If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
This job ain't always easy you know. Each week we have to find just five Emerging Icons gigs to tell you about- but there is just so much amazing live...
So what did the Welsh government actually unveil at that event in Blaenavon? Was it a white paper which offered a 'ground breaking' plan for legislation which will make Wales a leading light on sustainable development? Having now had time to analyse it, the answer, sadly, is still 'not yet'.
David Cameron, who once pledged to lead the "greenest government ever", is nowhere to be seen on what I still believe is the most important issue of our times - responding appropriately to the climate challenge.
Leaving aside the alleged and unresolved illegalities, what we are witnessing is an ongoing transfer of wealth upwards, often from those who cannot afford it to those who do not deserve it. It cannot go on forever, and steps need to be taken now to stop this flow.
There have been rumours, and they are just rumours at the moment, that Ann Romney will be dressed as a Welsh cake on Election Night. She'll be there, telling the world how her grandparents showed her how to make Welsh cakes, and how she wants to continue the tradition to her children and so on and so forth
They say the April weather is like a woman's heart. But if you have ever been in Wales, where the legendary Richard Burton was born and later grew up,...
The UK remains in the midst of the deepest recession in living memory with few predicting a change in fortune anytime soon. People in Wales are particularly feeling the pinch. Unemployment is higher than the UK average and the cull of the public sector has, and will continue to, hit us especially hard since it employs a higher proportion of our workforce than in England or Scotland.
Amongst the many serious points surrounding our economy, defence capability, global standing and Security Council seat, one seemingly trivial problem has caught my attention. If Scotland left the UK, what would happen to our flag?
Scotland's failure to qualify for an international tournament in the last 14 years is not a national embarrassment. Nonetheless, the Scottish team, continually ridiculed, will find it difficulty to qualify for the World Cup. Euro qualification will become easier with the increased size of that tournament, but the World Cup may not be seen by the Tartan Army for many years.
My youngest sister has just turned 16 and about to receive her GCSE results this week, she cannot buy a drink in a pub, drive or vote but she could join the Army, she could even choose to commit herself to the life of a soldier until she was 22. All this before she could even vote for those deciding her fate.
As Mo Farah sprinted for the line, running quicker after nine thousand, nine hundred metres than most of us will ever run in our lives, the crowd behind him rose to their feet and roared in complete joy, a sea of delirious faces and Union flags.
Reading about the athletes reminded me that such pride and inspiration is a key ingredient of the Olympics. These people have worked unbelievably hard to reach the top of their game and in the coming days they'll be competing at world-class level, representing their country, in front of their home crowd.
Once the post Olympic bunting has come down what will we be left with? A bunch of empty sports venues, a £multi-billion debt and an increasingly disunited kingdom.
The on-going row over the report into the Welsh NHS, by Marcus Longley, brings the future of the NHS in Wales, once more, into the public spotlight. Although the report covers many important issues, perhaps the critical issue not considered is whether the NHS in Wales can continue in its present form, in the long term, of being free at the point of consumption and funded from the proceeds of taxation. This may seem a heretical question to ask but asking it must be done.
Despite the gloomy failures of Rio+20 and David Cameron's empty 'greenest government ever' promise, it's good that some parts of the UK can still come up with an enlightened approach. At the moment, it's Wales that provides a bright light in these gloomy times.
Caerfyrddin, my father's county, takes its name from the Roman word for a castle, caer, and the wizard Myrddin - famously in English, Merlin - who was born, they say, in the town of Carmarthen.
