An overheard conversation

I've just been to collect juniorff2 from an ICT enrichment program. As I was waiting in the reception area of the school where it was held I could not help, and neither could any of the assembled parents, but overhear one half of a telephone conversation that was taking place in the office. It went something like this.. .. ..

Hi this is [name] from [school]. You're due to start some window replacement for us in May and I just need to get something from you. In the letter from [name] County Council it says that building regs might be needed for the work and that we should ensure that our building partner has received the appropriate paperwork before commencement. I was speaking to [name] who said he would deal with it. The thing is that [name] Council are chasing us for the paperwork to show that building regs have been approved where necessary so that they can allow the work to proceed and we need to send them a copy so that they have it on file. Can you look into it and send me a copy of the approved building regs? Thank you

We are paying for this school secretary to chase a contractor to provide proof to the council that the council has approved building works on a council owned property. Why? Surely it isn't beyond the realms of possibility in situations like this that a when a school has building works approved that the paperwork could be sent directly from one Council department to another, cutting out the middleman and reducing the costs and speeding up the work?

WHO: Alert Level 4

Over at Xanthippas Chamberpot there is a link to a youtube video posted by Thunderf00t discussing the World Health Organisation alert levels and describing where we are now regarding the alert over swine flu. The BBC also has useful information regarding the outbreak and what the WHO alert levels mean here in the Americas section (it started in America but affected the whole world!).

To summarise the alert levels:

Level 1: Animals have the virus. No human infections
Level 2: Animal virus causes isolated cases in humans
Level 3: Animal virus causes multiple cases in humans but no human to human infection
Level 4: Human to human infection in one community
Level 5: Human to human infection in two or more countries
Level 6: Pandemic

The WHO has raised the alert level to 4 meaning that the virus has mutated so that it can now be spread among humans.

According the Thunderf00t's video the mortality rate after infection is roughly 6% (I've not found official confirmation of those figures yet)so far from swine flu compared to 2.5% from the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918-19. Those figures may well be distorted because of the relatively low number of confirmed cases so far and may well drop once the medical organisations start delivering medicines such as Tamiflu to those infected. What is worrying is that the virus seems to have jumped from Level 2 to Level 4 without passing through Level 3.


UPDATE: Immediately after hitting the publish button I checked the WHO site. The Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan has raised the alert level to 5.

School Crossing Patrol

Twice this week on my way to work I've had to stop on my way to work for the School Crossing Patrol. The lady thrusts her lollipop out into the traffic and steps bravely into the road pointing at her temporary sign that is stationed on the opposite pavement warning of dire consequences (£1,000 fine) for failing to stop. Once firmly positioned in the middle of the road she gestures to those for whom the traffic has come to a standstill that it is now safe to proceed.

On neither occasion has a single person crossed the road.

Instead the break in traffic flow is to allow a parked vehicle the opportunity to drive off.

Opoona : First Thoughts

With my £6 credit from trading in NiGHTS burning a hole in my pocket I grabbed Opoona from the shelf of Blockbuster. Not cheap at £30 but I needed another gaming fix. I've played for a couple of hours and my first impressions of this quirky RPG?

Buy it.

It's strange. The graphics for the characters are very stylised and some of the backgrounds are visually rather pretty. The game world is a mix of science fiction technology and untouched nature. The accompanying music is electro-dancey and sets the mood well, encouraging you to progress at pace. The progression is as you would expect from any RPG .. .. .. a bit of story followed by learning the basics and acquiring new weapons, skills, abilities and friends .. .. .. battles to earn money and experience points. It all gels well together into an enjoyable experience that makes you want to see what will happen next.

The game can be controlled purely by using the nunchuk (a feature that was promoted when the game was first announced) and that's what I've been doing. It took me about 20 mins to become comfortable with the controls but at the moment I think they work really well.

