Joe's Jottings

  • Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-13

    • I'm lurgied – sniffly cold and the sore throat from Hell – last night's dreams were good, though! #
    • RT @JimSymonds: Bad news for gardeners. Having Green fingers about to become a term of abuse. #comeonengland #
    • RT @AlexGoodall: US Gov. reaction to BP needs to be compared to its reaction to Union Carbide (Bhopal) where 100,000s died/seriously ill #
    • Thank goodness – seem to be getting a little focus in to my day! #
    • UNICEF calls upon Governments and Private Sector to act against Child Labour… http://www.unicef.org/media/media_53955.html #
    • Taleban hang a 7 year old – savage barbarism still survives… http://is.gd/cMzBu Will be interesting to see who condemns the Taleban…. #
    • I like this…something for all of you with emotional pain today… 🙂 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1g3ENYxg9k&feature=player_embedded #
    • Frankie Boyle yet again shows his sensitivity…sigh….http://is.gd/cMqEa #
    • I hope these African Killer Bees don't get out of their hives and attack the fans and players… #worldcup #
    • RT @guidofawkes: Prezza to face Iraq Inquiry, presumably to establish if he ate the WMD. #
    • I trust that all US shareholders of BP will contribute their dividend payments to the Gulf cleanup?…. #bp #
    • I love British Gas's payments dept – undecipherable accents and bad attitude! #
    • RT @ivortymchak: To all the American hypocrites bitching about BP, I say this; Bhopal. #
    • Good evening last night courtesy of @gemdirectories birthday bash. Today lots to get done – but looking forward to it! in reply to gemdirectories #
    • Hmmm….'people's University'…http://is.gd/cKmVk – had it for 40+ years and it's called the OU! #
    • RT @britmic: #google hit every branch falling out that ugly tree RT @momentsoffilm: Damn, Google is UGLY today! #
    • Are the #google images today to encourage you to set up an account so you can make it somewhat more tolerable? #
    • Aaaaahhhh….good to see 'class warfare / envy' coming to the top as Labour activists bring up their own suggestions for cuts…. 🙂 #
    • Oh good grief…I understand why Google stuck with plain screens for so long – they have no sense of taste….. #
    • One thing I genuinely look forward to in the next few months is seeing an influx of grass-roots activists to community projects… #
    • Parsing XML from a client – how do you explain to them that 'valid XML' should not include invalid characters….sigh….. #
    • #bb11 housemate tombola…all above board, says Davina…sort of like previous phone-votes? 🙂 #
    • Ack! It's Jordan! Heeeeelp! #bb11 – Love, I know the career was taking a dive but surely you're not…oh, hang on…my mistake…. #
    • Hmmmm…."I'm not an attention seeker…" – why audition for #bb11 then, petal? #
    • Re. #bb11 Dave – one feels that Nero may have been on to something….. #
    • Watching #bb11 housemates…will to live slipping…slipping… #
    • Depressing that none of the leadership candidates appear to be in favour of true electoral change… #nslabourleadership #
    • Why do Big Brother contestants squeal like the cast of 'Deliverance' when they get in to the house? #bigbrother #
    • I would agree – interesting but over-stated. RT @guardiantech: Iran's 'Twitter revolution' was exaggerated, says editor http://bit.ly/aLOa6J #
    • Absolutely – right up until recent year or so, even. @benfolley Burnham says New Labour excluded good party members #nslabourleadership #
    • Would certainly encourage me…. RT @louiebaur: Could a $50 'Paperback' Kindle Beat the iPad? http://bit.ly/bWv6IZ #
    • How depressing that in the 21st Century we have to be talking about 'Woman Friendly' mosques (or Synagogues, or churches) http://is.gd/cJ4O0 #
    • Tokenism – it's the political establishment saying you're not good enough to get there without help. http://bit.ly/crVW7U #
    • Of course GM food is safe…yeah…right…http://ofgoatsandmen.blogspot.com/2010/06/genetically-modified-fooods-gmo-causes.html #
    • RT @RobMcNealy: New BlackWater 4 Sale (Ad): "Experienced whore looking for new pimp. Will kill anything for anyone." http://bit.ly/cPc5pl #
    • Mcdonnell leadership pull-out – great shame for left but stupid comment is NOT appropriate for a major party leader. #
    • Meeting this AM, change of plans this PM, will get work done instead! #
    • Elton John plays for Rush Limbaugh Wedding – http://is.gd/cHPZI – amazing what folks do for a million dollars. #
    • Excellent season finale for Fringe – looking froward to it's return! #fb #
    • Wow! That's a lot of 140 characters! RT @mashable: Twitter Hits 2 Billion Tweets Per Month – http://bit.ly/9SZd1n #
    • An utterley sad story on so many levels…. RT @kennyellaway: WHAT?!? http://bit.ly/9KoUlE #
    • Yay!!! We're noticed by a whingebot! Fame at last! 🙂 My life is complete! 🙂 @whingers @RadShef @blowupchurch in reply to whingers #
    • I doubt National Express will follow suit….. 🙂 RT @arstechnica: Amtrak to take free onboard WiFi nationwide – http://arst.ch/l5c #
    • When Lloyds say ditch oil, buy renewables, we'd better listen… http://is.gd/cHsqA #
    • A new way to bury the bad news!! RT @mashable: BP Buys Top Google Result for "Oil Spill" – http://bit.ly/bDmCQp #
    • Having a vaguely productive day – Google Maps API is succumbing! #
    • Re. Duke of Edinburgh…when I heard the words 'damaged wrist' I have to admit to bursting in to fits of giggles…. #
    • Rio tells when he knew his World Cup Dream was over…"It was when the boss put Heskey on the pitch…" #
    • So….Steve Jobs demos a phone that can't get a Wifi signal and connect to the Net. #fail #iphone4 #
    • Right – drink tea and get off to meeting! #
    • Michael Gove's fall…almost Mr Bean-like! He did take it well! #
    • Typical – I have a meeting this afternoon and it's raining…. #
    • Busy morning codiing, hoping rain stops properly before lunch! #
    • On way to #startupmill sheffield at #gistlab #
    • McDonnell…foot…gun…blam! RT @iaindale: Blogpost: McDonnell: I Regret Not Assassinating Thatcher http://tinyurl.com/242g8aq #
    • You mean like you can do with Windows?… 😉 RT @TechRepublic: Send instant messages between Macs on a LAN http://tek.io/9SSIWf #
    • Bye bye St Phillips Club, Netherthorpe. Watch the land get snapped up for more yuppie flats! #
    • Doing the background work for new business – web site regn. software installs, Twitter and Facebook setup. #
    • …we used to map the gene by mutating the flies, look at what the mutation was, then look at chroms. under microscope…wasted youth. 🙂 #
    • Started preparatory work for a major career change in 2010 – exciting times! #

