We've had the massive bank bailouts and I'm sure you know about that. We're in debt to the tune of £13,000 each because our leaders, in their wisdom, decided that reinflating a burst balloon was the way to go.
Barclay's didn't take the state shilling, though. They went to the Gulf instead:
Barclays under fire for letting Middle East states take 30% stake
Now they're fucked too:
Dubai shares plummet as crisis continues
• Abu Dhabi stock market suffers worst day's trading ever
• IMF urges UAE central bank to hammer out a rescue plan
• In London, the FTSE 100 loses 50 points at one stage
Interesting times indeed.
Monday 30 November 2009
The Hidden Cost of the Biofuels Stations proposed for Bristol and for sites across Britain.
Posting this for others to get the word out there - please share.
Public Meeting
The Hidden Cost of the Biofuels Stations proposed for Bristol and for sites across Britain.
THURSDAY 3RD DECEMBER
7:00pm to 9:00pm
3rd Floor, Bush House (Above the Arnolfini), 72 Prince St.,Bristol, BS1 4QD
Simply attending this meeting would hugely improve our chances of preventing this proposal from going through - please spread the word far and wide!
Background
A company called W4B Renewable Energy want to build a 50 MW power station at Avonmouth Docks in Bristol, which would burn 90,000 tonnes of vegetable oil, most likely palm oil, every year. More than 22,000 hectares of oil palm plantations would be required to feed this one power station, and even more land if other feedstock was used. W4B have mentioned jatropha as well as palm oil, yet jatropha is not yet commercially available, many plantings are failing, yet thousands of people have already lost their land and livelihood for jatropha plantations to feed Europe’s biofuel market. Peat expert Professor Siegert of Munich University has said about palm oil power stations in Germany: “We were able to prove that the making of these plantations and the burning of the rainforests and peat areas emits many thousands of times as much CO2 as we then are able to prevent by using palm oil. And that is a disastrous balance for the climate.” (tinyurl.com/y9xel3g)
Ever more communities in countries like Colombia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Ecuador are losing their land to palm oil companies, with plantation expansion to a large extent driven by Europe’s biofuel policies. Avonmouth local residents will be affected by increased levels of nitrogen oxide and small particulates which are linked to respiratory and cardiac disease in an area that already has high levels of pollution.
In agreement with Europe's biofuel policies, the UK GOVERNMENT HAS COMMITTED TO INCREASE UK BIOFUEL CONSUMPTION ON A YEARLY BASIS. IT PROVIDES LARGE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO STIMULATE THE CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE BIOFUEL MARKET IN THE UK: In 2008, Biodiesel received a 20 pence per litre fuel duty incentive and Biofuel sales were approximately 1100 million litres (UK Report to the European Commission under Article 4 of the Biofuels Directive (2003/30/EC)) and are targetted to rise.
Why its important to attend this meeting!
Whether you would like to learn more or want to make your views heard, then please attend the meeting. Politicians and the press have been invited so we can make those in power aware of our concerns by showing strength in numbers. Planning proposals for the Avonmouth biofuel plant will be considered early in 2010 and plans exist to build a number of similar 'agrofuel' (biofuels from industrial agriculture) power plants around the UK. There are sustainable alternatives to biofuel! The more of us who show support NOW, by attending the public meeting, the greater our chance of halting biofuel plant development in the interests of more sustainable fuel sources.
Public Meeting
The Hidden Cost of the Biofuels Stations proposed for Bristol and for sites across Britain.
THURSDAY 3RD DECEMBER
7:00pm to 9:00pm
3rd Floor, Bush House (Above the Arnolfini), 72 Prince St.,Bristol, BS1 4QD
Simply attending this meeting would hugely improve our chances of preventing this proposal from going through - please spread the word far and wide!
