BigNuLabour is watching you! Telephone and internet providers will be forced to store records of any call, email or website visit in the UK for a period of one year under a law quietly introduced yesterday. The new law will cost taxpayers £46.58 million, compensation to the companies who will have to store the extra data, so that police, the …
Amidst the horror
Amidst the horror of the Australian bushfires, some of which appear to have been started intentionally, and reports of looting, a touching moment. Sam, as he was nicknamed, is now recovering at a wildlife centre.
Unique event
For anyone who might be remotely interested for reasons best kept to themselves, on Friday 13th, 2009 at 11:31:30pm UTC/Saturday February 14th at 00:31:30am CET, UNIX time will reach 1,234,567,890. Stunning stuff! Parties are being held in various parts of the world to commemorate this unique event.
The Nutty Professor II
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has had its recommendation to downgrade the drug Ecstacy from Class A to B instantly rejected. A second proposal to give out kits to allow users to test their tablets in advance for purity and strength was also thrown out by the Home Office. Professor David Nutt, who heads the ACMD and …
When common sense doesn’t rule
Tesco, for one, has introduced a policy, on a trial basis, to require ID from all customers wishing to buy age-restricted products to help prevent underage sales. Fair enough, good idea. But it needs to be applied with common sense. A grey haired, sixty year old customer with a zimmer frame was refused cigarettes in Tesco because he didn’t have …
Grammy awards 2009
The Grammy’s are the big music awards – never realised there were so many of them – so here’s a full list of all the winners in the various categories.
Obedient detainee dies in unfortunate accident
A 16 year old youth in Ipswich, Queensland, who had been behaving aggressively, died after complying with a police order to lie down on the floor. The youth, faced by an officer who had drawn a Taser, chose to submit and lie down on the road rather than get zapped. Unfortunately, he was then run over by a passing car. …
Someone has got to be kidding
A motorist has successfully sued a UK council for £20,000 over the ‘stress’ of receiving four parking tickets. Zun Noon refused to pay four £50 parking fines and claimed he suffered emotional distress after bailiffs were sent round to reclaim the money. Rather surprisingly, a court found in his favour. Mr Noon then gave the council a taste of its …
BAFTA for Penelope
It’s the awards season, all building up to the most prestigious of them all, the Oscars, and Penelope Cruz has managed to get her hands on a BAFTA for her interpretation of the unstable María Elena in ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’. The film, directed by Woody Allen, was filmed principally in Spain. The big winner at the BAFTA’s, and one of …
The agony and the ecstacy
Professor David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), has caused a bit of a stir by claiming that taking ecstasy is no more dangerous than riding a horse and there are calls for his resignation. The ACMD itself is widely expected to recommend downgrading ecstacy from a class A to a class B drug, …