Prepare the copy machines!

Hot on the heels of The Million Dollar Home Page comes winalondonflat.com, which has already earned a mention or two in the press (including the Scotsman and Independent).

I have two hot links for you:

1. The Rat and Mouse – Win a Finchley flat – or not?: But the Rat and Mouse has seen this kind of thing before, and our experience is that the public rarely responds with the enthusiasm necessary to cover the costs. So what happens if the “north London couple” don’t raise enough to award the flat (plus conveyancing plus stamp duty)?

2. Random number generator… as good a price guide as any.








Posted in Teh Interwebs | 2 Comments

It’s a brand new quiz!

The Ringtones Quiz – Which Ringtone Are You?

Its purpose should be obvious, but don’t let that spoil your fun.








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Prepare to laugh yourself silly

Coffee. Down.

Ready?

Go:

Iraqi Invasion: A Text Misadventure








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Curious claims of past denials

BBC – Al-Jazeera ‘bombing plan’ denied: Downing Street has for the first time denied claims that a memo shows Tony Blair had to talk George Bush out of bombing the TV station al-Jazeera. Mr Blair’s official spokesman said a memo about the Bush-Blair conversation does not refer to bombing al-Jazeera.

CuriousHamster – Son, we live in a world that has walls: Today, for the first time, Tony Blair’s official spokesman has issued an outright denial. The memo in quesion apparently does not contain any reference to discussions concerning bombing any Al Jazeera bureaux anywhere. Amusingly, the PMOS insisted that the claim had already been firmly denied. Er, when?

BlairWatch – The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman DENIES the Bush Blair Conversation refers to bombing al-Jazeera!?: Could this be the lie they get caught in?… Of course, this denial could be an exercise in semantics, without the full text of what the PMOS said, we don’t know. Could it be that instead of ‘bombing’, the memo talks about ‘attacking’, or plans to ‘take off air’ or some other euphemism? There is, of course, an easy way to clear this up








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Rebekah Wade and the PCC’s decision

The contents of my Inbox this morning make it clear why the PCC took so long to address our complaints regarding Rebekah Wade and her 90-day detention inventions (though they very kindly kept me informed of ongoing progress); the PCC clearly wanted to address all complaints at once, as everybody I’ve heard from received the final decision on their complaint in yesterday’s mail.

For now, I’m only going to post the details of their decision, highlight two passages of interest, and close with some words from The Scum:

Commission’s decision in the case of
Ireland v The Sun

The Commission noted that the complainant had raised concerns over the newspaper’s coverage of the ninety day detention legislation. The complainant raised the following points: that the newspaper had contended that the ninety-day legislation enjoyed widespread support when in fact only around 3% of readers phoned to register their support; that the newspaper had sought to distort the data in its favour by only offering readers the opportunity of registering support for the law; that the newspaper’s coverage of the issue – despite the outcome of the vote – had increased the threat of a terrorist attack; that the newspaper had sought to undermine the democracy of the country in its encouragement to readers to lobby their MPs; and that the newspaper had falsely branded those MPs who had voted against the law as “traitors”.

The Commission firstly emphasised that it could only reach a decision on those matters relating directly to the Code. It could not – therefore – comment on the complainant’s views on the increased risk of a terrorist attack, television footage relating to the article, or his contention that the newspaper had sought to undermine democracy in its actions.

The Commission considered the complaint under Clause 1 (Accuracy), which states that the press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted material. It also emphasises that newspapers are entitled to be partisan but must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.

Turning first to the complainant’s concern over the support that the newspaper had claimed existed amongst the population for the introduction of a ninety day terror suspect detention law, the Commission noted the complainant’s view that 100,000 only amounted to a small proportion of the newspaper’s readership. However, in considering this aspect of the complaint, the Commission also noted the following: that 100,000 readers had indeed phoned to register their support; that the newspaper had quoted other sources – including David Davis – who had claimed that the vast majority of the population supported the introduction of the law; and that the newspaper had not contended that there were no members of the public who were opposed to the law. In these circumstances, the Commission’s view was that the newspaper was entitled to claim that Tony Blair had public support in the manner which it had. It did not consider that readers generally would be misled into believing that there were not many who were opposed to the law, or that there was no alternative view on the matter. On this point, it was satisfied that no breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) had been established by the complaint.

The next task for the Commission was to consider the complainant’s concern that the newspaper had distorted the data, as it had only provided readers with a means of registering support for the introduction of the laws. However, given that the newspaper had encouraged readers to phone “if you back the 90-day law”, the Commission’s view was that readers would have been aware that opposition to the law could not be registered, and that any results published by the newspaper would be on this basis. It therefore considered that the newspaper had not misled readers in a manner which would establish a breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy).

