An Englishman's Castle

May 23, 2010

RIP RIPA Please

Councils use anti-terror powers to check for dog collars - Telegraph
In Workington, Cumbria, officials used the powers to investigate whether a dog was illegally being allowed out without a collar and tag. The animal was monitored and photographed in order to gather evidence.
A spokeswoman for the Local Government Association said: "We do recognise there are concerns over the use of surveillance powers by councils and all public authorities that use them do have a responsibility to use them in a way that is acceptable to local people. These powers should only be used for serious crimes such as fly-tipping, benefit fraud and rogue trading. They should be proportionate and reasonable."

"serious crimes such as fly-tipping, benefit fraud and rogue trading." - Serious? They aren't bloody terrorism, they don't endanger the economic wellbeing of the country, they are just squalid little crimes, done by squalid little people and only considered serious enough to invoke anti-terrorism powers by other squalid little people.
To be frank I prefer the odd mattress dumped in a lay-by to a council snoop with camera being there.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 30, 2009

Truth as a casualty of the war on drugs.

Top U.K. Drug Adviser Out : ScienceInsider

Illicit drugs, science and politics can be a volatile mix, no doubt. So it's not a total surprise that David Nutt, a respected psychopharmacologist at the Bristol outost of Imperial College London, was canned today as the U.K. top drug advisor. His downfall was a paper in which Nutt argued that ecstasy and other drugs caused less harm than alcohol.

Phil Willis, Chairman of the House of Commons science and technology committee, has already released a statement noting he asked the Home Secretary "for clarification as to why the distinguished scientist Sir David Nutt has been removed of duties as Chair of Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) at a time when independent scientific advice to government is essential. It is disturbing if an independent scientist should be removed for reporting sound scientific advice."

Nutt accused ministers of misleading the public. "You are more likely to die riding a horse than you are by taking cannabis or ecstasy," he told BBC radio. "I am not prepared to mislead the public about the harms of drugs like cannabis and ecstasy just to give messages.

Everyone knows that is the truth, even the spit fleckeled knuckle dragging editorial writers in the popular press. The kids especially know it is the truth. The surest way to bring a law into disrespect is to base it on lies.
Good Evening Minister, how good of you to grace our humble entertainment with your presence. Let me introduce to Hempen Rope, I believe the next dance on your card is the Tyburn Jig...

Posted by The Englishman at 8:30 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 27, 2009

Salt Times

Is salt really the Devil's ingredient? - Times Online
The Government wants us to reduce our sodium intake, but studies show that this advice should be taken with a pinch of salt....

Just as Nanny spends lots of money telling us off the papers start to catch up with what wiser heads have been saying for years

Posted by The Englishman at 9:04 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 23, 2009

easyCouncil - if only

Household to be charged for extra services under new 'easyCouncil' plans - Telegraph

Households will be forced to pay more for extra council services they use, as local authorities start to mirror the approach of budget airlines.

If only they would mirror Ryan Air - cut the "forced" amount you have to pay to the minimum and then give people the freedom to buy extra services if they want them and can't buy them cheaper elsewhere. But that doesn't seem to be what they are saying, they seem to be wanting to keep the rates skyhigh, reduce the services and then force ratepayers to top up their council tax bill if they actually want anything from the council, and only the council will be allowed to offer the services....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:15 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

October 22, 2009

Vote Against Nanny

Mark Wadsworth: Beating fakecharities at their own game...

Visit Alcohol Focus Scotland and vote on the statement "Cheap alcohol is damaging health and society, I support minimum pricing".
We are currently ahead, with 72% having voted "No" out of 900 votes so far.
Bizarrely, you are allowed to vote as many times as you like. They really have thought this one through, haven't they?

74% No now - I wonder how long they will put up with the public having a say...

Posted by The Englishman at 7:17 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

October 20, 2009

One more for the road?

100,000 will die in next decade due to drinking - Telegraph

Alcohol related deaths have trebled in the past 25 years to reach 8,999 last year.

I love the precision in that figure, no reckless rounding up of numbers to make a political point for them!

Posted by The Englishman at 6:55 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 15, 2009

Charity begins where?

Taxpayers set to hand Lloyds another £5bn - Scotsman.com News

Lloyds' charity covenant 'safe for nine years'
Hundreds of Scottish charities face an uncertain future after Lloyds said it was to cut its foundation's funding – which is worth at least £6 million a year – in the wake of the financial crisis.
Mary Craig, chief executive of the foundation, said the bank would need to give almost a decade's notice if it wanted to change its funding arrangements.
Ms Craig said: "The last thing we want is a public fight with the bank. We tried to avoid this.
"The bank can only get out of the covenant if they give nine years' notice."

Taxpayer gives to Lloyds who give to their foundation which doles out money to their favoured charities. I think I get it and that is why I always tell charity chuggers that I have already given.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 13, 2009

Video Times

Soaring CCTV cameras ‘are costly, futile and politically motivated’

CCTV fails to cut crime and the technology needs to be curbed in Scotland, where the number of cameras has almost doubled in the past six years, a leading academic has said.
Mike Press, who has spent the past decade studying how design can contribute to crime reduction, told The Times that the expensive policy is politically motivated and ineffectual. He also warned that it can have the opposite effect of that intended, by giving citizens a false sense of security and encouraging them to be careless with property and personal safety.
“We should, as a society, question why we have got it,” said the professor of design policy at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee. “Our civil liberties have been crushed and trampled upon and compressed and this is part of that. We have yet to see it have any positive impact. I think we should have a moratorium on it.”

And not just in Scotland.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 12, 2009

Smart Spy in every home

Smart meters could be 'spy in the home' - Telegraph

Smart meters could become a 'spy in the home' by allowing social workers and health authorities to monitor households, adding to concern at Britain's surveillance society.

The devices pave the way for a national 'smart grid', backed by David Cameron's Conservatives, which would use the data to manage national demand more efficiently and advise households when it is cheapest to switch on appliances.
In its impact assessment, however, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) says there "is theoretically scope... for using the smart metering communications infrastructure to enable a variety of other services, such as monitoring of vulnerable householders by health authorities or social services departments."
It adds: "Information from smart meters could also make it possible for a supplier to determine when electricity or gas was being used in a property and, to a degree, the types of technology that were being used within the property. This could be used to target energy efficiency advice and offers of measures, social programmes etc to householders."

" theoretically scope" means "will definitely" - another reason to invest in your own generator...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:25 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

October 6, 2009

Snoopers Game

The internet is about to get a new reality game, known as Internet Eyes, that already has civil rights groups up in arms on account of the fact that you’ll be cast as a ‘remote snooper’ who’ll get paid cash for spotting real crimes via CCTV cameras installed in shops and shopping centres through out the UK.
The Internet Eyes internet ‘game’, which is the brainchild of David Steele, Tony Morgan and James Woodward, and which is set to be rolled out across Britain by December, with a worldwide rollout following in 2010, will pay out up to a purported £1,000 should users report crimes, via SMS, seen via live CCTV streams streamed directly via the Internet Eyes site to their computers at home with then ‘game’ awarding points for confirmed crimes and deducting points for mis-reports.
Civil rights groups, as you’d except, aren’t in the least bit happy and claim that Internet Eyes will ‘encourage people to spy and snitch on each other’ which, pinch me if I’m wrong, is the whole premise of the game, isn’t it? (10 points there for stating the bleeding obvious).

Posted by The Englishman at 6:46 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 30, 2009

Shopping tips form a Doctor

Raise alcohol prices so food costs can be cut, says doctor - Scotsman.com News

ORDINARY consumers are subsidising binge drinkers because supermarkets increase the cost of everyday items to make up for discount alcohol sales, a leading doctor has said.
Liver specialist Dr Chris Record said a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol should be introduced, a move he claimed could lead to a reduction in the cost of a weekly shop.
"A minimum price would mean an increase in profit for retailers from alcohol, allowing them to make other products more affordable for moderate drinkers."

I bet Tesco et al are grateful for that idea, no wonder they are struggling to make money as they don't have such clever retail strategists on board.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:08 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 18, 2009

Madsen Bashes The Bishop

Archbishop of Canterbury's views on City capitalism veer close to populist sloganeering - Telegraph

Archbishop of Canterbury's views on City capitalism veer close to populist sloganeering
Capitalism has lifted more people from poverty and hunger than any other force in history, including religion, says Madsen Pirie....

But then the Bish is preaches that we should share what we have without any thought as creating stuff to share. Harvest festivals used to be thankful occasions reminding us of how man's efforts brought forth the Earth's bounty for our use. Now they are just guiltfests because the act of creating wealth is naughty. As the Blessed St Margaret said; “No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions - he had money too”

Posted by The Englishman at 6:40 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 17, 2009

Miliband's Man F***ing Jews Outburst

Foreign Office chief accused of saying: Blow Israel off the face of the Earth
Gideon Falter claimed that Rowan Laxton, 48, was also heard to shout “f***ing Israelis, f***ing Jews” while watching a television news report about Israel bombing Gaza as he worked out on an exercise bicycle.
Mr Falter said he arrived at the London Business School gym shortly after 8am in January and overheard the outburst. I wanted to see who shouted. I couldn’t see anyone who was particularly aggravated. Mr Laxton came downstairs to the lower part of the mezzanine and I spoke to him.”
Mr Falter claimed that Mr Laxton, head of the South Asia desk in the Foreign Office, admitted that it was him who had launched the tirade before allegedly adding: “It’s not racist. If I had my way, the international community would be sent in and if the Israelis got in the way, they would be blown off the face of the f***ing Earth.”...
His barrister, Julian Knowles, told the court that his client could not be guilty of inciting religious hatred or causing alarm, harassment or distress because he had no reason to believe anyone could hear him.
When interviewed by police after his arrest, Mr Laxton said: “I was horrified by what I saw and I said, ‘I’m sorry I said it’. I said ’f***ing Israelis’.”
The court was told that Mr Laxton had settled a “difficult” divorce with his Muslim wife on the same morning as the incident.
Mr Laxton had initially been told by police that he would be cautioned for the offence before Mr Falter tipped off the media and articles appeared in the press. It was then that the Crown Prosecution Service decided to charge him.

What a nasty little story. I have never been on an exercise bike, whatever they are, but if by 8:00am you have been divorced and signed over half your goods, you are hot and sweaty and you are watching the television news then a bit of swearing at the telly as you are on your own seems to be entirely your own business.
And even if you aren't on your own and you haven't got any provocation it still should just be allowable free speech.
I haven't noticed the CPS playing the media tart and charging all those anti-Israeli banner wavers on the streets.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

September 8, 2009

RIPA for Heros

MoD spends £426,000 spying on injured soldiers - Telegraph

Officials used counter-terrorism powers to carry out secret filming on hundreds of wounded personnel to check whether they are exaggerating or lying in their compensation claims.
It is being carried out under the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), originally intended to help the police and MI5 monitor terrorists in the UK.
Injured servicemen and women are warned that they could be filmed in letters to their solicitors.
It emerged in July that the MoD had carried out covert filming on 284 people who claimed for compensation since 2000, about one per cent of all injury compensation claims.
Papers released to the Daily Mirror under the Freedom of Information Act show that the exercise has cost £426,000, about £1,500 for each serviceman subject to surveillance.
Although the MoD said that the tactic had saved "millions" of pounds, the newspaper said that only three claims had been rejected outright as a result of the surveillance.

Swinging the lead has a long tradition in the Army (it is a calumnious phrase they blacken the Senior Service with) but does the use of anti-terrorism powers against wounded servicemen feel right to you?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 7, 2009

When Nanny Turns Into Big Brother

Labour's secret plan to send overweight children to NHS fat camps
Tens of thousands of overweight children – some as young as four – will be shipped off to fat camp, under a Government scheme to tackle obesity.

Under existing regulations, children are weighed when they start primary school – aged four or five – and again as they leave, at 10 or 11...
When it was introduced three years ago, the weighing programme was met with a backlash from parents. In its first year, more than half withdrew their children from the scheme, for fear they would be bullied after the class weigh-in.
When families were advised that pupils would not be told their weights, nor singled out and told to diet, but that data would simply be used by local health planners to monitor the spread of obesity and to help them set up the right services, participation rates increased. Last year, nine out of ten children were measured.
The new guidance, slipped out to NHS Primary Care Trusts in England during the school holidays, orders an immediate change of approach.
From this month, pupils whose weight is too high – or too low – will automatically be offered a referral to "weight management services" in areas which already run such programmes or can set them up quickly.
Existing NHS schemes range from 12-week weight loss courses taking place at weekends and on school nights, to six-week residential courses costing £3,000 a patient for the most obese.
All PCTs have been "strongly encouraged" to have children's weight management services in place by next September, so that every overweight child in England can be referred for diet and exercise sessions.
Those identified as obese may be sent to paediatricians for specialist treatment, drugs or even surgery.

Leave aside for a second the groupthought indoctrination and state sponsored humiliation of kids let us remember there is no scientific proof that such interventions help kids. No proof at all.

On the other hand there is evidence that the darker the skin the harder it is to find a job compared to identically qualified lighter skined people of the same race; jobless people have worse health, commit more crime etc. So do we propose a skin tone classification scheme with the darkies being shipped off to be bleached, or do we abhor picking on people for their innate characteristics and strive to change society so such unfairness doesn't happen?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:42 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 4, 2009

Thighs Matter

PEOPLE with thick thighs have a lower risk of premature death and heart disease, researchers said yesterday.
A study found that those whose thighs measured around 23.6in (60cm) in circumference were less likely to develop heart problems or die early.

Pass the tape measure, it's for her own good.
Whilst it reassures us men please don't let on to the girls that it applies to women as well.

Prof Heitmann, director of the research unit for dietary studies at Copenhagen University Hospital, "A small thigh circumference was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases and total mortality in both men and women," he said.
"A threshold effect for thigh circumference was evident, with greatly increased risk of premature death below around 60cm."
He added: "The fact that more than half of the men and women aged 35-65 have thigh circumference below the threshold is worrying."
Dr Ian Scott, of Australia's Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, said if measuring a patient's thigh proved to be an effective way of identifying those at higher risk of heart disease and premature death, it would have "intriguing" public health implications.

No, don't start telling people that being too thin is bad for them, it will lead to the collapse of civilisation!

Posted by The Englishman at 6:24 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

September 3, 2009

NHS - Top Heavy Pruning

NHS may need to lose 137,000 staff to meet £20 billion savings target - Times Online

The study said £2.4 billion could be saved if hospitals with the lowest levels of staff productivity improved to become nearer the average levels. It added that almost 40 per cent of patients in a typical hospital did not need to be there....

Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, said...“Clearly, we need to get better value for money from the NHS, so we applaud any drive for greater efficiency, but it is extraordinary that Labour plan to take an axe to the hospital budget rather than to the bloated health bureaucracy.
“Only a fifth of job cuts would be within the bureaucracy, meaning the vast majority to go would be frontline NHS staff.
“After years of declining productivity, this report shows that Labour still doesn’t get it...."

Management consultants tend to believe in the value of managers, strange that, where as the clients tend to put their money towards the people who get their hands dirty and who they meet. As long as the money trickles down from the top then it will be captured on the way down. If the customer directs where the money enters the system by using real choice then it is reversed. I wonder how much the Doctors and Nurses would decide to spend on the managers.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:19 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Your Council Tax at work

Council workers are being given more than two days’ pay a year for being in a lift.
Under the scheme, second-floor staff get two minutes a day, those on floors three to six get three minutes and staff on floors seven, nine and twelve get four minutes. Those on the tenth and eleventh floors at the town centre head offices are given a five-minute “lift allowance” each day....a pay review means that the allowance could be abolished.

An example of how rigorous the cost cutting in the public sector is becoming, though I expect they are still expecting a pay increase this year.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 2, 2009

NHS - an inmate writes

Blogging from an NHS bed
The daily reality - do read, and wish the writer well.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 31, 2009

"The council is prepared to voluntarily grant a reasonable amount of expressions of freedom" - Glasgow Council

Pay to march, Orange Lodge told - Scotsman.com News

The contribution will be voluntary because, as a non-profit organisation, the Orange Lodge is exempt from paying for any policing. However, police and council chiefs will warn that if the Lodge does not pay, they will restrict the number of parades which can take place every year.

One senior source said: "A reasonable starting point is the deal the police have done with the football clubs. We want to say to the Orange Lodge, let's talk about how you contribute to the cost of this. It would be a voluntary agreement that reflects the fact that the council is prepared to voluntarily grant a reasonable amount of expressions of freedom."

If the Lodge refuses to pay, the source said, then "the authorities will be more prepared to refuse them permission, and that includes the Irish organisations which have been deemed to be inflammatory". The source added: "We are also considering going to the Scottish Government and saying we need legislation that allows us to limit the number of parades which draws a limit of what is deemed to be an acceptable number on what freedom of expression is."

The Lodge says it is prepared to cut down on the total number, but last night warned it would vehemently oppose any payment regime.

Ian Wilson, the grand master of the Orange Lodge, said: "I don't think it would be just us who would oppose this. This is a libertarian matter.

"The police force is a public service. This is a democratic society and we should be free to demonstrate."

So Glasgow Council think that they decide what is, and can generously grant permission for, a "reasonable amount of freedom of expression" do they? Well they can fuck right off, or is that an unreasonable expression of freedom that they won't allow.

