No fish & Chips for John Young!

Welcome to the league of men who have the right to bear the letters BSL after their name: John Young (BSL) Where 'BSL' stands for ' British Shit List'. Cryptome has once again, published a list of M|6 officers, this time, Paddy 'perpetual looser' 'pants down' Ashdown (Jeremy John Durham Ashdown) is on the list. No Fish & Chips for you sunshine!

oops

Streaming aerial video with narration by some annoying people who claim know the landmarks....(porn for those who long to witness nature destroy hideous urban centers, malls and concrete subdivisions) http://nebe-b.org/wgno26flyover.asx

Something must break

It won't be long before the masses demand the invasion/annexation of Saudi Arabia so that gas prices can return to lower levels. Of course, these same masses will never demand that all fuel taxes are scrapped, because, well, they simply have not got the brains to do that....or maybe not.....For every £50 you put in your tank, you're giving the government £37 in tax.

Overseas UK Fuel Prices

Country	Local Currency per litre		UK pence per litre
	Unleaded	Diesel	Unleaded	Diesel
Austria (Euro)	0.98	0.86	67.61	59.33
Belgium (Euro)	1.20	0.83	82.79	57.26
Czech Rep (Koruna)	27.70	25.70	62.25	60.54
Denmark (Krone)	9.05	8.22	86.69	78.74
Finland (Euro)	1.18	0.90	81.41	62.09
France (Euro)	1.11	0.96	76.58	66.23
Germany (Euro)	1.19	1.03	82.10	71.06
Greece (Euro)	0.87	0.94	60.02	64.85
Netherlands (Euro)	1.31	0.99	90.38	68.30
Hungary (Forint)	252.50	237.00	77.80	73.02
Ireland (Euro)	1.00	0.94	68.99	64.85
Italy (Euro)	1.17	0.99	80.72	68.30
Luxembourg (Euro)	0.97	0.78	66.92	53.82
Estonia (Kroons)	11.95	10.50	54.44	47.84
Norway (Norwegian Krone)	9.90	8.55	85.42	73.77
Latvia	0.49	0.47	52.73	50.58
Lithuania	2.73	2.61	56.64	54.15
Poland (Zloty)	3.86	3.40	69.65	61.35
Slovakia	36.90	36.60	66.33	65.79
Slovenia	207.40	199.90	62.92	60.65
Portugal (Euro)	1.06	0.83	73.13	57.26
Spain (Euro)	0.93	0.84	64.16	57.95
Sweden (Swedish Krona)	10.55	9.63	82.55	75.35
Switzerland (Swiss Francs)	1.50	1.59	69.37	73.54
USA (US Dollars)	0.53	0.58	30.07	32.91

"The government spend approximately £6 billion on roads and local transport, but a staggering £36 billion is collected in road taxation" [...] http://www.lesstaxonfuel.co.uk/index.htm

Handy Felt Tips

Passport factory redunancies caused by ISLAND

Met seek 'fake' passports accused

British police have one month to make a case for extradition

British police will seek the extradition of an Algerian man arrested in Thailand on suspicion of forging European passports.

Atamnia Yacine, 33, was detained in the Thai capital Bangkok on Wednesday, after he was found with at least 180 French and Spanish passports.

Britain has a warrant for his extradition on charges of forging passports and money laundering.

Thailand is widely reputed to be a major source of fake travel documents.

Yacine was arrested during a raid on his house in Bangkok.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We understand the individual has been detained in Bangkok."

"We will be working with the Crown Prosecution Service, the Foreign Office and the Thai authorities to seek his extradition."

British police will have one month to present their case to authorities in Bangkok.

'Forgery hub'

Thai police said the seized passports had been sent to the French and Spanish embassies for examination.

Western governments view Thailand as a hub for fake passport production and proliferation, the BBC's Jonathan Head said from Bangkok.

Security analysts say that is a major concern, as they can be used to allow criminals and in some cases militants to move freely between countries. [...]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4190806.stm

Of course, with an ISLAND enabled passport, these Thai factories will become instantly redundant. Anyone can forge a paper and plastic passport, even a hologram protected image in a passport, but what they CANNOT forge is a PGP signature on a digital photo and its related personal information. When the ISLAND enabled passport is scanned at a port, the signature on the photo and personal info is checked. if the scan is complete, ie, the data is completely transfered to the computer checking the signature without damage, then the signature will come up as not having been made by the Passport Office or designated issuing authority. The document can instantly be determined to be fradulent. If the signature is good, then the document is good and has been properly issued. This can all be done without any smoke and mirrors or snake oil (biometrics) and can be done right now, with commodity components and zero cost Open Source software.

Dirty Teenagers In The Loop

RESEARCHERS MAP THE SEXUAL NETWORK OF AN ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time, sociologists have mapped the romantic and sexual relationships of an entire high school over 18 months, providing evidence that these adolescent networks may be structured differently than researchers previously thought. The results showed that, unlike many adult networks, there was no core group of very sexually active people at the high school. There were not many students who had many partners and who provided links to the rest of the community. Instead, the romantic and sexual network at the school created long chains of connections that spread out through the community, with few places where students directly shared the same partners with each other. But they were indirectly linked, partner to partner to partner. One component of the network linked 288 students – more than half of those who were romantically active at the school – in one long chain. (See figure for a representation of the network.) [...] http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/chains.htm Those filthy teenagers!

Juba ... Muadib!

