March

March 31

Two of my old favourites Wilted Rose and Andrew Allison are back blogging - go visit. Whilst blogging about blogging I must mention Buls. Their content is risible, but I do appreciate them giving me a platform to demolish their left-wing bilge.

March 27

An old mate of mine enjoyed the saying 'if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem'. These NUTters are certainly not part of the solution, but their actions should be a wake-up call for all sensible Brits. Let's get off the fence and take on these self-haters.

March 22

I've been asked to be an election agent, so I have decided to come out on the Stirrer local forum for the duration of the campaign. In other news, Richard Corbett is now accepting comments.

March 18

Further evidence that Labour has lost none of its arrogance. To seek legal redress to prevent coroners blaming the MOD marks a new low. Changing tack, how can Ken Livingstone credibly seek to be re-elected whist all these things are going on?

March 13

Can you spot me amongst the group of Tories gathered for some campaigning in Quinton here? A highly motivated group. On that subject, I doubt that Ed Balls' memorable two word intervention will be forgotten in a hurry. Youtubed here.

I picked up the Birmingham Post today - very well presented paper. I'm just as impressed with their blog. Stick with it, guys and if you need a guest post, you know where I am. Anyway, I'm off to Kampa Park tonight, where Brad and Angelina were spotted last time they were in Prague.

March 9 - Tower Blocks & Filthy Dwellings

The trend with tower blocks is to demolish them. In the meantime, many people are having a pretty miserable experience living in them. Yesterday I leafletted 4 10 storey tower blocks. Me and my fellow leafleteer took the lift to the top floor then worked downwards, each of us taking the dangerously poorly lit stairwells. There was some variety in the buildings. Sometimes the smell of alcohol overpowered the other fragrances on the stairwells, in other cases it was definitely the urine and in one lift the stink of stale cannabis won out. One thing that was consistent was a little used noticeboard in the reception areas outlining the times and area of the local ASBO (i.e. a vast area at all times of day and night) - and nothing else. I think most prisons provide a nicer living environment than this. We have to do better than this. Any ideas for improving the environment for tower block residents without breaking the bank?

On the plus side, there was very little litter, unlike in the gardens of the nearby council houses. About 80% of these gardens were a disgrace. Apart from some young girls leaning out of the window to ask what I was delivering, I didn't meet any residents, which is a pity as I wanted to ask them why they didn't tidy up the litter in their front gardens. The messes looked like it had developed over years rather than days. The presence of the occasional well kept residence heightened the misery, I'm afraid. Any ideas for improving the local environment? Considering that it costs 300 quid for a council to replace a tree on a street, maybe a more imaginative use of money would be to have cleanest/most improved garden/street awards at an ultra-local level.

March 7

I naturally think of Nick Clegg as an out-of-touch PC snob, so it's good to see that he's cementing this image in the mind of the public. There's nothing democratic about denying the British public a vote on the Lisbon constitreaty and nothing liberal about enforcing a three-line whip over this matter. This week's events raise the recurring question of what is the point of the Liberal Democrats? After his first month in the job I criticised Nick Clegg for singularly failing to make an impact. He has now - a negative one. Unless the Tories decide to go through another of their suicidal episodes, I predict that the steady stream of defecting Liberals could soon become a flood.

March 6

ID cards - First they came for the non-EU nationals...

March 2

It's being suggested that this young man who goes by the name Magnus Carlsen could become one of the greatest chess players of all time. At 17 he has a positive overall record against recent world champ Veselin Topalov.

March 1

Did you enjoy your Leap Year Day? I went to the Moseley festival quiz last night and was the least productive member of a mid-table team. I hadn't even heard of any of the artists mentioned in the art round. The 'low brow' round bore little resemblance to the Dog and Duck quiz and who knows the difference between a koala hand and a human hand?