The BBC have thankfully decided to abandon plans for a ‘Planet Relief’ climate change TV special. It was supposed to be an environmental equivalent to Live8.
The most likely reason it has been pulled is that viewers, both in the UK and abroad, seem to be taking a sharp dislike being lectured to and preached at by holier than though TV personalities. That is now thought to be the primary reason that July's Live Earth concert ratings ‘bombed’.
Climate activists such as Mark Lynas predictably attacked the decision. He said, "This decision shows a real poverty of understanding among senior BBC executives about the gravity of the situation we face,", thus demonstrating a certain puritanical poverty of understanding on his own part about viewing figures.
Audiences are not keen on being preached at by ‘believers’. They apparently prefer a documentary format, that at least pays lip service to the idea of scientific accuracy and objectivity.
One of the gimmicks the Planet Relief promoters were planning was to try to organise viewers to take part in a short mass ‘switch-off’ of electrical equipment, so they could say how much carbon had been saved.
It seems, if they had, then the item of electrical equipment most likely to have been switched off would have been the TV…
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
Senior UK appeal court judge advocates compulsory national DNA Database
According to the BBC a senior appeal court judge Lord Justice Stephen Sedley is advocating compulsory registration for all on Nu-Labs police DNA database. This would even include visitors to the country.
He conceded it was an authoritarian measure, but said he felt that the only way to go was to expand the database to cover the whole population and all visitors to the UK.
"Going forwards has very serious but manageable implications. It means that everybody, guilty or innocent, should expect their DNA to be on file for the absolutely rigorously restricted purpose of crime detection and prevention."
Good of him to acknowledge that it was authoritarian.
Frankly the question that now needs answering is that of his fitness to be a judge.
He went on to try to justify such a totalitarian move, because as things are: "It means where there is ethnic profiling going on disproportionate numbers of ethnic minorities get onto the database.”
So his solution is that everyone should have to be on it.
How are disproportionate numbers of ethnic minorities getting onto the database? Because they are being arrested in disproportionate numbers. What's more, if the whole population were forced to give samples, they would still be being arrested in disproportionate numbers - it would just be less visible. Very Nu-Lab.
This can surely not have been lost on the Judge and leads one to wonder why he felt it would be a good idea to disingenuously raise the issue of race to attempt to justify his authoritarianism.
He went on to complain "It also means that a great many people who are walking the streets and whose DNA would show them guilty of crimes, go free.".
The enlightened view would be “So what?” Some prices are too heavy to pay.
Good old Judge Sedley is clearly not a close follower of the English Jurist William Blackstone, who said; “Better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer”. Judge Sedley is apparently perfectly happy for the whole population to suffer the loss of one more liberty to ensure one or two less guilty persons escape.
The same arguments could probably have been used to attempt to attempt to justify compulsory fingerprinting of the entire population - but wasn’t was it?
Budding Stalins didn’t particularly complain about that. If system worked acceptably with finger prints, why can the same system with the same checks and balances not be used with DNA – including the removal from the system of innocent parties and those mistakenly, or wrongfully arrested.
He conceded it was an authoritarian measure, but said he felt that the only way to go was to expand the database to cover the whole population and all visitors to the UK.
"Going forwards has very serious but manageable implications. It means that everybody, guilty or innocent, should expect their DNA to be on file for the absolutely rigorously restricted purpose of crime detection and prevention."
Good of him to acknowledge that it was authoritarian.
Frankly the question that now needs answering is that of his fitness to be a judge.
He went on to try to justify such a totalitarian move, because as things are: "It means where there is ethnic profiling going on disproportionate numbers of ethnic minorities get onto the database.”
So his solution is that everyone should have to be on it.
How are disproportionate numbers of ethnic minorities getting onto the database? Because they are being arrested in disproportionate numbers. What's more, if the whole population were forced to give samples, they would still be being arrested in disproportionate numbers - it would just be less visible. Very Nu-Lab.
This can surely not have been lost on the Judge and leads one to wonder why he felt it would be a good idea to disingenuously raise the issue of race to attempt to justify his authoritarianism.
He went on to complain "It also means that a great many people who are walking the streets and whose DNA would show them guilty of crimes, go free.".