Background
A company called W4B Renewable Energy want to build a 50 MW power station at Avonmouth Docks in Bristol, which would burn 90,000 tonnes of vegetable oil, most likely palm oil, every year. More than 22,000 hectares of oil palm plantations would be required to feed this one power station, and even more land if other feedstock was used. W4B have mentioned jatropha as well as palm oil, yet jatropha is not yet commercially available, many plantings are failing, yet thousands of people have already lost their land and livelihood for jatropha plantations to feed Europe’s biofuel market. Peat expert Professor Siegert of Munich University has said about palm oil power stations in Germany: “We were able to prove that the making of these plantations and the burning of the rainforests and peat areas emits many thousands of times as much CO2 as we then are able to prevent by using palm oil. And that is a disastrous balance for the climate.” (tinyurl.com/y9xel3g)
Ever more communities in countries like Colombia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Ecuador are losing their land to palm oil companies, with plantation expansion to a large extent driven by Europe’s biofuel policies. Avonmouth local residents will be affected by increased levels of nitrogen oxide and small particulates which are linked to respiratory and cardiac disease in an area that already has high levels of pollution.
In agreement with Europe's biofuel policies, the UK GOVERNMENT HAS COMMITTED TO INCREASE UK BIOFUEL CONSUMPTION ON A YEARLY BASIS. IT PROVIDES LARGE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO STIMULATE THE CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE BIOFUEL MARKET IN THE UK: In 2008, Biodiesel received a 20 pence per litre fuel duty incentive and Biofuel sales were approximately 1100 million litres (UK Report to the European Commission under Article 4 of the Biofuels Directive (2003/30/EC)) and are targetted to rise.
Why its important to attend this meeting!
Whether you would like to learn more or want to make your views heard, then please attend the meeting. Politicians and the press have been invited so we can make those in power aware of our concerns by showing strength in numbers. Planning proposals for the Avonmouth biofuel plant will be considered early in 2010 and plans exist to build a number of similar 'agrofuel' (biofuels from industrial agriculture) power plants around the UK. There are sustainable alternatives to biofuel! The more of us who show support NOW, by attending the public meeting, the greater our chance of halting biofuel plant development in the interests of more sustainable fuel sources.
An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore
Got this in my inbox:
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Dear President Obama,
Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.
It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That's the way General Washington insisted it must be. That's what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. "You're fired!," said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we f*#&in' hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption).
So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea -- "Let's invade Afghanistan!" Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin.
There's a reason they don't call Afghanistan the "Garden State" (though they probably should, seeing how the corrupt President Karzai, whom we back, has his brother in the heroin trade
raising poppies). Afghanistan's nickname is the "Graveyard of Empires." If you don't believe it, give the British a call. I'd have you call Genghis Khan but I lost his number. I do have Gorbachev's number though. It's + 41 22 789 1662
. I'm sure he could give you an earful about the historic blunder
you're about to commit.
With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilization we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the "war president." Empires never think the end is near, until the end is here. Empires think that more evil will force the heathens to toe the line -- and yet it never works. The heathens usually tear them to shreds.
Choose carefully, President Obama. You of all people know that it doesn't have to be this way. You still have a few hours to listen to your heart, and your own clear thinking. You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world to a place neither you nor they understand, to achieve an objective that neither you nor they understand, in a country that does not want us there. You can feel it in your bones.
I know you know that there are LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan! A hundred thousand troops trying to crush a hundred guys living in caves? Are you serious? Have you drunk Bush's Kool-Aid? I refuse to believe it.
Your potential decision to expand the war (while saying that you're doing it so you can "end the war") will do more to set your legacy in stone than any of the great things you've said and done in your first year. One more throwing a bone from you to the Republicans and the coalition of the hopeful and the hopeless may be gone -- and this nation will be back in the hands of the haters quicker than you can shout "tea bag!"
Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning.
We the people still love you. We the people still have a sliver of hope. But we the people can't take it anymore. We can't take your caving in, over and over, when we elected you by a big, wide margin of millions to get in there and get the job done. What part of "landslide victory" don't you understand?
