Yank in London
occasional musings on politics, culture and life in general from an american in exile


"We have it in our power to begin the world over again"

Tom Paine - Common Sense

"A republic, sir, if you can keep it."

Benjamin Franklin

"War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

Norman Whitfield / Barrett Strong

31 October 2006
  Trick or drive!
From Philly.com this story about the difficulties of Halloween has to be read to be believed. Especially the bit about how hard the holiday is on "those whose closest neighbor is a three- or four-minute walk away"!

Three or four minute walk! Is that too much to ask! Mum and Dad have to drive them then! WTF!

This other quote from a mother wound me up as well: "It takes too long to walk up the long driveways. By the time you do two houses, you're tired."

Nope Americans aren't getting lazy. No way!
  17:02:00 0 comments links to this post
  Referenda - all I see are referenda!
I have an old friend who used to work in polling and public opinion research and always used to tell me that one consistent "negative indicator" (one who will always vote or chose outside the mainstream) was better than a hundred who generally went the way of public opinion.

In that light I present, via the Concerned Women for America, a guide (PDF) as to how to vote on various state referenda in next week's election. I checked myself against their recommendations and they are, as far I am concerned, 100% wrong. Therefore if you just go against their position I reckon you'll do alright!
  16:53:00 0 comments links to this post
  Science ruins everything
First they tried to ruin the bible by telling us that the earth isn't 6,000 years old or that man didn't coexist with dinosaurs.

Now scientists are trying to ruin Halloween by "proving" that ghosts and vampires don't exist.

What is wrong with these scientists and why can't they just leave us alone?
  16:33:00 0 comments links to this post
  "Very real consequences"
That is what Downing Street says British troops in Iraq face if the government loses a vote tonight calling for an enquiry into the Iraq war.

I'm sorry but I happen to think that British (and American troops) have been facing very real consequences all along. I believe that facing death and serious injury every day due to the inept and illegal policies of your government is a very real experience indeed.
Perhaps Bush and Blair should try it. I'm sure it would be an enlightening experience for both of them!
  16:15:00 0 comments links to this post
  It's not as if the US government is running record defecits and needs the money or anything
The US government has dropped claims against Chevron for millions of dollars it had claimed that the oil giant had systematically under paid for natural gas extraction from the Gulf of Mexico. Explaining why the government gave up without a fight spokesmen said that they had "no choice but to drop their order to Chevron because a department appeals board had ruled against auditors in a separate case". This is despite the fact that state governments and private individuals have won back over 70 million USD in similar cases.

This latest gift to the energy industry follows the admission earlier in the year that companies would escape "7 billion (USD) in payments because of mistakes in leases signed in the 1990s". Well I'm sure they need the money!
  15:27:00 0 comments links to this post
  Go ahead call me paranoid
I just wonder what the government's ulterior motive for this could be. I guess they've worked out that data only become information when humans have access to them and that it is information, as opposed to data, that is dangerous. Do they ever do ANYTHING that is in the public, as opposed to the corporate, interest?
  15:19:00 0 comments links to this post
  Religious bigotry unveiled
Bob Maginnis, a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel, believes that the US government should be cautious about admitting Muslim students to the US Military Academy. In his own words:

"If you believe in the inerrancy of the Koran and that you embrace jihad in a militaristic fashion, and you believe in the coming Caliphate -- the domination of Islam across the world -- and your personal obligation [to it] -- that, in fact, might be contradictory to the best interests of the United States."

With a few alterations it says this:

"If you believe in the inerrancy of the Bible and that you embrace proselytising
in a militaristic fashion, and you believe in the coming Rapture -- the domination of Christianity across the world -- and your personal obligation [to it] -- that, in fact, might be contradictory to the best interests of the United States."

Would he agree with those words? I doubt it.
  14:26:00 0 comments links to this post
  Graduate study on the cutting edge
Next year the School of Geography at the University of Leeds is going to offer a Master of Arts degree in Activism and Social Change.

From the course overview:

Activism and Social Change is an innovative and original interdisciplinary programme of research-led teaching and participatory study that brings together the worlds of academia and progressive social campaigning. It is led by academics working and researching with social movement organisations and communities; they are at the cutting edge of Geography's tradition of disciplinary involvement with social justice, a tradition that dates back at least to the early 1970s and runs stronger than ever today.

