tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3961474288335196572012-02-12T10:52:00.493ZThe Rantings of an Unamused Observer.Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.comBlogger5931100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-12868733067932084682012-02-12T10:52:00.000Z2012-02-12T10:52:00.500Z

I've ranted on this blog and elsewhere for years that the current CO2-driven global climate models were wrong. I've always maintained that we are at the mercy of our closest star, that ball of burning gas at the heart of our solar system, the Sun. I'll tell you for why; its because I know the awesome power of the Sun. I'm a lapsed Ham Radio operator and one of the crucial things in obtaining

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-70875131835535804502012-02-10T02:05:00.000Z2012-02-10T02:05:28.475Z

All of this money we've borrowed to bail out Greece and others, including the latest failing Bank or whatever, just where does the money end up? Are we just pushing money into dodgy banks that instantly gets handed over to good banks? Are we being robbed blind to support the uber-rich? Just saying. Because no-one in the media has ever explained where the money eventually ends up. I also have

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-90399265083115591242012-02-04T01:15:00.001Z2012-02-04T01:30:17.091Z

I'm not going to get into semantics about the legality of the call etc. What is curious about the call is the interaction between the two sides. The information seems to be flowing in one direction only. Its clear that the UK side is supplying info, for the most part of the call, yet the US side gives nothing much at all. I hate to label the UK guys chumps, but surely in such a call there would

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-53140741344166377582012-01-25T00:53:00.001Z2012-01-25T00:55:53.303Z

I may be banging on about this, but benefits is a huge business in the UK and the current generosity with benefits makes life for those like myself, on low wages difficult. I've already outlined the perks you get on benefit, that someone like myself doesn't get like free school meals, free prescriptions, etc. The way the system works is that one benefit unlocks another: you have to be receiving

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-75516180435915473242012-01-23T20:23:00.003Z2012-01-24T20:43:18.067Z

I've heard much hand-wringing and wailing about the government's proposals to cap benefits at £26,000. Now to me, having to work full time and only bring in £15,000 before tax (more like £10000 once tax has been prised from me), £26,000 (before or after tax equivalent) looks to be heaven. Given of course the disparities between the two. For instance, someone on benefits gets free prescriptions

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-44323843778855393982012-01-21T01:07:00.004Z2012-01-21T13:49:08.133Z

We are a hundred years away from the Titanic disaster and you'd think that the maritime industry would have learned lessons from that tragedy and all of the other since, to be able to make a truly safe ship, but last week's sinking of the Costa Concordia shows that even with modern technology the sea can claim lives. However as with most disasters, its probably not just one thing that causes the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-84529821821868654602012-01-20T23:06:00.001Z2012-01-20T23:11:18.339Z

Just what is going on in the world? Just as Americas SOPA and PIPA laws are being heralded as anti-competitive, anti-trade and downright nasty, we have a rash of US-instigated piracy-related arrests in the UK and New Zealand. I blogged before about Richard O'Dwyer, but now we have the Megaupload arrests in New Zealand, with word that they to will lead to some for of extradition request. Now

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-18016461124118100272012-01-16T20:08:00.000Z2012-01-16T20:08:17.882Z

Well, yes, trading is really poor at the moment, but it seems that clothes retailers are being hit hardest, with Peacocks being the latest firm to go into administration. The thing is, this winter I believe clothes retailers have committed a cardinal sin. In times of recession clothes tend to be bright and inspiring or flamboyant, to take our minds off the troubles of the economy. This winter

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-75990216108390537072012-01-13T21:32:00.001Z2012-01-13T21:33:38.662Z

A judge has agreed that Richard O'Dwyer, a young guy who set up a web site that pointed to (but didn't itself host) copyrighted material is to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial. Now I'm no lawyer, but I'm clueless as to how justice is best served by extraditing the guy to face trial abroad. First off, did he actually commit a crime? Sure, his site kept links to copyrighted material, but

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-72494564245565230182012-01-04T02:18:00.000Z2012-01-04T02:18:52.822Z

One of my pet hates is when people slag off the banks and blame them for the credit crunch. Why? Because I tell them not to blame the banks, but themselves. Most people don't understand at first, but after I explain, some get it, some unfortunately don't. When I say they should blame themselves, its because they took their eye off the ball and became disinterested in Politics. Yes I know its a

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-58574468887985707952012-01-01T00:39:00.000Z2012-01-01T00:39:01.527Z

Well, the clock has counted in 2012 and I just wonder whether it will mark a new era in Western Civilisation. In my post about recession I blogged about the UK cutting its cloth according to its ranking in the world, but the same goes for the rest of the highly indebted western countries. I've actually been impressed by how persuasive our political elite have been in conning investors into

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-17069909366863391172011-12-30T01:21:00.002Z2011-12-30T01:25:59.907Z

The BBC trumpets that recession is to return to Europe, but in all honesty with a growth figure in tiny fractions of one percent did we ever leave recession? After all the positive growth figures bandied about over the past two years are so low that negative growth (i.e. recession) is not that far away. Of course its politically expedient to err on the high side and tip the figures just ever so