Don't be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor. You could send a million troops over there and the crazy Right still wouldn't be happy. You would still be the victim of their incessant venom on hate radio and television because no matter what you do, you can't change the one thing about yourself that sends them over the edge.
The haters were not the ones who elected you, and they can't be won over by abandoning the rest of us.
President Obama, it's time to come home. Ask your neighbors in Chicago and the parents of the young men and women doing the fighting and dying if they want more billions and more troops sent to Afghanistan. Do you think they will say, "No, we don't need health care, we don't need jobs, we don't need homes. You go on ahead, Mr. President, and send our wealth and our sons and daughters overseas, 'cause we don't need them, either."
What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do? What would your grandmother do? Not send more poor people to kill other poor people who pose no threat to them, that's what they'd do. Not spend billions and trillions to wage war while American children are sleeping on the streets and standing in bread lines.
All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam "might" be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish -- the full terror of which we scarcely know.
When we elected you we didn't expect miracles. We didn't even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn't even function as a nation and never, ever has.
Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop.
Tonight we still have hope.
Tomorrow, we shall see. The ball is in your court. You DON'T have to do this. You can be a profile in courage. You can be your mother's son.
We're counting on you.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. There's still time to have your voice heard. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or email the President
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Dear President Obama,
Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.
It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That's the way General Washington insisted it must be. That's what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. "You're fired!," said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we f*#&in' hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption).
So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea -- "Let's invade Afghanistan!" Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin.
There's a reason they don't call Afghanistan the "Garden State" (though they probably should, seeing how the corrupt President Karzai, whom we back, has his brother in the heroin trade
raising poppies). Afghanistan's nickname is the "Graveyard of Empires." If you don't believe it, give the British a call. I'd have you call Genghis Khan but I lost his number. I do have Gorbachev's number though. It's + 41 22 789 1662
. I'm sure he could give you an earful about the historic blunder
you're about to commit.
With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilization we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the "war president." Empires never think the end is near, until the end is here. Empires think that more evil will force the heathens to toe the line -- and yet it never works. The heathens usually tear them to shreds.
Choose carefully, President Obama. You of all people know that it doesn't have to be this way. You still have a few hours to listen to your heart, and your own clear thinking. You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world to a place neither you nor they understand, to achieve an objective that neither you nor they understand, in a country that does not want us there. You can feel it in your bones.
I know you know that there are LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan! A hundred thousand troops trying to crush a hundred guys living in caves? Are you serious? Have you drunk Bush's Kool-Aid? I refuse to believe it.
Your potential decision to expand the war (while saying that you're doing it so you can "end the war") will do more to set your legacy in stone than any of the great things you've said and done in your first year. One more throwing a bone from you to the Republicans and the coalition of the hopeful and the hopeless may be gone -- and this nation will be back in the hands of the haters quicker than you can shout "tea bag!"
Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning.
We the people still love you. We the people still have a sliver of hope. But we the people can't take it anymore. We can't take your caving in, over and over, when we elected you by a big, wide margin of millions to get in there and get the job done. What part of "landslide victory" don't you understand?
Don't be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor. You could send a million troops over there and the crazy Right still wouldn't be happy. You would still be the victim of their incessant venom on hate radio and television because no matter what you do, you can't change the one thing about yourself that sends them over the edge.
The haters were not the ones who elected you, and they can't be won over by abandoning the rest of us.
President Obama, it's time to come home. Ask your neighbors in Chicago and the parents of the young men and women doing the fighting and dying if they want more billions and more troops sent to Afghanistan. Do you think they will say, "No, we don't need health care, we don't need jobs, we don't need homes. You go on ahead, Mr. President, and send our wealth and our sons and daughters overseas, 'cause we don't need them, either."
What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do? What would your grandmother do? Not send more poor people to kill other poor people who pose no threat to them, that's what they'd do. Not spend billions and trillions to wage war while American children are sleeping on the streets and standing in bread lines.