The enlightened view would be “So what?” Some prices are too heavy to pay.
Good old Judge Sedley is clearly not a close follower of the English Jurist William Blackstone, who said; “Better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer”. Judge Sedley is apparently perfectly happy for the whole population to suffer the loss of one more liberty to ensure one or two less guilty persons escape.
The same arguments could probably have been used to attempt to attempt to justify compulsory fingerprinting of the entire population - but wasn’t was it?
Budding Stalins didn’t particularly complain about that. If system worked acceptably with finger prints, why can the same system with the same checks and balances not be used with DNA – including the removal from the system of innocent parties and those mistakenly, or wrongfully arrested.
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
Kids avoiding healthy School meals
The Fib Lib-Dems are saying the number of pupils eating school meals has dropped by 428,000 in the last two years and they are concerned.
They are complaining that that the healthy eating campaign has put kids off eating school dinners and are demanding Nu-Lab take fresh action to stop pupils stuffing themselves on fatty food until they explode.
When I was at school many of us would have happily gone hungry, rather than eat the school meals on offer, ‘School Dinners’, as they were known.
Unfortunately we did not have that option. We had little old ladies who had apparently been unable to secure posts as women prison guards, on the grounds that they were just too scary.
They had a gimlet eye and the infallible ability to detect untruth. They would not let us out of the dining hall until they were satisfied that we had eaten ‘enough’.
Perhaps David Laws, their schools spokesman, should suggest recruiting some scary old ladies, (preferably the kids own grannies) instead of complaining about ‘meltdowns’ and 'balls ups’. This lot would probably need ninja training first, as they did not go through ‘the war’.
Still he probably does have a point. Anything the Government has a hand in these days is bound to be a cock up of some sort, even something simple. As he said: “This is a classic example of a Government policy”
Trying to persuade a bunch of finicky kids to eat something decent, who have never seen ‘real’ food and whose parents’ culinary skills are limited to microwaving the virtually unidentifiable contents of a ‘value pack’ was never going to be easy.
They are complaining that that the healthy eating campaign has put kids off eating school dinners and are demanding Nu-Lab take fresh action to stop pupils stuffing themselves on fatty food until they explode.
When I was at school many of us would have happily gone hungry, rather than eat the school meals on offer, ‘School Dinners’, as they were known.
Unfortunately we did not have that option. We had little old ladies who had apparently been unable to secure posts as women prison guards, on the grounds that they were just too scary.
They had a gimlet eye and the infallible ability to detect untruth. They would not let us out of the dining hall until they were satisfied that we had eaten ‘enough’.
Perhaps David Laws, their schools spokesman, should suggest recruiting some scary old ladies, (preferably the kids own grannies) instead of complaining about ‘meltdowns’ and 'balls ups’. This lot would probably need ninja training first, as they did not go through ‘the war’.
Still he probably does have a point. Anything the Government has a hand in these days is bound to be a cock up of some sort, even something simple. As he said: “This is a classic example of a Government policy”
Trying to persuade a bunch of finicky kids to eat something decent, who have never seen ‘real’ food and whose parents’ culinary skills are limited to microwaving the virtually unidentifiable contents of a ‘value pack’ was never going to be easy.
Fifth series of Dr Who to be postponed 'til 2010
Shock Horror! It seems the fifth of the new series of DR Who is to be postponed until 2010.
The BBC were no doubt cunningly hoping to bury this nugget of appalling news amongst less important stuff like Gordon Brown reneging on NU-Lab’s commitment for a referendum on the EU Treaty. New Russian sabre rattling. Troop withdrawals in Basra, etc. etc.
All is not completely lost though. There will be a Christmas special this year starring David Tennant and (We should be so lucky) Kylie Minogue. There is the 4th series (still in production) to be screened in 2008.
The controller of BBC Fiction, Jane Tranter, indicates they are also planning three specials in 2009.
The BBC were no doubt cunningly hoping to bury this nugget of appalling news amongst less important stuff like Gordon Brown reneging on NU-Lab’s commitment for a referendum on the EU Treaty. New Russian sabre rattling. Troop withdrawals in Basra, etc. etc.