The only negative point for me is that the battles are random battles. I'm not a fan. Apart from that though the battles are really rather fun! Once it starts there is no my turn / your turn .. .. .. it's real time action so quick responses are needed. Use the analogue stick to fire your bonbon at the enemies either underhand or overhand, with slice or fade.. .. .. you choose the strength of shot by the length of time you hold the stick before releasing it. You can add powerups to your bonbon to increase it's effectiveness in defeating the enemies as well as increasing your defense.

The objectives within the game are set by your career options. Each career has a license which you must complete before moving to the next grade, from trainee, through 1*, 2* etc. I'm not far enough in to have begun more than the first career path but I'm assuming, from the room where the new licenses are issued, that there's at least 20 different choices. The tasks that I've completed so far are "survive 10 battles" and "collect 5 eggs", my current assignment is to head somewhere and kill all of the baddies there .. .. .. .. I may be some time.

In local news

A man was jailed for 3 years, and banned from driving for 3 years, this week after an incident on New Years Eve. 5'4" Luke Batchelor assaulted two men with a metal baseball bat and ran over a third in a car while in the fancy dress he wore to his mother's party. I leave the final word to his defence lawyer

He was dressed as a blue Smurf and nobody goes out to battle dressed as a blue Smurf.

Should I sign?

There's this petition on the 10 Downing Street site that a number of other bloggers are suggesting that everyone should sign.

I'm not so sure.

Don't get me wrong I think that Gordon is a total loon and his government is showing daily how corrupt it is with one scandalous revelation after another. If they aren't getting caught putting porn on expenses its second home troughing or libeling opposition MPs and then still finding the time to get us so far in debt it will take more than 20 years to repay. From smiling like a simpleton on YouTube while talking about the expenses row to making nonsensical statements to the press about responsibility Gordon is a total liability to his party. If he goes now then the Labour Party have just over a year before they are forced to face the electorate. And therein lies my concern.

What if Gordon stands down and, as when Blair went, the party elects a new leader to become PM? What if that person has more social skills and graces (let's face it, to have less would be a struggle) and manages to persuade enough of the electorate that they should continue in office? What then for the country?

Which is the bigger risk? Leaving him in place or forcing him out?

"My cousin Minge"

-David Guest, This Week, BBC1, 24 April 09

Send a shirt campaign.

Image from G.O.T. for the suggestion by OH.

Spend a couple of quid sending an old shirt rather than having him tear it directly off your back.

Another set of new SPECS?

A little over a month ago I wrote about an idea floated by the Govt to reduce the speed limits on rural roads. It seems that the idea, not popular then, is being floated again barely 6 weeks later but with some new inclusions -

Drivers also face limits of 20mph in residential zones, random breath tests and tougher fixed penalties for offences such as passing too close to a cyclist.

The Department for Transport may set targets for casualties per mile travelled by different modes.

While the hardcore cyclists over at the CTC forum are in favour of the proposals I'm less happy about them. As traffic volume has risen the actual number of accidents has fallen. We're already a whole lot safer than 30 years ago on the roads and the statistical trend is continuing towards less deaths and injuries. I can't think of a reason to tinker with the existing legislation until that trend is broken and the deaths and injuries begin to rise.

I can't thank Leg Iron enough for this post on the subject as it more eloquently describes than I can just how I feel about the latest raft of proposals.

Going APE part 2

I've just returned from a ride around the pathways of Angmering Park Estate and the adrenaline is still coursing through my veins. 20 of us set out for the regular Tuesday night ride and we headed on a large circular tour of the South Downs along some familiar, and some not so familiar, paths. The photo is of poor quality as it was taken using a mobile phone and trying to rest my breathing was a challenge. We'd just streaked through one piece of singletrack that wound through a sea of bluebells and were re-grouping before heading along another one that wound through the trees in front.

The smell! The smell of the bluebells was almost overpowering as they are in full bloom throughout the woodland. An attack on all of the senses is almost overwhelming as you fight for control of the bike along the muddy pathways, flashing past this amazing carpet of blue.

Such an adventure is not without its downsides. Having a quick tot up of the more spectacular incidents from the evening revealed that there were at least 6 separate occasions when rider and mount were separated, but from a group of 20 riding this kind of terrain that's not unexpected.

