RE: What A Let Down!

John

>>The race was then ruined as they allowed a change of tyres before the restart which effectively cancelled out the race strategy differences chosen by the teams during the rest of the race and just left us a six lap procession of evenly matched cars and drivers all on new rubber.<<

It is ages since I watched GP.   But as I recall when a crash occurred and the race stopped.  After it was cleared  the restart application was in the same configuration and position at the time of the stop.  For one lap.   But elf and safety and all that.  For instance a crash could have occurred in the dry.   After restart it could be pouring with rain.  The driver had to do one full lap on his dry condition tyre, and from the same position he was in at the stop,  before going into the pit.   I cannot recall but I think that is how it went.  But what baffles me.   How does it pay for itself.   Certainly not from takings from the crowds.   But I very seldom watch the goggle box now.

Jimmy Dunn
Edinburgh
Scotland
 
http://www.visitlothians.co.uk/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimjdunn/
 
England thy beauties are tame and domestic
    To one who has roved on the mountains afar
         Oh! For the crags that are wild and magestic
               The steep frowning glories of dark Lochnagar. 
 

What A Let Down!

I'm never very thrilled by the Monaco GP which usually turns into a rather
boring procession from start to finish enlivened a little by an occasional
crash but this year the race was actually quite exciting until the stewards
managed to turn it into a non-event when the race was restarted.

OK, I can see that stopping the race after Petrov crashed was the right
option & I would have been only mildly disappointed had it ended at that
point however when it was announced that the race was going to be restarted
to complete the last six laps I thought we could be in for an exciting
finish with Button on his fresh tyres right on the tail of Vetal and Alonzo
whose tyres were much older and about to pack in completely. The race was
then ruined as they allowed a change of tyres before the restart which
effectively cancelled out the race strategy differences chosen by the teams
during the rest of the race and just left us a six lap procession of evenly
matched cars and drivers all on new rubber.

Why did they bother.

John Waghorne

RE: Sharon Shoesmith

John

>>This morning she once more struggled to accept any responsibility for

 what happened. I hope the Supreme court find against her but in the current

 struggle for power between the politicians and the judges I fear that

 she will win.<<

Oh you can bet you boots she will.   In this silly politically correct country we live in she is on her merry 

way to being a millionaire.   The sad fact is they all try to make out they are concerned about this death 

or that death.  The reality being they could not give a rats toss.  Like all PMs when a squaddie is killed.

Crocodile tears

Jimmy Dunn
Edinburgh
Scotland
 
http://www.visitlothians.co.uk/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimjdunn/
 
England thy beauties are tame and domestic
    To one who has roved on the mountains afar
         Oh! For the crags that are wild and magestic
               The steep frowning glories of dark Lochnagar. 
 
 

Sharon Shoesmith

She may have won her appeal on a procedural failure by Ed Balls but her
interview on "Today" this morning is hardly likely to have won over many of
the listeners.

I remember being shocked by the very first interview with her surrounding
the events then in which she seemed utterly incapable of grasping that her
department had utterly failed in its duty. She maintained that she had
done a good job operating within budget and meeting all her targets. When
the rather shocked interviewer said, "but the baby died!" her reply was
along the lines that she hadn't killed him.

The leader of the council and the cabinet minister responsible for
children's services resigned but she seemed totally oblivious of her
culpability in the matter despite the Offsted report which gave such damning
criticism of her department.

This morning she once more struggled to accept any responsibility for what
happened. I hope the Supreme court find against her but in the current
struggle for power between the politicians and the judges I fear that she
will win.

How Very Convenient

For years there have been rumours that FIFA was corrupt and that many of its
leading personalities asked for bribes for votes and now we have claims from
insiders that such is the case. These claims involving Mohamed Bin Hammam
and Jack Warner are to be investigated.

How convenient that Mohamed Bin Hammam is the only other candidate besides
Sepp Blatter for the job of president in an election next week.