The programme's originality lies in four areas:
1) its intellectual attachment to the concept of 'autonomy', which in its radical understanding is the belief in society organised collectively through the practice of self-management, mutual aid and direct democracy;

2) its integration of social and environmental themes and issues, distinguishing it from other programmes in Britain, which focus on one element or the other;

3) its direct collaboration with NGOs, campaign groups and social entrepreneurs who will work alongside the programme coordinators to explore the ideas, practices and geographies of activism and social change;

4) its integrated provision of training for academic research and special skills training for work as a practitioner in NGOs and social movements.

Main course features
The main features of the programme can be summarised as follows:

An exploration of the core ideas in radical and transformatory social theory (see module: Spaces of Radical Thought module);

An overview of global social movement struggles with particular reference to anti-systemic and neo-colonial struggles in the Global South (Empire and Resistance);

Contemporary political debates about alternatives to neoliberal development and the critical challenges we face (Autonomous Futures);

Qualitative and quantitative research methods training relevant to campaigning and social change with strong emphasis on conducting Action Research with social movements and campaign groups (Researching for Social Change);

An introduction to key strategic debates and skills within the practitioner community through guest lectures and workshops by journalists, campaigners, researchers and activists (Campaigning for Social Change);

Work and campaign placements based around course themes;

An innovative portfolio of Masters-level assessments relevant to activism and social change including: campaign diaries; web-design; project plans; film; and extended action-research dissertations.

The MA has been carefully designed to respond to two related aims: the first is to provide a particular experience in training for research in university or similar arenas; and the second is to deliver knowledge and skills required by social movements, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), environmental and political campaigns, and other civil society groups such as trade unions and think tanks.

This masters programme offers a unique and integrated set of modules: two ESRC recognised research methods training modules (qualitative and quantitative) delivered between Geography and the School of the Environment; a theoretical module designed to engage students with important radical thinkers whose works and ideas are essential knowledge for students taking the programme; a conceptual module on empire and case studies of resistance struggles from around the world; modules on researching and campaigning skills directly focused on activism and organisations involved in social campaigning; a more praxis oriented module focusing on strategies for implementing ideas; and finally an action research Dissertation through which students will undertake a substantive independent research project.

It should lead to some interesting dissertations but if you want a cosy nine-to-five job with lots of holiday and a good pension it probably isn't the course for you. Do you think that David Horwitz would approve? (Note: It thought linking to an al-Jazeerah editorial about Horowitz was a nice touch don't you thinkn?)
  14:14:00 0 comments links to this post
  Calling time on K Street
The Washington Post suggests that, should Nancy Pelosi become the speaker of the house, the rules on Congressional lobbying stand to be significantly tightened. Oh, and that the lobbyists are none to happy with this.

While it would take time as well as Senate consent and a Presidential signature to change federal law as regards lobbying the House of Representatives can change its own rules by a simple majority vote and that Pelosi plans just that. Among other things receipt of gifts including flights from lobbyists or firms that employ lobbyists would be forbidden.

Not a moment too soon in my estimation!
  12:52:00 0 comments links to this post
  Don't forget to say your prayers
I didn't know God cared about American politics but apparently she does! A Catholic association is sponsoring an "election novena" to make sure that she votes properly. The web site includes a "prayer for our national elections" which instructs god to instruct the faithful to "exercise (their) solemn duty not only to vote, but to influence countless others to vote, and to vote correctly".

And do they know how to vote correctly? Oh yes they do! They also include special prayers for:

It is reassuring that god is so involved in the matters of a handful of American states that she even knows the numbers of the ballot initiatives while the rest of the world goes down the drain.
  12:12:00 0 comments links to this post
  Tony Blair - beautiful dreamer
Tony Blair wants to see a new, global climate deal in place by the end of 2008.

I want to be tall and devastatingly handsome.

Which is more likely I wonder?

It will be hard enough to get the rest of the world in line in two year's time. How he expects to get a United States with a lame duck President (emphasis on lame) and a probably hostile Congress on board is beyond me.

Perhaps it will be like Iraq when he got Bush to seek a new Security Council resolution but then to ignore the Security Council when they failed to submit to his imperial wishes.

