Lib Dem Bloggers

Neale Upstone over there in "Tabs" joins the Lib Dem LVT supporting section of the blogosphere...welcome Neale!

Richard does a very funny piece on differing attitudes to coiffeur.  Well worth a read.  But Richard - it ain't just the girls.  Last Tuesday when I was on duty I was called by a young male student resident who was out in town.  He was calling to ask me to go check his room because he thought he had gone out leaving his hair straighteners turned on and burning a hole in his bedroom.   He had, but such was the mess in his room I honestly couldn't tell if a fire had already happened or not!

Yet another I find to my shame that links to me but not me to him.  Anyone who is reading Fred Harrison's "Ricardo's Law" , however, certainly deserves a link!

A Liberal Lady, currently in Italy, writing mostly in Italian, but with the occasional gem in a language I can understand beyond my pidgin A Level Latin!

There's been a bit of silly talk aout some kind rebrnading either of the party or of LDYS as, respectively, the "Liberal Party" (of which, as Jonny says, there already is one) or LDYS and "Liberal Youth".  All the links to the specuative frippery are on Jonny's Hug-a-Hoodie blog.

I have to say that, quite apart from any other objections to such an idea, I would be sorely tempted to call in trading standards officers for product misrepresentation.  If we did want to become the "Liberal Party" or some similar name ("Liberal Alliance UK" anyone ?) we actually have to become a liberal party.

Lynne Featherstone has been making a big noise over the past few days about the lack of equality for women in the succession to the British monarchy.

First off, while I voted as a "don't care" whether we have a monarchy or not at this stage in the recent Lib Dem Voice poll - cleaning up and reducing the reach of politicians is a bigger aim for me - I can't help thinking "who cares" whether an institution that stands in absolute contrast to the notion of equality of opportunity (I'm never going to be king even if I wanted to, and more importanly nor is Tony Blair, or Lynne Fetaherstone for that matter) doesn't have gender equality in its succession policy.

But then I thought - what about "equality of outcome" as a measure. That way, and I know it's completely unscientific, but if we look at, say, the past two centuries - a period during which equality for other women in the realm has steadily been increased - we find that a woman has been on the throne for 60% of the past 200 years.

Seems like a pretty good record to me!

Much to my surprise, Chris Huhne has in fact commented on the story I linked to earlier today about Brown and Smith preparing to over-rule any recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs if they do not recommend castrating and hanging cannabis users on the spot
.

Of course it doesn't actually say a great deal - not even reiterate our own very good policy on the issue - but it's a welcome intervention.  I do take issue with this bit though:

"The advisory council must take on board the increasing reports of the mental health effects of high strength cannabis, but ministers must be guided by the science and the evidence as assessed by the council."

If there is an actual causal link, which nothing has proven so far as I am aware yet (repeating it often enough does not make it true), and "high strength" (which is also not well defined, nor how much of the market is such high strength ccannabis) then legalisation is still probably the best way to counter that.  Further prohibition will inevitably lead to people facing tougher penalties producing and using stronger stuff and more adulterated stuff to maximize their profit and minimize their risks. 

Think prohibition and the nasty alcohol and illegally ddistilled overproof hooch that resulted from it.

Another one I cannot account for not already being on my blogroll - Jonny Wright's blog at Hug-a-Hoodie

Another one that's been around on my newsreader for some months now - Lib Dem Jo Anglezarke.

Similarly Alix Mortimer's one I've been reading regularly - though not regularly enough over the past couple of weeks to notice that I've been tagged with a meme I'm not sure I quite understand - something about a contest for women bloggers that I'm not sure whther it's a LIb Dem thing or a national thing or what....I'd better take a look and respond - I'm not very good with these meme things!