Will Obama be America’s first black president?

Posted by on Oct 31, 2008 in updates | 17 comments I believe I was the first political blogger in the UK to write about Barack Obama back in January 2007. Who could have guessed then that he would sensationally snatch the Democrat presidential nomination from Hillary Clinton, and is now only days from possibly being America’s first black president. I asked then if he could end up in the White House, and I’ve asked the same question...
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Have your blogs attracted media interest?

Posted by on Oct 30, 2008 in updates | 13 comments I was out walking across the flat Fenland countryside yesterday with Geoff and Sally when Geoff had an exciting call from the Discovery Channel seeking his permission to show a YouTube video he published about the demotion of Victoria Station in Nottingham. The original film was taken by Geoff’s Uncle Ken around 1969 showing the demolition of Nottingham Victoria station, which he shot...
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Brand and Ross’s cheap laughs cost them dear

Posted by on Oct 29, 2008 in updates | 19 comments BBC bosses could not ignore the one story which has this week hijacked all major global news stories in the British media – the  revolting Brand-Ross prank call. It displaced the credit crunch, the Peter Mandelson/George  Osborne Corfu scandal and , as well as the looming American presidential elections, from the front pages of our national newspapers. It caused a national...
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Have you sought a second opinion?

Posted by on Oct 29, 2008 in updates | 7 comments Have you ever sought a second medical opinion? This story in The Mail describes how seeking a second opinion saved the lives of patients who were incorrectly diagnosed, including a woman whose mouth cancer was dismissed as post-natal depression, while a patient with a brain tumour was thought to have a virus. It is worrying reading. But on the whole, our doctors do their best, and we have to rely...
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Will government pardon heroic Norfolk man hanged for treason?

Posted by on Oct 28, 2008 in updates | 18 comments The world is full of past injustices, but can they be put right centuries later by our present politicians? Norwich North MP Ian Gibson is today leading a debate in the House of Commons hoping to overturn the conviction of Norfolk hero Robert Kett, who was executed for treason in 1549 after fighting off the advances of a royal army with his 16,000 men. It happened because the men were starving....
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My 2am football call

Posted by on Oct 27, 2008 in updates | 5 comments I thought the worst when the phone rang at 2am yesterday. I knew it wasn’t my mother as she was staying with me for the weekend. Could it be my elderly in-laws, I wondered? Or a friend in desperate need? No, it was none of those. It was my son David ringing from Hull where he is at university to ask if we had heard about Ramos being sacked as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, his favourite...
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Could you stay silent all day?

Posted by on Oct 24, 2008 in updates | 13 comments Unbelievably, James has offered to do a sponsored silence at school today to boost funds for his school prom. Four of his teachers are coughing up cash if James can keep his lips zipped all day. This will indeed be a first, not that I believe “children should be seen and not heard.” But there is a certain novelty value in James accomplishing this personal challenge as it goes against...
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Mixed blessings for Question Time tonight

Posted by on Oct 23, 2008 in updates | 2 comments I bet Question Time is kicking itself for not taking up the offer of having Tony McNulty on its illustrious panel tonight. He was suggested as a last ditch replacement for the new immigration minister Phil Woolas, who was barred by Home Secretary Jacki Smith for making controversial comments about asylum and immigration. Up until the recent reshuffle, McNulty was a Home Office minister in charge...
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Fish and chip suppers given a boost

Posted by on Oct 22, 2008 in updates | 10 comments Fish and chip suppers have been given a boost following an announcement by the European Parliament to reform the failing 2004 cod recovery plan. The plan was intended to help boost depleted stocks of white fish, but has been ineffective and had a ruinous effect on the fishing industry. It meant that fishermen were forced to throw back, or discard, tonnes of healthy fish when they were abundant...
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That elusive search for Mr Right

Posted by on Oct 21, 2008 in updates | 12 comments Marrying young can work – my mother was only 16 and had  known my father a short while before their wedding in war-torn Greece. What is tragic about Peaches Geldof is her bleak description of marriage today. The 19-year-old married three months ago in a Las Vegas chapel to musician Max Drummey, a man she had only dated for a week, having only met him the month before. She said: ...
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Women aid workers who risk their lives

Posted by on Oct 20, 2008 in updates | 18 comments I call it a cowardly attack of the worst kind. Two men on a motor bike pull up alongside a woman on her way to work, one of them jumps off and shoots her at close range. She was defenceless and unarmed. Her crime was to be a Christian woman. The Taleban claimed responsibility for this despicable murder, accusing her of spreading Christianity. Are they able to hang their heads in shame? Gayle...
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Did you see The Beatles live?

