´óÏó´«Ã½

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THE MIXTURE AS BEFORE

Much consternation over mixed wards - none over mixed schools. Great promises for correcting the former - continuing absence of concern with the latter.

Yet the male Ape is seriously deflected from all things cerebral if he is beaten by a bunch of females. Indeed, the male will even eschew schooling ON THE GROUNDS THAT IT IS CLEARLY GIRL STUFF.

Oh well, by the time he has dropped out and lived out a few nihilistic decades, at least his ravaged body will be housed in a single-sex ward.

Success!

On the speed cameras I am firmly against the coalition action in this case as it would seem likely deaths will result and it should have been done via a trial to see whether as they claim deaths would not increase as falls were not due to speed cameras as some propose.

If they are wrong then I wonder whether Hammond will help clear up after a serious road accident.

If they are right then all well and good but this seems like an unnecessary gamble with lives.

Miliband Major is entitled to a party and being a politician to invite whom he pleases (I know zip about the motivation for the party) but it should not be lost on Labour voters that he appears to be certain to win but NOT because of his ideas but because of his support.

He should be entitled to win on merit.

The country should view him cautiously because people who come in as "shiny bright people" with a lot of cosmetic positioning and little genuine respect for the actual democratic process are still remembered and people will see him as Blair-lite.

Prescott the most tribal of Labour politicians is titled but not really entitled to speak for the Labour Party because its ideological drift has been so great that it is no longer clear whether this is Old Labour or New Labour or reactionary conservatives in disguise who achieve nothing on social mobility and resort to class war rhetoric when it chooses them

A good piece on the ground zero mosque last night and whilst I suppose it was the responsibility of the guests to make their cases and not for NN to be partisan I would have liked more ´óÏó´«Ã½ objective focus on the facts and discrepancies.

For instance it is a proposal for a cultural centre and not a mosque.

Secondly some made arguments on the basis of actions around Auschwitz but in fact as Feldman, HuffPost, says :

"Not only is there a Catholic center for prayer and understanding within several blocks of the former Nazi gas chambers and torture cells at Auschwitz -- not only was it put there with the blessing of Catholic leadership after the Carmelite controversy -- but, and this is key: it is a wonderful place that achieves peaceful outcomes commensurate with those the planners of Park51 have proposed to bring to Manhattan."

Your pro culture guest was quite right that there are the awful tones of bigotry and implicit white supremacism do seem to be present and that is a terrible shame that helps the violent extremists of al Qaeda and the far right to boot.

You only have had to read the posters on this page over a prolonged period to see how innuendo and baseless assertions often replace hard facts but still carry the mindless on on their crusade when it comes to race and "smaller radical parties".

Why is Mexico so under reported (taking account of the very severe threat against journalists on the ground) when you consider that it is in a near civil war status and is having to reconsider its strategy on drugs?

Meanwhile if the coalition is to be truly radical and would like a feather in its cap when it comes to the "war on drugs" then perhaps it should consider having a long and detailed inquiry into what the probable impacts of changed strategies would be including the tabboo legalisation issue.

I think a chance was missed to "put the arm" on the banks and make sure that money laundering activities in the international markets became impossible as they took state help after the economic crash.

On the Deepwater Horizon spill how can it be in dispute whether or not there is a 22 mile plume beneath the surface as I can't see instruments or cameras having a blip for 22 miles?

Its either there or it isn't.

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Gango

I haven"t really followed in any great detail the recent Miliband story but I remember at least one of the neurosurgeons I used to work for that he wasn't a very good health minister.

Extract from e-mail to Tim Ashton, Lancashire County Council member of cabinet for highways and transport.

I know full well that I have given you some stick on transport policy over the recent past, but I agree with you fully over the retention of some fixed speed cameras. In my view fixed speed cameras are a far better method of controlling traffic speeds at potential accident black spots than pollution generating traffic calming. Furthermore, drivers not familiar with our area can use them as the equivalent of a fixed distance signal on the railway approaching accident black spots.