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-59614103290776099552011-12-29T19:59:00.000Z2011-12-29T19:59:10.317Z

The UK economy has now dropped to 7th in the world after being overtaken by Brazil. Another of the things I've been banging on about is the UK actually taking notice of their place in the world and cutting their cloth accordingly. Our economy is on the way down and we need to plan our finances on that future prospect and plan forward, not hanging on to the glory of the past. In the end, if we

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-88730757394062449952011-12-27T00:24:00.000Z2011-12-27T00:24:19.007Z

As 2011 gasps its last breath, perchance are we witnessing the agenda being set for 2012? The past couple of days have been particularly bad for stabbings and shootings. Now there's no evidence as yet that these are gang related crimes, but they are most certainly youth oriented. What is most obvious point here, but one that will be missed by a country mile by the mass media, is that the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-84240557033784396572011-12-15T08:28:00.001Z2011-12-15T08:28:33.030Z

This piece on the BBC website purporting to be news is probably the worst piece of journalism I've seen, ever. Actually the name for it is "Churnalism", where propaganda or press release is regurgitated verbatim as news. How else would the article state that "Low Carbon technology will not Mean Big Bill Rises"? As we know, any charge made upon the generating companies such as being forced to

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-55815785098686724172011-12-13T00:32:00.001Z2011-12-13T00:38:34.215Z

I get the sense that future riots are not only possible, but actually inevitable. It looks like the government agencies are of the same opinion, because it seems they're tooling up and acquiring resources to combat large-scale rioting and protect buildings or areas that may attract public disorder. A couple of weeks ago Pavlov's Cat blogged about the Met's Steel Wall. A device to cordon off

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-46502095914473609032011-12-10T12:03:00.002Z2011-12-10T12:07:17.458Z

David Cameron yesterday vetoed a new treaty on EU fiscal stability, which would have allowed EU oversight of the financial dealings of member states. Or so we are told. EU Referendum has done much to explain that there wasn't actually a veto available, which is commendable, but there is also a point that is missed. Why exactly did Dave do what he did and in turn bring about the condemnation of

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-15373035007062048262011-12-09T18:59:00.006Z2011-12-10T00:05:49.000Z

This report from the BBC is interesting. Shops in New York have sprung up selling lose tobacco and tubes to place it in so you can smoke it as a cigarette. The shops also provide rolling machines to allow clients to place the tobacco into the tubes. "The authorities" are losing tax on this, because they impose a levy on pre-made, pre-packaged cigarettes. The roll-you-own shops don't pay the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-71436163292324974942011-12-07T00:33:00.000Z2011-12-07T00:33:44.028Z

The BBC proclaim that David Cameron "may" not sign a reworked treaty designed to to solve the Euro crisis. I really hate this sort of sloppy journalism. Its the BBC at its worst and I've noticed of late that Radio4's finest are also slipping journalistically. So lets set things straight... First thing: Dave is such a spineless fucker, there's zero chance of him refusing to do anything the EU

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-46468564253600260002011-12-05T00:37:00.000Z2011-12-05T00:37:11.958Z

Remember stealth taxes? You know, the taxes that Labour introduced like airport tax, pension tax, insurance tax, etc? Yep, those taxes that the Tories were up in arms about every time a new one was introduced. Well, have any been repealed in the 18 months that the coalition have been in power? Has the tax burden been eased in order to allow the economy to bounce back a little? Nope. So all

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-88436453352653879162011-12-02T21:38:00.000Z2011-12-02T21:38:50.956Z

I've held the view since the economic crisis first started that it may turn out to be bigger than governments. I've been proved right as successive governments around the world have sunk hundreds of billions of pounds into the banking system and their own economies, only to fail miserably to turn things around. Nothing, repeat nothing, they have done has turned the ship around. It may have

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-24784364980195363732011-11-29T01:17:00.000Z2011-11-29T01:17:38.601Z

Something is going to happen now the woman allegedly making racist remarks to people on a tram has been arrested. I think this could turn out to be a catalyst: for good or bad, I don't know, but when you get opposite forces poles apart like this, there's bound to be trouble.

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-6934066590151071262011-11-28T22:21:00.001Z2011-11-28T22:30:46.586Z

It seem that financial forecasters are finally predicting what I said 2 years ago: that we would have a double dip recession. To be honest its as plain as the nose on your face: as long as there is uncertainty then there will be no growth, no growth, no recovery. Either we face decades of uncertainty and neutral growth, or we ditch the toxic bank debt overboard. And finally, we don't pay

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-51439693492569068372011-11-27T01:04:00.000Z2011-11-27T01:04:22.011Z

A second tranche of ClimateGate emails were released this week. One of the main themes in the emails is the arrogance of the climate science cabal and their disdain for other scientists and observers asking to scrutinise their data and verify their  findings. The one thing that will settle this supposedly settled science once and for all is for the climate cabal to make all their data and their

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-85497036703486290082011-11-26T00:44:00.001Z2011-11-26T00:48:59.093Z

I said many months ago that the Eurozone would have to release Greece in order to ensure stability. When Italy became a victim, the Euro became even more dodgy. Now that Germany has caught a touch of the virus spreading through Europe and its bond auction has failed, you know that something drastic WILL happen. As long as Germany could shovel Euros into the ECB and the IMF and (like our

