November 13, 2008
Today's Featured Article
Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 13, 2008 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nazi Germany initiated a strong anti-tobacco movement and led the first public anti-smoking campaign in modern history. Anti-tobacco movements grew in many nations from the beginning of the 20th century, but these had little success except in Germany where the campaign was supported by the government after the Nazis came to power. It was the most powerful anti-smoking movement in the world during the 1930s and early 1940s. The Nazi leadership condemned smoking and several of them openly criticized tobacco consumption. Research on smoking and its effects on health thrived under Nazi rule and was the most important of its type at that time. Hitler's personal distaste for tobacco and the Nazi reproductive policies were among the motivating factors behind their campaign against smoking, and this campaign was associated with both antisemitism and racism.
The Nazi anti-tobacco campaign included banning smoking in trams, buses and city trains, promoting health education, limiting cigarette rations in the Wehrmacht, organizing medical lectures for soldiers and raising the tobacco tax. The Nazis also imposed restrictions on tobacco advertising, tobacco rationing for women, and smoking in public spaces, and they regulated restaurants and coffeehouses....
Thank goodness that that sort of Health Fascism was defeated even at the cost of millions of lives....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:22 AM
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October 30, 2008
Wussies on the High Seas
Irons in the Fire: Dealing with pirates
Seems some shipping lines are hiring contractors to protect ships and crews, especially around Somalia. With some of the usual "Oh NO!"
Mody says armed guards onboard ships may encourage pirates to use their weapons or spark an arms race between predators and prey. Currently, pirates often fire indiscriminately during an attack but don't aim to kill or injure crew.
That is because they want to hold the crew hostage, though if they are firing indiscriminately then they aren't aiming at anything...
David Johnson, director of British security firm Eos. "But if you have guns onboard, you are going to escalate the situation. We don't want to turn that part of the world into the Wild West."
Oh yes far better to just hand over the keys and allow yourself to be dragged off to some desert hell hole. I don't think so. There is a method of dealing with pirates that has been tried and tested over many years and it isn't that. Surrender may be the preferred course for ships run by Johnny Foreigner but I would hope anything flying the Red Duster would be aiming to blow them out of the water.
I blame it all on ships not having enough rope and masts these days....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:53 AM
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October 29, 2008
Fatty Balls Imprisonment Plans For Millions To Help Them Make The Right Choice
Schools 'should keep pupils on premises at lunchtime to fight obesity' - Telegraph
Teenagers should be forced to stay in school at lunchtimes to stop them going out for junk food, Schools Secretary Ed Balls said yesterday.
He also called for councils to stop takeaways from opening near to schools.
He added: "Temptation can be hard to resist but we owe it to future generations to help young people make the right choices about how they want to live their lives."
And you can fuck off too Ed Balls, lock people in, and remember under the new plans people who are old enough to marry are forced to go to school, and prevent businesses opening where the demand is and than call that helping people make the right choices, it is beyond parody.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:40 AM
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10 Million People to be Re-educated by The State
More than 10 million 'drinking at hazardous levels’ - Telegraph
A report from the National Audit Office (NAO) yesterday warned the NHS is failing to deal with the scale of the problem.
It says that three times as many patients should receive advice from their GP on how to cut down their drinking.
The report also found that around a quarter of local healthcare trusts did not know how many people in their area are drinking too much.
Four in ten Primary Care Trusts also admitted that they had no strategy to reduce excess drinking.
Professor Ian Gilmore, from the Royal College of Physicians, said the report made “sobering” reading.
He added: “It is clear that the NHS needs to urgently 'up its game’ both in investing in alcohol services and in having sensible strategies to make sure the investment is well spent.”
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat Shadow health spokesman, said "... ministers should not shy away from enforcing more responsible regulation of alcohol sales.”
Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, will say:"...just as it would be wrong in a plural and democratic society to require broadcasters to produce programmes that meet government objectives and promote social behaviour, so it is also wrong for broadcasters to produce programmes that legitimise negative social behaviour.”
Oh just fuck off the lot of you. It isn't about preventing the "15,000 deaths", it isn't about preventing the harm that feckless drunks do, it isn't about wondering why so many people use a glass of cheer to deal with the stress of living. It is all about increasing the stress by regimenting, by controlling, by regulating the proles with constant preaching and penalties.
