Facebook, privacy and perverts

The Sun leads on calls for Facebook to be held responsible for perverts using false identities on the site.
But how can they do it?
Is it practical?
There's some useful information from the Internet Watch Foundation, here at 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know and at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre but parental responsibility is the key.
It can't be left to other agencies while the technology is not up to policing the web. The risk is just too great.
The internet is a force for good but it has allowed individuals with latent perverse desires to come to the fore.
We must all be on our guard.

Nutt off message and on bike

Is there no scope for anyone being 'off message' in the UK?
The unfortunately named Prof Nutt declared that alcohol was more dangerous than some drugs and he's clearly right.
We thrive on idependent thought but apparently this undermines the message.
Surely it highlights it and provokes an open debate to get people thinking.
We were highly critical when this sort of thing happened in an Eastern European country in the old iron curtain days.
We looked on with a wagging finger of liberalism at Solidarity's protests in Gdansk.
How have we got here?

Marker morons

This dynamic duo were caught by police after a burglary because of their bizarre attempts at a disguise.
They drew 'masks' on their faces in permanent marker.
In America, naturally.

Schwarzenegger power

Arnie Schwarzenegger has denied deliberately insulting a political opponent in a coded e-mail message.
If you can't read it the seven lines start with the letters F, U, C, K, Y, O and U.
According to The Independent: 'The mathematical probability of the seven-letter phrase "fuck you" ... is 26 to the power of seven – or about 8,031,810,176 – to one.'
Judge for yourself.

Pop goes a cliche

In The Times Philip Collins (is that his real name?) contends that Pop Music can't do Politics.
What rubbish this is.
He cites a 'lack of intelligent lyrical comment' but merely exposes himself to ridicule over his lack of musical knowledge.
Hey Phil, try Frank Turner, Show of Hands, Green Day, Blabbermouth, Michael Franti, Steve Knightley or Martyn Joseph.

Baffle of Bosworth Field

Interesting piece in The Times and elsewhere about the establishment of the true location of the Battle of Bosworth Field.
It seems the visitor centre is in the wrong place and should be two miles away.
Picture the scene yesterday morning in Pennington Street where a harassed news editor thinks: 'Hmm we need a sidebar to complement this. Find me a scholar Tarquin.'
Up steps Michael Jones, author of Bosworth 1485: Psychology of a Battle.
A perfect choice? Maybe not.
As Ben Hoyle's Times story reveals, the current investigation dismissed 'Michael K. Jones’s theory that the battle was eight miles away in Warwickshire'.
So what are we to make of the final paragraph of the accompanying piece by the aforementioned Jones.
He says: 'Walking the actual field of combat remains one of the most powerful ways to connect with the past.'
Of course it begs the question: How does he know?

Short shrift from Sarkozy

French president Nicholas Sarkozy is embroiled in a domestic row over the cost of a shower built at taxpayers' expense but never used.
Rag Reader understands that President Sarkozy, 5ft 4in, is keen to distance himself from any suggestions that the reason he did not use the shower in question was because he could not reach the taps.
Sarkozy, who loves Gordon Brown but not in a sexual way and enjoys the company of shorter people, lists as his hobbies; standing on boxes and wearing platform shoes.
And he did not pick short factory workers to make himself look taller when making a speech.

Curry kills cancer

Further confirmation that curry is the elixir of life.
I'm now looking for a study into the benefits of London Pride - perhaps Fuller's can sponsor some scientific research.

Banker bites shark

Concerns were raised after a 3m great white shark was found dead with two huge bites taken out of its body. Experts believe the bites were made by an even larger predatory animal - a City banker.
Savers have been warned to stay out of the banks on Stradbroke Island, north of Brisbane.
"It certainly opened up my eyes. I mean the shark that was caught is a substantial shark in itself," Jeff Krause of Queensland Fisheries said.
Savers have reacted to the news of the banker attack with shock.
"Whatever attacked and took chunks out of this big shark must be massive," said Ashton Smith, 19. "I've heard about the big banker that's lurking out there somewhere.
"We're all being very, very cautious."
Australia is entering summer, a period of the year when banker attacks on humans increase because of the higher number of bankers on holiday.

Amelia Earhart eaten by crabs

Gruesome but fascinating story breaking today about the fate of US aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.
Earhart and Fred Noonan were trying to be the first to circumnavigate the globe at the equator but vanished on July 2 1937.
It seems they may have made an emergency landing on a tiny Pacific island only to be eaten by giant crabs a few months later.
The Earhart Project has been conducting an archaeological survey of Gardner Island, now Nikumaroro in the Republic of Kiribati.
They have found convincing evidence that might just prove Earhart met her fate there.
It should certainly help fund next season's investigation.

