BBC Radio uses some interesting words.
On my travels today and while I was out I was listening to Radio 1.
There was a newsreader on talking about a couple of topical news items including the terrorist arrests and one comment in particular
regarding that I found very interesting.
She said 'We have to remember that almost all of the previous arrests for terrorism have resulted in no charges at all'.
The first time I have heard a comment like that on the News. And the BBC as well.
Investment to deprived areas.
The Adam Smith Institute has an interesting article which touches on the long term benefits of investments like the Olympic Games. Read
here.
I had just read the same thing myself and was writing this on that when I read the Adam Smith article.
Political Mathematics and English
One of the things I clearly missed out on in school was the course that taught you to manipulate statistics for your own ends. I had to pick that up post school and an interesting time has been had since then.
In addition, I also missed out on the political mathematics which has facts and figures of support for Tony/Labour/Government dropping week on week and yet show that everything is going well and we have the best year yet for the
NHS/Schools etc. And the part that got me thinking today is the the figure is still +
ve. That tells me there is times that the polls must have an upward bias otherwise support for Tony/Labour/Government would be zero. Alternatively they ask about other things where there is clearly +
ve support to keep the statistics up.
I have no doubt it is all around the questions used in these polls. When the polls are released we should also get to see the questions asked but nobody ever does. It brings me back, again, to the Yes, Prime Minster episode with Sir Humphrey explaining to Bernard
Woolley about a poll on National Service where the questions led the person down a particular path.
Anyway, back to the real world and we see Labour is down to it's lowest ever level in a new poll. Blair is doing a good job in destroying the Labour party.
Adoption revisited.
Now I've been thinking about this and having a look around. I'm wondering if this could be Labour shooting themselves badly in the foot. As I've said before when you start on a path, you talk generally and we all tend to agree on what is right and wrong without thinking too much on the implications to ourselves. However, when we get past the easy starters we start treading on ground that is not so safe.
I visited my pals mum before to fix her new DVD Recorder up and she had a visitor there while I was doing this. Being 153 they are getting closer to a one way trip so they are a little religious. They had clearly been talking about this gay adoption thing and neither of them were too happy about it. They made a couple of statements though that stuck in my mind. One way 'This is still a Christian country despite what has been going on' and 'If this was against Muslims
no one would consider doing it' Both true. They were still going on when I left.
So it made me think from a different perspective. What if the Pope excommunicated Tony and Cherie? What if the church removed it's support for the many other charitable works it does with volunteers of conscience? Hell, what if it started to put it's weight and faith against the Labour party? There must be people who are looking at politics from a faith perspective already. And I always thought that these religious people were from across all the parties. Labour isn't exactly way out in front on the polls already. Of course Cameron has thrown his hat in the ring with this one as well in an attempt to push Tony into a corner. Could this reflect badly on him as well?
As an aside and something only someone like me could find funny I was looking though the BBC have your say site and came across this;
'As a lesbian in a long term stable relationship and with two children I thought I'd ask my eldest what he thought of this
HYS - he is 16.
He read the posts and was amazed - 'why do so many people hate gay people ?' he asked. I asked him if he thought he was bullied or had been disadvantage by being bought up with two women he said 'Mum - you and
XXXX are great and anyone who has a problem with it is just showing how ignorant they are' he went on to say if only people were tolerant and
didnt teach their kids to hate people who are different in time there
wouldn't BE any bullying.
By the way he's perfectly straight and starting to find out that girls are rather wonderful'
Now my thoughts ran all over the place. Maybe he would have been gay but was pushed into liking women by his 'moms'. Wonder how he will feel when he has to introduce his two 'moms' to his girlfriend parents? Poor bugger is only 16 and probably still thinks he is going to get a job, have plenty of money to spend and the world is all sweetness and light and those who are tolerant and kind get rewarded. To be honest probably being brought up by two lesbians isn't too bad must be much better than two ex-navies with tattoos. Now that I think a little more I'm coming around to letting lesbians adopt. Think of the experience with women this guy is going to pick up plus he will do all the right things, leave the toilet seat down and tidy up after himself. He will be quite a catch.
Is this Justice?
This guy has been jailed for five years for a car accident in which a guy died. Read
here.
Now I know that a guy died. I know it appears it was the drivers fault but five years for a mistake. One which would likely never happen again.
People who deliberately break the law which leads to someones death don't get five years. Even when it is premeditated. Why is this accidental death
philosophy not applicable to Brazilian people in London?
Is this really justice or just another way of putting fear up the motorist? Drive, get involved in an accident and you too could end up in jail.
What's happening to customer service?
I ordered a
PCI wireless card from
eBuyer a while ago and it was down as in stock, when they failed to deliver it with my order I got a note saying it was out of stock. Which was a pain because it was for my parents. They sent me an
EMail saying they had split my order because of it. I had not heard anything for over a week so I went to see what the problem was.
The item was down as still on order and because they were behind delivery they had generously put me down as next day delivery at my cost though.
They have this system called
eNotes where you get support for your transactions. Of course there was no category for this but there is a general so I sent in my complaint about the delay and additional cost.
Just got an Email in response. They are generously changing the postage rate to free postage. The item has now been discontinued though. So I have an outstanding order for a component that will never be sent but, in their generosity, I have free postage on it.
Whoopie Do
Dah.
As a final rub the item is still available on other sites although it is now an extra 33%.
eBuyer has dropped down my list. And it isn't the only firm I've dealt with over the last year where it's service has gone downhill. What is happening to service nowadays?
It's called multitasking.
It seems that the transport secretary Douglas Alexander has made an announcement. "It's quite simple - it's impossible to do two things at once and do them well". Read
here. It's to do with driving and being on the phone at the same time.
But the problem is it's not true. We do many things at once all the time. There is even a name for it. It's called multitasking. Now I know there are a few jokes around about politicians not being able to chew gum and walk at the same time but I can do that. I can even hold a conversation whilst chewing gum, walking and scratching my bum. Yet still have enough situational awareness to monitor a tasty bit of crumpet. Although my granddaughter has difficulty with walking while concentrating on her toys. Are our politicians really still at that level mentally?
I do believe that when you are thinking about your conversation while driving you do become less attentive to hazards on the road. That's why I end up driving slower where I am on the phone. You can't pay attention to everything at once. It's my normal comment on cascade failures. You can afford a mistake there is enough leeway in that but when another mistake happens you can't compensate. With the phones while your mind shifts gears from the conversation you are having to to emergency situation at hand then time has passed. Time you would normally spend with your foot on the brake.
In reality we continually drive and talk on the phone and nothing happens. Mainly because there is such a wide safety margin nowadays. So this announcement is really another rule in place to try and legislate all risk out of our society. Most of the time we spend driving we are looking out for speed camera's, coppers with radar traps and trying to navigate the many one way streets with road signs, speed bumps and traffic lights all over the place. All, while still keeping an eye out for crumpet walking along the street.