From observation, it would appear that 80% of camera sites have no camera installed even though most average motorists may not have the eyesight or observation skills to identify this. I believe that spare parts for the cameras are no longer available and therefore the number of serviceable cameras may be significantly reducing by natural wastage. I must admit that I have no sympathy for anyone caught by a fixed camera in their regularly travelled local area, perhaps they should be charged with driving without due care and attention also.

I do however object to the use of mobile van speed cameras, especially in places like Gisburn Cotes on the A59 on a Saturday afternoon when the only real hazard ( the abattoir ) is closed. It is patently obvious that such vans are primarily aimed at revenue generation. It is perhaps the case that said parked speed camera van is the only actual hazard on the stretch of road it claims to be making safer.

Speed cameras. Over recent years we have been made to think that speed is really the only thing that matters as far as improving driving safety is concerned, so trying to improve all round driving skills has taken second place. Secondly, the latest (2008) Dept for Transport figures for causes of accidents show failure to look properly as responsible for 37% of all accidents while breaking the speed limit was the cause in only 5% of all accicdents and driving too fast for the conditions caused 9%. So demonising speed, almost to the exclusion of all other causes, is short sighted. Of course cameras have a vital use in certain places but I would prefer drivers to be looking at the road in an intelligent way rather than worrying about whether they are doing precisely 70 or 75mph and so on. Driving is such a skilled and complicated process that we need to take a wider view than just "speed kills". The recently retired Chief Constable of Durham was wonderfully robust about this when he refused to have cameras in his County and the way speed camera campaigners attacked him by distorting the figures when he retired was unhelpful. His calm and measured response was a masterpiece of knowing the facts and not being pushed by pressure groups.

WOULD THAT WESTMINSTER WERE ABOUT LIFE AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE (#3)

The instant switch off, speed camera initiative, is akin to the instant dangerous dogs act. TO BE SEEN TO BE DOING STUFF.

Doing stuff, when stuff needs doing, in the simplistic mind, means 'something has been done'. The fact that it is probably less than effective does not matter - the party leader (and his party) have gained brownie points.

If they had trialled the switch-off, there would have been no impact - no points collected - whether proved effective or not. That won't do.

Westminster party politicians are not selected for ability.

#9

Mods + whoever bothers to read my posts

I'm afraid I've made a substantial error @9. It wasn't D Milliband but Alan Milburn. DM was the Foreign Secretary under the previous government.

Taking pride in doing things

Having popped into the Anglesea Arms i noticed an add by the Pride Brewery saying 'Take pride in whatever you do'.

I wonder how many NN bloggers can honestly say that they are proud about what they' ve been up to in the last 24 hours, let's say.

I know from my own observations that a lot of people just go to their 9 to 5 jobs to earn their pennies without taking all that much care, never mind pride. That's how too often things tend to go wrong, I'm sure.

I was going to talk about with regard to the oil spill in America but have left it till now.

mim



I was going

PARTY GAMES AND FUN

No political party (kneesup) is complete without that surreal James G Brown YouTube in which he tried to out-wacky Max Headroom.

The Scottish Play

maybe the usa now understands why people in the uk got enraged with the usa as a blatant base of support for ira terrorism where in Boston you could openly buy 'Kill Brits' T Shirts?

where was the campaign to hunt out any hint of impropriety then?

If the idea is to cut down speed, here are two suggestions. Neither will do much for the idiots who really want to speed, but it will do a lot for the majority who exceed the limits by only a few mph. Though it should be remembered that the speed limit is a misnomer - it is actually the maximum safe speed for the area.

The first one is to have more of those lights which remind you how fast you are going, or remind you of the speed limit.

The other one is to do with the Speed Choice course I went on when caught exceeding the limit by a few mph. If you volunteer to go on one of the courses (not after an offence) you get 5% off your Road Tax for 5 years - a bit like an MOT for drivers.