It's good to have a dream, innit?
  12:06:00 0 comments links to this post
  Nationalists to the fore!
Will Tony Blair lose in the Commons over calls for an inquiry into the Iraq war? It appears that he might as the Tories, the Liberal Democrats and up to forty Labour rebels are suggesting that they may support a motion put forward by the Scottish Nationalist Party and Plaid Cymru.

What would it mean if he does? Well for one thing it would entail the setting up of a commission similar to the Franks report into the Falklands War. Other than that it wouldn't be a comfortable situation for either Blair or Brown and could add to the ascendancy of Cameron's (New) Tories.

I also wonder what the last motion put forward by either the SNP or Plaid Cymru to pass was. That of course assumes there has been such a motion before!
  11:53:00 1 comments links to this post
  Corporate transparency and why corporations don't think it's a good idea
One tiny little clause in a great big bill has got the business community in an uproar. The government amendment to the companies bill would require all UK listed companies to provide details about their supply chain and social responsibility in their annual reports.

Lined up against the provision are the Council for Business and Industry (CBI), the Institute of Directors (IoD) and Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA).

Never have so many initials opposed so few words. It is hard to see how they can stand!

Personally I don't think the provision goes nearly far enough. If we are to be educated consumers and use our behaviour to influence that holy of holies, "the market" (as I am sure all of the above wish us to do) then the provision should hold for limited companies (above a certain threshold of sales or capitalisation) as well as PLCs. How else can we make intelligent, informed decisions?
  11:39:00 0 comments links to this post
  There's nothing wrong with Kansas
(Well OK I know that most of Kansas City is in Missouri.) None then less the Kansas City Star has a post in online journal entitled "PRO-CON: SHOULD THE HOUSE IMPEACH PRESIDENT BUSH?".

They answer that they should and for the following two high crimes and misdemeanours":
Remember Kansas actually has a radical and subversive historical tradition.
  11:25:00 1 comments links to this post
  Defensive spin
The US Department of Defense is to launch a new "rapid response" PR campaign to ensure that Donald Rumsfeld keeps his job. Well, that's not actually what they said but it’s my spin on their spin.

The new system, became public in a memo from Dorrance Smith, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs which was obtained by the AP. It calls for new staff to "develop messages for the 24-hour news cycle and correct the record". How much time will they have to devote to correcting Faux News's faux facts?

I look forward to the new and improved news coverage that this will surely lead to. Just remember folks these are your tax dollars at work!
  11:02:00 0 comments links to this post
  War on terra - Pakistan
Let's start with the facts not in dispute. The Pakistani military launched an attack on a school near the Afghan border yesterday which resulted in around eighty deaths.

Now onto the facts that are in dispute. The Pakistani military maintains that the madrasa was in actuality a terrorist training camp. Residents of the village where the attack took place contend that the dead were "children and religious seminarians".

Even the facts theoretically not in dispute, such as who actually fired the missiles, are openly being questioned with some in Pakistan asserting that the attack was really launched by NATO forces from across the border in Afghanistan. Irrespective of who launched the attack it is clear that it has had an unsettling effect on the truce between the Pakistani government and leaders in the tribal border area. However should it turn out that NATO did actually initiate the missle attack it will certainly damage relations with Pakistan that are already fragile.

The attack and the fear of unrest and reprisals related to it have also caused Prince Charles and the missus to cancel a visit to Peshawar as part of their royal visit. Imagine the disappointment in Peshawar at their loss.
  10:40:00 0 comments links to this post
30 October 2006
  Attempted suicide attack in Iowa - no one notices!
Somehow unreported. A 45 year old white Christian drove his car into the Edgerton Women’s Health Center in Davenport Iowa, believing it to be an abortion clinic, and attempted to set it on fire.

Yes he is incompetent and probably deranged but how much coverage would the story have gotten if you substitute Muslim for Christian and synagogue for clinic?
  15:28:00 0 comments links to this post
  Time for the quid pro quo
Tony Blair and his supporters often emphasis the need to stay close to the American government in order to have influence. Well he's stayed loyal throughout the Bush presidency often against the opinion of his party and the UK population as a whole. What does he have to show for it? Absolutely nothing.