Highly trained Islamic snipers on their way to the USA by Ernesto Cienfuegos La Voz de Aztlan www.aztlan.net Los Angeles, Alta California - August 23, 2005 - (ACN) The USA mainstream media is "filtering" the news coming out of Iraq. It is not reporting on certain items deemed by the Pentagon to be detrimental to the morale of US troops or their families back home. Conspicuously absent are any reports on "Juba", a sniper who has been terrorizing US soldiers in Baghdad for months. Juba is the name given by US forces to a superbly trained insurgent sniper who has already killed at least 19 GI's including four US Marine snipers in one day. No US soldier has ever seen Juba. They only hear one distinctive shot from a Tabuk sniper rifle (An Iraqi sniper rifle based on the Soviet Kalashnikov but fitted with a long barrel and a muzzle brake. It uses the 7.62mm Kalashnikov cartridge) and the next thing they see is another GI slumping down dead. The hit is usually to the head but Juba also aims at gaps in the GI's body armor. He has been known to hit his mark from 300 yards which is the length of three football fields. Juba takes only one shot and then disappears. US troops who scramble to find Juba soon after he has struck find only his trademark that consists of a single 7.62mm Kalashnikov cartridge casing with a handwritten note. The note, in Arabic, says, "What has been taken in blood cannot be regained except by blood". The note is signed, "The Baghdad Sniper". Juba is now a mythic hero to the Iraqi resistance. Word on the streets of Baghdad, from those who know Juba, is that his rifle is running out of space to add more "notches" that signify US occupation soldiers he has killed. Juba is now training an "elite" insurgent sniper squad that will target personnel coming in and out from Baghdad's Green Zone. A particular worrisome development for USA based warmongers is a CIA intelligence report that says that a superbly trained Islamic sniper squad is on its way to the USA. According to the report, the Al-Ikhwan Al-Moslemoon (Muslim Brotherhood)is preparing to send a highly trained sniper squad to the USA that will target, at first, the lower and middle level leadership of the Islamophobic organizations that cater to the Zionists. This, we presume, includes the lackeys of the Zionists on radio and television. A few weeks ago, these puppets of Israel added insult to injury when they went on a vile tirade in support of the "toilet flushers" of the Holy Koran at Guantanamo. Many of these radio talk jockeys are not Jews but they act as mouthpieces for their employers who are. One of these virulent pundits for the Zionists said over the airwaves, "US soldiers at Guantanamo should have used the pages of the Koran to wipe their asses!" La Voz de Aztlan received an e-mail from one of our subscribers in Saudi Arabia concerning the CIA report. Ali bin Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Fulani wrote that the Islamic sniper squad should include Congressman Tom Tancredo of the Colorado 6th Congressional District as one of its first targets. Tancredo recently made a public statement proposing that the USA "nuke" Mecca. "Nuke" means blasting a city with a nuclear bomb as was done to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Mecca is Islam's holiest cities where millions of Muslims make a yearly religious pilgrimage. Ali added, "Instead of nuking the entire 6th congressional district and killing hundreds of thousands innocent civilians, a sniper should "nuke' Tancredo's ass with one 7.62mm Kalashnikov bullet hardened with depleted uranium!" Depleted uranium utilized in USA military projectiles has caused horrendous deformities in Iraqi babies. Who is Aztlan.net? Check out http://www.aztlan.net/whoweare.htm ----------------------------- This original article was found at http://www.aztlan.net/juba.htm http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=24550 http://www.alipac.us/article-657--0-0.html [...] Who is this Muad'dib?

data retention

European Commission attempts to reduce data retention requirements

The European Commission is planning to table its own proposal in September regarding the retention of email and telecommunications for law enforcement purposes. This would pre-empt and reduce the current proposal from the EU Council of Ministers.

The EU Council of Ministers made its proposal after the Madrid train bombings, and resurrected it last month after the London bombings. It will require telcos and ISPs to retain logs of phone calls and email messages (but not the content of the messages). The Commission's proposal is more sympathetic to privacy concerns. It would cut the data retention period from four years in the Council's proposal, to between six months and a year. It also removes the requirement to log website visits and offers government money to telcos and ISPs to help them meet legislative requirements, whereas the Council wants the service providers to pay the full cost of retaining data for four years. The Commission has been boosted by research at the Erasmus University in the Netherlands, which showed that in nearly all cases where the police used "traffic data" to solve crimes, they only needed to go back three months into the records - and that telcos already hold this information for billing purposes. We could be heading for another EU political showdown over this issue, but this time the Commission will have most public and industrial opinion on its side. However, a decision needs to be implemented during 2005, so any battle over this should be short.

[...]

Megashame

July 29, 2005

Dog Poop Girl

Here's the basic story: A woman and her dog are riding the Seoul subways. The dog poops in the floor. The woman refuses to clean it up, despite being told to by other passangers. Someone takes a picture of her, posts it on the Internet, and she is publicly shamed -- and the story will live on the Internet forever. Then, the blogosphere debates the notion of the Internet as a social enforcement tool. [...]

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/07/dog_poop_girl.html I missed this one; what an astonishing story - and the Subwanker is going to get the same treatment, onle one thousand fold.

Penis Fallout

"Only in america (especially New York)"; the city of 'Dartman' 'Crazy Eddie' and the notorious James Ramseur. Tens of thousands of people are looking at the 'Subwanker' and the comments are pouring in on the flicker post. This comment thread caught my eye:

roidrage says: OH MY GOD. I live in the city as well and am SO SICK OF THIS SHIT. Earlier this week, some guy stuck two of his fingers IN MY ASS CRACK. I kicked him in the nuts and he ran away but i was insanely steamed. As a project i've been documenting the disgusting men that have tried to hit on me. Here is a link to my flickr set that i've started. I am in the process of developing a site for it. We should probably start a "PERVERTS" group! Disgusting Men. Posted 86 minutes ago. ( Permalink )

and then:

apollonia666 says: I dunno, Roidrage. The guy who grabbed you should, of *course*, be subject to ridicule, but it seems to me that there's a big difference between posting a pic of a creep masturbating on the subway and posting a pic AND THE PHONE NUMBER of a creep who called you "beautiful" on the street, as you did here. And I don't think that what may or may not be street harassment as any justification for homophobic "I like to suck dick" comments like you scrawled over this guy's face. What friendly_chic has done here seems like a way more proportionate and appropriate response to the offense than what you've done, IMHO. Posted 28 minutes ago. ( Permalink )

and the guys:

Mr. Johnie Fox	August 18, 2005
This might just be too easy. Johnie thinks i'm going to call him about being an extra in a commercial. The pay is a few hundred dollars! I hate hate hate it when 2 or more of them see me coming down the block. They part to the sides so i'm FORCED to walk inbetween them. Then, as i'm walking by them they have to say stupid shit like "PSST. PSSST. ... Beautiful." Maybe typed out it looks harmless but LOOK AT THAT MAN. IMAGINE HIM SAYING THAT TO YOU. Isn't that pleasant feeling? Posted by cassandra at August 18, 2005 11:18 PM