And Jeremy Hunt you get this month's doublespeak award for pretending to be for freedom of speech but in the same bloody sentence contradicting yourself. Wrong to have to promote good behaviour but also wrong to promote bad, therefore the broadcasters will have to choose to only promote good. Some free choice that is.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:33 AM
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Jumping on the Brand Wagon
First rule of comedy: don't mock the weak | Natalie Haynes - Times Online
When is a joke not a joke? The answer is simple - when no one laughs. Comedy is quite different from other art-forms... No one hears a line that fails to raise a laugh and says, yes, that's me, I have no sense of humour. We don't think it's subjective. We take refuge in the same attack: it's not funny. If the joke doesn't work for us, we deny its very existence as a joke.
Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross are experiencing the aftermath of a joke gone horribly wrong. What do you get if you cross a Spanish waiter with ill-judged prank - 10,000 complaints and rising. After a series of on-air phonecalls to Andrew Sachs, the 78-year-old actor, about a liaison with his granddaughter, the two face calls for their resignation, an Ofcom inquiry, even a suggestion that they be prosecuted. Why are the British public, normally so proud of their sense of humour, not laughing?
Gordon Brown and David Cameron jumping in now, just like most of the 10,000 offended people I doubt if they heard the broadcast, they are just offended by the reports of what they should be offended by. I didn't hear it either, there is very little that could induce me to listen to the whiny bore that is Brand, but obviously some people find him funny. He is paid handsomely to put on an edgy out-of-control act, and if it brings him vast amounts of sex, drugs and rock and roll, well good luck to him. He delivered. Don't shoot the messenger. The blame lies higher in the food chain.
Of course that we are forced on pain of imprisonment to pay for such acts is another matter, and one that Gordon, Dave and the 10,000 won't be complaining about.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:06 AM
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October 24, 2008
Council Sensitivity
The striking mural, painted under cover of darkness, was intended as a stinging criticism of Big Brother society. So it will come as little surprise to its creator, Banksy, that bureaucracy has ordered the removal of one of his largest works.
The Times has learnt that Westminster Council has demanded that a mural by the pseudonymous graffiti artist, a 7m (23 ft) criticism of Britain’s CCTV culture, must be painted over. While other authorities have turned a blind eye to Banksy, the council said yesterday that it would remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator.
.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM
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Sound Sense
Legal defeat for neighbours who complain of pub and church bell noise - Telegraph
People who buy homes near church bells or cricket pitches then complain about the noise should just tolerate it, the High Court has ruled.
Rushden Town cricket club was blocked from putting up practice nets because the local council feared the sound of leather on willow would annoy neighbours...
Sense at last, though down here the councillors worry more about the sound of willow on leather.....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:28 AM
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October 23, 2008
Local Speeding News
FREE MARKET FAIRY TALES: The latest piggy bank news
....6% of accidents are caused by people breaking speed limits and yet almost 100% of the government's road safety money is being invested in speed cameras.. recent changes in the way that government handles the huge amounts of money that these things make has led to common sense starting to prevail
Councillors in Swindon have voted to stop funding the town's speed cameras. The Wiltshire town's borough council is believed to be the first in England to withdraw funding for fixed cameras. The revenue from fines generated by the cameras goes to the government, but the Conservative-led borough council pays £320,000 a year to maintain them.
Swindon may be a dump but it has always been a car friendly dump, which is why if I am forced to shop I tend to go there. Other towns please note.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:52 AM
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October 22, 2008
The new five-a-day recommendations.
Do five simple things a day to stay sane, say scientists - Times Online Connect Be active Be curious Learn Give
A “five-a-day” programme of social and personal activities can improve mental wellbeing, much as eating fruit and vegetables enhances physical health, according to Foresight, the government think-tank. Its Mental Capital and Wellbeing report, which was compiled by more than 400 scientists, proposes a campaign modelled on the nutrition initiative, to encourage behaviour that will make people feel better about themselves.
