Protection under the law for criminals. Even rich ones.
Reading
this about the Lotto rapist and how we pay for his protection. I'm not sure what to say about this. My personal view is that he has served his sentence so he has 'paid for his crime'. Unfortunately, his payment was cheap. Sentences for this sort of crime are too short. Maybe if it had been a high profile case he would have got longer but it was not to be.
The story is about how much we are paying for his protection. Him being a millionaire means he is not short of a few bob. Our dilemma is we cannot have it both ways. If we can't protect him from being hunted down by reporters and exposed and while this is going on then the law needs to protect him. We also don't really want to pay for this. But what will we do if he decides he doesn't want to pay the police but instead set up a security force with all the ex-cons he knows and something happens.
My view is he should still be in jail. That way there would not be a problem. The law has released him and returned him to society having paid for his crime. He is now being hunted down by reporters and exposed putting him in danger. No different from Salman Rushdie, Mary Bell and the Bulger killers. He is being protected from illegal acts. That is what the police are paid for. And you can be sure he is paying more than most with the interest on £7M.
I don't see a review changing anything. The only thing that may happen is that they remove the protection from him as a response to the outcry. But is that really the answer to the problem?
Any compromise is seen as weakness and the killings go on.
And it
goes on and on in Israel on the West bank. How are we going to reach an end here. Any sign of compromise is seen as a weakness and a sign that the path being followed is right. I hope this is not a sign of the future now we have raised our heads above the parapet and joined in with the Great Satan and the Israelis. Does that make us a minor Daemon or something? If so, let us be a Blood God, something of Darkness or Soul something. How about the UK, Devourer of Souls. Sounds kind of frightening and will only put off religious people who have souls ready to go to Allah. Maybe we can use this religion against them in some way. Virgin converters. We have converted all the virgins in heaven and they will never want a normal man again. Or we have killed all the Virgins in Heaven. Will that get past our religious right? The UK, Devourer of Virgins. That doesn't sound right. Any ideas?
Banned words under the new Terror legislation.
Read
this about a 82 year old who found his access denied to Labours conference under the terrorism act. It was interesting that all he did was heckle, said 'nonsense' and nothing else. He found himself rejected. Fair enough. That in itself is a blow to free speech but it is understandable. They only want televised shouts of joy and agreement at these conferences. They should then be able to remove his pass because he is not one of the faithful. That is also fair enough. They didn't do that though they stopped him under the terrorism law and yet deny it will be used as a catch all.
Interestingly enough. This guy left Nazi Germany in 1939. Wonder if he is packing his bags now.
Good news though. They are now reviewing their security procedures. Got to laugh. They must review everything at the end of every day. Won't make any difference though.
Full circle. A place for our rubbish. Again.
Finally, a
role that Australia can play in the world. And I was coming round to believing that besides the Minogues, The Great Barrier Reef, Koalas, Kangaroos, the All Blacks and the Jiggery Do there was nothing there and no place for them in the world.
Although, I did think they were Nuclear free so how come they already have nuclear waste?
We don't want a nice old lady making a point.
Well, well. A Mr Brown paid the council tax pensioners
council bill and got her out of prison Could it be Gordon Brown? After all, it would be to his benefit to remove her from the news and take the heat away from local Government policies. Now it will be another year before she is up for a free holiday. Although there will be others in the sidelines waiting to take on this challenge. I would assume some, if not all, of the Devon Pensioners' Action Forum must already be in the queue for the courts.
What happened to the poor vicar sentenced to
28 days. In a category A prison of all things. He was clearly a danger to society. Seems Mr Brown didn't like him at all and he wasn't the only one with the judge clearly not being a fan either.
Let's wait till one pops their clogs at the sentencing or in jail. That will make news all over the world. I wonder if any of our pensioners qualify for aid from some of the more affluent countries? That would be something wouldn't it?
Good luck to all those willing to take on the establishment especially now when clearly protesting is being treated very harshly by the law trying to scare away any copycats. If only they used to same treatment on burglars and their ilk.
Hunting Foxes goes to the air.
Another flawed bit of legislation when you look at it. Sounds like the hunts are still going on according to
this with little disruption. Last
time they were talking about it. Now they are putting their talk into action. Bit disappointed though. I think I'm starting to lean towards more direct action rather than finding ways around rules although I do like the fact it is looks legal. Bit like taxes really. New rules, the rich get expensive people to make the problem go away, the poor get a painful feeling in the bum.
One thing it will make a difference over is that the protestors have nothing to protest about. It is now illegal. It will be up to the police to enforce it and they are likely to be too busy shooting innocents, giving out speeding tickets, investigating Ann Robinson, Kate Moss and their ilk as well as trips across the world to prosecute Afghan warlords.