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  • Tweeting in meetings….

    I came across this rather interesting article from the personal blog of a Pastor in the US recently in which he suggests that Tweeting in Church might be a good idea.  Now, I have to admit that I was something of a late adopter with Twitter (and Facebook…and for that matter with SMS texting….yeah, OK, I’m a bit of a Luddite in some respects!) but I have to say that this suggestion surprised me.  I’m afraid that when I’m in Church I’m focusing on my own engagement with God, via my participation in the collective experience of the congregation in the church.  Which sounds more like an academic treatise than a celebration of faith, but that’s me!

    the idea was that by tweeting ‘commentary’ on the sermon and other aspects of the service it could be regarded as a means of evangelising to the outside world and so bringing the Word to others – perhaps, but I think it’s one tweet too far for me.  Which then led me on to business meeting tweets, conference tweets, etc.

    Perhaps it’s a generational thing but despite having a Blackberry, a Netbook and enough technology at home to sink a small boat, I still go to meetings armed with a pen and paper for note taking.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s reliable, no batteries to run out, makes no weird noises, doesn’t force me to think ‘How do I do that?’, will take text, drawings and doodles and isn’t ostentatious.  Pen and paper is what I like to call ‘humble technology’ – it does what it says on the tin, no muss, no fuss.  I’ve been in meetings recently where iPads have been deployed, tweets have been made (as I found out after leaving the meeting and looking at twitter) with no apparent damage to the business of the meeting…but…looking at my own notes taken in the meetings concerned, I’m wondering whether the meetings were actually needed / useful as my notes are pretty skimpy, and I take good notes.

    We then have the recent debacle in the UK where some aspects of an industrial relations negotiation between British Airways and Trades Union representatives was tweeted to the outside world, resulting in a ‘pitch invasion’ of the building where the negotiations were taking place.  I’m sorry…negotiations are supposed to be delicate affairs between the parties involved and any mediators.  If someone feels they can’t negotiate without doing the equivalent of bellowing from the window, perhaps they need to be in different jobs.

    As you can probably tell by now, I’m not a fan.  My own rules of Twitter are pretty straight forward:

    • If I’m in a meeting, focus on the meeting. 
    • If I’m at Church, focus on that.
    • If I’m at an event and want to tweet, I’ll wait until a ‘natural break’ and do it then.

    I recently read a good tip about the etiquette of Texting and Tweeting.  Basically, imagine pulling out a crossword puzzle and doing it.  If you wouldn’t do that in the situation, then you really should think hard about whether you should tweet / text (emergencies excepted, naturally!!)  I was at a social event the other evening and I found that tweeting is sort of like smoking used to be (never smoked so maybe on tenuous ground here…) – it gives you something to do with your hands whilst you’re nervous!

    In most meetings, unless you’re there as an observer or reporter tasked with providing a running commentary, I can’t imagine a need to Tweet that can’t wait an hour or so.  So just focus on making the meeting effective.

  • Google’s ‘mistake’ maps all UK WiFi networks…

    Some weeks ago, a story broke about Google recording data about WiFi networks when they were wandering around taking family snapshots with their now infamous fleet of ‘Streetview’ cars.  At the time, Google claimed that the information gathered was ‘accidental’ – that rang a few bells with quite a few techies.  It’s alike me wandering the streets of Sheffield taking photographs and at the same time ‘accidentally’ running war dialling software so that I can log any WiFi activity in the area.  There’s no ‘accidental’ link between digital imaging and WiFi networks, so what the heck were Google up to?