Posted by The Englishman at 10:27 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

NHS Equipment Shortage Solved - It's in the patient

Surgeons leave 300 instruments in the bodies of patients - Scotsman.com News

SURGEONS left behind more than 300 instruments and pieces of equipment in patients' bodies in Scottish hospitals over the past five years. The exact spread of the problem is not known because boards with fewer than five cases a year refuse to publish the data, citing patient confidentiality.
The new figures were revealed in a parliamentary answer by Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, only weeks after NHS figures showed patients underwent more than 5,500 botched operations in Scotland over the same period.

File under "quality control in a monopoly supplier".

Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 19, 2009

A Wee Small Voice of Common Sense

Pupils confined to school at lunchtime in junk food ban - Scotsman.com News

The scheme, first mooted in December 2008, is part of a wider attempt to instil healthy eating habits in pupils and tackle the issue of obesity.

But Judith Gillespie, head of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, believes that the council is taking the wrong approach: "I really get depressed at authorities thinking that they can control what is ultimately personal behaviour. People will make mistakes, it's their right to make mistakes to a certain extent. All that happens is that if you put them (children] in a straitjacket now, when you finally take it off, they will go wild. You might get short-term gains, but that's not what you're after."

Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 17, 2009

Nutrition and Nitration

Do not feed your children ham sandwiches, warn cancer experts - Scotsman.com News

Processed meats are usually manufactured using sodium nitrite, a colour fixer which is carcinogenic...People should increase the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables they eat...

You can't have it both ways, vegetables are also stuffed full of nitrites. As the ever indispensable Sandy says:

70% (in UK) to over 97% (New Zealand) of human consumption of nitrates and nitrites comes from vegetables alone, regardless of organic or conventionally grown. On average, about 93% of the nitrites we get each day comes from the nitrates in vegetables.
(Do read the whole of her article)

Her conclusion is: Many studies implicating nitrite and nitrate in cancer are based on very weak epidemiological data. If nitrite and nitrate were harmful to us, then we would not be advised to eat green leafy vegetables or swallow our own saliva, which is enriched in nitrate. There’s still plenty of summertime left and lots of regional hotdog specialties and BLTs left to enjoy, along with those garden vegies. With a little more science under our belts, hopefully everyone can enjoy it all with a lot less worry.

(An old Nature paper is also interesting:

Nitrates, nitrites and gastric cancer in Great Britain - David Forman, Samim Al-Dabbagh & Richard Doll

The authors are at the Epidemiology and Clinical Trials Unit of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Gibson Building, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford OX2 GHE, UK.
Nitrate and nitrite were measured in the saliva of two populations who differed in their risk of developing gastric cancer. Surprisingly, the levels of both ions were significantly higher in the low-risk group.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 13, 2009

Government Health News

Sick benefit people 'must exercise' - Andy Burnham said.
He will also announce that Arlene Phillips, who was recently dismissed as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, has been recruited as a “dance champion” to encourage more people to join dance classes. The Government’s “Dance Champions Group” will be chaired by Rod Aldridge, the former head of Capita, and feature Angela Rippon, the newsreader who danced into TV history on Morecambe and Wise; the Strictly star Darren Bennett; and the model and TV personality Lisa Snowdon.

The kohl eyed muppet is obviously copying his style and intellectual heroine St. Diana who famously gushed about her love of dance, and tight trousered cavalry officers. Is he visiting Paris any time soon?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:59 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Cheering Health News

Beer could stop bones going brittle - Telegraph

It is thought that the high level of silicon in beer slows down the thinning that leads to fractures and boosts the formation of new bone, the journal Nutrition reports.
Beer is also rich in phytoestrogens, plant versions of oestrogen, which keep bones healthy.

Silicon and oestrogen, beer boobs?

I do know the difference between silicon and silicone but through my blurry eyes first thing in the morning....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Real Health News

Junkfood Science: The myth of unhealthy belly fat

Not only excellent on belly fat but also a masterwork on the scientific method, do read it.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 5, 2009

Big Brother in Your Bathroom, Coming Soon

CCTV in every home? Not likely according to Sunny Balls

Of course the Express got the story wrong, Balls is happily denying it. Everyone jumping up an d down about it is looking a bit silly, except we know how this works. Fly a kite, quickly pull it down, let the storm blow over and then gently, quietly start doing it. It's old news then when anyone realises and they are all spluttered out.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 31, 2009

News to cheer you up from the Daily Nigellagraph

Nigella Lawson starts a fashion explosion
Nigella Lawson may have been one of the first to make the switch from Domestic Goddess to Brunette Bombshell. And she is right on trend in fashion terms.
The hourglass ‘look’ that Miss Lawson has chosen for several film premieres and has bought in bulk for her summer holidays in the Hamptons is the look that is going like a bomb on the high street.
Miss Lawson, who has been chosen as the female celebrity with the figure most men and women adore, started her plunge-front, retro-look fashion escapades.......

Time for my shower.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Happiness set to sweep Britain like a virus - Scotsman.com News

BRITAIN could be a happier place next week, thanks to a unique psychological experiment aimed at spreading smiles around the country.
For five days, starting on Monday, thousands of people will be invited to go online and try one of four proven mood-boosting techniques.
The idea is to plant seeds of happiness, which then "infect" others, sending waves of cheerfulness across recession-hit Britain.

That's Janet and Jonathan who will lead us all to happiness - don't you feel all warm and cuddly now? On Monday random strangers will come up and smile at you and want you to smile with them. Haven't we suffered enough.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:40 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

July 27, 2009

Blues Show Red Light To Greens

Eco-awareness festival halted by safety concerns - Times Online

The five-day festival was due to open on Wednesday but the organisers surrendered their licence yesterday after concerns, including issues involving road and fire safety, could not be resolved with police and the local council.
An inspector at Avon and Somerset Police refused to say what exactly their concerns were.
Avon and Somerset Police would only say: “It has been cancelled. The reasons are on our website.”

"Avon and Somerset Police worked with the event organisers as well as our multi agent partners, and subsequently went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure this event took place. However to due a number of issues including road and fire safety that could not be resolved the event organisers surrendered their licence."

The organisers will go bust and ticketholders and stallholders uncompensated, and that waffle is the only reason given. It's not the sort of festival that appeals to me, paying £125 to sit in the mud with eco beardies, but if that is what they want to do let them take a risk of a bong conflagration and a crash on the incoming ley lines.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:43 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Watersport Fans to be Punished

Unpowered craft including sailboards and bodyboards are to be reclassified as ships to bring their users within regulations for merchant shipping... Anyone out on the water would be liable to a random breath test. But the Department for Transport has infuriated many of Britain’s four million water sports enthusiasts.

What a shower, they must be taking the piss if they have to twist meanings of words so far just to impose their discipline. "It is already an offence to behave in such a way as to endanger a ship or an individual." But that isn't enough, we must regulate all behaviour not just the dangerous.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:16 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 23, 2009

V'ish asher yishkav et zachar mishk'vei ishah to'evah asu shneihem mot yumatu d'meihem bam.

Gallery’s invitation to deface the Bible brings obscene response

A publicly funded exhibition is encouraging people to deface the Bible in the name of art — and visitors have responded with abuse and obscenity.
The show includes a video of a woman ripping pages from the Bible and stuffing them into her bra, knickers and mouth.
The open Bible is a central part of Made in God’s Image, an exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (Goma) in Glasgow. By the book is a container of pens and a notice saying: “If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it.”
The exhibit, Untitled 2009, was proposed by the Metropolitan Community Church...The exhibition has been created by the artists Anthony Schrag and David Malone, in association with organisations representing gay Christians and Muslims. Mr Schrag, the gallery’s artist in residence, said that he did not believe in God, but that his research for the £7,000 show had underlined his respect for people of faith.

Faith in that "there's a taxpayer sucker born every minute" probably. I'm pleased to note it was both Christians and Muslims behind the show though I wonder why there was only one book open to be defaced...

Posted by The Englishman at 7:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 22, 2009

Hard Choices for the NHS Budget

Sandy dissects the NHS budget and asks:

Which would you choose to spend taxpayers’ scarce healthcare money on: medical care for critically-ill babies or free vacations and produce? The choice might be clear to us, but we’re not from the government.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 20, 2009

Monday Morning Motoring Snippets

Signs could tell drivers to take the train - Telegraph
The Government's determination to promote a low carbon economy is expected to form part of the biggest overhaul of the country's road signs in 40 years

Cost of ministerial car fleet increases - Telegraph
One in seven Labour MPs now have access to an official car, according to figures released by the Government.
According to the Department for Transport there are now 93 ministers who are also provided with a driver as part of their duties.
This is six more than this time last year and the bill for the Government car service has risen from £6 million last year to £6.3 million in 2008-9.

"The Saxon is not like us Normans. His manners are not so polite.
But he never means anything serious till he talks about justice and right.
When he stands like an ox in the furrow – with his sullen set eyes on your own,
And grumbles, 'This isn't fair dealing,' my son, leave the Saxon alone.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:50 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

July 17, 2009

Olympic Gold Goes To......

CLM, cost controllers for London Olympics, paid £151 million last year including a £60 million bonus, it was revealed yesterday.

The size of the fee emerged as Olympic chiefs awarded themselves generous pay rises, with three years to go until the start of the Games in 2012. Staff at the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) shared £30 million, including £2 million of bonuses,..By 2012, the estimated total paid to consultants will have reached nearly £680 million.

However, taxpayers may baulk at the cost, after they came to the rescue of two of the biggest venues on the Olympic Park. In May, the Government approved a further injection of £324 million into the £1 billion Village, which will house 17,500 athletes and officials during the Games, bringing public investment in the project to £650 million. The £355 million media centre had already been nationalised after private financing failed to materialise.
The latest accounts revealed that the ODA wrote off £7.5 million in design and professional fees for work on the media centre. It also bore the cost of £2.5 million in legal fees incurred on behalf of Lend Lease, the property developer that pulled out of the Village financing deal.
A further £1.1 million in design fees were written off when the site of the canoeing venue was changed.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:46 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 14, 2009

'My gun could have saved my husband' - From the BBC

Gobsmacked.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:48 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

July 13, 2009

Swine Flu - The State vs Individuals

Everyone in the UK to be vaccinated against swine flu pandemic - Scotsman.com News

THE entire UK population is to be vaccinated against swine flu following the death of the first healthy British patient.
The NHS will receive the new vaccine in the next few weeks and is expected to fast-track the drug through regulatory approval within five days...stressed the reason public vaccination was taking place was not because the virus was perceived as a killer but that society could not cope with a high percentage of the population off work ill.

1976 swine flu outbreak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The strain itself killed one person and hospitalized 13. However, side-effects from the vaccine caused 25 deaths.

Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off another major pandemic, and they urged President Gerald Ford that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population had been vaccinated by the time the program was canceled. Only one person, the Fort Dix army recruit, died from the flu.
There were reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing neuromuscular disorder, affecting some people who had received swine flu immunizations. This syndrome is a rare side-effect of modern influenza vaccines, with an incidence of about one case per million vaccinations. As a result, Di Justo writes that "the public refused to trust a government-operated health program that killed old people and crippled young people." In total, less than 33 percent of the population had been immunized by the end of 1976. The National Influenza Immunization Program was effectively halted on December 16.
Overall, about 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 vaccine.

Far easier for the NHS to deal with the few people the vaccination will make ill and kill, than the many the flu will make snuffly...

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July 9, 2009

News of the World Mobile Phone Cash

The publisher of the News of the World paid £1m in court costs after its journalists were accused of involvement in mobile phone tapping, it has been claimed.

In other news if you have an old mobile lying around the News of the World will buy it off you for cash, or CASH! as they put it. Up to you but I think I will give it a pass.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

One over the eight

Alcohol-related deaths up by 40% in ten years
The Conservatives blamed the increase on the relaxation of drinking laws in November 2005.

The Stupid Party trying to think again. A cursory glance at how the statistics are collected and what is and was defined as "alcohol related" would show that it is bollocks. But the demonisation of alcohol is a cross-party consensus to increase control...

The Department of Health said that alcohol “is one of the most challenging public health issues we face. For every pound spent on alcohol intervention, five pounds are saved by the public purse — so this is money well spent.”

Posted by The Englishman at 6:30 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Breeding Will Out

Genes are all you need for good manners say researchers - Scotsman.com News

Nanny always used to say that Manners Maketh Man, maybe she got it the wrong way round. Maybe some humanoids are incapable of good manners, and why are they always out shopping when I am?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 6, 2009

News from the sharp end

Man uses nail clippers in DIY circumcision - Telegraph

Man cuts off own penis during drunk DIY - Telegraph

Knife crime is on the rise - Telegraph

Sometimes I think I agree that there are whole swathes of the population who shouldn't be trusted with anything sharper than a crayon, but then at least they seem to be doing their best not to breed...

Posted by The Englishman at 7:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 3, 2009

Grind them exceeding small

Maybe columnists don’t bang on about these little miseries enough. We always worry about the big things; the fiddled expenses, the bomb plots, Jordan’s boobs, the lies that lead to wars. It’s the little things, however, that pollute our lives so much more. The receptionist at A&E, your electricity bill, the new wheelie bin, the traffic jam, the cancelled flight, the delivery that never arrives.

It’s the powerlessness, always, against these shapeless systems that seem to hate us, and leave us no option but to hate them back. It’s awful. What a way to live. What a place. What bastards.

Its the little things that will cause an explosion one day, not the massive incomprensible debt, the loss of freedoms etc, it will be a little old lady being victimised that will get people on the streets.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

June 29, 2009

Glasto Bloat

THE BBC was blasted last night for sending 405 staff to cover Glastonbury festival.
The figure was only 32 fewer than those sent to produce 3,000 hours of Beijing Olympics coverage last year.

I'm not one to support them but I wonder if the BBC announced random drug tests on staff and dismissals for the guilty would that reduce the number of essential staff volunteering for overtime at the festival?

Posted by The Englishman at 7:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 26, 2009

Canterbury Plays for Gays

Canterbury is sufficiently gay, council inspectors rule
The council had to prove its inclusiveness by giving details of "touring plays and musicals, for example, which would be of interest to the LGBT community".
And it had to show that it had "put forward suggestions for small events that it might help fund, as well as proposals for other events such as exhibitions".
Rob Davies, spokesman for the council, said: "Obviously we're delighted with the outcome of the investigation.
"We feel we do a great deal for the gay community in Canterbury and we have always tried to support various gay events and promotions."
"But at the same time it is not the duty of any council to set up a gay bar – that's not what councils do."

Maybe it also not the duty of the council to "fund any small events" for any part of the community. Why should ratepayers be mulct to pay for the pleasures of others? Let Gays, Morris Dancers, Yummy Mummies, Bell Ringers or whoever stick there hands into their own pockets, not mine.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 25, 2009

A Manifesto Event for Freedom

A glass of wine with your picnic? It's against the law
More than 700 “controlled drinking zones” have been set up across England, giving police sweeping powers to confiscate beer and wine from anyone enjoying a quiet outdoor tipple.
Local authorities are introducing the zones at a rate of 100 a year, The Times has learnt. Some cover whole cities, a radical departure from what the law intended.
Once a control zone is in place, police can seize alcohol from anyone who is not on licensed premises, even if the bottles or cans are unopened.
The law made clear that the zones should cover only streets or city centre areas with a record of alcohol-related disorder or nuisance.
There are now 712 zones, some covering vast areas where there is no record of disorder. There are city-wide bans in Coventry and Brighton, which cover even the quietest suburban streets....
Police in Brighton and Hove appear to be the most energetic in the country. Their 45 community support officers are making 25 confiscations a week. The Manifesto Club was inundated with claims of over-zealous enforcement, such as two young women forced to pour away glasses of wine that they were drinking on the beach, and three men having cans of lager confiscated as they stood on the promenade. Researchers observed drinks being confiscated from people having a quiet drink while admiring the plants in the Pavilion Gardens.
To protest at what it considers an excessive approach, the Manifesto Club is hosting a picnic on Brighton beach with alcoholic drinks on Saturday.

ABOUT THE MANIFESTO CLUB

The Manifesto Club campaigns against the hyperregulation of everyday life. We support free movement across borders, free expression and free association. We challenge booze bans, photo bans, vetting and speech codes - all new ways in which the state regulates everyday life on the streets, in workplaces and in our private lives.
We believe that the freedom issues of the twenty-first century cut across old political boundaries, and require new schools of political thought, and new methods of campaigning and organisation.
There is much to celebrate about the contemporary world, but there is also an urgent need to work out how we can take that world forward. Any attempt to transform our society towards a freer, more enlightened future, must begin from the conviction that people have a tremendous capacity to organise their own lives, both individually and collectively. That is why at the Manifesto Club we campaign, write, petition and argue for freedom in everyday life.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:57 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

June 23, 2009

Liberal Jackboots

Minimum prices for alcohol a step closer as Lib Dems hint at U-turn
But after the alcohol summit – which was described by some in the alcohol industry as a "cheerleading event for minimum pricing" – the Liberal Democrats indicated that they were now open-minded on the issue.

Can anyone point out to me how imposing price controls are evidence of being "open-minded", Liberal or Democratic? No, thought not.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:31 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 19, 2009

The First Time is Always The Hardest

First criminal trial without a jury for 400 years

Lord Judge: “In this country trial by jury is a hallowed principle of the administration of criminal justice. It is properly identified as a right, available to be exercised by a defendant unless and until the right is amended or circumscribed by express legislation.”

