Wales – Page 14 – Slugger O'Toole

Welsh language hits the big time…

Dewi on February 27, 2011, 5:31 pm

| Readers 11

It’s finally arrived – the Welsh language Email scam! As reported in the Western Mail: a message that will be familiar to many repeat recipients of messages from deposed African royals, a widow of a Kuwaiti ambassador for the Ivory Coast asks for help distributing a $2.5m trust fund for the needy if the willing party can just send through their bank details. DC John Cherry, e-Crime Wales business liaison officer, said that it was an “old-fashioned” scam that perhaps …

Six nations 2011 -weekend 3

Dewi on February 25, 2011, 7:06 pm

| Readers 1

So it’s: Italy v Wales and England v France tomorrow and Scotland v Ireland on Sunday. bbc has piles of stuff. Ireland hoping for space. Fragile France.Hmmm…we’ll see… Hooky at centre… For what it’s worth I can’t see France conceding 3 tries against England… DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

AV: Yes, No or Meh? What are we being asked?

Paul Evans on February 21, 2011, 4:03 pm

| Readers 15

I don’t know about you, but I find the outcome of the AV referendum less interesting than the fact that we’re being asked about voting systems at all. Like everyone else, I’ve got my own prejudices here – I particularly dislike the fact that it’s a question that is subject to a referendum in the first place – a strong enough reason to resist the change itself, perhaps? I don’t know whether to vote Yes, No or just say ‘meh‘ …

Law making powers for Wales – it’s old hat..

Dewi on February 19, 2011, 9:50 am

| Readers 13

To coincide with our referendum the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth have been digitising their copies of the thousand year old Laws of Hywel Dda. To quote the preamble: “The Laws of Hywel Dda are one of the jewels of Welsh civilization which bare witness to a developed and literate society in early medieval Wales. Although the images from NLW Peniarth 28 manuscript of the Laws are better known, the newly digitised NLW 20143A manuscript also includes interesting drawings. …

Welsh Referendum – things hotting up.

Dewi on February 15, 2011, 9:54 pm

| Readers 5

Shane says Yes! With a little more than a fortnight to go before polling on March the 3rd the Yes campaign is continuing the strategy of big name endorsements. Whilst maybe not engrossing the nation it’s getting a little nasty. Here’s the Western Mail’s take on maverick No campaigner Len Gibb’s latest lies. More positively what AMs would do with new powers. A real positive input from Helen Mary Jones: Plaid deputy leader Helen Mary Jones suggested beefing up the …

Six Nations 2011 – Week 2.

Dewi on February 12, 2011, 11:03 am

| Readers 5

OK, we have: England v Italy and Scotland v Wales today. Tomorrow Ireland host France. Plenty on the BBC. The Guardian makes Scotland favourites. Murrayfield is not a nice place when confidence is low….some of us have nightmares about 1951 (from British Pathe – a nice site..). …7 joint leaders of our prediction contest btw. As to Ireland..it’s a moment of truth according to the Irish Times. Enjoy. DewiWelsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…

Friday Thread: The United Kingdom explained

Paul Evans on February 4, 2011, 3:45 pm

| Readers 6

An ignorance of certain sensitivities has got me into enough trouble in the past when referring to Our wee province / Northern Ireland / Our Occupied Six / OUR wee country / the North of Ireland / Here … er there. This may help, but I do think that there’s a gap for someone to make a similar video simply explaining … there …. to visitors. Paul EvansLiving in London, working as a trade union official in the film and …

Six Nations Preview

Dewi on February 1, 2011, 7:45 am

| Readers 4

Guscott (booh) and Jonathan pontificate on the BBC. Eddie’s watching Ireland and England in the Guardian. Me, i just read the 14 pages of rugby in the Western Mail every day..rugby nation indeed (it’s as hard to keep up with as slugger…) What’s the tele saying? Ireland not in decline.. hmmm we’ll see. Anyway more predictions please. If France hadn’t got stuffed by Australia then it would be all over by now……but Scotland beat Argentina away in the summer…Wales are …

Six Nations Prediction Contest 2011

Dewi on January 30, 2011, 10:30 am

| Readers 1

I’ll get on to a preview later but this seemed to work quite well last year so let’s have another go. 1 point for a correct home win, 3 points for a correct away win, 7 points for a correct draw. Tie break is the total points scored in championship. Fixtures are: 1. Wales v England 2. France v Scotland 3. Italy v Ireland 4. England v Italy 5. Scotland v Wales 6. Ireland v France 7. England v France …

6 weeks to go – No campaign launches.