Update on the Menezes Execution.
It will be interesting how this one works out. We have the murdered mans parents asking for
justice. We have the police lying about the case and feeding us false
information. We did have someone one the inside who thought there was going to be a
cover up. It will be interesting to see what happens with all of these things. My thoughts are that there will be a case but it will be closed with the police censured over the killings. A couple of demotions but nobody brought to justice. The insider will lose their job. But, Hey!, it's not all bad news. There will be a review of procedures to ensure this sort of thing never happens again. Well, never, in the concept of it being an accident. It will happen again but next time it will be because that will be part of the new police forces '
Judge Dredd' type instant 'justice' so it won't need to be investigated.
The bad news is none of our law abiding citizens are armed so we can't do anything about this takeover by a Nazi style Government. Unfortunately, if you are not a terrorist, then being a bad guy is working OK so they won't do anything either and they have the guns. When are we going to be invaded to put a decent Government in?
I want your baby.
This will be an
interesting case regarding frozen embryos fertilised by a couple who have since split up. Lots of implications here. The CSA springs immediately to mind as well as the mental issues of deliberately bringing a baby to life whose father is not interested. I can understand both of the arguments.
My personal view is that she should be allowed to have the baby(s) providing she does not need financial support from the government or the father to do so. She should also not be able to harass the father in any way and this should be guaranteed in some way so he can get compensation for any losses, for changes and or issues with law changes. But, as that won't happen then she should not be allowed to do so and ruin his life.
I think I would be doing the same as him if I was in his situation.
Please stop selling legal items. They can be used by bad people.
Well, well. Read
this about samurai swords. I have to smile. Seems that, big surprise here, that people who want to commit crimes use what is at hand. Ban guns, people modify some BB type weapons to fire bullets, ban them and they move on to knives and swords.
Soon, it will be banks raided by three criminal armed with teaspoons. Calls in the House for teaspoons to be banned. There is no need for teaspoons. Sugar can be sold in teaspoon sized quantities and can be stirred by plastic stirrers. Sorry, what's that? Oh, someone had an eye poked out by one of them so we need to include them as well. Stir with your fingers. Sorry, what was that. Oh!, let's genetically modify our DNA so no more fingers or hands. Seems people use them to hurt others as well.
Bring back some common sense. Please!
Intelligent weapons think I'm getting out of here and escape US Navy facility.
The US is trembling now. The latest defensive weapon they have has escaped in the storm. Fully armed and a danger to us and them. Read
here. Any minute now we can expect these Al-Qaeda terrorists to creep unopposed up the Potomac and strike at Washington's heart. Those desert training areas sure had me fooled. Luckily the US Government is on the ball.
They say dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals on this planet. From reading this I would say they are clearly the most intelligent animals on the planet.
Why do we need to raise the state pension age?
Can someone explain
it to me. In my view we are living at a higher standard than we have for years. Things overall are improving tremendously on the health front and we are now expected to believe we can't afford to keep our OAPs in a decent lifestyle. I know for years we have been letting the middle class ones die for having the audacity to try and save for their future while we keep the core of social claimants in the same lifestyle forever. How much was our Iraqi adventure a year? How much for a years pension for all OAPs? Why are we now looking at providing medical aid and supplies to foreign countries using our money when it clearly is going to leave us short. What is going on with this country?
Being left handed really makes a difference.
Who would have thought that being left handed would make a difference in something like your health. Read
this article. Sinister Eh!
Someone looking for the UK to help. He must be desperate.
It looks like the Ozzies are even worse than us. This
guy is looking for UK citizenship because the UK Government does more than his own Australian Government. Boy, does he have a lot to learn... or, is it possible there is worse Governments than us and the Yanks? It is one of the coalition of the stupid so I suppose it is possible. Little does he know that if the Yanks send him here he is likely to go into one of our KGB style detention centres for another couple of years. I don't suppose you can be up to date with oppressive Governments when you are out of the loop like he is. His lawyer should be able to give better advice though.
A day out for me and my son.
Just had a day out at Gamesday. It's
Games Workshops event of the year and they certainly go all out with it. It was held at the NEC for the first time this year and it was certainly a hectic day. My son is really into it and because he is under 16 I have to take him. That makes this the last year I have to go with him being 16 in a couple of months. I might still go anyway as it is quite interesting. Only thing is there is so much to do that the six hours it is open is not enough time to see every time and get involved in the different games. Usually, though, it is enough to see everything you need to see there and see some of the less mainstream games.