Good times indeed.

i-wood

I've just stumbled across what might become this years must have accessory; the i-wood. This environmentally sound new 3B handheld device comes with impressive technical specifications including the much lauded splinter tech already inbuilt in the touch display.

I want one.

Andy Burnham: Security Risk

From The Sun

CULTURE Secretary Andy Burnham left a briefcase containing confidential documents on a train yesterday. The minister’s blunder triggered a security breach alert after he arrived at London’s Euston Station from the North.But the case was retrieved by a passenger on the train’s next trip and handed in to cops when it reached Glasgow. Documents, believed to be Cabinet papers marked “restricted” were found inside, according to police sources.Mr Burnham apologised for the blunder and ordered a review of security procedures in his department.

As by now you are aware I'm no real expert in these matters but why the need for a review of security? You left the papers and you are the security risk not the rest of your department Mr Burnham. Now that the risk has been pinpointed what are you going to do to resolve it?

Smear row 'over' says Mandelson

The BBC is carrying the news that we've all been desperate to hear - Peter Mandelson has declared that the trouble over the plans to spread lies about Tory MPs is resolved and that no-one in the Government was implicated. What the public now want he goes on to say is for the Government to concentrate on what it needs to do to get the economy through this recession

Really? Speaking as a member of the public what I want is for you to crawl back under whatever rock you emerged from. I'm not sure how you, as a twice disgraced minister of the state, think you can stand there and feed me the line that there's nothing to see here. How do you have the audacity to tell me that I want you to concentrate on the economy that you've royally screwed up for the last 12 years? Do you really think that we believe you?

Sexism in The Mirror

Tony Parsons, left wing hero and columnist in The Mirror, writes about the G20 protests this week including a few phrases which seem to suggest to me that he's a little confused.

It turns the stomach to see a man hitting a woman.
And it is worse because it is a man attacking a woman.
Quite frankly, the police have to be allowed to hit people.

So it's ok for the policemen to hit "people" but not for them to hit "a woman"? This is the type of bollocks that I'd expect from Greer.

Come on Tony get 'on message'.

We are all equal regardless of gender, racial background or sexual orientation. No special treatment based on those grounds. Remember?

fweebs

I currently employ The Little Brother of an ex-employee. I take this as a personal endorsement as an employer because TLB's parents approached me about giving him a job. Last night while working TLB let slip that he was off to a party once he'd finished.

I'm not sure why we think of TLB as a geek. Maybe it's his love of computers, or it could be the constant attempts to install linux on an old laptop, maybe it's the frequent virus-like batch files he sends to his friends, but then again it might be his membership of the local swim team. It probably isn't a fair label for him but he wears it well and with the good humour in which it was given.

So back to the tale of this party then. Much ribbing occurred regarding the attendance of said event once we'd been told of his plans. We discussed the type of things that would be happening that evening. Would they discuss the relative merits of various brands of CAT5 cable? Do they suffer from calculator envy? Will they be trading Second Life credits?

In an attempt to rebutt our jesting TLB offered up the information that girls of the female human variety would be attending the gathering. "Female dweebs?" I enquired " That would make them fweebs!" *



*Prior to posting this tale I've just bumped into TLB again this evening. He informed me that he's on his way for some role playing with two of the fweebs from the party. Much nudging and winking accompanied this revelation. He's just like his older brother .. .. ..

News just in

This piece from ITN, courtesy of Mark Wadsworth, is a news piece about the new film In The Loop.



Did you notice the interviewer asking the cast for their favourite bits of swearing only to have them beeped out for the broadcast version?

Twats.

Business Rates Deferral Scheme

This fact sheet[pdf] was included in a bundle I received from my local council this week. I skimmed it and put it to one side after noticing that they would be offering the option to defer 60% of my business rates until next year in an effort to help businesses that are struggling in the current economic crisis. When I re-read it more slowly later I realised that I'd not read it correctly.. .. ..

