Hank Williams is one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century. His songs are almost universally known about ten years after he wrote them - covered by Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jonny Cash and the Carpenters.
But he died in the back of a car on the way to a gig on New Year's Day 1953 of alcohol posining. He was 29.
Here is some YouTube footage of him on the Grand Ole' Oprey (probably in the 1940s) which deserves a wider viewing.
14 October 2011
13 October 2011
Former Kingston councillor to become MEP
Right wing Tory MEP Roger Helmer has announced he is quitting the Conservative Party and the European Parliament at the end of the year.
Liberal England reports that his place on the list will be taken up by one Rupert Matthews - an eccentric writer and self styled expert on alien abductions.
This Rupert Matthews is the same Rupert Matthews who was a councillor in Surbiton and managed to lose his seat twice in eight years to the Liberal Democrats.
Matthews was one of the young(ish) very right wing Tories who took over the Conservatives in Kingston and Surbiton in the early 1990s. Their extreme views and ousting of the moderate old guard meant that a 15,000 Conservative majority at the 1992 election was overturned by Edward Davey in 1997 by just 56 votes - despite the seat not being targeted by the Liberal Democrats centrally. Instead of learning the lesson Matthews and his cronies persisted in picking even more right wing candidates - resulting in Davey's massacre of former Tory MP David Shaw by 15,000 votes in 2001 and Kevin Davis by nearly 10,000 votes in 2005.
In the interim they split the local Conservatives in two - resulting in Matthews's ward colleagues resigning the party and the two factions ending up in the courts over plans to sell off their Surbiton HQ and club.
Matthews is a worthy successor to Helmer and shows that the old unacceptable face of the Tory party is alive and well - but worrying about imaginary aliens rather than European ones.
Incidently Matthews prodigy Kevin Davis - who lost to Ed Davey in 2005 - went on to be soundly beaten by David Laws in 2010.
Liberal England reports that his place on the list will be taken up by one Rupert Matthews - an eccentric writer and self styled expert on alien abductions.
This Rupert Matthews is the same Rupert Matthews who was a councillor in Surbiton and managed to lose his seat twice in eight years to the Liberal Democrats.
Matthews was one of the young(ish) very right wing Tories who took over the Conservatives in Kingston and Surbiton in the early 1990s. Their extreme views and ousting of the moderate old guard meant that a 15,000 Conservative majority at the 1992 election was overturned by Edward Davey in 1997 by just 56 votes - despite the seat not being targeted by the Liberal Democrats centrally. Instead of learning the lesson Matthews and his cronies persisted in picking even more right wing candidates - resulting in Davey's massacre of former Tory MP David Shaw by 15,000 votes in 2001 and Kevin Davis by nearly 10,000 votes in 2005.
In the interim they split the local Conservatives in two - resulting in Matthews's ward colleagues resigning the party and the two factions ending up in the courts over plans to sell off their Surbiton HQ and club.
Matthews is a worthy successor to Helmer and shows that the old unacceptable face of the Tory party is alive and well - but worrying about imaginary aliens rather than European ones.
Incidently Matthews prodigy Kevin Davis - who lost to Ed Davey in 2005 - went on to be soundly beaten by David Laws in 2010.
10 October 2011
The unspeakable pursuing the untenable
Dr Liam Fox's future as a front line politican hangs by a very thin thread after the initial findings of the investigation into the access he granted Adam Werrity.
It is clear that Fox broke the ministerial code and his apology doesn't make his behaviour and lack of judgement go away.
Anyone watching Newsnight (sadly not yet available on iplayer) and seeing the usually sure footed Nick Boles sinking as he tried to defend the line, must realise that Fox's time is up.
Tomorrow's newspapers also make grim reading.
If Cameron and Clegg want to run a government that tries to restore standards in public life then they need to act decisively in this matter. The longer Fox stays the worse it will be for his and the government's reputation.
It is clear that Fox broke the ministerial code and his apology doesn't make his behaviour and lack of judgement go away.
Anyone watching Newsnight (sadly not yet available on iplayer) and seeing the usually sure footed Nick Boles sinking as he tried to defend the line, must realise that Fox's time is up.
Tomorrow's newspapers also make grim reading.