Coupled with the early rise to get the coach and the late return I'm quite worn out. So I'm doing nothing else today. An early night beckons.
I've some spare time.
You can tell I've got a bit of free time today to browse the interesting parts of the web. While I still can.
Could this lead to true Democracy?
All this
talk about Germany's elections makes me smile. I think it is the best thing to happen to democracy. It means that the parties will only be able to do what most politicians think is right. Not perfect but no single person forcing their party to push though their stupid policies. These guys will have to think everything through and make compromises. Sounds good to me.
It should happen here.
UK politics is like voting for;
Stalin : Vote for me. I will ensure we are strong. I also support torture and summary executions for littering.
Hitler : Vote for me. I will ensure we are well protected. I also believe in killing all Jews.
Idi Amin : Vote for me. I will ensure we are a solid society. I will convert my opponents views.
Genghis Khan : Vote for me. I will ensure we rule the world by killing all foreigners and people that look foreign just like the Met does.
We call this Democracy. You get to choose. Whoopy Do Dah. That's Democracy. Then, they say we are doing what we were elected to do. That's how democracy works. What a load of rubbish. No wonder we are heading for a crisis. How can we install it in Iraq when it is clearly becoming unpopular here.
Or one of my favourites.
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for lunch.
Government is too bloated and inefficient. It should be representative of the people and responsible to it. Not the dictatorship it is now.
UK changes stance on Kyoto.
Couldn't really find this anywhere else off the blogs. It's regarding Bliar moving away from the Kyoto Agreement. One that I'm in two minds about as I've
mentioned. Start
here for the latest news. Funny it should follow the US route. Must be coincidence.
Little things make a big difference.
An interesting read
here for all you that see no problems with the current Anti Terrorism laws.
Didn't look at police when entering tube.
Two other men entered station at same time. (What happened to them?)
Wearing a jacket too warm for the season. (Ohh, that crime carries a death sentence)
Carried a rucksack that was kept with him at all times. (Clearly hiding something)
Looked at people coming onto the platform. (The cad, clearly guilty of perversion or something)
Played with his phone.
Then, the final straw, took a paper out and started to write. (The pen is mightier than the sword. Clearly reference to a weapon.)
For these heinous crimes he now gets a permanent police record and his DNA permanently stored and shared with the US.
The new Axis of Evil. The UK, US and Australia. Amazingly enough the three that invaded Iraq with lies and misdirection.
Very flimsy evidence. 15 years and he was lucky.
The are really serious about this terror law. On, IMO, very flimsy evidence, this
guy has been jailed for 15 years. His sentence apparently was limited by the current limits of sentencing. Bliar will get that fixed in a jiffy.
I was curious to note that there must be hundreds of people in this country with instructions to set up a mortar and Al Qaeda tapes downloaded off the internet. The secret code is also interesting as I bet a few paranoid people have hidden phone numbers like this. Traces of explosives were in his socks but no explosives.
It seems it was all to do with the number of things against him. Each one could be answered with a valid comment but together raised doubt to a higher level and he was found guilty.
Personally, there was a few things there that if true would tend me to think he was guilty but were they proven? Probably not.
Better build some more jails just for these guys over the next few years as if this level of evidence is acceptable now it will surely drop and catch more fish. You would think in the UK you needed real proof before a fifteen year jail sentence. Real, proven, criminals don't get that much.
Escaping jail seems to be a crime in Iraq. Did we know that?
It's times like this you can find out who supports who and it also bring out the fence sitters. An Iraqi judge has raised a warrent for the two British soldiers broken out of
jail.
I've read a little bit more on this issue since the prison breakout. It does raise some interesting question.
Why were undercover troops out with explosives?
Why did they try to run a roadblock?
Why did they fire at Iraqi civilians and police?
How are we able to break down an Iraqi jail and nobody seems to think it is wrong?
Why does a warrant from a Iraqi judge have no legal basis?
How can anyone say this does not impact on our relationship?
Looks like Basra will soon be like Baghdad. Our troop casualties are going to start increasing and the civilian support will drop. Something needs to be done quick. Bliar's and Bush's legacy is starting to take shape now. It would be funny if so many people had not died to get to it.
Kate Moss gets her nose dirty.
Kate Moss is not having a good time at the
moment. Bet she wishes she was a bit more careful around strangers now. Personally, I think all this hounding is ridiculous. If she was a drunk they would all rally round and support her. Now, I don't agree with drugs, I've never taken them and never intend to, but my view is what anyone wants to do they should be able to do. She would never break into someone's house to fund the habit nor is she likely to perform any other crimes. Should be interesting seeing what the
special investigation backed by Ian Blair comes up with. How do the cops have the time nowadays?
