tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60664662011-04-21T19:23:01.258-07:00Something Of The NightA far-from-regular blog covering politics from a British/Western European perspective. Sometimes at a microlevel, sometimes a bit broader. Oh, and did we mention cynical?simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.comBlogger1441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-35436119954410854382007-04-23T01:23:00.000-07:002007-04-23T01:25:31.591-07:00Aldermarston: Apparently, Aldermarston is currently being blockaded by protesters opposed to plans to expand the Atomic Weapons Establishment. There's a report on Indymedia.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-79886445281758054042007-04-13T09:16:00.000-07:002007-04-13T09:20:01.636-07:00Compare and ContrastRepublican Jon Kyl, talking about plans to subpoena the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over the sackings of the eight attorneys:"It is a bad precedent to be subpoenaing the attorney general," he said, "I think it's clear that some people would view it purely as a political exercise."Republican Jon Kyl, talking about his support for the impeachement of Bill Clinton:"What is simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-20737401079231008902007-04-09T23:41:00.000-07:002007-04-09T23:43:26.861-07:00Have your saySince The Sun never approves my responses, for some reason, here's my response to the story about how six-figure sailor Faye Turney "blasted" the Iranian president:Forgive me for worrying about facts... but was it Ahmadinejad's "brutal underlings stripped her to her knickers, threw her in a freezing cell and made her believe she would be killed" - or was that a local group working onsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-39336958148556160232007-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:002007-03-30T06:02:16.255-07:00IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE LAW, CHANGE THE LAW:"He said it may require a new law to "address the concerns about some of these people who really need to be incarcerated forever, but that doesn't get them involved in a judicial system where there is the potential of them being released," Gates told the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee. -Robert Gates proposes a way round those pesky human rights.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1162806490190446892006-11-06T01:45:00.000-08:002006-11-06T01:48:10.203-08:00Voting machines work perfectly, except when it's not a low turn-out: Early voting in Florida suggests that the electronic machines are screwing up already:Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney said it's not uncommon for screens on heavily used machines to slip out of sync, making votes register incorrectly. Poll workers are trained to recalibrate them on the spot -- essentially,simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1162486539213449392006-11-02T08:51:00.000-08:002006-11-02T08:55:39.233-08:00Faith in the process: Leaving aside the question of if you can trust them, can you rely on Diebold to deliver the right result from next week's US midterms?Probably not. They can't even get themselves straight when complaining about a film HBO have made about the accuracy of their voting machines. They've issued a highly detailed attack... on a completely different film.But that's understandable:simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1160120680747942132006-10-06T00:43:00.000-07:002006-10-06T00:44:40.760-07:00THEY DON'T SAY WHAT THE OTHER 15% ARE: This morning's Daily Mail is very excited by a new report:UK diversity map reveals 85 percent chance of meeting an ethnic personEthnic Persons, of course, come from the small mountain state of Personia, which joined the EU in 1984.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1157015253998869392006-08-31T02:00:00.000-07:002006-08-31T02:07:34.013-07:00EVERYTIME YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES... Anais Nin used to keep a card index of lies she'd told - in a box helpfully marked "Lies" - which helped her keep track of what she'd told to whom.George Bush is lucky - he's had Mother Jones produce something similar to help him keep track of his enormous whoppers.While we're talking about Bush, his NBC interview yesterday was fascinating - asked to suggest what simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1156077742563139742006-08-20T05:38:00.000-07:002006-08-20T05:42:22.580-07:00THINGS ARE OUT OF WHACK: How odd is it when it's the Tory "homeland security" spokesperson who, despite his TERRORTERROR job title, actually talks sense when the current government-stoked fear starts to turn to random racism:Two men were taken off a flight bound for Manchester after some passengers became alarmed about what they regarded as suspicious behaviour.People on the Airbus 320 at Malaga simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1155975243430834782006-08-19T01:07:00.000-07:002006-08-19T01:14:03.446-07:00WH SMITH AND SON... VERY BAD NEWS: The Communication Workers' Union is organising protests and a boycott over plans to shut down Post Offices in Slough, Hammersmith, Altrincham, Shrewsbury, Swansea and Ashton-Under-Lyne. Plans are to move the franchises to almost nearby Smiths stores instead. Just the franchise, not the 124 staff.Apart from the joblosses, the crucial functions of the Post Officessimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1155127416483400252006-08-09T05:37:00.000-07:002006-08-09T05:43:36.526-07:00CHOOSING SIDES: There's no act of charity without a press release, of course:LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Steven Spielberg's Righteous Person Foundation will donate $1,000,000 for relief efforts in Israel with an initial donation of $250,000 to the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles Israel Crisis Fund. Additional gifts will be made to the New Israel Fund and other relief organizations in simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1154629151891243432006-08-03T11:09:00.000-07:002006-08-03T11:19:11.920-07:00EVERY LITTLE HELPS: There aren't many places which would welcome a new Tesco superstore, but Gillmoss on Merseyside has had its arms wide opened. Tesco had been part of a scheme that would have seen some blighted housing razed and rebuilt around a gleaming new shop. Everyone would be happy, and at long last the oft-repeated Tesco claim that communities around its outlets welcome the addition of simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1152296014357768952006-07-07T11:05:00.000-07:002006-07-07T11:13:34.386-07:00COCK AND BUSH: Mmm, those shorts don't leave much to the imagination, eh, girls? This is the photo currently illustrating People's interview with George W as he turns 60, and shows it's not just North Korea packing a missile.Yes, sixty years old, President of the United States, and yet he still comes across like the bosses' kid, doesn't he?The main surprise in the interview is this bit:I think wesimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1152272416509117032006-07-07T04:40:00.000-07:002006-07-07T04:40:16.570-07:00Think pink Nice work on Shakespeare's Sister, which takes issue with the idea that making prisoners in Arizona wear pink pants is "degrading", becuase to believe that, surely, requires you to accept that there's something degrading in being associated with women or gay men.