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Category: Politics

  • Guardian on Usmanov

    There’s a longish piece in this morning’s Guardian about Usmanov accompanied by a profile and the full text of an email exchange between him and The Guardian. He is once again denying involvement in some of the allegations he’s been accused of. Make your own mind up…

  • It’s A Kind of Magic

    There was an excellent long piece by Bad Science’s Ben Goldacre in yesterday’s Guardian about the perils of homeopathy. Not only is there no evidence that it works (mainly because it’s founded on nonsensical designs), but homeopathic practitioners have actually suggested using their remedies for such killer diseases as malaria and even AIDS. Don’t forget,…

  • Cloud Cuckoo Land

    Exactly which part of Cloud Cuckoo Land does Home Office minister Liam Byrne live in? He’s reported today as saying that Blair’s pointless, over-priced, Big Brotheresque ID Card scheme will become a “great British institution” on a par with the railways in the 19th Century. How exactly? The building of the railways brought great positive…

  • Threat Level By Email System Unsafe?

    I mentioned the other day that MI5 is now offering to send out threat levels via email. What I hadn’t realised until helpfully pointed out by Spy Blog, was the terribly unsafe system they were using. The BBC has the full story.

  • Threat Level By Email

    I noted the introduction of the UK’s very own threat level last year when MI5 introduced it. Almost immediately, the threat level jumped from “Severe” to “Critical”. A few days later it dropped back to “Severe” where it’s been ever since. Well now the BBC is reporting that MI5 is going to allow us to…

  • Transport Prices

    It’s a bit galling to read today that fare increases in train travel are drawing criticism. Yes they are awful, but come on, we’ve known about them for months. So moaning on the day they go up is pointless. Still I do have sympathy for tourists in London. Anybody from out of town is getting…

  • CCTV Cameras OK – Microphones a Step Too Far

    Oh the irony. Earlier this week Henry Porter presented a fine programme on More 4 (should have been on Channel 4) called Suspect Nation, examining not just ID cards, but the rash of CCTV cameras and other monitoring that’s going on. In particular, there’s the “function creep” where data’s captured and used more and more…

  • ID Cards Back on the Agenda

    I’m getting terribly bored with this, but the PM will insist on continuing to push an utterly pointless cause. It’s ID Cards – or the really big database – that I’m talking about. He’s back on the offensive again with a piece in the Telegraph today. He seems not to have won over those readers…

  • Chip My Bin or Chip Me

    Is it me, or does it seem that chipped bins (RFID, I assume) are causing more anxiety in middle England than ID cards? “You can chip me all you like, but I draw the line at my dustbin,” seems to be the unspoken sentiment.

  • Polling Figures

    Fascinating piece in this morning’s Guardian with a new poll showing the Tories leading Labour by nine points now. Tony’s got to be worried. How long’s he going to hang on and let the Tories extend their lead? What I find especially interesting are some of the other questions that were asked at the same…

  • ID Cards ID Cards ID Cards

    Today’s Guardian has an impassioned piece by Henry Porter on why ID Cards are such a bad idea and are part of a fundamental change in our relationship with the State. Read it. The Sunday Times had a big report at the weekend about how internally, nobody at Whitehall believes the system will work. “I…

  • Scary Scary Scary

    Very scary.

  • Turkmenistan

    For a while Turkmenistan has been a country of fun and a source of jokes for writers everywhere. For example here are a couple of mentions in The West Wing:- BARTLET: Well the President of Turkmenistan just officially extended the date of adolescence to twenty-five. (Swiss Diplomacy) WILL: What about Turkmenistan? JOSH: It’s a nation…