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-56541345484087477842011-11-18T01:44:00.000Z2011-11-18T01:44:33.462Z

So, as Political Parties are losing membership and now think its a good idea to subsidise themselves using taxpayer's money. Where the fuck did that make sense? What the fuck makes them a special case? And who exactly says which political parties get what money? Are we really saying its just for the big boys, or will smaller parties like the BNP get funded by the taxpayer? To my mind its a

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-7120000872736529102011-11-16T19:31:00.000Z2011-11-16T19:31:47.192Z

I'm amazed the people of Italy aren't on the streets baying for blood. Apparently Mario Monte has announced a cabinet comprised entirely of technocrats. In other words a cabinet, a complete government comprised entirely of unelected officials. I take it that's a model taken from the EU commission, a model in this "post-democratic age" that we are going to see more and more. By the way, has

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-81484075337031953542011-11-15T23:32:00.000Z2011-11-15T23:32:33.544Z

I'm sure the good burghers of Bradford love the idea of their city centre water park, but it looks to me to be a colossal waste of money. All it'll take is the first kid with a bottle of washing up liquid to turn the site into a foamy mess and have it shut down. Since I moved to Portsmouth I've often been regaled about the fountain on Commercial Road and how huge globs of foam used to be blown

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-20982825933345430232011-11-14T22:17:00.001Z2011-11-14T22:18:50.306Z

The case of Gemma Hayter highlights a lack of social service care that I'm all too aware of, having battled and failed to get social services to accept some small responsibility to provide ongoing help for my son. I sympathise with her bereaved family at the lack of care for vulnerable adults. Higher functioning autistics, amongst other disability groups are amongst the most vulnerable and most

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-32620442860225643832011-11-13T21:40:00.002Z2011-11-13T22:21:46.537Z

I said it weeks ago I think in a comment on another blog: The problems of the Euro zone, far from being an opportunity for our government to renegotiate powers back to the UK, will instead be used by those pushing for further integration to force us to meld into the mire across the channel. This weekend we've had Blair putting his oar in, Barosso telling the UK what they should be doing amongst

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-72672254056119629462011-11-13T21:12:00.000Z2011-11-13T21:12:58.458Z

There's been a lot of talk over the years of "cuts". i.e. cutting back public services. The thing is, when I was a kid, public services delivered a whole lot less than they are expected to deliver today. Decades ago, the council was expected to deliver the basic public services: education, refuse collection, Fire, ambulance, police, etc; plus provide a basic social service like providing council

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-61795816218559647592011-11-12T01:30:00.000Z2011-11-12T01:30:25.027Z

The banks royally screw things up so that banks and then countries end up in massive amounts of debt. We pour money into the banks, but it gets us nowhere and we see no benefit from it, and now the countries that are worst hit now look like they're having senior banking figures installed in charge of government. Simply the banks fucked up and let everyone overstretch their finances, the banks

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-19989063153431125802011-11-07T01:10:00.000Z2011-11-07T01:10:40.282Z

There's currently talk of Germany wanting to change the terms of various EU treaties, mainly to get them off the hook financially for bailing out the Euro. Its being put about in Conservative circles that this may be an opportunity for Britain to claw back power from the EU by requesting concessions in return for voting the way Germany wants. However, what if after careful consideration the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-47106303519835677452011-11-03T23:18:00.000Z2011-11-03T23:18:03.705Z

The Greek people are not to be trusted with a referendum. Sound familiar? The totally undemocratic, unelected, unfair and unlawful EU political elite have told yet another country that they cannot have a say in how their country is run. Instead the MUST submit to EU rule. No ifs, no buts. You tell me if the moniker EUSSR is apt or not. I believe it is. We are ruled by an elite that are shit

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-27746564668292903252011-11-03T01:22:00.000Z2011-11-03T01:22:56.614Z

The Greek/French/German/Italian Euro problem has escalated to the level of lunacy. How Papandreou can say on the one hand he wants to give the Greek people a referendum on the Bailout (upon which depends their continued membership and possibly existence of the Eurozone), and on the other hand says the referendum won't be about whether Greece stays in or leaves the Eurozone astounds me. If the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-69779505413003007892011-11-01T20:44:00.001Z2011-11-01T20:46:07.225Z

I got an email reply last week from my MP David Wllletts explaining why he voted against my wishes and against the motion for a referendum on the EU. I deleted it in disgust, as it was the usual "In Europe, not ruled by Europe", "better in than out", "we'll renegotiate powers back from the EU" bollocks that the Tories have been peddling this past week. First off, lets look at "In Europe, not

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-35674631914298907492011-10-28T00:29:00.001+01:002011-10-28T00:30:04.902+01:00

It seems the EU's answer to the Euro crisis, is more EU; more regulation. more interference, more oversight, more control... of those countries that the prime movers in the EU (okay, Germany) see as responsible for the Euro crisis. A financial coup in all but name, Euro-zone countries will be required to produce their fiscal plans to the EU for oversight and approval. Failure to comply with

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-13725561970744312072011-10-25T02:11:00.000+01:002011-10-25T02:11:49.947+01:00

There is currently a great level of discontent with government and the political elite in this country, greater than even the Thatcher Years. People I wouldn't have imagined criticising the government are now openly saying things must change. All it needs is a catalyst, an act, or a person to bring the disparate rays of apathy and resentment into a focussed beam of dissent and positive action.