The other law I would change is driving without tax and insurance - car is confiscated + 120 hours clearing litter from the road.

Boilerbill #18

You would appear to have missed the simple fact that so many speed limits are now set for quasi-political reasons ( not safety ) that most reasonable people don't actually take them that seriously anymore. The trouble is that when a speed limit is actually valid on safety grounds it is not clearly identifiable in the overall " blanket " nature of speed limits in general these days. That's why fixed cameras ( even empty ones ) are so valid if properly used, in an ideal world we would switch to vehicle interactive warning signs, but the country is skint due to spending on dubious safety measures like traffic calming etc and therefore we simply can't afford them !

well done, Laura, I know it was your first NN but although a little austere and a bit Miss Whiplash you are on top of your brief and an able deputy to Emily...wonder what Jeremy thinks...anyway where is he?

PERVERSITY RULES - MOTORING IS NO EXCEPTION (#18)

I read that 6% of drivers are uninsured, and that within that sub-set of drivers lurk a high proportion of law-breakers of every kind. I also read that there is to be a 'crack-down' this year. Yeah right.

I know we have no money to spend, but we do have a surfeit of under-used oldies. Let them quarter the streets and report any car that deviates from the norm - license disc, number plates etc. They could receive a small fee for any 'hit'. Self financing! With access to an internet database, they could even do their own primary screening.

And if that won't work, something else low-tech perhaps?

#19

What are these 'quasi-political reasons'? Is it to appease local people who do not want more accidemts in their village? Is it to cut down accidents on a narrow road? I defy most people to spot all the potential dangers on a road unless they use it frequently at all times of day. In most cases what you call a 'reasonable driver' is one who does not see the dangers.

My other suggestion is that you read what people write and try looking for irony.

I have been following the development of potential Toll Roads ever since during the 1990s when I deduced that road safety was being used as an excuse to obstruct any alternatives. All three main parties are keen to demonstrate just how green they are and combating Global Warming. However, they all appear to support the continued introduction of traffic calming, ( mini-roundabouts etc. ) which increases carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50%, likewise 20 Mph Zones ( without humps or chicanes ) which add to emissions by 10%. The nastier potentially toxic pollutants linked with Asthma are doubled by traffic calming.

Getting back to Toll Roads, take the Ribble Valley for example, there were once two national speed limit routes into Preston, the direct A59 and through Longridge. The Longridge route now has a 40 Mph speed limit when it was safe to do 50 on most of the route. Similarly, the old A59 alternative route to the Whalley-Clitheroe by-pass has had the limit cut to 40 from 60, and many 40 sections have been reduced to an often ridiculous 30. I suspect that the buses struggle to keep time legally even though running on a 1960s timetable.

It would appear that the " Corporate Nazi's " in their quest to obstruct all alternatives to toll roads " dangled the carrot " to many on 40 Mph sections of road that they would be able to park their cars on the road at night without lights. Of course the ten bob fat cats all jumped at the invitation to perhaps revalue their house up by at least 10K in order that they could borrow even more on their credit cards. I believe that there are some people going around ( buying houses to trade ) deliberately stirring up the council to get the speed limit cut in order that they can make a quick buck when they sell up soon afterwards.

If it was safe to do 40 on a road in the 1960s with all sorts of stuff floating around with only 40% braking efficiency ( the legal minimum is now 50% ), Now most cars fly through the MoT with over 70% efficiency. Truck and buses have also had advances in braking technology, particularly the age old problem of Brake Fade, however, the one greatest advance in road safety since the 1960s must be without question Radial Tyres.

There is simply no technical justification whatsoever for speed limits to have been reduced from those of the 1960s, and in any case if the safety fascists were genuine ( not just there to increase profit for big business) we would have annual eyesight testing for all drivers by now. The number of HGV accidents has significantly reduced since the new regular medical over 45( part of which is a pretty stringent eye test), despite the fact that 90% of HGV drivers routinely disregard the 40 Mph speed limit for A roads, despite often working to a clearance of six inches on the wing mirrors at up to 100 Mph closing speed.