Developing relationships with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours will
enrich your life and bring you support
Sports, hobbies such as gardening or dancing, or just a daily stroll will make
you feel good and maintain mobility and fitness
Noting the beauty of everyday moments as well as the unusual and reflecting on
them helps you to appreciate what matters to you
Fixing a bike, learning an instrument, cooking – the challenge and
satisfaction brings fun and confidence
Helping friends and strangers links your happiness to a wider community and is
very rewarding
Critics of the recommendation said that the Government and health professionals ought not to be prescribing individual behaviour in this way. “The implication is that if you don’t do these banal things, you could get seriously mentally ill,..."
Five-a-day fruit, three-a-day cereals, or is that five-a-day carbs? I'm lost already in the "recommendations" that are being pushed at us. I'm assuming if you fail to satisfy the triage nurse you have been following them then the chances of being allowed to see a doctor are "reduced" in our brave new world. But even in my most satirical moments never did I think I would see a five-a-day for thinking happy thoughts and helping little old ladies across the road. Traa-la-la-la what happy bunnies we must all be.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:43 AM
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October 20, 2008
Olympic Responsibility
Sign away, we can live in hope!
Posted by The Englishman at 6:07 PM
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When Graphic Designers Cock Up the Annual Report
Birmingham International Airport - Report and Accounts 2007-2008
...Safety & Security
The Airport’s focus on safety and security issues continues to be one of the highest priorities...
As the photo in the brochure shows....
Obviously she was travelling alone....
Posted by The Englishman at 5:58 PM
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New Olympic Event, the Begging Bowl Race
First the banks, now the Olympics may have to be saved by the State - Times Online
About £550 million of government funding has already been allocated for Stratford Park and the infrastructure for the Olympic Village, including electricity cables and water supply. But an extra £850 million to £900 million still had to be found for the village through a mixture of funding from housing associations, private investment and the taxpayer. So far no money has been guaranteed from either the private sector or housing associations...
An ODA spokesman said: “More public sector investment will clearly be needed for the Olympic Village, given the problems in the banking sector and the deterioration in the property market. This would be an investment in a long-term housing asset that can then be sold in the future.
It is not a bloody investment, if it was an investment that promised a decent rate of return then the private sector would do it, it is yet another subsidy that you want for your fascist drugsfest.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM
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October 18, 2008
Give them an inch
Metric 'martyrs' win fight to save imperial measures - Telegraph
Councils will be banned from taking the so-called "metric martyrs" to court for "essentially minor offences" such as selling goods weighed in pounds and ounces.
Good news if it is true, the bastards will still try and control in any way they can...
Posted by The Englishman at 12:27 AM
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October 15, 2008
Don't Mess With a Granny
Granny Janet Lane runs teenager to ground over snatched pension - Times Online
It was an unequal chase: a 68-year-old grandmother against a teenage thief who had just run off with her bag.
The bag-snatcher had no chance.
As he and his two accomplices ran away, Mrs Lane set off in pursuit, chasing them 100 metres across a park and into the grounds of a hotel. Despite wearing sandals, the 5ft 6in (1.68m) tall grandmother managed to catch up and grabbed one of the youths by the collar. The youth, aged about 15, dropped her bag and begged to be let go. All three escaped empty-handed....
However, Devon and Cornwall Police warned members of the public against following Mrs Lane's example. A spokesman said: “Generally, for safety reasons, we do not actively encourage this kind of behaviour, as you never know what could happen. But we understand this woman is a former cross-country runner and did not feel able to let it go.”
The police are continuing their inquiries.
When they have finished stuffing their faces with doughnuts I suppose. Roll over, be a victim is the official advice. Some Grannies take a different view...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM
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October 6, 2008
The Morning After Driving Sense
Britain decides against a new lower limit for drink-driving - Times Online
Britain is to become the only European country that allows motorists to have at least one alcoholic drink and still be legally fit to drive.
The Times has learnt that the Government has changed its mind about reducing the limit from 80 to 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, despite evidence that a lower limit would save 65 lives a year.
Road safety groups.....
blah, blah blah - make up some numbers, scream at everyone, etc. But for once the Minister makes sense:
"We are not convinced that dropping to 50 is the right answer. Drivers who are between 50 and 80mg are not the ones we are most worried about. It’s the ones above 100.
“If you look at a comparison with other countries which have 50 rather than 80, our safety levels compare very favourably.”