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-22805124125777211442011-10-20T10:38:00.004+01:002011-10-20T18:24:38.583+01:00

All the major parties have now said they will whip MPs to vote against Tory MP David Nuttall's bill to force a referendum on EU membership. This is exactly what I've been saying for many years on this blog and elsewhere that effectively we live in a one-party state. There is no choice other than to continue with the staus quo. If there was true democracy there would be a free vote for MPs in

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-84583079259217520322011-10-13T14:05:00.000+01:002011-10-13T14:05:44.774+01:00

Watching the conference season unfolding over the last few weeks made me wonder: why do all the activists and party members support their political parties? After all, these days each individual party seems to have lost sight of their original purpose: being advocates for their particular niche of the population. These days all the parties appear to do is promote and serve themselves and their

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-72076229094326009962011-10-12T08:35:00.000+01:002011-10-12T08:35:54.850+01:00

I'd advise people to watch this video of Noel Gallagher talking about UK politics and the riots. He's someone who actually "gets it". Considering he once luvvied up to Labour, his current contempt for the party and his statement that all politicians are the same is the same as the rest of us feel.

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-71031224483866149832011-10-08T22:50:00.000+01:002011-10-08T22:50:54.801+01:00

I was listening this week on the radio to a number of volleys between the Government and the Labour opposition. Basically the fact that Tory "cuts" are causing front line services to be scrapped. Instead Labour would have us believe that they have the solution to the answer which is... I dunno really, because their so-called solutions have no basis in reality, are a bit vague and frankly involve

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-43748024474619925452011-10-05T20:20:00.000+01:002011-10-05T20:20:07.208+01:00

Scientists tending the battery of instruments surrounding the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester have yet to detect the Cleggeron, but their findings have shown the particle to be more complex than previously anticipated. Quantum physicists are excited by the discovery that the Cleggeron exhibits different behaviour depending on the observer's location and political tendencies. Initial

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-26230648850664763942011-09-27T19:02:00.005+01:002011-09-27T19:21:11.576+01:00

With the advent of the UK Political Party Conference Season, scientists are looking forward to detecting and measuring a variety of physical anomalies that occur annually around conference time. The very obvious alternate realities that political parties exists inside provides an opportunity for scientists to observe this quantum phenomenon. "The divergence from quantifiable scientific reality

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-13594511270690942572011-09-24T23:35:00.002+01:002011-09-24T23:36:27.671+01:00

It has to be said: the continuing pouring of money into the busted banking system is nothing more than the transfer of wealth from the world's poorest to the world's richest. The muttering about restarting quantative easing (printing money or that evil of the eighties; increasing the money supply) is really a discussion about pillaging the savings and pensions of the previous working generation

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-16745286746963967152011-09-24T01:04:00.001+01:002011-09-24T01:10:33.811+01:00

It could be possible that the speed of light isn't the absolute limit defined by Einstein. Scientists at CERN have detected neutrinos apparently moving faster than the speed of light. If their observations are correct, it would shatter current scientific theory. Of course the observations could be incorrect, but if they are, it would open up a whole new line of theoretical science. For

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-14723741412215596672011-09-20T08:31:00.000+01:002011-09-20T08:31:44.994+01:00

There's a sense of incredulity in the mainstream media that a self-confessed ex-terrorist would contemplate running for president of a country. However, I seem to be the only person that thinks he's got more than an even chance of winning. Currently in the Republic of Ireland there's a pretty strong anti-EU (and to be honest a wider anti-Europe) sentiment. The people of Ireland have come to

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-70142369687937315842011-09-07T02:50:00.001+01:002011-09-07T10:15:19.181+01:00

There is currently much speculation as to the reasons for the outbreak of riots and looting this summer. The reasons are many, but they are also simple. First off, it was hot, sunny weather. It was guaranteed that there would be no rain. The sort of evenings you'd spend out in the garden, or if you don't have a garden, out looting with your mates. Second, (if you are in the first wave of

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-71767066185327369862011-09-06T02:25:00.000+01:002011-09-06T02:25:38.072+01:00

Hopefully this new episode in the Man Made Global Warming Scam Saga will start to push the emphasis back onto true, observable science and away from computer modelling. As I've stated before computer models are not reality. If they don't match up to observed reality then they are flawed and have to be modified or binned. For a group of scientists to say that observations are flawed because they

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-9568113076547815992011-09-04T13:33:00.000+01:002011-09-04T13:33:01.009+01:00

I like to think I have an open mind and evaluate all the available data before coming (usually) to a correct conclusion. I used to earn a nice wedge of money using those skills until 9/11 happened, a little too close for comfort (we lost a guy in the twin towers where I worked and only two weeks before had a couple of my engineers in New York. Its also possible that a few weeks later I myself

