Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Caron's Favourite Musings - a meander down Memory Lane

That nice Mr Tall gave us more homework at the weekend, and again, I'm bringing up the rear. My health is still somewhat erratic, to say the least, and I don't know from one day to the next whether I'll be running a fever with glands so swollen it looks like I've got a spare tyre round my neck, or able to function for a few hours before collapsing in a heap or somewhere betweeen the two. I had meant to do this yesterday, but the excitment generated by unveiling Ms Gore's true vocation, discovering that she did indeed have witchy heritage and the prosect of Dr Pack using both of us as some sort of dark electoral weapon was just too much for me to cope with.

Anyway, the purpose of the Tall Task is to get us to make the Lib Dem Blog of the Year Judges' choice easier by gettig us to pull out what we think are our best posts of the year. Out of 546 eligible, I now have a shortlist of 33. I will try not to inflict them all on you so I'll be pruning as I write. I'll also try to put them in some sort of reasonable order. I don't expect you to go through every single one -just take a look at the ones that interest you and leave the rest.

In which I pick fights with people

You don't pick fights with Mr Quist lightly - I mean, those horns are sharp - but I still think he's wrong on Lapdancing Clubs.

We made up though, and found a common enemy in cosmetic surgeons.

And then there was Tom Harris, Labour MP for Glasgow South. Where do you start with him? His attack on teenage parenthood made him sound like Iain Duncan Smith lite, so he got a Misogynist of the Week Award. I'd posted what I thought was a more rational approach to the issue some time earlier.

More recently, a conversation with him on Twitter led me to conclude that Labour MPs really do think we're stupid.

Taking the Media to task for inaccurate reporting of MP's expenses

If the press is going to write lies about my friends and colleagues, you'd better believe I'm going to step in to defend them. The Telegraph and the Scotsman got the sharp end of my tongue for printing garbage about Jo Swinson and Alan Reid.

Reform and rebuilding trust

First of all, in the eye of the expenses storm, I wanted to report on some of the good things MPs had done that week.

Then I wrote about the opportunities for reform that the whole debacle and explored them further in Summertime.........and reforming is easy.

The election of the new Speaker provided excitment for us all and for me definitely knowing what I didn't want in Beckett the Unspeakerable and mused on traditions worth keeping and those we should ditch in Dragging the Commons into the 21st Century

Freedom - what does it really mean?

Freedom of speech and expression issues have been controversial this year, not least with the BNP getting two MEPs. I wondered if the Scottish experience could help defeat these fascists.

I wasn't best pleased when Chris Huhne backed the Government's decision to exclude islamophobic Dutch politician Geert Wilders from the UK.

I also had a bit of a rant about religious expression covering issues from wearing the veil to praying for patients. I also explained why I no longer go to Church

This little piggy - Swine Flu and its consequences

With the first swine flu patients down the road, how worried should I be and would the Government's nice leaflet help? And did the pandemic highlight flaws in devolution settlements?

The ones that made the Golden Dozen:

Your first time is always special;

Then a report of Lib Dem triumph in two Scottish by-elections - and complete embarrassment for the SNP

Taking Irfan to task for an appalligly sexist post. Paul Walter, who nominated it to Libdig, said that I was giving him both barrels. Well, in fact, I'd toned it down considerably and I thought I was being moderate. Oh dear!

The Vote for a Change one.

And Finally.......

Included only because I think you need reminding of that New Year Guitar Meme. Stephen has still to give us his response, I note with interest.

And this is the best argument against independence for Scotland I've ever seen.

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