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1150980845057541832006-06-22T05:51:00.000-07:002006-06-22T05:54:05.083-07:00THE COST OF LOVING: We're glad we don't live in Liverpool any more: council tax payers on Merseyside are having to pick up the third of a million pound bill for policing Jack Straw and Condi Rice's love-in visit to the city this year.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1150203882481971732006-06-13T05:58:00.001-07:002006-06-13T06:04:42.586-07:00FLORIDA VOTING IRREGULARITIES: Something interesting from Florida: Charlie Grapski, a Democrat running for the Florida House of Representatives, saw what he believed to be manipulation of the absentee ballots in a city election in Alachua. He filed a complaint, and the law sprang into action.It arrested Grapski:According to Grapski, “Clovis Watson filed a sworn complaint as a police officer simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1150203724790537202006-06-13T05:58:00.000-07:002006-06-13T06:02:04.816-07:00FLORIDA VOTING IRREGULARITIES: Something interesting from Florida: Charlie Grapski, a Democrat running for the Florida House of Representatives, saw what he believed to be manipulation of the absentee ballots in a city election in Alachua. He filed a complaint, and the law sprang into action.It arrested Grapski:According to Grapski, “Clovis Watson filed a sworn complaint as a police officer simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1148983067693712672006-05-30T02:57:00.000-07:002006-05-30T02:57:49.296-07:00THE FRIEND WHO SPEAKS THE TRUTH: The few people who still believe in Tony Blair's spine like to suggest that his role in the US-UK partnership is a positive one, providing a steadying, calm counterpoint to the White House's beligerance.If that's the case, why was he forced to change his Georgetown University lecture to keep the possibility of attacks on Iran live?No wonder it doesn't matter thatsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1148374830681317192006-05-23T02:00:00.000-07:002006-05-23T02:00:30.906-07:00STEADY AS SHE GOES: BBC News report:Volunteer workers in the Lothians have been banned from issuing condoms to under-16s despite a rise in the number of teenage pregnancies.NHS Lothian ruled that only staff on the official payroll could hand out contraceptives and advice to under-16s.It said restricting contact to "suitably trained people" would ensure the safety and protection of children. ... simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1148054054925937862006-05-19T08:54:00.000-07:002006-05-19T08:54:15.070-07:00A CHANGING TIDE?: Even hooting right-wing radio hosts are lining up to kick Bush:"Bush created a giant new entitlement, the prescription drug plan. He lied to his own party to get it passed. He lied to the country about its true cost. It was written by and for the pharmaceutical industry. It helps nobody except the multinationals that lobbied for it. So much for smaller government. In fact, simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1147697744720361712006-05-15T05:48:00.000-07:002006-05-15T05:55:44.736-07:00MY GOODNESS, THAT IS NEAR MILTON KEYNES: Expansion is a big issue in Milton Keynes right now, with the Milton Keynes Partnership directing new build ordered by the now-defunct John Prescott in a way that threatens the well-planned city.We wondered how many of the members of this Partnership actually lived in the city, and how many had ever been elected to represent anyone - and who they were, so simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1145625974917784922006-04-21T06:26:00.000-07:002006-04-21T06:26:15.016-07:00SUPERMAKETING An interesting defence of WalMart's business practices from H Lee Scott,their CEO. He singled out their store in Breck Road, Liverpool as an example of how great the company is at building communities:Mr Scott told an audience in Arkansas: "Let me take you to Breck Road, in Liverpool. It used to be a shopping centre with about 10 stores in it. For several years it was anchored by a simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1142099742644718972006-03-11T09:55:00.000-08:002006-03-11T09:55:42.693-08:00BIGOTRY IN ACTION: Wasn't the Boston Catholioc archdiocese the one which considered pretended to be bankrupt to get out of paying compensation to the kids its priests had sexually abused? There were so many altar boys emerging with tales of Confessional touching and vestry fumblings that the Catholics thought that pretending to be broke would be exactly what Jesus would do.Now, the same simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1141740147812828882006-03-07T06:02:00.000-08:002006-03-07T06:02:27.866-08:00WHO HECKLES US ARMY FUNERALS? This one might come as a bit of a surprise: there are jerks turning up to shout abuse at families mourning Bush's war dead in the States. But they're not anti-war protesters. They're Extremist Christians, who are angry that the soldiers were killed fighting for a country that allows homosexuality.Interesting that in a country where Cindy Sheehan only has to think simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1141466933664760782006-03-04T02:08:00.000-08:002006-03-04T02:08:53.733-08:00"WHY JON STEWART ISN'T FUNNY" The Daily Show might not be C-Span, but it's probably fair to say that by presenting news in a way that people can digest more easily, it offers a way in to the process. Yeah, some people might not go beyond laughing at the Brokeback Mountain gags, but others will take the jokes as a starting point to investigate matters more deeply. You're more likely to tempt simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1141421344567886312006-03-03T13:29:00.000-08:002006-03-03T13:29:04.620-08:00THIS ISN'T ACTUALLY A THREAT, YOU KNOW: The BBC is reporting that Coke tried to throw its weight about: "Coca-Cola warned the education secretary it might withdraw its vending machines network from schools over her ban on 'junk food', letters show"So... Coke was afraid that Ruth Kelly was going to throw them out of schools, and warned if she planned to do that she would have to face up to the simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1141229493489934162006-03-01T08:11:00.000-08:002006-03-01T08:11:33.536-08:00EXTRAORDINARY EXPLANATIONS OF RECENT EVENTS:I've just heard someone from the Labour party saying that the reason why there's so much about the Tessa Jowell story isn't because her husband has done anything wrong having his mortgage paid off by Berlusconi, but because... the media like putting "photogenic women" on the front page.Tessa Jowell: she's the Kate Moss of the cabinet...Actually, her simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1140439706266320552006-02-20T04:48:00.000-08:002006-02-20T04:48:26.333-08:00WELL DONE, WE'VE BOMBED OURSELVES: How goes the war on terror? It turns out that not only was the bombing of Baghdad using depleted uranium an inhuman act which will cause suffering for Iraqis, but it's also going to cause suffering for the British and Europeans too - University of Liverpool research has found that the shelling has boosted radiation across the continent:Mr Busby's report found simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1140109200606030332006-02-16T09:00:00.000-08:002006-02-16T09:01:09.096-08:00MONEY WELL SPENT: The quality of life for everyone in the US is so great, the nation feels it can spare fifty million dollars to pump out propaganda broadcasts to Iran.Oddly, that's just a little under the proposed cuts in central funding to the US Public Broadcasting network.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1139483101986134902006-02-09T03:05:00.000-08:002006-02-09T03:05:02.036-08:00POISON IN THE AIR:We can't help wondering what set off a detector in the Capitol Building this morning - presumably, the sensor for nerve gas was just picking up the increasing levels of poison floating about in the air.A latest example: Capitol Hill staff have been removing embarassing but accurate material from Wikipedia:Senator Coleman's office has confirmed that staff there had made a number simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1137704533530405672006-01-19T13:02:00.000-08:002006-01-19T13:02:13.543-08:00THE END OF THE MEN: A handy document has just been turned up by ResourceShelf, deatingin the way the US army sets about executing its own men - no, it doesn't just ship 'em off to Iraq with inadequate supplies. The new document, you'll be pleased to hear, has "streamlined" the whole procedure. After all, you don't want your condemned men hanging around too long eating your good, hearty breakfastssimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1137703578414468442006-01-19T12:46:00.000-08:002006-01-19T12:46:18.480-08:00DOING BEIJING'S BIDDING: It's interesting that in the West, Microsoft is always standing up to governments which call it on its anti-competitive practices. Here, the company will fight and sue and pout and appeal. However, if the Beijing Government is upset by something, Microsoft jumps. Bill Gates is happy to axe MSNspaces blogs that might upset Beijing:"In line with Microsoft practices in simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1136369340821408492006-01-04T02:04:00.000-08:002006-01-04T02:09:00.833-08:00TESCO RESPONDS We've had an email from Tesco about their plans to build over some of the green space at the top of Rose Lane in Liverpool:In response to your question regarding the expansion of our store on Mather Avenue.First of all it should be pointed out that the open space we are building on is not "green space" is already developed on with hardstanding astro turf pitches. These pitches are simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1135031870945482042005-12-19T14:37:00.000-08:002005-12-19T14:37:50.990-08:00THE GOVERNMENT NEVER SAYS NO TO TESCO: Interesting news from Liverpool - especially trotted out in the semi-secret Christmas week - with the news that the government has over-ruled local councillors and the wishes of the people who live there and allowed Tesco permission to build on the university sports ground on Mather Avenue.
One of the biggest protests was raised because opponents said the simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1134563481814629682005-12-14T04:31:00.000-08:002005-12-14T04:31:21.860-08:00CAN YOU TRUST MURDOCH NEWS ORGANISATIONS?: Obviously, everyone would like to trust Murdoch's media, but it has a patchy record around the world. It's just been found guilty of breaching the CAP advertising code 7.1 (truthfulness) - in other words, of lying - to customers of one of its catalogue items.
The ASA upheld a complaint that a News of the World branded adverts for a sauna wrap and a simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1132817876643988902005-11-23T23:37:00.000-08:002005-11-23T23:37:56.683-08:00THE QUALITY OF REPORTING: Since The Sun seems to be trying to bury it, we thought it might be helpful to give some extra coverage to it's "apology" to show just how shabby its reporting of stories involving Muslims tends to be:
IN March last year and again after the London bombings in July, The Sun wrongly accused Mohamed El Guerbouzi of being a fanatical, terrorist warlord who was on the run insimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1132487922633735362005-11-20T03:58:00.000-08:002005-11-20T03:58:42.663-08:00REBEL YELL We went back to dig this out of the Today archive, as we couldn't quite believe what we'd heard. Talking about the Labour rebellion against 90 Day Police Detention without trial, Blair loyalist Anne Clwyd made an astonishing claim. "I have rebelled myself, but when we had a large majority." In other words: of course you may have principles, but only when acting on them is meaningless.
simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1129302223141638522005-10-14T08:03:00.000-07:002005-10-14T08:03:43.176-07:00HOW WAL-MART WORKS: Wal-Mart wants to build a new supercenter in Westminster, Colorado. Some residents are thrilled at the idea; others aren't, and each side are lobbying hard for their case.