Perhaps he should also consider all the other things we have to put out attention too whilst driving. If he removed all these other distractions from the road, except for the crumpet of course, maybe we could concentrate on safer driving. After all if he believes ' it's impossible to do two things at once and do them well' then perhaps he needs to reduce the part of driving workload that the politicians themselves put in place.
Of course he can't do that because this is one of the cases where he can't do two things at once as it is clear that persecute the motorist off the road is the primary objective.
The Wisdom of Crowds
I've just picked up a book on the 'Wisdom of Crowds'. I'm hoping it explains to me some things I find confusing.
You see I am a believer that groups as a whole do better than individuals. I worked for a company back in the 20th century who liked to demonstrate this sort of things and many common sense items were proven in the process to make me a better manager. Groups are better than individuals was proved to me at that time although we knew it was so prior to that.
Now starting from the stance that I agree a group is better than an individual I'm now finding this view challenged by the facts I've learnt over the last few years. These facts being that Labour have been in power for 10 years and Big Brother seems to be the centre of the universe while millions die around the world.
I think we need to qualify it a bit. Groups of your peers do better than individuals. Groups of people with average or above average IQ's do better than individuals. Mmmm. There must be a way to remove the 22% of people that are really dozy from this.
Maybe I'll find the answer in the book. Better get started then.
Minimum Wage.
I keep on reading about the minimum wage and the upside and downsides of it. Personally I feel that, like everything else in life, there is both upsides and downsides and we all have different opinions on where the balance is on it.
My view, you knew I had one, was that there should be no minimum wage as such. We should let the market decide.
Part of the reasoning behind that is we already have a minimum wage market. It's the dole. Many people find they can't afford to work because they get too many benefits now. All the minimum wage does is changes the values in that equation and change the financial dynamics to the benefit of the state at the detriment of the companies with minimal changes to the people. It's just another PR tax job like green taxes. On average people will not see a benefit from a minimum wage in what they have to live.
Warcraft is just like real life.
My son and daughter seem to be addicted to
Warcraft, similarly a lot of my friends children are the same way.
Today I found out they had both been robbed of all their gold and possessions. Seems
that someone hacking their account transfers their gold to a third party and then sells it on eBay.
Where it is exactly like real life. The people managing the game servers, Blizzard, will not do anything about it. They merely replace some of the items they have.
Yet again hardworking people spending many an hour glued to the keyboard have the fruits of their labour taken away by unscrupulous people and get away with it.
I never really appreciated how much like real life it was even if it has dragons and things in it.
Think of the Children. And this time it is for them.
The decision on whether Catholic adoption agencies will be able to opt out of gay discrimination laws is due next week. Read
here. That will be an interesting time.
My understanding is that at the moment the church provides almost half the adoption service. The people that do so are either working for the Church or volunteers working for the Church. Volunteers of this sort tend to have a high moral code. Our government thinks it can simply make rules up and everybody will just conform to them despite their personal views.
This is the same government that required people to be vetted for school volunteer positions and yet found many just didn't bother.
Personally I am torn over whether a homosexual couple can be good foster parents. It doesn't sound right to me but I could be easily convinced that it is better than being in a home. However one thing I am certain about is that you should not force others to accept something they do not believe in. This is one area where homosexuals do tread with heavy boots and just don't care. They force their views on others and make them be accepted or else.
This case however is the first real test of the governments resolve. If it gives in now then there will be further exceptions in the future. If it doesn't give in then we, the public, better be ready for reading about how poorly our government is doing on this front when it is doing all of it. Of course it will also cost us more money as we will have to pay people to do it. People who have no real interest in it and who will just follow a set of every changing government rules.
The real losers though will be the children. Children who are already losers in life's lottery. They are the ones I feel sorry for.
Reviewing policy.
This article says that the Police are rethinking Stop and Search. Read
here.
The part I found interesting is that although they are clearly going to be reviewing the policy of Stop and Search I think the use of the word 'rethinking' implies that thought went into it in the first place.
I'm not so sure of that. Even worse I suspect that whatever they put in place will likely be no better as it is being 'reviewed' by the same people.
At least they were going on something
identifiable before. What can they replace that with? A toss of a coin?
More congestion charges.
As expected some of the councils outside London are looking at charging the motorist for the cheek of using the roads into work. Read
here about Manchester's plans. It's an easy target and one that does not require them to really do any planning or investment in anything bar payment machines.
To really cut congestion we need to reduce he number of people on the roads. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to reduce the number of firms in their area or provide decent public transport systems.
It is clear that in reality no one can provide the transport systems that the public really wants. Many people travel significant distances to get to work and public transport will never fulfill their requirements especially for somewhere like Manchester where they travel from all over the north to get to. The others are already using public transport, car sharing or whatever where they can to get out of the traffic queues and reduce costs.
We can't reduce the number of firms either as that would reduce the income on rates etc. and discourage people from locating to these places. They still want growth. They still encourage firms to move in by building industrial parks etc but, yet again, fail to build the infrastructure to support it while they throw up a few buildings.
So all they do is extort more money from the motorist under the pretence of doing something about congestion. This ups the cost of transport for all. Some now will find it cheaper by bus or rail and start using that and some will just not go in at all especially if they are just shoppers.
Of course a few firms will lose customers and employees but that's not a problem. Your rates are not based on profit or employees.
So a win for the councils. Traffic down, income up and they can pretend they have done something positive. It's surprising it has taken so long after London started the trend.
There is nothing like good planning. And this is nothing like good planning.
It seems to me that a project that is already over budget and getting worse and with fixed timescales is the worse place you should be trying any bleeding edge processes and technology. Processes and technology that are hardly even proven and with few proven benefits in the real world.
But why should that stop our Olympic chums. Read
here.
It's not their money and there is always more.
And we thought the NHS was bad.
This poor guy had his penis cut off during his operation. Read
here. Nope, it didn't start off as a sex change operation either
although it ended half way there.
Now the two bits that made me smile was that with the compensation he is going to have one made from parts of his arm. he said "if I am even a quarter of the man I was, I will still be very content". The part I smiled about was that his penis was cut into three. So using his old organ he could have been 1/3 of the man he was. Wouldn't that have been better?
In addition, the court has decided that the doctor should pay the costs himself and not the insurance company. Other doctors are saying it sets a dangerous precedent because doctors may refuse to carry out operations for fear of making a mistake. Well my view is this is hardly a mistake and needs to have a slightly different punishment to discourage more of the same. A mistake is just that a slip, OK it could be down to
carelessness but cutting a penis off and then cutting it into bits can hardly fit in the same
category as a slip of the hand. If he never works again as a surgeon because he is scared of making the same 'mistake' then that is fine. I bet if his patients knew his history they would be slightly concerned about being out with him slicing away on them whilst they slept.