Say Hello to Jermaine!	August 17, 2005
I said yesterday that if one more disgusting man tried to talk to me I'd flip shit. Well, this is my way of flipping shit. Jermaine thought it would be really kind of him to tell me how beautiful I looked today as I was walking to the subway. I explained to him that I worked for a talent agency and that we are always looking for a fresh face. He glady posed for a picture and gave me his name and phone number. Wasn't that sweet? The name and phone number are real. Feel free to leave him messages. Maybe he doesn't like to suck cock but he seemed like a nice guy, so i'm sure he'll be open minded about it! I'm thinking about making photocopies and distrubuting them in gay bars across the city. Is that really wrong of me? This is the beginning of my new project. I think i''ll start collecting them and turn it into a little book. Any suggestions on what else i can do with them? I bet i can collect quite a few within the next couple of weeks. Posted by cassandra at August 17, 2005 12:21 PM

Belly laugh of the day, thanks to the newest member of BLOGDIAL, a decloaked lurker!

Yeah but no but yeah but no but

YES NO, but I was only talking specifically about these new rules that target anyone that can be deported, like those living here under 'indefinite leave to remain', who are especially vulnerable to this new attack, like Mr. Bakri, who has seven children in the UK who have the right to be here, being british, while he can be deported and separated from them at the whim of the elephant. Last word.

Not to be 'Sent Packing'

they can be imposed on anybody No, Deportation orders cannot be imposed on true born British citizens, like Alun. That is what the Anti-Babar has just 'expanded upon' with the new rules. All joking aside, this is about as stupid as the old laws forbidding the BBC from transmitting the actual voices of members of the IRA. It made Britain a laughing stock, didn't deter the IRA a single bit, and gave the BBC a ready made way to mock the government every night with the absurd out of sync fake Irish accents of actors voicing to the grave face of Gerry Adams. Stopping these people from speaking and preaching is like trying to use a water hose to put out the sun. From the ground. The cause of the heat is ..... hey wait a minute, is this speech forbidden?! Ah yes, the regulations are retroactive, so I will repeat what I have said before; the cause of this heat is the murderous lap dog foreign policy and the illigal immoral invasion of Iraq executed by this evil government, a wholley owned subsidiary of Murder Inc. And is that fat jackass so totally ignorant of how the world works that he cannot understand that websites can be run from anywhere, and that anyone who wants or needs too be 'stoked up' can find an inflamatory site in seconds, no matter who he deports. He really is like a cartoon elephant that has seen a mouse, picks up a grand piano with his trunk and franticaly thrashes it against the ground again and again trying to kill it while on his hind legs.

So many government created opportunities!

Am I getting carried away? certainly not. Maybe if I was religious, they'd lock me up. Being atheist, I'm obviously subnormal and morally corrupt and therefore my views are less contentious. Not only are you an athiest, but you are a true born british citizen which means that they can't deport you under these regulations. You, being a first class citizen, enjoy all the God given rights and 'priveledges' that are fundamental to liberty. I smell an opportunity! You and all the other first class citizens could sell your immunity (!) to the second and third class citizens in the form of being a speaking mouth or named author. You publish whatever some poor slave wants to say but cant, for a fee. The words are said, no one gets deported, you make some money.... Profit! You could even be hired to repeat words written down for you in a mosque; free speech returns to those mosques that like it, no one gets arrested or deported. Of course, should this pan out, they will simply make it illegal for people to attend these mosques. There is nothing that they will not do, except the right thing. And another thing. These new regulations were announced, and then by magic, they seemed to become part of the law. There was no review, no vote taken on it...nothing....people are now simply banned at the word of an unshaven car door eared, beady eyed, obese JACKASS. Regulation by proclamation...and they said that Saddam was a 'dictator'....

Canada is seduced by the dark side

The federal cabinet will review new legislation this fall that would give police and security agencies vast powers to begin surveillance of the Internet without court authority. The new measures would allow law enforcement agents to intercept personal e-mails, text messages and possibly even password-secure Web sites used for purchasing and financial transactions. A law professor and privacy expert involved in consultations over the bill said a draft version of the legislation circulated this year did not require court authority for police to intercept communications or demand information from Internet servers. "I think it's the kind of legislation that is literally going to shock millions of Canadians," University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist said. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler disclosed the plan during a speech to a conference of police boards from across the country. He told reporters he and Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan are preparing a memorandum to cabinet following months of discussions with police, privacy experts and the Internet industry. [...] http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=360edf23-b247-4f51-af14-45ced083696a Oh, Canada......

It's going to get worse

The powers will cover statements already on record. Retroactive legislation is always a bad idea. This is going to be thrown out by the House of Lords for sure...."time to get rid of them" says Bliar. Amazing how the other place is now more representative of the British people than the lower house. Look at the comments on BBQ. This one:

Let's not forget what Livingstone calls the 'Mandela test' - would the laws when in place mean we could not have supported Nelson Mandela in the 1980s? Mandela, after all, was convicted of using violence for political ends and has never said sorry for it. I supported him then and I support it now - this probably makes me and many millions of others (including most of the Labour ministers) around the world 'terrorist supporters' and would therefore fail the new laws. Jack, Essex

is the odd one out - most of them are foaming at the mouth and baying for blood...if its true that those comments represent "what most people think" then all is lost, The Dark Lord of The Sith has won, and liberty is dead.

Cowardice and computer illiteracy

The New York Times doesn't understand the real problem. The real problem is not with Google or Microsoft, but with the computer illiterate Venture Capitalists. VCs are not geeks. The ones that I have dealt with, that claim to be interested in backing software startups were so ignorant about the world of software that they called the phrase 'client server system' "Gobbledegook". I'm not making this up. Anyone who says that Google is a threat to a startups chances of sucess doesn't understand the internet, network effects and everything to do with the intenet economy. They don't even understand the story of Google itself:

The search for a buyer

Larry and Sergey continued working to perfect their technology through the first half of 1998. Following a path that would become a key tenet of the Google way, they bought a terabyte of disks at bargain prices and built their own computer housings in Larry's dorm room, which became Google's first data center. Meanwhile Sergey set up a business office, and the two began calling on potential partners who might want to license a search technology better than any then available. Despite the dotcom fever of the day, they had little interest in building a company of their own around the technology they had developed.