And the important point about the level is this:
...the Government will avoid the awkward question of whether to introduce a lower penalty for registering just over 50mg. At present, anyone caught drink-driving serves a minimum ban of 12 months. Most countries that have lower limits only fine drivers and give them penalty points for minor breaches.
A ban is disproportionate for a lower level breach, but the safety nazis won't countenance anything less. If they proposed a slap wrist for a 50-80 breach their case would be much stronger but they can't do that because they are safety nazis.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:33 AM
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October 5, 2008
Stego time
Government will spy on every call and e-mail - Times Online
Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain.
GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre, has already been given up to £1 billion to finance the first stage of the project. Hundreds of clandestine probes will be installed to monitor customers live on two of the country’s biggest internet and mobile phone providers - thought to be BT and Vodafone.
Officials claim live monitoring is necessary to fight terrorism and crime.
Time to crank up the spam creator, a couple of million emails everyday mentioning Gordon, pitchforks, tar and hempen rope seem to be called for. And for homework today take a course in Steganography and learn how to use it
Posted by The Englishman at 9:32 AM
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October 3, 2008
Temerarious Advice from the H&S
Police bravery award 'encourage risky acts' - Telegraph
Helen Reynolds, a health and safety officer with Lancashire Constabulary, said that the current phrase, which praises officers for acting “with no thought to his or her safety” should be toned down.
She suggested changing the words to "fully recognising the risks to their own safety".
Surprisingly I think she may have a point, bravery isn't about acting when unaware of the danger, that is foolhardiness; bravery is about being aware of the danger and then risking it.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM
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September 26, 2008
Hairy Lefty Fund Management Part Two
Church of England admits profiting from short selling - Telegraph
Managers of the Church's £5 billion investment portfolio have lent shares, for a fee, to traders who can then make huge profits by betting that the value of the stocks will fall.
The Anglican Church's shrewd fund managers have achieved an impressive 9.5 per cent average annual return on their assets over the past decade.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, described short sellers as "bank robbers and asset strippers" earlier this week....
For some reason I think I trust the fund managers more than the Archbishops....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:17 AM
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September 25, 2008
Stop people like me being bossy says Hazel
Hazel Blears: Middle-class professionals patronise the working class - Telegraph
People working in the National Health Service and local government should leave working-class people to manage their own lives...
Um, nothing about patronising prats in central government then Hazel? Do you actually realise how people see you and your ilk?
ht DW
Posted by The Englishman at 11:31 AM
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September 19, 2008
Something for the weekend Sir?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:37 AM
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September 15, 2008
Shock Horror - Heterosexual Catholic Priest Beds Mature Woman
Italian man catches wife in bed with priest - Telegraph
An Italian husband returned home early from work to find his wife, 37, in bed with their local priest.
Details of the incident in Chioggia near Venice emerged on Sunday in Italian newspapers and the local bishop Angelo Daniel has now confirmed that the adulterous priest has been sent to another parish for "reeducation".
Disgraceful, you can't have Catholic priests taking Milfs to bed, there are traditions they have to follow....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM
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September 11, 2008
Dodge City
Chelsea barrister shooting family attacked for asking too many questions - Telegraph
The parents of a London barrister shot dead by police fled a courtroom and his sisters broke down in tears after they were attacked by lawyers for asking too many questions about his killing.
Look, Plod isn't used to the relatives of those it shoots being well educated English speaking professional people. Why can't they just shut up, and trust the State and not ask awkward questions?
Posted by The Englishman at 7:29 PM
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September 10, 2008
Nice way to spend the money
Nice 'spends £1m more on spin than evaluating drugs' - Telegraph
The National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has come under fire in recent months for the time it takes to decide which drugs can be given on the NHS and for rejecting some life extending medications as too expensive.
Official figures show that Nice spent almost £3.4 million, 10 per cent of its budget, evaluating new drugs and technologies last year.
But the organisation spent around £4.5 million, 13 per cent, on communications.
The Tories, who uncovered the figures, claimed that they showed that the body was wasting money on "spin doctors".
Judging by those figures NICE's total budget is £34 million, and NICE are complaining that the figures are wrong because testing drugs is done by the "R&D section of the Department of Health" and doesn't show up on their budget. So what exactly does NICE do with all that dosh, especially as Scotland seems to get on quite well without NICE determining which drugs its patients can have.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM
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September 9, 2008
You must remember this.