All is not completely lost though. There will be a Christmas special this year starring David Tennant and (We should be so lucky) Kylie Minogue. There is the 4th series (still in production) to be screened in 2008.
The controller of BBC Fiction, Jane Tranter, indicates they are also planning three specials in 2009.
Monday, 3 September 2007
Taxes on effort and risk taking
This is a Samizdata quote of the day. I felt it needed repeating:
I believe taxes - of all kinds - should be kept as low as possible and that the pressure to get them down should be relentless... Taxes on income are taxes on effort, work and entrepreneurship. Taxes on capital are taxes on investment and risk taking. But it is effort, work, entrepreneurship, investment and risk taking that we need to continue to grow our economic base.
Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner.
Hat Tip to samizdata.net
I believe taxes - of all kinds - should be kept as low as possible and that the pressure to get them down should be relentless... Taxes on income are taxes on effort, work and entrepreneurship. Taxes on capital are taxes on investment and risk taking. But it is effort, work, entrepreneurship, investment and risk taking that we need to continue to grow our economic base.
Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner.
Hat Tip to samizdata.net
Sunday, 2 September 2007
What is the point of Eurovision?
Saturday evening saw the inception of a new Eurovision contest. The bastard offspring of The Eurovision Song Contest and Strictly Ballroom.
The ruthless all pervading publicity machine for the ‘event’ ensured I discovered it was on by chance on Saturday evening.
Given that there was little else on that was worth bothering with the CFD household watched out of curiosity.
As it turned out Finland won in the end, with quite a reasonable effort. Though one suspects, given the overall voting patterns, that the results would not have been much different if Finland had entered Rolf Harris doing a three legged tap dance.
Yes it was clearly infected with the same old inherently dodgy Eurovision voting.
I expect it would be possible to devise a formula to calculate the likely votes:
A large percentage seems to be based on good old-fashioned ‘national’ prejudices, both for and against.
Then there is the matter of how close a neighbour it is.
Then there is the political factor the “who do they need to suck up to right now” - and "who do they need to trash" factor.
Then finally there is the “was the act actually any good?” factor. This can have some impact but only seems to come into effect after the other influences.
The questions that really need answering are why we bother at all, given proven experience and the inherently corrupt voting system? Also why we contribute so much towards bankrolling such a farce?
One Eurovision contest is getting a bit too much these days, let alone two.
The ruthless all pervading publicity machine for the ‘event’ ensured I discovered it was on by chance on Saturday evening.
Given that there was little else on that was worth bothering with the CFD household watched out of curiosity.
As it turned out Finland won in the end, with quite a reasonable effort. Though one suspects, given the overall voting patterns, that the results would not have been much different if Finland had entered Rolf Harris doing a three legged tap dance.
Yes it was clearly infected with the same old inherently dodgy Eurovision voting.
I expect it would be possible to devise a formula to calculate the likely votes:
The questions that really need answering are why we bother at all, given proven experience and the inherently corrupt voting system? Also why we contribute so much towards bankrolling such a farce?
One Eurovision contest is getting a bit too much these days, let alone two.
Saturday, 1 September 2007
EU Conflicted over Low energy light ‘bulbs’
The EU is mandating Low energy light bulbs.
The EU also has an import tariff of up to 60% on Chinese manufactured Low energy light bulbs. Over 80% of these bulbs sold in the EU are not made in the EU. The Commission have just voted to extend that tariff for another 12 months.
Clearly free trade enthusiasts then…
So the EU it is not really keen on all low energy light bulbs then – just those manufactured within the EU.
Environmental group Worldwide Fund for Nature don’t like the tariff and would like to see sales of the bulbs increase despite the serious environmental threat from the mercury in them.
Curious that the EU bans the sale and repair of mercury barometers on the grounds that they contain mercury, not exactly known for their environmental impact - whilst at the same time promotes these bulbs, that if taken up in huge numbers will likely prove to be a dangerous source of mercury pollution when disposed of.
The EU also has an import tariff of up to 60% on Chinese manufactured Low energy light bulbs. Over 80% of these bulbs sold in the EU are not made in the EU. The Commission have just voted to extend that tariff for another 12 months.