Among those they called on was friend and Yahoo! founder David Filo. Filo agreed that their technology was solid, but encouraged Larry and Sergey to grow the service themselves by starting a search engine company. "When it's fully developed and scalable," he told them, "let's talk again." Others were less interested in Google, as it was now known. One portal CEO told them, "As long as we're 80 percent as good as our competitors, that's good enough. Our users don't really care about search."

Touched by an angel

Unable to interest the major portal players of the day, Larry and Sergey decided to make a go of it on their own. All they needed was a little cash to move out of the dorm — and to pay off the credit cards they had maxed out buying a terabyte of memory. So they wrote up a business plan, put their Ph.D. plans on hold, and went looking for an angel investor. Their first visit was with a friend of a faculty member.

Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems, was used to taking the long view. One look at their demo and he knew Google had potential — a lot of potential. But though his interest had been piqued, he was pressed for time. As Sergey tells it, "We met him very early one morning on the porch of a Stanford faculty member's home in Palo Alto. We gave him a quick demo. He had to run off somewhere, so he said, 'Instead of us discussing all the details, why don't I just write you a check?' It was made out to Google Inc. and was for $100,000." [...] http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/history.html

Thats the way you do a startup, put together the bare bones of your system or some kind of tangible demo, get someone that has money that they are willing to loose, and that is also a true venture capitalist ie, someone that is not 'risk averse' but who likes risk, is interested in new ideas and is willing to take a bet.

Google was initially funded with $100,000 that was simply handed over to them as you would lay down money on a poker hand. That is the true spirit of risk taking. It is also not alot of money. Most software startups don't need more than that to get a stable beta system online, in fact, most startups can be done for the cost of food money and equipment to sustain the developers. If the service starts to grow, you can then scale it up to accomodate your legion of users. The eyes of VCs glaze over when you talk about, for example, "using clients to collect people's playlists in a central server so that anyone anywhere browse them all in different ways for free". Or how about, "a service where people can upload their digital pictures for free so that everyone everywhere can browse them for free with our cool interface". Now to us, these are examples of exiting tools on many levels, and for one hundred thousand dollars and a crack team with intravenous espresso, they could be built very quickly (the second one took one year to build, and it was done in an apartment aparently). To a VC however, this is "Gobbledygook"; they will say (if you manage to get to them before their eyes glaze over) that "iTunes has this market cornered, and that is who you are up against, so we will have to pass on this one", or for the latter, "Adobe is the market leader in this space; what protection do you have if they decide to do what you are doing? If they go up against you, you are finished, so we will pass". Both of those assessments are demonstrably and horribly wrong, but this is what people have to put up with when they go into discussions with VCs. This is not a problem of Google or Microsoft its a problem of cowardice and computer illiteracy. Thanks to the new tools that are being refined and released the barrier to entry for a startup is so low that you barely have to lift up your legs to get over it. It means hunkering down, lots of reading, lots of IRC and IM sessions and writing lines of code. You release your service. When even the most illiterate of VCs smells millions of users, then you have the stink of money....and that they do understand.

Des Souvenirs

alarming, astonishing, awe-inspiring, awful, beautiful, breathtaking, daunting, exalted, far out, formidable, frantic, frightening, grand, hairy, impressive, magnificent, majestic, mind-blowing, moving, overwhelming, shocking, striking, stunning, stupefying, terrifying, wonderful, wondrous ablaze, bright, coruscating, dazzling, effulgent, gleaming, glittering, glowing, incandescent, intense, lambent, lucent, luminous, lustrous, radiant, refulgent, resplendent, scintillating, sparkling, vivid agreeable, blending, chiming, choral, consonant, dulcet, euphonious, harmonious, lilting, lyrical, mellow, melodic, melodious, orchestral, pleasing, rhythmic, silvery, songful, sweet, sweet-sounding, symphonic, symphonious, tuned, tuneful, vocal big, blaring, blatant, blustering, boisterous, booming, cacophonous, clamorous, crashing, deafening, deep, ear-piercing, ear-splitting, emphatic, forte, full, full-mouthed, fulminating, heavy, high-sounding, intense, lusty, pealing, piercing, powerful, raucous, resonant, resounding, ringing, roaring, rowdy, sonorous, stentorian, strident, strong, thundering, tumultuous, turbulent, turned up, uproarious, vehement, vociferous aphonic, indescribable, inexpressible, nameless, tacit, unexpressed, unpronounced, unspoken, unuttered, unvoiced, wordless

Independent Thinking

Police rely on 6,000 cameras across Tube network to cut crime
By Barrie Clement, Transport Editor
Independent   Published: 23 August 2005

London Underground has installed more than 6,000 CCTV cameras across the
network, some of them at stations and some on trains.

Plans are in place to double the number in use by 2010 as part of its
campaign to minimise petty crime, but also to deal with the increasing
threat of terrorism...

London Underground has been experimenting with "smart" digital cameras
which can automatically spot "abnormal" events. The equipment can be
programmed to detect suicide attempts, overcrowding, suspect packages and
trespassers. It is hoped that by automating the prediction or detection of
such events, Underground security staff, who often have to monitor as many
as 60 cameras, can take preventive action...

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article307679.ece

The thinking at the independent is not very independent, niether is it of high quality. When you run a 'report' like this (which is actually a press release that they are regurgitating verbatim), you must always run a 'slap slap...time to die' wake up section clarifying and decompiling the doubletalk. It goes like this. "The preceeding text is taken from a press release ftom TFL, submitted to this newspaper by a Public relations firm (name of firm here). CCTV cannot 'cut crime' niether can it 'deal with the increasing threat of terrorism'. CCTV can only help identify criminals after the fact, and then, as we have seen with the recent murder on the underground, if the criminals are the police, they will simply confiscate the tape so tha the crucial evidence is supressed and the criminals go free. As for suicides, CCTV might increase the number of suicides on the underground, since the suicidal will know in advance that they will live on as horror footage in some reality TV programme or the next 'Faces of Death'. " Now. If that is printed after the press release, the magic spell of double talk is broken, the reader can make a judgement about the piece, since its not a genuine news item at all but a PR insertion, and some true countering information is in there as a surficant. That is how an independent newspaper would deal with something like this. But you know this.