Nick Griffin mash-up

Give up meat to save the planet?

The Times splashes on Lord Stern's contention that we should all become vegetarian in a bid to save the planet.
He says: 'Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better.'
Combined with the news that McDonalds is pulling out of Iceland could this spell an end to our love affair with meat?
A firm of architects has even worked out the carbon footprint of the family dog. Apparently it's twice that of a 4.6-litre Toyota Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year.
What about other measures.
The Kyoto Protocol is 'a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aimed at combating global warming. The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty with the goal of achieving "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."'
The map shows participation in the Kyoto Protocol, where dark green indicates countries that have signed and ratified the treaty, yellow is signed, but not yet ratified, grey is not yet decided and red is no intention of ratifying.
Surely we would be better off putting pressure on the big red country to sign up to this before we put down our bacon butties and eat the dog.

Career advice for seven-year-olds

This looks like a wind-up but isn't.
Somebody please tell me what purpose this serves.
I've no objection to more funding for education but this seems like the worst kind of window-dressing.

Father Ted Karadzic

Radovan Karadzic is back in the news today, boycotting his trial for war crimes.
When ever I see him my thoughts turn to Craggy Island and the dearly departed Father Ted.

Jimmy Carr - a defence

Jimmy Carr's jokes are always a bit close to the mark and his audience knows that.
His latest 'transgression of taste' is debatable but within the context of one of his shows it IS forgiveable.
For the record he said: 'Say what you like about these servicemen amputees from Iraq and Afghanistan, but we’re going to have a f****** good Paralympic team in 2012.'
Most of the ex-servicemen I know have pretty black senses of humour and I'm sure they would find this funny.
One of the things they do not find funny is the shabby way the frontline troops are treated in terms of equipment deficiencies and the levels of compensation payments for the wounded.
Am I the only one who finds it a bit rich that defence secretary Bob Ainsworth says, 'our brave Armed Forces put their lives on the line for all of us and deserve the utmost respect,' when he's the one responsible for far greater displays of disrespect?
His leap on to the fickle bandwagon of public opinion is yet another example of this government's lack of taste.

Here's some vintage Jimmy Carr to take your mind off it.

BNP's BBC disaster

Every time BNP leader Nick Griffin opened his mouth he sounded like an idiot.
He came across like a street-corner alcoholic desperate to make his point.



I'd say put him on TV every day but that would be cruel.
How did he get any votes?
Well the answer seems to lie with our reaction to hardship. If anything goes wrong we look to blame someone. Bad economy, it's too many immigrants, bad health service, immigrants, bad roads, immigrants etc.
And here in The Daily Telegraph is the 'respectable' view of immigration. But is it any less dangerous than the views of Nick Griffin?

Brown's missed the post

The PM has urged union leaders and Royal Mail bosses to end the postal strike.
Hold on a minute. Does he think we're idiots?
This shameless piece of political posturing is a transparent piece of pseudo-statesmanship.
He should have got involved much earlier to force a resolution.
All he's doing now is surfing a wave of public opinion - it's pathetic and too late.

Military fighting the fascists

It's nice to see these military types have realised that this fight against right-wing extremism is just as important as anything they ever did on a battlefield.
For the BNP to associate themseslves with WW2 heroes is beyond contempt.
Thursday night's Question Time should mark the beginning of the end for their like.

Why there's nothing British about the BNP

Lest we forget:

Immigration, Nazis, blah, blah, blah

In today's Daily Express Leo McKinstry writes a rather predictable column about immigration and the 'Labour lie'.
Seemingly with no sense of irony he kicks off his spittle-flecked rant with the words 'Josef Goebbels'.
Can nobody save him from himself?
Fortunately very few people read his paper.

Is the Royal Mail being sabotaged?

The decision by Royal Mail management to recruit an additional 30,000 staff in the run-up to Christmas is wrong in so many ways.
It's probably illegal.
It will do nothing to placate angry staff.
An army of temps will make the service even worse.
It's almost like the Royal Mail is being deliberately run down.
Can anything else explain these measures?

Freedom of speech and Trafigura

The Guardian's ding-dong with Trafigura and Carter-Ruck last week served to highlight the restrictions on freedom of speech but also demonstrated the effectiveness of social networking platforms in flagging them up - and making a mockery of them by revealing exactly what they were all about.
Those nice people at Trafigura must almost have wished they hadn't botherered.
Here's another Guardian piece on The Spittoon that has come under the spotlight.