What I'm actually being offered, along with many other businesses, is the opportunity to defer 60% of my rates increase until next year with a few exceptions and provisos. Lets do some maths shall we?

My rates bill increased this year by around 5% or, in real money, £180. If I can defer 60% of this rise that would mean £108. Except I can't. The amount allowed to be deferred will not be set until the legislation comes into effect in July or August and I have to keep up with payments at the current levels until then by which time I will have paid half of the annual sum owed.

Half of my increase this year then is £90 and 60% of that works out at £54.

I'll say that again so that it's totally clear. This Business Rates Deferral Scheme would allow me to defer £54 until next year to help my business through this difficult economic time. Fifty four pounds FFS! I spend more than that each week on NI contributions for the priviledge of employing my staff, NI contributions which are going up again to help pay for the financial mess we are in.

I don't know how much it will cost to set up and administer this scheme but I'm willing to take bets that it will cost more than £54 for my business. Anyone fancy a flutter?

Consumer Focus

Consumer Focus has produced a report regarding the state of copyright laws in the UK. It says

The UK’s copyright laws have been rated “the worst, by far’” in a survey of 16 countries, beating the emerging economies of both Thailand and Argentina to last place, say Consumer Focus and the Open Rights Group today.Ironically it was the UK that first developed copyright law as long ago as the 16th century, but while other nations evolved their laws in line with advances in technology, new media and everyday practice, the UK has singularly failed to keep up.As a result, millions of unsuspecting UK consumers are being needlessly criminalised by out of date intellectual property laws. It is currently a copyright violation to rip a CD that you own on to your PC or iPod – even though over half (55%) of British consumers admit to doing it and three in five (59%) think this type of copying (format shifting) is perfectly legal.

While I understand the need to protect intellectual property I also welcome the opportunity to be able to legally utilise the items that I've purchased in a reasonable way. All good then? Well .. .. ..

Have a quick look around the Customer Focus site and you'll see the link to the National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC, although the url is NSMS for some reason), a joint venture between Consumer Focus and the Department of Health which describes social marketing as

an adaptable approach, increasingly being used to achieve and sustain behaviour goals on a range of social issues.

While formal definitions vary, three key elements commonly appear:
1. Its primary aim is to achieve a particular 'social good' (rather than commercial benefit), with clearly defined behavioural goals.
2. It is a systematic process phased to address short, medium and long-term issues.
3. It uses a range of marketing techniques and approaches (a marketing mix). In the case of health-related social marketing, the ‘social good’ can be articulated in terms of achieving specific, achievable and manageable behaviour goals, relevant to improving health and reducing health inequalities.

All of which I find quite worrying. On the one hand you have a statutory organisation that is campaigning for a fair deal for consumers but on the other they are involved in social manipulation through marketing. One to watch out for I think.

Gordon Brown apologises

Well I'm sorry about what happenedsays Gordon. I've said all along when I saw this first I was horrified, I was shocked and I was very angry indeed.

Am I the only one that thinks that he might be sorry that Draper and McBride got caught or that Guido forced the explosion of coverage rather than the emails were written or the plot hatched?

UPDATE: Not just me .. .. ..

From the Illuminatus trilogy

I was reading this post on Katabasis to which I added this comment

We went to see him live on stage in London with Bandler in 19??.. .. .. it seems like an eternity ago.. .. .. got to the venue and my wife charged for the loos. Through the swing door she barreled and in her haste knocked 'some old guy' over.

It is a true recollection of the evening and for years I kept the tickets alongside the cap from a bottle of beer that we'd drunk on the train on the way to London (hence the rather pressing need for the trip to the facilities) which to our amazement was stamped on the inside with '23'. If I can find the tickets and the bottle cap then images of them will be inserted -here-


It got me thinking about a passage that is, in my mind, pertinent to the situation now. Hunting around I found this online version of the book.