For 400 years we have put up with the problem of embracery without having to ditch trial by jury. Back in the days when even our cities were no larger than large towns and Jurors and defendants all lived within the same walking distance of the court we managed. With easy travel, video links and all the paraphernalia of a surveillance state are they saying we really can't manage it now?
Expect to see it happen a lot more from now on.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

June 17, 2009

When Plod Runs Scared of the Equality Police

Police carrying out stop and search 'just for statistics' - Telegraph

Police are making unjustified searches of members of the public to provide "racial balance" to stop and search statistics, Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of anti-terrorism laws, has said.
He warned that police were wasting money by carrying out "self-evidently unmerited searches" which were an invasion of civil liberties and "almost certainly unlawful".
He said police were carrying out the searches on people they had no basis for suspecting so they could avoid accusations of prejudice.
As the terror threat against Britain is largely from Islamist extremists, the figures show disproportionately more Muslims and therefore more Asians being searched than whites.
But the peer said police should stop trying to balance the figures, and it may be that an "ethnic imbalance" is a "proportional consequence" of policing.
Officers in England and Wales used the powers to search 124,687 people in 2007/8, up from 41,924 in 2006/7 and only 1 per cent of searches led to an arrest.

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June 16, 2009

Pointless Knife

First 'anti-stab' knife to go on sale in Britain - Times Online
The first “anti-stab” knife is to go on sale in Britain, designed to work as normal in the kitchen but to be ineffective as a weapon.
The knife is expected to sell for around £40-50 and has been tested with “very favourable” results by the Home Office’s Design and Technology Alliance - set up to research products that can deter crime.

Very clever, a knife with a blunt end, sorry, an expensive knife with a blunt end suitable for "cutting vegetables". I expect he will make millions as the public sector mandates it for their kitchens. For the rest of us, are you going to replace your Globals and Sabatiers just in case? Unless of course they brought a law in....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:05 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

June 15, 2009

Nanny Labels Pass Their Use By Dates

Rise in listeria food poisoning as elderly take ‘use by’ date gamble - Times Online
Research from the agency suggests that a dismissive approach to “use by” labels on food and a reluctance to throw away food may be the reason for the incidence of the bug.
In face-to-face interviews with 3,219 adults, almost 60 per cent of the over-60s did not realise that the “use by” date on a food label was an important indicator of whether the food was safe.
Older people also thought nothing of eating food past its “use by” date.

Is it time to shelve sell-by dates? | The Sun
The Government thinks so and wants to abandon them as part of a war on waste.
Environment Minister Hilary Benn reckons shoppers are confused by terms such as "sell by", "display until" and "use by", which have specific meanings.
Mr Benn said: "Too many of us are putting things in the bin because we're not sure, we're confused by the label or we're just playing safe."

Too many different labels, too much caution; many years ago someone wrote a story about the perils of crying wolf, and that is what has happened here.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:01 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

June 14, 2009

The Englishman's Patent Guaranteed Diet

Don't be a silly sausage with diets – soya banger can beat the bulge - Scotsman.com News
Scientists have found that if they eat high-protein foods then people do not get as hungry. The exact reason is not known, but it is thought a protein triggers particular signals from the gut to the brain that it is full. The weight lost on a high-protein diet is fat instead of muscle or water.

And if healthier high protein food does the same thing then it could be the Holy Grail of the diet world – hence the soya sausages, bacon and meatballs.

Dr Alex Johnstone, from the Rowett's Metabolic Health Group, is running experiments to see if vegetable-based proteins such as soya work as well as dairy and meat. If successful it could result in a high-protein weight loss plan diet that is healthier and more environmentally-friendly.

Soya sausages? A sure fire way for me to loose weight as I would rather eat the bloody packaging. If Dr Alex would forget for a moment trying to be green and bunny hugging she would just endorse The Englishman's Patent Guaranteed Diet - If you feel peckish a bit of decent Cheddar and a slice or two of salami gives you the mouth feel of fattiness that satisfies and the protein that tells the blood stream that the tummy is full. Bloat yourself up with rabbit food and the brain will continue to cry out for real food.

Posted by The Englishman at 8:47 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Love Thy Neighbour

Middle-class drinkers in their homes are as bad as riotous youths, says bishop - Telegraph
Bishop Gladwin, a former social responsibility secretary for the Church, called for a new approach to the problem, which he said was caused by "growing prosperity".

"While do we have a significant problem among young people, not least the binge drinking that breaks out onto our streets, that is not the issue," he said.

"Growing prosperity is behind the rise in alcoholism. We now go out and buy our wine for the weekend."

The bishop said that it was unfair to draw attention to young and poorer people getting drunk in public when they are also having too much alcohol, but in the privacy of their own homes.

"Often poorer people in society haven't got the protection – the safety of jobs and homes – so when young people do go out clubbing it's all very public, whereas for older people you can collapse at home at the weekend and have levels of alcohol consumption that are just as bad."

You collapsing at home after a couple of glasses of vino too many isn't any of my business, it doesn't impinge on me. Being a violent noisy drunk on my street late at night does. Is it so hard to see the difference? The key is that the Bish doesn't like "prosperity" and people being able to choose what they want to do. How much better life would be if the flock would obey the man in the pointy hat with the crook.

Posted by The Englishman at 8:36 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

June 8, 2009

Dogoodery by threats

Warden of notorious US jail cancels Scottish visit after threats - Scotsman.com News

A VISIT to Scotland by the man in charge of one of America's most notorious prisons has been cancelled after police were called in by organisers over "threats" from protesters.
Burl Cain, who runs Louisiana State Penitentiary, had been invited to speak to members of the Winning Entrepreneurs business network in Edinburgh today. But organisers cancelled the dinner at Prestonfield House Hotel after a flood of protests from campaigners.
On Friday, a series of penal reform campaigners, including Paddy Hill, one of the Birmingham Six, wrote to Belinda Roberts, managing director of the business network, to complain about the visit from the head of the jail that has been dubbed "Angola"

It has been "dubbed" Angola because that is the name of the plantation it is on. Burl Cain has a renown name for reforming and running this huge prison. Tough management doesn't get much tougher, and would have been at least interesting to hear. But the tender entrepreneurs have been saved from this by a bunch of people, none of whom I can see have ever run a business.

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May 29, 2009

Top Boffin At Work And Play

The way you hold your drink reveals key personality traits, claim psychologists - Telegraph

All revellers fall into one of eight different personality types which are given away by their drinking techniques, a leading psychologist has concluded.
Dr Glenn Wilson, a consultant psychologist at King's College, London, observed over 500 drinkers in bars last month.
Dr Wilson said: "The simple act of holding a drink displays a lot more about us than we realise – or might want to divulge.
"The next time you're in a bar, it might be worth thinking about what you're saying to the people around you just by the way you're holding your glass."
The eight types identified are: 'Flirt', 'Gossip', 'Fun-Lover', 'Wallflower', 'Ice Queen', 'Playboy', 'Jack the Lad' and 'Browbeater'...

Good for him to get sponsored by a bar to produce this research - I think some corraborating evidence is needed, where do I apply?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 22, 2009

Yorkshire Plod Truncheon Query

Number of sex change police officers baffles West Yorkshire chiefs in survey - Halifax Today

West Yorkshire Police have said they were forced to ignore responses to a diversity questionnaire after a large number of staff claimed they had undergone a sex change.
Police said the results from the question about whether employees were undergoing, or had undergone, gender reassignment in the annual survey were "exceptionally wide of the national average".
This led police to believe the answers were not accurate....

Taking the piss out of the diversity snoops, excellent...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 15, 2009

Dr Brain to Nab Flashy Dressers

Police target people wearing too much 'bling' - Telegraph

Gloucestershire Constabulary has launched a campaign urging people to report anyone ... wearing excessive amounts of jewellery, driving expensive cars, or buying luxury items.

The force's Chief Constable, Dr Timothy Brain, said that ostentatious criminals would be easier to spot during the recession.

Adrian Foster, from Gloucestershire Crown Prosecution Service, said: "With the evidence that comes from good intelligence, we are able to restrain all of an individual's cash and bank accounts, their home, vehicles, electrical items and jewellery.
"Then following a successful prosecution we are able to take back the proceeds that they have accumulated from the last six years of crime."

Note the "restrain" all the possessions and then prosecute... Next time I go through Gloucester I better follow the Police Approved Dress Code...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:44 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

How Freedom Was Won And Is Being Lost

Fear of terrorism, crime and social chaos are all factors that have put our ideal of individual liberty into retreat. What Price Liberty? explores how civil liberty was constructed, and has been re-thought and re-fought, in a bid to debate and determine the value we place on it today.

Download the eBook of What Price Liberty? and pay what you think is fair.

More

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 8, 2009

The crime of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by accessing insecure internet connections

Paedophile gang preyed on children of close friends - Times Online

James Rennie, 38, a gay rights campaigner who had managed the Stonewall Youth Project before his appointment as chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, an organisation which campaigns for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered young people. Rennie was an opinion former, a mover and shaker. He was consulted by the Scottish Parliament over youth policy. He met the Queen and went to Downing Street to shake hands with Tony Blair

Convicted of: Sex attacks on children; conspiracy to abuse children; owning, making and distributing images of child-sex abuse; attempting to defeat the ends of justice by accessing insecure internet connections

I hope the whole gang of them enjoy meeting Mr Boiling ChipFat and friends whilst locked up. I just wish they weren't segregated but had their crimes tattooed on their foreheads... but I'm getting so unmodern.

The only questionmark I have is what is this crime "attempting to defeat the ends of justice by accessing insecure internet connections"? What does that mean?

Posted by The Englishman at 5:48 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

May 5, 2009

Householder vs The Law

One in 20 householders set booby traps for burglars - Telegraph

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, a householder who "knew of an intended intruder and set a trap to hurt or kill them rather than involve the police would be acting with very excessive and gratuitous force and could be prosecuted."
Sixty-five per cent of British householders would arm themselves with bats, walking sticks and other household items to use as protection if they were to come face-to-face with an uninvited guest.
Seven per cent would even use an axe and 14 per cent would use a knife.
Andrew Lowe, head of home insurance at Direct Line, which polled 2,000 people, said: "Our research shows the extremes that some householders would go to in order to protect their property from intruders. "However, while it's natural for many to look out for their family and their belongings, we do not recommend anyone resorts to violence as you put yourself at risk of injury or possibly even death.

Of course not, any Billy Burglar scaling the walls of The Castle will have only a feather cushion thrown at them and be offered a nice cup of tea, we don't want anyone to get the idea that I might consider anything rougher do we. The disparity between what the law and ordinary people consider to be right and proper grows wider.

Posted by The Englishman at 9:12 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Fake Charity - Fake Scare

Baby food has more fat than cheeseburgers - Telegraph
Some baby foods contain more fat and sugar than cheeseburgers and chocolate biscuits, reveals a new study...by the Children's Food Campaign, a lobby group.

Of course babies actually need more fat and sugar than adults (pro rata) so they grow, fat especially so their brains grow and they learn to think....

The CFC website www.childrensfoodcampaign.org.uk/ is down at the moment, but then it is just part of Sustain - which you can learn about on the excellent Fake Charities site.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Anne Ashworth - Landlord and Property Feckwit

New rules needed to stop rental sector spiralling out of control - Anne Ashworth, Property Editor -Times Online

The private rented sector is a cottage industry, with a vast and growing customer base.
Most of the operators are small-time players, owning one or two properties. Many of these amateur landlords regard their portfolios of flats as long-term investments and are mindful of their responsibilities and the need for high standards of service.
Fortunately, few can be described as “Rachmanite”, that is, guilty of the violent practices of Peter Rachman, the notorious West London slum landlord of the late 1950s. But a considerable number of rental properties are in a deplorable state of repair. And trouble can lurk even in impeccably decorated apartments with the latest kitchens....
tenants are becoming increasingly discontented with arrangements that force them to disclose financial information to a prospective landlord, while receiving none in return.
Professor Julie Rugg, of the University of York, who was commissioned by the Government to devise rental accommodation reforms, highlighted the diversity of the customer base which ranges from international bankers to asylum seekers, from students to young professionals.
In her report, released last year, Professor Rugg recommended: a “light-touch licensing system” for landlords; VAT relief, stamp duty and other tax breaks to encourage the refurbishment of substandard properties; and a new complaints procedure for tenants.
Although last month’s Budget did not contain any tax concessions, the Government is implementing the licensing proposal.
Responsible landlords will probably view the licensing scheme as yet more paperwork. We should always remember that letting out properties can be a thankless task. Landlords will, however, accept the system provided that it is effective...

Anne Ashworth, you and "your more rules are needed" friends can go screw yourselves. You outline that there are few problems, you outline that the recommendation was for a licence in return for tax breaks, you outline that all we are getting is a cumbersome prodnose intervention, and you even point out the pilot project in Scotland is a pile of crap. The costs and the reduction in rented property will hurt the tenants. But you still are for it. But then some people just like rules and ruling.

Whenever I come across one of them I comfort myself by thumbing through my well worn copy of British Standard EN40-2:2004 and calculating if the load capacity on the bracket will be acceptable or not...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 2, 2009

Speed Cameras Piggy Bank Broken

Fewer speed camera fines as police lose right to cash - Times Online

There was a big fall in the number of speed-camera penalties after police and local authorities lost the right to keep the proceeds.

The drop came in the same year that road deaths fell to their lowest level since records began, undermining claims that an increase in cameras improves road safety.

The drop in fines suggests that police chiefs decided to put fewer resources into speed enforcement when they stopped being able to recover the costs of installing and operating cameras. Many camera housings are being left empty and some forces have reduced their use of camera vans.

Ministers admitted in 2005 that allowing police to keep some of the money created a perception among drivers that cameras were being used to raise revenue, not just to save lives.

Funny how we had that perception, "incentives matter" I can hear a Worstall mutter.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:07 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 29, 2009

Passport Ban for Silly People

Woman who changed her name to Pudsey Bear refused passport - Telegraph

The Identity & Passport Service, which addressed her as 'Mrs Bear', told her in a letter: "It is deemed to be a frivolous change of name, which would bring IPS into disrepute. It could also pose problems for you at border control in some countries.

"IPS is not questioning the validity of the deed poll, however, it is not prepared to issue a passport in a frivolous name which could compromise our mission statement 'safeguarding your identity'."

Bring the IPS into disrepute?, oh get her! If she has changed her name legally then she has changed her name. Full stop. It is none of the civil servants' business as to how stupid the name is. But then they forget they are servants and believe they are the masters now.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:57 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Swine Flu - Health Advice you can trust

Ryanair boss says swine flu only a risk for 'slumdwellers' - Times Online

Spot on as ever. Sandy explains at length

Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 27, 2009

This post breaks the Olympic law

London Olympics under threat from cyber attack says Blunkett - Telegraph
That is why it's crucial to examine what we can do now, what measures need to be put in place.....

So the fascist games will be used as an excuse to turn the screw yet again as to what can be done online.

What they have done already is beyond belief - combining the words summer and 2012 is enough to get you door beaten down. And of course we know such powers will never be misused don't we...

London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006

1 (1) There shall be a right, to be known as the London Olympics association right, which shall confer exclusive rights in relation to the use of any representation (of any kind)...

For the purpose of considering whether a person has infringed the London Olympics association right a court may, in particular, take account of his use of a combination of expressions of a kind specified in sub-paragraph (2).

(2) The combinations referred to in sub-paragraph (1) are combinations of-

(a) any of the expressions in the first group, with

(b) any of the expressions in the second group or any of the other expressions in the first group.

(3) The following expressions form the first group for the purposes of sub-paragraph (2)-

(a) "games",

(b) "Two Thousand and Twelve",

(c) "2012", and

(d) "twenty twelve".

(4) The following expressions form the second group for the purposes of sub-paragraph (2)-

(a) gold,

(b) silver,

(c) bronze,

(d) London,

(e) medals,

(f) sponsor, and

(g) summer.

(5) It is immaterial for the purposes of this paragraph whether or not a word is written wholly or partly in capital letters.

(6) The Secretary of State may by order add, remove or vary an entry in either group of expressions.....

22 Enforcement: power of entry

(1) A constable or enforcement officer may-

(a) enter land or premises on which they reasonably believe a contravention of regulations under section 19 is occurring (whether by reason of advertising on that land or premises or by the use of that land or premises to cause an advertisement to appear elsewhere);

(b) remove, destroy, conceal or erase any infringing article;

(c) when entering land under paragraph (a), be accompanied by one or more persons for the purpose of taking action under paragraph (b);

(d) use, or authorise the use of, reasonable force for the purpose of taking action under this subsection.....

And don't forget that "2012" is a registered trademark, so what the fuck we are going to call the year between 2011 and 2013 is beyond me.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:42 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

April 24, 2009

Chicken or Egg?

‘Women get annoyed by low pay and leave to have children’ - Times Online

Really? All those maternal urges are just because you are feeling hard done by? How about "Employers get annoyed by women leaving to to have children so offer them low pay" does that make any more sense?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 23, 2009

You Will Obey Orders

More speed cameras planned for UK roads - Telegraph

Drivers are facing more points and more fines for motoring offences as the Government plans to introduce more cameras on Britain's roads.
The speed limit on A-roads are set to be reduced to 50mph in an attempt to cut the number of road deaths by a third while drivers also face limits of 20mph on residential roads and near schools.
As part of a 10-year strategy to make Britain's roads "the safest in the world", the "time over distance" cameras that measure a car's average speed over many miles are also set to be introduced en masse.

All for safety, not revenue, we are told, so why?

Careless driving on the other hand, which is currently punishable with a maximum fine of £2,500, will be downgraded to a £60 fixed penalty.