John Waghorne

NHS Reform

And this is yet another reason why the state monopoly on healthcare has to
end.

How many more of these reports do we need to convince the politicians to
ignore those in the NHS with a clear vested interest in maintaining the
status quo as if the terms healthcare and NHS are synonymous?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13545780

John Waghorne

Well Done The BBC

I was rather dreading Obama's visit as in recent years high-profile events
concerning the US have totally wiped everything else off the news agenda.
Not so this time, I'm pleased to say.

So far the coverage has been perfectly adequate but has not dominated TV and
radio.

Incidentally, I understand that he has now found an apostrophe for his name
to please theIrish American. When is he going to find a "Mac" to endear
himself to the Scottish American vote?

John Waghorne

RE: The Law Is Sometimes An Ass

John

>>As Twitter is an American corporation with no legal presence in the UK I reckon he's wasting his money unless, of course, he can demonstrate that Twitter has breached the law in whichever US jurisdiction applies.

Law is a devolved matter.   English gagging orders do not apply in Scotland, Ireland, France, Timbuktu or Outer Mongolia, far less America.   Our footballer can huff and puff all he likes.   Its called more money than bloody sense, and once again the male failure... thinking through his Richard.  

Jimmy Dunn
Edinburgh
Scotland
 
http://www.visitlothians.co.uk/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimjdunn/
 
England thy beauties are tame and domestic
    To one who has roved on the mountains afar
         Oh! For the crags that are wild and magestic
               The steep frowning glories of dark Lochnagar. 
 
 

The Law Is Sometimes An Ass

How appropriate that the Lord Chief Justice is called "Judge" but his
judgement is taking him onto constitutionally dangerous ground when he
begins to attack the right of MPs and peers to speak freely under
parliamentary privilege.

In essence the problem here is that the UK's laws on privacy were imposed on
us from a foreign court and Parliament simply rubber-stamped that law by
passing the Human Rights Act which is increasingly bringing the courts into
conflict with the democratic institutions of the state which must take
precedence.

If Lord Judge's statement was not enough confusion added to the subject some
footballer is now trying to take legal action against Twitter because some
tweeter blabbed about the injunction banning references to his affair with
Imogen Thomas.

/As Twitter is an American corporation with no legal presence in the UK I
reckon he's wasting his money unless, of course, he can demonstrate that
Twitter has breached the law in whichever US jurisdiction applies.

Parliament really has to get a grip and frame a privacy law and we need to
make it clear that the ECHR no longer applies here if it conflicts with
domestic law.

This Privacy Thing

Why should the law protect anything but the minimum in terms of privacy?

Certainly it should be unlawful to tap my telephone without a court order
and bugging my home or workplace, taking long-range photos of me in my own
home against my wishes should be banned but if I, a famous footballer,
decides to shag my way through the female element of fandom then why should
fact be hidden from the public, my corporate sponsors or my wife?

I don't believe that Max Mosley had any right to complain about the
revelation that he had been involved in some group SM sex activity with a
bunch of consenting, adult women; what he had a right to complain about was
the lie that somehow there were Nazi aspects to the orgy. That was a lie
and he quite rightly won his case but that does not mean that his sexual
activities must be kept under the protection of the law.

Provided the story is true then the media should be allowed to publish it if
they think anybody will be interested.

John Waghorne

Re: Losing His Touch

John

>.Sorry, Ken, this is a bad idea and you have made it even less acceptable
>by the way you've handled the issue.<<

