July 2004

Back in May, I asked readers to contact me if you saw any signs of a flood of Eastern European migrants after their failure to arrive. Despite, I’m sure, your best efforts to locate them I had concluded that somehow they must have been mislaid, all 2 million of ’em, by the tabs, Tories and…

The BBC achieved a small triumph last night when it managed to follow a repeated Yes, Minister episode from 1981 concerning a hospital with no patients with a Newsnight special on the difficulty of measuring public-sector productivity and the temptation for politicians to exploit this by using dodgy figures. This is something the Ranter touches…

It is reported that Microsoft has patented technology for networking mobile electronic devices through the user’s skin. Gear like PDAs, phones etc would communicate by using the skin’s electrical conductivity. Further applications could supposedly include producing power for such devices from your movements, rather like a self-winding watch, and even displaying information on the skin.…

Numerous reports in the main media suggest that the Ministry of Defence is going to come out very badly in the current public spending round (yes, I know it’s not called that any more). In so far as the leaks agree, they seem to be suggesting a 1% budget increase. Whether this is real terms…

The Financial Times reports that US counter-terrorist efforts in West Africa are being strengthened after increased scrutiny of the former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor’s alleged links with Hezbollah and al-Qa’ida. Reportedly, more staff have been assigned to help in financial investigations there, and a further legal attache (a FBI representative) is to be appointed. The…