…grayblog…

Category: current affairs

  • He cudnae take nae more

    James Doohan, RIP.

  • Unbelievable nonsense 2

    Teachers want to replace the word "failed" with "deferred success" when marking pupils’ work and papers.
    WTF again?? Does that mean that, when the guard on your morning train tells you that the "train has failed" (I’ve always loved that phrase), what he in fact means is that the rolling stock is merely suffering from deferred success. Genius.

  • Unbelievable nonsense

    I’ve just watched Channel 4 News, in which they revealed that they had "found the shop where the London bombers bought their rucksacks!"
    Cut to exterior shot of a branch of Blacks outdoor-type shop and aerated reporter breathlessly telling us that this "reflected a pattern of the bombers buying what they needed over the counter" (I paraphrase). The reporter helpfully went on to say that a representative from the store chain had told reporters that they had withdrawn the type of rucksack used by the bombers.
    WTF? Firstly, do the media expect us to think that the rucksacks were especially shipped in from Afghanistan for the purpose of bombing? Secondly, do they think that we are somehow going to be reassured by the fact that the particular rucksack has been withdrawn? I mean, clearly it will now be much harder for a bomber to carry out a similar attack if they can’t get that special bomber’s bag.
    The reporter went on to tell us that the bombers also bought plastic containers from a nearby garden centre ("for less than a pound!"), but by that point I was fed up and left the room before I put a boot through the TV screen.
    I used to expect good things from Channel 4 News. Clearly I should expect only Daily Mail-style sensationalism now.

  • Thought for the day

    Poached shamelessly from 2lmc:

    If cities are surrounded by high walls against invaders, that’s a sign that the people are weak and afraid. It’s when you see a city without walls, that you know the people who live there are strong.

  • Just as well…

    …that this happened today and not yesterday, otherwise the Olympics would probably not be coming to London.

    EDIT: when I wrote that, the reports were of a power surge that had left a few people slightly injured. Now a full picture is emerging that is much more disturbing. My cousin and several friends work in the area targeted by the bombers. I’m really quite worried and the reports of eyewitnesses give little encouragement.
    FURTHER EDIT: all safe and well.
    ADDITIONAL EDIT: the media keep talking about the low levels of fatality. But I can’t help thinking that that is optimistic. Surely the triage operation at the scene will have left the dead laying where they were whilst the efforts were focused on the injured. It’s hard to imagine what the bombers hoped to achieve by this.
    LATER: My fears have been realised with reports giving the number of dead as between 33 and 41. I suspect that figure may rise. As for the reaction, I think that Ken Livingstone got it right by saying that this was an indiscriminate attack on all Londoners. George Galloway got it wrong – many people might agree with his opinion, but to voice it today is distasteful and shows a lack of compassion for the bereaved and injured.
    LINK: With so many bloggers in the world now, there is often one of our number present at a major news event. Justin survived and recorded his experience.

  • News

    I’ve just heard that London has won the Olympic bidding process – and how did I hear? Not from the BBC – their server has given up the ghost. Not from Ananova or Reuters, who haven’t updated their pages with the news. I heard from LinkBunnies – officially first with the news.
    Anyway, well done to the London bid team. I’m not sure if it is all a good thing or a bad thing – it’s probably good. I also think that I’ll start planning to be abroad whilst it is taking place.

    EDIT: This Isn’t London comes out of hibernation to list the major new infrastructure projects the announcement brings forward:

    145,000 estate agents have been mobilised in a four-mile radius around Stratford to add a zero to every house price they can find

  • Observation

    Tim Yeo says that there are too many potential candidates for the Tory leadership. The BBC estimates that there are "at least eight candidates". One commentator in the Independent at the weekend put the figure at eleven.
    Under party rules, in order to stand for the leadership a candidate must present a petition bearing the signatures of twenty MPs. MPs may not sign the petition of more than one candidate. There are currently 197 Tory MPs. 11 candidates. Do the maths.

    (Incidentally, I have reams of political writing that I’m waiting to unleash on you – albeit mostly in my head rather than on my hard drive – but I haven’t got round to it due to being too busy and distracted lately. Topics include the EU constitutional treaty, the British EU rebate, the future of the euro, the G8 meeting and protests, the separation of church and state and road pricing. More on all this stuff, and more, over the coming weeks.)

  • Road pricing

    Am I the only one struggling to see a positive benefit overall from a price-neutral introduction of road pricing? The arguments are pretty well documented in this BBC article – it seems to me that it would only move the problem, not remove it.
    The only way to effectively reduce car use is to make it signifcantly more expensive, but that would be so unpopular with the electorate and would also have such a negative impact on the economy that no government is ever likely to introduce such a policy. The marginal increases in costs that we’ve seen over the last couple of years as fuel costs have increased has not really had that much of an impact – it needs a substantial increase in costs to really hit home.

  • Work in Progress

    Work in Progress column by Peter Day. Definitely worth reading and watching.

  • Wild flower survey

    The new edition of the Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain has been published. Whilst there are some positive news points there, it generally makes fairly dismal reading – a large number of plants that were familiar during my father’s childhood are now very much threatened. Hopefully, the list can be used as a tool to improve conservation measures, as well as directing research to areas where it is most needed (a quick scan of the list reveals that our understanding of montane species is pretty poor, for example).