reform entries in

I'm running out of popcorn, wonder how good the final deal will be? Anyway, for those worried that the Lib Dems might "sell out" or whatever, a brief guide to internal party democracy:
Liberal Conspiracy » Liberal Democrats: the clue is in the name

Not sure why so many reformers seem to think that the membership would let Clegg take his pieces of silver, he sure as hell knows he couldn't get away with it.

Note to any Tory inclined readers; your manifesto includes a desire to improve democracy, extend referenda on issues, etc. So what's wrong with the idea of asking the voters how they want to elect Parliament? If you think reform would be so bad, surely you can win the argument in a referendum? What are you scared of?

Anyway, normal service may or may not resume ar some point, but, y'know, most interesting part of an election is always the aftermath, and we might end up getting exactly what I joined the party to campaign for, so I'm talking about that.

A nice little mix of stuff in this lot, though the politics averse amongst you should be warned that with elections next week there's a fair bit on that, though not much of it is serious.

A quick guide to the British voting system for the EU elections | Nosemonkey's EUtopia

There are elections next week across the UK. In Britain, the votes are counted using the D'Hondt closed list PR system. This is one of the few electoral systems I've encountered I consider to be worse than the one we use for Westminster, when you get critics attacking "PR", they're having a go at this pile of arse, which no one sane suggests for Westminster (and Labour had to force through the Lords after a lot of opposition). If you're not sure who to vote for, and don't want to spend too much time thinking about it, go out and vote either Lib Dem or Green; there's a small chance the BNP could win a seat in the North West. Giving Nick Griffin a tax funded salary and the ability to hire a bunch of staff just doesn't appeal. It's unlikely he'll get in, but it could happen. So just go vote, please? Even if the system is arse, the EU parliament does actually have power these days, even if it's not as much as would be liked.

(tags: elections europe eu BNP electoral+reform d'hondt)
Self destructing product catalogue

Not a bad bit of viral marketing this: what happens when the stuff on the display screen starts falling over. A nicely animated product catalogue as it slowly blows itself up.

(tags: humour funny flash marketing)
Blogging in the 19th Century: The Future of Journalism | The Lay Scientist

I pretty much agree with this. Most of us writing our own personal blogs and journals are copying the old small press pamphleteers and chain letter writers. We're just doing it with better technology. Most of the established newspapers grew out of various small presses—the biggest blogs online now have copied this model, bringing in lots of individuals to create a more coherent whole.

(tags: blogging journalism pampleteering campaigning)
Jon Worth » Some wacky ways to improve the EU

Some of them really are a bit daft, yes, but still worth thinking about. What the antis always seem to miss is that most supporters of EU membership also constantly argue for reform of the system. That it's a bit crap isn't disputed, how to improve it is. Bit like everything else in life really.

(tags: EU europe politics reform)
UKIP's "Britain paying the EU £40 million a day" claim vs the REAL costs of UK EU membership | Nosemonkey's EUtopia

A UKIP campaign slogan that doesn't make sense and is based on unfounded and uncosted hyperbole? really? Never would've guessed.

(tags: UKIP Europe EU elections misinformation)
Spawning A Campaign - diffrentcolours

There are Euro elections due. One of the issues the EU legislates on is software patents, the Free Software Foundation thinks we should ask the candidates their views on this. Makes sense to me, go do it...

(tags: software patents freedom europe EU elections)
Annals of Innovation: How David Beats Goliath: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

The underdog can always win if enough effort is put in. Being able to put that effort in is the main barrier. Does this apply to any walk of life, if at all?

(tags: activism sport inspiration psychology)
The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech » My heart's in Accra

Makes sense to me: a successful web technology will have cute cats, porn and activism. If it doesn't have a mix of the three, something isn't working right.

(tags: cats theory internet activism web2.0)
386 - My Kingdom for a Beer? Heineken's Eurotopia « Strange Maps

This, however, is one of the crazier ideas for solving the EU governance issue—when the paranoid fringes talk about 'plots to break up Britain'? This is the sort of thing they're referring to. But, y'know, interesting idea, even if he does make godawful beer.