New Explosions, New Tactics, Same Demands

350 blasts in 1 hour DHAKA — About 350 small bombs exploded within an hour of each other across Bangladesh yesterday, killing two people and injuring more than 100 in an unprecedented attack initially linked to extremists. The bombs, which killed a man and a 10-year-old boy, exploded in all but a few of the south Asian country’s 64 towns and cities between 10:30am and 11:30am, the Home Ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia condemned the attacks as “cowardly”, the official BSS news agency said. Khaleda reportedly said the terrorists’ “evil design” was to create panic and destabilise the south Asian country, adding that they were enemies of democracy. Police are probing the possible involvement of an extremist group which was banned by the government in February, after leaflets calling for the implementation of strict Islamic law were found at the blast scenes. “At all the blast scenes, leaflets bearing the name of the recently banned Jamayetul Mujahideen group were found,” the Home Ministry statement said. The explosions, including 15 in Dhaka and 20 in the southeastern port of Chittagong, targeted local administrative offices, courts, and bus and railway stations. “A total of 45 suspects have been arrested, about 350 bombs exploded and the number of injured stands at more than 100,” said Foreign Ministry director Zahirul Haque. The Home Ministry appealed for calm. “After analysing all the incidents it is assumed that the main aim of the explosions was to create panic and to create a destabilised situation in the country,” the statement said. Abdul Kaiyum, Bangladesh’s Inspector-General of Police, said: “These were small, homemade bombs designed to create panic.” Home Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar said security had been stepped up across the country. Most of those hurt suffered minor injuries, police said, adding that they had no reports of any serious or life-threatening injuries. Mazeedul Haq, Chittagong’s police commissioner, said the leaflets bore the name of the Jamayetul Mujahideen and read: “It is time to implement Islamic law in Bangadesh. There is no future with man-made law.” Jamayetul Mujahideen and another hardline group, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, were banned in February for their alleged links to a wave of bombings of non-governmental groups, religious shrines and other targets. A police official in the large southern town of Barisal said leaflets had been found there reading: “Bush and Blair, be warned and get out of Muslim countries. Your days of ruling Muslim countries are over.” [...] http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=18798

Buying a property in Italy?