The Commission finally turned to the complainant’s concern over the reference to MPs who had voted against the laws as “traitors”. However, in this instance, the Commission’s view was that “traitor” was the newspaper’s term of description for those MPs who had opposed the bill, which it was entitled to publish in the manner which it had. It did not consider that readers generally would be misled into believing that the named MPs were disloyal to their country, or that there was no alternative view on the matter. The Commission was therefore satisfied that no breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) had been established by the complaint.

There was no breach of the Code.

Printed in The Sun on November 10: TREACHEROUS MPs betrayed the British people last night by rejecting new laws to combat terror. They IGNORED the wishes of the vast majority of Britons…








Posted in Rupert 'The Evil One' Murdoch | 1 Comment

Evil plots

The Scum – Cops foil plot to snatch Leo Blair: Special Branch cops smashed a plot to kidnap little Leo Blair while monitoring a small band of fanatical dads, The Sun can reveal. They stumbled across the startling plan as they investigated the activities of men on the lunatic fringe of the Fathers 4 Justice group. Tony Blair and his wife Cherie were told about the threat to five-year-old Leo – the youngest of their four children. A security source told The Sun: “They were naturally very concerned, as any parent would be. But they have been assured the police are on top of the situation.” A security assessment of the Prime Minister’s family was carried out by Special Branch after the plot was uncovered. It included analysis of the protection given to the Blairs’ other three children – Euan, 22 tomorrow, Nicholas, 20, and 17-year-old Kathryn. The source said: “Appropriate steps have now been taken.”… Special Branch came across the plan to abduct Leo just before Christmas. No details of how the fanatics intended to snatch the child have been disclosed. But it is understood the men only wanted to hold Leo for a short period of time and were not intending to harm him. The security source said: “Fortunately we think we have nipped this in the bud at an early stage. There have been no arrests although inquiries are continuing. It was good intelligence work.”

Those fellas will want to watch themselves… Leo can be a dangerous little sod when cornered.

Incidentally, I love how this plot – that appears to be as close to realisation/reality as the plots to bomb Heathrow, Canary Wharf, etc. etc. etc. – takes over the front page today.

Over the past few weeks, Abu Hamza man has appeared in court on race-hate charges, and Rebekah Wade has responded with front pages, double-paged spreads, priority-placement in the editorial(s), courtrooom sketches… the works.

But when leading members of the BNP appear in court on race-hate charges, the report is relegated to page 22. No front page, no editorial… you get the picture, I’m sure. Or rather, if you’re a reader of the Sun, you don’t… but, then again, you do. Kongfused? Hang in there…

Independent – Court hears Griffin’s tirade against ‘evil’ Asians: The leader of the British National Party fabricated a “nightmare vision” to provoke fear and resentment of British Asians, a jury was told yesterday.

Now, why does this seem so familiar?

Ah. I see.

But, of course, not everyone foams at the mouth like Ann Coulter or Pat Robertson. Or Abu Hamza or Nick Griffin. No, the clever money is on failing to condemn certain people, and/or carefully prioritising your condemnations – just to let everyone know (nudge-wink) on which side The One True Bread is buttered.

(PS – Strangely, this view is imperfectly echoed by Nick Griffin of all people: (It was alleged that) Mr Griffin had said Asian community leaders would condemn the attacks to the press but not to the attackers themselves. “It’s part of their plan for conquering countries. It’s how they do it,” Mr Griffin said.)








Posted in Rupert 'The Evil One' Murdoch | 1 Comment

Missing protestor update

The Missing Protester page has been updated as follows:

For a while there we thought we had a possible match; Detective Sergeant John Pickersgill. Further investigation revealed that Det Sgt Pickersgill was currently attached to S012, the Special Branch Section at New Scotland Yard responsible for holding intelligence on extremist bodies. In other words, he was one of very few police with a (theoretically) valid reason to be out and about acting like an agitator.

So I called him.

I first made sure that I had the same John Pickersgill that appears in the photo linked above and displayed below. I then explained the situation and asked if was our missing man.

Next candidate, please....

His response: “I can absolutely and categorically state that it wasn’t me.”

So the search continues.








Posted in The War on Stupid | 8 Comments

Mysterious clicks on the line

Independent – MI5 will get new powers to bug MPs: Tony Blair is preparing to scrap a 40-year ban on tapping MPs’ telephones, despite fierce Cabinet opposition, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. He is expected to formally announce to the Commons within weeks that MPs can no longer be sure that the security services and others will not intercept their communications. Until now, successive administrations have pledged that there should be no tapping “whatsoever” of MPs’ phones, and that they would be told if it was necessary to breach the ban. But that convention – known as the Wilson Doctrine, after Harold Wilson, the prime minister who introduced it – is to be abandoned in an expansion of MI5 powers following the London bombings. MPs should be treated in the same way as other citizens and will be given the same safeguards against wrongful tapping, the Prime Minister will say. The decision provoked a furious row in the Cabinet just before Christmas, when the Secretary of State for Defence, John Reid, voiced his opposition. His outburst surprised other ministers, since he is seen as one of Mr Blair’s closest allies and not known for his support for civil liberties.