The curious thing, though, is that the pro-Wal Mart group isn't entirely independent; in fact, a portion of its fighting fund has come from Wal-Mart.
We say "portion": $75 dollars has been raised from simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1128614593570971092005-10-06T09:03:00.000-07:002005-10-06T09:03:13.570-07:00HERE WE GO AGAIN...: Scott Ritter, who was right on both the "there are no WMDs in Iraq" and "Iraq will become a quagmire" scores, goes for the hat-trick and suggests that Iran is going to be next:
Speaking in a debate at the ICA about the prospects of military action against Iran, Mr Ritter said preparations were already under way. He said the US was backing Khalq insurgents who are carrying simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1128614366473380892005-10-06T08:59:00.000-07:002005-10-06T08:59:26.513-07:00ITV EFFECTIVELY SWITCHES OFF LOCAL POLITICS: As a 50th birthday present to itself, ITV has started to choke off the last of regional political programmes by moving them to late-night Thursdays, where they will struggle against the tail end of Question Time and This Week, throwing their scant resources at trying to cover their large patches on - well, "shoestring" would be overstating it; it's simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1127406525653637442005-09-22T09:28:00.000-07:002005-09-22T09:28:45.723-07:00BUSH TURNS OUT TO BE SURPRISINGLY RELAXED ABOUT CHILD SEX-TRAFFICKERS: Well, let's be honest - why would you want a little bit of selling kids to be shagged get in the way of the relationship between you and an oil-rich state, eh?:
WASHINGTON -- President Bush decided Wednesday to waive any financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Washington's closest Arab ally in the war on terrorism, for failing simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1126856696739076992005-09-16T00:44:00.000-07:002005-09-16T00:44:56.740-07:00BNP - DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR BRITISH WORKERS: The most interesting thing about the Kent Police seizing the BNP's newspapers as they came through Dover is, of course, just that: the BNP was importing its newspapers. We're not sure why this supposedly patriotic bunch are having their "isn't Britain great" propaganda printed out in Slovakia - shouldn't a patriotic party be having their papers simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1126856272081138232005-09-16T00:37:00.000-07:002005-09-16T00:37:52.080-07:00NATION BUILDING: You have to wonder how the US hopes to bring order to a foreign land when it can't even bring order to its own armed services: according to a Miles Foundation study, one third of female US veterans have reported being sexually assaulted while at work; including nearly one in ten women serving during the first Gulf War. And if that's what's happening to people viewed as colleaguessimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1126855834509415362005-09-16T00:30:00.000-07:002005-09-16T00:30:34.560-07:00LEAVE US BE: The family of the contractor murdered in Iraq want to be "left alone to grieve in peace." Which is fair enough, of course, but... since they'd been left alone to grieve in peace for the last few months, why did they feel the need to give a newspaper interview asking to be left alone?simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1121536731855312962005-07-16T10:58:00.000-07:002005-07-16T10:58:51.946-07:00MAYBE WE'RE JUST JUMPY: ... but when the Director of Voice of America uses the phrase "fair and balanced news" (while picking up an award for the Most Objective Radio Station in Azerbaijan) we feel a little queasy...simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1118350603822742582005-06-09T13:56:00.000-07:002005-06-09T13:56:43.826-07:00AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT...: Norvell's big beef is the way the BBC covered the Glazer story - he (wrongly, actually) suggests that coverage "...continues to portray the takeover as an effort by a rogue financier with a funny beard and no heart, who wants to "take Manchester away from the people and into the hands of market forces." Never mind that Man U has been a public company for 14 years and, assimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1118349851340930502005-06-09T13:44:00.000-07:002005-06-09T13:44:11.373-07:00FOX NEWS This piece from Scott Norvell is a pretty standard piece of selective BBC-kicking - he praises Biased BBC's watch on the "ideological slants" of the Corporation, although not pointing out they only look for a slant in one direction, but that's not to unexpected. What is fascinating is the following, bearing in mind that Scott is the London bureau chief of Fox News:
"Fox News is, after simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1113559938473577892005-04-15T03:12:00.000-07:002005-04-15T03:12:18.473-07:00BUSH DOESN'T USE EMAIL: Rather odd, this one: George Bush doesn't use email because he doesn't want his personal material archived.
"There's got to be a certain sense of privacy," Bush said. "You're entitled to how I make decisions and you're entitled to ask questions, which I answer. I don't think you're entitled to read my mail between my daughters and me."
Right. You're supposedly this simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1113557889521823112005-04-15T02:38:00.000-07:002005-04-15T02:38:09.520-07:00LABOUR'S NEW BIG IDEA: Hanging around outside school gates. There's a name, surely, for people like that?simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1113460482121125902005-04-13T23:34:00.000-07:002005-04-13T23:34:42.123-07:00A FIT OF THE VAPOURS: Interesting little piece of coverage of Robert Kilroy-Silk's Veritas campaign on Today just now. A young man came up to the orange one and took issue with Silk's thick rant about Arabs. Kilroy's reaction? He called a policewoman and tried to get the lad arrested because he'd used the f-word. Bobby, son, if you flush with shame everytime someone says fuck, you might find thesimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1113397955870595852005-04-13T06:12:00.000-07:002005-04-13T06:12:35.870-07:00HOW TORIES POLITICK: Leaving aside the unseemly mucking about with photos that blew up in the Tories' faces in Dorset at the start of this week, elsewhere in the county there's been more evidence of desperate behaviour by the Conservatives. Tory candidate for Winchester George Hollingbery is cyerbsquatting in a site bearing the name of his Lib dem challenger.