Actually doing something dangerous the penalty will be a slapped wrist; ignoring the diktats of the government regardless of circumstances, ruinous punishment. Says it all doesn't it.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:45 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

April 17, 2009

Met Riot Police have form

The Countryside Alliance compares the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the G20 demonstration to that of our demonstration in Parliament Square on 15th September 2004. We were all shocked by the number and seriousness of injuries inflicted on demonstrators that day, and looking back, it is amazing that there were not more serious consequences.
We are the first to echo the view that policing these events is fraught with difficulty, yet exactly one week after this incident 20,000 of us demonstrated in Brighton at the Labour Party conference. Tensions were high and the opportunity for ‘flash points’ even more numerous than before, but this time with real anger added to the mix. Sussex Police handled the event to perfection. It was controlled and peaceful; there were no arrests and no injuries, which suggests a clear distinction between the attitude of rural and urban police officers.
What is most worrying is that despite a detailed investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) nothing much seems to have changed within the Metropolitan police.
20,000 demonstrators attended the Parliament Square demonstration, along with 1300 police officers. In the clashes that followed, 40 of our members received serious head injuries as a result of being hit on the head by police officers, against all instructions. There were 425 complaints to the IPCC and 31 officers received Regulation 9 notices. 17 officers had files passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for crimes varying from Common Assault to Actual Bodily Harm.
Just prior to the IPCC inquiry a Metropolitan Police press release claimed that 60 officers had been injured, and yet none of the local hospitals had any record of admissions or treating any officers, let alone 60 of them. The inquiry involved up to 17 people from the IPCC and took 14 months to report. Of the cases that went to the CPS, there were no convictions, and no disciplinary action was taken against any officer, including those who removed their ID, despite, as the report stated there being “clear examples of some officers ignoring this instruction”.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 15, 2009

Banned Advert

A poster showing a nervous man alongside the slogan "Take Courage my friend" has been banned for suggesting the beer could boost confidence.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it acknowledged the poster's message was meant to be humorous, but concluded it broke advertising rules.
The ASA upheld three complaints from people who argued the image of the man with a glass of beer clearly implied it would give him enough confidence to tell the woman the dress was not flattering.

"No, of course it doesn't..."

Posted by The Englishman at 7:10 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

April 13, 2009

£190 Bribe to be Lectured

£190 to help pregnant women eat healthily | Money | The Observer
Pregnant women will, from tomorrow, be entitled to a £190 "health in pregnancy" grant from the government irrespective of their household income.
The money can be claimed from the 25th week of pregnancy, but only after receiving health advice from a midwife or other professional....
The aim of the grant is to ensure that all pregnant women have funds available to help them eat well in the run-up to giving birth, reducing infant mortality rates. Women can, however, spend the money on whatever they want.
"The grant answers an important, and until now unmet, need for families expecting a child," said Kate Green, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group.

How callous of me not to notice the babies dying of malnutrition on the streets of Britain, great heaps of them. Thank goodness for the kindly guiding hand of the State will now save them all.
(I note in the print edition of The Times some quack complaining it doesn't go far enough and that girls even thinking about getting up the duff ought to be given £250 if they ask for it....)

Posted by The Englishman at 7:52 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

£0.5m Taxpayer Shrill for Fake Charities

This advert cost the taxpayer £500,000.

...nine out of ten children will grow up to have unhealthy amounts of fat in their bodies, a government report has concluded.
The British Heart Foundation, Diabetes UK and Cancer Research UK want to do all we can to help parents give their kids healthy diets and a more active lifestyle.
For some top tips and great ideas on ways to change your kid’s eating and exercise habits, visit our websites by following the links from this page.

Yep - Nine out of ten of your children are going to die unless you do as we say....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:44 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 12, 2009

Goodhart Soft Brain

Think Tank: New ideas for the 21st Century: Privacy or safety: it’s your choice
The liberty lobby conveniently forgets that the state needs our data to protect us
David Goodhart
We are not living in a police state. Not even a remotely authoritarian one. In fact we, all of us, have never enjoyed so much liberty – personal, political and legal....
These are not normal times: the combination of new technology and the ever-rising expectations that the public have of state services means that we are unavoidably living in a new era of the database state and a cool, technocratic debate is required to establish its parameters. The shrill politicisation of the liberty lobby makes this harder...The modern social democratic state needs lots of data about us in order to fulfil the demands we make on it; not just trivial things like our bank account details to pay in pensions or tax credits but more personal things like health records – to make sure we get the right treatment at the right time.
If there is too much suspicion of the state and too many data protection rules, the state cannot give us what we want. ...
It might be useful if we started to see our data as similar to tax, something we willingly surrender to the authorities in return for various benefits....
By turning these complex debates into a story of noble defenders of liberty versus power-grabbing tyrants (whether politicians or officials), the liberty lobby reinforces the lazy antipolitics of the age – a sort of UK Independence party for the chattering classes.

And what's the weather like on the planet you live on? I only ask pretending to be interested because I never want to visit or live there. Twat.

Posted by The Englishman at 10:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 10, 2009

Shocking - What Internet Porn Does to Young Minds!

Posted by The Englishman at 7:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 8, 2009

More Guns Less Crime Experts Baffled

Can the US live in peace with its guns? | Chris Ayres - Times Online
The truth is that it's hard to envisage a scenario in which the benefits of owning a gun for the sake of self-defence outnumber the pitfalls...
...all over the country (Americans) are stocking up on as many pistols, rifles, and shotguns as possible before the Obama Administration bans or taxes them.According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the FBI carried out more than 4.2 million background checks on behalf of gundealers from November to January (a check is required with every sale), up 31 per cent on the same period in the previous year.Interestingly, however, violent crime rates have at the same time been falling in Los Angeles, New York and other big American cities The experts are at loss as to explain why this should be happening.

Good job I'm not an expert as I have an idea as to why....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:31 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Tears of a Clown - How Banks Really Work

It isn't very funny to lose your pot of money | Griff Rhys Jones - Times Online

I am a financial innocent. I distrust all wealth management and fund manager types. I distrust them from a deep, puritanical atavistic well. But I happen to have savings and pension funds to consider. We drones make our money by luck and talent, by inventing things or creating things, and not by accountancy, so we are doomed to be the patsies of the financial sector. We are the wildebeests by the waterhole. We are the ones who have to die to feed these ghastly, lazy, incompetent predators.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 7, 2009

Nanny wants you eat only Industrial Food

You want fries with that calorie count? Fast-food giants put diet data on menu - Scotsman.com News

FAST-FOOD outlets and high-street restaurants, including KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut, have agreed to introduce calorie information on their menus.
Cafés in Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Co-op and Waitrose are among the 17 groups that will display calorie information per portion for most food and drink they serve.

FOR many in the catering industry, this is a step too far. When people eat out for leisure and pleasure, do they want to be bombarded with nutritional information? Most people know what foods they should go easy on, writes Bob Cotton,Chief executive of the British Hospitality Association
Eating out in a restaurant means letting go. Calorie-counting menu items is redolent of the nanny-state – one more eye over the diner's shoulder, watching and checking what he's eating.
But there are also technical difficulties, which pose even more serious obstacles. Popular branded restaurants which offer standardised menus can be reasonably certain that the pizza they sell in Edinburgh has the same calories as the pizza they sell in Glasgow or Wick.

But it's far more difficult for an independent restaurateur, who makes up different dishes every day from what's available in the market. Under time and cost pressures, he's not going to have the expertise (which would add cost, because he would have to buy it in), nor the time (which he can't spare) to work out accurately what the calorie count of each individual dish is. And if it's not accurate, how misleading might that be?
At present, it's on a voluntary basis – but voluntary schemes have a habit of becoming compulsory....

So a handmade pizza with a handful of this and a splash of that as wanted would be outlawed in favour of an assembly line product - great.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:39 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 4, 2009

BBC Fine - Who Pays?

Ofcom fines BBC £150k over radio prank calls to Sachs - Scotsman.com News

Did this £150k come out of the pockets of those responsible? And where does it end up? Those are the two more interesting questions that no one has asked.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

April 3, 2009

Students - Remember you don't have to belong to the NUS

NUS wants end to cheap student beer - Times Online

The National Union of Students (NUS) has decided to campaign for alcohol prices to be raised because of concerns about binge drinking. Wes Streeting, the NUS president, said: “Students’ unions work hard to inform their members of the dangers of excessive drinking. But more can be done. ‘All you can drink’ and ‘three for the price of one’ offers encourage students to drink to dangerous levels.”

Wes Streeting, there is a name to watch in the future as he carves out a condescending career nannying, preaching and not trusting the people who pay his wages. When I was at college we voted not to belong to the NUS, Trevor Phillips, the NUS President (I wonder whatever became of him) lectured us on the importance of rejoining and got custard pied. Oh happy days.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:27 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

March 31, 2009

Alcohol Limits - The Consensus Fights Back

You may remember sometime ago I blogged about The Times reporting that the recommended Alcohol Limits were simply “plucked out of the air”.

Over the weekend a comment appeared from Dom:

The Times article quoted has since been discredited...there will always be those who deny the harm caused by alcohol as over estimated, usually those who drink too much. The suggestion that 60 units a week is acceptable is raving mad...unless you imagine that drinking 3 pints of vodka a week is normal. An individual's right to cause their bodies permanent damage notwithstanding, The Times article should be removed from internet, it's a hugely irresponsible green light for alcohol abuse.
It's a typical reaction of people to believe something only when it sounds acceptable to their ears.

I emailed him back to ask if he had any source for his claim, no reply; I have googled but can't see any rebuttal. Has the report being discredited or is his comment simply “plucked out of the air”?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Telegraph Fails to Report What Bear Did in the Woods

'Bear' spotted in Suffolk woods - Telegraph

The "large" bear was allegedly spotted over the weekend as it roamed around 3,700-acre Rendlesham Forest near Woodbridge.

Left no traces? Didn't become a Catholic or sleep on its back?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 27, 2009

Another Scientific Consensus Discovered

BBC NEWS | Education | UK youths among worst for drink
Prof Martin Plant, University of the West of England; "There is a clear scientific consensus that alcohol education and mass media campaigns have a very poor track record in influencing drinking habits," he said.
"Far more effective - and cost effective - policies include using taxation to make alcohol less affordable.
"It is therefore recommended that a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol should be introduced. This would save over 3,000 lives per year."

Hurrah for the University of Scrumpy Drinkers and Professor Geranium for that rigorous research! Mass media campaigns don't influence drinking choices, just don't tell the advertising companies that. Now where else have I heard of a Scientific Consensus putting debate beyond the pale...

Posted by The Englishman at 8:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 24, 2009

No One Died So Important Safety Campaign Launched

Electrical socket safety covers are "absurd and dangerous" say engineers - Telegraph

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is campaigning for the safety covers to be banned. It says that the covers, used by thousands of parents to stop their children poking their fingers into a socket, are not just a waste of money but are also potentially dangerous.

Though it admits there are no cases of any children being harmed by socket covers...

Adam Hart-Davis, the television broadcaster who specialises in promoting science, said: "I normally refuse to join in campaigns – I get asked to do so about once a week – but this seemed so important, and the 'safety' covers so absurd and dangerous, that I agreed. I do think someone should do something, since children's lives could be put at risk'.

...the IET argues that there have been no cases of children being harmed from sockets that have been left uncovered since a new generation of sockets were introduced in 1990.

So socket covers are unnecessary but reassure parents who don't like to see Jimmy sticking an HB into the live hole. They are cheap and no one has been hurt, haven't these people got anything better to worry about?

Posted by The Englishman at 7:46 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 23, 2009

Tim Teeman Disses Stable Love Affairs

This tide of bigotry should not go uncensured | Tim Teeman - Times Online
...equated gay sex with having sex with donkeys. Do those in authority not condemn this?... So much bigotry is tied up with an obsession about gay sex, but to conflate what people do in bed with their human rights makes as little sense as comparing homosexuality with bestiality...
No one likes being told what to say, and gays don't want “special rights”, but equality. So, as with racism, a law preventing incitement to hatred on sexual orientation should have no exceptions at all.

So why are you being rude about the donkey buggers then? Isn't that a sexual orientation that needs protection from hurtful comments as well? Slippery slope ruling against the freedom to say what you want to isn't it?

Posted by The Englishman at 8:33 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 20, 2009

State Prodnoses Coming Your Pub

'Snoops' to nag their friends to live healthier lives - Telegraph

Public health "mentors" will be enlisted by the NHS to offer 'on the spot' advice in their local neighbourhood when they see people smoking, eating or drinking too much.
Eating a third fried breakfast of the week in the office canteen, having a drink 'for the road' at your local pub or chain-smoking another cigarette while waiting for the bus could all see the mentors spring into action to offer the Government's advice.
Volunteer attend training sessions where they are taught how to offer appropriate advice on health issues including how to become more active, have a better diet, stop smoking and reduce stress.

Reduce the stress of not being nagged and ordered about presumably. Do they also receive advice on how to deal with a bleeding nose and an earful of abuse?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:57 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

March 18, 2009

Lardarse Stereotyping

Family who are 'too fat to work' say £22,000 worth of benefits is not enough - Telegraph

You know the rest of the story already...

Posted by The Englishman at 7:04 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 15, 2009

Sir Liam Donaldson Arse

The Devil's Kitchen covers it

Posted by The Englishman at 7:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 14, 2009

Imprisoned

All travel plans to be tracked by Government - Telegraph

The travel plans and personal details of every holidaymaker, business traveller and day-tripper who leaves Britain are to be tracked by the Government, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Passengers leaving every international sea port, station or airport will have to supply detailed personal information as well as their travel plans. ..the rules which will require the provision of travellers' personal information such as passport and credit card details, home and email addresses and exact travel plans.

The full extent of the impact of the government's "e-borders" scheme emerged amid warnings that passengers face increased congestion as air, rail and ferry companies introduce some of the changes over the Easter holidays.
The new checks are being introduced piecemeal by the UK Border Agency. By the end of the year 60 per cent of journeys made out of Britain will be affected with 95 per cent of people leaving the country being subject to the plans by the end 2010.
Yachtsmen, leisure boaters, trawlermen and private pilots will be given until 2014 to comply with the programme.
They will be expected to use the internet to send their details each time they leave the country and would face a fine of up to £5,000 should they fail to do so.

Ever thought you had woken up and you were in a prison cell?

Posted by The Englishman at 1:38 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 10, 2009

Photojournalism

'On Special Offer' Sloggi underwear poster named 'most degrading advertisement of the year' - Telegraph

The poster of buttocks clad in sheer tights by Swiss underwear giant Sloggi was given the award for "promoting pornography and prostitution" by the Guard Dogs, a French and Swiss feminist association.
The group gave another prize for "gratuitous nudity that has nothing to do with the product" to Italian coffee company Lavazza for a picture of a naked woman on all fours.

Wot no pictures? The Telegraph is slipping...

Posted by The Englishman at 7:28 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 8, 2009

Stagnating the economy on purpose

THE government is to cut the national speed limit from 60mph to 50mph on most of Britain’s roads, enforced by a new generation of average speed cameras.
The reduction , to be imposed as early as next year, will affect two thirds of the country’s road network. Drivers will still be able to reach 70mph on motorways and dual carriageways and 60mph on the safest A roads.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the roads minister, defended the plan, which will be the most dramatic cut since 1978, when the national speed limit was reduced from 70mph to 60mph.
“There will be some in the driving lobby who think this is a further attack and a restriction on people’s freedom,” he said. “But when you compare that to the fact we are killing 3,000 people a year on our roads, it would be irresponsible not to do something about it. I’m sure that the vast majority of motorists would support the proposals.”
...could save 200-250 lives a year and also reduce carbon emissions....Local authorities will have the power to raise the limit to 60mph on the safest roads, but will have to justify it.....Speed Check Services, the company behind the cameras, claims the number of deaths or serious injuries at its sites has fallen on average by 60%...Fitzpatrick said: “ The nature of some rural roads, with dips and bends and difficult conditions, means that the 60mph limit is not enough.”

Yes, you statist bastard I do think it is "a further attack and a restriction on people’s freedom", the problem is specific drivers driving dangerously in specific places. But your answer is a blanket ban on everyone everywhere enforced by surveillance technology which will alienate large numbers of ordinary people, because you don't trust ordinary people to make any decision. You think that sitting in Whitehall you know better than I do what the appropriate speed is for the road in front of my eyes is. Those on the public payroll are happy to dawdle around, but those actually trying to earn their living need to get a move on. Are you actually trying to provoke the middle classes to riot, because if they do I hope your scrawny neck gets to have a set of jump leads wrapped around it.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:51 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

March 3, 2009

Half a Cheer for ID Voting Cards

New ruling to force British voters to show ID before voting - Times Online

Every British citizen will soon have to sign a form or show identification before they can vote, the Government has announced.
In an historic shift, which comes after years of campaigning by the Electoral Commission and The Times, the Government finally agreed yesterday to end the system whereby one person in each household names all those eligible to vote in their property.
The Government had resisted the switch out of fear that it would result in a sharp dip in the number on the electoral roll. A similar exercise resulted in a drop in the vote in Northern Ireland. This would be likely to be most pronounced in more deprived areas, which Labour feared would mean a disproportionate effect on their own vote.

Hurrah! About time too - the system has been far too lax for too long, but wait...

The Government will also begin a pilot data-matching scheme to allow electoral registration officers to obtain relevant and restricted data from public authorities such as Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions. Mr Wills insisted that the release of data would be “carefully controlled” and subject to a number of safeguards.