Meat, fish and milk 'protect against memory loss' - Telegraph
The findings suggest a key vitamin found in the foods helps to prevent brain shrinkage, which has been linked to memory problems.
The vitamin, B12, found in meat, fish, fortified cereals and milk, is crucial to the formation of red blood cells and the maintenance of a healthy nervous system.
Research has shown that many elderly people have low levels of the vitamin.
And it's in beer - one pint supplies 50% of your RDA of B12, so two pints a night sounds about right. Though for some reason the spoilsports at the NHS caution "The vitamin B12 found in beer, fermented foods and yeast is not a reliable source of this vitamin." Typical, you always get let down by promises in pubs. So I suppose if it isn't reliable then just to make sure you need to double the dose...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:31 AM
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September 8, 2008
Sick System
Schizophrenic rapist taken to see horror films - Biggleswade Today
A violent schizophrenic was taken on trips to the cinema to watch horror films by staff before he escaped from a low-security hospital near Bristol and raped a 14-year-old girl, a court has heard.
Darren Harkin, 21, was also allowed to build a vast collection of horror and pornographic DVDs while being detained for stabbing his six-month-old stepbrother to death in his cot.
The judge said the case highlighted a number of concerns including why Harkin, who had a history of absconding, was moved to a low-security unit, why staff waited nearly half an hour before telling police about his escape, and why neighbouring police forces were not alerted.
A number of concerns? A number of fucking concerns? I should bloody think so. There should be P45s being mass stamped for everyone involved after they have explained in person why their unbelievable behaviour and laxness has resulted in a schoolgirl being raped. And as for the choirboy, he obviously is beyond being ever being safe to be released. I used to know an ex-marine who had then been a "nurse" at Broadmoor for ten years, he had got to know all of them, all the never-to-be released ones, and his opinion having dealt with them and on reflection of the options was simple - hang the lot of them.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:49 PM
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September 4, 2008
Jordan's Horsey Love
Why shouldn’t city folk feel the horsey love too? | Simon Barnes: Commentary - Times Online
Well it is easier with this....
Introducing glamour model Katie Price – the new face of British equestrianism - Times Online
Today, at the Burghley horse trials, Ms Price will be unveiled as the face of Hoof, a campaign run by the British Equestrian Federation.Even that old curmudgeon Mr Free Market might be persuaded to watch some donkey walloping if it features Jordan, in fact I think he may already have the video....It aims to challenge the widely held perception that London is a difficult place in which to pursue a career in three-day eventing.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:40 AM
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August 31, 2008
Neck and neck
Top jockeys in 'drink and ride' scandal - Telegraph
Professional jockeys are turning up to ride at leading race meetings while under the influence of alcohol, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
You mean there are some who do it cold stone sober? Now that is brave.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:55 AM
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August 21, 2008
Paedo Panic
As I half listened to the news on the wireless last night there was some pressure group spokesman insisting that travel bans should be extended not just to convicted kiddy-fiddlers but also to suspected ones, who the police haven't been able to prove guilty of anything yet. Of course he was unchallenged on this and it sounded almost like a sensible bit of crime prevention that would save children, but the sheer totalitarianism of it all made me search for it online to bring to you. I found instead that Spiked had published a whole article that says it better than I could.
Paedophile Imperialism | spiked
...the British political elite and sections of the media clamouring for new laws and restrictions to keep the likes of Glitter under their watchful eye. If his case ‘proves’ anything, it is that the paedophile panic, so passionately indulged by our leaders, is a threat to the sanity of society and to civil liberties, too.
(And on the Glitter hysteria why not invite him back to put on a concert, the Century Range at Bisley would be a suitable venue...)
Posted by The Englishman at 6:20 AM
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August 18, 2008
Breaking the rules
We must train people to break the rules | Libby Purves - Times Online
Petty bureaucrats are a necessary evil. But we must instruct them in when to use their initiative and make exceptions
...a quotation from Marcus Tullius Cicero: “A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed, but one hardly admires vultures, whom bureaucrats so strangely resemble. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty, dull, almost witless, crafty or stupid, an oppressor or a thief, a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog. Who can trust such creatures?”