Dewi on January 19, 2011, 11:58 am

| Readers 7

The BBC report on today’s launch of the True Wales “No” campaign in next month’s referendum. The launch takes place in Newbridge RFC (…my home village Rugby Club…hmm). Rachel Banner, True Wales spokesperson, is quoted: “We don’t want more laws. What we need is for AMs to focus on education and health and the economy and to build up these things so we can have a prosperous Wales. “We don’t believe new laws will achieve that.” I love that “We …

Scottish Labour: “Minimum unit pricing was rightly rejected by MSPs because it is effectively a tax on the poor”

Pete Baker on January 18, 2011, 4:19 pm

| Readers 13

The UK’s coalition government has announced proposals to introduce minimum unit pricing on alcohol sold in England and Wales. But with it being a devolved matter, Northern Ireland doesn’t have to follow. Nevertheless, the NI Social Development Minister and the Health Minister have joined forces to announce their intention to launch a public consultation on the issue. Although there is already a wrinkle evident “I am meeting the Irish Minister for Justice and Law Reform Dermot Ahern in Dublin in the …

MyPolice and WeGov

Paul Evans on January 18, 2011, 9:47 am

| Readers 14

I’ve just seen that the MyPolice project has moved a bit further forward with the launch of their new beta site. As an idea, it’s been brewing for a while and Lauren Currie outlined some of the thinking behind it (and where it could lead) here on Slugger as part of the Political Innovation essay series a few months ago. It’s an example of what the Personal Democracy Forum’s Micah Sifry refers to as ‘WeGov’ – one of a wider …

No “No” Campaign = No “Yes” Campaign

Dewi on January 13, 2011, 8:18 am

| Readers 5

In the run up to the March 3rd referendum things are getting a little strange here. Carwyn indicates the dangers. ….It is up to the Electoral Commission to designate an official Yes and No campaign, but both must pass a series of tests before they can reach that status and get access to £70,000 to organise their campaigns.. Under the rules, the commission has to designate an official campaign group from each side, or none at all. Speaking at first …

London Letter: Facebook – Be careful with the online you

Catherine Wylie on January 5, 2011, 2:37 pm

| Readers 13

A titan of the internet universe, Facebook is now said to be even more popular than google, and is valued at $50 billion after investment by Goldman Sachs. A quick glance over some Facebook profiles, however, and you would question how dumbed down English, cringe worthy tributes to the deceased and shocking status updates from some individuals could be part of such a phenomenon. Debate continues over privacy issues on the site, and while a lot of this will be …

Short, Sharp Yes for Wales.

Dewi on January 4, 2011, 10:20 am

| Readers 7

The BBC reports on today’s official launch of the Yes for Wales campaign to secure legislative powers in devolved areas by winning a referendum on March 3rd. The national launch is followed by a series of regional events as the campaign’s website shows. First Minister Carwyn Jones states the case (wait a mo for video to kick in). There’s no doubt that Scotland and Northern Ireland are taken more seriously. Why? My argument would be it’s because they’ve got more …

A Very British Coup

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on January 1, 2011, 9:56 pm

| Readers 256

Having pulled together the video round of the Politics Quiz for Haiti back in October, I’m now going through a backlog of DVDs with a political theme. A Very British Coup tells the story of Harry Perkins, a steel worker from Sheffield turned politician is elected as prime minister of a left-wing Labour government. Though the book behind the screenplay was written by Chris Mullins in 1981, it is a peep into a parallel universe to see what might have …

Twitter Joke Trial and what it means for politics

Paul Evans on December 23, 2010, 11:36 am

| Readers 6

So Paul Chambers has been granted leave to appeal to the High Court over his Twitter Joke conviction, and the hearing should take place sometime between March and June next year. Just to refresh your memory, the whole farago started when Mr Chambers – commenting on disruption at his local airport – said this on Twitter: “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky …

Tweeting in court (with permission) in England and Wales only for now

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 21, 2010, 10:56 pm

| Readers 13

Victory to Tweeters! The UK’s Lord Chief Justice has ruled in my favour to tweet in court! Assembly committees please take note. – @EamonnMallie While the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales yesterday issued interim guidance to clarify that “an application, whether formally or informally made [to a judge] can be made by an individual in court to activate and use a mobile phone, small laptop or similar piece of equipment, solely in order to make live, text-based communications …

When two (Celtic) tribes go to war

ItwasSammyMcNally on December 17, 2010, 12:14 pm

| Readers 10

The good relations that traditionally mark Irish-Welsh relations will be under strain this weekend as the homespun-talk-themselves-down Munster take on the brash-talk-themselves-up Ospreys in Saturdays crucial (rugby) Heineken Cup match. Relations have been poor for a number of years since the Ospreys counter-cited Munster player Marcus Horan for racially abusing one of their players – a charge Munster angrily suggested was simply made up. Encounters between the teams are usually fiery and in keeping with this tradition, last weekend Munster’s …

Student finance goes nationalist in a four-way UK split. Can it last?

Brian Walker on December 16, 2010, 9:53 am

| Readers 4

So devolution looks like producing four different solutions to the problems of student funding, at least in the short term. The latest from Scotland is to charge strangers from the rest of UK so that young Scots can continue to enjoy a no fees regime in their native land. The money follows Welsh students anywhere in the UK, as Dewi celebrates and recommends NI follow. Iain McWhirter may be right, that the SNP may take a political trick with this …