Oh! What does that mean? I don't like the sound of that at all....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 1, 2009

Bootlegging it into Scotland

SNP booze blitz steams ahead - Scotsman.com News

MINISTERS are to press ahead with a crackdown on sales of cheap alcohol in a move that could be fast-tracked through Parliament in as little as six months, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.
In the biggest shake-up of alcohol laws for years, the Government is expected to confirm tomorrow that cut-price drink offers will be banned, minimum prices on alcohol imposed and a higher age limit set on off-sales.
A minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol, as advocated by health campaigners, would result in rocketing prices. A two-litre bottle of cider, currently priced at around £3, would cost £7.50. Wine would also increase in price, with a £3 bottle of wine possibly rising to a minimum of £5.
The controversial plan to increase the age limit for off-sales to 21 is to remain in the proposals, despite opposition from students.
Scotland on Sunday understands that ministers may seek to place some of the measures – such as the ban on "Buy One Get One Free" deals – in the existing 2005 Licensing Act, which is due to come into force in September.
The Act enshrines "protecting and improving public health" as a key objective of all licensing decisions, so the Government may argue that it gives the power to ban cheap drink offers. The same logic could also be applied to plans to impose minimum pricing.

Another example of a law passed for one purpose being used for another without parliamentary scrutiny.

And how are they going to police cross border sales? Will they confiscate Mr FM's hip flask as he travels north to go shooting?

Posted by The Englishman at 7:07 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

February 28, 2009

Where's Philip Pullman's Article on Liberty gone?

Philip Pullman wrote a punchy and poetic article on our disappearing freedoms for The Times yesterday - it appeared in the print version and I linked to it, but it seems to have been wiped from the ether - did anyone save a copy?

cache:www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5811412.ece - Google Search

UPDATE - The Times definitely seems to have pulled it, I wonder why, but thanks to commentators, and Mr Google who has now updated his results, I have now found a couple of copies on the web, one of which I reproduce below.

Malevolent voices that despise our freedoms

To mark the Convention on Modern Liberty, the children’s author has written this article

Are such things done on Albion’s shore?

The image of this nation that haunts me most powerfully is that of the sleeping giant Albion in William Blake’s prophetic books. Sleep, profound and inveterate slumber: that is the condition of Britain today.

We do not know what is happening to us. In the world outside, great events take place, great figures move and act, great matters unfold, and this nation of Albion murmurs and stirs while malevolent voices whisper in the darkness - the voices of the new laws that are silently strangling the old freedoms the nation still dreams it enjoys.

We are so fast asleep that we don’t know who we are any more. Are we English? Scottish? Welsh? British? More than one of them? One but not another? Are we a Christian nation - after all we have an Established Church - or are we something post-Christian? Are we a secular state? Are we a multifaith state? Are we anything we can all agree on and feel proud of?

The new laws whisper:

You don’t know who you are

You’re mistaken about yourself

We know better than you do what you consist of, what labels apply to you, which facts about you are important and which are worthless

We do not believe you can be trusted to know these things, so we shall know them for you

And if we take against you, we shall remove from your possession the only proof we shall allow to be recognised

The sleeping nation dreams it has the freedom to speak its mind. It fantasises about making tyrants cringe with the bluff bold vigour of its ancient right to express its opinions in the street. This is what the new laws say about that:

Expressing an opinion is a dangerous activity

Whatever your opinions are, we don’t want to hear them

So if you threaten us or our friends with your opinions we shall treat you like the rabble you are

And we do not want to hear you arguing about it

So hold your tongue and forget about protesting

What we want from you is acquiescence

The nation dreams it is a democratic state where the laws were made by freely elected representatives who were answerable to the people. It used to be such a nation once, it dreams, so it must be that nation still. It is a sweet dream.

You are not to be trusted with laws

So we shall put ourselves out of your reach

We shall put ourselves beyond your amendment or abolition

You do not need to argue about any changes we make, or to debate them, or to send your representatives to vote against them

You do not need to hold us to account

You think you will get what you want from an inquiry?

Who do you think you are?

What sort of fools do you think we are?

The nation’s dreams are troubled, sometimes; dim rumours reach our sleeping ears, rumours that all is not well in the administration of justice; but an ancient spell murmurs through our somnolence, and we remember that the courts are bound to seek the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and we turn over and sleep soundly again.

And the new laws whisper:

We do not want to hear you talking about truth

Truth is a friend of yours, not a friend of ours

We have a better friend called hearsay, who is a witness we can always rely on

We do not want to hear you talking about innocence

Innocent means guilty of things not yet done

We do not want to hear you talking about the right to silence

You need to be told what silence means: it means guilt

We do not want to hear you talking about justice

Justice is whatever we want to do to you

And nothing else

Are we conscious of being watched, as we sleep? Are we aware of an ever-open eye at the corner of every street, of a watching presence in the very keyboards we type our messages on? The new laws don’t mind if we are. They don’t think we care about it.

We want to watch you day and night

We think you are abject enough to feel safe when we watch you

We can see you have lost all sense of what is proper to a free people

We can see you have abandoned modesty

Some of our friends have seen to that

They have arranged for you to find modesty contemptible

In a thousand ways they have led you to think that whoever does not want to be watched must have something shameful to hide

We want you to feel that solitude is frightening and unnatural

We want you to feel that being watched is the natural state of things

One of the pleasant fantasies that consoles us in our sleep is that we are a sovereign nation, and safe within our borders. This is what the new laws say about that:

We know who our friends are

And when our friends want to have words with one of you

We shall make it easy for them to take you away to a country where you will learn that you have more fingernails than you need

It will be no use bleating that you know of no offence you have committed under British law

It is for us to know what your offence is

Angering our friends is an offence

It is inconceivable to me that a waking nation in the full consciousness of its freedom would have allowed its government to pass such laws as the Protection from Harassment Act (1997), the Crime and Disorder Act (1998), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000), the Terrorism Act (2000), the Criminal Justice and Police Act (2001), the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Extension Act (2002), the Criminal Justice Act (2003), the Extradition Act (2003), the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003), the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004), the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2005), the Inquiries Act (2005), the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (2005), not to mention a host of pending legislation such as the Identity Cards Bill, the Coroners and Justice Bill, and the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.

Inconceivable.

And those laws say:

Sleep, you stinking cowards

Sweating as you dream of rights and freedoms

Freedom is too hard for you

We shall decide what freedom is

Sleep, you vermin

Sleep, you scum

Source: Times Online

Posted by The Englishman at 12:22 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

February 27, 2009

Divine Lightening?

High earning speed camera sites kept secret after vigilante-style attacks - Telegraph

Safety camera partnerships, the organisations which operate the yellow roadside machines, were accused of resorting to "unnecessary secrecy" after several devices previously named in the media as the most lucrative were set alight, apparently by protesters....

One of the organisations approached, Wiltshire & Swindon Safety Camera Partnership, said that one device close to Stonehenge was attacked just a few hours after it was named as one of the most lucrative in the country last year while another nearby was torched the next morning.
A spokesman added that four cameras in the area had been attacked following a wave of media coverage about how much revenue they were generating.

My lips are sealed in case I start giggling at this wanton vandalism...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Snooping has gone too far - Official

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas warns of surveillance culture - Times Online
Richard Thomas told The Times that “creeping surveillance” in the public and private sectors had gone “too far, too fast” and risked undermining democracy.

The Information Commissioner warned that proposals to allow widespread data sharing between Whitehall and the private sector were too far-reaching and that plans to create a giant database of every telephone call, e-mail and text message risked turning everyone into a suspect. “In the last 10 or 15 years a great deal of surveillance in public and private places has been extended without sufficient thought to the risks and consequences,” said Mr Thomas, 59. “Our society is based on liberty and democracy. I do not want to see excessive surveillance hardwired into British society.”
Of the Home Secretary's proposal to build a database to store information currently held by internet service providers and telephone companies, Mr Thomas said: “A government-run database of the communications of all citizens, every phone call, every e-mail, every text, every internet use; a database of all those activities held by the Government would be a step too far for the British way of life.”

Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 23, 2009

Let the NHS know all your hidden secrets?

Genetic code could be used to offer ultimate personal care on the NHS - Times Online
A powerful new approach to reading genetic codes has been tested for the first time in a study that could transform the prospects of personalised medical treatment based on individuals’ DNA.
It should be possible to sequence a patient’s entire genetic profile for little more than £500 within five years, making it affordable to the NHS and private health insurers.
...he expected every baby born a decade from now to have its entire genetic code sequenced.

I don't know whether to be scared or excited by the prospect.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 20, 2009

Govt Plans To Control How We Dress

The government has launched a campaign to tackle the environmental impact of a "fast fashion" culture.
The Minister for Sustainability Lord Philip Hunt, said the plan represented a "concerted effort to change the face of fashion".

Little Mao suits for every one then.....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 19, 2009

If you go down to the woods today...

Big thumbs-down for 'private' forests - Scotsman.com News

PLANS to lease out a quarter of Scotland's forest estates have met with opposition from almost three- quarters of people who responded to a Scottish Government consultation, The Scotsman can reveal.
Among reasons for opposing the plans, in the draft Scottish Climate Change Bill, were that it was "tantamount to privatisation" and that public access and use of woodlands could suffer if they were in the hands of private firms whose priority was to make a profit.
Allan MacKenzie, department trade union secretary at the Forestry Commission, said it was time to shelve the proposals.
"We are not surprised at the overall percentage of people against it," he said. "What we are surprised at is the cross section of the population who have taken the time and trouble to voice their opinions as to why leasing is a bad idea."
Jonathan Hughes, head of policy at Scottish Wildlife Trust, said the overwhelming "no" vote sent a very clear signal.

Of 399 people who gave their views on allowing private companies to have 75-year leases for a quarter of Scotland's publicly owned forests in return for £200 million, 71 per cent were against.

So they managed to find 284 socialists still in Scotland running wild in the state owned forests spitting venom against Maggie Thatcher and privatisation. I wonder if there will be a captive breeding program to ensure these relics from an earlier age are preserved for our children to wonder at and the BBC to make documentaries about?

Posted by The Englishman at 7:01 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 18, 2009

The costs of being spied on

Surveillance will cost more than £34 billion say Convention on Modern Liberty - Times Online

Supporters of the Convention on Modern Liberty claim that spending on computer systems ranging from the NHS Spine to the ID card register is rising at an alarming rate....A Home Office working party has drawn up three options for surveillance of telephone calls, e-mails and text messages, including a huge government database. Opponents describe this as a Big Brother project that could cost £12 billion over the next ten years.

Mobile phone companies retain call logs for billing purposes, which can be obtained by detectives. The problem facing the police is that internet telephony networks such as Skype do not need the data and so do not collate it. One senior police source said: “We face a potentially disastrous loss of our investigative capability.”

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, the former Lord Chief Justice said:
“Perhaps the British are content to be the most spied-upon people in the democratic world,” he wrote in The Guardian. “But this would be surprising given their traditional belief that the state should mind its own business.

I worry less about the £34 Billion than the loss of our liberty.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 17, 2009

Your Tax Money at Work in the NHS

BBC NEWS | England | Wiltshire | Hospital smoke wardens criticised
A Wiltshire hospital has been criticised for employing two full-time no-smoking wardens to patrol its grounds.

Bosses at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon imposed a smoking ban on the site last year.

A hospital spokesman said it was an effective move and claimed the number of smokers had decreased.

But the Taxpayers' Alliance said it was not a justifiable use of money which should go on primary healthcare.

Terri Stevans, from the hospital added: "It is our duty to protect our patients. We are not telling them not to smoke, just that this is a non-smoking site.

Posted by The Englishman at 1:42 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 13, 2009

Rights vs Justice

I listened to this case yesterday as I was driving and I struggled to pinpoint what was wrong, Andrew Lilco points out what it is :

CentreRight: The wicked principle that "the welfare of the child is paramount"

...the central principle that the welfare of the children is paramount. It was very likely to be in the best interests of the children that they stay with their new adoptive parents. Yet this principle is obviously wicked - consciously so, for it sets aside even the aspiration of being just. The notion that these parents should be denied the raising of their children just because they would be better off being raised by someone else is horrific.
Australia used to take children from Aborigines so they could be raised in environments in which the children would do better. One could imagine taking away the children of British unemployed teenage single mothers to give them to wealthy childless couples. I don't doubt that by any objective measure of life outcomes - qualifications, lifetime earnings, likelihood of falling to crime or drugs, likelihood of divorce, whatever you like - I have no doubt that on any objective measure of the welfare of children the children taken from Aborigines would have done better, and the children taken from teenage single mothers to give to wealthy childless couples would do better. But we rightly think that this practice in Australia was wicked, and we would rightly think that taking the children of teenage mothers in this way would be wicked - provided only that the parents were competent to raise their children. Setting aside justice in order to take paramount concern for the welfare of children is unjust...

Posted by The Englishman at 8:05 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 12, 2009

Local Snoop's Charter

Councils to be given power to snoop on calls and emails - Telegraph

Towns halls, along with police, security services and other public bodies will be able to view "communications" details of any one suspected of crime...will have access to data such as who was called or texted and when or which websites were visited...
But critics fear the move will simply pave the way for authorities to spy on millions of citizens and taxpayers.
The power is contained in a new statutory order quietly laid before parliament yesterday.
If approved, it will come into effect from next month...

And for a hint as to how this brave new world will feel here's another story from today:

Primary school receptionist 'facing sack' after daughter talks about Jesus to classmate - Telegraph
....
Her daughter Jasmine had been overheard by a teacher discussing heaven and God with a friend and had been pulled to one side and told off.
On January 22, Mrs Cain went to pick up her children from the 275-strong primary school.
"My daughter burst into tears, her face was all red and she was clearly upset.
"She said 'my teacher told me I couldn't talk about Jesus' – I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"She said she was taken aside in the classroom and told she couldn't say that. I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do."
Mrs Cain said she decided to wait until she wasn't working to discuss the issue with the teacher as a parent rather than an employee.
But she was called into The Headmaster's office the next day over another matter before he started discussing Jasmine.
"He started talking about my daughter about how he wasn't happy about her making statements about her faith.
"At that point I froze, I felt very small and I felt trapped as I was a junior member of staff."
That weekend, she emailed a prayer request from her personal computer at home to 10 trusted friends from her church.
"I asked them to please pray for us, please pray for Jasmine, please pray for the school and pray for the church."
A few days later she was called back into the Headmaster's office.
"I didn't think at this point I could be more stunned. He had in his hand a copy of my private, personal email and it was highlighted all the way through.
"He said that he was going to investigate me for professional misconduct because I had been making allegations about the school and staff to members of the public."

Posted by The Englishman at 6:24 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

February 11, 2009

Vote of No Confidence

Public authorities weather the storm, poll suggests - Times Online

As many as two in five of us think that local authorities and public transport have done a good job of handling the recent snowstorms and bad weather, according to the latest Populus poll for The Times.

Wow 40% approval! And with 40% of people working for the Government what a surprise!
Just for a moment imagine your local supermarket manager telling his bosses the good news that 40% of his customers were understanding enough to think that he was doing a good job. Yes that wooshing sound was him leaving the building. But of course we have no choice when it comes to paying for local authorities....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 10, 2009

Thought Crime Daily Update

Simon Clark - Taking Liberties - A sorry tale of drugs and climatechange

Another day, another public apology and another blow for freedom of speech. This time it's the government's top drugs adviser Professor David Nutt who has been forced to say sorry. His "crime"? Suggesting that the risks of taking ecstasy are no worse than riding a horse, which is responsible for more than 100 deaths a year....

Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, politicians and campaigners have demanded that the DUP's Sammy Wilson be sacked after the environment minister blocked a government advertisement campaign on climate change saying the adverts were part of an "insidious propaganda campaign"....

Posted by The Englishman at 8:02 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 6, 2009

How to Cure Artists

Anger after student stages 'suicide' as performance art - Scotsman.com News

A SWEDISH art student has been condemned by police and medical staff after she faked a suicide attempt and then attacked a hospital's psychiatric nurses and doctors as part of a "play"....
The charade led to David Eberhard, the chief psychiatric doctor at St Goran's, lashing out at Odell for using up scarce resources and staff time at the already crowded hospital.
"She and the head of her school ought to cut their hair and get a real job," he said."It's just pathetic – paint a picture instead. But she's welcome to come back so I can give her a shot of Haloperidol, and then we'll see how much fun she has. That would make a great installation."
Haloperidol is an anti- psychotic drug that can have serious side-effects in some patients.

I like the sound of him, maybe we could send some of our "artists" over to Sweden to be treated as well.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

BBC faces One-eyed-idiotgate row

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson calls Gordon Brown a 'one-eyed Scottish idiot, he keeps telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world and we know he's lying, but he's smooth at telling us.' - Telegraph
Scottish politicians reacted angrily to the remark.
Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: "Such a comment is really a reflection on Jeremy Clarkson and speaks for itself.
"Most people here are proud that the Prime Minister is a Scot and believe him to be the right person to get the UK through this global economic crisis."
Gordon Banks, Labour MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, branded the comments "unforgivable".
The BBC and Downing Street declined to comment.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:15 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

February 4, 2009

Nanny claims people love nanny

BBC NEWS | Health | Why we need more nannying
Dr Alan Maryon-Davis - President, UK Faculty of Public Health

Is the government 'nannying' us too much? Is it trying too hard to micro-manage our health?
I say firmly - no....
I see an increasing acceptance that we, all of us, need not only more information and guidance from government, but also more legislation to save us from ourselves....
We need to press for more legislation to improve and protect health and well-being.
We've been largely successful with the tobacco industry, and now it's time to shift the focus onto alcohol and junk-food.
What next? I would like to see a ban on smoking in cars with a child on board and a ban on displays of cigarettes in shops. I would like to see a real hike in tax on alcohol and a ban on deep price-cuts for booze. I would like to see a wider ban on junk-food adverts around TV programmes watched largely by children.
I would like to see …. Oh, a whole raft of other legislation for health.
This is not 'nannying'. This is responsible government acting on behalf of a consenting public.
Campaigns, guidelines and voluntary codes aren't enough. We need more laws to ensure that the world in which we live, work and play will help promote and protect our health.