law and order in general is not Clarks strong point. But every body can
huff and blow all they like and I see the burn the bra brigade are already
doing that. But the reality of the crime of rape is that like all other
crime you need evidence. I cannot recall the exact figure, but it was
something like around 90% of acquittals were directly attributed to the
evidence of the female falling apart as details of her sex life came to the
fore. The definition in Scotland is simply defined as the unlawful carnal
knowledge of a female against her will....it then goes on to definitions by
age etc. There are two part there *unlawful* and *against her
will*. It then becomes a mine field. In the case of underage sex
*against her will* is irrelevant as it is rape by reason of age. In the
case of married man, I presume, it is lawful in England to bonk your wife.
The difficulty arises with *against her will*. In out and out rape the
act of intercourse is simple to prove. DNA and all that. The other two
become very relevant. Boy friend and girl friend. This is the one most
reported to the police. Wee Jane gets pissed her boyfriend has his nasty
way. Two days later she is worried she is pregnant and bingo.... I have
been raped. And a million scenarios like that. They are in the News of
the World every Sunday on every page. Normally involving footballers and
high profile gents with money... There is Wee Jane this time with 10 photos
on every page with her tits hanging out and provocative posses. Giving
crocodile tears., relating in detail every act of her dreadful rape. . The
difficulty is the police have to investigate. And the News of the Screws
get a million extra readers. In the case of what Clark is doing. I
really think it should not be shot down on face value. It is one of he
most difficult crimes to prove. And the reality is. It is one persons
word against the other. Unless the rapist has done something stupid like
beat her up.... very very hard to prove. My opinion. Well not made my
mind up. But seem to be coming down on the side of Ken. 3.5 years six
weeks, four hours and 22 seconds in jail is better than no jail. I see burn
the bra brigade are now moaning about the way rape is described.

Jimmy Dunn
Edinburgh
Scotland

http://www.visitlothians.co.uk/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimjdunn/

England thy beauties are tame and domestic
To one who has roved on the mountains afar
Oh! For the crags that are wild and magestic
The steep frowning glories of dark Lochnagar.

Losing His Touch

Ken Clarke must be getting past it else he would never have made the
accurate but utterly insensitive remarks he did on Victoria Derbyshire's
programme on R5 this morning.

Some rapes will carry longer sentences than others depending on the
aggravating and mitigating factors just as some robberies, some thefts, even
some murders carry longer sentences than others but to label some rapes as
being "less serious" shows a level of political naivety that Ken, in his
prime, would never have exhibited.

Defendants pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity already get a third
off their sentence, a policy which does concern me, but the suggestion is
that the discount should be raised to half. Their also seems to be a
suggestion in the wind that, instead of being released half way through a
custodial sentence to serve the second half on licence, prisoners should be
released after serving only a quarter of the sentence inside before being
released into the community.

I can understand why folks are so angry. If this piece is right and
currently the average sentence for rape is five years then these two
measures could reduce that to 7 or 8 months.

Of course the effects aren't quite as bad if we assume that most rapists
already plead guilty (which is pretty unlikely) because then the average
sentence for those convicted at trial would be 7.5 years because they
wouldn't be getting the discount but if that were the case then raising the
discount would not achieve the desired outcome of making more of 'em plead
guilty and avoid putting victims through the stress of a trial.

Sorry, Ken, this is a bad idea and you have made it even less acceptable by
the way you've handled the issue.

An Eye For An Eye

As I understand it the principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"
was an early attempt at stating that punishments for crimes should be
proportionate and therefore defined the maximum, not usual punishment that
should be inflicted on the culprit.

Whereas I have huge sympathy for the woman involved both for the blindness
inflicted on her but even more so in that society for the disfigurement that
must almost inevitably have resulted from the attack on her this retribution
seems to me to be utterly barbaric.

Far better to make the bastard and his family provide her with financial
support for the rest of her life to mitigate the consequences of his crime.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/13/iran-blind-criminal-acid

John Waghorne

An Educational Disconnect

Exam results, both GCSE and A-level, seem to have improved every year which
was said by the previous government to indicate how they had improved our
educational standards but I, for one, have never been happy about that
suspecting that what has really happened is that the exams have got easier.
Is a grade C GCSE still regarded as an O-level pass? If so then the
proportion of those reaching that grade sounds too high to be credible.

Maybe a better test of how good our schools really are is what skills their
pupils are found to have when they join the world of the employed or those
seeking employment and here we seem to have a disconnect.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13310246

Dirty Tricks?

