comments If Microsoft isn’t listening to bloggers, what kind of example does that set for other organisations? I’m referring to the vast number of Microsoft’s Windows XP fans, who have voiced huge disappointment on blog posts and also started petitions to save the six–year–old operating system which is due to be pulled off the shelves in June. These users believe XP is far...
read more

Farewell Chris

Posted by on Apr 14, 2008 in updates | 15 comments Little did I realise when I had lunch with Chris a month ago that it would be the last time I saw him. I sadly learned on Friday that he had died. Chris was married to my dear friend Sue who died just over a year ago after she drank herself to death. Their great friend Celia died last June. Celia had just started going to Alcoholics Anonymous when she died after a fall at her home. It seems the...
read more

A weekend of music and dance

Posted by on Apr 12, 2008 in updates | 6 comments My mother was thrilled with the Buddy Holly show I took her to in Cambridge last night and sang along to all the old favourites from the Everly Brothers and Elvis. She said she could see it again and again and had to ring my sister during the interval to tell her what a wonderful time she was having. For me the best is yet to come as we head for the London Colosium today to see one of my...
read more

Rupert Brooke’s warning about Trumpington

Posted by on Apr 11, 2008 in updates | 11 comments   I have either met the sacked vicar, the Rev Tom Ambrose, or spoken to him on the phone during my days as a Cambridge reporter, but I’m afraid I can’t remember anything about him. I just know we made contact at some time. The vicar of Trumpington has been sacked after a tribunal heard he had spat at a parishoner.  Perhaps this should come as no surprise if you read an...
read more

A cautionary tale for bloggers

Posted by on Apr 11, 2008 in updates | 6 comments I’m a self-confessed blogoholic and feel guilty when I neglect blogging because of work and other demands on my time. This week has been like that, and I expect the next couple of weeks to be the same too. If you are as addicted as me, then please do read this story, it’s a cautionary tale and describes how writers in America have been blogging till they drop – literally....
read more

My new role at Headway

Posted by on Apr 10, 2008 in updates | 14 comments I went to a trustees meeting at Headway Cambridgeshire last night where it was announced that I am to be its vice-chairman. I consider it a great honour and privilege and will do everything I can to help this wonderful organisation, which provides rehabilitative care for brain injured adults. Three new trustees came along for the first time having just joined who were bright and sparky and will...
read more

There are worse things in life than a school report…

Posted by on Apr 10, 2008 in updates | 12 comments Just sharing this gem sent to me via a Newsnight email: The following story is passed on by an avid Newsnight viewer who wishes to remain anonymous: A father, passing by his son’s bedroom, was astonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up from the floor. Then, he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the pillow. ‘Dear, Dad," the letter said....
read more

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

Posted by on Apr 9, 2008 in updates | 6 comments Being a naturally curious person and always fascinated by the lives of others, I am instantly drawn each week to the family secrets column featured in The Times T2 supplement. It is invariably a deeply personal tale of tragedy and despair, remorse and regrets, a cleansing of the sole and a chance to let the skeletons come rattling out of the cupboard. Anybody who struggles with a family secret...
read more

Taking on the terrorists

Posted by on Apr 7, 2008 in updates | 11 comments It is often the ordinary citizens who are the bravest around us when faced with unimaginable horrors. That particularly applies to the relatives of the Omagh bomb which killed 29 innocent people and unborn twins 10 years ago after a 500lb car bomb exploded in the market town one Saturday. Today the families are seeking justice by launching a civil action in court against the five men they...
read more

Would you run a marathon to provide water for your community?

Posted by on Apr 7, 2008 in updates | 12 comments Would you run the London Marathon to provide water for your village, like the Maasai warriors, who have flown thousands of miles here to do just that next weekend? It is such a touching story that I would not be surprised if a generous philanthropist gets out his cheque book to meet the £60,000 bill. But I’m sure that would not be the same for this proud tribe who are supporting the...
read more

I can sympathise with Naomi

Posted by on Apr 6, 2008 in updates | 23 comments I can totally sympathise with Naomi Sugai’s disappointing experiences at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. The Sunday Telegraph reports how she posted a minute-and-a-half video on YouTube, complaining about her £4,750- a-year business course – and was asked to leave. It has now been viewed more than 1,800 times and Naomi has been suspended from her course. You can view it...
read more

Two causes for celebration

Posted by on Apr 6, 2008 in updates | 6 comments The reunion of a Latvian woman and her 15-year-old son who was snatched as a baby while in his pram outside a supermarket is fantastic news and must give hope to families of other families of missing children. Irina Sukhova (pictured above with her mother) struggled considerably to gain any media interest after her six-week-old son was abducted and received no response to adverts in the local...
read more

First live video blogging by government

Posted by on Apr 5, 2008 in updates | 10 comments I really liked the live video and blog set up for today’s Progressive Governance Summit when about 20 world leaders gathered in London to discuss working together to meet the challenges of the 21st century, including climate change, globalisation and poverty. The site stated that they were running an experimental ‘live blog’, noting the key points being made by the participants, and...
read more

A nod and a wink

Posted by on Apr 5, 2008 in updates | 13 comments My Uncle Peter was on the phone this morning with his red hot tips for the Grand National this afternoon. He has contacts in the racing industry and will ring me sometimes to share news of a massive win. But when we go to the races together, he doesn’t seem to have that same luck. I guess nobody is ever right all the time, but he reckons luck is on his side more often than not. His...
read more

Dying of a broken heart

Posted by on Apr 4, 2008 in updates | 14 comments My paternal grandparents died within a month of each other when they were in their 80s. I don’t know if the second one died of a broken heart because from memory they always appeared very stern and aloof. But my grandmother certainly lost the will to continue living after my grandfather died, she had lost her lifetime partner. Recent research has concluded how a surviving partner can die...
read more