Bercow just doesn't get it

Comments by speaker John Bercow regarding the MP expenses scandal will do nothing to defuse public anger.
He thinks that we have to be satisfied that MPs have "got the message" on expenses.
I'm sorry John, we are not satisfied.
The worse offenders have milked their claims over a long period and have tarred the others with the same brush.
Only this week David Wilshire's outrageous abuse of the system has come to light.
Now is the time for payback - literally and metaphorically.
Part of that is an element of contrition and humility.
Bercow's remarks suggest that MPs are displaying neither of those traits.

BNP - a cunning plan

The BNP is being forced to consider non-whites for membership.
OK. But will many non-whites apply?
Should non-whites and normal people flood the membership and dilute the racist agenda?
It's almost worth the membership fee.

Nazi gnomes

A German artist has made some Nazi gnomes and put them on display in a town where the local synagogue was sacked and 42 Jews were deported to concentration camps.
The 1250 gnomes have their arms raised in a Nazi salute.
What next for the garden?
A Vlad the Impaler dibber or Robespierre loppers.
Any ideas?

Why I'm not voting for Tesco

Tesco chief Terry Leahy must be about ten feet tall this morning after reading Alex Brummer's piece in the Daily Mail which suggests the country would be a world-beater if Tesco was in charge.
Come on Alex, I know you're just the money man at the Mail but this is ridiculous.
If Government was just about making money you may have a point but the last time I looked there were a few other things to do too - welfare, transport, education.
Now if you had chosen John Lewis I might buy it.

Comment Awards

I was lucky enough to be one of the judges at the Comment Awards and thoroughly enjoyed the awards ceremony on Tuesday morning - despite having to drag myself out of bed at 5.15am.
I was particularly pleased to see Johann Hari receive an award from Editorial Intelligence and recognition for good work at The Times.
The marvellous Camilla Batmanghelidjh put it beautifully when she said the commentariat 'hold the decision-makers accountable with their intellect'.
Spot my balding head in the video and win a prize - a pat on the head that is.

Leonardo da Vinci - he's back and he's good

Terrific piece by Timothy Clifford in the Times about the discovery of a 'new' painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
This story has everything - it's like CSI: Florence combined with the Borgias, Antiques Roadshow and Lovejoy.
All you need is for Horatio Caine to look up, look down, look away and take/put his sunglasses off/on and say: 'Leonardo's back .............. and he's good.'

Madness of the postal strikes

This is like turkeys voting for Christmas and brings back painful memories of the miners' strike.
The postal service is in decline and at a time when the business is flagging - witness the loss of the Amazon and John Lewis contracts - it is, to say the least, very bad timing.
The sad truth is that the Royal Mail may never recover.
The days of two postal deliveries a day and breakfast time mail seem like something from another era.

Cameron takes the hint

Nice to see that David Cameron has adopted Rag Reader's hard line on MP expenses.
It has been said that this scandal is going to lead to a wholesale clearout of parliament - like Hercules diverting a river through the filth of the Augean Stables.
Let's hope it is similarly cathartic.
It has gone beyond petty party rivalries - the future of democracy in the UK depends upon it.
But we also need to take a step back and ask why this has occurred. The simple truth is that MPs are underpaid.
The basic salary of £64,766 is not enough if we want quality representatives willing to put in the hours needed to do a crucial job.

MPs' expenses - time to get tough

Surely if there is any suggestion of an MP not co-operating fully with the independent audit of their expenses then they should be sacked immediately.
They must have a contract of employment and this must constitute gross misconduct.
Notwithstanding the terrible damage to our faith in democracy, have these politicians no sense of shame.
Commons speaker John Bercow has urged co-operation but shouldn't he be doing more?
I'm beginning to feel like the MPs are hoping we'll all forget about this. Well we won't.

Government boot sale - uranium anyone?

Aren't you supposed to sell stuff when the price is high?
But I'm sure the Government will find a few interested parties bidding for their 33 per cent stake in Urenco.
There are a number of up-and-coming rogue states in the market for just such an investment in the uranium enrichment business.
Apparently Iran needs up to 300 kg of nuclear fuel to cover the requirements of a reactor in Tehran.

NASA probe fails to detect policies

Nasa political scientists have been outlining their preliminary results after crashing three unmanned spacecraft into the party conferences in a bid to detect any sign of policies.
Another craft followed just behind the first, looking for signs of ideological differences in debris kicked up by the first collision.
Instruments on the second spacecraft identified the glimmer of an idea from the initial impact as well as a crater, but the expected policy cloud was not evident.
The $79m (£49m; 53m euro) US space agency mission is known as PISS (the Policy Interpretation and Sensing Satellite).
The first collision was expected to throw some 350 tonnes of policies up to altitudes of 10km (6.2 miles) or more.
No such policy plume was apparent in images sent back by the spacecraft however, proving a disappointment to voters.
"We need to go back and carefully look at the data to see what it says," Dr Iveno I Dear, principal investigator on the PISS mission, told journalists at a post-impact news conference.
"Exploration has surprises. I'm glad we built our mission plan around all aspects of the impact… what's streamed to on the video is not at the same fidelity as what we get fresh off the spacecraft. We need to look more closely before we conclude anything about whether to bother voting or not."