Chris Huhne has certainly not endeared himself to many people with what I
reckon were childish, bad-tempered and certainly ill-judged comments about
people involved in the "no" campaign but this story does look like a
possible dirty trick to force him out.

Huhne denies the allegation and I have no reason to disbelieve him but in
the modern world of politics mud sticks and his party are going to be
embarrassed yet again.

If the timing of this story is very convenient I am wondering who benefits
from discrediting him now and possibly forcing him to fall on his sword.
The obvious candidates are the Tories in payment for some of his recent
comments about them but I reckon a better bet would be some of his senior
Libdem colleagues who might want to see the departure of an embarrassing
element from their ministerial presence without the need to actually sack
him.

If Huhne felt the need to stand down "for the good of the party" I reckon
Clegg might be quite relieved.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Chris-Huhne-Energy-Secretary-Denies-Allegation-He-Tried-To-Pass-On-Penalty-Points-For-Speeding/Article/201105215987812?lpos=Politics_Top_Stories_Header_3&lid=ARTICLE_15987812_Chris_Huhne_Energy_Secretary_Denies_Allegation_He_Tried_To_Pass_On_Penalty_Points_For_Speeding

RE: Lords Reform

John

>>However my personal view is that we should keep the Lords as a revising chamber and for it to be most effective in that role we need to keep the huge body of expertise and experience from many fields that sits on the cross benches.<<

It is not something that is much talked about north of the Border, or do many Scots really understand it, or even care to.   Up here it is looked upon like the Monarchy, a useless bunch of dysfunctional over privileged leeches who cannot get a real job.   But my basic understanding of is that it  is there like the American system, of checks and balance to the more excessive policies of government.   But as I also understand it really has not teeth.   Thus if a Government wants a bill through and they have the numbes to get it passed.   Through that bill goes.   In short I am paying tax to give money to a already over privileged  tosspot, and for the upkeep of a building that is wasted space.  .   For the world of me I cannot see what purpose it serves.   We already elect a government to deal with the business.  If we do not like that government we vote them out.   It should be abolished, the Lords that is, not the government.   You could use the building for a retirement home for retired LibDem politicians...It will fill overnite...  It will help to get some of our money back..Guffaw...Guffaw..Guffaw

Jimmy Dunn
Edinburgh
Scotland
 
http://www.visitlothians.co.uk/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimjdunn/
 
England thy beauties are tame and domestic
    To one who has roved on the mountains afar
         Oh! For the crags that are wild and magestic
               The steep frowning glories of dark Lochnagar. 
 
 

Lords Reform

The Lords can't go on as it is. I forget the exact number of members but
my thought when I heard it was that it made the Commons sound like a bunch
of people meeting for a discussion in their local.

If we are to reform the second chamber the first decision must surely be as
to its function. As I see it their really are only two options, a revising
chamber as now or a full-blown and powerful body with similar powers to the
Commons. If we go for the latter option, a fully party-political chamber,
then clearly all or virtually all of the members must be elected and we can
move on to discussing how that should be done and it makes sense that they
are elected on a different basis from MPs.

However my personal view is that we should keep the Lords as a revising
chamber and for it to be most effective in that role we need to keep the
huge body of expertise and experience from many fields that sits on the
cross benches.

We must certainly stop the practice that every PM elevates enough of his own
people to the House to ensure a majority for his own party and, insomuch as
there is to be a party political aspect to the membership then these should
be elected. However I do feel that the overtly party cohort should be kept
to a minimum.

And whatever way we go the last hereditary peers must go.

Scotland The Brave

The Scottish voting system was set up with the purpose of preventing the SNP ever getting an absolute majority and being able to hold a referendum on the issue of Scottish independence.   That device has now failed and the new SNP majority government in Scotland will be able to hold such a referendum during the next four years.