More stringent security measures. Universal electronic surveillance. No-knock laws. Stop and frisk laws. Government inspection of first-class mail. Automatic fingerprinting, photographing, blood tests, and urinalysis of any person arrested before he is charged with a crime. A law making it unlawful to resist even unlawful arrest. Laws establishing detention camps for potential subversives. Gun control laws. Restrictions on travel ........ the people reason— or are manipulated into reasoning— that the entire populace must have its freedom restricted in order to protect the leaders. The people agree that they themselves can't be trusted.

Does any of that sound familiar? How many times have we been told in the last 12 years that we must give up freedoms to ensure that we remain free?

EU taking Britain to court (again)

From Reuters:

The European Commission started legal action against Britain on Tuesday for what the EU executive called a failure to keep people's online details confidential.EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said the action related to how Internet service providers used Phorm technology to send subscribers tailor-made advertisements based on websites visited.

Reding called on Britain to change its national laws to ensure there were proper sanctions to enforce EU confidentiality rules.Unless Britain complies, Reding has the power to issue a final warning before taking the country to the 27-nation EU's top court, the European Court of Justice.If it rules in favor of the European Commission, the court can force Britain to change its laws.

Just in case anyone was in any doubt over how much sovereign power we actually have left.

0.1 percent

But of course I regret the 0.1% of my time that I spent thinking about how we might set up a separate left wing “gossipy” site. -Derek Draper

Am I the only one how this would play out in cases in a court of law? "Well Your Honour, I was only actually murdering for 0.1% of my time".

National Youth Service

So Gordon wants to make volunteering compulsory does he? What if we refuse? A trip through the courts and a punishment of community service?

You couldn't make it up.

A little light G-bombing

A few weeks ago I saw Dan Hannan interviewed by Channel 4 news with the delightful Derek Draper providing rebuttal. At the time I was taken by the resemblance, both visual and aural, to the light entertainer Joe Pasquale as were a few others. Taking an idea from Bloggerheads I dropped a few links to see what could be achieved. 5th on the list for the search Derek Draper. Not bad for a first attempt?

Billboard

From Man Widdicombe

Make your own here

Ecstasy pills found in X-Box game

From the BBC:

Four ecstasy pills have been found inside a computer game bought at a High Street store.
Richard Thornhill, 34, found the drugs under the front cover of X-Box game Grand Theft Auto IV, which he bought from Gamestation in Cheltenham.

Mr Thornhill said: "What made me feel the most distraught was the fact we let our 12-year-old play the game."Mr Thornhill said he bought a second hand, or pre-owned, copy of the 18-certificate game before making the discovery last Sunday.

He said: "I was going to put it away and I felt a lump on the front cover."Inside the instruction booklet was a ball of Shrinkwrap, or Clingfilm. I thought it was just a ball of clingfilm, but then I realised there were tablets inside. I instantly felt sick.

Now then where to start? This twat buys an 18 rated game for his son who is 12. There are missions in the game where you earn money by delivering drugs around the city along with stealing cars, shooting a lawyer and whores, as well as the other adult themes contained in the gameplay. But none of that was a problem until he found some real drugs in the game packaging. Sensing a compensation claim he went to the media to share his story about the eeeevil staff at Gamestation. As far as I can tell there has been no forensic exmination of the suspect tablets so how Mr Thornhill knows they are actually ecstasy remains unclear. Is there something he'd like to share with us?

I bought three games today from Gamestation and found no drugs in any of them. I feel somewhat cheated by this.

Begging letter

A beautifully worded begging letter dropped through the letterbox at work today
The cheek of it!








Word Verification: gas;bank;plan;attack;prompt;government;maximum

The police have pushed them off Westminster Bridge

I was reading LOBBYDOG and that phrase stood out from the post about the Tamil protest in London today. I needed cheering up as my day was going badly when the opportunity to selectively quote reared its head. Why such a bad day? Well .. ..

I run my own business. It isn't a runaway success, nor is it high value, however it does tick over nicely and provides me with a decent income. I'm a low end, low skills, low wage employer in a labour intensive industry. I take a certain amount of pleasure from knowing that I've helped to develop and enhance the skills of many of those who I've employed over the years. Most have gone on to bigger and better things and I'm proud of all of them that manage to achieve their goals. I also get the opportunity to discuss issues with people that I'd otherwise never meet. The conversations that we have are wide ranging and always end with the understanding that even though we may not agree we will do so in a civilised fashion. But I digress .. ..