New logo - what do you think?

The delightful Michael Holman of Holman Design has just created a snazzy new logo for the blog.
I love it - thanks Michael.

Historical fiction - what do you like?

Interesting piece by Antonia Senior in today's Times about the merits of historical fiction.
She maintains that more of it should be put on the school syllabus to encourage interest in the subject.
I would advocate employing enthusastic teachers to bring the subject alive along with more field trips. Battle Abbey is one of the best. You really get a sense of what happened in 1066.
But while we're on the subject I would recommend the Warrior of Rome series by Harry Sidebottom. He is a leading academic in the field of ancient history and his expertise informs his writing with an integrity that you rarely find elsewhere in the genre.
But what about you lot?

Cameron's speech - what he really meant

We all know how bad things are, massive debt, social breakdown, political disenchantment. But what I want to talk about today is how good things could be.

If I paint a fantasy picture of society you might vote for me and by the time I'm in you'll never remember this.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no illusions. If we win this election, it is going to be tough.

I know we're going to win but don't want to sound too cocky and blow it.

There will have to be cutbacks in public spending, and that will be painful.

The economy's irreparable.

We will need to confront Britain’s culture of irresponsibility and that will be hard to take for many people.

But I'll be all right so who cares.


And we will have to tear down Labour’s big government bureaucracy, ripping up its time-wasting, money-draining, responsibility-sapping nonsense.

Otherwise there would no point us being in power.

None of this will be easy. We will be tested. I will be tested. I’m ready for that – and so I believe, are the British people. So yes, there is a steep climb ahead.

I can be PM, honest.

But I tell you this. The view from the summit will be worth it.

As I look down on you lot when I'm on my post-leadership US lecture tour.

Osborne and realpolitik

The FT's Robert Shrimsley says that George Osborne is apparently telling colleagues that the harsh austerity programme he plans should the Tories form the next government will make him “the most unpopular man in Britain within six weeks” of the next election.
If this is true then he should be applauded for his honesty and derided for his candour.
If not then his 'Malcolm Tuckers' (see below) should be castigated for allowing the rumour to spread.

Somali pirates worse than Pugwash

Somali pirates got more than they bargained for when they opened fire on a vessel in the Gulf of Aden only to see it turn towards them and give chase.
The French navy supply ship La Somme followed one of the two skiffs for five hours and captured five of the pirates.
The ship was patrolling in the area as part of an international peace-keeping force.
It's estimated that Somali pirates made $80m in ransoms last year but even Captain Pugwash was better than these jokers.

I do, I do, I do, I do

South African businessman Milton Mbele has married four women simultaneously to 'save money'.
I fear that as he embarks upon the path of married life he may discover that the multiple ceremony will prove to be something of a false economy.
A report in the Sowetan reveals that Mbele owns about 100 cows and 250 goats - or 25 cows and 62.5 goats for each wife.

Baby Peter and Sharon Shoesmith

Sharon Shoesmith, the former Haringey director of children's services who lost her job over the Baby Peter case, is in court today claiming unfair dismissal.
She chaired a review into the case and determined that none of her staff should lose their jobs.
This is film of the ambulance men who found Peter in which they describe the scene and their feelings.
Peter was 17 months old when he died. He had been in contact with officials, medics and police 60 times in the eight months before he died.

Pass the sick bag - it's Tory girl

There's something nauseating about dragging children into the political arena.
It shrieks 'cheap shot' and does the child and the issue or party no credit at all.
Step forward 15-year-old Annabel Shaw at the Tory conference yesterday. Like a 16-year-old William Hague before her she went in for a bit of Labour bashing but, to her credit, is quoted as saying she wants to go into politics after doing a 'proper job'.
If only some of today's incumbents had followed that path.

Boris on Newsnight

I challenge anybody to watch this and not join the Boris Johnson Appreciation Society.
The guy is priceless.



According to The Sun the BBC cut out the bits where Boris challenges Paxo on his taxpayer-funded salary. Although this footage seems to show most of the exchanges. Enjoy.

Where's our opposition?