We need a big stick to curb the worst excesses of the various commercial interests who shape our lifestyle.

And the biggest commercial interest that shapes our lives is the "health" industry and people like you Dr Alan; and I have a very big stick in mind suitable for curbing you and your fascist tendency.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:07 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Less Gollywog more Porridgewog

Carol Thatcher banned from BBC's The One Show for 'golliwog' comment - Telegraph

Not following tennis it seems I was wrong in surmising who the "golliwog" was; Noah it wasn't him, it was Andy Murray (apparently), who I believe is a British White tennis player when he is winning but otherwise is a Scottish whiner.

So is the reason the BBC and the Fat Boy are refusing to name him because it makes the whole row even more ridiculous?

Update : Iain Dale says it wasn't Murray but doesn't say who it was...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:08 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 29, 2009

How Alcohol Policy is Made

Official: children must not drink a drop - Health News, Health & Wellbeing - The Independent

All children should be guaranteed an alcohol-free childhood, parents will be told by the Government today....
In his guidance, Sir Liam will say that an alcohol-free upbringing is best for a child's brain development.
The guidance is to be turned into a leaflet offering advice and information. However, mindful of accusations the Government is acting as a "nanny state", and would be unable to enforce the recommendation, ministers will consult on the proposal beforehand. Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrats' health spokesman, said: "The danger with the Chief Medical Officer's guidelines is that they fly so much in the face of reality that one questions whether they will be taken seriously"

Couldn't say it better myself: Reading on I looked for the evidence behind this move. The only learned opinion The Independent comes up with is this;

Meanwhile, others argue that the UK should adopt the policy of some European countries where children are introduced to diluted wine or small amounts of alcohol to demystify its appeal. Margaret Morrissey, the spokeswoman for the Parents Outloud pressure group, said she was behind the Government's aim. "I feel they shouldn't be drinking until that age," she said.
"The dilemma is that – unless you introduce them slowly to drinking – when they do start at 15 or 16 they go absolutely ballistic – so maybe there is something to be said for what happens in France where you can get diluted wine for youngsters.
"However, if the Government is really serious about it, it should ban alcohol from supermarkets and go back to just having it available from off-licences which can be more regulated."

But then it seems the Indy just copied that of Ms Morrissey's blog from last month. And her blog seems to be the only sign of existence of this pressure group. I can' find any sign of meetings, how to join or any other members, strange that....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:13 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

January 27, 2009

The BBC is right for once

Stars attack BBC for refusing to broadcast Gaza appeal but Sky won't show it either | Mail Online
Actress Samantha Morton led a string of celebrities who criticised the BBC’s decision...
The 31-year-old Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee said she would never work for the BBC again if the corporation failed to show a charity appeal for money for aid for Gaza.

I apologise for not having heard of her before, and I won't spoil your breakfast by showing her picture so I googled her:

The curious case of Samantha Morton's stroke | Mail Online
Miss Morton, who starred opposite Cruise in the blockbuster Minority Report, told a music magazine she had been "close to death" following the stroke, which she suffered after part of the ceiling at her London home collapsed on her.
She said she was nursed back to health by friends, who helped her through her rehabilitation as she struggled to walk again. She had hidden her condition from the world, she revealed, because she feared it could jeopardise her movie career...
All of which is dramatic and, given that she kept such a devastating illness hidden from her many fans, suggests levels of discretion not normally associated with this outspoken young star.
Strangely enough, even those who count themselves among her friends have been somewhat taken aback by her claims.
Last night, one associate of the actress said: "I was gobsmacked when I read what she said. Look, no one is accusing Sam of making it up. It's just that she can get a bit carried away sometimes."
..By February 2007, less than two months after she says she was struck down and faced with the agonising task of relearning how to walk, Miss Morton was to be seen firmly back on the party circuit....So what is going on in the sometimes bizarre world of the troubled Miss Morton? Once again, it seems, she has been left in a bit of a tangle by her often wayward tongue.
It is a character trait that has regularly landed her in hot water. Witness her habit of falling out with co- stars and the Hollywood studios, who are said to shun her because of her reputation for being "difficult".
After being invited to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace, Samantha raised eyebrows by arriving in flip-flops and later ungraciously described the Queen as a "right stuffy cow".
....the actress's spokesman, Karon Maskill, insisted her recuperation from the stroke had taken six months.
"It was just something Sam talked about without thinking it was a big deal. She doesn't want to discuss it any further."
Which, given the excitable Miss Morton's reputation for letting her mouth run away with her, might be a wise - if belated - policy.

I really ought to read the Daily Mail more often! I can't find out who else promised never to work for the BBC ever again but I think I won't miss Ms Morton.

And the BBC should stick its decision; the appeal is, and has become more, political and biased.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 26, 2009

The War on Fat

Fat dogs seized by RSPCA - Telegraph

Early 2008, an RSPCA inspector called at Miss Davidson's home in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, after an anonymous phone call about the animals.
The official carried out an assessment of the dogs, Rocky and Chubby, and said they were overweight. The inspector gave advice on how their weight could be reduced.
Miss Davidson, who works for Hertfordshire social services and who has owned dogs for more than 20 years, followed the instructions and managed to bring down their weight.
Miss Davidson is registered disabled. Although she can walk, she cannot take the dogs on long walks.
However, she had to cancel three vets appointments to have her pets weighed, after her mother fell ill and she had to care for her.
After the missed appointments, an RSPCA inspector returned to her house in October while Miss Davidson was at work. The inspector asked her partner, Terry Shadbolt, for permission to take the animals to the vets.
"The inspector just asked if she could take them to get them weighed, and he said yes," said Miss Davidson. "When I got home, I rang the vets, and the RSPCA inspector said that under the guidance of the vet, the dogs were not coming home.
"Three days later, the inspector came to interview me. But since then, I haven't been able to find out anything about the dogs.

Take obese children into care, says health expert - Telegraph

Tam Fry, a member of the National Obesity Forum's board, will tell a conference that youngsters who are over-fed by their parents should be treated as victims of abuse, as happens with malnourished children.
He will argue that authorities should take obese children from their families and into care, and that those whose health is at risk should then undergo stomach-stapling operations.
Children across the country, from Tower Hamlets in London to Lincolnshire, have already been placed on "at risk" registers or taken into care because of their weight. Last year Cumbria county council removed an obese eight-year-old girl from her family.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 23, 2009

Nanny Stats Yet Again

Millions of middle-class drinkers putting health at risk with evening tipple - Telegraph

More than 7 million middle-class drinkers are putting their health at risk by enjoying evenings at home with a bottle of wine, Government statisticians claimed yesterday.

According to the researchers, many middle class drinkers insist they know what the safe level of alcohol consumption is.

This suggests they do not believe they are drinking too much and that simply having a large glass or two of wine each evening is an acceptable way to unwind after a stressful day at work....

The study, by the Office for National Statistics, also claims that middle class drinkers are more likely to indulge in "heavy" drinking - This is equivalent to a man having three pints of strong lager or a woman drinking two large glasses of wine.

So where's the evidence that they are "putting their health at risk"? Where is the evidence that they are "drinking too much" and that unwinding with a glass or two of wine is not "acceptable"?

Nowhere, I wonder if these bean jugglers actually know what it is like to live outside the cosy world of the Gov Stats Office?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

January 13, 2009

Digestives which do not kill us make us stronger

Spiked - It’s a Digestive, Jim, but not as we know it -Anti-fat Whitehall functionaries have managed to ruin the British biscuit that even Hitler failed to crush.

McVities Digestive are quite indigestible now, the dark chocolate ones bland and mucky beyond belief. Luckily there is an answer, Mssrs Lidl, purveyors of groceries to 4x4 driving terrier owners, produces a fine own brand alternative, full of whatever gives it a flavour.

Even better the Times Ecoworrier says: but think twice before heading to Lidl, the discount retailer. It came bottom in a report by Ethical Consumer magazine on the social and environmental records of supermarkets... My sort of store!

Though even I'm a little sceptical about stocking up on this...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:52 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Watchful eyes over you

Let's face it, soon Big Brother will have no trouble recognising you | David Rowan - Times Online
This is the year when automated face-recognition finally goes mainstream, and it's about time we considered its social and political implications. Over the past few days, at trade fairs from Las Vegas to Seoul, a constant theme has been the unstoppable advance of “FRT”, the benign abbreviation favoured by industry insiders. ...
The strongest face-recognition algorithms are now considered more accurate than most humans - and already the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers have held discussions about the possibility of linking such systems with automatic car-numberplate recognition and public-transport databases. Join everything together via the internet, and voilà - the nation's population, down to the individual Times reader, can be conveniently and automatically monitored in real time.
Just listen to senior law-enforcement executives to understand their brave new intentions. Three months ago, Mark Branchflower, Interpol's database chief, declared facial recognition a desirable means of alerting local forces about the movements of internationally wanted suspects, “a step we could go to quite quickly”. And in evidence to MPs last March, Peter Neyroud, head of the National Policing Improvement Agency, raised the prospect of “automated face recognition” to identify suspects, as well as “behaviourial matching” software that uses CCTV images to predict potential troublemakers.
So let's understand this: governments and police are planning to implement increasingly accurate surveillance technologies that are unnoticeable, cheap, pervasive, ubiquitous, and searchable in real time. And private businesses, from bars to workplaces, will also operate such systems, whose data trail may well be sold on or leaked to third parties - let's say, insurance companies that have an interest in knowing about your unhealthy lifestyle, or your ex-spouse who wants evidence that you can afford higher maintenance payments.
Rather than jump up and down with rage - you never know who is watching through the window - you have a duty now, as a citizen, to question this stealthy rush towards permanent individual surveillance. A Government already obsessed with pursuing an unworkable and unnecessary identity-card database must be held to account.

I think I need one of those hijabs to wear.....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 11, 2009

Old and Cold - No more

RSPCA: Keep wildlife and pets warm through the big freeze - politics.co.uk

Dogs with thin or sparse coats, who are very young or old may benefit from a coat when out exercising.

Animal welfare experts hot under the collar over dogs in coats - Telegraph

The RSPCA has warned that if people consistently allow their dogs to get too hot when wearing clothing they could face prosecution.

Helen Briggs, a spokeswoman from the RSPCA, added: "Under the Animal Welfare Act, you are obliged to provide appropriate conditions and environments for your dog... If people are worried that their dog might be cold, it is worth getting some advice from their vet.

Confused? George is getting old and grumpy so I bought him a coat yesterday - I didn't realise I faced prosecution and should have consulted a vet, the RSPCA, his Animal Rights Lawyers etc first.

Posted by The Englishman at 9:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Civil servants get £40,000 home perk - Times Online

David Nicholson, the head of the NHS, claims an annual £37,600 allowance for working away from home - yet he was already working and living in London when he took the job three years ago, so did not have to relocate. Nicholson was head of NHS London, and had a flat in the centre of the city, when he was moved to his highly paid London-based post in charge of the National Health Service in 2006.

According to the Department of Health resource accounts for 2007-8, he received the second-home perk on top of his £215,000 salary.

Nicholson, who was a member of the Communist party in his early years as a health official, has told parliament that he intends to “squeeze the pay bill in the NHS”.

I hope he doesn't slip on an icy pavement anytime soon and have to be treated by a nurse who was awarded a 1.5% pay increase....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:59 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 8, 2009

Sneezing to be outlawed

GEOFF BAKER'S Exclusive:: Sneezing to be Criminal Offence

An official UK Government report has revealed that sneezing in the street could become a criminal offence under emergency laws now being prepared for dealing with a flu pandemic.

"A National Framework For Responding To An Influenza Pandemic" reveals that sneezing in the street could become a criminal offence under shock laws to halt the flu.

"Powers in an emergency lie with local authorities and include the powers... that a person be examined, removed and detained …and [the creation of] criminal offences where people expose others to risk of infection ...powers to require the provision of information to help control the spread of disease. " Page 12

Posted by The Englishman at 2:09 PM | Comments (18) | TrackBack

January 4, 2009

Change4Life - Junk Food Science

Junkfood Science: The new word for 2009: bansturbation - as ever an excellent and essential read.

(One minor inaccuracy Sandy kindly credits me with coining the word bansturbation - I think it was Worstall, but I may be wrong ...)

Posted by The Englishman at 7:39 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

January 3, 2009

Ban food from being tasty

THE woman given the job of promoting McDonald's has revealed the secret of the fast-food chain's success – salt and fat.
...fat and salt makes food taste good. There is no point taking all the fat and salt out of your food because people won't like it and they will eat with someone else.
Fife-based nutritionist Carina Norris said : "Ideally, we would like people to start weaning themselves off these tastes and on to healthier options."
"But failing that, it would be great if restaurants and manufacturers did their own bit by taking salt and fat out of foods."
Ms Norris added: "The problem from a business point of view is that no-one wants to be the first one to take fat and salt out of their foods and make them less tasty. People would go somewhere else."
Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, said: "It is true that humans do require some level of fat, salt and sugar in their diet....

...but we don't want you to enjoy your food, or anyone to profit from selling you food you want to eat, eat lettuce, damn you, eat only lettuce....

Posted by The Englishman at 12:03 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

January 2, 2009

Change4Life logo

Government looks for 'lifestyle revolution' in £275m anti-obesity drive |guardian.co.uk

The Department of Health's Change4Life campaign includes £75m of government marketing over three years and a pledge of £200m in services and marketing support from a 33-strong coalition of companies.

It aims to prevent the forecast that by 2050 up to 90% of today's children will be overweight or obese.

"Change4Life has a critical ambition. We are trying to create a lifestyle revolution on a huge scale, something which no government has attempted before," said public health minister Prawn Dimarolo.

I'm glad to see they have got the logo sorted out....

Posted by The Englishman at 11:40 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Ban Ban Ban....

Fatty foods could be banned to halt obesity rises - Telegraph

Ben Bradshaw, the Health Minister, promised that the Government would not shy away from bringing in new rules to force food companies to play a part in changing the country's eating habits. Limits could be imposed on the amount of fat and salt in certain products.
He said: "We have already made progress on things like labelling and fat and salt content working with the industry. But ... if this three-year campaign does not succeed, we don't rule out regulating in future."
Tam Fry, a National Obesity Forum board member, told the BBC that greater regulation of the food industry was needed to tackle rising obesity.
He said: "What we fear is that the industry is very willing to give £200 million to the campaign as a way of deflecting the Government's interest in regulation.

He actually doesn't want the voluntary measures to work, he is all excited by the prospect of some mutual bansturbation with Ben Bradshaw....

Posted by The Englishman at 8:21 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Improving choice by bans

School ban will keep junk food 400 metres from pupils - Times Online

Clyde Loakes, (Lab), Leader, Waltham Forest Council, said: “We have too many fast-food outlets in this borough and we've had enough. We don't want to tell people how to live their lives - but at the moment residents simply don't have enough choice because of the amount of fast-food takeaways.”

Posted by The Englishman at 7:49 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

December 31, 2008

Après Blair le déluge

'Operation Credit Crunch' to round up every burglar in London - Telegraph

Sir Paul Stephenson, acting Commissioner, has ordered officers to pursue every outstanding warrant for known, wanted or suspected burglars. It has led to almost 600 arrests since mid-November.

Operation Spotlight has rounded up 593 suspects wanted on warrants for burglary in six weeks - at more than double the usual rate for that offence. Of those, 250 were charged with burglary and a further 200 face prosecution for other criminal offences.

In a further move to improve public confidence, Sir Paul ordered a police officer to be assigned to every reported burglary in the capital and a forensics team to visit the victim's home within four hours.

And why is this new, why wasn't this standard procedure, what did ex-boss Blair think was more important for the police to be doing than nabbing burglars and investigating crimes.....don't bother answering I think we all know....

Posted by The Englishman at 11:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Next Year - 1984

Private firm to run communications super database - Telegraph

Plans for a private company to run a super database containing the identities and location of every person in Britain are being considered by the Government.

Under the new system, which will be outlined in the new year in a consultation paper on the interception modernisation programme, one or a number of organisations would proactively collect all communications data, including from broadband phone calls and chatrooms, instead of such information being retrieved at the behest of police or intelligence agencies.

The potential cost of such a database has been estimated to reach £12bn, but the consultation paper includes an option to put it out to private tender in a bid to cut costs.

They will be able to track my movements as I travel round the ropemakers of this isle buying up all the hempen lengths I can as I believe there will be a shortage soon.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:33 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

December 26, 2008

The Nanny State

How did I survive without nanny's advice? | Hugo Rifkind - Times Online
Have you noticed how you don't really hear the phrase “nanny state” any more? It seems to have fallen out of fashion. This could be mainly due to a very deliberate shift in Tory cultural linguistics (Dave and Sam, of course, would only ever talk about au pairs) but I fear that there is something altogether more insidious going on. We don't talk about the nanny state because the nanny state has won. It has seeped in.
In years to come, I reckon, historians will look at the first decade of the new Labour government, and marvel at the extent to which petty legislation actually managed to change the national character. I doubt they meant it to happen. They just wanted to be responsible for everything. Basically, and to bring my degree in philosophy into play, they didn't think that we could be entrusted with duties. They had to turn them all into rights.