Clearly free trade enthusiasts then…
So the EU it is not really keen on all low energy light bulbs then – just those manufactured within the EU.
Environmental group Worldwide Fund for Nature don’t like the tariff and would like to see sales of the bulbs increase despite the serious environmental threat from the mercury in them.
Curious that the EU bans the sale and repair of mercury barometers on the grounds that they contain mercury, not exactly known for their environmental impact - whilst at the same time promotes these bulbs, that if taken up in huge numbers will likely prove to be a dangerous source of mercury pollution when disposed of.
Researchers claim Sheffield's citizens are the luckiest in UK
Now I have nothing against Sheffield, but it seems a team of psychologists from Peterborough recon it’s occupants are the luckiest in the UK.
How do they come up with this amazing statistic?
Apparently the researches asked people how often they experienced ‘good luck’, like finding a £10 note and how often they experienced bad luck, like having a bird bomb them with droppings.
By the same criteria they judged those living in Plymouth to be the unluckiest in the UK.
Now is it just me? Or does it occur to anyone else that Plymouth must have a plentiful supply of seagulls, known for their tendency towards loose stools, whereas Sheffield is probably less well endowed in that respect.
Also maybe the inhabitants of Plymouth are less careless with their tenners, than the inhabitants of Sheffield must be, based on the survey evidence - there must presumably also be a looser for every tenner found in Sheffield.
So these researchers – They got paid to do this? That's more than lucky...
How do they come up with this amazing statistic?
Apparently the researches asked people how often they experienced ‘good luck’, like finding a £10 note and how often they experienced bad luck, like having a bird bomb them with droppings.
By the same criteria they judged those living in Plymouth to be the unluckiest in the UK.
Now is it just me? Or does it occur to anyone else that Plymouth must have a plentiful supply of seagulls, known for their tendency towards loose stools, whereas Sheffield is probably less well endowed in that respect.
Also maybe the inhabitants of Plymouth are less careless with their tenners, than the inhabitants of Sheffield must be, based on the survey evidence - there must presumably also be a looser for every tenner found in Sheffield.
So these researchers – They got paid to do this? That's more than lucky...
Friday, 31 August 2007
Increasing calls for Referendum on EU treaty
Nu-Lab’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband is apparently still trying to claim that the EU constitution had been "abandoned" and MPs would be able to see how the new treaty was in the UK's best interests.
It is lost on no one that the so-called 'Treaty' is almost identical (a cut and paste job) to Miliband’s "abandoned" constitution.
Former Europe Minister Nu-Lab MP Keith Vaz is now also calling for a referendum on the EU treaty. Speaking to a tabloid newspaper he said: "I believe the time has come for the government to hold a referendum and decide once and for all Britain's place is at the heart of Europe.”
"The British people should have a chance to vote in a referendum on the treaty which will enable us to continue our engagement with Europe."
Nu-Lab MP, Ian Davidson, has suggested to the BBC that he believed up to 120 Nu-Lab MPs would support a call for a referendum.
There are also calls from opposition MPs and Trade Union representatives for a referendum. If both these apparently diametrically opposed groups feel so strongly on the subject it needs to be taken very seriously.
It is certainly difficult to imagine how Gordon Brown can legitimately continue to push his European agenda without a specific mandate on the issue. Not on a democratic basis.
It is lost on no one that the so-called 'Treaty' is almost identical (a cut and paste job) to Miliband’s "abandoned" constitution.
Former Europe Minister Nu-Lab MP Keith Vaz is now also calling for a referendum on the EU treaty. Speaking to a tabloid newspaper he said: "I believe the time has come for the government to hold a referendum and decide once and for all Britain's place is at the heart of Europe.”
"The British people should have a chance to vote in a referendum on the treaty which will enable us to continue our engagement with Europe."
Nu-Lab MP, Ian Davidson, has suggested to the BBC that he believed up to 120 Nu-Lab MPs would support a call for a referendum.
There are also calls from opposition MPs and Trade Union representatives for a referendum. If both these apparently diametrically opposed groups feel so strongly on the subject it needs to be taken very seriously.
It is certainly difficult to imagine how Gordon Brown can legitimately continue to push his European agenda without a specific mandate on the issue. Not on a democratic basis.
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