Perhaps it is time to call in the markers. In light of the today's official release of the UK government's report on the economic consequences of climate change, authored by ex-World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern which estimates the costs of NOT ACTING on climate change to be in the range of 3.5 trillion USD this might be a propitious time to act. Bush's argument, if one can go so far as to call it that, has always been that he will not do anything to harm the American economy. Well if doing nothing harms the American and world economies to this extent perhaps he ought to do something.

Tony - time to sell him mate! (PS - if you're trying to sell Bush and the like on the need for a new treaty and urgent action signing up Al Gore as point person might have been the cleverest move. I think you'll need to do this personally. After all Mr. Gore probably doesn't use the same toothpaste that you and Dubya do!

If you can manage to sell this then, while it will not absolve you of your guilt over Iraq, it may go some way toward redeeming your "legacy".

The complete Stern commision report may be found here.
  14:07:00 0 comments links to this post
  Why Italian politics will always be more interesting
Because they fight over stuff like this. Vladimir Luxuria is an MP for the Communist Refoundation Party which is a coalition member in Romano Prodi's government. He (she, it) is also a pre-op transsexual.

Elisabetta Gardini, of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, complained after she ran into Ms. Luxuria in the ladies' room in parliament and said that she felt physically ill after the encounter. Forza Italia has called for the creation of "trans-gender" toilets to address the issue. Ms. Luxuria said that she had been using the "ladies' toilets for years".
Maybe Ms. Luxuria should become a minister and accompany Sr. Prodi on his next trip to the states. I wonder what she and Mrs. Bush might chat about whilst powdering their noses. Oh to be a fly on the wall!
  13:35:00 0 comments links to this post
  The war on dissent
If anyone is nostalgic for the Nixon years (and who wouldn't be) this story should warm their hearts. More evidence has come to light that the FBI is monitoring the emails of anti-war groups in Maine. FBI records obtained through a freedom of information act request from the Maine ACLU included copies of emails associated with Maine Veterans for Peace and Peace Action Maine. It is always possible that these groups may have members with Asian names or funny beards in which case the surveillance is understandable.
  13:26:00 0 comments links to this post
  "Hey buddy! Wanna buy a gun?"
Nearly 4% of weapons purchased by the US government for the Iraqi security forces have gone missing according to an audit. 13,180 semiautomatic pistols, 751 assault rifles and 99 machine guns could not be accounted for. Rumours that the weapons ended up in St. Louis MO should not be discounted at this time.
  13:14:00 0 comments links to this post
  The sacred cows of Lewisham
Lying deep in the heart of south London Lewisham borough isn't exactly what first comes to mind when you think of good news (or innovative thinking for that matter) so I thought I ought to share this. In an attempt to get an uptake in recycling of waste the borough council painted its bins to looklike black and white cows and they have seen a 60% uplift. Kids seem to love to "fatten up the cows". It probably didn't cost a lot either.
  12:54:00 3 comments links to this post
  Pity the poor little swimmers
It has been a bad month for the sperm of Western men. First there was the report that spending too much time on your mobile phone reduced the potency of your little guys. Now comes word that drinking coffee can effect your sperm count unfavourably as well. Not just girlie man cappuccino or latte but manly espresso as well. Next thing you know they will tell us that steroid use makes your balls shrink.

Oh and hamsters are more virile than we are as well.
  12:53:00 0 comments links to this post
  Going the Pentagon's department of macho operations names one better
All hail the headline writers from the Independent on Sunday who have outdone the Pentagon at their own game with their name for the conflict in Iraq: Operation Enduring Chaos!

What better name for the continued military goings on in a country that is slowly, inexorably slipping into anarchy, civil war and mayhem.

My hat's off to you.
  12:12:00 0 comments links to this post
  "No we're not"" - "Yes we are!"
Officially the UK government is not yet acting on a replacement warhead when the Trident missile system becomes obsolete in the not so distant future. In response to a written parliamentary question Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence, said that "the Atomic Weapons Establishment [AWE] is not engaged in the development of any new warheads". The government has also promised a debate before any work on a Trident replacement takes place.

