Royal Mail given licence to open Mail to target advertising!

Ha!  That title got your attention!

 

Somebody explain to me what the difference is between Royal Mail opening your post (which is a shocking thought) with this, which should also be seen as shocking.

 

In the privacy of your own home, you should be able to look at anything you want on the internet (the usual depravities aside, natch!) without fear of being snooped on or your viewing habits used for advertising.

 

SH

Is it over for Liverpool?

I notice that in the Regeneration and Renewal Top 100 Regeneration Projects of 2009, not a single one is in Liverpool.

 

Manchester has 4 and Birmingham has 8.  7 of the top 10 alone are in London worth billions!

 

So - does this mean Liverpool has been regenerated?  Job done!  Nothing left to do!

 

Or, does it seem a little worrying that the City doesn't appear to have either a plan for another large-scale regeneration project or been able to persuade the local regen quangos that there need to be some priorities drawn up and developed!

 

SH

Is this a perfect riot, or a riot of perfection?

Banks 'concerned' over model riot

This has to be one of the funniest things I have read in ages - the visions of catwalks of models all wading in at each other.  The Police using gas canisters of Jade Goody and P Diddy's new perfume to scatter the crowd.  Riot Shields with Diamante lining....

 

Now we know why there is a fashion police....

 

SH

what value £30?

According to the Manchester Evening News this morning (itself is a paradox....) 1 in 4 motorists would rather pay £30 than watch a 15 minute video about road safety, after being caught driving without a seat belt.

 

Ignoring the obvious point that £30 could be worth your LIFE!! 

 

£30 is obviously worth less than fifteen minutes - and you know, I would probably choose to pay £30 as well. (I can't drive anyway, so I don't want any comments about going without a seat belt - if I drive at all, I'm sure the fine would be a lot bigger than £30 and I would always clunk click)

 

But in many ways £30 is so little compared with time which is very precious.  Shockingly a quarter of people feel that they can buy their way out of responsibility.  But by having a figure as low as £30, then we are validating that opportunity.  a punishment needs to feel like a punishment, otherwise it is seen as an opportunity cost.

 

£100 and a point on your licence, versus a 15min video strikes me as a much more effective tool.

 

SH

 

 

Why politics has a dirty meme

I might call myself a sad political geek, but I never expected to be turned down for a bank account because of it....

 

This Coffee House article reveals some very interesting behaviour by Royal Bank of Scotland who have started asking new account applicants for their political affiliations.

 

While advocates of our liberties (rightly), and others who want to say "Labour-ridden conspiracy!" (wrongly) jump up and down it is still probably just a cock-up.

 

But let's examine that cock-up. 

 

Someone in RBS designed that questionnaire

Someone decided they had to comply with the FSA guidelines on fraud

Someone decided to interpret the section on "politically exposed persons" (which is supposed to mean those who are members of a internationally-recognised corrupt government) as being a question about whether someone is a member of the Labour/Tory/Lib Dem/whatever party

 

Someone has a very low opinion of political parties

Someone's bosses, and whatever checks and balances are in place, also allowed that to happen

 

What we are seeing here is the continuation of the Meme that those who make a decision to participate in our political system are in some-way dodgy or corrupt or simply suspect - even if you've never delivered a leaflet in your life, but have simply joined a political party.

 

SH

 

 

LMSOAFA - this would never have happened with an Elected Regional Assembly

The key phrase the Government is using is that they made a decision "on behalf of the regions".  To me this opens up a whole can of worms of unfinished business about the devolution to the regions.  The Government has ruled out access to hundreds of millions of pounds because we don't make these decisions, but similarly have few mechanisms for making our displeasure known without sabre rattling.

 

FT article here

 

To be fair, even the Conservative Green Paper has many good things in it, but none of them would have answered the technical mess this has created...

 

SH

words of wisdom

"[Conservatives] have absolutely no reason, none, to trust our word or our actions at this point."
-- RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Harriet "chatter"

A couple of things are beginning to make sense.

 

The recent increase in "chatter" about Harriet had me wondering what was going on.  Then today I saw this:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23646854-details/Treasury+minister+Yvette+emerges+as+leadership+choice/article.do

 

Now, on a separate note, several people have mentioned to me that Yvette would be a much better contender for leader of the party than Ed but there's no way she would go up against him given how much he wants it.

 

So - what if people are constructing a need to push her towards standing in a way that was seen as not in conflict with Ed Balls?  I'm not saying she knows about it, or even agrees with it - but it would help explain the sudden increase in Harriet's column inches.

 

Of course, I disagree with any speculation about a new Leader at this point in time.......

SH

during these economic times.... how dare they!!!!!! ;-)

"[John Denby (cumbrian farmer) ] will also build a roundhouse barn at his High Lowscales Farm in the Duddon Valley to house his herd of Japanese Wagyu cattle – regarded as gourmet delicacy and served in his restaurants.

The herd are the first to be reared in England and were born using embryos and surrogate mothers. The calves are pampered with massages, classical music and local beer according to Japanese tradition, which is supposed to produce extra tasty meat."

When people are landing on the dole, look at the corruption of capital.....

is this anti-NW bias?

I'm currently doing a round-up of the work of think-tanks at the moment, and the inescapable man-of-the-hour is Philip Blond, who's work on a book Red Tory which is due out later this year is already seen as one of the political events of the year, because David Cameron is said to be basing a lot of his philosophy on the Progressive Conservatism that Blond is now "rediscovering"/espousing/creating.
The Progressive Conservative project is run by Demos, and I think it's interesting to note the prevalence of Demos in the run up to Tony Blair's 1997 election victory and their apparent resurface after years of silence (remember Perry 6?).
However, something about the situation has really offended me. Below is a link to Philip Blond's profile on the Demos website:
http://www.demos.co.uk/people/phillipblond

Fair enough, except the next link is his profile on the University of Cumbria's website:
http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/AboutUs/Faculties/FacultyofTheArts/Ourschools/Humanities/Humanities%20Staff/Phillip%20Blond.aspx

In other words, the University of Cumbria has been deemed not important enough to be mentioned by Demos. Fair enough, it isn't the University of Cambridge - but I think it's a real coup for UoC(umbria) and we should be pointing out that Demos' decision is yet another reinforcement of the idea that us oop 'ere cannae ha' big ideas.