Today was an early start for me so that my new spymeter could be installed. Once power was returned I ploughed on with completing the end of year PAYE before readying for trading. On my return from the bank my manager, of which I only have one at the moment, informed me that she wanted to take the night off to "resolve some personal issues". So instead of getting out across the Downs with this lot I've been stuck at work all day.

Now, reading this raft of self pity I'm sure the first response would be that I should employ another manager to ease my workload. Great idea but in practice not viable at the moment. Years of legislation for employment law have given my employees more 'rights' in the workplace than I have as their employer. My responsibilities to them far outweigh theirs to me. As a single example; To fire someone for theft I have to follow specific steps precisely or risk them claiming unfair dismissal at tribunal even if I catch them with the stolen goods in front of a witness with CCTV evidence. If I extend my labour costs now I will struggle to rein them in if the recession deepens any further. Now is not the time for us to be recruiting. My income from the business has remained fairly flat for the last 5 years as a monetary figure and has fallen gently as a percentage of turnover. Some of this is due to changing habits of our customer base, some due to the change in licensing laws, some to the increased cost from our suppliers (including utilities) and some from the increased cost caused by National Minimum Wage.

I read on Liebourlist two posts regarding NMW today which, quite frankly, miss the point entirely. Both are in favour of raising the minimum rate massively over inflation to "lift people out of poverty". What they fail to realise is that if I have to pay my staff more then it will have two effects. Firstly it will increase the price of the product that I sell and secondly it will reduce the amount of people I employ (efficiency savings) to produce the goods as I attempt to preserve my standard of living which also, ironically, will lead to me working ever more hours and reducing my standard of living further, reducing the time I spend with my family in an attempt to keep the roof over their heads and pay for the things that apparently I can afford to because of my level of income. The idea that increasing NMW only provides an illusion of more wealth is lost on the proponents of NMW. Now where was I? Oh yes .. .. ..

The sun is shining and I'm stuck at work.

Mario Kart Wii Battle Tips

Word verification: propaganda, Putin, Qaddafi, quarter, quiche, radar, rail gun, Rand Corporation, red noise, Reno, Ron Brown, Roswell, Capricorn, CBNRC, CDC, Ruby Ridge, Rule Psix, Rumsfeld, S Box, S Key, Saddam Hussein, SAFE, SAPO, satellite imagery, Saudi Arabia, SCUD missile, SDI, catflaps; Keely Hazell; page 3; jihad; mushroom cloud;, security, Security Council, Semtex, Serbian,

More spying from the back door

My electricity provider wants to replace the meter at my business with a *new* remote reading smart meter. Once it is installed at 8:30am tomorrow, assuming that this 3rd attempt is a success, my energy consumption will be available in real time 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via the medium of the internet. The meter uses the mobile phone network (specifically Vodaphone) to transmit the data to a remote collection point. The positive of such an advance is that I will never need to have an estimated reading as the company can always receive an accurate measurement of the meter. The negative? Constant surveillance of my supply, and every other supply to search for 'abnormalities'. Tie that in to all of the other surveillance measures that have come into force recently and if you were a conspiracy theorist .. .. ..


Word play : rail gun, satellite image, virus, waco, clandestine, blueprint, target, dirty bombs, tunnel, comstock, cryptonomicon, genesis project, another eden, quicksilver,

Spying on my Internet?