Practical guide to buying, procedure, costs and legal aspects The purchase of a property in Italy is considerably different from the UK and some elements may seem difficult to understand, I'll try to clarify all the steps. Estate agents in Italy must have an appropriate qualification to operate their business and they offer a wider range of services to their clients than their UK counterpart, however, these come at a price that varies between 3 and 5% of the price paid for the property. Both the buyer and the seller pay the estate agent the same amount each. In this case though the sale is direct from the owner, thus you can cross that item off your list of expenses. As a rule of thumb the additional costs involved in the purchase of any property in Italy usually amount to roughly 10 to 15% of the final price paid. These costs include tax, notary, surveyor and other legal expenses. Add a translator if you need one. The Notary's fees usually correspond to 2 to 3% of the declared purchase price of the property. The owner of Vincenzini, being an architect, has all the documentation, including the cadastral (local land registry) certificates and maps indicating borders and classification of the various portions of the property. These are important elements as different classifications at the land registry mean considerably different costs and taxes. Normally you would have to ask your notary to gain access to these and obtain a copy for a fee. The steps of the purchase process: Making an Offer (Proposta d'acquisto) You need to fill a document that states the amount you are offering, an agreed date as to when the deposit will be paid and the latest date for the definition and signing of the final contract. Usually the owner will reply within two weeks, in this case it could be quicker. The form will have to be signed and a deposit paid to the legal representative of the seller, who will hold the deposit until the seller has accepted the offer, if not the deposit is returned. A private agreement between buyer and seller can vary the conditions and deadlines of this phase and is usually signed by both parties in front of their legal representative. In general every step and all documents in any transaction, however simple, require the witnessing of a notary, with corresponding fee paid; remember that there is even a small fee for each page of each document and these must be compiled on official stamped paper supplied by the government. Both buyer and seller pay a duty proportional to the value of the sale. Properties in the countryside are generally classified as rural estates. The tax and the official value that apply to rural properties is much lower than the one applied to residential dwellings and the market price; the official value of a country estate is still based on archaic concepts that relate the value of the property to the agricultural productivity of its land, whereas the actual buildings on the land have no or very little value. The tax paid on the purchase of a country estate is calculated at two different rates, one for the land and one for the buildings, we'll go into details further down this document. After the contract has been exchanged, the price agreed and the tax paid, the seller proceeds to file a request for "reclassification" of the buildings from agricultural to residential. This will enable the buyer to reside in the place and/or use it for a non-agricultural activity. Once the seller has accepted the offer the deposit is transferred from the legal representative to the seller and counts as a first instalment of the total payment agreed. So, crucially, how much to declare at completion? Property values are registered with the Comune (local council) on a Catasto (land and buildings registry). As we said there is a noticeable discrepancy between registered and the market value. You have to pay stamp duty on the price indicated in the deeds. The Italian law states that as long as you declare a little more (say 10%) than the cadastral value you will be within the limit of legal acceptability. For details regarding current registered value and other financial and procedural details please enquire directly. Obtaining a Fiscal Code (Codice Fiscale) In order to buy a property in Italy you must obtain a fiscal code. This is similar to your National Insurance Number. Any EU citizen can obtain one from the local tax office. No legal contract can be completed without a Codice Fiscale. You can apply for a Fiscal Code through the Italian Consulate, in my experience though the Italian Consulate in London is something of a shamble and local services in Tuscany are better and faster. Opening an Italian Current Account (Conto Corrente Bancario) Having a bank account in Italy will make your life easier from the beginning and you will need it eventually to complete the purchase. As a EU citizen you can open one, providing you have the codice fiscale. Some UK banks and building societies have opened branches in Italy, it is worth checking if yours is one of these. Otherwise you will have to give an address in Italy, which temporarily can be that of your legal representative until the day you move in. The preliminary contract (Compromesso) The next step is the signing of the compromesso, the preliminary purchase contract, this is usually written by the notary, and the deposit of around 20 to 30% of the purchase price is paid at this stage. After the compromesso the notary will go to the Registries to check if there are mortgages or other claims and ties on the property (in this case there are none). Often this is a phase that can become complicated by the unpleasant surprise that the property in fact belongs to several members of the family, some of whom may be living on the other side of the planet and whose signature is essential for the conclusion of the contract. Beware of this risk! In this case Vincenzini is "clear" as all the portions of the estate, which did indeed originally belong to many members of several families, were incorporated nearly 20 years go into one estate belonging to the current owner. Pulling out If for any reason you pull out at this stage you will lose your deposit. At the same time if the seller pulls out he has to pay the deposit back plus a compensation fee. (In the case of a deposit called caparra confermatoria the owner is legally bound to sell). This anyway is not a concern in this case as the owner has genuine and unchanging reasons to sell and he is the sole proprietor. The Final Contract (Atto di vendita or Rogito Notarile) This is the moment when the contract is completed, the final amount is paid and you become the legal owner of the freehold. The final signing of the contract has, again, to be completed in front of the notary and with witnesses. If you need the documents translated you will need to pay an additional fee as these must be translated and verified by an appointed official translator with legal qualifications and it can cost around £ 500, according to length and complexity (Italian documents tend to be horrendously verbose!) It is advisable to clarify all doubts, queries and details in advance as the time at the notary is very expensive and you don't want to spend a day sitting in an office, paying by the minute and possibly needing a translator with you to disentangle the intricacies of the procedure. It can all be clarified in advance, so that when you finally go to the notary it's just to sign the documents and have the notary confirm that it's all legal and cleared.. Needless to say, if you speak Italian you will feel so much more comfortable and in control, and may even find it all surreally funny. Official resident certificate (Residenza) It is important that as soon as you move in you declare the property as your permanent residence, as this reduces considerably all tax and costs (holiday homes pay higher rates) as well as giving you all the rights of access to local services, doctor's surgery etc. You will have to go to the local municipal office (Anagrafe, at the local council) to apply for a residence certificate, as a EU citizen you are entitled to it and it is merely a formality so that you can be included in the registry of local residents and effectively become a member of the community. After a few days the local Guardia Municipale (a cross between local police and local government officer) will come to visit you at home and ask a few questions, mainly to verify that you really intend to live at the property. It may take up to three months before they give you the actual documents (nothing official is fast and everything has to be done in person and at different offices). In some cases you may even receive a visit from the local Police or Carabinieri (there are two police bodies in Italy, and sometimes they compete with each other!). Don't be alarmed, they like to go around with machine guns wearing dark sunglasses and pretending they are LA cops in an American movie, they are just doing their job and showing you that you are well protected and they know you are there, and they like to poke their noses around to see what kind of person you are. To obtain most documents in Italy you need several passport-size photographs, your passport, and an official duty stamp ("marca da bollo", you buy them from tobacconists and post offices). If you are going to live in Italy get used to having to put your picture and a "marca da bollo" on any and every scrap of paper, and you will need lots of these, also get used to carrying ID all the time, it's compulsory and you can be taken to the police station if you can't produce ID and kept there for 48 hours or until someone comes to witness for you and present your documents. Stamp duty (imposte di registro) The standard stamp duty on the purchase of a house is 10% and 18% on farmland on the value declared in the deeds and contract. However, if you are going to reside there permanently, the tax is only 3% for the house and 18% for the land. In taht case the residenza (residency) has to be obtained within 18 months of purchase, otherwise you will have to pay the additional 7% plus interest and a fine. Also, you can't sell your property during the first 5 years, unless you buy another house for permanent residence, or pay the tax difference. If you are planning to run any kind of activity that is related to the land, consider that there are various funds available through local administration to help agricultural businesses, especially if these are based on ecologically friendly principles, priority is given to environmentally friendly technologies and materials both in the use of land and in the restoration of buildings. Right of pre-emption (diritto di prelazione) This is a crucial item that can cause endless problems and you should be wary of it and always check carefully. When farmland is offered for sale, the neighbouring farmers have the first right to buy it. So any neighbour who is officially farming agricultural land adjacent to a property that is for sale which also has farmland, has first right to buy the property at the value registered in the deeds. After the preliminary contract has been signed the owner (or the notary) will have to officially inform (by registered post) all those who could have this right. These have 30 days to respond. If the person has not been informed, or if the price he/she was informed of is higher than registered in the deeds, he/she has the right to buy the land (at the price declared in the deeds), this applies up to one year after the sale. In this case all the portions included for sale with Vincenzini are clear and unhindered. In fact, if you look at the plan of the property with the individual original numbered parcels you will notice parcel number 7 is not included while it belongs to the seller who is not using it and for its position should ideally be part of the property. The reason the seller hasn't included that parcel is that it is the only one that borders another property that is (on paper at least) farmland and whose owner could claim the "diritto di prelazione" – We have verified that the owner of the neighbouring land isn't interested to the purchase, however, out of precaution and to avoid any possible unexpected problem the seller has decided not to include parcel 7. As an option, it would be possible to "rent" that portion of land at a nominal fee from the seller over a period of say 100 years, which would bypass any potential problem and would give you use of the land with the exception of building on it. [...] http://www.robat.scl.net/content/Rsite/html/labirinto/Vincenzini/VinLegal.html I was going to emphasise the.....aspects of this document that surprised me, but there are so many I decided that it would be difficult to distinguish the emphasised text from the undecorated text if I went ahead and did it. Out of all the places I have visited, and I have been to countries all over the world, Italy has one of the best vibrations. Living there aparently, is a different thing entirely. Lets pull out some of the more interesting facts from this. As you, an avid reader of BLOGDIAL would imagine, the 'codice fiscale' number is one of the more alarm raising aspects of this text. It seems to the English, very wrong that a private legal contract cannot be executed without this number. A legal contract is a private agreement between two persons or a person and a corporation, who both agree to be bound by its terms and the jurisdiction of a place agreed within it. Executing it requires only the signature of both parties, and nothing else. Quite why a state issued number needs to be in there is puzzling; what if you, as an Italian want to make a contract with someone in the UK? When we licenced tracks to DFC, no mention of this requirement was made to us....hmmmm...this cant be right; if the text is right, its not right, and if its wrong, thats right. Yes. Note that you cannot open a bank account without this number. Once again, banking is a private service, and has nothing to do with anyone other than you and your banker. We can see what kind of country the UK will turn into should ID cards be introduced here. Its not very pretty; we would have all the increased beaurocrazy and none of the lifestyle advantages the Italians do! You have to go to the local municipal office to apply for a residence certificate. Actually, this is incorrect. The French 'Carte de Sejour' is a similar thing and it is a canceled requirement since the EU came into being...would you want to argue about it with the Italian authorities? That is the question. "After a few days the local Guardia Municipale (a cross between local police and local government officer) will come to visit you at home and ask a few questions"... amazing, and to the English, unthinkable that the police or the council would visit you at your new home to answer questions for no reason.