 

I hope the Scottish people decide to stay within the UK but I am sure that the anomalies within the current UK constitutional arrangements with NI, Scotland and Wales having various levels of autonomy from Westminster whereas England with its diverse regional character is still held under direct rule by London must change.   If Scotland goes its own way I think that issue will have to be tackled.

 

I think the very first political policy I supported when I must have been very young indeed was the old Liberal policy of turning the United Kingdom into a federal state and I still think that is the way to go.   Sadly no political party is even thinking along those lines.

 

 

A Waste Of Money?

The referendum to change the voting system to AV was defeated very
decisively. Even the most strident supporters of the change, those who
were throwing their toys out of the pram as it became more and more obvious
that they were going to lose have admitted that now the people have spoken
the issue is closed for a generation. Mind you, they still hope to let it
in by the back door via reforms to the House of Lords.

We do not need our elections rigged to give the politicians more power at
the expense of the voters but what we do need in the way of constitutional
reform is more referenda where the people decide the issue directly as they
have on this occasion.

Don't rig the system ask the people!

Tiger By The Tail

There's a lot of chatter that Cameron will have to offer Clegg a few concessions to keep the coalition intact.

 

Why?

 

Where  have the Libdems to go if they leave the coalition except to an almost certain electoral disaster at the resultant general election?   When they went into government alongside the Conservatives they grabbed the tiger by the tail and now they can't let go lest they be eaten by the voters.   Their only hope is to hang on until the next election when, if the economy has recovered, they can claim a share of the priase that should come to a government that has sorted out Labour's disastrous management of the economy.

 

In the meantime they are stuck with following the Tories wherever they may lead them.

 

Rather than expecting more influence on government policy they will have to be satisfied with crumbs from the Tory table.

 

The Libdems did not win last year's election but finished third having lost a couple of seats.   they are very much the third party in UK politics and today should have been an overdue reminder of that hard fact.

 

Taking A Beating

It was almost inevitable that the Libdems would take a beating in the various elections last night especially in English local authorities.   If one looks at the origins and history of the Libdems it becomes obvious that their core vote was small and that most of their support came from either disgruntled members of the two main parties or from voters who voted for them as the best way to keep out a candidate from one of the main parties  in constituencies where the Libdems had the best chance of overturning either a Tory or Labour majority.

 

The Libdems are, of course, a coalition in themselves as their membership either came from the Liberal party or the SDP which in turn was the right wing of the Labour party which felt it was driven out of that party when Foot took Labour so far to the left.

 

Inevitably once the Libdems entered a coalition with one of the two big parties a chunk of their support was going to disappear and, as their coalition was with the Tories, it's the former SDP wing which is thoroughly disenchanted and has either stayed at home and not voted or voted Labour where its heart really belongs.

 

There is another element, of course.   Junior parties in coalitions in the UK tend to be blamed for perceived failures of that coalition far more than do the senior partner.   After the Libdem - Labour coalition in the Scottish Parliament it was the Libdems who lost out in a major way in the next elections to that Parliament.   And last night Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalists, who were in coalition with Labour in the Welsh Assembly appear to have lost heavily.

 

Looking at the history of Westminster governments, whenever the old Liberals entered a coalition they were hammered in the subsequent general election.

 

By and large, Brits do not like coalitions.

 

Out To Vote

A pleasant morning for a stroll down to the polling station and no queues to wait in as the officials processed a steady stream of voters.   At mid-morning, of course, most were older, retired folks like me.   I expect those with jobs either called in on the way to work or will drop in afterwards.   Hopefully the turn out will be reasonable.

 

As I was voting in the referendum on AV I startled the official by asking if I should mark the "yes" and "no" options with a 1 and a 2 to express my preference.   It took him a couple of seconds to realise I was pulling his leg.

 

There was a joke buzzing around a couple of weeks ago which consoled the losing side that once their second preference was taken into account the referendum would end in a draw so there was no need to worry.