Counting Cats has a splendid list that has inspired me. So here goes my contribution


Gordon Brown; Jackie Smith; Jacqui Smith;Area 51, argus, Armani, Arnett, ARPA, arrangements, ASDIC, ASIO, ASLET, ASO, ASPIC, assassinate, assassination, asset, Attorney General, Audiotel, AUTODIN, AVIP, AVN, Axis of Evil, bank, Baranyi, basement, BATF, BCCI, bce, beanpole, Becker, Belknap, Bellcore, bemd, benelux, Bin Laden, blackjack, Bletchley Park, Blowfish, Blowpipe, BLU-114/B, BLU-97 A/B, bluebird, bomb, bootleg, Bosnia, brigand, BRLO, broadside, BROMURE, Bruxelles, bullion, Bush Wired, Capricorn, CBNRC, CDC, CDMA, Centro, Ceridian, CESID, chameleon man, Chobetsu, CIA, CID, CIDA, CipherTAC-2000, CISU, clandestine, class struggle, Clinton, clones, CNCIS, Cocaine, codes, Cohiba, colonel, Comirex, Commecen, Compsec, computer terrorism, condor, police station; cum fiesta; wang; whang; teen sex; Dizzy Thinks; Dolly Draper; AK47; AK-47; explosive; stapler; BigMac; diary date; blind date; blind man; guide dog; sniffer; snifter; whiskey; whisky; balloon; mushroom; fox mccloud; porn; pron; prom; wanks; Timney; pay per view; Gary Glitter; silver nitrate; fuckflaps; catflaps; Keely Hazell; page 3; jihad; mushroom cloud; escape routes; driver; hardware; piece; boom ting; blueprint; blue movie; lob ropes; deepthroat; TJOC; bomb; berm; broom; package; payload; target; Tony Blair; cum filled sluts; google street; 5th November; banana; allah; osama; obama; alabama; drive; transfer; civil disobedience; property crime; riots; riot; quiet before the storm; phorm; norm; normal; formal; cunting cunty cunt cunt; stab; knife; strife; wife; life; Trevor; leather; Heather Mills; rambunctious; tachycardic;Plame, PLO, plutonium, pre-emptive, president, Project Monarch, propaganda, Putin, Qaddafi, quarter, quiche, radar, rail gun, Rand Corporation, red noise, Reno, Ron Brown, Roswell, rs9512c, RSA, Rubin, Ruby Ridge, Rule Psix, Rumsfeld, S Box, S Key, Saddam Hussein, SAFE, SAPO, satellite imagery, Saudi Arabia, SCUD missile, SDI, SEAL Team 6, Sears Tower, secure, security, Security Council, Semtex, Serbian, SHA, Skipjack, smuggle, sniper, South Africa, Soviet, SP4, spies, spy, SRI, SSL, STARLAN, Steve Case, strategic, subversive, Sundevil, supercomputer, SWAT, sweep, Syria, Taiwan, target, Telex, TELINT, tempest, terrorism, terrorist, threat, Tony Blair, top secret, Treasury, TWA, UFO, UMTS, unclassified, undercover, underground, United Nations, UNSCOM, UOP, USCODE, USCOI, USDOJ, Uzbekistan, Uzi, Venezuela, Verisign, Vickie Weaver, Vince Foster, virus, Waco, Texas, War on Terrorism, warfare, Watergate, weapons of mass destruction, White House, White Water, wire transfer, world domination, World Trade Center plums; guns; bums; prison cells; sex sells; fire sales; slaughter whales;


There you go domestic surveillance fans .. .. .. that'll keep you busy for a few minutes.

Malaysian GP

Rain, lightning, thunder, rain, more rain.


It's a bit wet out there right now. Surely that can't restart?

Connected?

While trawling through the BBC News a story caught my eye. Looking at the college website I saw this:


Connected?

Extreme Shepherding

Moderation to prove a point?

Dizzy Thinks (opinionated arrogance) has a post today regarding the searching habits revealed by Google trends.

I metnion it because I just found this and it illustrates one of the points the show makes about porn.Having looked into the trends a little more it would appear the Czech Republic has a major thing for "granny sex" over the more benign and standard "naked chicks".

Strange times indeed!

So, using the link that he gives I tried my own search, replacing the term "naked chicks" with the term "teen sex" as it seemed a more appropriate comparison to the idea of searching for "granny sex". What did I discover?
What did I find out when "looking into it further"? It would be wrong to imply that people of the Czech Republic are somehow fetishistic about granny sex, that the term "naked chicks" is only used in sitcoms, that Dizzy's blog subtitle is entirely true.