(tags: europe EU maps)
105 — The Tory Atlas of the World — Strange Maps

Apparently from a Spitting Image annual from the mid 80s. It's really quite funny and rather accurate. Note to those supporting Cameron's modern Conservative party (or even those that can remember Major). Yes, Thatcher's Tories really were like this. Some of them still are. That the majority of MPs after the next General Election will be 'untainted' by this association doesn't mean those of us that can remember will trust them.

(tags: funny maps tories politics Thatcher)
The perils of an identity system - The Web of Evil

If your identity has been used by a fraudster, and you're required to log all your movements, the authorities will keep trying to arrest you. And a national mandatory identity scheme WILL get cracked by a fraudster almost instantaneously. WebOfEvil shares a personal anecdote

(tags: NIR ID+cards identity)
Warner Music to Warner Music: You are pirates! - Boing Boing

Dear Warner. Getting YouTube to remove your subsidiaries officially posted music vids because they infringe your copyright means that people won't see your videos. You know, the ones you paid for to advertise your product? Is there a chance that, at some time soon, the recording industry will grow up and get a clue?

(tags: dmca video youtube warner stupidity)
Would be Bond villain seeks femme fatale - m4w

Paging George! This bloke seems perfect for you girl...

(tags: funny ads personals supervillains)
Kid keeping a lending library of banned books in his her locker - Boing Boing

Heh—banning books from teens makes them more likely to want to read them. So a kid running a library of banned books is encouraging her schoolfriends to read more. Cool

(tags: books subversion censorship)
How Ursula K Le Guin led a generation away from realism | Books | guardian.co.uk

I never did understand the whole "he'll grow out of it" approach to my liking of SF and fantasy when I was a teen, why would I WANT to grow out of it? Just because I like Asimov and Stross doesn't mean I can't appreciate Nabokov (who wrote some SF anyway) or the likes, just as liking Therapy doesn't prevent me also liking Dvorak or Gershwin. Silly elitist snobs. Still, at least we're winning...

(tags: writing culture fantasy sf books)
Hoversnail goes WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRVOOM.

Really. It's a hoversnail. It's cool. Go look.

(tags: funny pictures)

Posted to both LJ and DW with comments open for technical reasons that I can't be arsed to fix, LJ version: Europe, books, maps and snails—MOAR linkspam

A nice little mix of stuff in this lot, though the politics averse amongst you should be warned that with elections next week there's a fair bit on that, though not much of it is serious.

A quick guide to the British voting system for the EU elections | Nosemonkey's EUtopia

There are elections next week across the UK. In Britain, the votes are counted using the D'Hondt closed list PR system. This is one of the few electoral systems I've encountered I consider to be worse than the one we use for Westminster, when you get critics attacking "PR", they're having a go at this pile of arse, which no one sane suggests for Westminster (and Labour had to force through the Lords after a lot of opposition). If you're not sure who to vote for, and don't want to spend too much time thinking about it, go out and vote either Lib Dem or Green; there's a small chance the BNP could win a seat in the North West. Giving Nick Griffin a tax funded salary and the ability to hire a bunch of staff just doesn't appeal. It's unlikely he'll get in, but it could happen. So just go vote, please? Even if the system is arse, the EU parliament does actually have power these days, even if it's not as much as would be liked.

(tags: elections europe eu BNP electoral+reform d'hondt)
Self destructing product catalogue

Not a bad bit of viral marketing this: what happens when the stuff on the display screen starts falling over. A nicely animated product catalogue as it slowly blows itself up.

(tags: humour funny flash marketing)
Blogging in the 19th Century: The Future of Journalism | The Lay Scientist

I pretty much agree with this. Most of us writing our own personal blogs and journals are copying the old small press pamphleteers and chain letter writers. We're just doing it with better technology. Most of the established newspapers grew out of various small presses—the biggest blogs online now have copied this model, bringing in lots of individuals to create a more coherent whole.

(tags: blogging journalism pampleteering campaigning)
Jon Worth » Some wacky ways to improve the EU

Some of them really are a bit daft, yes, but still worth thinking about. What the antis always seem to miss is that most supporters of EU membership also constantly argue for reform of the system. That it's a bit crap isn't disputed, how to improve it is. Bit like everything else in life really.

