Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
As red scares go, the new Tory publication claimed Unite is Labour's "new militant tendency" doesn't quite rank with the Zinoviev Letter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinoviev_letter).You can read the Tory dossier here: http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2010/03/~/media/Files/Downloadable%20Files/newmilitan ttendency.ashxAnyone with even a passing knowledge of Labour and trade union politics is likely to find it laughable.
btw I saw tory dossier and read it as boring tosser. I wonder how that happened. keep to the Fen Causeway
You might think that any politician would have their radar at a particularly sensitive setting if they were dealing with "dangerous dogs" - the original act is held in contempt as one of the worst pieces of legislation in recent times. Not, it appears, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn. His consultation paper on amending the law, produced only one week ago, suggested possible compulsory third party insurance for all dog owners. Today, Hilary Benn has issued a statement saying it's not an idea worth pursuing at all. It's been dumped and in record time.
You might think that any politician would have their radar at a particularly sensitive setting if they were dealing with "dangerous dogs" - the original act is held in contempt as one of the worst pieces of legislation in recent times.
Not, it appears, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.
His consultation paper on amending the law, produced only one week ago, suggested possible compulsory third party insurance for all dog owners.
Today, Hilary Benn has issued a statement saying it's not an idea worth pursuing at all.
It's been dumped and in record time.
Why are these supposedly clever people capable of being deeply stupid ?
Bring back dog licences keep to the Fen Causeway
The Electoral Commission consulted four lawyers - two Queen's Counsel and two junior counsel - at a total cost of £81,000 before it cleared Lord Ashcroft's donations to the Conservative Party through Bearwood Corporate Services, according to a Parliamentary answer to the Liberal Democrats.Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "It is appalling that the Electoral Commission has had to go to four different lawyers, on top of its own legal team, at a total cost of £81,000 before they got the answer that they wanted, which was to give the all clear to Lord Ashcroft's dodgy donations.
The Electoral Commission consulted four lawyers - two Queen's Counsel and two junior counsel - at a total cost of £81,000 before it cleared Lord Ashcroft's donations to the Conservative Party through Bearwood Corporate Services, according to a Parliamentary answer to the Liberal Democrats.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "It is appalling that the Electoral Commission has had to go to four different lawyers, on top of its own legal team, at a total cost of £81,000 before they got the answer that they wanted, which was to give the all clear to Lord Ashcroft's dodgy donations.
The French railway operator, SNCF, has mistakenly put a dramatic statement on its website saying more than 100 people had died in a train explosion.The false announcement, of an explosion in Macon in the Burgundy region, was part of a training exercise. It was only when journalists began flooding the railway operator's phone lines that the company realised there had been an enormous error. A real SNCF statement later firmly said that the accident had never happened.
The French railway operator, SNCF, has mistakenly put a dramatic statement on its website saying more than 100 people had died in a train explosion.
The false announcement, of an explosion in Macon in the Burgundy region, was part of a training exercise.
It was only when journalists began flooding the railway operator's phone lines that the company realised there had been an enormous error.
A real SNCF statement later firmly said that the accident had never happened.
If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound unless it's captured on the intertubes ? keep to the Fen Causeway
Hundreds of Latvian veterans who fought on the side of Nazi Germany in World War II have held a peaceful march in the capital, Riga.The veterans laid flowers at Riga's Freedom Monument. Police said about 1,000 people took part. The annual march is a flashpoint for tension between the veterans and ethnic Russians whose relatives fought against the Nazis. The veterans fought in a legion commanded by Nazi Germany's Waffen SS.
Hundreds of Latvian veterans who fought on the side of Nazi Germany in World War II have held a peaceful march in the capital, Riga.
The veterans laid flowers at Riga's Freedom Monument. Police said about 1,000 people took part.
The annual march is a flashpoint for tension between the veterans and ethnic Russians whose relatives fought against the Nazis.
The veterans fought in a legion commanded by Nazi Germany's Waffen SS.
On March 16th, Latvia (one of the three Baltic States, a former member of the Soviet Union) celebrates the establishment of the 15th and the 19th Latvian Waffen SS divisions. SS veterans and their young followers traditionally march along the streets of Riga, the nation's capital. Members of Russian-speaking and anti-fascist organizations protest against such meetings every year. The opposition often leads to clashes with the police and fights between political adversaries.
The tragedy of the baltic countries in WWII is that they were damned either way. The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter
Hence the membership in NATO. "The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde
David Cameron's rightwing 'allies' march in Riga to commemorate the SS
The Catholic Church in Ireland has released more details about why Cardinal Sean Brady asked child abuse victims to sign secrecy agreements.When he was a priest in 1975 the cardinal was at meetings where children signed vows of silence over complaints against serial abuser Fr Brendan Smyth. The church said two boys were asked to sign oaths "to avoid potential collusion" in evidence gathering. It added this would ensure that the complaints could "withstand challenge." The church statement does not explain why either Cardinal Brady or his superiors at the time did not share their information with the police.
The Catholic Church in Ireland has released more details about why Cardinal Sean Brady asked child abuse victims to sign secrecy agreements.
When he was a priest in 1975 the cardinal was at meetings where children signed vows of silence over complaints against serial abuser Fr Brendan Smyth.
The church said two boys were asked to sign oaths "to avoid potential collusion" in evidence gathering.
It added this would ensure that the complaints could "withstand challenge."
The church statement does not explain why either Cardinal Brady or his superiors at the time did not share their information with the police.
