Pothole go-slow to 'calm traffic'

"BBC NEWS | England | Essex | Pothole go-slow to 'calm traffic'
An Essex parish council wants potholes to be left unfilled for longer to act as a "natural traffic calming" measure. Navestock parish councillors claim repairing potholes is costly and allows motorists to drive faster."

You can bet the dipstick that came up with this has never ridden a motorbike.

BBC NEWS | England | Essex | Pothole go-slow to 'calm traffic'

Police arrest 114 in(?) 'power demo'

"BBC NEWS | England | Nottinghamshire | Police arrest 114 in 'power demo'
More than 100 people have been arrested in Nottingham over a suspected plan to target a power station. Police said 114 men and women were arrested in Sneinton Dale on suspicion of conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass and criminal damage. Officers said they believed those arrested were planning to protest at nearby Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station."

One step closer to the Police State - people denied the right to protest.

BBC NEWS | England | Nottinghamshire | Police arrest 114 in 'power demo'

PM heralds 'green economy' Budget

"BBC NEWS | Politics | PM heralds 'green economy' Budget
"Prime Minister Gordon Brown is promising this month's Budget will plot a 'green' route to economic recovery."

So says the man who is doing a great job of propping up the World's airline industry, expanding airports like Heathrow.

"Trials of electric cars, a roadside network of vehicle-charging points and incentives for environmentally-friendly carmakers are among planned measures."

And where's the electricity coming from? Gas, oil and coal-fired power stations, of course. There's no such thing as an environmentally-friendly car.

"He said that moving the UK to a low-carbon economy would create 400,000 new jobs over the next eight years."

Where the hell did that figure come from - sounds like he just plucked it out of the air.

"Green economy budget" - this is just going to be another excuse to increase taxes.

BBC NEWS | Politics | PM heralds 'green economy' Budget

PM curbs top public servants' pay

"BBC NEWS | Politics | PM curbs top public servants' pay
Senior civil servants, top NHS managers and judges will get a lower than recommended pay rise of 1.5% next year, Gordon Brown has announced. Senior public sector staff should lead by showing 'restraint', Mr Brown told MPs, who will get a pay rise of 2.33%"

Nice ironic reporting by the BBC, there.

BBC NEWS | Politics | PM curbs top public servants' pay

Call to scrap 'illegal databases'

"BBC NEWS | UK | Call to scrap 'illegal databases'
A quarter of all government databases are illegal and should be scrapped or redesigned, according to a report. The government spends £16bn a year on databases and plans to spend a further £105bn on projects over five years..."

Telling those of us who are concerned about the creeping intrusion of this Government what we already know, I guess, but perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.

BBC NEWS | UK | Call to scrap 'illegal databases'

Motoring justice?

Compare these two stories:

A motorcyclist whose bike's mudguard was held on with bootlaces has been jailed for 10 months after reaching speeds of up to 150mph in Devon. Michael Robillard's Suzuki 600 also had a loose seat as he sped along the A380 Exeter to Newton Abbot road. Robillard, 23, of Lymington Road, Torquay, admitted dangerous driving at Exeter Crown Court. He also admitted not having a licence or insurance, and failing to stop for police. He was banned from driving for two years.
BBC News | Bootlaced bike in 150mph chase

A peer who was jailed last month for 12 weeks for sending and receiving text messages while driving on the M1 has been released by the Court of Appeal [after serving 16 days]. On Christmas Day 2007, Lord Ahmed's Jaguar hit a stationary car in the outside lane of the motorway two minutes after he had sent the last of the messages. The driver of the other car, Martyn Gombar, 28, from Leigh, Greater Manchester, died in the crash. The Appeal Court suspended his sentence because of "exceptional" mitigation relating to his community work.
BBC News | Texting peer's road safety pledge

Speeding, no injuries - 10 months jail
Texting, quite possibly leading to a death - 16 days

Call that justice?

Campaigners lose Stansted battle

"BBC NEWS | England | Campaigners lose airport battle
Campaigners have lost their legal battle to block the expansion of Stansted Airport in Essex. Airport owner BAA wants to increase passenger numbers from 25 million to 35 million a year and outbound flights from 241,000 to 264,000 a year."

Well now - isn't that a surprise. Once again, the environment takes a back seat as the Government ably demonstrates they're in the back pockets of the airline industry.

What's up with ScribeFire?

All its recent releases (and it does seem to get updated incredibly often) seem to be buggy (this is in FF2). Its now incapable of making a successful posting on the first attempt. And what's with this image - img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif - they insist on putting (and I insist on removing) from the bottom of its posts?

Bank to pump £75bn into economy

"BBC NEWS | Business | Bank to pump £75bn into economy
The Bank of England is to create £75bn of new money in an attempt to revive lending and the battered economy. Bank Governor Mervyn King said the policy - called quantitative easing - was about pumping money into the wider system rather than simply to the banks."

"quantitative easing" - trust New Labour to come up with some bullshit term for it.

BBC NEWS | Business | Bank to pump £75bn into economy

Company sold workers' secret data

"BBC NEWS | UK | Company sold workers' secret data
The information watchdog has shut down a company which it says sold workers' confidential data, including union activities, to building firms. A raid on The Consulting Association in Droitwich, Worcs, revealed a serious breach of the Data Protection Act, the Information Commissioner's Office said. The ICO said a secret system was run for over 15 years enabling employers to unlawfully vet job applicants. Action is being considered against more than 40 firms who used the service."

Shouldn't the question also be raised as to how they got hold of this data in the first place? I can't think the employees provided it themselves, so it must have come from somewhere. The Government perhaps - did they actually sell it or even give it to them? Or perhaps they just found a set of CDs on a train?