Anyway Kate, if it all goes pear shaped you will always have a place at my house.
Instant Justice. Sorry, Instant punishment with no Justice.
While looking for the Tesco link I came across
this proposal from the guys who already dole out instant executions. The guy who runs the Met wants to give his officers Judge Dredd instant justice capabilities. Wonder how much justice there will be considering it was his guys that executed an innocent man. Maybe that was the trial for these new draconian powers. It may be OK as if I remember OK didn't Judge Dredd jail an innocent man and himself get jailed wrongly. Plus, didn't the entire force almost get wiped out by a corrupt cop. Maybe Ian Blair, is it the name or what?, should watch the film and not just go on the comics where Dredd probably got it right from very flimsy evidence. Sorry, I watched the film years ago and have never read the comics.
Back to reality though. What is proposed is that selected police officers can take someone's driving license or car while we wait for them to go to court. Wonder what the compensation is for loss of transport privileges, now it is clearly a privilege, for a couple months until they are found not guilty.
The slop is getting steeper. Good news is that this could be an indicator the Blair is on his way out. Stop cheering! I meant Ian Blair the Met chief.
Tesco's DB link.
Found a link to the Tesco Database report. Read it
here.
Works in Theory. It's that pesky real world stuff.
Seems like Bliars clampdown on truancy isn't going too well. Read about it
here. His other target of increasing the number state students going to university has also fallen. Read about that
here. Looks like forcing policy on people doesn't seem to work. That does not fit in with Bliars view. He makes laws and policy to force certain actions without thinking of the long term impact. This seems standard for almost all of his policies. Now I've heard some of the alternatives offered and I'm not convinced that they would be any better but there are others not considered and others not even thought of which would be worthwhile trying.
The only thing with things like education is; a) You only get one chance and b) Lives get screwed over by these changes and c) Our society is geared up to the lowest denominator which removes incentive.
In short this sort of thing is something that should not be done lightly. Yet, it is fiddled with on a regular basis. Truancy levels up, Pass rates up, still can't read or write. Mmm! Employers don't trust the qualifications coming from education, Students can't do basic Maths and English but have qualifications. What is going on?
I, yet again, think we need a total review of our system. Let's get rid of the 'deferred passes' and the like, quotas for entry to higher education, paying students to attend school. Let's get back to basics and make our education system something to be proud of.
Tesco's. A Data Protection Nightmare.
Have been reading about Tesco's database. Which incidently appears to have disappeared from the BBC website. Mmm.
This sort of database just goes to show how badly thought out the data protection act is. I've always thought it was ridiculous that you have to pay to check your own record. Some companies have multiple databases and it cost you to check each one and now it appears it will allow a company to hold data on you when you may never have used their services. This data will never be checked by you unless you pay them a fee and even then it may never be corrected.
I think we need to have more control over what is held about us. I think we should be entitled to free access to the data plus some power to make sure the records are accurate. The onus should be on the companies to inform people they have been added to the database and supply the data held to ensure it is acceptable.
There is something wrong with the way we allow massive companies to get away with this sort of thing.
Discussion with two Canadians on Bush and Bliar.
Last night while I was having a meal in the restaurant in my hotel I was watching the Iraqi situation while they showed a Warrior armoured vehicle burning and troop evacuating. I was the only one in the room and it was just passing the time between courses. Just then two people came in and sat down in my line of sight to the TV. When they realised they apologised and offered to move. I said not to bother as I was just passing the time watching the updates. During the conversation I detected American accents so asked them where they were from. Canada they said. Oops. I apologised for thinking they were American but they were OK about it and we ended up discussing Bush and Bliar. They could not understand how Bliar and John Howard fell for the story put out by Bush. Unfortunately for them I have an opinion on that which we discussed. One thing they did say was that most of their friends felt that Bush would get his own back on Canadians because they have not backed him on a few America-Canadian initiatives. The only thing that may save the retribution is that Bush may have his hands full with the fallout from Katrina. They had nothing but +ve things to say about Clinton and the American people and even had friends in New Orleans who were thankfully safe having left there under their own power but had nevertheless lost everything they did not take with them. A very friendly couple and I had a nice time talking to them.
Iraqi's are in charge. Except, when we don't want them to be.
Well another exciting day in
Iraq with our troops being arrested. Now clearly we don't have all the story but it appears two of our SAS guys tried to run a roadblock and exchanged fire with Iraqi police. They were then arrested and thrown in jail. After several hours of negotiations we decided to go get them and broke them out of jail in an armed assault. They were apparently being held by Shia militia and that's what raised the concerns that led to the raid. This led to a riot where two armoured vehicles were attacked and two protestors killed.