All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam "might" be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish -- the full terror of which we scarcely know.
When we elected you we didn't expect miracles. We didn't even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn't even function as a nation and never, ever has.
Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop.
Tonight we still have hope.
Tomorrow, we shall see. The ball is in your court. You DON'T have to do this. You can be a profile in courage. You can be your mother's son.
We're counting on you.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. There's still time to have your voice heard. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or email the President
Friday 27 November 2009
Ozymandias
I've always loved this poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".
Think the Gherkin or maybe Dubai...
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".
Think the Gherkin or maybe Dubai...
Thursday 26 November 2009
Desiderata
written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Stop and search numbers fall
Grauniad article:
Big fall in police use of stop-and search powers after outcry
Home office figures show that only tiny proportion of anti-terror searches lead to arrests
Quote:
There has been a sharp fall this year in the police use of counter-terror stop and search powers in the wake of a public outcry over their discriminatory nature, according to Home Office figures.
But the statistics still show that only a tiny proportion – 0.6% – of the searches carried out under anti-terror laws led to an arrest.
During 2008-09 more than 256,000 people were stopped in the street and searched by the police without the need for reasonable grounds of suspicion under section 44 of the Terrorism 2000 Act. This record level of police activity followed the failed bomb attack on a London nightclub in 2007. Only 1,452 of these searches led to an arrest or other action, and the vast majority on matters unrelated to terrorism.
'Mission Creep' is still a big issue with regard to much ofZaNuLabour's paranoid, misguided legislation. The cynic in me is thinking that perhaps this is a small change, while the bigger issues (the laws themselves and their potential for abuse) aren't addressed. 42 days? Right to silence? Control orders? One-sided extradition to the US with few legal safeguards? I could go on...
Big fall in police use of stop-and search powers after outcry
Home office figures show that only tiny proportion of anti-terror searches lead to arrests
Quote:
There has been a sharp fall this year in the police use of counter-terror stop and search powers in the wake of a public outcry over their discriminatory nature, according to Home Office figures.
But the statistics still show that only a tiny proportion – 0.6% – of the searches carried out under anti-terror laws led to an arrest.
During 2008-09 more than 256,000 people were stopped in the street and searched by the police without the need for reasonable grounds of suspicion under section 44 of the Terrorism 2000 Act. This record level of police activity followed the failed bomb attack on a London nightclub in 2007. Only 1,452 of these searches led to an arrest or other action, and the vast majority on matters unrelated to terrorism.
'Mission Creep' is still a big issue with regard to much of
It's been an interesting day for news...
What's the news today? We'll start here:
Court backs banks on overdraft charges
In blow to consumers, supreme court rules OFT does not have power to decide whether unauthorised charges are fair
Hm. Damn...that's really bad. It couldn't come at a worse time, considering the changing public attitude to banks. They already look like greedy litle piggies...and then
G20 report lays down the law to police on use of force
A blueprint for wholesale reform of British policing to create a service "anchored in public consent" was unveiled today by the inquiry prompted by Scotland Yard's controversial handling of the G20 protests in London.
Denis O'Connor, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, used his report to demand wide-ranging reforms and a return to an ideal of policing based on "approachability, impartiality, accountability and … minimum force".
[...]
The report – instigated after the Guardian revealed that a newspaper seller, Ian Tomlinson, had died after an attack by a police officer – was broader and more critical than many had expected.
O'Connor warned of a "hardening" of policing style in recent years and the erosion of the British approach to policing developed by the 19th-century prime minister Sir Robert Peel and based on consent.
Bloody hell. The police are really getting it in the neck. It remains to be seen if his recommendations are implemented. It would be nice but I'm not holding my breath.
Then this:
Banks forced to reveal numbers of millionaire staff
New laws created in the wake of Sir David Walker's report will compel banks to say how many of their staff earn more than £1m, but 'high end' earners' names will not be revealed
They're going to wriggle out of it somehow...I'll bet they left a big loophole in that one.