    I intended to blog at the time, but life decided to intervene and so I didn’t do the post…which is a shame because of what’s reported here.  Google have mapped every WiFi network that was detectable on the routes taken by their StreetView cars.  In other words, if your house or office was photographed by Google, they also grabbed bits of data about your WiFi network, if you have one – MAC address, SSID, Channel in use.  OK, it may seem that this is pretty much ‘small fry’ in terms of data and privacy, but let’s just take a wider look.

    • First of all, Google have breached Data Protection Legislation in virtually every country in which they’ve done this; you’re not supposed to gather information up willy-nilly in this manner.
    • Secondly, Google have shows the same sort of respect (or lack of same) for privacy that Facebook have been accused of.  In fact, I’d argue that Google’s crimes against privacy are probably worse than Facebook.  With Facebook I had a choice to use their site to share my data.  Google just whizz along, photograph my property and grab my data whether I like it or not.
    • Gathering and storing this data isn’t a by-product of any photographic process; the equipment and process to record and store this data must have been installed deliberatley in the Google Streetview vehicles.  Now, no-one does this sort of thing for laughs – so we have to assume that Google carried out an action that cost money, was against Data protection legislation and that they might have suspected would upset people for a particular reason.
    • And they actually patented the techniques / technology used.  The last one’s a bit of a give away….

    What could that reason be?

    That, my friends, is the 64 dollar question.  Google have ended up with the most comprehensive map of WiFi coverage in the UK that’s ever been compiled.  Now, much of that capacity isn’t publicly accessible – i.e. it belongs to folks like me and thee – but it did start me thinking about what a gung-ho, conquer the universe by next Thursday company like Google might do.

    What about….

    1. Gathering data on the different types of router / network in use in domestic and business environments to sell to marketing companies working for hardware manufacturers?
    2. Spotting ‘dark areas’ in towns where there is no public WiFi – where Google could fill a need, perhaps?
    3. Gathering information as to WiFi networks in towns that Google might approach to sell advertising to?
    4. Testing their technology – a dry run to see what they could get, the attitude of the relavant authorities, etc.?
    5. Testing the possibilities for WiFi network usage by vehicles?
    6. Checking WiFi security settings on the behalf of ‘other oragnisations’ to see how much effort someone would need to carry out a comprehensive mobile monitoring exercise for WiFi?  A little like the TV Detector vans?

    Anyone else got any bright ideas?

  • Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-06

    • RT @Iconic88: When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix #
    • Hollyoaks jumps the shark, then does a double somersault over it! RT @RadShef: Er? http://bit.ly/b6yXNf #
    • Sarah Palin is a twat. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/292916 #gulfoilspill #bp #
    • Pretty lively thunder here in Sheffield! #
    • RT @Twitter_Tips: Reminder: Do not click links in "Twitter password reset message" email: http://j.mp/atjXsn #
    • Egypt strips citizenship from Egyptians married to Israelis. Just shows that Israel doesn't have a monopoly on bigotry. http://is.gd/cDZub #
    • RT @AlexGoodall: Time taken to create Wikipedia, app. 100 mil hrs, spent by Americans each weekend watching ads. From http://bit.ly/dzlfo5 #
    • Ahhh…spammers who can't even send a functional spam email – class. #fail #
    • Actually, @iaindale, if I were Obama I'd be spitting feathers. He should have been in the area from day 1 – it's almost his Katrina. in reply to iaindale #
    • Cut the front hedge this morning – the gate is now negotiable again! #
    • RT @edn1970: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sj2s3 – sheffield city of culture… #
    • So dumb and unfeeling it beggars belief. RT @Twitter_Tips: Can you fire someone via tweet? Legal but risky: http://j.mp/dhVbDM #
    • You just have to love 'self defence' Israeli style – close range head shots. http://is.gd/cDkBB #fb #flotilla #
    • RT @bilbobaggins2k: Gaza flotilla activists were shot in head at close range http://gu.com/p/2hfcy/ip Says it all really. #freedomflotilla #
    • Excellent idea from the Government – looking froward to seeing the books for Sheffield! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10241522.stm #
    • Right – going to kill my network connection for a while to get stuff done! No more distractions! #
    • And yet again we experience the British pre-occupation of taking good food and burning it to a cinder whilst stinking out the area! 🙂 #
    • Good teleconference and follow up – feeling slightly more motivated! #fb #
    • D'OH! RT @guardiantech: Apple showcases HTML5 'standard' – but only if you use its browser http://bit.ly/9jpkwP #
    • Re. McDonalds recalling cadmium tainted glasses – maybe less harmful than burgers? 😉 #
    • Good point – @historyscientis – although the value of PR depends upon whether the PEOPLE swallow the story, not other media. in reply to historyscientis #
    • RT @MediaActivist: BBC News – McDonald's recalls Shrek glasses 'tainted with cadmium': http://bit.ly/dpFjUd via @addthis #fail #
    • Is it not tempting fate to install a 27 foot statue of Anubis (Ancient Egyption God of the Underworld) at Denver Airport? http://is.gd/cCjlF #
    • Lest we forget so quickly – this time last week 9 civillians were alive who were killed in the Gaza #flotilla attack. #
    • Fuckwitted Diplomat compares Israeli Flotilla attack to fight against Nazi Germany…yeah…right http://is.gd/cCisw #flotilla #
    • That's a WIN? Hate to see 'em lose! RT @guardiantech: Israeli PR machine won Gaza flotilla media battle | Antony Lerman http://bit.ly/baSW6g #
    • Warning to those like Coterie Galleries who whack my three separate twitter accounts at once with Follows. It's spamming. You're reported. #
    • Note to the UK Media about Cumbria. just stop it. You're starting to wallow in it, so bugger off. #fb #
    • I await the Fanboi excuses… 🙂 RT @MarkGibbens: I'm not sure Apple really understand web standards. http://twitpic.com/1tsagh #
    • Complainants need to get a grip, rather than getting hysterical. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10235494.stm #
    • Damn right!! RT @marcjohnson: people need to be well informed and independent as well for wisdom of crowds to work, so rare in reality #
    • Staggered by the silence from all about why 'Purple in the Peace Gardens' was blocked from teh Peace Gardens by SCC. #
    • AGREED! RT @Chance4321: Companies, heres an idea. How about you pay invoices on time so we don't end up thinking you are a bunch of cnuts #
    • I'd love to see John Prescott walk around the studio and stick one on Hislop…. 🙂 #
    • RT @simonprideny: Putting "Sent from my iPad" as your Mail signature is much cheaper than buying an iPad. #
    • RT @yorkhannah: Please RT. Here's the GIST Lab's wish list, if you'd like to help please get it in touch via @gistwire: http://bit.ly/bM77Gc #
    • RT @springcalc: We went live towards the end of May – create a free account to trial it at http://www.springcalculator.com #
    • RT @springcalc: We've also just created a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spring-Calculator/122364831136349 #
    • The Cumbria shooting reporting is getting obscene – just jack it in, people. There is NO public benefit to be gained from this pornography. #
    • Hope that the Government don't do knee jerk law-making in response to Cumbria tragedy – you cannot design society around broken people. #fb #
    • Off to view potential new property today for HF! #
    • Note to media re. Cumbria shooting. We know all we need to know at this time. Just bugger off and let those poor folks start healing. #
    • RT @Hills_Forum: Hillsborough great gardens and photo competition! Enter via http://www.hillsboroughinbloom.btik.com (cont) http://tl.gd/1ksu24 #
    • Technology jumps the shark – a friggin' Facebooking Toothbrush???? http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=57815 #
    • On way home after unexpected but good day at #gistparticipation #
    • RT @philo_quotes: No eulogy is due to him who simply does his duty and nothing more. ~ Saint Augustine #
    • Busy day ahead – coding, documenting and trips to estate agents! #
    • Folks interested in the #flotilla may be interested in http://paper.li/tag/flotilla #
    • "Allowing the pages of The Sun to pass before your eyes does not constitute reading [a newspaper]" – Inspector Morse…. #fb #
    • Coalition Govt. opening up more state data – puts the last Government to shame yet again. http://is.gd/cxY5n #
    • The 'No Shit Sherlock' award goes to the UK Israeli Ambassador… 'It is fair to say the operation was not very successful' #flotilla #
    • Had 4 emails now with a broken link for their newsletter from an organisation…perhaps I should offer help? 🙂 #
    • RT @britmic: "Between 1980 & 2005, only 6% of terrorist attacks on US soil were committed by Muslim extremists." http://bit.ly/bx1ttj (FBI) #
    • Good Lord – I'm pleasantly staggered! RT @Iconic88: World Bank announces total cancellation of #Haiti ??s debt – http://bit.ly/bEZ2S1 #
    • This isn't about research. It's about dazzling the masses with a bauble. I believe the respectable term is marketing! "Going Postal" #fb #
    • Quick reminder for Israel and her supporters. Boarding ships in International Waters is piracy. Just a quick reminder. Thanks. #flotilla #
    • What rot – utter somewhat biased analysis from Melanie Philips: http://bit.ly/aRWfwL #flotilla #
    • SA President Zuma to father 21st child. http://is.gd/cwTae Glad we don't live on an over-populated world, Jacob…. 🙁 #
    • Bullshit! This is a violation of International Law!! @RegulusdeLeo: Israel is under attack more than ever. <snip> #
    • Given Israel's lack of interest in International Law, can we see them being equally slack about their borders….? #flotilla #
    • Wooohooo….I'm being replied to by the Israeli Foreign Ministry…should I look out for helicopter loads of commandos? #fb #
    • I reckon cock-up, not conspiracy. RT @guardiantech: Did Twitter censor the #flotilla hashtag following Israel attack? http://bit.ly/amFTQ3 #
    • Oh, I like the look of this! http://techinstyle.tv/news/your-notepad-evolved/ #
    • Australian journalist with #flotilla not heard from since attack – his last reports indicated Israeli jamming of communications. #
    • Today's supposed to be the 'big quit' day from Facebook – I doubt that it will happen. #fb #
    • Gradually feeling more myself and less depressed than I have been over recent weeks – getting my mojo back! #
    • Massive Israeli over-reaction AND in International waters – seems rather like the USS Liberty all over again. #flotilla (to @2012israel) in reply to 2012israel #
    • From the IDF – justifying Israeli piracy. Claims that the military didn't want to hurt people ring VERY hollow. http://is.gd/cwFRu #
    • Seventy Years of get out clauses – Israel as a rogue state. https://joepritchard.me.uk/2010/05/70-years-of-get-out-clauses/ #flotilla #
    • Israel attacks ships in International Waters – surely an act of piracy? #fb #
    • I see, Israel – commandos attacked by activists ships boarded. Why are all the dead civilians? Why not use non-lethal force? #
    • Latest Joe's Jottings posts on #davidlaws and #dannyalexander – http://is.gd/cwbMk and http://is.gd/cwbOh #
    • BP Scum. RT @timoreilly: BP knew, and hid safety concerns about Deepwater Horizon oil rig http://nyti.ms/cKnzX7 "Drill, baby, drill!" #
    • It's said that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy – looks like Lib Dem fiscal probity can't survive contact with power… #
    • The big issue for the Coalition Government is to clean house and get rid of any more embarrassments before their reputation is shot. #
    • If ministers with a perceived lack of integrity put in Treasury, markets will react. Whips will be aware – but expect to get away with it. #
    • I'm mortified – perhaps we have 4 years to build a grass roots movement to put a raft of Independents up for election. @AlisonBoydell in reply to AlisonBoydell #
    • What is this crap STILL being spouted by about Laws being felled by a sense of shame? He was felled because he broke the rules. Simples. #
    • Labour, Tory or Liberal – they all have their snouts in the trough and have hubris enough to think they'll get away with it! #