Some more online tests.
I don't know why I always have the urge to have a go at these everytime I see one on a site.
My Aristocratic TitleAre you addicted to the Internet?
Average@Internet-User.com (41% - 60%)
You seem to have a healthy balance in your life when it comes to the internet and life away from the computer. You know enough to do what you want online without looking like an idiot (most of the time). You even have your own Yahoo club or online journal! But you enjoy seeing your friends and going out to enjoy life away from your computer.
The Quiz at Quiz Meme!
|
How selfish are you?| You Are 67% Selfish |
You put your own needs first, figuring if you don't take care of yourself, who will?
While this is a good philosophy to have, it wouldn't hurt you to be a tad more giving. |
My inner European| Your Inner European is French! |
Smart and sophisticated.
You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so. |
The Meta-ethical Theories Test
Intuitionist
You scored 85 Objectivism, 31 Naturalism, and 65 Cognitivism!
Many judges and much of the legal system is Intuitionist (as far as it goes, philosophically) in outlook to some degree. "Ethical intuitionism is usually understood as a meta-ethical theory that embraces the following theses: Moral realism, the view that there are objective facts about value, Ethical non-naturalism, the view that these evaluative facts cannot be reduced to natural facts, and The thesis that we sometimes have intuitive awareness of value, or intuitive knowledge of evaluative facts, which forms the foundation of our ethical knowledge."
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 99% on Objectivism
You scored higher than 99% on Naturalism
You scored higher than 99% on Cognitivism
Link: The Meta-ethical Theories Test written by jacostyle on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test
Hung by their own petard.
It seems that the Police had to hack into the No10 systems to get some information. Read
here.
Of course this lack of cooperation and the details they found lead to the cover up charges. But the bit I thought was best is that with the call to the
ISP to collect the Email records it seems that the legislation put in place by our government, which many claimed were invading privacy and our government could not have cared less, could be used to charge them.
They are also complaining about the abused of police powers in the arrest of Ruth Turner. These being the same powers that are not good enough when it comes to arresting other
members of the public and need to be expanded.
I'm laughing my socks off.
Sins of the fathers.
I was reading this article about Germany wanting to make Holocaust denial a criminal offence across the EU. Read
here.
Although I don't agree with it on the principle of free speech and things should be open for discussion. In fact everything needs to be able to be questioned to ensure the facts are right. People should be able to have their own views on things. Right or wrong that is what makes discussions interesting and we already have enough with this PC world that we can's say or do.
Anyway, I thought that in this wonderful EU where we are all subject to extradition and where in reality a blog read in Germany could lead to the extradition of someone from the UK to Germany and prosecution a EU wide ban would just be the Germans way of getting us to pay for the cost of prosecution. Making us pay for their views. In reality this sound very much like the principle of the EU but I digress.
Either way, they should stop exporting their guilt trip on the rest of us. If fact, they should revoked this crime in Germany and stop apologising for the crimes of their fathers.
Exactly the same as everyone should do for all our historical crimes. Slavery, the crusades, the list in endless for all those wanting to tap into our guilt. It's what we do now, ourselves that counts not what a distant relative did which was actually legal when he did it. Screw them all.
Roof repair day. Postponed.
Well, even though it was only a small hole in my roof, about 4' by 1', I went down to get the bits to fix it over the weekend. No such luck, the shop was the busiest I had ever seen it and they had to order my bits anyway. Seems I have a non standard garage roof. £55 and delivery on Monday. They will call me so I can pick it up. I bought some DPM (Whatever that is; I heard someone saying Damp so I'm guessing it is Damp Proofing Membrane, took me two hours to think of that) and threw it over the roof to keep the rain out. It was of course raining when I put it up. Locked down, *cough*, at either end with some bags of peat and sand.
If the weather is going to be like this more often.
1) I'll buy shares in B&Q and other home improvement places.
2) I'll get one of those wind turbines.
3) I'll buy myself a 4x4 and encourage everyone else to do so.
On the other hand.
1) The shares will fall through the floor when you have to pay tax on every home improvement.
2) It'll blow down on top of me and kill me and my entire family after failing to provide enough power to run my works laptop.
3) I'll pay a fortune in road tax even though I don't drive much.
Oh well. Back to the drawing board.
As an aside. The project I'm doing at work has been cancelled. The temporary solution I put in is so good that they don't want the full solution. It was only 5% of the cost as well. It's a long story. So I'll be back doing boring things for a while at this time of year. Budget's don't get approved until April so this is a quiet period. I should take advantage and get a new job. Everybody else seems to be. Last time I was going to do it I sent my CV to about three people. Got a couple of interviews and then I lost interest because I had a new project. If I decide to do anything I won't be looking anywhere near London though.
Someone is in for a shock soon.
From
Jade's perfume being removed and Danielle Lloyd losing out on a modelling contract Read
here. I'm sure that stays in the Big Brother house for celebrities will be a lot more boring from now on.
At least on the outside you make a mistake, get shouted at and can fix it these people are allowed to dig themselves a really deep hole before they are even aware that there is an issue. I understand viewing figures are way up. Channel 4 are making a fortune from the destruction of these idiots careers.
I've still not seen the show though. Not enough space ships or guns.
Why is life so unfair?
I don't watch a lot of telly but I know about the Big Brother racism issue. Which everybody seems to be talking about.
But, what is undoubtedly much worse. Something I find really hard to believe, something I think is totally unfair. It's just unbelievable. Really, genuinely unbelievable.
Jade Goody is worth
£8M.
I'm leaning towards wind power today.
With the winds blowing around my house I think one of those little turbine things at B&Q could power the whole of our street today. It's blown a bit of the roof off my garage although the main roof is still on and somebody close to me has a greenhouse frame but no glass as the wind seems to have demolished it.
It's showing no signs of abating either. I hope it doesn't rain tonight on my weekend will revolve around taking everything out the garage to dry.
2007 should be an interesting year.
Well, well. It seems that things are happening all over the place.
The free and unfettered movement of people is becoming an issue even internally for a few countries. Read
here about china and
Hong Kong residency issues. If they can't even manage it correctly then what hope have we who have to consider criminals and those just out to abuse the system. Our immigration policy is useless to the requirements we now have.
Then it appears that we are starting to consider if all this free trade stuff is a good thing. Read
here. A question asked by many people who have had jobs exported in the name of profit. It's a hot topic that can only get hotter with the relocation of companies to escape our tax black hole. The bills have to be paid but there are fewer who can pay.
We also have the situation where there is a real chance that the UK could be split up due to the inept manipulation of the situation by our beloved leaders. I reality they have bought politicians in Scotland by providing them a subsidy of £30
pw each and now the people paying that are fed up of the manipulation. Something will have to be done and whatever it is it will be to the detriment of the Labour party.