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-88434619850747533152011-09-02T22:15:00.000+01:002011-09-02T22:15:15.736+01:00

It seems that some scientists are being castigated by the climate change lobby. It appears the paper hadn't been properly peer reviewed or published in a publication that deals in climate change amongst other things. Which of course seems rank hypocrisy considering the climate change lobby get up to the same themselves. It just goes to show the power of money poured into the scientific

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-67915553122717570492011-08-21T18:46:00.000+01:002011-08-21T18:46:12.139+01:00

Apparently we now have to limit CO2 emission, not because we're creating global warming, but because it flags up to extraterrestrials that the planet is inhabited. Leg-Iron has a link to the Daily Mail article as part of his post about the need to find a new bogeyman. I know that man made global warming is a load of bollocks, but this is a whole new level of lunacy. I mean, one of the scenarios

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-76920120915959178642011-08-17T00:16:00.002+01:002011-08-17T00:32:05.058+01:00

Many things are crawling out of the woodwork in the aftermath of last week's riots. First, lets look at the case of the two guys jailed for four years for inciting a riot. This was a couple of guys who put up messages on facebook supposedly "organising" a riot in Northwich. That no-one unsuprisingly attended. In Northwich of all places. If any of you have been to Northwich, the chances of

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-29400773340279865282011-08-14T23:22:00.001+01:002011-08-14T23:31:45.519+01:00

The UK is a signatory to the Geneva Convention. A set of conventions on the conduct of nations at war. Specifically, for this post is the Fourth Geneva Convention and its section on Collective Punishment. The Fourth Geneva convention prohibits the use of collective punishments by occupying forces. This is supposed to prevent actions such as perpetrated by the Nazis during WW2 where whole

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-50170496073443012082011-08-13T23:41:00.001+01:002011-08-13T23:42:12.634+01:00

Wandsworth council have joined in with the cries for retribution, the baying for looter blood and the general knee-jerk concensus by issuing an eviction order on the family of a boy charged in connection with the rioting and looting last week. Here is Wandsworth's own press release. Note first the the son has only been charged. There has been no successful conviction, only an allegation. The

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-21623372091206048852011-08-13T23:08:00.000+01:002011-08-13T23:08:39.300+01:00

If in future there's going to be a zero tolerance policy on gang members, petty criminals, drug dealers and all the other human dross that afflicts our inner cities and sink estates, lets also have zero tolerance in other areas. Zero tolerance on illegal expenses claims by MPs, zero tolerance on abuse of power by senior Police officers, zero tolerance on all the other petty crime perpetrated by

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-56493477750567396492011-08-10T00:12:00.000+01:002011-08-10T00:12:33.267+01:00

Its being reported that the riots are being organised and the evidence suggests the Police are being run rings round. Who are these people organising the riots? For what reason? I'm reluctant to don the tinfoil hat and shout conspiracy, but in a atmosphere of impending loss of finance and power by the Police, is it a coincidence that suddenly we get very organised and orchestrated disorder on

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-47593244403121380172011-08-10T00:07:00.000+01:002011-08-10T00:07:42.740+01:00

On the news this evening there have been more than a few calls of "where are the parents?" when it comes to dealing with the rioters. True, some rioters are of an age where they should be under parental control, but the problem is the state decrees that children cannot be sufficiently punished by parents. Give your kid a slap and social services could be on your doorstep issuing edicts as to how

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-76189417670772900762011-08-09T21:23:00.000+01:002011-08-09T21:23:15.215+01:00

The disused Liquid nightclub in Southsea burned down this evening, sparking dozens of rumours of riots. No rioting, but instead a jolly time was had sat on the beach in the sunshine eating chips and watching the action.

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-65453382530616076842011-08-09T20:19:00.002+01:002011-08-09T21:17:11.231+01:00

What happens when you disenfranchise a huge number of young people? What happens when their political voice is ignored? What happens? You get riots. Lets set one thing straight: I do not condone the looting that has been happening over the past few days. However, I understand why it is happening. I understand the frustration of an underclass ignored by society. Failed by the education system

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-47587276398595680172011-08-09T08:29:00.000+01:002011-08-09T08:29:15.563+01:00

I occurred to me watching the trouble around the country last night (I hesitate to call them riots) that the troublemakers are missing a trick. So far they've leant that several distributed hotspots spreads out the Police, thins them out and prevents them from doing any effective Policing. But what they're missing is that in each area there are far more looters than there are Police. Once they

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-16096813167748633082011-08-09T02:10:00.000+01:002011-08-09T02:10:39.274+01:00

In days gone by, reporters and their entourage of camera and sound men would be left alone by mobs, classed as independent observers of the action. However, today's rioter is a savvy individual and understands that the media is no longer an independent observer: their footage can be commandeered by the police and used as evidence. Hence we see the mob actively preventing the media use cameras

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-69192717854038681422011-08-07T22:01:00.000+01:002011-08-07T22:01:59.195+01:00

It may be just me, but I see no difference between the looters in Tottenham and the looters we have in national and local government. Who can blame the underclass for emulating those in power who illegally appropriate expenses, who use their powerful positions inappropriately, and award themselves huge bonuses and pay rises, from money that is not theirs to abuse. How hypocritical of the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-51079087751089159522011-08-06T13:53:00.001+01:002011-08-06T14:00:47.788+01:00