I left the link as part of a comment but it failed to make it through the moderation process. Why was that I wonder? It could be that my reply has not been noticed as it's the first comment I've been inspired to leave there? It could be that the blog hasn't been updated? Well, actually, three new posts have appeared since. Ah well, such is life.

Continental Protesting

Fresh from saving the worlds economy the Leaders move to Strasbourg to celebrate 60 years of NATO with another summit. Protesting has already begun in earnest with bus stops, shop windows, cars and rubbish bins being trashed ahead of the meeting. A police car had a pole "rammed through its front window" and there have already been at least 300 arrests.

It seems our European neighbours know how to do these things with more style than we do.

Number 19: Kilverts

If you have time this morning, amid the harrumphing at the news items, the Telegraph contains a pullout feature with a list of 70 great British pubs. Weighing in at number 19 is Kilverts in Hay-on-Wye. I count the manager/proprietor of said establishment among the list of my unreal friends, a term coined by Mrs ff to denote those people I've met through the medium of the internet but will never meet offline, and will be keeping the article about my person as much as possible so that I can whip it out in conversation and exclaim "Look! That's one of my unreal friends!"

Enthusiastic about both beer and food this man is determined to keep the pub running in the face of the adverse position that the industry finds itself since the smoking ban and with the ever increasing likelihood of alcohol restrictions. If you are in the area pop in and sample the beers but don't report back .. .. .. It's been a while since I've had a pint of Butty Bach and I'm rather jealous.

Great Message

I was struck by the hypocrisy of the message captured in this image of the protests yesterday. Unless the writer stole all of the materials used to create the banner then, at some point, they have been a consumer.

A lunchtime chat

I frequently have conversations with a Tory activist. Today was one of those days. My opening gambit today was to ask if he'd ever managed to claim for porn on expenses. "It's funny you should ask" he said "because for a long time the company auditor thought I was buying an awful lot of porn" as he then produced his packet of cigarettes, brand name Mayfair. "You should have seen his face the first time I smoked in front of him, it was a picture of relief! Although why I would be submitting receipts for that many copies of a magazine? One has to wonder what he thought I was doing to damage them!"


We moved on through a number of topics until I asked him just how much money the Tories were paying to have Derek Draper appear in the media so frequently? Woman's Hour, Five Live, The Daily Politics and C4 news are the ones that I've noticed. His response? "He's a fantastic advert for my party isn't he? Although I can't think how much we had to pay to get Brown as Prime Minister!!"

G20 protests

Having just watched the coverage on the BBC of the G20 protests today and the attack on the RBS building I've come to the conclusion, just like others have, that the whole thing was a massive photo opportunity stage managed to create an illusion of pressure on the G20 meeting. The photographers surrounding the 'protester' who smashed the windows of the RBS building looked like the paparazzi at a red carpet event who would usually be screaming the name of whichever celebrity was currently en vogue. Spur of the moment stuff? It didn't look that way to me.

I have no doubt that some people got caught up in the emotional turmoil that was created during the deliberate pressurisation of the day, leading them to say or do things that they might not otherwise say or do. I have no doubt that those who wish to demonise the police or the genuine protesters now have all of the images they need to do so.

Mrs ff watched the BBC coverage with me and she noted that a minority of the protesters had their faces covered yet they always seemed to be in the forefront of the camera shot. The majority, from what we could tell, were ghoulish bystanders to the trouble.

On the Andrew Marr show last weekend the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd responded to the questions about a fiscal stimulus by reminding Marr that there was an agreement made at the Washington G20 summit held in November 2008 to provide a fiscal stimulus, that the mechanism is already in place, and that expecting more announcements about further stimulus packages are unlikely as the mechanism is already decided. Assuming for a moment that a politician is actually telling the truth (I know that might be difficult for a jaded Briton, but try!) then this whole summit is a waste of time and the protest is a waste of time; the whole thing is purely for show. But for who's benefit?