If Cameron and Clegg want to run a government that tries to restore standards in public life then they need to act decisively in this matter. The longer Fox stays the worse it will be for his and the government's reputation.
8 October 2011
In praise of Fox News and Ron Paul
YouTube have launched a politics channel to cover the 2012 US presidential elections. It uses the standard Youtube ratings system of views and likes and dislikes to see who are the most popular candidates.
So far this ad has a grand total of 6 views, but deserves a much wider showing for both the integrity of Ron Paul, the honesty in which Fox News covers the issue and the embarrassment factor for President Obama.
Edit 9/10 - I've just found this link which can be embedded:
So far this ad has a grand total of 6 views, but deserves a much wider showing for both the integrity of Ron Paul, the honesty in which Fox News covers the issue and the embarrassment factor for President Obama.
Edit 9/10 - I've just found this link which can be embedded:
7 October 2011
Friday favourite 27
This is clearly the best cover version ever. For many years I actually thought Jagger and Richards wrote this specifically for her (as they did for the ironically named Marianne Faithful)
Thoughts on another by-election in a Royal Borough...
Norland voters in the other London Royal Borough voted to return another Conservative councillor today. I went along to help for a few hours and had a great time. The junior London Royal Borough is incredibly posh and I met my first housekeeper on the doorstep.
The Tories won - but with a massively reduced share of the vote.
Kensington and Chelsea used to be simple - it had 42 Conservative councillors and 13 Labour councillors. For ever.
They even taught Labour Sunderland how to count the votes so fast. Their returning officer counted the votes for the non Tory parties and then subtracted these from the total vote to get the Tory majority.
And that's how Sunderland still does it.
The problem is that it is the wrong way to count votes - accuracy is far more important than speed.
The Tories won - but with a massively reduced share of the vote.
Kensington and Chelsea used to be simple - it had 42 Conservative councillors and 13 Labour councillors. For ever.
They even taught Labour Sunderland how to count the votes so fast. Their returning officer counted the votes for the non Tory parties and then subtracted these from the total vote to get the Tory majority.
And that's how Sunderland still does it.
The problem is that it is the wrong way to count votes - accuracy is far more important than speed.
6 October 2011
And in other news....
As an occasional cricket fan I was saddened to hear of the death at just 52 of Graham Dilley.
Dilley was integral in that amazing summer comeback by England in 1981 against the Aussies and as is usual on these occasions the Telegraph's obituary does the honours.
Jonathan Calder reckons the next Ashes series was his finest hour.
Dilley was integral in that amazing summer comeback by England in 1981 against the Aussies and as is usual on these occasions the Telegraph's obituary does the honours.
Jonathan Calder reckons the next Ashes series was his finest hour.
5 October 2011
Why Tim Farron was wrong and the Tories were right
So then that's the end of the conference season for another year.
And for this observer the most striking thing (apart from the irrelevence of Labour) was the contrast between the views expressed about the respective coalition partners at the Conservative and Lib Dem conferences.
The Lib Dem conference - led by party president Tim Farron - indulged in a multiplicity of often cheap attacks on their Conservative partners. In contrast this week's Conservative conference attacks on the Lib Dems were limited (and mainly on the fringe) and Conservative spokespeople dealt with the Lib Dems in a professional and respectful manner.
For this observer watching on the TV, the Conservatives came across the much better for it.
Earlier this year I carried out some market research for the Lib Dems. And people's views on the coalition were clear. They understood its necessity and liked the idea of political parties working together in difficult times in the public interest. Their concerns about the Lib Dems role in government were about practical achievements - not the rhetoric. The problem was defining distinctly liberal things that Clegg and the party could call their own.
Sadly, multifarious attacks on the Tories at party conference, talking about 'muscular liberalism', or standing up for 'alarm clock Britain' are all worthless (and often counter productive) if the party cannot annunciate a clear agenda for government and evidence its influence in public policy outcomes.
That is the challenge for the Lib Dems - not more easy laughs at their coalition partners expense.
And for this observer the most striking thing (apart from the irrelevence of Labour) was the contrast between the views expressed about the respective coalition partners at the Conservative and Lib Dem conferences.
The Lib Dem conference - led by party president Tim Farron - indulged in a multiplicity of often cheap attacks on their Conservative partners. In contrast this week's Conservative conference attacks on the Lib Dems were limited (and mainly on the fringe) and Conservative spokespeople dealt with the Lib Dems in a professional and respectful manner.