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  • 70 Years of get out clauses…

    Early today Israeli Defence Forces attacked a convoy of ships carrying aid that were heading for Gaza.  The details are sketchy; the IDF allegedly opened fire on the ships, wounding volunteers and damaging the vessels, and then boarded at least one ship.  The IDF claim that they were attacked by people on the ships with knives, and in the ensuing shooting (there is no evidence at all that the people on board the ships had any firearms) between 10 and 20 volunteers were shot dead.

    Let’s just look at this. 

    • First of all, this attack took place 40 miles out – that’s International Waters.  Israel therefore committed an act of piracy.  Even if the crew of the ship boarded did resist, I think that they were justified in repelling acts of piracy.  There is no difference in what the Israelis did to what Somali pirates do.
    • If the organisers of the convoy were attempting a provocation, then the Israelis have proved themselves to be singularly incompetent at dealing with provocation.  Why not wait until the ships enter Israeli waters before stopping them?  Why not park a destroyer across the route of the convoy to force the convoy to stop or turn?

    The Israelis will now no doubt spend a lot of time claiming that it was self defence – just like the many occasions when IDF members have shot dead aid workers or reporters.  Just as they did when they attacked the USS Liberty in International Waters in 1968.

    There is, of course, a great irony here.  The action of the British Royal Navy in stopping the SS Exodus docking at Haifa in 1947, and the subsequent sending of the refugees on board back to Europe, was a massive propaganda coup for groups like the Hagen-ah fighting for the establishment of the Jewish State.  It may well be that this action by the Israelis will engender massive support for Israel.  The blindness to historical irony of a country so formed by history is astonishing.

    This has also been the week in which the Israeli Government have expressed their fierce resistance to the idea of a nuclear weapons free Middle east as suggested by President Obama.  And let’s not go in to the business of the Israeli secret service ‘borrowing’ UK and Irish passports for the death squads to use.  Not a good year for Israeli PR…

    As a child and a teenager, and right through to my mid-twenties, I felt great sympathy and admiration for Israel – they successfully resisted numerous invasion attempts from Arab nations, and stood firm against terrorism.  But in recent years I’m increasingly of the opinion that they’re becoming a serious threat to world peace.  In fact, I’d regard their antics serious enough to get them in to the ‘rogue state’ category.  Let’s face it – today’s act of piracy indicates that either the government has no control over it’s forces, or that the government has control over it’s forces and no respect for International Law.

    70 years ago the world quite rightly had great sympathy for the formation of a Jewish state in the aftermath of WW2 and the Holocaust.  For the last 70 years the Israelis have traded on the guilt of the Western World in letting the Nazis get away with what they did, and with Israel’s position in the Middle East as a western ally in the Cold War and more recently in the ‘War on Terror’.  Well, sorry guys, the Cold War’s over, the ‘War on Terror’ is rapidly changing complexion and even becoming discredited, and you can’t guilt-trip Governments made up of people who were not even born until 20 or 30 years AFTER WW2.

    From a one time supporter to Israel – please behave like a civilised member of the family of nations.