Labour plans to dismantle Whitehall.
Afghanistan campaign 'mishandled'
Ex-MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove criticises army's under-resourcing, and failure to explain war to public
Iraq intelligence 'patchy', inquiry told
Officials say ministers were repeatedly warned over limits of information about Iraq's military capability
Mandelson hobnobs with Gaddafi Jr
Business secretary joined Libyan leader's son and Cherie Blair at shooting party hosted by Rothschilds
It's enough to make your head spin.
Court backs banks on overdraft charges
In blow to consumers, supreme court rules OFT does not have power to decide whether unauthorised charges are fair
Hm. Damn...that's really bad. It couldn't come at a worse time, considering the changing public attitude to banks. They already look like greedy litle piggies...and then
G20 report lays down the law to police on use of force
A blueprint for wholesale reform of British policing to create a service "anchored in public consent" was unveiled today by the inquiry prompted by Scotland Yard's controversial handling of the G20 protests in London.
Denis O'Connor, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, used his report to demand wide-ranging reforms and a return to an ideal of policing based on "approachability, impartiality, accountability and … minimum force".
[...]
The report – instigated after the Guardian revealed that a newspaper seller, Ian Tomlinson, had died after an attack by a police officer – was broader and more critical than many had expected.
O'Connor warned of a "hardening" of policing style in recent years and the erosion of the British approach to policing developed by the 19th-century prime minister Sir Robert Peel and based on consent.
Bloody hell. The police are really getting it in the neck. It remains to be seen if his recommendations are implemented. It would be nice but I'm not holding my breath.
Then this:
Banks forced to reveal numbers of millionaire staff
New laws created in the wake of Sir David Walker's report will compel banks to say how many of their staff earn more than £1m, but 'high end' earners' names will not be revealed
They're going to wriggle out of it somehow...I'll bet they left a big loophole in that one.
Labour plans to dismantle Whitehall.
Afghanistan campaign 'mishandled'
Ex-MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove criticises army's under-resourcing, and failure to explain war to public
Iraq intelligence 'patchy', inquiry told
Officials say ministers were repeatedly warned over limits of information about Iraq's military capability
Mandelson hobnobs with Gaddafi Jr
Business secretary joined Libyan leader's son and Cherie Blair at shooting party hosted by Rothschilds
It's enough to make your head spin.
Monday 23 November 2009
Sunday 22 November 2009
CCTV in Glastonbury
...well almost.
[later...]
It appears to be offline right now, so I've changed it from the Town Hall camera to the new Tor one.
I'm no fan of CCTV 'insecurity' cameras. But...since there are more than 4 million CCTV cameras in this country, it's practically speaking impossible for people to be watching all of them. Maybe some are recorded. I've always felt that they were about making people feel unsafe rather than the opposite, their presence being a reminder of a) the street is dangerous! Go home and hide under the covers! and b) if you're even thinking of doing something naughty, our advanced brain-reading imaging software will convict you of thoughtcrime before you've even pulled your hoodie up - if there's anyone watching, which I doubt.
Incidentally, the people who watch the CCTV cameras in Glastonbury (of which we have at least 4 - on the town hall, by the Oxfam shop, outside Labyrinth Books, and across the road from 3 Silver Street, otherwise known as the Robert Barton Trust - let me know if I've missed any 'official' ones) are sworn to secrecy regarding the address of the monitoring station. How hard would it be to find out where it is? Not particularly. The people running the system must be really paranoid.
[later...]
It appears to be offline right now, so I've changed it from the Town Hall camera to the new Tor one.