Iraq seems to be falling from the papers even though it still seems to be getting worse. Although now
Saddams gone there is not much to talk about. The public sees just a bunch of Arabs killing each other and anyone that gets in the way again but our troops are coming out so who cares? The fiasco of the way we treat the armed forces is already forgotten by many of the public.
The terrorism issue also seems to be falling in prominence. All the proposals to restrict our freedoms and make us subservient to the state are all 2006. There are other things to worry about now. It's almost like it's over and relegated to history even though the process continues in Whitehall.
The corruption issues seem to be coming back with a vengeance. The Tanzanian issue as well as the
BAESystems one. Blair's excuses seem to be kicked into touch almost as soon as they are out in the open. Although I have not heard about the loans for peerages for a while I have no doubt that things are progressing. But the Tanzanian and
BAESystem issues have the capability to make it difficult for him around the world. The loans issue being UK internal issue.
The fiasco's that are the civil service. The
NHS,
DWP, Home Office's daily problems which we hear of are only the ones that are significant. How many lives are put into turmoil because of the inefficiencies in the civil service. Nobody has a good word to say about anyone in the management of these areas and it is starting to trickle down to the front line. The Police for one are held in low regard by a lot of citizens as they are seen as enforcers for the State and not on the side of the citizen. Not good news.
Interest rates and inflation have gone up. The economy is stagnating and many have overstretched themselves with debt. First homes are out of the reach of many people yet we have practically ceased building houses to cater for our growing population. Yet, when we do build them we don't put in the infrastructure and end up with hosepipe bans which are still in place during January. Shortsighted is too mild a word.
My particular favourite hate is the lies. The whole bunch come out with so many lies that nobody in the
MSM picks up on and are repeated time after time and yet everybody knows they are false. It's almost like they get no feedback at all from any source. The belief that if you repeat a lie enough times seems to be one of their core beliefs. It's so bad that when they do tell the truth nobody will believe them. Assuming of course they tell the truth at some point.
Finally, the politics of envy seems to be coming to a rapid crunch time. The people who form the majority are finding that their income has been reduced by this government despite the much publicised welfare payments and they are actually worse off in real terms. Now they are all scrabbling around trying to offset their bills on those who they consider are better off than then, and can therefore afford it, such as the people who own 'Gas guzzlers' or fly all under the excuse of 'It's for the Planet'. Only the politicians, the civil servants and the long term unemployed are better off under this system. In reality all the same bunch of idle slackers just screwing around abusing the system.
It's all coming to the boil all at the same time at home and people are turning their
attention away from external issues to things that hurt them personally. The longer Blair holds on so he can retire with something as his legacy the more likely it will just melt down right in front of him. He already has several items that will be his legacy. I can't think of one good one though.
Thinking about it, there are so many things that could be his legacy that I have no idea in reality what will be the one main thing he will have attached to his name. The jury is still out and we won't really know until he has gone. Jeez, he may even throw in some other item before he goes.
From day one they have played with peoples fear, hate and greed and made our entire society worse for it. We are now at the stage where we look upon with suspicion everyone we don't know. They could be a terrorist, a pedophile, a welfare cheat, a smoker in fact anything and we need to stop them. In fact stop them before they do anything. Let's put everybody on a control order who may do anything according to the government. If it even saves one life it will be worth it. What a philosophy to run a society on.
Whatever happens it looks like 2007 is going to be a good year. One that will see closure on a few outstanding issues and hopefully a new way forward.
They got something right. Only the one thing mind.
It seems that in their way of targeting kerb crawlers in a bid to cut down on the prostitution issue Scotland intends to revoke driving licenses and increase fines to £1000. Read
here.
Now in my view anything that drives this underground will only lead to more of what happened in Ipswich it will also make people too scared of going out where they might get caught and start looking for it closer to home. Perhaps among those that don't want to partake leading to a rise in rapes. In addition the prostitutes will have to change their ways to get the punters making it riskier for them. Nice to see that they don't mind a few losses while they force their morals on others.
Now they did get one thing right. They said "Prostitution is a complex and long-standing problem which cannot be resolved overnight. Legislation alone will not eliminate street prostitution."
Which they then proceeded to legislate on as is typical for politicians.
Public votes to pass their bills on to someone else.
Well it seems the public support the councils scheme to charge more for parking permits on 'gas guzzlers'. Read
here. What a surprise. Of course it costs more to have a parking space for a Jag than it does a Ford so it's only right. Oh wait a minute?
It's just a way of offloading some of their costs on to others. They make savings while the owners of the 'Gas guzzlers' have to pay up to three times the cost of a standard car. That is a council standard car by the way which probably equates to a tricycle. The bands are on a sliding scale.
Can't wait until this
precedent is transferred to other things and then the people with two cars are next on the list and on the highest bands. Then when it is based on emissions from
MoTs rather than manufacturers figures. That will get the costs back to the general public.
Jeez, If I was
NCP or one of the big Car Park franchises I would be on this like politicians on a new quango. Start charging for each car based on it's emissions. Let's face it most of these people have to go to work and have no choice. It's for the planet you know. Now what are
NCP shares trading at now?
The council are playing them like fools and like the
sheeple all over the country they listen to this
propaganda and think we must do something. Let's force the people who have whatever. They are selfish. Until it hits them.
How much is going to be ripped off the public in green taxes before it hits home there is nothing they can do?
Iraqis PR not having the effect they want.
It seems that the Iraqis have been learning from the wrong people. Every PR
exercise they do ends in a cock up. It is true they are at the start of a new chapter in their history but trying to fit in with Western ideas while sticking to the middle eastern history is creating a bit of a problem. Even the little comments meant to belittle the executed men seems to be a desperate attempt at digging the knife in one last time. Read
here.
The article says that '
Barzan and
al-
Bandar were shaking with fear as they approached the gallows'. Now,
that's what someone said about Saddam but when the video was shown it was an entirely different matter. Regardless, they were about to participate in their own execution. No matter how much faith you have it must be frightening. Just a few words to belittle their enemies.
Then there was the miscalculation, or probably no calculation, to get the drop right which led to the beheading. Clearly they had no interest at all in this. As long as the guy was dropping it was OK. They clearly would have been happy with him swinging in the noose strangling. After all he deserved it.
Finally, the most curious bit. One of the officials on seeing
Barzan prepared and then the drop thought he had escaped. "I thought the convict
Barzan Ibrahim
al-
Tikriti had escaped the noose. I shouted that he's escaped the noose". Sounds like a kid deprived of his toy.
It's these things that make me convinced that all we have done is taken the country from a tyrant and given it to a bunch of savages where it will degenerate more and more into chaos until another Saddam comes along.