I was interested to discover that only 1 in 5 of 40% respondents to a council survey actually had concerns about the speed of traffic in their area ?

Why is George Monbiot so sanctimonious?

By all means keep a few speed cameras at known accident black-spots, as originally intended by the Major government back in the 90's, but the infestation of our roads by these devices must be curbed.
Actually, the problem is not the cameras, but the lowered limits on so many of our roads since the ridiculous 'speek kills' mantra was introduced.
There are roads around here that for years were accident-free at 40 and 50 mph, but now are reduced to 30, which feels ludicrously slow.
So I welcome the coalition's withdrawal of funds. Traffic speeds will increase, but they will only return to the 'natural' speed of the road.

There would appear to be a rumour floating around facebook ( Scottish poster ) that Charles Kennedy and five other Lib-Dems are about to defect and join the Labour Party ?

HE IS THE SAME WHEN IN LIZARD MODE (#25)

It's a lizard thing.

#20

Jeremy's probably fly fishing, reading books and going to the movies, stevie. Or perhaps he's writing another book himself. I wonder what the subject might be.

It would appear that traffic calming has become a TB infested sacred cow for the eco-fascist leaning groups who were originally and still push for its introduction. It would appear that the eco-fascists cling to traffic calming in the belief that divers will be " irritated " out of their cars and use the train, at least a few anyway. If anyone had deliberately set out to design death traps for cyclists its doubtful whether they could have made a better job of it than traffic calming. I believe the Green Party have now opted for the " less pregnant " option of 20 Mph speed limits but still fail to admit their original mistake.


Take the greens position on reducing speed limits, a recent government study found that by taking measures to ensure everyone stuck to the current speed limits would increase CO2 emissions by 3%. The 40 Mph National Speed Limit the greens were pushing would not only lead to extra pollution but cripple the rural economy by putting transport back into the 1930s. Since the 1930s and up to 1974 local councils wisely spent a fortune bringing many stretches of rural roads up to a standard where they were safe to travel at up to the then limit of 70. Fair enough you could theoretically save a small percentage of fuel enforcing the motorway speed limit, but cutting the rural speed limit will give the Corporate Nazi's running the Post Office the excuse they need for more rural post office closures. Of course any green party supporters will claim unintended consequences when their whole outlook is based on flawed science and quasi-religion.


Eco-fascist groups like Friends of the Earth have know about at least traffic calming since the mid 1990s when I wrote to all of them pointing out the extra pollution generated by traffic calming. FoE failed to reply so I rang their London office and was given loads of abuse. If only Pinocchio's nose had been cut for timber then we could have built " Jerusalem " in England's green and pleasant land. ( not the virtual west bank financial apartheid based segregation of the population we now appear to be heading for ) A little hypocrisy creeping in from Monbiot about saving a few lives when his mates have plans to reduce the UK population to 30 million by unspecified means ?

/news/uk-11044315

It would appear that drivers.com has been put under " corporate pressure " to change the publication date of article 130 from 1996 to 2006 when I first commented on my original and has only recently changed it. However, the proof that said article 130 was published in 1996 can be found in the " related comments " of the following link.

Jeremy's busy filming University Challenge up in Manchester.......when is he coming back to Newsnight?? Or is he going to be taking over Question Time? :o)

'And what about plans for a David Miliband party? His website offers tips on who to invite, detailed timings and who to invite.'

Guessing who gets invited matters a lot, even before one gets to hearing what they might bring to the party.

I can see how that might resonate in some quarters.

What's needed is another new survey to discuss.

Just make sure the 'right' folk are invited on to interpret it for us.