I'm no fan of CCTV 'insecurity' cameras. But...since there are more than 4 million CCTV cameras in this country, it's practically speaking impossible for people to be watching all of them. Maybe some are recorded. I've always felt that they were about making people feel unsafe rather than the opposite, their presence being a reminder of a) the street is dangerous! Go home and hide under the covers! and b) if you're even thinking of doing something naughty, our advanced brain-reading imaging software will convict you of thoughtcrime before you've even pulled your hoodie up - if there's anyone watching, which I doubt.
Incidentally, the people who watch the CCTV cameras in Glastonbury (of which we have at least 4 - on the town hall, by the Oxfam shop, outside Labyrinth Books, and across the road from 3 Silver Street, otherwise known as the Robert Barton Trust - let me know if I've missed any 'official' ones) are sworn to secrecy regarding the address of the monitoring station. How hard would it be to find out where it is? Not particularly. The people running the system must be really paranoid.
At last, someone warns about Ketamine
The Guardian has this article today. It's about time someone raised this issue. How the hell can this drug still be classified as class C? Anyone who's seen someone K'd out of their heads can tell you how awful it is - and now the health risks are becoming clear.
Quote:
Ketamine, a powerful tranquilliser used on horses, is being taken in growing number by young people in the UK, causing crippling health problems.
Some addicts have needed to have their bladders removed and must now wear catheters. Other users have suffered serious kidney problems, breathing difficulties, addiction, bouts of unconsciousness and trouble with urinating. The drug also involves a heightened risk of heart attack.
Some users also end up with cocaine-style damage to the inside of their nose, because the drug is often snorted in powder form, though it can also be injected, taken as a pill or swallowed as a liquid.
It's amazing that this can be class C when cannabis is class B, and - even more stupidly - psylocybin mushrooms are class A. No wonder kids don't give a toss about health warnings when they're not based on evidence.
Come back Dr Nutt, your country needs you.
Quote:
Ketamine, a powerful tranquilliser used on horses, is being taken in growing number by young people in the UK, causing crippling health problems.
Some addicts have needed to have their bladders removed and must now wear catheters. Other users have suffered serious kidney problems, breathing difficulties, addiction, bouts of unconsciousness and trouble with urinating. The drug also involves a heightened risk of heart attack.
Some users also end up with cocaine-style damage to the inside of their nose, because the drug is often snorted in powder form, though it can also be injected, taken as a pill or swallowed as a liquid.
It's amazing that this can be class C when cannabis is class B, and - even more stupidly - psylocybin mushrooms are class A. No wonder kids don't give a toss about health warnings when they're not based on evidence.
Come back Dr Nutt, your country needs you.
Saturday 21 November 2009
Some random quotes and thoughts
The future's already here - it's just unevenly distributed. (Attributed to William Gibson.)
We need to reduce our standard of living in order to improve our quality of life. (That's by me.)
For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. (H L Mencken)
The big picture, the long term, and the common good. (Should be the basis for every decision we make.)
Nobody wins unless everybody wins (from a Canadian politician in Michael Moore's film Bowling for Columbine)
Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. (H L Mencken)
The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function. (Albert Allen Bartlett)
Speaking of which: here's Bartlett's amazing polemic about our unsustainable lifestyle:
It's one of 8 videos which I highly recommend.
We need to reduce our standard of living in order to improve our quality of life. (That's by me.)
For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. (H L Mencken)
The big picture, the long term, and the common good. (Should be the basis for every decision we make.)
Nobody wins unless everybody wins (from a Canadian politician in Michael Moore's film Bowling for Columbine)
Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. (H L Mencken)
The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function. (Albert Allen Bartlett)
Speaking of which: here's Bartlett's amazing polemic about our unsustainable lifestyle:
It's one of 8 videos which I highly recommend.
Friday 20 November 2009
Tesco'ed into action
Ouch! Every little hurts...but at least I've got something to blog about again.
I've written a bit about the Tesco planning application.
Things have moved on since then. Mendip District Council's Planning Board went against the advice of Edward Baker, their planning officer, and gave Tesco permission to build on the Avalon Plastics site. Of course Avalon Plastics have to move off first, supposedly to a new on the adjacent Morlands site - which hasn't been built yet.