BBC NEWS | UK | Company sold workers' secret data

British 'careless' with liberties

"BBC NEWS | Politics | British 'careless' with liberties
British people have been 'careless' with their civil liberties, but that is beginning to change, former shadow home affairs minister David Davis has said."

Oh, come on - when have we said "yes please, lets have yet another national database"? Its not us being careless - we're not having a say in the matter.

BBC NEWS | Politics | British 'careless' with liberties

Straw vetoes Iraq minutes release

"BBC NEWS | Politics | Straw vetoes Iraq minutes release
Justice Secretary Jack Straw has vetoed the publication of minutes of key Cabinet meetings held in the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003. He said he would use a clause in the Freedom of Information Act to block the release of details of meetings in which the war's legality was discussed. Releasing the papers would do 'serious damage' to Cabinet government, he said, and outweighed public interest needs."

Presumably vetoed because he knows what a bunch of deceiving tykes it will reveal the Government to be.

"'There is a balance to be struck between openness and maintaining aspects of our structure of democratic government,' he [Straw] said."

There was no democracy involved in the decision to go to war - the Cabinet's decision was a complete travesty.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Straw vetoes Iraq minutes release

Pay recycling costs, stores told

"BBC NEWS | Business | Pay recycling costs, stores told
UK supermarkets produce too much packaging, almost 40% of which is non-recyclable, local councils say. The Local Government Association argues supermarkets should pay towards the collection of their packaging as an incentive to cut back. In a survey of 29 common grocery items, it found Waitrose had the most wrapping while Tesco had the least."

Rather ironic given yesterday's posting about Tesco - and the fact I shop at Waitrose. From personal experience, I don't agree with the above. However, the level of packaging is still excessive.

BBC NEWS | Business | Pay recycling costs, stores told

Ministers 'using fear of terror'

"BBC NEWS | UK | Ministers 'using fear of terror'
A former head of MI5 has accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism to restrict civil liberties. Dame Stella Rimington, 73, said people in Britain felt as if they were living 'under a police state' because of the fear being spread by ministers. 'It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state,' she said."

She has been critical of Government policy before; this is quite outspoken - but she's right on the money.

BBC NEWS | UK | Ministers 'using fear of terror'

Typical Tesco waste

Typical Tesco waste,
originally uploaded by hockeyshooter.

This photo demonstrates one of the reasons why I never shop at Tesco. Lots on the packaging about how bad the cakes are for you, but nothing about how, or even if, the incredibly wasteful container can be recycled. What's wrong with a cardboard box? Or a paper bag?

Photographers angry at terror law

"BBC NEWS | UK | Photographers angry at terror law
Hundreds of photographers have staged a protest outside Scotland Yard against a new law which they say could stop them taking pictures of the police. The law makes it an offence to photograph police officers or military personnel if the picture could be used for a purpose linked to terrorism. The National Union of Journalists said the law could be used to harass photographers working legitimately. The Home Office said it was designed to protect counter-terrorism officers."

...but you can just bet that, just like other "anti-terrorism" legislation recently introduced, it will be applied in other circumstances.

BBC NEWS | UK | Photographers angry at terror law

Anti-terror tactics 'weaken law'

"BBC NEWS | World | Anti-terror tactics 'weaken law'
The UK and the US have 'actively undermined' international law in the way they fight terrorism, a report by judges and lawyers has said. The independent International Commission of Jurists carried out a three-year global study. It concluded that many measures introduced to fight terrorism were illegal and counter-productive."

Anyone with half a brain (and that obviously discounts the Bush administration) could see that abducting and torturing people, and even using foreign interrogation centres to get around your own laws, isn't exactly taking the moral high ground.

"Mr Chaskelson, chairman of the panel, said: 'In the course of this inquiry, we have been shocked by the extent of the damage done over the past seven years by excessive or abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide range of countries around the world. Many governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished values and violated human rights. The result is a serious threat to the integrity of the international human rights legal framework.'"

It is a shame that the panel doesn't go a step further specifically name Bush.

BBC NEWS | World | Anti-terror tactics 'weaken law'

Price of petrol creeps up in 2009

"BBC NEWS | Business | Price of petrol creeps up in 2009
The price of petrol at the pump has been steadily rising since the start of January, figures have shown. However, the price of crude oil is now 40% lower than the last time petrol cost 90p a litre, back in March 2007, according to the AA."

Blatant profiteering by the oil companies again - and of course the Government benefit, so they're in no hurry to say anything untoward.

BBC NEWS | Business | Price of petrol creeps up in 2009

Government plans travel database

"BBC NEWS | UK | Government plans travel database
The government is compiling a database to track and store the international travel records of millions of Britons. Computerised records of all 250 million journeys made by individuals in and out of the UK each year will be kept for up to 10 years.

The government says the database is essential in the fight against crime, illegal immigration and terrorism. But opposition MPs and privacy campaigners fear it is a significant step towards a surveillance society. The intelligence centre will store names, addresses, telephone numbers, seat reservations, travel itineraries and credit card details of travellers."

The Police State expands ever further. Pretty soon we will have to ask permission to travel. This country gets more like Eastern Europe under Communism by the minute.

BBC NEWS | UK | Government plans travel database

Miliband defends secrecy stance

"BBC NEWS | Politics | Miliband defends secrecy stance
David Miliband has told MPs that releasing classified US information could do 'real and significant damage' to British national security. Publishing details of the treatment of Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed, against US wishes, could damage trust vital to intelligence sharing, he said."

Bush has gone - there's no need for the UK Government to be afraid of him or his cronies any more. Miliband is obviously scared that revealing anything about Binyam Mohamed's treatment will open the floodgates of evidence pointing at yet more UK Government complicity in CIA torture.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Miliband defends secrecy stance
'No torture pressure' - Miliband
Ministers face torture pressure