(tags: EU europe politics reform)
UKIP's "Britain paying the EU £40 million a day" claim vs the REAL costs of UK EU membership | Nosemonkey's EUtopia

A UKIP campaign slogan that doesn't make sense and is based on unfounded and uncosted hyperbole? really? Never would've guessed.

(tags: UKIP Europe EU elections misinformation)
Spawning A Campaign - diffrentcolours

There are Euro elections due. One of the issues the EU legislates on is software patents, the Free Software Foundation thinks we should ask the candidates their views on this. Makes sense to me, go do it...

(tags: software patents freedom europe EU elections)
Annals of Innovation: How David Beats Goliath: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

The underdog can always win if enough effort is put in. Being able to put that effort in is the main barrier. Does this apply to any walk of life, if at all?

(tags: activism sport inspiration psychology)
The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech » My heart's in Accra

Makes sense to me: a successful web technology will have cute cats, porn and activism. If it doesn't have a mix of the three, something isn't working right.

(tags: cats theory internet activism web2.0)
386 - My Kingdom for a Beer? Heineken's Eurotopia « Strange Maps

This, however, is one of the crazier ideas for solving the EU governance issue—when the paranoid fringes talk about 'plots to break up Britain'? This is the sort of thing they're referring to. But, y'know, interesting idea, even if he does make godawful beer.

(tags: europe EU maps)
105 — The Tory Atlas of the World — Strange Maps

Apparently from a Spitting Image annual from the mid 80s. It's really quite funny and rather accurate. Note to those supporting Cameron's modern Conservative party (or even those that can remember Major). Yes, Thatcher's Tories really were like this. Some of them still are. That the majority of MPs after the next General Election will be 'untainted' by this association doesn't mean those of us that can remember will trust them.

(tags: funny maps tories politics Thatcher)
The perils of an identity system - The Web of Evil

If your identity has been used by a fraudster, and you're required to log all your movements, the authorities will keep trying to arrest you. And a national mandatory identity scheme WILL get cracked by a fraudster almost instantaneously. WebOfEvil shares a personal anecdote

(tags: NIR ID+cards identity)
Warner Music to Warner Music: You are pirates! - Boing Boing

Dear Warner. Getting YouTube to remove your subsidiaries officially posted music vids because they infringe your copyright means that people won't see your videos. You know, the ones you paid for to advertise your product? Is there a chance that, at some time soon, the recording industry will grow up and get a clue?

(tags: dmca video youtube warner stupidity)
Would be Bond villain seeks femme fatale - m4w

Paging George! This bloke seems perfect for you girl...

(tags: funny ads personals supervillains)
Kid keeping a lending library of banned books in his her locker - Boing Boing

Heh—banning books from teens makes them more likely to want to read them. So a kid running a library of banned books is encouraging her schoolfriends to read more. Cool

(tags: books subversion censorship)
How Ursula K Le Guin led a generation away from realism | Books | guardian.co.uk

I never did understand the whole "he'll grow out of it" approach to my liking of SF and fantasy when I was a teen, why would I WANT to grow out of it? Just because I like Asimov and Stross doesn't mean I can't appreciate Nabokov (who wrote some SF anyway) or the likes, just as liking Therapy doesn't prevent me also liking Dvorak or Gershwin. Silly elitist snobs. Still, at least we're winning...

(tags: writing culture fantasy sf books)
Hoversnail goes WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRVOOM.

Really. It's a hoversnail. It's cool. Go look.

(tags: funny pictures)

Also posted to DW with comments open, linkspams don't crosspost easily due to limitations at Delicious.

Several people are linking to an ill-informed post by Mike Smithson at Political Betting entitled Is Labour about to clamp-down on the blogsphere? about possible reforms to the UK defamation and libel laws. I have no idea what Mike's source is, but mine is open and to the point. Padraig from Index on Censorship attended a Westminster Hall debate this week and wrote it up for Liberal Conspiracy.