Once you stop resenting nanny, you start to rely on her. If nanny tells you to stop smoking in pubs, you probably stop smoking in pubs. But, in time, you also stop thinking about whether you ought to smoke in pubs or not. And worse, if somebody else lights up next to you, you expect nanny to do something about it. It's not your business or even really his. It's just nanny's business. You've both become morons.

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December 24, 2008

Bah Humbug Plod

Christmas spirit off limits as police halt shops' mulled wine tradition - Scotsman.com News

POLICE have used anti-social behaviour laws to stop shopkeepers handing out mulled wine to customers as part of a village's Christmas celebrations.
Traders are angry that officers from Fife Constabulary moved in to stamp out a practice that has been a tradition in Anstruther for 17 years.
Mr Dibley, who runs a pet shop in the village, said: "In a small community you know your customers, who are also your neighbours, and this was to thank them for a year's business. I found the police's action a wee bit strange, but then we live in strange politically correct times."

Posted by The Englishman at 6:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Whose side are they on?

Probation chiefs ‘undermine plan for criminals to wear punishment jackets’ - Times Online
Plans to make criminals wear high-visibility jackets while doing community punishments face being undermined by a probation service “institutionally on the side of offenders”, the Government’s neighbourhood crime adviser said.

I thought it was only horrible reactionary Tories who said that. I would just like to see some evidence that any work is ever done. Our village has been waiting eighteen months for a bunch of scrotes to come and paint the children's play equipment; obviously there aren't any naughty boys in Wiltshire...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 21, 2008

Hokey Cokey Pokey Party

YOU put your right leg in . . . It’s a dance-floor favourite at family gatherings and a good indicator of when elderly aunts have had enough sherry.

But, as the party season gets into full swing, the Catholic church and politicians in Scotland have warned that singing the Hokey Cokey could get you arrested because it contains a sinister, sectarian message. They claim the ditty was composed by Puritans during the 18th century to mock the language and actions used by priests at Latin Mass and could be hijacked by bigots.

Politicians have urged the police to arrest anyone caught singing the song in a sectarian context under legislation on incitement to religious hatred.

SNP MSP Michael Matheson said: “It is important that the police and football clubs are aware of the sinister background to this song, and take the appropriate action...

(The single reached the #18 spot on the U.K. singles chart in 1981. The holiday spoof was performed by Frosty, Blob, Lump and Norman according to Stiff Records. Most people suspect that it was Ian Dury and The Blockheads.)

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December 19, 2008

Nanny's sense of humour

Shopkeeper told to stop putting jokes on adverts - Telegraph

Bob Singh, 36, has been adding jokes to his promotional leaflets for more than 10 years at his Landmark store in Port Talbot, south Wales.

But police officers turned up at his general store to offer "appropriate advice" and warned he could face prosecution for breaching public order if he did not stop.

Mr Singh has been left baffled by the police intervention as he claims the jokes contain no bad language and are not racist. He admits some were "a bit saucy".

South Wales Police sergeant Simon Merrick said: "The content of promotional material which has been distributed in the area has been brought to our attention as being potentially inflammatory and offensive.

"The distributor has been appropriately advised and instructed to withdraw the leaflets from circulation."

Some of Mr Singh's jokes include:

:: What is the technical name for three days of horrendous weather followed by bright sunshine? A Welsh Bank Holiday!

:: What do you call a sheep with no legs? A Cloud!

:: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino? El-if-i-no!

:: What do you call a deer with no eyes? I have No-I-Deer.

Barbara Wilding CBE QPM CCMI writes

As the Chief Constable of South Wales Police I am interested in what you think of the service you receive from my force. I am launching a new consultation program, with the aim of gathering your views.

Your Comments Count – Click here

A survey to tell us about any ‘excellent customer service’ you have experienced from South Wales Police staff. We strive to deliver a high level of customer service and aim to achieve this through one of the force priorities, "Making Every Contact Count". Your comments can help us to reinforce quality of service through recognising and rewarding excellence.

Nothing like a bit of old fashioned policing, in fact it is nothing like a bit of old fashioned policing....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:02 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

December 16, 2008

The Assault on Liberty: What Went Wrong with Rights - Book Launch

iea ::: institute of economic affairs
Wednesday 21st January 2009
6.30pm – 8.00pm (with brief remarks by the Author at 7.00pm)
2 Lord North Street, Westminster, SW1

Since 1997, the government has launched an unprecedented assault on our most basic rights. In so doing it has eroded the very idea of liberty developed over 800 years and which millions have died defending. From 42 days detention without charge and ID cards to mammoth government databases and local surveillance, our fundamental freedoms are being pawned off cheaply on the false pretence that it will make us safer. At the same time, a whole range of novel rights are being conjured up and handed out with scant democratic accountability, fuelling a compensation culture, undermining social responsibility and turning common sense on its head.

As a general election beckons, with all three political parties proposing major constitutional reform, The Assault on Liberty is a long overdue polemic that seeks to shed light on the state of our democracy, by answering one of the most hotly disputed questions of our times - what went wrong with rights?

One for the diary

Posted by The Englishman at 11:58 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

HMS QM2

Letters to The Editor - The Times
Sir, Two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers were announced by the Labour Government in mid-1998. At about that same time, Cunard announced its plans to build the Queen Mary 2. Since then, the QM2 has been delivered, on time and to budget, and now has five years’ active service behind her. The aircraft carriers have not even left the drawing board yet and have already notched up expenses equal to the entire cost of the QM2. Perhaps the Admiralty and the Ministry of Defence should engage with the Carnival Corporation (Cunard’s parent company) on how to design and construct ships to time, on budget, and without excessive cost overruns.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:29 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Council Misuse of RIPA - No Change

Stop snooping on the public, councils told - Times Online

Local councils are to be barred from using surveillance powers to snoop on members of the public suspected of minor offences such as dog fouling, the Home Secretary is to announce today.
“While the vast majority of the investigations that are carried out under Ripa are important – like protecting the public from dodgy traders, trapping fly-tippers who dump tonnes of rubbish on an industrial scale across the countryside, or tackling the misery caused by noisy and disruptive neighbours – there are clearly cases where these powers should not be used,” she will announce..

In other words, a slap on the wrist for generating bad publicity for The Project but carry on, just more carefully.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 15, 2008

Annual Offensive Christmas Lights Story

Woman told to remove Christmas lights to avoid offending non-Christian neighbours - Telegraph
She was astonished when an employee of South Tyneside Homes called at her house and informed her that the decorations she was displaying might be offending her neighbours.
Independent councillor Ahmed Khan, who represents Mrs Glenn's ward, condemned the employee's actions.
He said: "Every year this woman puts her Christmas lights up and I know how popular they are. It's great when people make an effort to decorate their houses.

"It's this kind of nonsense that sets race relations back 20 years.

There is some sort of rule where that if A tries to ban B from doing something that A thinks C might find offensive, without the slightest bit of evidence that C would then A is always wrong and an intolerant fascist twat.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:01 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

December 12, 2008

Fat Pork Barrel

Change4Life shock adverts to reduce child obesity - Times Online

National Child Measurement Programme, which last year measured the weight and height of almost a million children in the first and last years of primary school... a £375 million campaign called Change4Life. But campaigners say that more radical tactics are needed ...The advertising company M&C Saatchi has been testing messages...Tam Fry, a spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said...Tim Straughan, the Information Centre's chief executive, said...Josh Bayly, of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said...Dawn Primarolo, the Minister for Public Health, said....

Getting fat at the taxpayer's trough

Posted by The Englishman at 6:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 10, 2008

Guns and Girls Don't Mix

Husband shot at semi-naked wife for target practice - Telegraph

Vedran Ribaric, 26, forced wife Mirna to strip to her knickers and run round her garden while he took pot shots at the terrified woman.
He even persuaded the frightened 23-year-old to pose provocatively while he took aim.
A neighbour said: "Shooting at a beautiful woman like her is crazy. Couldn't he have practised on a wild pig like everyone else?'

And where is the Youtube link?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:44 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

December 9, 2008

What set Nanny off

BBC NEWS | The Reporters | Mark Easton's UK
Where does Britain figure in a league table of nanny states? Well, according to boffins in the prime minister's Strategy Unit in 2004, about two thirds of the way down. Some will argue we have moved rapidly up the league since them...
The document surmised that "people in Britain appear fairly comfortable with the balance that UK policy has generally struck between state and individual responsibility."...
The British public doesn't seem too exercised either way and so, the strategists argued, the UK could afford to tilt more towards a state intervention model....
The white paper railed at the "sterile national debate... between those proposing a heavy handed nanny state on one hand, and those supporting inactivity bordering on neglect in the name of individual freedom on the other."
Suddenly Whitehall was awash with initiatives to change behaviour - on health, welfare, the environment and crime....

Posted by The Englishman at 10:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

December 4, 2008

Gosh a business wants to make more money, we can't have that.

Marlborough takeway's extra hours bid criticised (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
On Monday the town council planning committee discussed a proposal by the Charcoal Grill kebab and burger takeaway at the back of Hughenden Yard to open until 3.30am on Fridays and Saturday nights.

Councillors came up with several reasons for objecting.

Coun Marian Hannaford Dobson said she was surprised to see one of the reasons stated in the application for the longer hours was “making more money”.

And she is a "Conservative", I'm not sure Councillors have quite got the hang of why people want to fry burgers at all hours of the night...

(As an aside I used to have an office next door to this kebab shop, to save queuing they would actually bring the programmers their burgers to their desks, and as it was a smoking office the code jockeys had no reason to ever leave their keyboards....)

Posted by The Englishman at 7:07 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

December 3, 2008

Can't be unlawful

Jean Charles De Menezes coroner rules out unlawful killing verdict - Times Online

Sir Michael Wright, QC, ruled yesterday that jurors would not be allowed to consider a verdict of unlawful killing.

Sir Michael, a retired High Court judge, told the eleven jurors that they could only consider two outcomes: either that Mr de Menezes was lawfully killed or an open verdict.

That is reassuring, next time you are faced with bunch of hyped up plod about to blow your innocent head off remember it will either be lawful or just one of those things that no one can be blamed for.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

December 2, 2008

Haringey - The Secret Report

Why focus on meeting targets did not save Baby P | Camilla Cavendish: Commentary - Times Online

There are 191 children with child protection plans in Haringey. There are 121 social worker posts.

Mr Balls is refusing to publish the serious case review (SCR) into the handling of the Baby P case because he says that lessons cannot be learnt if people are put off contributing to reviews. But it is clear that the SCRs and the regulators have failed. We need public scrutiny of this uniquely unaccountable public service.

Of Haringey’s 121 social workers, 51 are temporary agency staff. It is not fear of scrutiny that puts good social workers off going to Haringey. It is lack of leadership, shockingly poor management and cover-ups. If the public were privy to all the details, they might conclude that doing more to “embed the London protocol for interagency working to improve outcomes for children and young people”, as yesterday’s report advised, may not be the answer. What is needed is not more jargon but for staff to take responsibility.

The report needs to be published, No more cover ups. No more box ticking. We won't stand for it.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 21, 2008

ID Cards - they are so good for you!

Introducing the National Identity Scheme
How the Scheme will work and how it will benefit you - pdf

The UK Identity and Passport Service have published yet another launch document for the National Identity Scheme. The 20 page propaganda piece is entitled "Introducing the National Identity Scheme - How the Scheme will work and how it will benefit you" with illustrative examples to show what the government thinks an ID card could do for you. For instance a 19 year old goes up to a bar "digs in her bag and pulls out her identity card. She hands it over which confirms that she is in fact 19. As she puts the card back in her purse she is relieved that she no longer has to hand over documents with her address on them to prove her age". Or Dave who wants to get a mortgage and "is pleasantly surprised to be told that, as he has his identity card with him, they can verify his details now and start processing his application immediately". The document doesn't mention that once your details are in the database they are in there for life, that it is your responsibility to keep that data up to date and to not lose your card, that you can't check your record, that there are fines for any errors or if you fail to keep your data up to date, and that the National Identity Register Number will be used to track you for the rest of your life.

Thanks to regular reader DA for that.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:26 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 15, 2008

Regulate the Internet - It's for the children

Booze ad restrictions 'no use without power over internet' - Scotsman.com News

CONTROLS on alcohol advertising should be extended to the internet as part of the drive against under-age drinking, a conference in Edinburgh will be told next week....

The current code on drinks ads says they must not link alcohol with sex, social success or daring behaviour; show alcohol being handled irresponsibly; or depict people who appear to be under 25.

"Ultimately, this is where the regulatory battleground is happening."

Posted by The Englishman at 7:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 14, 2008

The Cost of Food

Crop sprays a risk to health, rules High Court - Telegraph
And the Government has been ordered to "rethink" its policies on pesticides so that human health is given more priority.
The ruling by Mr Justice Collins is a landmark victory for Georgina Downs who launched a one-woman campaign after her own health was damaged by crop spraying. ...

I suppose The Telegraph can get away without inserting "she claimed" in the second sentence as she has persuaded Mr Justice Cocklecarrot that her symptoms were caused by evil industrial agrochemicals. Not a shred of scientific proof as far as I can see apart from anecdotes. Of course I feel sorry for her, she is sick, but not as sick as the kids who live far far away from her rural idyl who will be unable to afford food as the costs she is imposing on farming are translated in higher food prices.

Posted by The Englishman at 10:36 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 10, 2008

Taxman Admits Smoking Ban Devalues Pubs

Smoking ban may reduce pub rates by thousands - Telegraph

Publicans who applied for a reduction in the rateable value of their premises after the ban was introduced in 2007 were turned down on the grounds there had been no material change in the way the pub was used.

But the Valuation Office Agency has received legal advice saying that decision was wrong.

"The Government's own tax inspectors have now admitted that pubs may be eligible for refunds on their business rates, but pub owners are being intentionally kept in the dark on this U-turn.

"Ministers are only interested in changing the local tax regime when it raises extra money for Gordon Brown's coffers. Yet again, Labour's taxmen have been caught red-handed fiddling the system to make families and firms pay more than they should. Thanks to Whitehall secrecy and this stealth pub tax, local firms are going to the wall and everyday pub-goers are being hit in the wallet."

Posted by The Englishman at 5:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 7, 2008

Hurt in the line of duty

MoD pays £4m to gays for breach of human rights - Times Online...the average payout was £61,500.

The MOD's lump sum payout for a level 5 injury in course of duty is £57,500 - (Table 10 to Annex A)

Level 5 Injuries include:

Burns, with deep second degree, third degree, or full thickness burns affecting 50 to 69 per cent of whole body surface area.

Complex injury covering all or most of the area from thigh to ankle or shoulder to wrist, with complications, causing permanent functional limitation and restriction.

Loss of both kidneys or chronic renal failure.

Spinal cord injury at vertebra T7 to T10.

Hemiplegia. (one-half of a patient's body is paralysed)

Posted by The Englishman at 5:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 4, 2008

Fat Girls F*** - Shock Horror

Fat women more likely to have had sex - Telegraph

American women aged 15 to 44. A Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 was chosen as the cut-off point between being normal and overweight. 92 per cent of those who were overweight had slept with a man.
The figure was only 87 per cent among those of a "normal" size.
Dr Bliss Kaneshiro, who led the research, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynaecology, said: "These results were unexpected and we don't really know why this is the case.

Maybe they aren't so hung up on perfection and are more interested in enjoying life? But he continues...

"Our analysis demonstrated that overweight women do not differ significantly in some of the measures of sexual behaviour compared to women of normal weight.
"This study indicates that all women deserve diligence in counselling on unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, regardless of their weight."

In other words the conventional view is that fat women don't have sex, don't face the same risks (or pleasures) as thin women, this is because the conventional view is that being fat is so abnormal, so abhorrent, so unnatural that they should be ashamed and live a life of solitary penitence. It is so unfair that after all those years of not dieting the fat girls are still enjoying themselves.....

Posted by The Englishman at 5:14 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

November 2, 2008

Vescere bracis meis Mr Council!

Councils ban 'elitist' and 'discriminatory' Latin phrases - Telegraph

Local authorities have ordered employees to stop using the words and phrases on documents and when communicating with members of the public and to rely on wordier alternatives instead.
The ban has infuriated classical scholars who say it is diluting the world's richest language and is the "linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing".

In instructions to staff, the council said: "Many readers do not have English as their first language so using Latin can be particularly difficult."

More dumbing down - it isn't as though the banned phrases are obscure legal phrases, they have been absorbed into our language and are part of our heritage.

Luckily I have discovered a NSFW source of suitable phrases to use when writing to the council...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:26 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

October 29, 2008

1067781345046160692992979584215948335363056972783128881420721375504640

Vampires are said to suffer from a condition called arithmomania: a compulsive desire to count things.

Vampires are said to have their own numbers: these are defined as a number that can be written as the product of two smaller numbers of half the length which contain all the digits of the larger number. For example 1395=15x93. The two smaller numbers are called the vampire number's fangs. Although this is little more than a numerical curiosity, mathematicians have proved that there are an infinite number of vampire numbers.

However, research into the science of Hallowe'en has also proved that vampires cannot exist. Vampires need to feed on the blood of a human being at least once a month to survive. The trouble is that once you have feasted on the human, the victim too becomes a vampire. So next month there are twice as many vampires in the search for human blood to feast on.