My only quibble is that the quote seems not to come from Cicero but from Taylor Caldwell in her novel based on the life of Cicero A Pillar of Iron (1965), p. 451...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:11 AM
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August 15, 2008
Health and Safety or Saving Lives - which is more important?
Coastguards face reprimand for using banned boat to rescue girl - Times Online
A volunteer coastguard crew face disciplinary action after going to the rescue of a teenage swimmer in a boat that had recently been repaired and was awaiting a seaworthiness inspection.
The four crewmen were on duty at Hope Cove in South Devon when the 15-year-old girl was swept out to sea by a powerful rip tide. They braved heavy surf to launch their 17ft rigid inflatable.
The girl was rescued by a diver and the coastguard crew brought her ashore.
The boat had been out of service since June and the 11-strong crew, fed up with waiting for it to be repaired by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), spent £2,000 of their own money on the work. But the repairs had yet to be approved and the boat - which has rescued more than 120 people since 2000 – was languishing in the boathouse at the pretty fishing village awaiting a further inspection.
Within three hours the boat was towed away by a senior MCA officer and is now locked in a garage at their office five miles away in Kingsbridge.
A spokesman for the MCA said: “The health and safety of the boat crews and those who they may render assistance to is of paramount importance. We have identified serious breaches of health and safety procedures and they are currently being investigated. The boat has been stood down for a further eight weeks while we investigate.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:50 AM
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Know your limit
Let's scrap the most stupid sign on our roads | Paul Dunn - Times Online
...a white circle with a black diagonal across it.You certainly need a masters degree in advanced semiotics to work out what it means - technically “national speed limits apply”. This is the most stupid and unhelpful sign on our roads. It should be scrapped.
But you can't replace it with one that just says 60 or 70 - because if you towing a trailer, or you are in a van or an articulated lorry the national speed limit isn't that. And that is why lorries hold you up as you speed off on holiday.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:04 AM
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August 1, 2008
Live and Let Live....
Newham Recorder - Man is shot dead outside pub
Police were alerted at about 4am today that shots had been fired in the areas. Officers attended and found a man injured outside the Live and Let Live pub in Romford Road
Posted by The Englishman at 5:08 PM
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Healthy Eating
What you won't read in the MSM. Pesky data on salt intakes and diets and exercise which show the difference between the science and what the "experts" tell us. It's what the blogosphere is for.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:57 AM
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July 30, 2008
Homicide in pink and blue.
An unjust, feminist view of murder | Melanie McDonagh - Times Online
Under one of the amendments now up for discussion, a man who kills his wife for infidelity will be convicted of murder, straight up. As Ms Baird put it: “The days of sexual jealousy as a defence are over.”
But at the same time as making it more likely that men who kill women will be put away for life, another proposal would make it less likely that women who kill men will be convicted of murder. If a woman does away with her spouse on the basis that he abused her for years, she would no longer have to prove that she acted on the spur of the moment. She can claim “fear of serious violence”.
The trouble is that these changes give the impression that the law would regard one kind of domestic violence (by women) leniently while viewing another kind (by men) as beyond the pale. The fact that they are being fielded by a trio of feminists such as Mses Harman, Eagle and Baird doesn't help matters. This, you feel, is the feminist take on murder.
..cases - they should be judged on their individual merits. And that means, I'm afraid, doing away with the mandatory tariff and giving judges discretion over sentencing.
Quite - everytime the Government imposes mandatory tariffs you make bad laws, because all cases are different and the punishment should fit the crime.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:28 AM
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July 24, 2008
Every Click You Make, Every File You Take, We'll Be Watching You
Parents to be punished for children’s net piracy - Times Online
Parents whose children download music and films illegally will be blacklisted and have their internet access curbed under government reforms to fight online piracy.Households that ignore warnings will be subjected to online surveillance and their internet speeds will be reduced, making it very difficult for them to download large files.
The measures, the first of their kind in the world, will be announced today by Baroness Vadera, who brokered the deal between internet service providers and Ofcom, the telecoms body.
Internet users could find themselves the subject of “traffic management”, meaning a sudden curtailment of their internet speeds, and “traffic filtering”, a careful monitoring of the media files downloaded to an account to check whether they have paid for them.