However the scientists at Aldermaston seem to < href="http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1938370.ece">think differently. There is also the argument, one that is considered trivial in American but which is taken more seriously here, as to whether the UK's commitment to disarmament, under the non-proliferation treaty, precludes any developmental work at all.
  11:47:00 0 comments links to this post
28 October 2006
  Lose weight - live longer - save the planet
This should have been obvious but for some reason it wasn't. Fat people use more fuel. Obese people use a lot more fuel. Americans are using 3.8 billion (yes billion!) litres (just over a billion US gallons or about 800 million Imperial gallons) of fuel extra annually due to the increase in average weight since 1960. So here's some encouragement:
And if you get rid of the SUV / MPV / other gas guzzler and maybe walk instead of driving everywhere (this will also help with weight loss) you AND the planet will be even better off.
  16:13:00 0 comments links to this post
  Anatole France has to be wrong
Because if he isn't then Bush&co should be smiling all the time!
A person is never happy except at the price of some ignorance.
-- Anatole France
  15:03:00 0 comments links to this post
  May I measure your muscle please?
Cheshire is clearly a weird place first it was the clocks (see earlier post below) and now there is the case of "Purple Aki".

Akinwale Arobieke was released from prison this week after serving half of his six year term for "harassing boys under the age of 16 and of witness intimidation". As part of his release licence he was given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) despite never having been convicted of a sex offence. His is banned from entering Warrington.

"Under the bizarre terms of the order, he is banned from touching, feeling or measuring the muscles of anyone without their consent."

In related news Mr. Arobieke is considering emigrating to America and running for the Congressional seat vacated by Mark Foley.
  14:59:00 0 comments links to this post
  Not exactly identical twins
I think this might be much harder to explain if there were only one child.
  14:57:00 0 comments links to this post
  Pot, meet kettle
I wonder how the wing nuts will reacts to this. They're generally the first to jump up and down when anyone is compared to the Nazis. Will they accept it or ignore it from the Israeli PM?

At least Israel and Iran are united on one issue now though. Each of the them believes the other is a Nazi state! Can both of them be right?
  14:46:00 0 comments links to this post
  Corporate to the core
Has Apple gone all corporate on us now? They seemed to have forced Greenpeace off their stand at the London MacExpo. Apple commented that other exhibitors complained about their stand.

Stock option scandals, manufacturing Ipods in Chinese sweatshops and now this; can they claim to be different than any other huge corporation anymore? Perhaps not.
  14:31:00 0 comments links to this post
  Living in cloud cuckooland
Two brothers have a museum in Cheshire devoted to cuckoo clocks. Because they have more than five hundred clocks in the museum the end of British Summertime tomorrow morning winds them up. (I get wound up for different reasons.)

I say to them; "Go digital"!
  14:08:00 0 comments links to this post
  Diebold's AccuHack machine
There have been many problems already reported with the security surrounding electronic voting. Now we are told that mini bar keys can be used to open the access panels on Diebold's AccuVote-TS.

That's the good news. The bad news is that once you've opened it up you're automatically charged $12.50 for a tinny of Budweiser and $4.50 for a 30 gram packet of Beer Nuts!
  12:42:00 0 comments links to this post
  Lucy as propoganda
If you thought that the American museum tour of the fossilised remains of a human ancestor, Australopithecus afarensis, known as Lucy was just to afford Americans the opportunity to see remains of one of the oldest known hominids and to learn about evolution.

We you would be wrong. Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis enlightens us:

"When I see that they're bringing the most famous of the supposed 'human ancestor' fossils to America, and they're going to feature it across America, I can see this is a big push for evolution.

"There's a lot of evidence that goes against Lucy being upright and as a human ancestor and so on. We'll see Lucy portrayed in a particular way...trying to tell the American public that this is your human ancestor and that this is fact. And they won't put all the information in there that contradicts that."

He also refers to evolution as "anti-creationist hype". Good. I'm glad that's settled then.

  12:18:00 0 comments links to this post
  Dick Cheney ♥'s Halloween
I'm not talking about the fact that the vice-President is just plain spooky. I'm referring to Tony Snow's listen-to-what-he-says-not-what-he-means clarification of the Vice President's remarks on water boarding yesterday.

Just a reminder of the issue when Cheney was asked in an interview if "a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives" he replied "well, it's a no-brainer for me...We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."

Thank heavens Presidential spokesmodel Tony Snow cleared things up for us.

"You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will."

From now on all we have to when we hear a politician say something that we know they are not stupid enough to actually say even though we just heard them say it is to realise, using our "common sense", that they didn't actually say what we just heard.