I keep trying to bang this home to people, but there will be no quick recovery after the Banking/Debt/Euro Crisis. Its been three years now and we're still rolling around the precipice, trying to avoid the drop. The world economy has been SERIOUSLY over-valued for almost a decade and the bubble has by no means burst. We HAVE to HAVE a SERIOUS revaluation in the world economy. Its inevitable and

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-79751723083216537752011-08-05T02:10:00.000+01:002011-08-05T02:10:43.832+01:00

We've been propping up the busted banks for over three years now. We've poured billions into indebted nations and now we're entering the finale. The sane people are heading for gold and other safe havens, the insane are proposing to borrow more and try and prop up the rotten system. It would have been better if the banks that had been sunk by bad debt had been allowed to fail and those with

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-17050307106933311772011-07-31T09:39:00.001+01:002011-07-31T09:39:48.928+01:00

"Thank you for your email of 14th July about the UK's IMF contributions. We are a founding member of the IMF and have responsibilities owing to our continued membership. Member states' contributions to the fund are broadly based on their relative size in the world economy, MPs recently approved increasing the amount of the British money that IMF can borrow from £10.7 billion to £20.15 billion.

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-67623432963353550702011-07-25T20:26:00.000+01:002011-07-25T20:26:25.183+01:00

So, the first full working day after the bombing and shooting in Norway and already the agenda is being set. Anders Brevik supposedly is a far-right nutter, now with speculative links to the EDL and I'm sure there'll be other links to other far right groups in other countries, just to help governments around Europe crack down on the rising nationalist tension in Europe. No-one in the Left-led

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-34543297319904664412011-07-24T11:38:00.001+01:002011-07-24T11:39:00.753+01:00

Mainly that it's very hard to detect a lone nutter with a plan for mass murder. Also its very hard to stop that nutter from carrying out their plan without detecting him in the first place. My condolences go out to the people of Norway affected by the tragedy. The only solution to the "problem" of lone nutters is big walls and checkpoints around every city. However, we moved on from that

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-70747346987933747252011-07-22T00:47:00.000+01:002011-07-22T00:47:45.377+01:00

So the Eurozone leaders have decided on shovelling yet more money onto the fire within the banking boiler. Common sense says the best option would be for Greece and all the other bankrupt Euro countries to drop-out, default and devalue. Instead yet more money is being thrown at the problem, a typical unimaginative middle-management response to the situation. Nothing radical that would damage the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-56053969946400752832011-07-22T00:02:00.000+01:002011-07-22T00:02:49.115+01:00

With monotonous regularity the medical scientific world spews up some report or other that says that some foodstuff or lifestyle infinitesimally increases the risk of contracting cancer. But now we're plumbing news depths: being tall increases your risk of cancer. We're now getting to the stage that soon we'll be told just being alive increases your risk of cancer; which it does, because dead

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-43746388532374351852011-07-21T23:17:00.001+01:002011-07-21T23:18:16.297+01:00

I'm usually good at spotting trends. When you hear the same or similar language being spoken from different but related spheres, you can get a feeling that a trend is being formed. So for instance take my last post about David Cameron saying his inquiry into illegal activity will be widened to include social networking as well as traditional media, the huge effort put into discrediting Rupert

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-62731089672272380762011-07-21T00:56:00.000+01:002011-07-21T00:56:35.734+01:00

David Cameron said today the the public enquiry will be widened to include broadcasters and social media to see if they engaged in illegal activity. Anyone want to bet that this will be used as a back door way to censor blogs, twitter leaks and other internet based political activity?

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-16296281503625959762011-07-18T19:12:00.000+01:002011-07-18T19:12:58.529+01:00

I just had a thought: Rupert Murdoch's fortunes seem to have nosedived since he started nosing around F1. Coincidence?

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-70607014747049339852011-07-16T00:16:00.000+01:002011-07-16T00:16:30.504+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I was given an early Birthday present by Mrs D: a ticket to Goodwood Festival of Speed. Being an avowed petrolhead, I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Plenty of noise and speeed, of the sort the health and safety Nazis would quash. Just a snippet of the day is this, my favourite car of the meeting. A lovely little Alfa Romeo, that looks like a baby Ferarri.