In The Times we have yet another Populus poll - where would they be without them?
Extraordinarily it 'suggests that many Liberal Democrats and supporters of other parties would still prefer Labour to the Tories'.
And 'while 73 per cent are dissatisfied with Labour, 50 per cent would still prefer a Labour Government and 42 per cent a Tory one.'
This just shows how bad the Tories really are. The government is almost universally disliked but voters see no alternative.
It's depressing really that there is no credible opposition in these darkest of days.

Snookered by Enrico David

Is it me or does this look uncannily like former world snooker champion Stephen Hendry?
It is, of course, Turner Prize entrant 'Absuction Cardigan 2009' by Enrico David.
His biog on Art Facts mentions nothing about any love of the green baize.
It certainly lends an enigmatic air to the piece.

Anne Frank video

There is something desperately moving about this video footage of Anne Frank.
It's a very short clip but shows a girl full of life. Lest we dare to forget.

More about Marr than politics

Andrew Marr is becoming the story a bit too much for my liking.
His questioning of David Cameron here seems only seeking to achieve making his interviewee uncomfortable.
He's not really trying to achieve anything else.
Although, it's got to be said that Cameron doesn't deny being a toff and has the grace to admit his embarrassment at the Bullingdon Club pic.

Kelly's a hero

In Saturday's Mail Des Kelly flags up the inappropriateness of Everton midfielder Tim Cahill's goal celebration.
He says: 'Can there be a more appropriate way to recognise the suffering of those caught up in the Southern Pacific disaster than dropping to one knee after scoring a goal and paddling an imaginary canoe with an imaginary oar on an imaginary sea. Well, yes.'
It's a great piece of writing in an area where there aren't that many quality writers.
Well done Des.

Top right-winger - I wonder who

You'll never guess who Iain Dale, a man vying for the parliamentary seat under the Tories at Bracknell, has pronounced the most influential right-winger of the day.
That's right, it's his boss-to-be David Cameron.
Extraordinary stuff. In The Daily Telegraph of all places.

Pull the other one George

The Tories, shadow chancellor George Osborne that is, say that the voluntary scheme would be self-financing as only 20% of those paying in would get ill enough to have to draw on the scheme, and that no public money would be needed to operate it.
It sounds too good to be true. Particularly when you realise they are talking about care home charges.
They are preying on middle class fears about lost equity - if the country could afford it we may have fallen for it but not in the current climate.
Don't insult our intelligence.

TV election debate - get off the fence Gordon

It seems so typically Gordon Brown to say that he has decided whether or not he will participate in a TV debate with other party leaders and then not let on what he has decided.
Could he be less decisive?
He must only have one pair of pants or he would never be able to get dressed.

Evening Standard spin

In the great history of postive spin this surely has to be up there.
Evening Standard editor Geordie Greig has described the paper's move from paid-for to giveaway as an "historic moment and great opportunity".
He gushes on: "The Standard has an exciting and secure future with this new, pioneering strategy of more than doubling our distribution."
So let me get this straight. You can improve circulation by giving the paper away. Why didn't I think of that, it's brilliant.
But, hold on, what about the revenue lost from sales?
The credibility?
Reputation?
Perceived worth?
There's only one way this is going to go.

House prices recover - but for how long?

That's the thing about uncertainty - it means that you can't predict what's going to happen next. It's, well, uncertain.
House prices have always been a pretty good indicator of economic good health but is this return to 2008 levels a false dawn or a real sign that 'things' are back on track. Not that 2008 levels were that great anyway.
Is this the seasonal rise/recovery due to the fact that people have to move - new job, equity release, down/upshifting - or something bigger.
Only time will tell.
But people I know who want to buy are struggling to find much on the market and that's not a sign of confidence returning.

BAE bribe charges: Why now?

Aren't kickbacks and bribes the way they do business in the arms trade?
Surely this has been happening for years.
The question is why have the government, judiciary et al, chosen now to kick up a fuss about it?
Has BAE upset somebody?
As Robert Peston says in his blog: 'Whether you love or hate that BAE is a world leader in defence, it is the biggest manufacturer in the UK and is a significant part of the British economy.'
We have to choose whether we want to do this sort of business or not.
From the political expediency exercised in the release of Al-Megrahi it seems that yes we do, sometimes.

Why is Portus so important?

Sorry, but how can the discovery of a 'private amphitheatre' at Portus near Rome be bracketed in the same category as 'such wonders as Stonehenge and Angkor Wat in Cambodia'.
Yes, that's what head of the dig Prof Simon Keay (pictured right in The Times) told the Daily Telegraph and others.
Maybe it is, but why?
On what we've read so far there's nothing to suggest why that should be so.
What more is there about this that we haven't been told to justify that extraordinary comparison?
And why didn't any of the journalists ask him?