Hans Rosling has presented at TED again. More statistics, more original views of world poverty and development and an extraordinary way to finish a presentation. It is well worth spending 20 minutes watching. (Hat tip: Andrew Brown)
The Cabinet Office launched a consultation on consultation a couple of weeks ago and I’ve finally made it through the document – Effective Consultation: asking the right questions, asking the right, people, listening to the answers. My main feeling is that it really lacks ambition and I suspect this reflects Read more…
Richard Brunstrom is the Chief Constable for North Wales. If you read the Daily Mail (and other seemingly respectable newspapers) Richard Brunstrom is the "Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban", a manic obsessive determined to raise revenue through speeding fines, and determined to make criminals out of motorists. I’ve been Read more…
And many, many other thoughts on the RSA conference:-
THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE WEB: Society, Government and the Internet
25th May 2007
RSA, London
I went to this afternoon conference at the RSA a couple of weeks ago and wanted to put down an account of what was said, along with my thoughts, counter-arguments, and of course a plethora of thought-provoking links. I would have written about it earlier, but I’ve been flat out getting teacher packs ready and sending them out for I’m a Councillor. As always here at Gallomanor Towers, our clients (and community engagement) come first!
It was all a bit odd, because some friends of mine had their wedding reception at the RSA last September. So the last time I was there I spent my time drunkenly ceilidh-dancing and telling friends I hadn’t seen in ages how much I loved them. Obviously I tried to keep these activities to a minimum on this visit, as it was on company time.
First session:-
Against my better judgement I watched the Labour Deputy Leadership candidates on Question Time last night. Apart from understanding why so many are supporting Jon Cruddas – he simply comes across as genuine – the highlight was a member of the audience pulling up Hazel Blears (I think) for saying Read more…
It would seem that David Maclean’s dire bill to exclude Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act has not got a sponsor in the House of Lords and that effectively kills the bill for now. A big thank you to all 700 Lords who declined to take this bill further. Read more…
Listening to Home Office Minister Tony McNulty on BBC Radio Five last night I was inspired to create this short quiz. The Minister was on to explain the reasons for wanting to increase from 28 days the time the police are able to detain a suspect without charge. When asked Read more…
As everyone knows about consultation, it’s important to have the full feedback loop. We can’t expect young people to take IAC seriously, and get passionate about taking part, if it seems like no-one REALLY takes any notice. So I asked the councillors from last year to tell me what difference Read more…
David Ian has invested a fortune into the stage version of Grease. For the next run of the show he has invited members of the public to choose Sandy and Danny from 16 hopefuls who auditioned. It’s a big risk but it was fascinating on Saturday to watch how he Read more…
I’m a Councillor preparations are steaming ahead. I’m just finishing the text of the teacher’s packs, ready to send off to the designers and then the printers. Lots of fact-checking and arguing with Shane about whether long-winded, chatty stories (me) or terse, numbered lists (Shane) are the easiest way to Read more…