Now it raises some interesting points.
1) Clearly one law for us and one for them as defined by the US military is also covering us.
2) Running the roadblocks and shooting at police is OK if you are on the side of the coalition.
3) Iraqi police and officials are not on the side of the coalition.
4) The situation in South Iraq is escalating.
The news was reporting that the increase in violence meant that we now have to stay longer and increase our presence. Nobody seems to think it is anything to do with our actions. My view, while I can still say it, is that when we invaded, sorry, freed Iraq from Saddam we said that we would only be in until we had set up a new Government and police infrastructure. Here we are several years on, Basra has been relatively peaceful, a Government has been chose, police have been trained and set up. Then we ignore their police and Government, don't keep our promises and do what we want and wonder why they rise up against us.
What a mess and getting messier.
Highway Robbery.
Was on the road again last night. Normally leave at 09:00 on a Monday morning and get there for 10:40 to 11:00 at the worst but wanted to be there for 8:30 today. Remember that it was a Sunday yesterday. Left Chester at 18:30 for an hour and a half drive to Birmingham and got stuck in heavy traffic for over an hour and a half. Arrived in Birmingham at 21:10. What a nightmare. My phone bill will be horrendous as I called loads of different people and got embroiled in a text messaging session that brought to an end a chapter of my life.
Anyway, last night while I was watching the ITV 50th anniversary on the TV I was thinking about my meeting today with politics and hidden agendas and it made me think about the chaos in the UK’s roads.
Take into consideration that the motorist pays car tax every year. He pays tax on the fuel he uses and heavy fines for every time he breaks the law. His input to the treasury cannot be matched by any other single special interest group. On the reverse the investment in roads and roadworks is at it’s lowest in years. This investment is mainly making two lanes one, speed bumps, roundabouts etc. it also covers damage caused by roads in disrepair. I don’t see many new roads unless there is a new building plot around and this causes a reevaluation of the road speeds around that area downwards. Can you imagine the uproar if that was done to any other group? Excluding smokers, of course.
Plus, as an aside, can someone tell me why these road planners have degrees and other higher qualifications. Surely we can have a GCSE in speed bumps. It can't be that difficult. There seems to be very little else required for their toolkit.
Well, the conclusion I came to was simple.
The Government wants to keep spending to a minimum and only releases a fraction of the income from motorists to motoring’s benefit.
The Government also sets targets to local authorities regarding their spend, which includes road spend, and a budget. Any significant road building exercise cannot be met by local authorities and is likely to involve more than one authority anyway.
Local authorities have their own agendas of reducing road speeds and reducing spend on roads.
So we have an agenda of reducing new roads to a minimum. The plan is to leave that to a future Government.
We have an understanding in both Government and local authorities that states we cannot build out way out of trouble from the 1970s. Are we sure?, maybe it needs looking at again.
We have a policy of a fixed budget for road works in an authority. Rightly so, but why so low and none specifically for new roads or real improvements?
We have a policy of planning to lower speed limits across all roads. We need consideration and not just politics on this.
We have politicians spending on pedestrian schemes and pay car parks and calling it road works.
We have the usual bureaucracy inefficiencies wasting money on vote wining areas.
It is about time we had an independent review of the entire motoring area in the UK with no hidden agendas looking at what we can do to improve the plight of the motorist and make more effective use of our money.
I pity those people that have to travel these roads every day. Perhaps when you blow up you shouldn’t take it out on the poor motorist stuck next to you. Think about who really causes these issues and get it out of your system. A really stiff letter or Email to the Department of Transport and your local authority should do it. What you really want to do is go and kick some sense into them instead of some poor guy stuck in the same traffic jam as you but that is currently illegal so it's definitely a non starter.
Bliar gets upset about our bias on Bush. Awww.
Went on to a couple of US blogs where they were talking about the BBC World Service report on Katrina. See
previous. Now there were a few comments on there from US citizens thinking that the report was fair, accurate and reflected a balanced and unbiased report of the situation. So the Americans, who are normally strongly patriotic, don’t have a problem with it. Only Bliar who has not made his feelings public.
Difference in reporting between the US and the UK and not in our favour.
Well, Well, seems like the BBC is up to it's old tricks again.
During Katrina I was jumping back and forward between the BBC and US sites and it was interesting to see the difference. In the UK it was talking about Katrina being the worst in the US and people were pouring out of the city. In the US it was talking about 10K+ dead and horror stories about people drowning, rapes and looting. In the UK the rescue was going well with airlifts and food convoys. In the US it was airlifts being sporadic and pilots told not to pick people up and convoys held outside the city. In the UK it was reported plans were in place and everything was going according to plan. In the US it was there was no viable plan and no leadership to manage the chaos. In the UK the response was being looked at to see how it could be improved and in the US it was calling for Bush and his hand picked minions to be sacked.