PREDATORY CRIME - THEM AND US? (#31 link)

Being unafraid of the pointy finger that might call me 'racist' (I am, in fact, Differencist) I want to wonder, out load, if those among us who see US as 'different', thereby find it easier to prey on us with scams, swindles, cons etc, that lead to severe distress in inoffensive innocent victims?

Now that the self-inflicted wound of PC is festering beyond our ability to staunch the puss, I suggest we recognise Differencism AS A FACT OF LIFE, and admit we have made a crass mistake in governance of these isles.

Perhaps Professor Winston, and a spare scanner or two, might show the country that DIFFERENCE speaks directly to the animal brain, and PERMITS PREDATION without a second thought. After all: is that not self evident from the alacrity with which WE bomb Johnnie Foreigner, almost JUST FOR BEING FOREIGN?

Does not the Bible say: 'Verily - cursed is he who invites the viper to his bosom while stamping on its tail'? No? perhaps I should try that other book?

Oh - it's all getting unbelievably perverse.

he's probably writing a book on....flyfishing!

33

he seems bored with NN? Might do him good to do something else?

#36

He's already written one. Do you think Jeremy might be writing no 2 now?

#38

Perhaps Jeremy's fed up with some of the things going on at Newsnight and is simply having a break from it though I'm sure he's doing other interesting things. He does seem to be a man to be wasting his time indulging in boredom and crap.

Syria and Iran on war alert.......

@ Mim #39 - He has a 100 hour screen time annual contract with the ´óÏó´«Ã½. He's on his holidays and we all miss him :o(

#41

I should imagine, Mistress76uk, that if some of the male bloggers miss him then it's only for lack of having the opportunity to have a go at him or to undermine him. In fact, as I suspect a few of them, or at least one, may have access to what goes on at Newsnight. It's a shabby state of affairs, I'm afraid.

mim

OH DEAR

If war breaks out in the region, Israel might have to occupy all Palestinian land as an emergency measure - just temporarily of course.

CLEGG GETS OUT OF PRAM - DID QUESTIONER FIND HIS G*-SPOT?

Against a background reference to 'cuts' (that lead to job losses) Clegg was challenged about securing HIS job. He was stung to sarcasm - "Well thank you for such a helpful question." It appears diddums feels he deserves questions that are 'helpful'. Not the protocol - surely?

Nick went for coalition and 'five years fixed', rather than staying true to his party-principles. That looks a lot like putting job security first to me. Unprincipled.

Is the G*-word GUILT? Methinks he did protest too much.

Gang of One, you stated:
"If they are right then all well and good but this seems like an unnecessary gamble with lives."

There is a good deal of evidence if you look, to show that cameras offer a distraction effect, and cause some drivers to avoid them by taking less suitable routes and exposing others to risk as a result.

Add to this that for ten years, all eggs have been in the speed camera basket, while 93% of the contributory causes of accidents remained unaddressed (DfT Stats 19 figures) there is clearly a case to be made that speed cameras have been an experiment which has cost lives.

Now that the DfT have been forced to admit that they misrepresented the success of cameras, it is important that their use is examined, irrespective of the expenditure on them to see if they should be retained.
I believe not - but feel free to search for the links I have hinted at!

Just watched the safety camera slot on iPlayer.

I was interested in the pros and cons, being shared and, if necessary, debated.

What I got was a ´óÏó´«Ã½ interviewer/chairperson content to let facts be trotted out willy-nilly without any attempt to confirm or deny them, and more often than not siding with one interviewee by either ignoring clear obsessive interruption or actually setting up straw men for him.

Bad driving kills, and speed is a factor. But like so much in life, and more so with the black and white ratings obsessed ´óÏó´«Ã½, things are much more nuanced.