 

 

Certainly in recent days the academics have been suggesting that most of the claims the two campaigns have been spouting have little basis in reality and that, in fact, AV would make very little difference to outcomes.   If they are right then why are we wasting money on a referendum?

 

 

The Road To Damascus

The Syrian government's "Damascine moment" appears to have been a revelation that the only way to survive with their power intact is to crush the opposition movement.   They are going to follow the Libyan model rather than the Egyptian one.

 

I have no idea how successful in the longer term that strategy may be but for now one question is when do we start bombing them as in Libya.   The answer is, of course, that we don't.

 

Pressure on Syria will have to come from other Arab states and things don't move very quickly in that part of the world yet a democratic Egypt could be hugely influential in the Middle East and after this year's elections there we may see a very powerful force for reform emerging.

 

 

 

Honest Ed

On Wednesday's "Today" programme Ed Miliband was asked why, if Labour were so keen on AV, they didn't introduce it while they were in office.   He replied that it was because they had large majorities and didn't need it to keep the Tories out.

 

And this is at the root of the argument on both sides.   Your party's perceived advantage or

disadvantage is what determines whether or not you support AV.

 

 

Ian Tomlinson

An inquest jury has concluded that he was unlawfully killed in a very strong verdict. I am not sure what standard of proof is used to reach such a verdict but I suspect the bar is pretty high, maybe even as high as for a conviction in a criminal trial.

The next step is for the DPP to review the case to see if the police officer involved, Simon Harwood, should be prosecuted and I hope he decides that a prosecution is the right course.

The guidelines for the CPS lay down a two-stage process for the decision to prosecute. The first decision is as to whether or not there is sufficient evidence to offer a better than 50 - 50 chance of a conviction and the CPS usually want a substancially better chance than that. Only if the evidence is deemed to be sufficient to give a good chance of a conviction does the "public interest" test come into play and at this stage the CPS may decide that prosecution is not in the public interest.

In the Tomlinson case I think the guidelines are inadequate. Because of the nature of the events surrounding his death a prosecution of the police officer is clearly very much in the public interest and I believe that prosecution should take place unless the evidence is very clearly inadequate. We need a jury to decide on Harwood's guilt or innocence.

Huhne Must Go!

Chris Huhne has, it appears, mounted yet another rather venemous attack on Cameron over the AV vote and this time during a cabinet meeting.

Whatever the outcome of this vote I see no way Huhne can remain in his job after his repeated fits of childish behaviour towards those who disagree with him. He has stepped so far away from "collective responsibility" that his remaining in government is utterly unacceptable.

The problem is, of course, that in practice only Clegg can sack him and he would have real trouble finding another Libdem to take his place. And so this ludicrous coalition will no doubt stagger on for a few months until the Libdem portion of it collapses in total anarchy.

Who Lies Wins

The campaign on the issue of changing the voting system to AV has been full of lies or, at least, full of allegations that the "no" campaign have been lying. Let me say right now that I am opposed to the change and I will be voting "no" on Thursday so you are quite clear where I stand.

I don't think AV will help extremist parties or even moderate small parties like the Greens and UKIP but it will undoubtedly help the Libdems and I think it has now become obvious that there is a feeling amongst senior Libdems that the main purpose of AV is to reduce the chances of the Conservatives ever being able to form a government again leaving the field open to a semi-permanent "progressive" coalition (whatever "progressive" may mean) of Libdems and Labour. How will the voters ever get rid of them?

GOT HIM!

I didn't really intend to start this UK blog off with what is mainly an American story but it is so clearly the biggest news item of the day or even the month that it just can't be ignored. I reckon this could do for American morale what a royal wedding did for the UK. It probably won't make any practical difference to everyday life but folks will feel better for knowing it has happened.

I remember thinking just after the events of September 11th that catching OBL was going to be a job for the intelligence services and special forces and in the end I was right. Whether or not somebody snitched on him we don't know and probably never will but it's congratulations to the intelligence community and those American soldiers who finally got him. This is good news for the entire civilised world.