For this observer watching on the TV, the Conservatives came across the much better for it.
Earlier this year I carried out some market research for the Lib Dems. And people's views on the coalition were clear. They understood its necessity and liked the idea of political parties working together in difficult times in the public interest. Their concerns about the Lib Dems role in government were about practical achievements - not the rhetoric. The problem was defining distinctly liberal things that Clegg and the party could call their own.
Sadly, multifarious attacks on the Tories at party conference, talking about 'muscular liberalism', or standing up for 'alarm clock Britain' are all worthless (and often counter productive) if the party cannot annunciate a clear agenda for government and evidence its influence in public policy outcomes.
That is the challenge for the Lib Dems - not more easy laughs at their coalition partners expense.
4 October 2011
Amanda Knox freed
The news that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have won their appeal and will go free is a partial victory for justice.
Partial because the family of Meredith Kercher are still seeking justice and resolution for her loss. Hopefully the outcome means the Italian authorities will now properly investigate her murder.
A feature of the orginal trial and the appeal was the lurid denigration of Amanda Knox. And with her freedom you would expect it to end and a fairer picture of the young woman to emerge. But not from the Daily Mail who appear to think she is still guilty as Liberal England reports...
Partial because the family of Meredith Kercher are still seeking justice and resolution for her loss. Hopefully the outcome means the Italian authorities will now properly investigate her murder.
A feature of the orginal trial and the appeal was the lurid denigration of Amanda Knox. And with her freedom you would expect it to end and a fairer picture of the young woman to emerge. But not from the Daily Mail who appear to think she is still guilty as Liberal England reports...
3 October 2011
Where the School Food Trust can stick their lunchbox...
An organisation called the School Food Trust has issued a report critising the content of the average school lunch box and by association the average parents who fill them.
Instead of sandwiches and a bag of crisps they suggest parents should include such delicacies as:
- Butternut squash soup with wholegrain bread
- Cous cous with roasted vegetables and chickpeas
- Wholegrain pasta salad with tomatoes, green beans and sweetcorn in green pesto sauce
- Low-fat cream cheese on wholegrain cracker with grapes
Now apart from the logistical problems of trying to get a six year old to safely transport soup to school, one wonders if those at the Schools Food Trust have actually tried to feed said child cous cous, chickpeas or wholegrain crackers?
This sort of out of touch nannying simply raises the hackles of hard pressed parents and turns the attention to the people and the organisation that can come up with this nonsense.
And being a publicly funded body they conveniently provide their statement of accounts on line.
And in it we find in 2010/11 the Schools Food Trust received more than £11.5 million from the public purse. Its Chief Executive, Judy Haragon, was paid £95,000 with a pension worth £143,000 - £35,000 more than 2010. In total its senior staff were paid a cool quarter of a million and they still found a £15,000 bung to retain the services of a celebrity chef.
Given the state of the public finances, cutting needless spending is a prerequisite. And it seems to me the Schools Food Trust is a pretty good place to start.
Instead of sandwiches and a bag of crisps they suggest parents should include such delicacies as:
- Butternut squash soup with wholegrain bread
- Cous cous with roasted vegetables and chickpeas
- Wholegrain pasta salad with tomatoes, green beans and sweetcorn in green pesto sauce
- Low-fat cream cheese on wholegrain cracker with grapes
Now apart from the logistical problems of trying to get a six year old to safely transport soup to school, one wonders if those at the Schools Food Trust have actually tried to feed said child cous cous, chickpeas or wholegrain crackers?
This sort of out of touch nannying simply raises the hackles of hard pressed parents and turns the attention to the people and the organisation that can come up with this nonsense.
And being a publicly funded body they conveniently provide their statement of accounts on line.
And in it we find in 2010/11 the Schools Food Trust received more than £11.5 million from the public purse. Its Chief Executive, Judy Haragon, was paid £95,000 with a pension worth £143,000 - £35,000 more than 2010. In total its senior staff were paid a cool quarter of a million and they still found a £15,000 bung to retain the services of a celebrity chef.
Given the state of the public finances, cutting needless spending is a prerequisite. And it seems to me the Schools Food Trust is a pretty good place to start.
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