    To my own Government – can we expect sanctions to be called against Israel?  If not, why not?

  • When ‘ethics’ is a county in the south of England

    There’s an old joke about politics – politicians are people who think that:

    • Ethics is a county in the south of England
    • Morals are paintings on plaster
    • Scruples is the Russian currency

    Unfortunately it seems that this joke is rapidly becoming a reality – within 48 hours we’ve had two Chief Secretaries to the Treasury who’ve had, shall we say,  slight incongruities in their financial backgrounds.  Ignoring the red-herrings that have been tossed around about David Laws’ sexuality, the bottom line of this is that it appears that the Liberal Democrats didn’t audit the financial backgrounds of their senior members – something that both Labour and the Tories did in the aftermath of the expenses scandal.  It shouldn’t have been rocket science for the Lib Dems to do this; indeed, I would have thought that it should have been pretty easy and straight forward to achieve; after all, there were not as many LD MPs as Tory or Labour MPs, and over the years we’ve often been regaled by the Liberals with how they represent honesty and integrity against the perfidy and entrenched privilege of the other two major parties.

    Well, a quick exposure to power has revealed the the LD MPs have as many financial ‘D’OH’ moments to deal with as their blue and red colleagues.

    Perhaps Nick Clegg honestly never believed his MPs would play fast and loose, perhaps they genuinely didn’t think they’d done anything wrong.  Perhaps they never expected to gain power and so come under public scrutiny – but the Lib Dems are now under the same sort of withering fire from the media as Labour and Tory MPs were at the start of the expenses row.  I’ve already suggested in a previous post that Laws has bought the Coalition in to disrepute and has carried over the issues surrounding the integrity and financial probity of MPs from the last parliament in to this one.  Now that Danny Alexander appears to have dropped the ball as well, it does begin to look like there is a systemic problem at the heart of the Liberal Party which needs sorting out if they’re to retain the moral high ground they’ve previously had.

    I’ve found it interesting this evening to briefly debate the issue with Liberal Democrat apologists on Twitter, whose main argument has been to try and sidestep the allegations Alexander’s financial irregularities by trying to focus attention on the tax status of the Barclay Brothers who own the Daily Telegraph, who’re publishing the Alexander information.  The difference is that the Barclay Brothers did not get elected to Government on the back of people’s despair over MP’s expenses.  Neither do they run the country.

    To all members of the Liberal Democrat Party.  Fix this mess.  Audit your people, come clean, accept that some of your folks have issues that need addressing and address them.  Don’t try and bullshit us with claims of homophobia (for Laws) or feeble attempts to blame the messenger (for Alexander).  I hope that the Alexander issue IS something out of nothing, and that the situation is satisfactorily explained to us over the next day or so.

    But let’s just say I’m not holding my breath.  In the meantime, how many Liberal Democrat MPs are left who can take the job on?

  • Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-30

    • The Political Classes still don't understand – we, the people, come not to praise David Laws, but to bury him as one who has defrauded us. #
    • England did not deserve that result – Japan should have won 2-0 IMO. Not an auspicious end to the pre-World Cup campaign. #
    • Got a lot to do today and this week – definitely a good day to go to Church to start matters off in a positive way! #
    • A request to all Twitter 'experts' – you don't tell me how to run my life on Twitter, and I won't tell you how to run yours. 🙂 #
    • Laws has broken the rules and must face the consequences. There should not be an attempt to generate a 'homophobia smokescreen'. #
    • Coalition supporters need to realise that perception in politics is all – Laws could not possibly have survived in his particular post. #
    • Really don't get the outpouring of sympathy for Laws – he broke the rules. Just like Labour and Tory politicians previously. Hubris again. #
    • Coalition Science Minister promotes space industry in UK – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10176761.stm #
    • Concorde MAY fly again! Best of luck to them – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8712806.stm #
    • A request to ALL UK politicians – please be honest in your dealings, or competent in your dishonesty. #
    • Interesting blog post from @inspiremetoday: Inspired by #LOST http://bit.ly/9XtPpo #
    • RT @timoreilly: This story from @nytimes brought tears to my eyes, & triggered thoughts about how shame can inspire us. http://bit.ly/bW5WhU #
    • But having said that, Laws broke the rules, and the relevant sanctions have to be applied and the consequences handled. #
    • Yes, Laws has been a bad lad – but £40,000 is chickenfeed compared to what the collective incompetence of Brown and Darling pissed away…. #
    • FINALLY watched the last episode of Lost – satisfying and thought provoking. #
    • Exciting stuff happening for a car-sharing / carbon saving project I'm involved with – 2 local authorities about want to talk!! #
    • Shopping done – back to the day job! #
    • RT @MarkRMatthews: RT @PragerRadio: “Politically incorrect is a euphemism for truths that are painful.” #TCOT #
    • Early adopters of ID cards are apparently pleading that their cards are not taken from them – I gather even some slaves loved their chains.. #
    • Making good progress on site coding – need to do some catch up on my 'To Do' list though – need to write the darn thing! #
    • Excited about what's happening in Hillsborough these days – follow the Hillsborough forum on Facebook as well… http://is.gd/crtLW #
    • The 'Miracle of Dunkirk' – a great feat by brave men and women – but maybe we need to focus more on the crisis of 2010. #
    • Good meeting with community assembly officers and other vcf groups – now home to work! #
    • Strange thing to say, but Bruce Springsteen and Richard Hawley fit together well on playlists! #
    • http://open.spotify.com/user/joepritchard/playlist/1O7zbpN10LmRcovazjWtJ1 Spotify playlist: Bruce Springsteen – Magic #fb #
    • Newsnight on iPlayer re. Sheffield – yes, it will be painful. Shame the previous Government didn't think of this when they ran up the debt. #
    • Cooler day here in shiny Sheffield again – looking froward to a productive one! #
    • On the way home – good meeting on behalf of Hillsborough Forum #
    • Vegetating in #showroom If anyone from #gistlab around, please say Hi! #
    • hah! #gistlab – thanks for the help! Brain gets older, stuff runs out…. 🙂 #
    • New community space at Workstation in Sheffield – what's it called and can I drop in anytime to visit? #sheffield #geekup #
    • RT @Hills_Forum: Great news regarding Hillsborough in Bloom: Current feedback from the judges based on their spring visit is Silver Gilt! #
    • RT @bettakultcha: I remember what life was like before those 'Use by''best before' & now 'Enjoy by' dates came (cont) http://tl.gd/1fdkdf #
    • Woohoo! kicking off a new project! Yeah baby! #
    • Beautiful day here in Sheffield – full of meetings for me! #