He, and I, are very hopeful about the results of the debate, and the Govt has agreed a consultation that will pay specific attention to libel and the internet. As this is something I've been calling for for some time, it's great to see progress being made. My comment to Mr Smithson is below the cut for those that don't like wading through 350+ off topic tangents about unrelated subjects and discussions from previous thread:

ETA, before the cut, Padraig's posted an update on LC, definitely worth a read for everyone that allows open comments and talks about, well, people on their journal.
ETA2: John Hemming MP also agrees on comment screening—"In the mean time (and rightly) we have the odd situation that someone who moderates comments can be liable for libel, but someone who doesn't moderate comments cannot."

( Summary of why Mike Smithson has got the wrong end of the stick )

I added a link to the Eady case as it's important, other useful links are:
Defamation
Basic Libel for Idiots

All three have been in my 'to post' folder for far too long. Really should remember that a quick knockabout post with links is frequently more effective than articles so well researched they never actually see the light of day.

Bloggerheads (UK) - UK Libel Law, the Demon Almost-Precedent and the Bastard Duke of Brunswick

Tim kicks off the libel law campaign. Linked for reference as much as anything else, need to get back to it.

(tags: libel law reform)
Nick Clegg: Democracy? What a great idea... - UK Politics, UK - The Independent

Haven't actually been able to read most of this, my brain isn't working. But it looks to make some sense, so saving to get back to—feel free to tell me what you see wrong in the meantime.

(tags: democracy Parliament politics)

liz_marcs: When Living History Becomes "Just History"...

Horrifying story from Liz about the Auschwitz block 24 brothel and the hidden history of the aryanised jews forced into it

(tags: auschwitz history)
Drugs policy: Brown fiddles while... - Liberal Conspiracy

DonaldS: imagine that if we were to hand the supply-chain for curtains, or orange squash, or embossed stationery, over to criminal gangs, trouble would follow. I'm no fan of state regulation - but I'm finding it difficult to think of a market more suited to regulation

(tags: drugs freedom prohibition reform)
uk.people.gothic's FAQ

Ah.. innit sweet? Horribly dated, but taking itself far too seriously for ten years ago, let alone now.

(tags: goth usenet)
drjon: Looksee! Looksee!

Jon shares a cool Livejournal coding trick: only works for logged in LJ users but rather cool

(tags: livejournal)
House of Barred - by Nadine Dorries MP « The Cornerstone Group

Mad Nad says: 'I have rights and I am going to find out what they are and, make sure every other MP knows what they are too.' Most of them already do Nad, even I know you can't film in most of the Palace without permission. This incompetent is running the campaign?

(tags: Nadine+Dorries House+of+Commons)

Can't sleep, at all, so instead you get an insomnia fueled ramble. Not sure if the PC now being at the end of the bed in the new place is a good thing or not, I liked having a desk in a separate room, ah well...

( Getting back into writing again, hopefully. )

Y'see, something worries me. It's a bit of a rambling worry, but, well, bear with me.

Remember Mr Blair's Big Tent?

( Big tents and partizanship )

So, what am I worried about?

( Duverger, the Stupid Party and The Project )

Too big a landslide caused Labour's problems

( Lack of genuine reform means the day to day issues are worse )

What if the Tories get a landslide?

( The Tories could actually win, on their own *gulp* )

( My ideal results... )

Anyway, back to

voting_taktix, and me being part of a team. I need one. ( No experience necessary, but an interest in freedom would help )
Anyone want to help? No commitments required. Honest.

matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (Default)

British Liberal, house husband, school play leader and stepdad. Campaigner, atheistic feminist, amateur baker. Male.

Known to post items of interest on occasions. More likely to link to interesting stuff. Sometimes talks about stuff he's done. Occasionally posts recipes for good food. Planning to get married, at some point. Enjoying life in Yorkshire.

Likes comments. Especially likes links. Loves to know where people came from and what they were looking for. Mostly posts everything publicly. Sometimes doesn't. Hi.

Mat Bowles

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Page Contents

Coalitions, negotiations and party democracy +7 comments
Europe, books, maps and snails—MOAR linkspam +4 comments
Europe, books, maps and snails—MOAR linkspam +4 comments
Libel law reform: Don't Panic! It's a Good Thing +6 comments
Reform Parliament and the Libel Laws +5 comments
Linkspam for 8-5-2008 +5 comments
Remember when I used to write about politics? +22 comments

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