I feel much better knowing, that with Halloween coming up, when he heard "dunk in the water" Dick was actually thinking of everyone's favourite autumnal party game Bobbing for Apples!
  11:42:00 0 comments links to this post
  The longest day
Early tomorrow morning the clocks go back an hour making Sunday the longest day, at twenty five hours, the longest day of the year. So it's time for my annual whinge. Allegedly the change is to provide light in the morning which it does for about three weeks and then it's dark in the morning and the evening. The other rationalisation, generally from the agricultural community, is that changing to European time will upset the cows. Somehow, I think, they will get over it.

So why do we bother? Portugal is west of England but they are on European time so why not us?

Well it won't change this year so tomorrow at five PM it will be dark and depressing. Is this worth it so that it is light at half seven in the morning for a few weeks? I think not.
  11:41:00 0 comments links to this post
  Left relying on the Lords
Yesterday Alan Johnson backtracked on government plans to ensure a measure of integration in religious schools after significant pressure from the Christian community largely the Catholic Church.

Today we find that is it possible that the House of Lords will try to reinstate the provision in the education bill. Unfortunately it seems to be for the wrong reasons i.e. fear of the potential influence of Islamic schools. I don't go so far as to suggest that Lord Baker is Islamiphobic but some might. The British Humanist Association is supporting the effort. Strange bedfellows.

The only true way to address the problem is the total removal of religious schools from the public education sector. This then provides faith schools the latitude to discriminate in selection and curriculum while still providing a measure of public subsidy in the form of charitable status.
  11:30:00 0 comments links to this post
  Perhaps there is hope
If the South African government can finally see the lights on HIV/Aids perhaps there is hope that the US government will take steps to address its continuing obfuscation on climate change or its baffling inability to see the reality "on the ground" in Iraq.

It is only hope but that's all we have to work with.
  11:18:00 0 comments links to this post
27 October 2006
  Flushing the economic toilet
Are bad times coming on the US economic front? Maybe Americans just can't borrow any more. US growth "plummets unexpectedly" to the lowest rate in three years. Dollar falls. Oil price up.

It's a good thing there's no such thing as climate change because if there were it could cause a global recession.
  17:56:00 0 comments links to this post
  Does your firewall dress to the right?
You're in the US Army in Iraq. You've just come in from patrol and want to unwind by trolling some political sites on the internet just to see what is up.

You decide start with the wing nut side of the blogosphere and head over to everyone's favourite anti-immigration Filipina Michelle Malkin. No problemo. You get right through only to find her shrieking about Islam, why is everyone picking on Rush Limbaugh and people who immigrated after her parents did. Nothing much new happening there.

Now it's time for some adolescent humour with a bit of a left wing twist. You head on over to check out Wonkette. Blocked? What do you mean blocked?

So no chance of soldiers in Iraq being able to get through to this site then I reckon.
  17:31:00 0 comments links to this post
  Don't tell Borat!
Kazakhstan may be next in line for UN Security Council sanctions. It seems that they are about to open an uranium enrichment facility or three.

I mean if the Iranis can't enrich uranium why should the Kazakhs be able to. They're Muslims too! Isn't their national anthem Throw the Jew Down the Well?
  17:16:00 0 comments links to this post
  Losing the real base
It should be obvious to most people now that right wing evangelists are only window dressing for the Republican party and as long as they allow themselves to be taken advantage of the Republicans will pump them for all they are worth.

So, you may ask, who is the real base of the Republican party then?

Business. Big business.

So they must find the news that business groups are suddenly cozying up to the Democrats (including gay Democrats) was be proving very unsettling to the likes of Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman. (I just noticed that if the Republicans appoint someone named Keith, Kenneth or Kirk to a position of importance they will have their own little KKK Klub!)
  16:49:00 0 comments links to this post
  Building the most expensive embassy ever with illegal workers
If your government says it is too dangerous in Iraq and that your passport is not valid for entry into Iraq don't worry. You can still get a job building the US embassy in Baghdad because the Kuwait contractor building the new fortress, First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, willingly violates US and international labour trafficking regulations. It's a good thing the American government is planning to build a fence around Iraq like it is for the Mexican border. They wouldn't be able to sneak the workers in!