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-86409361620627308862011-07-15T19:56:00.000+01:002011-07-15T19:56:38.697+01:00

Or maybe they're just turning on each other as each faction vies for more power. I've been criticised in the past for saying the Police are too politicised and too cosy with Politicans. "Where is the evidence?" my detractors would say and honestly, I couldn't give them hard procedural evidence, instead citing practical examples where undue political influence seemed to be swaying Police actions

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-14562760659617778832011-07-14T18:34:00.000+01:002011-07-14T18:34:08.164+01:00

                                    Thursday 14 July 2011 Dear David Willetts, I note that on Monday the 11th, you voted to increase our contribution to the IMF by 9 billion pounds, primarily to help with the economic crisis in the Euro-zone. Please can you tell me how the IMF intend to repay this loan, given that the countries in trouble (for instance Greece) are certain to default on any

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-43381416930729879792011-07-13T23:23:00.002+01:002011-07-14T08:10:02.968+01:00

The thought at the back of my mind throughout all of the media storm about News International is: what has made Rupert Murdoch so mortal? For decades he was untouchable, the kingmaker, his support was essential for political success. Politicians crossed him at their peril, lest some tidbit of scandal about them was dragged out into the public domain. Just how have things turned round so quickly

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-64948563852053346382011-07-12T20:12:00.001+01:002011-07-12T20:13:25.071+01:00

Our Parliament has just agreed giving an additional 9 Billion pounds to the IMF which more than likely will be channelled into extending the Eurozone crisis. Both EU Referendum and Subrosa have commented on this. Right now, everyone knows that the countries in the worst positions will default. Certainly Greece will: its inevitable, because the austerity measures required by the IMF bail-outs on

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-64266942891771247442011-07-12T01:13:00.000+01:002011-07-12T01:13:07.215+01:00

First off, its seems that Italy is now firmly in the sights of the financial speculators, with rumours that Italian Banks are seriously exposed to risk and will fail a new stress test when it is implemented. This is more extremely bad news for the UK, as we've made the financial sector the powerhouse of our economy. As I blogged 3 years ago or more, whilst we continue to have financial

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-18207304773898201712011-07-07T22:57:00.001+01:002011-07-07T23:10:44.336+01:00

Listening to Radio 4 news coverage on the phone hacking affair on the way to work and on the way back home today, the game seemed to move on from phone hacking to stopping News International from owning BSkyB. There has been very vehement opposition to the NotW and News International in general on the BBC over the past few days, with the ramping up of allegations (and they are only allegations,

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-82932312657171967212011-07-06T00:15:00.001+01:002011-07-06T00:21:54.585+01:00

Details of the bill are now public. Currently it doesn't seek to expand on restoring the status quo that the Police had unlawfully established, but there's time during its passage through Parliament. The first interesting aspect is that it explicitly states "The amendments made by subsections (1) and (2) are deemed always to have had effect." which makes the change retrospective. I assume this

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-75719441753653453712011-07-05T08:32:00.000+01:002011-07-05T08:32:27.512+01:00

It looks as though the police will get their way as always and MPs will bend over backwards to reinforce an age old bending of the rules. The Police (Detention and Bail) bill is due to be rushed through Parliament ASAP. I've yet to look at it as I haven't seen a copy online, but rest assured it won't just re-establish the staus quo, I'm sure there will be an extension of Police powers over and

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-59541766878266817342011-06-29T21:55:00.000+01:002011-06-29T21:55:46.561+01:00

It seems a judge in a court has told the Police that they have to stop arresting people on spurious charges and then bailing them until they have sufficient evidence to actually press those charges. Quite right too. Arrests should only be made when sufficient evidence of a crime has been gathered. It should not throw the Police into crisis, as reports make out. The Police have been acting

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-14760029495805912582011-06-29T20:04:00.001+01:002011-06-29T20:06:11.928+01:00

Well, there aren't enough jobs, too many people and the 65 years of peace we've had in Europe haven't brought about lasting prosperity. So, what can be done? The only choice I think is to have a bloody good European war, like our grandparents did. Greece are well along the way to having a ruck, everyone hates the Germans because they're doing so well, nobody like France because they're well...

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-46614837981702049792011-06-22T08:22:00.001+01:002011-06-22T08:24:25.509+01:00

I've only got time for a quick note, but here's a conundrum: The BBC keep reiterating that our exposure to a Greek default would be in the region of £9Bn. Which is true, if you only count the money we've guaranteed as part of the bailout plan. Channel 4 have it a bit more accurately. They mention a figure of £366Bn which includes not just the bailout cash, but also the liabilities of our banks

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-71385637426640794632011-06-18T22:22:00.000+01:002011-06-18T22:22:53.015+01:00

This report makes my blood boil. The US are talking to the Taliban about a political solution to the Afghanistan conflict, while at the same time those same Taliban are killing our servicemen and women. Just why have we put our service personnel in harm's way? Why have over 300 of those personnel lost their lives? What was so important that needed such loss of life that suddenly becomes so

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-44820340430537748292011-06-14T22:07:00.000+01:002011-06-14T22:07:51.686+01:00

It turns out the rhetoric about enforcing weekly bin collections was just that: another "aspirational" speech from the coalition meant to grab headlines without any legal means of backing it up. People voted in a new set of people, but got the same sound-bite politicians, the same empty rhetoric that we got with the previous lot. So now after the other half-dozen similar examples, its clear now

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-17936442144796812172011-06-12T08:05:00.001+01:002011-06-12T08:06:43.000+01:00

Chris Loony Huhne has really lost the plot this time.  He says that we should change energy suppliers when the one we are using puts up its prices. Whilst it may be that on the planet Chris resides (which is quite different to the one I'm standing on) energy suppliers don't charge wildy different prices. When one puts up prices, they all do, because thats what happens in the UK: its an effective

