Musician urges *Stars* to vote Lib Dem

Brian Eno, one of the most influential men in pop, today launches a campaign to encourage some of Britain's key cultural figures to vote Liberal Democrat. The former Roxy Music member and producer is determined to help break the "rut" of two-party politics, he told the Evening Standard. The campaign is centred on Eno's new website which is asking potential Liberal Democrat voters to publicly commit to the party this election - and encourage more and more voters to do so in time for 5 May. The core group of supporters for Eno's plan include Sir Peter Hall, Travis singer Fran Healey, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, film director Sophie Fiennes, scientist Richard Dawkins, Rosie Boycott and Germaine Greer.

Eno’s Campaign: www.libdemthistime.org

More fool him!

* Man relives shark attack escape *

A holidaymaker from Cumbria narrowly escapes being eaten alive by a shark while on a trip to South Africa.

Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/england/lancashire/4382621.stm

I've done some dangerous things myself in Africa but that's just plain daft.

Can’t they get it right the first time round?

Thames Water contractors have been digging up the roads to change the old water mains and links to individual properties. The noise was just ear-shattering but with one side of the road done they started on the other.
We all thought it had ended but oh no! They had to come back and start digging again. Somebody decided they had forgotten to fit a meter to each property.
At the moment we all pay standard water rate but it looks like metering is going to be introduced some time in the future.

Royal fuss does it really matter?

All this sanctimonious hogwash about Charles having to apologise for his affair with Camilla before her divorce. After all these years it’s time to heal wounds and leave the past in the past. They're only human after all and this is 2005 and not the 19th century.

At least her ex has been invited to the wedding. How many of us are so privileged.

Many people are looking forward to the wedding.

How does a hospital loose a patient

We received a phone message that an elderly family member was in hospital.
In a panic we called her house and nobody answered as one expected.
After tracing Barnet General Hospital from the web, we finally, after continually redialling got through to the reception who confirmed yes, the patient was listed. We were then transferred to A & E.
They confirmed she had been seen and that she was being transferred to a ward for further investigation. We were given the ward phone number.
The ward claimed she has not arrived but they were expecting her so we should call back for feedback on her condition. They gave us visiting times and all the usual information.
Naturally after all the family were informed and arrangements were made for visiting. It was all quite worrying.
Just by chance we dial the persons mobile and she answered. What a shock. How are you and do they now allow you to mobiles in hospital was the question? What hospital I am at home having coffee was the reply.

Apparently she had been to the hospital after breathing difficulties but was later sent home.

How ridiculous a hospital can give out such information and loose a patient.
This is supposed to be an NHS trust hospital.

Funniest story of the week

I've become sort of an expert on the parties email service having help set up and manage in the background over 50 lists. It has been a steep learning curve. So many things happen when list owners tweak the settings without quite knowing what they are doing. I'm always onhand to help when things go wrong.

Last Thursday 10th March, the Lib Dem e-campaigns newsletter on the parties e-list server went out as being from Margaret Thatcher.

There are all sorts of stories going around as to how this happened.

The explanation is simple. An email address can be entered on an e-list with out a name (not the safe option). However if somebody enters the same email address on another e-list and inputs a name against it, the server changes the name on all the e-lists that has that specific email address listed.

Likewise if somebody adds an email address to a list without a name. The server automatically adds the name if the name is already listed on another e-list against the same email address.

It is obvious that in between the last mailing and the one that went out last Thursday, somebody entered the name against that email (it wasn't me)

I wait to be proved wrong on this one.

The anti-terrorist bill

We have all seen the fiasco this last week between the two legislative houses. What a nightmare for those involved. The whole process bordered on the ridiculous. It’s Ok for the young free and single but what about those with family commitments or the senior members.

A friend called me from the Lord's whips office just for a phone no because she wasn't able to leave. 100 hours without any proper sleep. That is real dedication.

Leaving political sentiment aside, my respect goes out to all of them who stayed the course.

Psychic words

If one claims to have psychic abilities most people look at you as being strange or having ‘bats in the belfry’. Having lived with it all my life, I don't mention it much except to close friends. It's fading due to age but sometimes the odd things still happen.

Just sitting minding my own business thinking about the pending elections when I got one of my mind flashes.
The election will not be called when expected and my favourite candidate will win with a landslide and become an MP. – we will all live to see…………..

Freedom of Information Act

I think this is one of the most useful Acts to come into force. Something happened to my family in the 60’s. It's very painful to even think about it. My younger siblings say they do not remember or have blocked it out of their minds and now find it all difficult to believe. I decided to see if I could find out the truth and the corroborating records.

With all the boundary changes it was difficult to know where to start. Where we lived at the time is not in the same local council area.
I applied to two different local authorities. Both were very helpful but claimed the chances of finding the file after all this time was very slim.

Quite amazing the file was found. The researcher telephoned saying it must be an ‘act of god’ because the file was just sitting on top of a big pile as if it had been placed there expecting somebody to look for it. I cannot travel at the moment to read all the content so I was sent some of the key documents. I was warned in advance that some of the facts are quite horrific and I might find them distressing. I am a strong minded person with a forgiving nature, who regards the past as being the past and one has to move on. Reading the documents is most amazing. I feel completely vindicated and it's certainly laid some ghosts. It certainly helped me understand why my siblings are so paranoid about issues becoming public and have such unforgiving cold-hearted ways.

It's been well worth the effort. So if anybody is thinking about tracing old family records give it a go................