First Kuwaiti's suspect business and labour practices have been suspect for some times.
  16:32:00 0 comments links to this post
  Data mining & you
The Bush administration seems to never stop trying to find new and better ways to get into your knickers and see what's going on. After all they could be terror knickers

The office of the US Intelligence czar (not necessarily an intelligent czar), John Negroponte, is working on a project similar to the Total Information Awareness programme which was cancelled. The programme is now known as Tangram (not to be confuse with Beigegram or Ecrugram).

The only good news is that they don't seem to be making any real progress.
  16:10:00 6 comments links to this post
  Hacked box voting
It would appear that the problems of the "hanging chad" are well and truly behind us. We have now moved on to new territory and the problems experienced in Florida in 2000 may seem like small potatoes before we are through with the November election cycle in America. After 3.8 million USD of federal money into updating voting systems and procedures it would appear that, while old problems may be reduced, the new problems are much worse.

We are already aware of Professor Edward Felton's hacking demonstration on television. Now the Guardian is reporting that the American election reform organisation Election Reform Information Project anticipates that there may be material difficulties in up to ten states including my own voting state, Pennsylvania. (I never did receive a printed absentee ballot. I can only hope that my write in ballot is accepted.)

The states that ERIP expects to have problems are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington state.

ERIP's complete report (PDF) may be found here.
  15:44:00 0 comments links to this post
  A Jeffinition (TM) - no. 2
Today's word is: FEARSTALGIA - (n.) - a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to the fears of one's youth, one's home or homeland; a sentimental yearning for the terrors of a former, but simpler, place or time.

An example of "fearstalgia" is to be found here.
  15:21:00 0 comments links to this post
  All I want for Christmas....
...is a levitating bed. Nothing else. No socks. No after shave. Just the bed. A mere snip at 1.2 million euros! It is just way too cool. It would be perfect for these flats near Oude Haven in Rotterdam

Other expensive gadgets you won't be getting for Christmas may be found here.
  14:53:00 0 comments links to this post
  Judge encourages contraception! God horrified
Better tell the wing nuts that a judge in Missouri is encouraging the use of contraception by adding a condition to a woman's probation agreement. The woman, Mandy Nelson, has to remain unpregnant or her probation will be revoked. I checked the Operation Rescue website but Judge Patrick Robb doesn't seem to be on their hit list as yet.
  14:46:00 0 comments links to this post
  "I'm Dick Cheney and I approve this method"
Well at least it is out in the open. The official Vice-Presidential seal of approval has formally been given to torture in the form of waterboarding. The technique, which is essentially a simulation of drowning that the victim believes is real, is one of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that American agents are now authorised to use during interrogation. When asked if waterboarding was an acceptable technique the indefatigable Mr. Cheney replied "it's a no-brainer for me". Given who his boss is he ought to know a thing or two about no brainers.

As the President once said exposing that US government is illegally tapping American phones without a court order is
"causes great harm to the United States...there is an enemy out there. They read newspapers."

I assume that the same logic applies to our interrogation techniques. If the enemy knows we are waterboarding won't they just train themselves to hold their breath?

Why does the Vice President want the terrorists to win?
  14:22:00 0 comments links to this post
  Hey! Flag burners! Arrest them!
When is flag burning OK? When it's the flag of a country or organisation that we don't like.

Protestors in Farmington, New Mexico burned the UN flag to show their disquiet at the proposed UN small arms control treaty. The bloody UN didn't listen and passed a resolution authorising the start of work on a treaty regulating the international trade in small arms against US wishes. The US being the only country to oppose the resolution although other countries, largely arms exporters as well, abstained. The US prefers "voluntary" controls instead. They always work out so well!
  12:09:00 0 comments links to this post
  Race for fifty first state heats up with discovery of eleventh commandment
For some time I have been recommending Poland as a candidate to become the 51st state of the USA. They now appear to have a rival in Nicuragua which has voted not only to outlaw all abortions but any operations which would save a woman's life if it would result in the termination of her pregnancy. Nice huh? The legislation was strongly supported by God (in the form of the Catholic Church). Penalties for woman who have abortions and doctors who perform them range from six to thirty years in jail. The upside of this law could be a mass migration from the American bible belt to the Managuan suburbs.