Eight or more civilians died in the custody of British troops in the weeks after the invasion of Iraq, despite frequent warnings by the army's most senior legal adviser there about unlawful treatment of detainees, an inquiry has heard.In devastating evidence to an official inquiry, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Mercer described the way Iraqi detainees were intimidated and hooded by British soldiers as "repulsive". He said that 10 days after the invasion in March 2003 he saw 20 or 30 detainees lined up with sandbags on their heads.He was shocked, he said, adding that it was "a bit like seeing pictures of Guantánamo Bay for the first time".Mercer said he had had a "massive row" with the commander of the Queens Dragoon Guards about the army's legal obligations under the Geneva conventions and the European Convention on Human Rights. He had walked out of a meeting between British officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross after being told by a "political adviser" to keep his mouth shut, he added.
Eight or more civilians died in the custody of British troops in the weeks after the invasion of Iraq, despite frequent warnings by the army's most senior legal adviser there about unlawful treatment of detainees, an inquiry has heard.
In devastating evidence to an official inquiry, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Mercer described the way Iraqi detainees were intimidated and hooded by British soldiers as "repulsive". He said that 10 days after the invasion in March 2003 he saw 20 or 30 detainees lined up with sandbags on their heads.
He was shocked, he said, adding that it was "a bit like seeing pictures of Guantánamo Bay for the first time".
Mercer said he had had a "massive row" with the commander of the Queens Dragoon Guards about the army's legal obligations under the Geneva conventions and the European Convention on Human Rights. He had walked out of a meeting between British officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross after being told by a "political adviser" to keep his mouth shut, he added.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is reportedly under investigation for trying to axe a critical TV show. Prosecutors have allegedly recorded him pressuring the country's media watchdog to block the show. Italy's prime minister is reportedly under investigation for corruption, misappropriation and abuse of office. Silvio Berlusconi is accused of trying to pressure the country's broadcasting commission Agcom into keeping talk shows off the air that are critical of him. The allegations against the prime minister are reportedly based on phone taps by prosecutors investigating political corruption. Transcripts of one alleged call show that Berlusconi told a member of the Agcom commission to "make a concerted effort to push Rai TV to say: 'Enough, we're shutting everything down.'"
Italy's prime minister is reportedly under investigation for corruption, misappropriation and abuse of office. Silvio Berlusconi is accused of trying to pressure the country's broadcasting commission Agcom into keeping talk shows off the air that are critical of him.
The allegations against the prime minister are reportedly based on phone taps by prosecutors investigating political corruption.
Transcripts of one alleged call show that Berlusconi told a member of the Agcom commission to "make a concerted effort to push Rai TV to say: 'Enough, we're shutting everything down.'"
Ahead of a March 21 runoff vote, France's Socialists allied with the Greens and other left leaning parties in a deal struck Tuesday following the Socialists' first-place showing in round one of regional elections.France's Socialist Party linked up with the Greens and other left-wing parties after a frantic round of backroom horse-trading on Tuesday that followed the Socialists' first-place showing in round one of France's regional elections over the weekend. The alliance puts the left-leaning parties in a more advantageous position ahead of the March 21 second round. The Socialists reached an agreement with the Greens and the Left Front (a grouping of other left-wing parties) in all but two of France's 26 regions. The Greens declined to join the triumvirate in the northern region of Brittany while the Left Front abstained in the central region of Limousin.
France's Socialist Party linked up with the Greens and other left-wing parties after a frantic round of backroom horse-trading on Tuesday that followed the Socialists' first-place showing in round one of France's regional elections over the weekend. The alliance puts the left-leaning parties in a more advantageous position ahead of the March 21 second round.
The Socialists reached an agreement with the Greens and the Left Front (a grouping of other left-wing parties) in all but two of France's 26 regions. The Greens declined to join the triumvirate in the northern region of Brittany while the Left Front abstained in the central region of Limousin.
The Greens declined to join the triumvirate in the northern region of Brittany...
As "l'affaire Frêche" showed in Languedoc, the local PS potentates rule over their land and feel free to ignore the directives from the party's national leadership. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
European Union finance ministers on Tuesday abandoned efforts to reach a compromise deal over the EU's proposals to tighten regulation of hedge funds and private equity after a last-minute intervention by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister.The proposed Alternative Investment Fund Manager directive, the first effort at drawing up EU-wide rules for the industry, has faced sharp criticism from both private equity and hedge funds. The most controversial part of the directive focused on rules for non EU funds and managers, which critics said unfairly discriminated against US fund managers as well as those in offshore jurisdictions. The draft's tough rules for depositories, banks that hold funds' assets, disclosure requirements for private equity held companies and limits on borrowing by hedge funds have also caused controversy. ... British officials accuse France of pushing aggressively to curb the activities of hedge funds and private equity. But Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, told Mr Brown last week he would be flexible in searching for "a point of equilibrium". Downing Street officials said Paris had agreed to defer a vote - rather than forcing the issue and inflicting a defeat on Britain - a sign of the constructive working relationship between the British prime minster and Mr Sarkozy.
European Union finance ministers on Tuesday abandoned efforts to reach a compromise deal over the EU's proposals to tighten regulation of hedge funds and private equity after a last-minute intervention by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister.
The proposed Alternative Investment Fund Manager directive, the first effort at drawing up EU-wide rules for the industry, has faced sharp criticism from both private equity and hedge funds.
The most controversial part of the directive focused on rules for non EU funds and managers, which critics said unfairly discriminated against US fund managers as well as those in offshore jurisdictions.
The draft's tough rules for depositories, banks that hold funds' assets, disclosure requirements for private equity held companies and limits on borrowing by hedge funds have also caused controversy.
...
British officials accuse France of pushing aggressively to curb the activities of hedge funds and private equity. But Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, told Mr Brown last week he would be flexible in searching for "a point of equilibrium".
Downing Street officials said Paris had agreed to defer a vote - rather than forcing the issue and inflicting a defeat on Britain - a sign of the constructive working relationship between the British prime minster and Mr Sarkozy.