BBC – MP phone tap ban ‘may be lifted’: Mr Reid told ITV1’s Dimbleby that the proposal to lift the ban was suggested by the Interception of Communications Commissioner Sir Swinton Thomas… In a written Commons statement in December, Mr Blair said he had received advice on “possible implications” of the act on the Wilson Doctrine from Sir Swinton. Mr Reid said the recommendation was that MPs should not remain exempt from the 2000 legislation. He said: “Cabinet quite correctly decided that this was worthy of deep reflection and more consideration. “So that is the position. It’s not something that’s been brought forward at the behest of the prime minister.” The defence secretary said “no one would take such a change lightly and I know that neither the prime minister nor my Cabinet colleagues would take such a change lightly”.

Independent – The politics of paranoia: Nobody is off limits in the Prime Minister’s war on terror. Now he wants to dispose of the ‘Wilson Doctrine’ and bug his own MPs. But does the state need more power to spy on us? A Prime Minister deeply distrustful of many of his own MPs, intent on fighting a war with the “enemy within”. Parallels between Tony Blair and Harold Wilson have been charted before. The news that Mr Blair is preparing to ditch his predecessor’s pledge never to tap the phones of Britain’s MPs suggests that the current occupant of No 10 has less regard for constitutional niceties. Mr Blair knows that bugging elected representatives will be fiercely opposed by many in Parliament but is confident he can argue the case over their heads that nothing – and no one – should be off-limits in the fight against terrorism. “Let no one be in any doubt,” he declared in the wake of the London bombings, “the rule(s) of the game are changing.” In truth, say critics, the rules have been changing ever since Mr Blair became PM and he has overseen a massive expansion of the state’s capacity to spy on private individuals.

BlairWatch – Is England Becoming a Fascist State [again]?: Perhaps Mr Bliar would like to tell us which MPs are to be considered a threat to National Security… Or is it just those considered a threat to Mr Bliar that are to be spied upon.

(UPDATE – I’m sure it will surprise you very little to learn that there appears to be no mention of this in today’s Sun ‘news’paper… but they do make space in their editorial to ask why darts shouldn’t be an Olympic sport.)

For the first time ever at Bloggerheads, I am going to ask you to send a ‘copy and paste’ letter to your MP:

Dear _______,

If you allow Blair and his cronies to _______ your ________, thereby _________ _________ your _________ to ___________ and ________ ________ with your _______, I feel I will have no choice but to _____________ in the _________ or _________ _________ ___________ your ______________ at the nearest given opportunity.

Yours _____________,

Mr/Mrs/Ms ____ _ ___________

PS – The nurses run naked in Portsmouth General. I repeat: The nurses run naked in Portsmouth General.








Posted in The War on Stupid | 1 Comment

“You’re gullible!” taken offline

Pandora: The creeping Blunticisation of Britain continues, and woe betide anybody who tries to stand in its way. The powers behind James Blunt’s ubiquitous ditty, “You’re Beautiful”, have moved to stop a small web company from running a parody of the song at www.eclectech.co.uk. “It was a reaction to the Emperor’s New Clothes thing,” its writer, Tim Gillespie, tells me. Bucks Music Group has written to Gillespie, explaining: “It has come to our attention that… you have made an unauthorised parodied adaptation of ‘You’re Beautiful’ entitled ‘You’re Gullible’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Unauthorised Adaptation’)…” Unless the website desists forthwith, the music publisher will be left “with no alternative but to consider seeking a court order”. The music has been removed from the site, but fans can still throw tomatoes at Blunt’s cartoon image, above right, and read Gillespie’s spoof lyrics. But there is evidence that Blunt, left, is complicit in breaching his own copyright. On his official website, weeks before the spoof was removed, his messageboard administrator wrote: “James was throwing tomatoes at himself on that site yesterday.” Naughty boy.

You can read the relevant entry here on the James Blunt messageboard.

What’s left of the animation can been seen here.








Posted in Flash Music Video, Games and Objects | 3 Comments

Antidote to the blonde joke…

Bound to get you attention/arrested/actioned:

Tom Cruise is gay short.
Tony Blair is a liar.
George W. Bush is a coward.
/obvious

State any or all as fact. Use large fonts. Use me as the source. Or use the person who repeats this as the source… and use even larger fonts… and so on and so forth.

Let’s see who sends a letter first…. to whom and about what.

/justcurious








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