If you are going to live in Italy get used to having to put your picture and a "marca da bollo" on any and every scrap of paper, and you will need lots of these, also get used to carrying ID all the time, it's compulsory and you can be taken to the police station if you can't produce ID and kept there for 48 hours or until someone comes to witness for you and present your documents.

This to us, is the most horrifying and incomprehensible thing of all. It is alien to us, contrary to our nature, weird, far out...and if they suceed in bringing ID cards to the UK, will come to pass. I wonder if anyone in Italy ever asks why their picture "needs to be on every scrap of paper". To us, this makes so little sense, and is so offensive it makes you wonder....about alot of things. Firstly, it makes you wonder why the British, who live lives that are demonstrably more free than that of the Italians; why would they want to throw it all away? We wonder why the Italians put up with this stuff day in and day out; is there something that we have missed about all this, because frankly, it doesn't make any sense that people should willingly submit to this sort of insanity when for generations there have been countries where life is simpler, free and with the same level of legal guarantees for property and the person, creating an environment where you can simply get on with what you need to without interference from the state. Why is life (on the surface at least) so very pleasant in Italy, with all their entrenched and invasive beaurocracy making you jump through hoops like a horn honking seal? People are giving up the UK to move there despite all of this (surely not because of it)....what does the complete picture look like? Something isnt right, it doesnt add up. Reading this guide might not give you the real impression, but what is there is interesting enough, and compared to living in the UK, where you can come and go as you please, live where you like witout telling anyone, contract with people in private, never have to register with anyone for any reason, are not going to be visited by the police/council just because you have moved into a house...it looks on paper to be a nightmare. All the British should read this and the other guides to living in Europe that no doubt exist, and then reflect on how this country works, and what it is like to live here. It's something worth preserving.

Spreadable Linconlshire Poacher

I can't believe its butter!

Beyond the the limits of the absurd

Students Charged as Felony Hackers - Password Written on Back of iBooks 19 August 2005 06:15 EST Jason D. O'Grady From the Opinion Dept. In other educational news - 13 high school students in the PowerPage's home state of Pennsylvania (the Kutztown 13 as they're known) were charged with third-degree felonies for misusing their school-issued Apple iBooks. Their heinous crime? They used the administrator password (which was taped on the back of the computers, no less) to install unauthorized software. Not BitTorrent, not Limewire, but iChat AV. Sheesh. Now that's not the only thing that the kids are accused of doing, they also turned off the monitoring software (Apple Remote Desktop?) and even used it to monitor the admins. In addition, they're accused of using hacking tools to find the new admin password when it was changed from the password that was taped on the back of the machines. James Shrawder uncle of fifteen-year-old John Shrawder set up a Web site, CutUsABreak.org, to tell the students' side of the story. The even posted the letter sent to the students charged with the felonies. The sells t-shirts and bumper stickers, including my favorite: "Arrest me, I know the password!" The Kutztown Area School District issued a press release detailing the laptop policy violations but the charges still smack of heavy-handedness to me. Do they really want to graduate a class of students that must check "Yes" for the question "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" Give them community service and suspend their computer or Internet privileges, maybe, but felony convictions for being kids? Give me a break. UPDATE: New charges were filed yesterday against the teens. A charge of computer theft has been lodged against all 13 defendants, so that they are now charged with three variations of computer trespassing.

Welcome to "the future"

Pay special attention to the loudspeakers. What an astonishing work. That and this: http://www.yoomedia.com/yooplay/ Say "you are in the future"... Just like they said it would be. See Yoo Play on Astra 279. Pay special attention to the games where you are asked to call in with an answer. Note how it appears that the presenter is taking part in half of a conversation. Its more like a wild feed than a TV programme.

You can all consideder yourselvs as having been warned

Procurement launched amid fresh criticism
Sarah Arnott, Computing 17 Aug 2005

The government has taken the first steps in the technology procurement
for its national biometric identity cards programme.

But experts are already questioning the maturity of the biometric
systems at the heart of the proposals.

The legislation required for the scheme is not yet law, but the Home
Office last week issued the first notice alerting potential suppliers,
to ensure the procurement can start as soon as the bill is passed.

The formal tender will include the creation of a national identity
register, biometric technology, and the production and distribution of
cards.

The scheme will create a gold standard of identification to help fight
fraud, terrorism and illegal immigration, according to the government.

But biometric technology is not accurate enough to support such a claim,
says Neil Fisher, director of security solutions at defence technology
supplier QinetiQ.

'Telecoms systems are judged on an availability of 99.999 per cent, but
even that level of accuracy of biometrics, across the whole population,
would mean 6,000 people in the country being mistaken, and no biometric
technology is anywhere close to that reliable yet,' Fisher told
Computing.

'Unless there is a strategy to overcome that lack of accuracy, the
system will be flawed as soon as it starts,' he added.

Plans to include multiple biometrics - two eyes, 10 fingers and one face
- offer some improvement, but checking all 13 will be a long and
expensive process, says Graham Titterington, principal analyst at Ovum.

And the belief that biometrics mean no one will be able to register
twice is incorrect.

'At the moment, the whole reliability of biometrics is up in the air.
There have been lots of studies done with very different results,' said
Titterington.

'The government needs a dose of reality because its trust in the system
is unfounded and doesn't match up with experience.