Apparently when a council Planning Board disagrees with a planning officer, the application automatically gets referred to a higher, regional instance - and so it was.
It's gone further than that. Secretary of State for DEFRA Hilary Benn has 'called in' the planning application.
Now I might be infringing copyright with this next bit, but until such time as someone informs me otherwise, I'll assume 'fair use'. It's the full text from an article in the Central Somerset Gazette, which isn't on their website (yet):
Controversial Tesco plan is called in for public inquiry
Laura Linham, Central Somerset Gazette central@midsomnews.co.uk
The Secretary of State [for DEFRA] is to have the final decision on a flagship Tesco store on the outskirts of Glastonbury.
Speaking at a meeting of Glastonbury Town Council this week, Councillor Jim Barron reported that decision had been "called in" by the secretary of state [for DEFRA], Hilary Benn.
Most planning applications are decided locally by the district or other council, but Mr Benn has reserve powers to direct the council to refer an application to him for decision - a 'called-in' application.
Each year many thousands of applications are made but the secretary of state only calls in about 50.
Generally, he will only call in an application if he thinks there are planning issues of more than local importance.
These include a development conflicts [sic] with national planning policy on important matters, or a development that could have wide effects beyond its immediate locality.
Tesco's application for a store on the site of the Avalon Plastics factory in Beckery New Road [sic] was approved by Mendip District Council's planning board in August, despite continued fears for the impact it would have on local businesses in both Street and Glastonbury.
The Planning Board voted 11 to one in favour of the new development - against the recommendation of their own planning officer - on the current site of Avalon Plastics at Beckery New Road, near the B&Q store.
The move allowed Avalon Plastics could move next door [sic] to the Morlands Enterprise Park, securing the jobs of 150 employees and allowing for further expansion and investment.
The proposed new Tesco would include 41,000 square feet of shop floor space built on stilts, with 324 parking spaces underneath.
A spokewoman for Mendip District Council confirmed that the application would now go to a public inquiry, but added that the Government Office for the South West had not yet organised a date for the hearing.
Why did it get 'called in'? Probably because it goes against a Planning Policy Statement. I don't know yet.
It could be that Hilary will shame his father and rush an approval through just beforeZaNuLabour gets trounced in the next election. Who knows?
Meanwhile, I'm getting tooled up for the struggle - it's going to be a war of words. Bring it on!
This is too good not to re-post:
I've written a bit about the Tesco planning application.
Things have moved on since then. Mendip District Council's Planning Board went against the advice of Edward Baker, their planning officer, and gave Tesco permission to build on the Avalon Plastics site. Of course Avalon Plastics have to move off first, supposedly to a new on the adjacent Morlands site - which hasn't been built yet.
Apparently when a council Planning Board disagrees with a planning officer, the application automatically gets referred to a higher, regional instance - and so it was.
It's gone further than that. Secretary of State for DEFRA Hilary Benn has 'called in' the planning application.
Now I might be infringing copyright with this next bit, but until such time as someone informs me otherwise, I'll assume 'fair use'. It's the full text from an article in the Central Somerset Gazette, which isn't on their website (yet):
Controversial Tesco plan is called in for public inquiry
Laura Linham, Central Somerset Gazette central@midsomnews.co.uk
The Secretary of State [for DEFRA] is to have the final decision on a flagship Tesco store on the outskirts of Glastonbury.
Speaking at a meeting of Glastonbury Town Council this week, Councillor Jim Barron reported that decision had been "called in" by the secretary of state [for DEFRA], Hilary Benn.
Most planning applications are decided locally by the district or other council, but Mr Benn has reserve powers to direct the council to refer an application to him for decision - a 'called-in' application.
Each year many thousands of applications are made but the secretary of state only calls in about 50.
Generally, he will only call in an application if he thinks there are planning issues of more than local importance.