With nothing to contradict the official video we have been told everything went according to Iraqi and Islamic standards. To be honest i believe
Saddam's also followed those rules. Ending up dead seems to be the standard so we can all agree that it did. Taunts and telling them what is going on off camera is an added extra.
All in all another cock up from a country that has many more to come. These won't be the last hangings but they are the ones that are publicised worldwide. Think of the atrocities that will be taking place in the name of justice in the new democratic country of Iraq from now on.
And these executions must be a real boon to the prosecution on the other cases. As the main participants get wiped out one by one it's only be the poor boy making the tea who can be tried for the Iraq/Iran war. And of course no one to speak out about the Wests involvement.
An old scammer with a new technique.
Let's do what we can to out these guys.
An
article on Iain Dale's blog that should raise a smile.
Tories get settled in with the big government ideas.
Looks like the Tories are really getting into this big government and taxation in a big way. They have grasped the nettle and decided that more is better and it's the way forward. One of their advisory group has come out with a new way to tax via permits for fatty foods and alcohol. Read
here.
They are of course proposing this as part of a programme called Social
Responsibility. It is
supposed to be so that suppliers can be made accountable for the impact of
their products on society.
The bit I found hilarious was that companies that act responsibly could be rewarded by having less government regulation. If you believe that you will believe anything. It will be another
bureaucratic process put in place to extract the maximum from the suppliers who will have to pass it on as higher prices. They will still sell the same things, we will still get fatter and the government gets more loot in another stealth tax.
It's worse than Sweden. I know they have high taxes but at least they are educating their kids and have several programmes going where some of the money gets back to the public. In the UK it just seems to go in a black hole funding
bureaucrats.
Working towards Utopia.
Well seems like Blair is working towards his Utopia of having children tagged before they are born.
This stage is having people subject to
ASBOs because of something they might do. Read
here. These behaviour
ASBOs will restrict who they can see, when they can be out and about and where they life. All because they tick the right boxes for problems later in life.
How can this sort of tool be available in what is
supposed to be a Justice system? You can be sure it won't be used on Jack Straw's son and his children or any from our social elite. It'll be reserved for the common people.
The other Iraqi's have been executed.
Everything went smoothly this time. By that we mean that there were no videos to contradict the official version of events. Read
here.
Although one was decapitated. Sounds like it is still a bit
amateurish. I remember reading some stuff on
Pierrepoint where he weighed the person and made the rope just right for a kill. This lot make it look like a wild west lynching with a bit of rope, from an oil tanker by the looks of it, and a drop.
Everything is so slow today.
Despite the server and the SAN both having
Gibabit NW connections and being directly connected into the same
Gigabit switch it is taking forever to copy my data. Because I had them in so many different folders I have to copy them a folder at a time. Nearly finished but it's taken a long time and I've been sorting out the front room where the servers are while I have been waiting.
I didn't realise how much kit I had kept. I've got computer cases, boards, memory,
HDAs. Old drivers for obscure bits of kit. Old documents with programs written in COBOL and FORTRAN and old VAX Assembler code. I'm just going to throw it all out. I should just get a skip but a few trips to the tip over the next few weeks should do it. Then I'll have a nice empty room I'll need to decorate.
Anybody interested in a DEC
MicroVAX 3100? I've got 12 of them. I'm going to throw them out while I still can without being arrested by the council.
Progress on the Home Networking.
Well, built my SAN last night and configured it. Had to wait for the Raid build to complete. Just checked it built OK and now started the data copy.
I'm using a
Thecus N2100 Yes box. I installed two
SATA 500
Gb Samsung disks and set them up as Raid 1. Which just means they are shadowing each other. So if there is a single
HD failure no data is lost and the server continues to serve data. Of course you must continue to do regular backups and replace any faulty disks as soon as possible because if the other disk goes it's back to loading from backup.
This one allows me to install a backup drive on
USB and make backups that way which is much quicker and easier than backup to 25 DVDs.
It's a superb system and has many additional features besides just file sharing which is the main use I will put it to. It also acts as HTTP/FTP server and can serve
iTunes files and a Photo Album. It also allows backup via
USB disk. The HTTP/FTP and Photo album I will be looking at over the next few months.
One niggle. Only a minor one but it really makes me mad. The initial installation requires a Windows PC and the installation of a utility and the MS .Net then the activation of
ActiveX and javascript. It's that or you can't get into the system. Once you have performed the initial configuration then you discover that you could have bypassed the installation but too late now. .NET is on my system. Then to manage it beyond the initial configuration you
need to use a feature rich browser as well although this one does not have to be on Windows. Just a minor issue and it won't impact 95% of those out there but it is annoying.
Nevertheless, this is the first stage in my complete refresh and this item is an exceptional bit of kit ideal for my plans.
Now it's Googles fault.
This
article described how images from Google earth have been found during raids on insurgents. There is talk of suing Google over it in the article.
I noticed one thing though. All the items they captured were on paper or computer disks. Stopping Google earth wouldn't stop them. We need to ban all paper and computer production now. We will have an amnesty where people can turn in all the paper they have or computer equipments. That will stop all these attacks. Won't it. It's worth a try. if it even saves one life it will be worth it.
What no one admits is that attacks have been taking place for centuries. Long before Google Earth. Of course terrorists are going to use the latest technology to aid them in their tasks but unless we are going to reverse progress for the past 2,000 years we will always have something they can use from the inventions. Almost everything can be used for good or bad things. Of course with the green agenda and the Islamics taking over the world we will be back 2,000 years ago before you know it anyway.
I seem to remember that during WWI and WWII we had nets we put up in our army bases in hostile territory to stop people in planes seeing what is going on. Don't we have any left or have we sold them on? I've got a couple, but not enough for Basra, Sorry.
Finally, Google earth can show cars etc but some are up to two years old. Mortars are fired from four miles away and are not accurate to a couple of feet at that distance especially from setup. It seems to me that this has been blown out of all proportion.
If only Google was Iranian we could blow up their HQ. Now how did we solve mortar attacks in WWII? Did we have paper and maps then?
Chaos is all that will remain with the latest US actions.
Looking at what Bush has been doing over the last few days. It doesn't really make sense. Not if looked at from a rational viewpoint anyway.
1) He has sent another 21K troops into Iraq. With the covering statement that these will be the last and if it isn't sorted we will look at pulling out.
What is he expecting? (In Iraqi accent) 'OK guys let's just pack up and start to rebuild our lives and societies.'
Mmmm, maybe not. (In Iraqi accent) 'One last push and the infidels will all be gone.' And going door to door what sort of plan is that? It's much, much too late for hearts and minds. Is he trying to set them up so that casualties increase exponentially?