Hollingbery, when confronted with simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1113308297698277892005-04-12T05:18:00.000-07:002005-04-12T05:18:17.696-07:00GEORGE MICHAEL POLITICS: An interesting little spat has broken out in the Reading East constituency. Labour candidate Tony Page has upset Tories by mentioning his cottaging convictions in his election material. Interestingly, the local Conservatives reject Page's claims that they've been poking about in his past planning to make political capital out of the record, and that they're homophobic, simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1113255277275386322005-04-11T14:34:00.000-07:002005-04-11T14:34:37.276-07:00WE'RE SURE IT'S JUST AN OVERSIGHT: What is wrong with this website (at michaelhowardmp.com)?
Local MP launches Manifesto
Local MP Michael Howard has launched the Conservative pitch for power with a promise to "battle for Britain" and make the country a better place in which to live.
With 24 days to go to the election, the Party Leader unveiled a manifesto programme designed to replace Labour'ssimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1112859806251552472005-04-07T00:43:00.000-07:002005-04-07T00:43:26.250-07:00HIGHLIGHT OF THE ELECTION SO FAR: Michael Howard is the best thing in the election, just two days in: we thought that appearing to have the words "Are you thinking what we're thinking?" permanently superimposed on his chest was funny enough; but it's clear that that Aussie chap they imported to try and run their campaign has decided that whenever Howard appears on TV, he should have a small crowdsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1111564269841480892005-03-22T23:51:00.000-08:002005-03-22T23:51:09.840-08:00MAKING AN ELECTION POINT OUT OF A TRAGEDY: Of course the death of a newborn baby is awful, but we're a little puzzled by one aspect of the Sun leader on the subject:
And yet, inexplicably, tiny Luke caught the bug in The Ipswich Hospital. Tests have failed to find the source of the infection.
So... it's not actually in any way clear that poor cleaning on the part of the hospital was the cause -simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1109147799424032062005-02-23T00:36:00.000-08:002005-02-23T00:36:39.423-08:00THE NEXT MOVE FOR WAR: Two weeks before the Iraq invasion, attorney general Lord Goldsmith warned the war could be illegal. So Downing Street set up a team of lawyers ready to plead its case in international courts. Somewhat like those East End gangsters who ensure they kept their slippery briefs close when they went out to collect their monies.
The Guardian reports: It appears that Lord simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1109147469413337082005-02-23T00:31:00.000-08:002005-02-23T00:31:09.413-08:00HOW GOES THE WAR ON TERROR?: Ignore the "ooh, we're all going to die unless you fund my orgnaisation and send Jaffa cakes" element to head of Interpol Ronald Noble's BBC interview, and instead, focus on this bit:
Ronald Noble told the BBC the danger of an al-Qaeda attack had not diminished since the 9/11 strikes on the US.
In other words, three years of killing and money and torture and pissingsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1109061107607792802005-02-22T00:31:00.000-08:002005-02-22T00:31:47.606-08:00MORALPANICWATCH: In America, a Homer Simpson officiates at gay weddings, and Parents Television Council president L Brent Bozell rushes to the photocopier:
"At a time when the public mood is overwhelmingly against gay marriage, any show that promotes gay marriage is deliberately bucking the public mood."
Yes, it's about time The Simpsons stopped being a sitcom and settled down into accurately simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1107505570467666922005-02-04T00:26:00.000-08:002005-02-04T00:26:10.466-08:00WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?: CNN claims to have documents which show not only did the US know about Saddam's misuse of food-for-oil cash, but even were happy to go along with it:
The unclassified State Department documents sent to congressional committees with oversight of U.S. foreign policy divulge that the United States deemed such sales to be in the "national interest," even though they simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1107263799056503112005-02-01T05:16:00.000-08:002005-02-01T05:16:39.056-08:00BUT THEN... SINCE WHEN DID REPUBLICANS CARE ABOUT HISTORY?: What's telling about the exchange between Ann Coulter and Bob McKeown is not so much that Coulter didn't know that Canada didn't fight in Vietnam, but that she refused to admit she was wrong.
Although not knowing that Canada avoided Vietnam is a little bit shameful in someone who would style themselves some sort of political commentatorsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1106555719382475232005-01-24T01:33:00.000-08:002005-01-24T00:35:19.383-08:00OPEN LETTER TO MICHAEL HOWARD:
After the last four years, I couldn't think of any reason to be keen to see the re-election of Tony Blair. This weekend, though, I have inspired and energised to actually actively campaign for his re-election and to see your nasty, racist party consigned to the past.