I though the UK was being very careful and trying to be impartial but not reporting fully what was going on because it didn't want to be seen as Anti US. Bliar's best pal.
Now there has been comments that the BBC World Services was critical of Bush. Story
here. Although, and this is a good bit, Ex president Bill Clinton said 'nothing factually inaccurate' was in the report but 'it was designed "almost exclusively" to criticise the Bush administration's response to the crisis'. Plus everyone was now Anti US and/or jealous of the US. Now, we all know who selective story telling can flavour a story but in this case it being aligned with most of the US press I am wondering if the writer was not a US citizen or an independent US consultant. Who will likely be sacked or persona non grata once Bliar puts the pressure on.
So bottom line. The BBC we were watching was toeing the line but our World services was reflecting the news from the US. Which one was right I wonder?
It now looks like Bush had saved over nine thousand lives personally. Based on reports of 10K dead initially. Now it appears there are less than a thousand since Bush came in. Go Bush Go! What a great job you are doing.
Follow the rules but not the intent.
Items like
this just go to show how many people feel strongly about the Governments ban on fox hunting. Now, as well as the activists we have legal minds turning their hands to the task and coming up with more radical and legal ideas for bypassing the legislation. Good luck to them. Feel sorry for the birds though. I would expect more of this sort of action for anything that goes through now that is unpopular. Especially when it has to be forced through using a trick designed to help our country pass through really urgent legislation.
American Deployment. If only they spelt correctly.
Been busy today but found this
joke on a previous browsing session and it tickled me so I thought I would share.
A hint of the nightmare to come.
Read about Brown keeping Bliars
legacy. Now, lets hope there is a credible alternative to Nazi Labour in a few years time.
Excuse me. I need to go.
Maybe I'm not thinking right but I don't see what the big deal is about needing to
go. Everyone has been caught short at some time. I have a really boring meeting every Monday where it regularly happens to me. What is the big deal?
UK laws applied in other countries. How does that work then?
This thing we do where we try people in the UK for crimes committed abroad worries me. Things like
this happen. It's hard to look at these things and not think these people deserve it. But, let us look at it in a wider scope. Where is the line drawn. Kiddie Porn? Seems there have been people prosecuted in the UK and jailed for screwing kids abroad. Sounds OK so far. How about possession of ammunition. A jail sentence in the UK. Legal where you are at the time but bring back photos to your friendly neighborhood tittle tattle photo processing system and you never know where it could end up. I'm interested in exploring things like speed limits. Germany has no restrictions in some places. Take your missus there, race along a road, crash and she is killed. Cleared in Germany, return to the UK and go to jail in the UK for dangerous driving? I'll keep my eyes open for more on this sort of thing.
I don't think this is right. Extradite to the country so they can try them but if it's legal there then there is no way you should be allowed to prosecute here in the UK. That, unfortunately, also includes screwing kids abroad. Start of a slippery slope if you allow some things and not others.
Will the killing in Iraq ever end?
What it going on in Iraq. There seems to be no end to
this. I'm not sure that there will be anybody left to appreciate the democracy we have forced upon them, sorry, given them. I hope the survivors think it is worth it. Otherwise we will be having many calls for visits to the International Courts. Should be quite interesting over the next few years as the grateful population look back at all their gains and realise that justice is only a short step away.
One Man's Terrorist...
I like this sort of reporting from the emasculated BBC. Read
here. I must confess I went looking for this after listening to the news, not the BBC by the way. It seems that the UN Security Council, of which the UK and US are members and some of the rest hangers on have accepted Auntie Bliars Terrorist proposal. Other minds, i.e. the rest of the UN can't agree with the wording. Oh Dear! It seems one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. Think Nelson Mandela, the US leaders 200 years ago and others. Saner minds are concerned that these rules will be used to prosecute them in the future and potentially justify invasion and kidnap.
So no real backing on terror until we can define it to everyone's satisfaction. Bet the US will still manage to slip out from under it's rules.
We won something. Let's Party.
You have got to smile when you see our win at
cricket as front page news. Sadly, it is because we are so rubbish at sports that when we win something, anything at all, we have wild parties to celebrate and the incumbent politicians claim the credit and get involved in the publicity.
Of course, you have to ask how we can be so bad. I'm afraid I have no idea. I don't find watching sport to be entertaining at all. I always liked participation sports but now I'm a fat lazy git I have very little interest at all. I spend a little time watching motor sports but only if I am browsing and I certainly don't record it or take time out to do so.