2) He is deliberately pushing the Iranians by talking against them and arresting their people. I suspect so that they will retaliate and he can then rush in and attack them under the pretext of self defence. Arresting Iranians there under the request of Iraq, a sovereign nation (theoretically a sovereign nation anyway). Unfortunately for him I don't see the Iranians doing what he wants. Although I have no doubt they have well laid plans for an attack on the US and the other dozy
CoWs. I can't see these little niggles pushing them to push their go buttons but I don't really understand the Arab mind so maybe it will.
He knows he is on his way out. His policies unfulfilled although his pockets full. A term served almost totally at War. The US reputation in tatters and the world a lot worse off. Hell, even his poodle has turned away from him. Takes a lot for your faithful dog to leave you. He wants to ensure the middle east is in total turmoil while he can still influence it. Relying on anything he does being subject to a pardon if it becomes necessary. Of course he can no longer rely on dodgy dossiers or intercepted documents and talking the US people into starting a war against Iran and Syria. He needs them to do something he can retaliate against as his excuse. That is why his two
CBGs are there really to go. To blow Iran and Syria into the Jurassic age while America sleeps. It's all be over and a war started before they wake up and can do anything about it.
Even if that does not happen because the Iranians and Syrians take the flak now and merely protest diplomatically. Damaging the US position even further. None of these actions will change the situation in the middle east. It's either going to get worse or pretty much the same.
The funny part was he has totally ignore the report from the
ISG. Unless he misunderstood. He read 'engage Iran and Syria to help rebuild Iraq' and in his brain he though engage meant attack. Maybe I am too kind. He must have been really miffed that there was nothing in the report he could use to justify attacking Iran or Syria. I wonder if he got his money back?
Never mind. Only two years to go before the new elections. Fingers crossed we make it. At least term limits mean that it won't be Bush no matter what.
I love these understatements.
In my browsing over the last couple of days. I came across the web site I linked to before on
Liberty and Equality. Quiet at work waiting for deliveries etc.
Anyway went back for a good look around. And found he also has a
Cop Column.
In it was this statement in an
article on Serial Killers.
"One murderer killed two women and kept their body parts in his home for eight years. He made masks from their heads and drums and seat covers from their skins. Earlier he had exhumed the bodies of eight elderly women from their graves and performed similar
mutilative acts on their bodies.
One doesn't want to be judgmental, but this fellow sounds as if he had a problem."
Serious subject but you have to smile.
Changing the rules. A dispicable tactic.
One of the things that really
gets my blood pressure up is this governments way of changing the rules and back dating them to suit their knee jerk planning. It seems to be a frequently used tool to combat people that actually understand what is going on and bypass their crap legislation.
Here is another instance where innocent lives will be ruined because people followed the rules set down by
HMG and yet when it gets down to
HMG delivering the rules are changed to their detriment.
In this particular case, via
Spiked, I read about a group of highly skilled immigrants who have been screwed by our wonderful bunch probably because of the latest media hysteria about immigration. I've added the
HSMP campaign website to my sidebar.
Another disgrace in my name. What a bunch in Westminster. It's the continued
existence of these people that are actually showing me there is no God. If there was they would all be popping their clogs in some suitable poetic way.
Busy weekend planned.
Just got my SAN and the
HDAs. I'll build it tonight and start the copy of 0.5Tb of pictures, videos and documents.
When that is done I'll disassemble my servers. It seems this unit uses the power of half a PC. So in one fell swoop I'm reducing my carbon
emissions by a factor of 6.
Whoopie do
dah! How green is that?
Mmmmm. I'm thinking of packing it away and then bringing it out when it becomes law to reduce your carbon
emissions. Then I can do it a server at a time and have some
guaranteed wins.
Only joking........ but it sounds such a good plan.
Insurance fraud. Adding to Car Costs.
Car insurance fraud. It's not new and will be around for a few years longer. Until we are taxed off the roads anyway but I noticed one thing in the
article.
The Insurance Fraud Bureau (
IFB), says that bogus and inflated claims like those from deliberate accidents cost more than £1.5 billion a year. They say this adds five per cent to premiums.
Mmmmm. 5% isn't that the same amount the government extorts from us as another tax on insurance premiums. At least the fraudsters have to do some work for their cut.
Liberty and Equality for Some.
An interesting
article from the US. Until it started about Federal this and Federal that I thought is was from the UK although I should have known straight away from the title. Nice to see they are also fiddling the figures to meet
artificial agendas in the US as well.
All these foreign crimes. What are they?
Reading this
article where it goes on about Britons tried abroad for crimes and going on the
PNC back here.
Now I don't have a problem with convicted criminals being recorded but I do have a problem with what foreigners class as criminal activity. You read so much about justice in foreign countries. For
arguments sake would you agree that
this 17 year old should be on the sex offenders register for his crime in the US? If not then how is it OK for us to automatically process convictions from abroad?
In addition the list for the 27,529 cases mentioned in the article is;
25 rapes
3 attempted rapes
29 paedophiles
17 other sex offenders
5 murders
9 attempted murders
13 manslaughter convictions
29 robberies
Total of 130. 130 out of 27,259. That is less than 0.05%. What were the other cases for? Other articles refer to 260 serious crimes. Why the difference? What are the remaining 27, 129 cases? Speeding, Parking? Does that mean these people get some points added to their license? They can't fine them or these would have been processed a long time ago.
A whole new area of concern for the public and again mismanaged by the government.
Superhero in Tyneside.
Seems the Police were aided by a real live vigilante in Tyneside. Read
here.
Now the question is do they want to thank him or arrest him? Somehow, I think I know the answer to that question.
Pot meet Kettle.
You have just got to laugh.
Read
here about Fatah accusing Hamas of being "murderers and thieves"
Oh! Wait! I really meant.....
Better be thinking of something else Tony.......
Read
here about how his latest
excusereason for giving peerages for loans has been negated.
I can see it now. 'Mr Yates, It was the Press. They got me all flustered when I said it was for party reasons....'
'The real reason was ..............'
I can hardly wait.
It's all right folks. Don't worry. It's under control.
We are going to have another enquiry within the Home Office over the latest blunder. Read
here.
That's it story over, go back to bed, let's just leave the professionals to deal with it.
Ryanair's CEO makes a good statement.
Michael O'Leary, Ryanairs CEO has spoken out about our beloved governments green agenda. Read
here.
If only a few more CEOs did the same. Looks like they may be starting too. Read
here. However, like everyone else in the UK they are probably just keeping their head down and getting on with life. Ryanair was specifically pointed out last week as an irresponsible company.
Should be interesting if someone who has to defend decisions everyday gets to have a debate with someone who usually talks from what others sit on.
Now it's really getting complicated.
First of all it was easy. Everyone wanted to stop people killing them. So they came out with a plan that said murder was bad, people that did it were caught, tried and punished. That worked OK as everybody wanted to live.