Britain’s six biggest service providers - BT, Virgin Media, Orange, Tiscali, BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse - have signed up to the scheme. In return, the Government has abandoned a controversial proposal to disconnect broadband services for users who had been caught out three times.
The joys of monitoring our internet access - it's for the musicians now, but how soon before it is for inappropriate websites that promote terror, hate, racism, xenophobia, not saying very nice things about the French and disrespectful thoughts on our Glorious Leader.
Time for a refresher...Hiding Your IP Address, Anonymous Internet Surfing HOWTO
Posted by The Englishman at 6:27 AM
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July 23, 2008
Assaulting the evidence
Britons still eating 50pc too much salt - Telegraph
Breakfast cereals, bread and cheese are among 80 everyday foodstuffs that should have further cuts made to their salt contents, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
New research carried out by the FSA on nearly 700 British adults showed that average salt intake was 8.6g per day - significantly higher than the Government's national target of 6g, or one level teaspoon.
But reducing the average daily intake to 6g could prevent about 20,200 premature deaths every year from strokes, heart attacks and heart failure, according to the FSA.
Hogwash - Strong recommendations for universal sodium restriction are not supported by strong evidence. - if you don't believe me then Dr. Hillel Cohen of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYC and author of several health outcomes studies of the NHANES database, delivered a PowerPoint presentation recently to the Canadian Society of Clinical Nutrition's annual scientific meeting in Toronto. CSCN has rendered a valuable service by putting the presentation online.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:19 AM
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July 22, 2008
Moon Living
Bang the drum for rock’n’ roll heroes - Times Online
They have been the butt of jokes, and even the most agile of their number have seldom been regarded as paragons of physical virtue.For all John Bonham’s thunderous half-hour solos behind Led Zeppelin, and Keith Moon’s frenzied skin-bashing with The Who, neither man - nor the generations of drummers who followed them - was ever recognised as a finely tuned athlete....
....sports scientists have concluded that drummers are comparable in their physical prowess to world-class sportsmen. ...the music world is divided between fitness freaks and those with less spartan lifestyles.
“The hotels all have gyms now and you get those who get up early and work out and those who get up at midday with a hangover,” he said. For his part, Dr Smith believes that he will soon be providing nutrition and fitness support to any number of musicians intent on prolonging their careers.
The late Keith Moon, whose manic performances seemed to create enough energy to power the national grid, was once Clem Burke, the veteran Blondie drummer's idol.
“These days, I say he taught me what not to do. He was very physical but he basically killed himself with excessiveness,” said Burke.
And that is why Moon is a legend, we want our Rock and Roll heroes to provide vicarious thrills for us as we lead our humdrum lives - we don't want them to be clean living gym rats - or at least I don't.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:20 AM
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The Nitrate Scare Continues
The indispensable Christopher Booker and Richard North have written the nitrate story. The story begins with scientific advice based on the expert view, widely current twenty years ago, that nitrates used in farming and getting into the water supply would cause both a rare condition called "blue baby syndrome" and also algal blooms in estuaries. The European Commission responded by enacting 91/676 which prohibited farmers in "nitrate vulnerable zones" (NVZs) from growing certain crops or spreading muck on their fields for several months a year. This would, among other things, require the farmer to provide storage for the forbidden muck, at considerable cost. That cost was no doubt a good part of the reason why 13 out of the 15 European members have not implemented the Directive and are threatened with legal action by the Commission.
The European Court of Justice in turn came to criticise the British government for not designating enough NVZs and threatened a fine of £50 million if the Directive were not fully enforced.
Meanwhile, however, science had moved on, as science sometimes does. Nitrates were judged not actually to cause blue baby syndrome, and the algae in estuaries was attributable to phosphates rather than to nitrates - so, as I say, I gather from Christopher Booker, whose comment on the fact that the Directive remains in force is the best summary of my argument: "Once a directive is issued, it is virtually impossible to repeal."
Once a directive is issued, it is virtually impossible to repeal
No less rigid, however, is the position of the British government, which has refused to contest the Directive, as it could on the basis of the EU's 2000 water directive, which would permit Britain and other countries to cancel NVZs on health grounds, thus averting both a fine and a costly burden on farmers.
