Random Bloggy Goodness
…have let us down. Not like those humourless Filipino bastards.
Whilst Britons from the North of the country have not – as far as I am aware – complained about an Enfield and Whitehouse sketch featuring a family keeping a Northerner as a pet, the Filipinos are up in arms about a Filipina maid “inciting stereotyped racial discrimination, vulgarity and violation of the maid’s human rights”. And yet they don’t seem to want to stick up for the poor, enslaved Northern bloke, do they?
The thing I find most disconcerting whenever lantern-jawed, self-proclaimed “hockey mom” and Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin comes on the telly, is just how much she looks like some sort of character from a Supermarionation-stylee puppet show.
I think it’s the huge eyes and fixed ‘smile’…
Not A Puppet
OK, maybe not tea, but coffee.
Something that I find bewildering is the need by many office workers in London – and I assume this isn’t just confined to London – to wander around before and after work clutching cardboard cups filled with expensive coffee from all those coffee shop chains.
Why?
OK, as anyone who knows me knows, I’m a bit of an addict when it comes to caffeine and I do appreciate being able to grab a cup and sit at one of their tables and watch the world go by when I have time to kill before visiting a Client. But why would I want to buy an expensive – and let’s face it, not really all that good – cup of coffee on my way to the office I work at, when I can (and do) make myself one in the office kitchen when I arrive?
Maybe I just don’t get the whole yuppie fashion thing?
And the award for Most Pointless Text Message today goes to Vodafone:
“We continually invest in our network to provide a reliable service & you’ll be pleased to know we’ve now improved coverage in an area where you use your mobile.”
Excellent! Which area is that? Given that I live in South-East London during the week, work in South London, visit clients in Central London twice a week and travel home to Norfolk each weekend, wouldn’t it have been an idea to tell me which area had been improved?
From the “Whose Stupid Idea Was That?” department, comes the debacle surrounding the release of version 3 of Firefox.
It’s summarised quite nicely here:
http://www.thatwebman.com/2008/06/17/public-relations-disaster-for-firefox/
Yes, our glorious leader Gormless Brown has declared that the continuing erosion of our civil liberties helps to ensure my right to live free from crime:
“Gordon Brown has defended the use of CCTV, ID cards and the DNA database – saying they protect civil liberties.
“In a speech to the IPPR think tank, the prime minister said they helped ensure people’s right to live free from crime.”
I see. So by watching me wherever I go, by forcing me to carry an ID card and by taking and keeping samples of my DNA they will guarantee that I will live free from crime? That’s excellent news. I won’t worry about my safety any longer when I’m considering walking around after midnight in the middle of Manchester or South London or wherever thanks to El Gordo and his band of totalitarians.
What utter and complete toss!
Or does he mean that by doing all that I won’t commit any crimes against anyone else? Didn’t the September 11th bombers carry ID cards then?
I belong to a minority sector for whom discrimination is an everyday fact of life. The fact is that that discrimination is so blatant and unapologetic and is institutional discrimination but despite that, the media make little or no comment upon it.
It’s not racial discrimination. It’s not religious discrimination. It’s not sexual discrimination. No, I’m sorry to confess it’s far worse than that. It’s because I ride a motorbike.
The most recent example of this prejudice and discrimination comes from those well known haters of all things motorcycling – a Welsh police force. Their latest anti-motorcycle act is to effectively ban the annual Welsh National Motorcycle Show because:
“Dyfed-Powys Police are of the view that there is a significant risk of violence at this year’s Welsh motorcycle show.”
I see.
Surely on that basis the police should be cancelling all football matches? After all, as we saw with the UEFA Cup Final match in Manchester, there is more than a significant risk of violence with football matches. But amazingly, they are never cancelled. I wonder why? Could it be that the perception – reinforced by the police, Government and the media – that motorcyclists are all troublemakers and lawless?
After all, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee stated that:
“Motorcyclists are particularly liable to evade road tax. Nearly 40% of motorcycles are now unlicensed.
“If the DVLA’s motorcycle enforcement regime is not to be a complete laughing stock, then the agency and the department must make the most of new powers to enforce VED on public roads.”
They must also “strongly consider more severe measures such as impounding unlicensed motorcycles”, he said, adding: “Large parts of the biking community are cocking a snook at the law.”
Of course, that was completely inaccurate, and for once the MPs were forced to apologise when it was revealed that that was complete bollocks.
Is it any wonder we feel like criminals when we are treated like criminals and discriminated against?
Went out with my daughter this morning to do her paper round with her. On the way back, I was amused at the house name plaque thingy on a bungalow we passed. It read “The Bungalow”. We laughed at how long it took them to come up with that name and the conversation and then we wondered if Mr. & Mrs. Bleedin’-Obvious had kids…
“Yes, we’ll call her ‘The Girl’”. “Congratulations! It’s a boy! What’s his name? Oh, right … ‘the Boy’”.
So the Metropolitan Police have launched a new counter-terrorism campaign. Good stuff. From their website:
“Thousands of people have mobiles. What if someone with several seems suspicious? – Terrorists need communication. They often collect and use many anoymous [sic] pay as go phones, as well as swapping Sim cards and handsets. If your [sic] susipicious [sic] of the number of phones someone has , we need to know. Let experienced officers decide what action to take.”
Like shooting us on the tube, perhaps? Gotta love their dyslexia too.
Maybe I should stop going out with my two ‘live’ mobile phones to avoid being shot for being a suspected terrorist?
So it has been revealed that BAA, owned by Spanish construction company Ferrovial, plans to fingerprint all passengers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
Why?
Well apparently:
“Under the security measure, prints will be checked at the gate to try to ensure the person who checked in is the same person who is boarding the aircraft.”
I would have thought the person’s passport would do this just fine, wouldn’t you?
So why are they doing this? Who knows: maybe it’s just a commerical decision to push their miSense product following their earlier trials. Certainly the Home Office is quoted as saying there’s no requirement in terms of security for fingerprinting to take place and the Information Commissioner is apparently looking into it. There’s also the question as to transmission of the biometric data within the EU (and who knows where else).
The trouble for someone who wants to travel by air on international as well as domestic flights is that with BAA in such a dominant position in terms of airport ownership, you may effectively be forced to be added to a database. Once on there, who knows how long the information will be held and by whom.
What’s the next step? RFID tagging for everyone?
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Run on 10 April 2012 9:36 am
2.08 mi in 00:20:41 (09:58 min/mi)
HR 167 bpm - Burned 274 C Run on 7 April 2012 8:58 am 3.23 mi in 00:33:53 (10:30 min/mi) HR 168 bpm - Burned 430 C Run on 15 February 2012 6:33 pm 3.53 mi in 00:38:45 (10:58 min/mi) HR 172 bpm - Burned 542 C Run on 1 February 2012 7:00 pm 1.28 mi in 00:13:23 (10:30 min/mi) HR 158 bpm - Burned 164 C Run on 19 January 2012 6:23 pm 3.32 mi in 00:35:01 (10:33 min/mi) HR 163 bpm - Burned 431 C