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-40818086121915679892011-06-09T00:18:00.002+01:002011-06-09T00:20:13.902+01:00

In two successive days, we've had news of increased costs: Increased Gas prices to the tune of 20% and increased food costs of 5%. So why is the Bank of England maintaining the CPI is only in the region of 4%? Months ago I blogged that food prices had increased just after Christmas by around 10%, fuel prices are still creeping upwards, Car Insurance has increased this year by 25%, thanks to the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-82342444173541570802011-06-06T21:34:00.002+01:002011-06-10T01:14:20.900+01:00

We had one of those meetings today... the sort of meeting that leaves you with a heavy heart and "Oh Shit" running round your head. Yes, we're not doing too well in the current economic climate and jobs will have to go. Last in, first out means I'm in the firing (literally) line. Its no suprise: sales fell off a cliff when the VAT rise came in. Overnight sales dwindled to a trickle. Plus with

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-61463623915369307892011-06-04T16:43:00.001+01:002011-06-04T17:21:12.132+01:00

I had a play at welding the other day, for the first time. Thanks to the Freegle network I mentioned before, I managed to bag a free mig welder. Of course with Freegle you don't get brand new units: this one wasn't working due to some tinkering inside and the CO2 line had ben removed. For someone like me with plenty of practical experience, it wasn't a problem: a prod around with a multimeter

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-45465747069324704862011-06-02T00:09:00.000+01:002011-06-02T00:09:20.732+01:00

I was shocked last night while watching the Panorama programme about abusive carers. However, from the start of the programme there were alarm bells ringing, provided from the narration. First off, patients at the "Hospital" were only allowed to see visitors in a visitors area. This causes a problem straight away, as it creates a "behind closed doors" mentality where staff can act without fear

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-80946747320622282152011-05-30T09:01:00.000+01:002011-05-30T09:01:45.986+01:00

This BBC article brings to light a report that says top bosses pay is losing the link with the performance of the companies they manage. Talk about stating the obvious. Its been obvious for the past decade or more that "performance related pay" has evolved a long way for senior managers and directors of companies into a greedy grab-fest.  The people to blame are those that agree to and write up

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-48867164597689896112011-05-30T02:51:00.001+01:002011-05-30T02:54:29.980+01:00

One of the main tenets I've found in the blogosphere is that government should stay out of things as much as possible, because once it starts getting involved the costs go up and the service goes down. One such area is Recycling, where national and local government decided to stick their mighty oar in thanks to EU-set targets and are doing a bloody inefficient job of it with their boxes of many

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-71880036618317048552011-05-29T15:41:00.000+01:002011-05-29T15:41:22.709+01:00

I've searched long and hard for the reasons behind ring-fencing and ultimately increasing the foreign aid budget when the country can't afford to run things at home. Why would a country, almost bankrupt and borrowing money to keep services running, use a portion of that borrowed money for aid and give it away? It doesn't make sense, unless you look at the issue from the viewpoint of a company,

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-15997934746605556982011-05-29T02:30:00.000+01:002011-05-29T02:30:05.569+01:00

The fact that Sharon Shoesmith has won her case is a reminder to me of my own personal dealings with social services departments. I think what she is trying to say in her "I accept responsibility but don't accept blame" stance is that she was only following orders.  As with other social services managers I've met, she seems the same sort of hard-faced kind whose job it is to ultimately deny

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-66264310222039132522011-05-26T21:31:00.002+01:002011-05-26T23:37:52.573+01:00

I was puzzled to hear among the news items this evening that the apprehension of Ratko Mladic was a key enabler in Serbia joining the EU. Without him locked up in the Hague, Serbia would be locked out of membership. Just what is it about this man that the EU find so offensive? Okay, he's a mass murderer, but the EU has done and continues to do business with people like this, so why him and why

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-64370574748369317262011-05-25T01:56:00.002+01:002011-05-25T01:57:24.051+01:00

Last year's Icelandic ash cloud caused huge amounts of chaos and we were assured "lessons will be learned". Yes, the old phrase that's all to often trotted out which we all know means "we hope it won't happen again because we don't see the sense in spending money on it". Well, after spending a little money on ground based monitoring stations and a bit on computer modelling, (but noticeably no

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-66585406422824638922011-05-23T21:22:00.000+01:002011-05-23T21:22:48.015+01:00

So, the super-injunction war has hotted up with an MP naming Ryan Giggs as the subject of a super-injunction, in direct conflict with the courts. Now we have David Cameron wading in, saying there may have to be legislation. At last, the end game unfolds. Ever since the FOI system came in, MPs have been eager to avoid the prying eyes of the public. Even more so after the humiliation of the

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-396147428833519657.post-89937135878961583202011-05-21T00:42:00.002+01:002011-05-21T10:41:18.617+01:00

I'm taking especially about super-injunctions and the battleground that is now evolving between Parliament and the Courts. Parliament enact the law, but once enacted, should abide by the laws it creates. Courts interpret that law. You'd think it'd be that simple. But no a number of spanners have been thrown into the constitutional machine of late. First, the courts decided to interpret the law

Delphius1http://www.blogger.com/profile/04892877003107509621noreply@blogger.com0