How dare you appear on Today and prattle that "communities" cannot absorb newcomers? I don't know simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1106222728643715772005-01-20T04:05:00.000-08:002005-01-20T04:05:28.643-08:00LOOK WHAT YOU'VE ACHIEVED BUSH: Had there not happened to be a press photographer there, this killing of a father driving his family around in Tal Afar would have been lost in the already unaccounted numbers of civilian deaths in Bush's Iraq.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1106222580732508222005-01-20T04:03:00.000-08:002005-01-20T04:03:00.733-08:00OH MY GOD, THERE ARE GAYS EVERYWHERE: As Bush gets signed on for another four years, let's ponder his legacy: a country where a happy Spongebob Squarepants tape aimed at promoting tolerance is slammed as being a subtle attempt to turn kids gay.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1104675298099760652005-01-02T06:14:00.000-08:002005-01-02T06:14:58.100-08:00THOSE WHO FORGET THE PAST...: While US school boards fight themselves into pieces over whether there should be a sticker in textbooks saying that "evolution is just a theory" (oddly, nobody has yet insisted that bibles in schools carry a sticker saying "the creation is just an idea"), there are more worrying problems with the education of American youth: 63% of people in a typical US city didn'tsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1101996097022883212004-12-02T06:01:00.000-08:002004-12-02T06:01:37.023-08:00PEOPLE WHO LIE: As The Register points out, for Interpol General Secretary Ron Noble to claim that "in every single terrorist incident [...] a fraudulent passport has been used" means he either doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, or is aware that he's lying.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1101229412481286952004-11-23T09:03:00.000-08:002004-11-23T09:03:32.480-08:00IT'S TOUCH AND GO IF OUR REMAINING RIGHTS CAN BE REMOVED BEFORE THE ELECTION: Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Queen's Speech is nobody at all seems to believe the ridiculous "planes flying into Canary Wharf" story leaked to ITN and the Mail to soften us up for more terror-inspired withdrawal of our rights. It comes to something when Trevor McDonald can pop up during Corrie's simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1101228293502216022004-11-23T08:44:00.000-08:002004-11-23T08:44:53.503-08:00WE WONDER IF THE WHITE HOUSE IS ADDING THE WORD SATIRE IN BRACKETS TO ITS UKRANIAN STATEMENTS: It's quite inspiring to see Ukranians refusing to accept an apparently shoddily counted election, and heartwarming to see the American government adding its support to them:
Washington has accused the Ukrainian government of skewing the poll in favour of the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich - simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1100702187222311642004-11-17T06:36:00.000-08:002004-11-17T06:36:27.223-08:00HE SEES HIMSELF AS MR. TESCO: In perhaps one of the most bizarre pieces of sideways thinking we've yet seen from the government, David Blunkett has suggested that having a national ID card is no different from having a supermarket loyalty card. Not until they won't let you into Sainsburys unless you have a Nectar card, it isn't.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1099866167803931962004-11-07T14:13:00.000-08:002004-11-07T14:22:47.803-08:00IT DOESN'T QUITE ADD UP: It is possible the extraordinary discrepencies between exit polls and actual votes, and the mysterious patterns of those figures seemingly tied to those places where some form of electronic voting was taking place is little more than a bizarre coincidence. Certainly, it would seem to be worth investigating - if only to give election 2004 a clean bill of health. What is simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1099561845929095912004-11-04T01:50:00.000-08:002004-11-04T01:50:45.930-08:00THE COST OF VICTORY: A report from the Center for Responsive Politics shows that while you can't actually guarantee that you can simply buy your victory in the US, you can have a pretty high level of certainty that the polls will work like an auction, not an election:
In 96 percent of House races and 91 percent of Senate races that had been decided by mid-day today, the candidate who spent the simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1099482313357482702004-11-03T03:42:00.000-08:002004-11-03T03:45:13.356-08:00HOW MANY HURRICANES DOES AN ANGRY GOD HAVE TO SEND BEFORE FLORIDIANS GET THE MESSAGE?: My brother says this reminds him of when Major won the '91 election over Kinnock - and there are a surprising number of parallels, thinking about it: a weak candidate who's been the butt of jokes for his lame-duck nature, defending a postion he hadn't won through any proper electoral process; a challenger who simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1098806373322970882004-10-26T08:59:00.000-07:002004-10-26T08:59:33.323-07:0078 DEAD IN THAILAND: Seventy-eight people have suffocated in Thai army trucks after being arrested and crammed in by troops following a mass protest. The protest itself saw six killed when 1500 people gathered outside a police station in Narathiwat where six men suspected of arming Islamic militants were being held.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1098655428695697702004-10-24T15:03:00.000-07:002004-10-24T15:03:48.696-07:00WELL, YOU CAN'T PUT A PRICE ON EXPERIENCE: The Management and Training Corporation are bidding to run prisons in the UK. Who are they? They're the company who set up Abu Ghraib. Of course, they also have experience of running prisons where the inmates aren't tortured and used for the sadistic pleasure of their captors - their Santa Fe prison in New Mexico was merely lashed for being unsafe and simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1098436573198427292004-10-22T02:16:00.000-07:002004-10-22T02:16:13.196-07:00WHO'S GOT FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: After the extraordinary sight a couple of weeks back of the guy from Jarvis responsible for safety walking away from an attempt to prosecute him following Hatfield because he couldn't be, um, held legally responsible for for safety, the need for a proper corporate manslaughter law surely had become inarguable, right? Jack Straw doesn't seem to think so.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1097223669608717712004-10-08T01:21:00.000-07:002004-10-08T01:21:09.606-07:00SINCE WHEN DID THE FBI CARRY OUT RAIDS IN THE UK?: Yesterday morning, the FBI basically took down IndyMedia in the UK by issuing a Federal order to rackspace. Rackspace complied, but it's not quite clear what jurisdiction the FBI has over computer equipment held in the UK. Despite what the FBI may think, it doesn't have any legal remit over the UK yet.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1096807243539554732004-10-03T05:40:00.000-07:002004-10-03T05:40:43.540-07:00THE COST OF THE WAR: It's obvious that the War on Whatever It Was in Iraq is draining lives and cash out of the US, but thanks to the National Priorities Project Americans are now able to find out on a state-by-state basis exactly what the poorly-planned Iraqi adventure is costing them. For example, Colorado has coughed up USD2.3billion and had 13 soldiers killed; South Dakota has had to find simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1096557601077164732004-09-30T08:20:00.000-07:002004-09-30T08:20:01.076-07:00WHO'S IN THE HOUSE?: According to a Center for Public Integrity report, the US Defense department have got so many contractors working for them in Iraq, they don't know how many there are. And, indeed, it's not really sure how many sub-contracted staff its got working anywhere else. All those guys holed up in the mountains railing against Big Government are really missing the point - the simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1096135554718796522004-09-25T11:05:00.000-07:002004-09-25T11:05:54.716-07:00FLORIDIANS! VOTE THIS YEAR TO SAVE YOURSELF: Can the message apparently coming from overlaying the maps of the 2004 hurricanes and 2000 elections really be true?simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1095861323213936002004-09-22T06:55:00.000-07:002004-09-22T06:55:23.213-07:00ARE YOU GOING TO TELL HIM, OR SHALL I?: In his latest bid to try and appeal to the BNP vote, Michael Howard seems to have made a small slip:
The former home secretary said his decision to lift checks for passengers leaving the UK for the EU was a mistake which had been compounded by New Labour's decision to scrap all embarkation controls in March 1998.