I suppose in this area I'm in the minority. Funny, really because I've always considered myself to be an average guy.
BNP's impounded paperwork.
Just noticed
this in the news. It's interesting on two points.
1) So much for free speech. No known law broken but there may be one so lets impound them. Why didn't they just read one? Oh, I forgot. We are filling our front line with thugs and most of them probably can't read. We are getting used to this sort of thing now and the feeling is that it's only those nasty BNP people who it impacts so who cares? Nobody thinks it will ever be them.
2) I thought the BNP was all to do with Britain. So why were they farming work out to Slovakia? I bet there are a few red faces now. Normally,l nobody knows where these things come from but now it's all public. I'm sure it will be made political capital and will keep us amused for a couple of days.
Fuel Protests.
Seems like the Fuel Protesters are getting up in arms again. It's all because of the
price of fuel in the UK. I've noticed a lot of people queuing to fill up with petrol when it's normally quiet so obviously Joe Average thinks there will be problems too.
Last time they did this everything fell apart and the country was in a right pickle. Then they just stopped. They had the politicians over the coals and then just walked away. Made no sense to me at all. This time, though, the Government will be ready. They will all get arrested for aiding terrorism or something.
I wish them luck but feel they are on a hiding to nothing.
Let's blame the Arabs.
Nearly fell off my chair laughing at this
statement. Now on the face of it a rise at OPEC is an increase for us. No doubt about it. Those greedy OPEC nations. Let's nuke them. Wait a minute! Don't I remember something about the tax on fuel being the main bit. So I went looking and found
this. Tax on Petrol @ 61.1p and Diesel @ 64.3p. How the hell is 70% ish tax OPECs fault. Now if our greedy Government took the increase and ignored their tax increase then Gordon would have lost nothing of his already ridiculous tax and we would not be so bad.
Typical politician. Deflect blame and make himself sound like the good guy. Where is this revolution.... It can't be far away now.
All action but very little planning seems to be the PR game.
Seem that our politicians are doing their bit for some new votes. Read
this article on the UK paying for vaccines for the rest of world.
Now, correct me if I am wrong but taxpayers in the UK will be paying for this. These same taxpayers that can't get ops in the UK because there is not enough money. What about making sure we are OK first? Billions are given to charities by those that can afford it in the UK and a lot of it is wasted. Now make the assumption this is efficient. Don't laugh!, Just give it a thought. Now we end up with another few tens of millions who now can't feed themselves and will have more children. It's been beyond a joke for a few years now what is happening in the world. Plus, this is not the first time our Government is spending our money to make themselves look caring. Surely the point of Government is to take our money to pay for common services as we want. Not to spend as they see fit. Plus, they are borrowing this money. That means that over the next ten years we will still be paying it back.
We either need a good plan to do this sort of work which doesn't involve leaving our own people in the cold and in debt and involves reducing bureaucracy or we should stop these half baked ideas and let them get on with it.
Politicians should not be allowed to get involved with these things. They turn everything into plus points for them. It needs to be an immediate vote winner or it doesn't even start and if you can put off paying for it to someone else in the future, then that is a bonus.
No protesters please. We are British.
Gone are the days when you can peacefully protest in the UK. You have to apply for a permit and the freedom that we once had is disappearing fast.
Gullible public.
Totally worn out today. I had to be up early as I've been to visit my mate in the nick. Amazingly enough not a lot has changed since my last visit. Only thing was I could tell him about my granddaughter which, to be honest, is not all that exciting as something to keep the conversation going.
Only thing I noticed today was in the local rag. A letter from an irate reader. Remember the van that got
blown up. Well, some guy wrote and said it was all his own fault for parking his van and leaving it unattended whilst we were in the midst of a terror threat. He backed the action 100% and said the guy should not get compensation. What kind of country are we living in when ordinary people are so gullible? Published his name and address though. Maybe a phone call to the local Gestapo to report him for wiring his own lights or something will make him have a rethink. Dawn raid, he doesn't sound Muslim, and dragged off for the day. Only problem is though, his name looks familiar.
Anyway I'm off to bed to watch a DVD and get an early night. I'll browse the web tomorrow for some news.
First trip for the baby.
Took my daughter and granddaughter down to Bristol today so my brother and his family could see her. Totally worn out. Up at 05:00 driving till 10:00. Boring baby chats and discussions. Only bit I woke up for was an agency calling about a role which sounds interesting. I'm not actively looking but it's always good to keep you ear to the ground. Followed by another drive to get home by 21:30. I'm falling asleep now.
Too hot for computers.