The world's population is estimated to be 6.7 billion. Each month the population of vampires doubles. Such is the devastating affect of doubling that within 33 months a single vampire would end up transforming the world's population into vampires. Even if one factors in the effect of the birthrate, humans can't reproduce quickly enough to counter the mathematical effect of doubling.

So forget the garlic and the mirrors, it's mathematics that is your best protection against the Prince of Darkness.

Marcus du Sautoy will be the new Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, succeeding the evolutionist Richard Dawkins.

Excellent! We really need better public understanding of science, and if he can engage our interest with quirky snippets like that then there is hope.

(Headline - A 70-digit vampire number with 100025 different fang pairs)

Posted by The Englishman at 7:17 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 27, 2008

Sheep tagging - some protest.

Police to use handheld fingerprint scanners in the street - Telegraph

Every police force is to be issued handheld fingerprint scanners that will allow officers to carry out identity checks on people in the street. Project Midas would give the police "a full, mobile national capability" to check identities.

In other news:

Unions protest over EID - Meatinfo.co.uk

Farming unions from the UK and the Republic of Ireland turned out in force in Brussels this week to protest against compulsory electronic tagging for sheep.
Representatives from the farming unions of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are in agreement that plans for all sheep in Europe to be electronically tagged by 2010 are unworkable.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:26 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 23, 2008

No Filthy Puns in the Countryside

The Country Wife Act 4, scene 3

....This allows Sir Jasper to utter innocently what is, for the audience, a filthy double entendre:
"Wife! my Lady Fidget! wife! he is coming into you the back way."
Lady Fidget's reply spells out the joke:
"Let him come, and welcome, which way he will".

Filth! Smut! Disgusting! Not the sort of Restoration Romp we want perfomed at our school thank you very much, far better the children are safely at home watching Eastenders.

Posted by The Englishman at 8:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 22, 2008

It's My Job

Supermarket shoppers could be forced through alcohol-only checkout - Telegraph

"Having separate areas to sell alcohol will help us tackle this growing problem of young people getting tanked up on cheap supermarket beers and lagers," the source was reported as saying. "We would also want to see specially-trained staff in these areas to make sure alcohol is not being bought by people who are underage."

But those buying a selection of beer and wine along with their weekly groceries would be forced to queue twice to pay for one, then the other.

And the move is likely to enrage supermarkets because of the potential cost of constructing new areas and training staff, and the potential inconvenience to customers who could simply opt to buy their drink elsewhere.

Ministers are expected to reject, however, the suggestion of doctors that alcohol be priced per unit of alcohol and a minimum price for any alcoholic drink.

They are also considering whether to force supermarkets to stamp a bar code on cans of lager, alcopops and bottles of spirits and wine to enable police to quickly be able to identify where alcohol they confiscate from underage drinkers has come from.

The plans all form part of a draft code of practice looking at ways of clamping down on British drinking drawn up by the Home Office and the Department of Health.

"Specially-trained staff" - sounds impressive doesn't it! If they ever went to a supermarket they would see that Tracey already has a badge apologising for having to ask if you are old enough - "it's my job" that I will lose, sort of stuff. Of course teaching someone to say, "You got ID?" if they aren't using a zimmer frame is probably worthy of a GCSE these days, but it is hardly rocket science. It is all bollocks, it is all about control.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

October 19, 2008

Simizdata

Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones - Times Online

Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.

Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society.

A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime.

Back to the happy days when all typewriters had official IDs and reference printouts stored for identification purposes. Maybe it is time to stock up on some sim cards....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:25 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 15, 2008

Truth in Advertising

Maltesers and Jaffa Cakes ads banned over health claims - Scotsman.com News

TWO adverts, for Jaffa Cakes and Maltesers, were banned yesterday for suggesting the products were low-fat or low-calorie.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that an advert featuring the statement that a Malteser contains "less than 11 calories" gave the "misleading impression" that the sweet was low in energy.

The watchdog also criticised a Jaffa Cakes advert that said each cake had "only one gram of fat". Again, it said this suggested the product was low in fat.

Both statements were statements of fact, neither advert made the claim that it is said they suggested, nor even came close to it. But people can't be trusted to understand that if one Malteser is about 11 calories then a bucket of them has a lot more, or that if a 12g Jaffa cake only has one gram of fat then it isn't low fat. It is a thought crime.
Judge for yourself...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 12, 2008

Drinkers Unite

Drinkers unite!

So the latest edict from politicians in London and Edinburgh is that they should decide how much alcohol should cost to try to control how much we all drink. Despite all the legislation already out there to deal with shops that sell to the underage, or bars and clubs that contribute to anti-social behaviour, politicians seem to think that writing even more laws that punish everyone is the solution.
Like so many Government-led debates, the average punter who enjoys a pint or a bottle of wine with friends, continues to be ignored.
The Drinkers Alliance, is a new platform recently launched to give everyone a chance to make their views heard on the debate on alcohol.

Go and sign up.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 11, 2008

Tagged and sampled

DNA of 1,800 people every day added to police database - Telegraph

Overall the number of DNA profiles on the database increased from 3.78million to 4.43million by the end of March 2008, the National Policing Improvement Agency said. Taking into account replication factors, there were 4.1 million different individuals represented on the database.

Of those, 3.25million had a conviction, caution or formal warning which means that over 730,000 people were innocent of any offence.

The NPIA said that 244,514 young people under the age of 18 are included on the database.

Under 84 years to get everyone at this rate - so nothing to worry about???

Posted by The Englishman at 7:19 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Just Deserts

Strangled paedophile may have been the victim of a vigilante - Telegraph

"The investigation into the death continues and officers are following up a number of lines of inquiry."

Put the file in with the missing cats and UFO spotted over Kings Lynn cases and treat yourself to a large scotch would be my advice.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:01 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 3, 2008

Swiss Army Death Threat to Britain's Streets

TK Maxx sold jackets with knifes attached - Telegraph
The Swiss-made Strellson jacket, which was reduced from £200 to £59 at the discount clothing shop, has a metal chain with a Vecorinox officer’s knife on the end attached to the lining.
“It’s horrendous. They’re promoting knife crime.
“Someone could get hurt. I hope whoever came up with that idea gets a big fine.”

"Vecorinox officer’s knife"? Do they mean Victorinox Swiss Army knife? (Officer's knife is an Americanism and the misspelling of Victorinox is just sheer laziness.) Either way I'm fleeing the streets in terror at the idea I may be poked by a tool for getting stones out of horses hooves or threatened by the death of a thousand cuts from a pair of folding scissors...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

The Guardian's Blair Obituary

The fall and fall of Sir Ian Blair | UK news | guardian.co.uk
...his lack of judgment, luck and people skills..

Even the Guardian had turned against him, and if there ever was a Guardian Copper Blair was it. The Met needs a leader who the Met trusts, not one that is part of the the failing nuLabour project.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 1, 2008

Give me Freedom and/or Death

The anti-smoking campaign to nationalise our bodies | Mick Hume - Times Online

It's not just the banks. Today marks the next stage in the campaign to nationalise our bodies. Not content with those big written warnings on packets - Smoking Kills/Causes Impotence/Destabilises the Financial System, etc - the authorities are replacing them from today with stark pictures of what smoking can do:... know that smoking is bad for you. And so, by now, does everybody else. Yet the lifestyle police cannot accept that any thinking individual could simply choose to ignore their lectures and carry on smoking. “Let's show them pictures - they must be too thick to read!”

There are bigger issues here than discoloured teeth. In his essay On Liberty, J.S.Mill took a stand not only for freedom of thought and speech, but also for “liberty of tastes and pursuits...of doing as we like, subject to such consequences as may follow [ie, if you smoke don't sue tobacco companies] without impediment from our fellow creatures, so long as what we do does not harm them, even though they should think our conduct foolish, perverse, or wrong”.

...the anti-smokers' real aim is to get you to cleanse yourself by changing what they think is your foolish, perverse and wrong behaviour, regardless of any harm it may or may not do to others. They have banned smoking in public places; they are pushing to ban it in private homes. Ultimately they want to ban it in your body and soul....They apparently believe that personal freedom has turned us into disgustingly obese, drunken ignoramuses, riddled with self-inflicted sexually transmitted and smoking-related diseases. I ask you, is that a healthy attitude?

Our personal freedom is under attack as never before. What I don't understand why it is that legal and long established freedoms to stuff our bodies with cream cakes, fine ales and Marlboro lights are vilified daily but newer freedoms to stuff our bodies with things that were or are illegal such as cocaine, filthy pictures or by buggery never have a word said against them.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:09 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

September 30, 2008

Local Punishments for Local People

Local people can set punishments for offenders for first time - Telegraph

As part of pilots in six areas of the country, citizens' panels will able to tell probation officers and council officials what community sentences would help their neighbourhoods most.

Meetings to discuss community "pay back" schemes will take place regularly in each of the pilot areas.
Officials said that if the pilots in Leicester, Manchester, Suffolk, Hampshire, Wiltshire and north Wales were successful they would be expanded nationwide

Wiltshire? Please Sir may I be on the panel to set the punishments, it won't be just the local swings being repainted, oh no, driving down the A303 will be whole lot nicer as the tarmac is swept clean with toothbrushes everyday by chained gangs in orange boilersuits....

Why do I guess it won't happen and it will just be panels of the local do gooders who get appointed? Because there is a chasm between what punishments local people really want to see and what the system provides. ..Though I wonder if we could get Mrs FM snuck on board, she would have them picking oakum before they knew it...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 27, 2008

God Blogging

Thou shalt not upload: religious leaders draw up Ten Blogging Commandments -Times Online
Church leaders have drawn up a new set of the Ten Commandments aimed at delivering “God bloggers” from the temptations of the blogosphere.

Alarmed by the extent to which religious blogs can descend into vitriol, senior evangelical clergy are calling on bloggers to obey the new commandments or risk perdition.

The commandments order bloggers not to put your blog before your integrity; not to “make an idol” of the blog; not to misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin and to remember the Sabbath by taking one day off a week from blogging. They also order: “You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind.”

That's you Theo they are talking to!

The “instant access” nature of most blogs means people posting comments often do so in the heat of passion and rarely stop to reflect, as they would if giving a lecture or writing a letter.

The result can be intemperate and sometimes foul language..

Be warned Devil

Church leaders are growing increasingly concerned at the defamatory and inflammatory content of some blogs, which unlike newspapers and television are unregulated.

Free thinkers are dangerous.....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:32 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

September 26, 2008

Pub Sign Update

The Publican - Home - Support for pub asked to remove road sign
A pub asked to remove its road sign, due to fears it could encourage drink-driving and distract drivers, has been inundated with letters and calls of support.

As revealed on ThePublican.com last week the Black Dog in Chilmark, Wiltshire was ordered to take down its sign by the Highways Agency

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said: “The local authority were cracking down on the number of illegal signs in the area anyway and that is why I believe the sign was refused, not on the basis of [local Highways Agency planning manager] Mrs Ashman’s regrettable comments. The comments about drink-driving, should not have been made and won't lead to any precedents being set.”

That whirring sound you can hear is furious backpedaling - sometimes public pressure works.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 25, 2008

David Blaine who cares? Part Two

An Englishman's Castle: David Blaine who cares?

I have been proud of the way nearly the entire British nation has treated him, as a joke. I think he believed he would get "respect" - no he got eggs thrown....

The ninth post ever on this blog, one that I was reminded of as people have been searching it out this week....

David Blaine rubbished over breaks from hanging upside down - Times Online

After discovering the 35-year-old with feet firmly on a platform, and seemingly breaking his promise to drink through a straw while hanging and urinate through a catheter, journalists and bloggers have brought back memories of the disdain surrounding his 2003 London stunt, in which he spent 44 days in a Perspex box, by penning scathing criticisms of his effort.

It seems some things never change.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 24, 2008

Nannying the old dears

Wiltshire holds slipper exchanges

Older people in Wiltshire are being invited to put their best foot forward and take advantage of free slipper exchanges.

To help keep people safe Wiltshire County Council are organising slipper exchanges in Salisbury, Devizes and Amesbury.

Wednesday 1 October is International Day of Older People and the Slipper Exchange is taking place at a celebration of the skills and achievements of older people living in South Wiltshire, organised by Age Concern Salisbury District.

At all the Slipper Exchanges there will be advice and information available from a range of organisations including Age Concern, Wiltshire Primary Care Trust, and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.

People will also be able to find out about a variety of county council services including trading standards, care and support services for older people and libraries.

People over 65 can bring along a pair of old, worn-out slippers and exchange them free for a new pair which will be fitted by trained fitters. The new slippers are comfortable, warm and safe and will help reduce the risk of falls.

Words fail me.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

September 20, 2008

Disseminating a moronic ... whoops! two banned words already...

The phrase Old Masters is sexist, authors and students are told - Telegraph

The list of banned words was written by the British Sociological Association, whose members include dozens of professors, lecturers and researchers.

The list of allegedly racist words includes immigrants, developing nations and black, while so-called "disablist" terms include patient, the elderly and special needs....
the BSA warns authors against using civilisation because of its "racist overtones that derive from a colonialist perception of the world".

Among the "sexist" terms to be avoided are "seminal" and "disseminate" because they are derived from the word semen and supposedly imply a male-dominated view of the world.

Prof Frank Furedi, a sociologist at the University of Kent, said he was shocked when he saw the extent of the list and how readily academics had accepted it.

"I was genuinely taken aback when I discovered that the term 'Chinese Whisper' was offensive because of its apparently racist connotations. I was moved to despair when I found out that one of my favourite words, 'civilised', ought not be used by a culturally sensitive author because of its alleged racist implications."

Prof Furedi said that censorship is about the "policing of moral behaviour" by an army of campaign groups, teachers and media organisations who are on a "crusade" to ban certain words and promote their own politically correct alternatives.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:03 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

September 19, 2008

Silly Old Woman Demands Silly Old Women Put Down For The Good Of Society

Baroness Warnock: Dementia sufferers may have a 'duty to die' - Telegraph

Lady Warnock, a former headmistress who went on to become Britain's leading moral philosopher, insisted there was "nothing wrong" with people being helped to die for the sake of their loved ones or society.

The 84-year-old added that she hoped people will soon be "licensed to put others down" if they are unable to look after themselves.

No one has a problem with those facing dementia reaching for the club Webley, no one objects to soup dribblers in hospital being eased on their way for their own relief. But there is a line there and the stupid old bat has crossed it, when we license people to kill the old and feeble for the good of society we are a sick and evil people.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:46 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 15, 2008

Dennis Bashing Journalists

PC brigade put boot into Dennis 'the gay-basher' - Scotsman.com News 14th September

Euan Kerr... has spoken out in a book chronicling the official history of the comic, which will be published later this month.

He said: "I definitely felt a sense of responsibility in making sure the characters did nothing that was easily imitable. The evidence is that the kids understand a comic is a comic and that it isn't anything like real life.

"But the relationship between Dennis and Walter was always one that worried me. There were accusations from certain quarters that it was a little like gay-bashing. This obviously wasn't the way we intended it to be perceived."

Not only does he say it in a book The Scotsman picked up yesterday but today he has said it to The Times::

Euan Kerr,...
“I definitely felt a sense of responsibility in making sure the characters did nothing that was easily imitable,” he told The Times.

“The evidence is that kids understand a comic is a comic and that it isn’t anything like real life. But the relationship between Dennis and Walter was always one that worried me.”

Papers of record - you know you can rely on them.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:39 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 14, 2008

The Fat Police

Fat-buster nurses won't give an inch - Scotsman.com News

A TEAM of NHS nurses is patrolling Scotland's streets to target pot-bellied members of the public and tell them how to lose weight.

Armed with measuring tapes to check waists and equipment to test blood pressure, the "Street Nurses" are policing busy shopping centres, supermarkets and community centres.

Any man with a paunch, or woman with an "apple-shaped" body whose waist measurement is higher than recommended limits is given diet and lifestyle advice or referred to local slimming classes.

Um, I wonder if the nurses get given any suggestions as to where they might go when they pounce on the unwary Rangers supporters enjoying a pie and a pint....

Posted by The Englishman at 9:05 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Time To Bash Some Softies Again

PC brigade put boot into Dennis 'the gay-basher' - Scotsman.com News

A long-running Beano editor... says that he stopped Dennis from menacing fellow character Walter the Softy in the late 1980s because of fears that his behaviour appeared to endorse the violent bullying of homosexuals. But the DC Thomson veteran now feels the pendulum has swung too far in favour of political correctness and hopes there will be a return to the comic's anti- establishment roots.

"We decided the best way to approach it was to make sure that even though he and Dennis didn't get along, Walter was completely happy about who he was and a confident, likeable character in his own right. We eventually give Walter a girlfriend too, as a measure to combat any further criticism."

"The comic has certainly changed over the years to come in line with political correctness," he said.

"For example, every strip used to end with the rogue of the piece being punished in some way – usually a smack across the head or a slipper across the bottom.

"This sort of corporal punishment became outdated and eventually it was phased out."

Similar changes took place at the Dandy, where the burly cowboy Desperate Dan, who used to shave with a blowtorch and smoke tobacco by the bucket-full, was forced to go on a diet and had his six-shooter replaced by a water pistol.

But Kerr believes the time is right for a swing away from political correctness.

"Luckily for us, I think there is a real resistance to the overt political correctness creeping into British life and the Beano can hopefully use this to its advantage."

Posted by The Englishman at 9:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 5, 2008

Salt - the coppers fr