Erm... how do actually leave the UK by simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1095859433882457672004-09-22T06:16:00.000-07:002004-09-22T06:23:53.883-07:00BUSH'S AMERICA COULDN'T BE MORE KAFKAESQUE IF EVERYONE IN RHODE ISLAND WOKE UP AND HAD TURNED INTO BUGS: John Gilmore, Sun Microsystem's in-house billioaire, was refused entry onto a plane when he claimed that he had a right to fly without being searched. Now, leaving aside that dubious claim, he's brought a legal action which has thrown up a much more absurb idea: The Justice Department are simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1095612494558562832004-09-19T09:48:00.000-07:002004-09-19T09:48:14.556-07:00NOW, THAT'S A CHALLENGE: Interesting: for a man who can't even sort out something as simple as making the railways work properly, isn't Blair setting himself rather too much of a challenge by deciding to make defeating evil an aim of his government? After all, evil has been around longer than the National Health Service, and he's not managed to get rid of that yet, either.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1095275596903401302004-09-15T13:05:00.000-07:002004-09-15T12:13:16.903-07:00BUNCH OF HUNTS: And there we go again... more protesters invading the Commons, making not a jot of difference to their cause or case, but taking us another step closer to the time when Parliament is kept away from the people.
We're so tired of the hunting lobby: yes, we daresay it'll cost one or two jobs, but the closure of rural post offices caused the loss of hundreds more jobs than the end ofsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1095237484442328612004-09-15T01:38:00.001-07:002004-09-15T01:38:04.443-07:00PROTESTING IS MORE FUN THAN PARENTING: Actually, it seems, Jason Hatch, the batman protest guy is so busy with his stunts, he can't actually make time for his own kids:
As Jason Hatch walked out of a police cell yesterday it was surprising, then, to find his current girlfriend complaining that his commitment to protesting for fathers' rights meant he had little time for their seven-month-old simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1095234150940258652004-09-15T01:38:00.000-07:002004-09-15T00:42:30.940-07:00SPOILING IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE: In America, Bush had to wait until someone killed 3,000 people before he had an excuse for chopping away people's rights. In the UK, all it's taking is a bunch of bozos dressed as superheroes. We're sure Fathers4Justice have their hearts in the right place, but their methods suck: nobody is discussing their grievances after the protest at Buckingham Palace; just simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1095145320558742922004-09-14T00:02:00.000-07:002004-09-14T00:02:00.556-07:00THE PRESIDENT USES TERROR AS AN EXCUSE TO THIN DOWN DEMOCRACY: This time, it's Putin rather than Bush, who - according to reports, is planning to use Beslan as an excuse to remove elected regional governors with Kremlin appointees. All in the name of the war on terror, of course.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1094568896092979192004-09-07T07:54:00.000-07:002004-09-07T07:54:56.093-07:00CURIOUS: According to some reports, journalist Anna Politkovskaya was poisoned on her way to cover the Beslan slaughter. Viewed as being sympathetic to the Chechens, the reporter had acted as a negotiator during the Moscow theatre seige, and had apparently made her willingness to help in negotiations at the school seige known before drinking a cup of tea which made her unconscious.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1094563339241477692004-09-07T06:22:00.000-07:002004-09-07T06:22:19.240-07:00MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE REAL WORLD: The BBC asks what should be done about all the kids with crabs and herpes and, you know, waterworks problems. Amongst the responses:
The abstinence message should be promoted among all those in secondary school and university. Abstinence is the only 100% effective solution against sexually transmitted infections.