The weather is so hot it crashed my main server yesterday. So I couldn't do anything and had to use the laptop to connect on-line. Got a couple of fans and an air conditioner running now and it seems to be working OK. Plus, it's a little cooler anyway.
Electricians wanted.
Got round to reading the local paper while waiting for a tape to finish.
I was pretty much the usual unexciting stuff until I came across a reference to the new electrical regulations instituted by our law happy Government. This new law says it is illegal for anyone to perform their own 'significant' electrical work in their own homes. Another way of generating new jobs from the pockets of the people. Now the reason for that is that 10 people die and 750 are seriously injured each year due to incorrectly wired electrics. Ten people, wow! Now, I think that if we are in the business of saving ten lives then I'm sure that there are lots of other areas where a lot more can be saved. Maybe they won't generate so many jobs though or am I being cynical?
DVD Recorders and how High Tech is too much for us.
Now, I don't watch a lot of TV just a couple of shows, Stargate, both SG1 and Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica. Three hours a week top and only in their season. However, I do watch a few films probably about half a dozen a month. The rest of the time we have Kerrang or MTV on depending on who is in for background music. So it was a bit of a surprise when I bought myself one of those snazzy DVD recorders which replaces your video recorder and records all your favourite TV programmes. I'm really impressed with it. For a start it has a 160Gb HD which can store up to 200+ hours of video at it's lowest quality. The default quality is 70+ hours. I've tried recording using all the different quality settings and can't tell the difference. Still leave it on standard as default though. I've spent the last two days transferring my home videos on to DVD. Still lots to go. A very easy process and, to be honest, the straw that broke my resolve of not getting one until they were down below £100. So all and all I'm pleased with my purchase.
Now, one thing I noticed when I was looking at microwaves, that's the reason I was in the shop, and the DVD's, Videos etc. Is that all the high tech goods such as the DVD recorder were from the Far East and the low tech stuff, like the microwave and washing machines were all European. Do we not do any high tech stuff nowadays? It's doesn't look like it. All our jobs nowadays are outsourced and we have become a nation of managers or shop assistants. We don't make anything now. Is surely must be a reflection on us as a people? We used to do this so well. Why are there so few businesses in this area? I just don't understand the logic.
Market forces. Only if the Government allows.
So much for free competition. We in the UK talk a good fight but are crap at implementing sensible laws and rules. We have a Competition commission who investigate things and if companies get too big or powerful without following their rules they get punished. Somerfield has just fell foul of
them. Plus where I live our council won't allow any competition to set up in the town centre so our sole superstore is the only place to buy from.
So much for letting the market decide.
And, as someone pointed out previously, and I love this, Why is there only one Competition commission?
Parents can't look after Kids. Government can though.
Back to the UK for our latest bit on nannying from our Nanny Government. It seems that parents here just can't look after their kids. They are looking at introducing
new legislation, what a surprise, to take over when kids show signs of going off the rails.
This is the same type of legislation where years ago parents were forbidden corporal punishment, smacking to us normal people, and parents were arrested and fined for doing so. Lo and behold the kids went off the rails and then parents were criticised for failing to discipline their kids. I think the theory, from people who don't have kids, was a stern ticking off was all they required. Might be OK when you have CP to fall back on but when the kids knew you were powerless. No chance. I knew kids who were phoning up the hotlines, paid for by us indirectly, and reporting parents because they would not buy them the latest new console or a game.
So now, at the first sign of going off the rails, and what might that be, out with their mates after 21:00 for example?, they get social services to go and persecute the family. Yet some more resources required for our already bloated and inefficient Government machine and it will be next to useless to save any kids.
Remember, this from the Government that put a curfew on an area so kids could not be there if they were under 16 after a certain time and it was overthrown by a judge. Good judge. Crap Government.
I can see the courts having more fun with this one.
Hurricane Katrina hits the US.
Well I want to comment on the tragedy in the US but feel unable to do so. I'm not sure who is going to get the blame but it's more like a slapstick third world country than the one remaining superpower. I don't know where to start. If you are interested there are loads of link from
AmericaBlog to other blogs.
Terrorist. No. He works for the US.
Seems like the US is in a bit of a quandry. This
guy is accussed of terrorism in Venezuela. Only problem is he used to work for the CIA and is now under arrest in the US and being considered for asylum or extradition to face trial. Interesting enough on it's own as a test of the US resolve on terrorism but the twist is that if he is given up by the US Government to be returned to Venezuela to face trial what dirty little secrets may come out at the trial. I'm sure this guy won't keep quiet out of loyalty when he could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment especially if he is handed over by the very people he has secrets of. Should be interesting.