Posted by on Oct 20, 2008 in updates | 11 comments My blogging friend Richard  Havers would like to hear from you if you have seen The Beatles live, or know someone who did, for a project he is working on. This is the post Richard wrote where you can contact him, and he’s getting some interesting responses.  This is what he says, though I had no idea The Beatles played to more Americans than Brits: I’d love to know what...
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Watch out Tiger Woods

Posted by on Oct 19, 2008 in updates | 12 comments I can’t deny I was really disappointed when James gave up the stage for golf, which I wrote about here. But he has excelled in his new passion, winning a major tournament this weekend. His name will now be engraved on a roll of honour along with other champions at his prestigious golf club. What was so special about this was that James entered the tournament as a 15 year old junior and it...
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Could stem cell research helped save Daniel?

Posted by on Oct 19, 2008 in Alzheimer's | 5 comments As a mother whose two sons were both enthusiastic rugby players for several years, I admit there were times when I could not bear to watch the most brutal parts of the game on the touch line. This involved David and James being thrown horribly to the ground like a rag doll and players piling on top of them. I would turn away as they became hidden under the bulk of burly bodies wrestling away on...
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A little less Christmas cheer this year

Posted by on Oct 17, 2008 in updates | 15 comments Apologies for mentioning Christmas while still in October. But I was saddened to learn that soaring electricity prices have forced one householder not to put up their annual festive display of Santa and his helpers. Bernard and Denise Lumsden, Bristol, have annually transformed their home into a huge festive light display using 50,000 lights and raising £15,000 for charity over the last 20...
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Tuning in to Baroness Ashton’s Question Time

Posted by on Oct 17, 2008 in updates | 4 comments You can tune in on Monday evening to hear Baroness Cathy  Ashton of Upholland being quizzed by MEPs over her new role as Trade  Commissioner following the shock resignation of Peter Mandelson. You can watch the process before your very eyes by linking here at 6pm. My MEP Robert Sturdy will be leading on this as International Trade spokesman for the EPP-ED group, which Conservative MEPs...
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80% carbon emission reduction – fantasy or fact?

Posted by on Oct 16, 2008 in updates | 8 comments Is an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 achievable? It is a brave and ambitious target set by Ed Miliband, the newly appointed champion of climate change for the government. I’m sure he has had his ears bent by his brother David, who as Environment Secretary, was fighting this corner. Not so his successor Hilary Benn, unfortunately.  Surely a target like this needs a...
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Most consumers not concerned about buying GM foods

Posted by on Oct 15, 2008 in updates | 13 comments An EU study by three academics has concluded that most consumers are not concerned about buying GM foods. My MEP Robert Sturdy hosted a press conference in Brussels to promote the report, entitled "Do European Consumers Buy GM Foods?” There are at least 69 grocery products on sale in Europe labelled as containing genetically modified ingredients, mostly soya based. The study...
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A Nokia N96 or Apple iPhone

Posted by on Oct 12, 2008 in updates | 20 comments The contract for my mobile phone comes up for renewal soon and I would like to swap it for  either a Nokia N96 or Apple iPhone. I always kicked myself for not getting the Nokia N95 when I had the chance, and now it has been improved on with this slick little beast which has an impressive 16gb memory. The N96 also downloads BBC iPlayer, has a 5.0 megapixel camera and a pretty cool built-in...
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Why do we have such an unhealthy relationship with food?

Posted by on Oct 9, 2008 in updates | 18 comments Why is it that a vastly rich and intelligent man who is married to a divine Domestic Goddess chooses to live on nine eggs a day to lose weight? If Charles Saatchi doesn’t know how to eat a balanced diet when he has a personal master chef at hand, what example is that setting for others with a food problem? I often wish I was half a stone lighter, but there is no way I could forsake my...
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Should trustees be paid?

Posted by on Oct 7, 2008 in updates | 13 comments I was in London yesterday for a NCVO Trustee Conference and one of the hot topics under discussion was whether trustees  should be paid. Trustees, like myself as vice chair of Headway Cambridgeshire, do this work voluntarily. But Craig Dearden-Philips, founder of the charity SpeakingUp, believes they should be paid to encourage younger members with specific skills which could benefit the...
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University initiations

Posted by on Oct 4, 2008 in updates | 16 comments Do those degrading ritualistic initiations take place at all universities, particularly with sports teams? If so, heaven help David who this week passed his football trials at Hull – the university, not to be confused with the top premier league club. David has brushed off any concerns I might have about this. I know he was desperate to play for his college, and they are lucky to have him...
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Where are our famous women artists?

Posted by on Oct 2, 2008 in updates | 20 comments I heard a discussion recently on the Antiques Roadshow about the lack of recognition given to women artists. At the same time, I had an email about Theresa May’s campaign for Equal Pay. It seems extraordinary to me that art should have an element of sexual discrimination. Is that still the case today? The Antiques Roadshow expert said that women artists were now "on the up",...
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