These include a development conflicts [sic] with national planning policy on important matters, or a development that could have wide effects beyond its immediate locality.
Tesco's application for a store on the site of the Avalon Plastics factory in Beckery New Road [sic] was approved by Mendip District Council's planning board in August, despite continued fears for the impact it would have on local businesses in both Street and Glastonbury.
The Planning Board voted 11 to one in favour of the new development - against the recommendation of their own planning officer - on the current site of Avalon Plastics at Beckery New Road, near the B&Q store.
The move allowed Avalon Plastics could move next door [sic] to the Morlands Enterprise Park, securing the jobs of 150 employees and allowing for further expansion and investment.
The proposed new Tesco would include 41,000 square feet of shop floor space built on stilts, with 324 parking spaces underneath.
A spokewoman for Mendip District Council confirmed that the application would now go to a public inquiry, but added that the Government Office for the South West had not yet organised a date for the hearing.
Why did it get 'called in'? Probably because it goes against a Planning Policy Statement. I don't know yet.
It could be that Hilary will shame his father and rush an approval through just before
Meanwhile, I'm getting tooled up for the struggle - it's going to be a war of words. Bring it on!
This is too good not to re-post:
Oh yeah there's this too - Tesconbury. Just hope it doesn't get mired in conspiracy theories...
Wednesday 11 November 2009
To blog or not to blog?
I suppose I'm not the first or last person who has started a blog and then not updated it very often. It's not because I've not got anything to say - here's my comments on the Guardian's website - I've just lost focus. If anything, I get too many ideas for what to write and, like a swordfish trying to find a single victim in a huge shoal, they all get away. Writer's glut is as bad as writer's block.
Anyway here's a poem by Charles Bukowski. I hope I don't get sued for posting it :)
tough company
poems like gunslingers
sit around and shoot holes in my windows
chew on my toilet paper
read the race results
take the phone off the hook.
poems like gunslingers
ask me what the hell my game is,
and would I like to shoot it out?
take it easy, I say,
the race is not to the swift.
the poem sitting at the south end of the couch draws, says balls off for that one!
take it easy, pardner. I have plans for you.
plans, huh! what plans?
The New Yorker, pard.
he puts his iron away.
the poem sitting in the chair near the door stretches, looks at me: you know, fat boy,
you been pretty lazy lately
f--- off, I say. who’s running this game?
we’re running this game, say all the gunslingers
drawing iron: get with it!
so here you are:
this poem was the one who was sitting on top
of the refrigerator flipping beercaps.
and now I’ve got him out of the way
and all the others are sitting around
pointing their weapons at me and saying:
I’m next, I’m next, I’m next!
I suppose that when I die
the leftovers will jump some
other poor son of a bitch.
Anyway here's a poem by Charles Bukowski. I hope I don't get sued for posting it :)
tough company
poems like gunslingers
sit around and shoot holes in my windows
chew on my toilet paper
read the race results
take the phone off the hook.
poems like gunslingers
ask me what the hell my game is,
and would I like to shoot it out?
take it easy, I say,
the race is not to the swift.
the poem sitting at the south end of the couch draws, says balls off for that one!
take it easy, pardner. I have plans for you.
plans, huh! what plans?
The New Yorker, pard.
he puts his iron away.
the poem sitting in the chair near the door stretches, looks at me: you know, fat boy,
you been pretty lazy lately
f--- off, I say. who’s running this game?
we’re running this game, say all the gunslingers
drawing iron: get with it!
so here you are:
this poem was the one who was sitting on top
of the refrigerator flipping beercaps.
and now I’ve got him out of the way
and all the others are sitting around
pointing their weapons at me and saying:
I’m next, I’m next, I’m next!
I suppose that when I die
the leftovers will jump some
other poor son of a bitch.
Tuesday 10 November 2009
A hero of mine
Noam Chomsky, here interviewed by Andrew Marr, who gets perhaps a little more than he bargained for.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
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