Oh bloody fuck. He’s at it again. George Osborne is in his white coat, on the stage, flogging his snake oil. All he needs now is a gospel choir. I think we’ve pointed this out before, but here goes. The Bank of England was nationalised in 1946. It’s part of the State. The money in…
Read More The Conservative Party: Can’t Be Trusted With GlueI’m relatively laying off US presidential politics this year, unlike in 2004 (and aren’t you glad?), but this sticks out: John McCain gambling serious money, and apparently considering casino execs his “friends”. Long before the point that he gambles with them and apparently wins, which is bad enough, you’ve got to wonder, haven’t you? They’re…
Read More stupidity taxOK, someone’s left an armed UAV in the changing rooms. Is it you, Harrowell? No? Speak up? America? Turkey? Italy? Well, it would be interesting to ask somebody how many Predators the RAF possesses at the moment, compared to a few weeks ago. Relatedly, this is wrong: Pakistan, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation and trans-national Islamic terrorism…
Read More Mr 10% meets the 27%ers up townI don’t believe this; note the lack of any direct evidence, not even packets of Indian steel balls. What I do believe is that we’re heading for a serious catastrophe with regard to Pakistan. As I’ve said before, the American meta-narrative seems to be that it’s something like a 50s-70s rightwing military dictatorship in Southeast…
Read More I see no joy, I see only sorrow, I see no chance of your bright new tomorrow“Sir” Ian Blair addresses the troops: “Our approach will be one of humility. On 22nd July 2005, we confidently believed that our systems of command, of surveillance and of firearms intervention were among the best in the world. However, they failed in response to a previously unforeseen circumstance, suicide bombers on the run.” Well, it’s…
Read More Sir Ian Blair, Sir Ian Blair! The Lord save me from Sir Ian Blair!I’m glad someone else has picked up on this: James Graham has at an especially witless statement from Gideon/George Osborne. What Osborne is doing here is far less stupid, and also far less honest, than usual; for a start, he’s managing expectations whilst at the same time bashing the Government, by pretending that he’s expecting…
Read More gideon watchMore China convergence blogging. Declan McCullagh reports on efforts by the US and China to sneak something nasty into the ITU standardisation process, through a committee that doesn’t publish its documentation or let anyone else in the room. But the Chinese appear to be the ones leaning forward; The Chinese author of the document, Huirong…
Read More They have wakened the timeless Things; they have killed their father TimeIs anyone else disturbed by the fact Ed Balls appears to have been replaced by Chris Dillow? Ed Balls, the schools secretary and only member of the Co-operative party in the cabinet, will today propose that 100 schools over the next two years become co-operative trust schools owned and controlled by the local community. He…
Read More tomorrow’s public inquiry todayMet up with regular reader and Linux hacker Duane Griffin to discuss the ORGANISE project . As a result, here’s a new and much amended specification that supersedes the first one.
Read More In which we review the Organise projectThe meeting. Two, three, four men who were not the ones you saw at podiums, behind Fox News desks. The man who’s pure evil. Hard men. Men who say ‘flip the switch’ or ‘push the button’ or ‘pull that lever.’ When they were younger, they might have done it themselves. They are the hidden men,…
Read More fear and loathing, on the campaign trail