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  • Why I’m fucking furious with David Laws….

    A little history.

    One of the reasons why there has been radical political change in the UK in the last year is that the British people have finally started getting truly fed up with MPs on the ‘gravy train’ who seem to prosper whilst the rest of the country goes down the plughole.  Until 2006, it was legitimate for MPs to pay expenses / rents / fees etc. to their partners or family members.  A change in the rules then stated that you could no longer do that.

    David Laws fell foul of this by virtue of the fact that between 2004 and 2009 Mr Laws claimed money back from the State – that is, us – to pay rent to his partner a total of around £40,000.  I think it’s safe to say that had this been a story involving a couple of jobless folks claiming benefits there wouldn’t be an issue of paying the money back right now – it would be more likely to be an issue of someone spending a year at Her Majesty’s Pleasure.

    At first glance, Laws appears to have either been incompetent with money (never good for someone tasked with the job of implementing Government cuts) or dishonest (equally a bit of a downer for someone in that job…)   And then it gets complicated – apparently the actual reason for the…misunderstanding….involving the expenses was that laws was actually gay, and he was trying to keep this quiet for respect of his and his partner’s privacy.

    To date I’ve been impressed with the Coalition – both their politics and the way they’ve been implementing them. But the Coalition has come to power with a whole host of ‘issues’ around it – there are folks in both parties who don’t want it to work,  Labour are waiting for errors to exploit and people are expecting a lot from the new Government.  What folks are not wanting is a return to parliamentary expenses problems – especially when it features someone who’re responsible for implementing serious, albeit necessary, cuts.

    • Laws – this is why I am bloody angry with you.  I find it VERY difficult to believe that you:
    • Didn’t appreciate that your private life was going to be public at some point in the last year or so. 
    • Chanced your arm by carrying on claiming after the rule change.
    • Were hard-up enough to need to claim the rent back at all.
    • Didn’t realise that it would all come out if you became a frontbench Minister, especially in the Treasury.

    It’s inevitable that whoever implements the Coalition’s Treasury policy needs to be pretty much whiter than white – or at least as white as any politician can be these days -for whatever reasons Laws didn’t meet this criterion. 

    Whether he thought he was working within the rules or not, he wasn’t.  He’s now given an open-goal to opposition to the Coalition within the Tory Party, the Liberals and New Labour.  Personal hubris has yet again laid waste a political career, but with potentially bad implications for the country.

    And that’s why I’m so fucking angry with Laws – he’s managed to drag the bad issues of the last Parliament through in to this one, distracting people away from the really major issues of getting the UK back on it’s feet after a decade of mis-rule.

  • Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-23

    • Having slept on it, I was harsh on ITV's 'The Prisoner' – a little time to dwell on it and it makes MUCH more sense – will watch again! #
    • Apparently the 'Purple in the Peace Gardens' demo about democracy has been blocked from the Peace Gardens by SYP. Irony…. #
    • Finished watching the ITV revisioning of 'The Prisoner' last night – quite interesting concepts, ultimately disappointing. #
    • RT @motivational: He that allows himself to be a worm must not complain if he is trodden on. -Kant #
    • RT @Toltecjohn: 'Between friends, differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality' WH Auden #
    • "Don't mention the war – I mentioned it once but i think I got away with it…" – one Labour Leadership candidate to another…. #
    • Writing Financial and IT policy Documents…hmmmm….fun! #fb #
    • Playing catch up – Python code beta released and documented , development plan for some software sent, now time to write letters and stuff! #
    • Finishing documentation for Python program this morning – then Financial Procedures for #HillsboroughForum #
    • RT @CSLewisDaily: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less-C.S.Lewis #
    • I'm scared…two days in a row and the post has arrived before noon….most be an evil portent! #fb #
    • God..being followed by a US Patent Lawyer – blocked the bugger. #
    • FFS – we're not dying, eejit! RT @guardiantech: The free digital lunch is over. Now we pay with our lives | Jemima Kiss http://bit.ly/djFCBW #
    • Interesting and scary stuff! RT @newscientist: Immaculate creation: birth of the first synthetic cell http://bit.ly/c0Weua #venter #
    • Yup…you got caught. RT @Twitter_Tips: Google's Brin on Wi-Fi spying: 'We screwed up' http://ow.ly/1Nqvf #
    • Are Clegg and Cameron actually Kang and Kodos? #fb #
    • Don't agree with all Dianne Abbott's politics but she's a good, solid old fashioned, 'Conviction Politician'. Not a hope.. 🙁 #
    • Hear, hear. RT @Paulscriven: Nice to know civil liberties and political reform at heart of New Govt agenda. #
    • Very exciting morning at Hillsborough Forum! #
    • Started day with 7-45 meeting and some invoice chasing! #fb #
    • Hmmm…looking at my inbox I'd say there are new spammers in town… #
    • Damn right! RT @StarSparkle_UK: "FlashForward" is getting so good – it's a crying shame its been cancelled. #
    • RT @joindiaspora: http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/ check your FB privacy settings, automagically! #whyisntthisbuiltintofacebook 🙂 #
    • Before NuLab scream to loud, the 6billion cuts is only 2% of spending… via @guidofawkes: Reality Check on Cuts: http://bit.ly/9Z2ckH #
    • http://open.spotify.com/user/joepritchard/playlist/5JUh9hNeDECoXVcxLIBnmg Spotify playlist: Al Stewart – Year Of The Cat #fb #
    • More Python coding today, methinks! #
    • RT @philo_quotes: May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law. ~ Kant http://bit.ly/a4qLIY #

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  • Demonising Tories…or anyone…is so last century…

    Now that the smoke of battle (and confusion) of General Election 2010 has cleared and we have a Coalition Government that hasn’t yet been proven to be the spawn of Beelzebub, can I make a suggestion that demonising anyone in politics – even Tories – is not a good move?

    Twenty five years ago, during the Thatcher years, a few of us on the Left made the observation that it was potentially unhelpful to refer to the politics espoused by her Government as ‘Thatcherism’, even as a shorthand.  Our argument went that if you attach a name to a branch of politics in that very overt way, then as soon as the individual dies, quits or gets voted out of office then, almost by definition, that form of politics disappears from the scene.  There is a historical precedent; whilst 99% of everyone called the political beliefs of Hitler and his followers Nazism or Fascism, a few people in the 30s – often doctrinaire Communists – referred to it as ‘Hitlerism’.  Whereas we’ve been able to spot Nazism over the decades, spotting the politics underlying ”Thatcherism’ seems to have been harder – the monetarist and ‘Shock Doctrine’ policies of the Chicago School have come back repeatedly to haunt us in many ways, culminating in the years of Bush Junior Government in the US.

    This last election has been truly bizarre, with people repeatedly warning me about ‘re-electing Thatcher’ in the form of David Cameron.  The irony is that some of the folks who’ve been most vociferously demonising Thatcher and the Tories were in the twenties and early 30s – in other words, when Thatcher was in power these folks were either foetuses or snot-nosed kids. 

    Demonising any individual politician is fraught with danger for those doing it; unless your target is very obviously evil incarnate (in which case the vast majority of people will see it anyway and you’re ‘preaching to the choir’) then folks will just regard it as sour grapes and ‘ad hominem’ arguments.  One thing that has started happening in recent times in the UK is that people have become disillusioned with the political process, politicians and the whole schoolyard ethos that seems to have permeated British politics for the last 20 years.  The demonisation of one individual or party by others involved in the same ‘game’, so to say, has all the elements of ‘pot calling kettle black’ and people have responded to it accordingly.

    It IS last century – just look at the nonsense at ACAS last night when BA Chief Willie Walsh was surrounded by a good old fashioned British ‘leftie rent-a-mob’ that seemed to belong more in the 1970s at Grunwick than in 2010.  The union chief was furious, ACAS was embarrassed and angry, Walsh commented on the disgust he felt in the situation he was in.  The demonstrators focused their chants on Walsh, and have probably significantly damaged chances of settling the dispute.  Seeing the placards from groups like ‘Socialist Worker’, for those of us who were in the Labour movement in the 80s and 90s it was like a return to old times with the ‘Usual Suspects’ – the professional hecklers and agitators who have no great desire to settle these disputes but simply seek to benefit from them.

    Boys and girls, that approach is over.  It was always pointless and now people see it for what it is – egotistical tantrum throwing by typically over-privileged, under-occupied political performance artists.  If you want to achieve change in our society – get involved with genuine community groups and put your  backs in to getting some work done.  Demonising the opposition is childish and pointless.