Ray Flores, New York, USA
Nice one, Ray! Tell simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1094540140711845322004-09-06T23:55:00.000-07:002004-09-06T23:55:40.710-07:00THE ARMY ARE AGAINST IRAQ, TOO: As the ramifications of the Iraq adventure continue to play out, Colonel Lew G Tyree, the top amry reserves spokesperson in West Virginia, has slammed the war as being a waste of human resources which hasn't worked:
“I feel we were not told the truth. I do not think we should be there. America is in more danger now because we are using up a tremendous amount of simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1094453556823438242004-09-05T23:52:00.000-07:002004-09-05T23:52:36.823-07:00MORE LABOR DAY: We hope our friends in America are enjoying the Labor Day holiday, and it might be a good time for them to think about this: the Bush administration are abolishing the rule that workers must earn time and a half for overtime work. When he announced this "initiative", Bush suggested that in return, workers would be get given time off in lieu instead (which is, of course, really simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1094422270243548462004-09-05T15:11:00.000-07:002004-09-05T15:11:10.243-07:00REMAIN AFRAID, CITIZEN: We're far from certain why on earth - asked about the school attack in Russia - John Reid would start to mutter about how they'll be coming after us, as if Blair's managed to piss off the Chechens, too. Reid - minister for Casandraism - claims that he's had no doubts for "many years" that "they" (terrorists, of course) "will attempt to strike us here." If he's had this simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1094286842919906052004-09-04T01:34:00.000-07:002004-09-04T01:34:02.920-07:00HOW DO YOU PAY FOR THE RICH'S TAX CUTS?: You cane the poor instead. The Washington Post are reporting that senior citizens face a 17.5% increase in their Medicare premiums next year. And, in a piece of nasty news management, the Bush adminstration attempted to slip this out on a bank holiday weekend, at the end of a convention, with a hurricane heading for Florida and two hundred odd kids simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1093982469613905632004-08-31T13:01:00.000-07:002004-08-31T13:01:09.613-07:00HISTORY IS A STARTING POINT TO SELECT THE FACTS YOU WANT: Unsurprising to see Guilliani back dropping down to dirty politics, managing to get the republican convention to boo loudy at the memory of how the Germans (remember them, those darn old Europeans?) letting the terrorists caught in the Olympic Village in 1972 go? Even allowing for the reheating of something over thirty years old for cheap simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1093981974921975112004-08-31T12:52:00.000-07:002004-08-31T12:52:54.920-07:00DON'T DO AS I DO, DO AS I SAY: The Republicans hit New York, and fill out the strip joints:
The man later told someone in the club he was a Washington lobbyist. I wondered if he would try to add a clause allowing "two girls at once" into the Republican Party's plan for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1093275067277708092004-08-23T08:31:00.000-07:002004-08-23T08:31:07.276-07:00NEVER MIND THE WASTE OF TIME: WHAT ABOUT THE WASTE OF MONEY: Interestingly, it's now turning out that Liverpool regeneration bosses knew two years before the scheme was axed that the Fourth Grace would never be built - in other words, before the expensive sham of a competition to choose a design, the expensive sham of a public consultation (the results of which were ignored anyway) and the simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1092831602685773362004-08-18T05:20:00.000-07:002004-08-18T05:20:02.686-07:00IT'S THE OLYMPICS: Did we miss something? Has the International Olympic Committee become something other than a self-appointed, self-interested business? It's bad enough that their unreasonable demands have really screwed up internet radio - is it really that important, IOC? - but they've also got a hilarious hyperlink policy insisting that nobody link to the results and news site without their simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1092821786885293662004-08-18T02:36:00.000-07:002004-08-18T02:36:26.886-07:00EXTREMELY DISTURBING SUGGESTIONS: As you read B Sky B's complaints about EDS, remember this:
EDS and the UK Government
EDS works closely with our UK government clients to implement solutions that help address the constantly evolving challenges to the business of government. Our UK government clients include:
* Department for Work and Pensions
* Ministry of Defence
* Court Service
* HM Prison simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1092725762178057602004-08-16T23:53:00.000-07:002004-08-16T23:56:02.176-07:00CUTTING YOUR CLOTH: During the long years of Thatcher-created unemployment, the press were always quick to condemn strikers - "if they don't want their jobs" they'd write, "there are plenty who do."
Now, of course, unemployment is much lower. So how does the Daily Telegraph respond to the threat of strike action by BA baggage handlers? "In an era of full employment, if they're unhappy with theirsimon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1092657380836697372004-08-16T04:56:00.000-07:002004-08-16T04:56:20.836-07:00IF ONLY WE THOUGHT THAT WOULD STOP HIM: The news that information commissioner Richard Thomas has suggested that Blunkett's plans for ID cards takes us in the direction of Franco's Spain would cause most people to rethink. We suspect, though, that David B. will be encouraged and set his staff to finding out how much the brocade will cost for his uniform.simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1092057198888692832004-08-09T06:13:00.000-07:002004-08-09T06:13:18.886-07:00WELL, THAT'S BEEN A MASSIVE SUCCESS FOR OBJECTIVE ONE FUNDING, THEN: It's not for us to suggest that the continued mismanagement, stupid creation of 'Pathways' groups, their abolition and replacement with other pathways groups, a small smattering of corrupt or questionable decisions, a bunch of unobtainable targets, the matched funding regime, bunches of infighting, frustrating duplication of simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6066466.post-1092041877772838932004-08-09T01:57:00.000-07:002004-08-09T01:57:57.773-07:00THE ONLY THING TO FEAR IS...: Is it just me, or is there something a whole lot less scary about Al-Qaeda when you hear that amongst they detrius of the computer stuff that got captured, they'd "downloaded pictures of Gordon Brown"? A supposedly shit-hot religio-poitico terror group that needs to refer to a photo right-clicked off the web to recognise Gordy? Doesn't really suggest much for the simon h bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07084524317888577404noreply@blogger.com0