Then of course we extended it to stealing, screwing our wives/husbands etc. Again, that wasn't too bad because although we all wanted to do it we didn't want it happening to us more.
Of course when all this is done we then get to the ones where we don't all agree. When a few people want to do something but most do not. We produce laws that stop these people doing things based on the will of the majority. Some times with reason but most times just because we don't like it.
Now we are at the point where the rules that say we can't do something that most of us want to do but can't because of the PC world we live in and the will of the vocal minority. Read about rights of people you don't necessarily agree with being forced upon you
here.
At this stage we have probably legislated all the common laws we can. We are now moving on to the ones where we are treading on individual rights to meet someone else's wants. Foxhunting, Guns, Cars, Gay Rights, Muslim rights, Green issues, etc. We are forced by the state to give up our rights to meet rights that have been deemed to supersede ours by a group trying to engineer society around an artificial and unrealistic view.
If it isn't supported by the public then it will never work. A few will fall foul of the law and a few will force others to follow the law. But the law works in ways that contradict itself. People find ways around these badly thought out laws and all it does is create extra costs for working out these ways.
Will we ever stop tweaking and adjusting a complete society for a vocal and well organised minority? I'm thinking of turning Gay to get a few rights back. I can't do anything about being of colour or foreign so it's the only way to go.
A Libertarian Purity Test.
A new test this time for your Libertarian Purity.
See my results
here.
And now the next stage in our persecution.
Smoking at home. Read
here.
Baaaaad.... Must be stopped. Won't be long before you have to go to out of the way buildings with special extractors and very expensive filters just to have a smoke.
Wonder how we will make up the shortfall in tax from cancer sticks? I'm sure someone is thinking about it for both cigarettes and booze. One will follow the other as sure as night follows day.
Don't think for a minute it will stop there either. Don't forget food and driving issues. Food will be next with driving not so far behind.
I really don't understand Arab logic.
When I say I, I really mean the West do not understand Arab logic. Clearly the way things are going our wonderful leaders and most of the people speaking out about the Middle East do not. Western logic does not seem to make any sense of what is going on out there. Every time I think something starts to make sense something comes along and changes it like this video.
Here is a clip, via
HotAir, between two Iraqi's heatedly arguing about Saddam Hussein. Unfortunately the player is crap and keeps on stopping for buffering. Watch it
here for an eye opener.
The bit that puts it in perspective is the guy defending Saddam had his brother, his brother in law and other relatives all killed by Saddam. He is saying prayers for the martyred Saddam and singing his praises. Threatening the other guy, who's history is dubious, with death for speaking badly of Saddam.
Make some sort of sense from that if you can.
Now if even a fraction of the people in Iraq are like this guy no wonder we are having such a tough time. Bearing in mind most Iraqi's would not have had involvement with the police and Saddam personally and thus all they will remember is the UN blockades and the wars. We meddle in things we don't understand at our peril. Sorry, our leaders meddle in things they don't understand at our peril.
And it's not just Arab logic. Read
here about the new Saddam's. It's spreading.
I bet he is relieved to have the charges dropped.
Or maybe not. The Iraqi's decide not to charge Saddam in their camel court. Read
here. Still it saves him having to give evidence in the defence.
What is all the fuss about Ruth Kelly?
Reading all the articles about Ruth
Kelly today. Read one
here.
I only have one question. What is the issue?
A Labour politician is promoting something for the public she won't do personally. A hypocrite. What's new? She isn't the first and won't be the last.
Joined up thinking.
No wonder the kids are getting a poor education from this lot.
On the front page of the BBC News site.
The government is looking at performing more tests on kids. Read
here. While at the same time a think tank is recommending that tests should be replaced and some tests should be optional. Read
here. All sticking plaster goody goody solutions. None of these is probably a real solution to the problem but now the education system is so weighed down with sticking plasters that it is bedridden.
Now I fail to understand how you can take a system that was not perfect yet had been working reasonably well for decades and turn it into the mess it is now with all these PC and gently gently education policies in so short a time. So now no one is public education gets a good service. Schools no longer prepare anyone for the real world and qualifications are looked upon with suspicion. Advisers are advising and our all knowing government does what it thinks best.
I'm beyond the stage where this is just ineptitude on behalf of our all controlling government. This, coupled with everything else that is going on, looks like a managed and coordinated attack on the UK. Nobody could do so much damage in so short a time accidentally or through general stupidity. I know it looks paranoid and leans towards a conspiracy but what else explains it?
Another farce trial in new enlightened Iraq.
Seems like the trials are set to continue. A bit like the Nuremberg trials although without the justice side of it. Read
here.
Isn't it interesting that the main culprit and, ironically, the only person who would have any real defence besides I'm only obeying orders is dead. How can we hope to get the full story and any chance of a real trial for the remaining
accused when we only really have the evidence from the prosecution.
If you ever had any doubts about justice in Iraq then surely this must show the truth.
More security is less security.
Jeez. I've just ordered my SAN and a terabyte of storage. Threw in a couple of 2
Gb USB sticks as well as for £15 they are quite handy. Bought them from
Scan who I have used for quite a few years starting back in the early 90s when they were a lot smaller. They have always been helpful, offer good service, a good range and at reasonable prices. Firms like this deserve to prosper.
So picked all my bits. Total £500 which was less than I expected. Went into the paying bit then I seen interest free for 9 months so I though why not. The question was answered when I got to the finance sight when I had to give information that I had no idea about. I don't know when I moved in to my house, nor do I know the postcode for my employers. Maybe I should but I gave up in the end. Went back and tried again. Had to pick everything up again in the basket but there were only four items so it wasn't a big deal. This time gave the interest free a miss. Then I came to the card protection bit and surprise surprise I had to create a new account for my card with the card provider. No PIN, they wanted a new password which I had to create on line. So I have yet another password to remember.
No wonder so many people use the same passwords for all the accounts or write their passwords down. With each company having different criteria, must have at least 1
non alphanumeric, must be a minimum of six, eight, can't be a recognised word. What chance have you of remembering them? With the ones at work as well I have no chance.
I've an encrypted file on my computer with the passwords and PIN numbers in. Only thing is by the time I got to the computer I had forgotten the password. Oops. Never mind the banks get what they need out of it. We end up with less security and the
responsibility if it goes wrong.
Arr! Jim Lad what be your name.
As usual I have to try these 'What are you scripts.....'
This one be for Pirates. Arr. See what my Pirate name is
here.
Playing with fire.
Well at least it worked. Although probably not when it was intended. Another bomb maker blown up with his own creation. Read
here.
Got to laugh. Except now there will be calls to ban whatever he used to make it. Let's hope he nicked something from the
MoD or brought it back from Europe. In the UK you can buy most ingredients watered down to reduce their effectiveness although the intent is to reduce their use in explosives. In France or other countries you can buy them full strength.