It's hard to get one's head around how a static box stops a drunk or non-insured driver. My experience is that the location of these things are well known to the local roadsters, so a steady stream of tax revenue from some poor slobs doing a smidge over the limit through staring at the road over the speedo (as Mr. Monbiot is clearly obsessed with, and optically evolved to do) as opposed to a G-reg Astra going from 90mph to 40mph at intervals is a clear lack of priorities. And while the stories from victims' Mums (no Dads?) are heartbreaking, sticking a box at every point a bozo mounts a pavement seems a poor use of resource.

None of that was developed or explored. What we got was hectoring and rampant misuse of the 'what do you say to..' technique trying to provoke a silly course of argument with a clearly rigged emotional standpoint as its basis.

laura goes red to relax? better.

Why have road deaths been going down year on year? Is it because cars are better built now, so we are more likely to survive accidents and pedestrians get less damaged when we hit them?

As usual we have a mass of people who say what they think won't work, but very few saying what will work.

FINANCIAL OPENNESS

'Only those who have something to hide and are afraid of the truth act in secrecey' - paraphrase from the link below.

The President of the USA, Barack Obama, speaks against secret funds to political parties during elections, including those coming from abroad.

An example of a delusionary optical illusion:

/news/uk-11046562

Conclusion: a piece of wood is not likely to tear the travellers to pieces and eat them up. Enjoy your holidays or work, or whatever if you're planning to go across the Channel to the continent, especially by private boats.

As there has been quite a lot of talk about dogs on these pages, let me tell you that one real one has just helped itself to my blueberry muffin and all the other ones, obviously smelling the delicious bakery 'product' keep joining me hoping for a treat.

mim

wonder who will be the first to throw eggs at Cleggie....?

#52

Not me. I can think of a few others, though, that I would be more than happy if eggs, tomatoes or some other staining produce were thrown at them.

#53

Personally, i' m into good, common sense, friendly, honest and democratic race and international relations. Naive? Perhaps, but things do change.

Eggs/egg me on I could be on

I wouldDent my eggs

MY Lovely Pig, slaughtered her, crying as we speak

willing 2 give have/half of her

she is unclean, (smelly)

Wash her in the Flood

Feed yer Bairns

Watch/clock the Rain it does rain

I met 4 Polish builders from Cracow today for the first time and asked them how they got on with the English they worked for. Very well, they said.

#56 addendum

As for myself, I do have mixed feelings because of a few very bad eggs I've had the misfortune of having anything to do with in this country. Knowing them, they probably assume that, in fact, I've been 'lucky' to have met them.

This made me laugh....

Wait for all the neocon's and Israeli's leaping up and down, Iran has just built and ceremoniously unveiled the equivalent of a V1 !

/news/world-middle-east-11052023

A Classic Example of Corporate Nazi Britain in Action, perhaps its just a symptom of association with the EU Fourth Reich ?

PEACE BASED ON A DE-MILITARISED PALESTINIAN STATE. (Netanyahu)

Well - Yahweh was always a partisan god. No change there then.

So much for the Age of Fairness!

Verily - it's all going awfully well.

I'm disgusted!

At the very basic humane, life and death, level all human beings are equal but no, bloggers, you do not share equal places in my heart, affection or respect for what some of you are about, both ethically and intellectually, and love wise.

No apology offered.

#65

sad to be relying on the telly to keep oneself going
I'm delighted not to be your next door neighbour

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67 Should have Been/Bean 69 eh?

#66 addendum

By the way, Mademoiselle, what is it that you're investigating in the guise of Mr Holmes?

It sounds to me like you need to investigate your own head and life. They don't sound to me that healthy.

#67

Useful idiots guide, eh? Perhaps they're in the process of wisening up? That's my hope, anyway, beany.

My name isnt Beany

Its all cummin out now, you have got my idiot guide

hand it over/spill the beens

are u 70? 2 young for me

#70

Over the moon you agree we are not compatible age wise. From what you've been writing and the way you write, as far as I am concerned, we are not at all compatible, in any way, mr has been.

Suicide Vest on Button is just ear

I'm a has bean