The reason Britain sticks with this absurd Directive, suggests Booker, is that in 1991, at the height of the nitrate scare, the government forced the 29 newly privatised water companies to install de-nitrification plants, which have so far cost shareholders ｣3 billion. To abandon the Directive on nitrates might thus open Defra to compensation claims.
Defra rumbles on and is extending the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones to cover 70% of the countryside, imposing costs and restrictions on farmers. They have dropped the claim now that Nitrates are bad for human health it is just a wish to provide pure water. The result will be that less food is grown at greater costs.
I'm against pollution, and polluters should pay but it should be proportionate to the harm they cause not based on some scare that was debunked many years ago.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:38 AM
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July 21, 2008
Twinkle Twinkle Hurray!
Twinkle twinkle Northern Star - Scotsman.com News The North Star has thrown astronomers into confusion with some unexpected activity.
The star is not, it seems, quite as constant as was previously thought.
Polaris had long been known to be a Cepheid variable star, changing in brightness about every four days. But in recent decades astronomers have noticed the star's vibrations were dying away.
Now they have been stunned to discover the star seems to have come back to life again.
Dr Alan Penny from the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St Andrews said: "One hundred years ago Polaris varied by 10 per cent, but over the last century the variations became smaller and smaller until ten years ago it only varied by 2 per cent.
"It was thought the structure of the star was changing to switch off the vibration. Yet the team has found that about ten years ago the vibrations started picking up and are now back up at the 4 per cent level."
"Now we know it's doing this we will watch it for another 100 years and see what it does," he said. "We have found something new that we need to understand. That means we can make progress. We are very excited when we are proved wrong."
I was going to mock his pleasure at finding work to do for the next 100 years, a good pension policy! But his proper reaction of joy at being proven wrong is so refreshing and welcome I can only share it with him.
That is how a scientist should react. - if only it was more common, in say, the climate research field.....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:31 AM
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July 20, 2008
Broomstick
Kim du Toit points out:
that Britain is about to ban brooms. No, really:
I think we can all agree that this is ridiculous, and a fine example of Nanny Gummint run amok. But that’s not the real point.Carpenters and woodworkers have been told not to use brooms to sweep up sawdust because they are considered dangerous under “ridiculous” new health and safety guidelines.
How is Cherie Blair going to get around if brooms are banned?
As Oscar said I wish I had said that...
Posted by The Englishman at 7:27 AM
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July 18, 2008
How to live to 100 - emphasis on live
Smoker who has 10 cigars a day celebrates his 100th birthday - Telegraph
A smoker who has 10 cigars day and enjoys a whisky with his morning tea has celebrated his 100th birthday.
Since his first puff in 1917 he has smoked 153,000 cigars and 715,400 cigarettes and drunk a shot of whisky in his morning cup of tea every day since the age of 24. He has not suffered any serious health problems related to smoking or drinking.His mother-in-law got him hooked on whisky, which he drinks without fail as soon as he gets up, before he has even had breakfast.
"She said the best thing for a woman is for her to drink whisky before she does anything, every day," he said. "I don't feel my age. I've still the mind of a young man. But if I had the company of a good woman, I'm sure I'd feel 40 years younger in a flash."
And if that story doesn't cheer you up then the door is over there....
Posted by The Englishman at 7:08 AM
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Cottonwool kids
UK parents most protective in the world - Scotsman.com News
In 1970 the average UK nine-year-old was free to wander 919 yards – a ten-minute walk – from home. By 1997, that figure was 316 yards, and by 2007, the boundary had moved to just outside the front gate – classed as a no-minute walk.Not allowing children to indulge in unstructured "free play" could harm their ability to form social relationships and hamper their chances of boosting creativity, the report said.
Sue Palmer, Edinburgh-based education expert and author of Toxic Childhood, said children not being given the freedom to play outside alone was "one of the most worrying factors of modern life".
"The potential effects of over-protecting our children are disastrous," she said.
"They need to develop independence during their childhood. That means developing social skills, confidence, resilience and being able to cope with what life throws at you."
With the press claiming there is a pædo round every corner middle class parents are over reacting, leaving the streets free for the feral kids from the underclass. And so the spiral descends. If kids can't wander down the street at the age of nine no wonder they never grow up, acting as teenagers until they are thirty in their jeans and trainers going from one drossy course at a drossy "university" to the next whilst sponging off the state and their parents.