Unbelievable.
They must be getting desperate for resources when they can ask the dead to sign up. Read
here.
I've heard many times that the US army was a bunch of brain dead zombies. But I thought it was a figure of speech.
Playing catch up.
A few things interesting on the news but nothing much I want to rant about.
I've lost links to an article on the FBI controlled mobile phones and, interestingly, an article on the
UKIP website which I was sure was written by
DK which he doesn't have on his site. I'll look for the phones one and if I get the time I'll look for the
UKIP web site one. It's hanging off one of my linked sites. I removed my linked post because the source went. It a bad habit where I just go wandering about clicking links and can never remember where I read about something first. It leads to
embarrassment when I'm asked for the original data.
I'm revamping my systems at home. I'm going to get rid of my servers and replace them with a SAN and the web servers with a SAN with HTTP/FTP capabilities.
Theoretically this should bring everything away from NT servers and mean our PCs can run the
OSs they need. In my case Linux because all I use lately is a browser and Email. Should save me a fortune in software costs,
electrickery and hardware. I'll still need
XP for a couple of things I'm sure and the kids will need it for
Warcraft unless they do a Linux version.
How many more of these are there?
It seem a taxi driver has been sent a speeding ticket for 420mph. It's all a big joke and nobody seems to concerned. The figure is so ridiculous that it is clearly wrong. Read
here. Human error, system not at fault.
Imagine what would have happened if it was 42mph instead.
I wonder how many of these errors are sent out. With no one believing you and more realistic figures you would not have a leg to stand on.
Iraqi executions to continue.
Apparently they can change all the laws to allow the president to be tried and executed and stop the executions of those tried by Saddam but they can't change the law to stop executions of the two tried by a camel court
1. So the executions of the two who were tried with Saddam will go ahead. But, they will be much better. Read
here.
That means they will search everyone for recording equipment and the taunts and the dancing will still go on. We just won't hear about it. After all Saddam's execution was to Iraqi and Islamic standards.
To be honest I find it difficult to understand the concern about the release of the execution video. After all they recorded it themselves for. at least, a private showing to Bush. At least it shows justice is done. Now if they sorted out the clowns who showed what a farce it was then they could release all the videos. Maybe there should be a website.
The only people that will be punished for this are the people who made the videos. The others will just get told to be careful next time.
1) Sorry.
Scotland keen on wind.
Scotland seems keen to go with wind power. Read
here.
The obviously have a greater percentage of politicians and civil servants generating all that hot air.
More than enough to power the entire country I would have thought if we send the ones down here home.
I hope teleportation isn't too far away.
Questions are now being asked about coach safety. Read
here.
Now it makes me wonder what the hell we are to do to get to work.
Cars are bad. We need to be taxed off the road.
Trains are too expensive and we need to be charged for using at awkward times.
Buses are too dangerous and have to subsidise certain routes.
Aircraft are bad for the environment and take longer to get on than a driving trip from one end of the country to another.
Motorbikes are dangerous.
Walking is good.
Pedal bikes are good.
Whoopie Do
dah.
I'm off to concentrate and see if I can
teleport. If I could do that that would half my tax bill in one go.
Thought crimes and ballet
I was reading all the comments on the ballerina who is a member of the
BNP with interest. Read the main story
here.
I suspect she will be forced to resign rather than be fired. Which is a great pity as I have a Labour supporter here who I am dying to fire. She too is a member of a legal political party in the UK. She too is doing her job without any complains but earlier today she was outed by a sneaky spy and now she will pay the price.
I would have never thought this was legal but you live and learn. Welcome to modern politics.
Blaming the messenger, yet again.
I wasn't going to comment on
Saddam's execution besides the original one where he actually took the drop. Something I was surprised about. But things change. And here is more.
It seems that because nothing has happened after
Saddam's death then everything is hunky dory. Isn't it
Eid over there time of peace and goodwill? That could be one reason for the lack of response plus it was a surprise execution. Nobody was aware and could prepare and finally there is now the video that shows how he was treated in the execution itself which also caused some upset.
The much touted celebrations are mainly from outside Iraq where everyone there had left to get away from Saddam plus of course Sadr followers etc. The ordinary Iraqi doesn't seem to be celebrating his death with many claiming life was much better under Saddam. Read
here. The stories on the BBC site from
Shia and
Sunni families show things are not good for your average Iraqi.
Now apparently the Iraqi are investigating who took the camera phone footage of the execution. Of course it's nothing to do with the people taunting, triggering the trapdoors in the middle of prayers or dancing round his body. That is OK, it's the video footage that needs to be investigated. Read
here. Saddam seems to be the most composed in the room. Even in the execution chamber he came off better than those who have taken over.
A brutal regime changed for exactly the same things under different names.
Looking after dangerous pets.
Reading this
article about the dog that mauled a little girl to death. What a tragedy and my heart goes out to the family. What a waste of a young child's life.
Although at the same time I was thinking that this sort of thing normally happens to innocent bystanders and not the dogs owners. A child playing in a nearby house, a visitor to the house or even someone walking by. The owners only regret is that he has lost the dog and pays a fine.
Having a dog that had already gone for someone else and leaving it with a child around defies belief. I imagine they will be thinking now of what should have been done and the warnings they had and ignored because a family member wanted a tough manly dog and not a pet. A dangerous animal needs to be treated right and there would be few issues. Handling it incorrectly and ignoring it's actions are a recipe for disaster.
May the book be thrown at this guy and not any leniency for him suffering enough. If I was one of the parents of this child I would press for full charges and screw what the rest of the family thought. It's idiots like him that screw it up for the rest of us.
Blair indirectly criticises the new Iraqi regime.
'"However, what I think is important about this is to recognise that this trial of Saddam, which has been handled by the Iraqis themselves and they will take the decision about this, does give us a very clear reminder of the total and barbaric brutality of that regime.'
The whole article was dealing with the aftermath from
Saddam's execution. Read
here.
Now that quote seems to say that Blair is saying the trial does give us a reminder of the total and barbaric brutality of that regime.
But which regime?
Saddam's or the new Iraqi one who seems to be doing exactly the same things regarding prisoners, executions, torture.
I don't see a difference.
Now it's all about hope.
'Prime Minister
Nouri Maliki had hoped Saddam Hussein's execution would encourage some of his Sunni supporters to give up their weapons and join the political process now dominated by the majority
Shias, but instead it seems to have widened the cracks.' Read the full article
here.
Kind of difficult to take a step back from the position they are in now.
I too am full of hope. I suspect that if we executed Bush and Blair the violence would disappear instantly.
Must be worth a go.
Happy New Year.
Happy New year and let's hope that 2007 is much, much better.