Poland, of course, is not taking the competition lying down and if fighting back with a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate rape and incest as grounds for abortion. The legislation was put forward by the League of Polish Families (LPR), a far right junior member of the coalition government. The rationale is explained by one of the party's MEPs, Professor Maciej Giertych:

"We are still not satisfied with the restrictions placed on abortion. We would like to see the restrictions cover life from conception, throughout pregnancy to birth. We do not want any exceptions. The current law allows exceptions for pregnancy which came from illegal sexual contact, i.e. incest or rape. There is no need to penalize the conceived children for the sins of the parents. There is also an exception which says that if the child is disabled, it should be killed. we want to protect the disabled from conception and not only from birth."

Mr. Giertych seems to have discovered an eleventh Christian commandment; "thou shalt not be raped or sexually abused".
  11:03:00 0 comments links to this post
  Who the plaque fit
Bob Marley has been honoured with the first of the Mayor of London's heritage plaques. The plaque was unveiled at a block of flats in Camden Town were Marley lived in the 70s.

These new commemorative plaques which are blue should not be confused with the old combative plaques which are also blue. Confused yet? I am.
  10:46:00 0 comments links to this post
  Good news, not good enough
The gap in salaries between men and women in the UK is at its lowest level ever. The gap has fallen to 12.6% from 13% in the past year. Good news but there is still quite a ways to go.

Some things however haven't improved. Average salaries increased by 3% over the same period but boardroom pay was up 28%. In the top 20% of the income scale the man / woman pay gap widened as the increase in men's pay at the top outstripped that of women.

  10:03:00 0 comments links to this post
26 October 2006
  But will they corner the market on "Jesus of the toast"?
jesus The internet is constantly bringing us new and intriguing ways to stimulate the economy through spending our money. The new auction website, http://homeschoolbuy.com/index.php? has now launched offering products targeted at the home schooling and Christian markets. It is apparently a direct challenge to Ebay since Ebay stopped accepting the teacher editions of textbooks.

Unfortunately a search for jesus+toast as yet yields nothing. Oh well, they're only new!

I must say that the products available for auction featured on the homepage don't really remind me of either home schooling or Christianity. The include Cinnamon Bun Candle soywax (whatever it is it is currently under offer for 5 USD!), BERRY MAGICAL STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE! (no offers), Josef Lidl 3/4 Violin (no offers), Personalized Homework System (no offers) and, last but not quietest, 3 BRAND NEW BOOM BLASTERS INSTRUMENTS! (no offers).

Well. What are you waiting for? Get cracking folks.
  18:13:00 0 comments links to this post
  A moment of slapstick
I was walking down the High Street this morning when a young bloke, early twenties, asks me if I know where he can catch a bus to Corydon. Continuing to walk I say "Yes" and look ahead of me to point in the direction he needs to go. I turn back to him to offer a few directions and he seems to have vanished. I stop and look back. He was, it seems, looking at me rather than where he was walking and walked smack into a sign post. He is now sitting on his arse on the pavement with his nose bleeding.

In my defence I didn't start to laugh until he was laughing himself.
  18:00:00 0 comments links to this post
  Promises schmomises
Israel promises the US government a halt to (illegal) settlement activity in the occupied territories.

Israel breaks promise.

Israel forgets to tell US of broken promise.

US forgets to ask.
  17:57:00 0 comments links to this post
  Democrats underrepresented!
Damn the media. Rolling Stone has a feature piece on the the "Worst Congress Ever" and the have only awarded one spot to a Democrat in their list of the 10 worst congressmen. The only consolation I can take from the article is that I am personally represented by number 8 who is none other than the currently under investigation "Krazy" Kurt Weldon!

And what is Rolling Stone's assessment of the PA 7th district race you may well ask. "Stick a Fork In Him, He’s Weldon". Tee hee!
  16:57:00 0 comments links to this post
  They should have built the fence 15,000 years ago
News is being reported that ancient human footprints have been found in Cuatro Cienegas in Mexico. The fossilised specimens are estimated to be ten to fifteen thousand years old. (Of course, we know this is impossible as the earth is less than six thousand years old.)

What the reports fail to tell us is that the footprints were heading north without appropriate documentation and that they were planning to steal jobs, education and health care from good, patriotic American footprints north of the Rio Grande.
  16:42:00 0 comments links to this post