'The plan is working on the assumption that, by the time it is live, the
technology will have come on in leaps and bounds. But that is not a
reasonable basis from which to start.' [...]

http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2141259/biometric-flaws-mar-start-id

My emphasia. Yes, 'emphasia'. This style of report always contains the implicit assumption that everyone will willingly register in the system. Most people will opt not to obey, and the closer the date of rollout comes, the more people will understand precisely what all of this means, and the number of refusniks will number in the millions. This will cause some problems. Will people be allowed to leave the UK on an expired passport? What is the law on this? Are the immigration officials meant to bar you from exit if your passport is expired? I have travelled on an expired passport several times, and never had any problem at either end. Its interesting that even the QinetiQ staff are saying that it will not work "from the start". Maybe they dont want to live in a country with a biometric net thrown over it either. After all, these people have children, they have real lives - maybe the penny has just dropped that their secret affairs with the secretaries will now be easily discoverable. No more informal confidential lunches anywhere with anyone ever again. Maybe now they understand that their children's inevitable future indescressions will be instantly discoverable. No more pats on the head with a "don't do anything like this again son, its all forgotten". Everyone will know everything, and nothing will ever be forgotten. That is a total nightmare, far worse than living under the Soviet Union era Russia, where photocopiers were kept under lock and key, and every other absurd paranoid control that we read and laughed about was a daily fact of life. Unless this database project is absolutely terminated, this total surveillance UK will come to pass, and because the system cannot work, tens of thousands will be hurt by it, and millions will be humiliated, inconvenienced and defrauded because of it.

Cut unnecessary words and stay wrong: 'concise bias'

Unnecessary words Some words add nothing but length to your prose. Use adjectives to make your meaning more precise and be cautious of those you find yourself using to make it more emphatic. The word very is a case in point. If it occurs in a sentence you have written, try leaving it out and see whether the meaning is changed. The omens were good may have more force than The omens were very good. Avoid strike action (strike will do), cutbacks (cuts), track record (record), wilderness area (usually either a wilderness or a wild area), large-scale (big), the policymaking process (policymaking), weather conditions (weather), etc. This time around just means This time. Shoot off, or rather shoot, as many prepositions after verbs as possible. Thus people can meet rather than meet with; companies can be bought and sold rather than bought up and sold off; budgets can be cut rather than cut back; plots can be hatched but not hatched up; organisations should be headed by rather than headed up by chairmen, just as markets should be freed, rather than freed up. And children can be sent to bed rather than sent off to bed—though if they are to sit up they must first sit down. This advice you are given free, or for nothing, but not for free. Certain words are often redundant. The leader of the so-called Front for a Free Freedonia is the leader of the Front for a Free Freedonia. A top politician or top priority is usually just a politician or a priority, and a major speech usually just a speech. A safe haven is a haven. Most probably and most especially are probably and especially. The fact that can often be shortened to That (That I did not do so was a self-indulgence). Loans to the industrial and agricultural sectors are just loans to industry and farming. Community is another word often best cut out. Not only is it usually unnecessary, it purports to convey a sense of togetherness that may well not exist. The black community means blacks, the business community means businessmen, the homosexual community means homosexuals, the intelligence community means spies, the international community, if it means anything, means other countries, aid agencies or, just occasionally, the family of nations. Use words with care. A heart condition is usually a bad heart. A near miss is probably a near hit. Positive thoughts (held by long-suffering creditors, according to The Economist) presumably means optimism, just as a negative report is probably a critical report. Industrial action is usually industrial inaction, industrial disruption or a strike. A courtesy call is generally a sales offer or an uninvited visit. A substantially finished bridge is an unfinished bridge. Someone with high name-recognition is well known. Something with reliability problems probably does not work. If yours is a live audience, what would a dead one be like? In general, be concise. Try to be economical in your account or argument (“The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out”—Voltaire). Similarly, try to be economical with words. “As a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigour it will give to your style.” (Sydney Smith) Raymond Mortimer put it even more crisply when commenting about Susan Sontag: “Her journalism, like a diamond, will sparkle more if it is cut.” [...] http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=673919 ???!! 'Lets find out'. Here is a recent article from 'The Economist', with the above rules applied....by me. Watch your mouth (this title is vague).

Aug 12th 2005 From The Economist Global Agenda

In the wake (after) of the London Tube and bus bombings, Britain’s prime minister, Tony Blair (spelling: 'Bliar'), thinks that European human-rights laws prevent Britain from dealing with supporters of terrorism. But the real obstacles lie closer to home (elsewhere)

EPA

WHAT makes a suicide-bomber? Long before the attacks that killed 52 people in London on July 7th, Britain’s security services had a clear pattern (they have patterns that are anything else but clear?) in their minds. A man who may drink beer, play football, chase girls and lead a life that is indistinguishable from those of most other young Britons starts looking around for something less ordinary. At that point, he comes under the influence of a charismatic imam (what is a 'charismatic' imam?), who rails (they dont rail, they preach) against the ill-treatment of Muslims around the world and suggests a straightforward (how is suicide straightforward?) route to self-fulfilment. He may eventually board a plane to Israel or a train to London, with the intention of killing as many civilians as possible.

Trying to prevent rebellious (mischaracterises suicide bombers as being motivated by a naughty teenage motivation trivializes suicide bombers and their motivations) impulses from taking hold is a difficult thing for a parent to do, let alone a government. So Britain’s Labour government is looking instead at clamping down on (stopping) the people who inspire terrorists. Many of these people, it thinks, are foreign-born, and therefore the state ought to be able to deal with them, without the liberties that British citizens enjoy getting in the way. That was the impulse (use a synonym since you used it earlier) behind a plan launched by Charles Clarke, the home secretary (interior minister), to define what counts as unacceptable behaviour by Muslims in Britain. It was also behind the 12-point plan that Tony Blair, the prime minister, announced on August 5th, while Mr Clarke was on holiday, before he too headed for the beach. (went on holiday)

Mr Blair’s agenda is wide-ranging and vague. It includes speeding up the deportation of foreign-born radicals,(dishonest use of english: 'people who speak against the government' or 'dissenting voices') extending a proposed ban on glorifying terrorism to cover people who justify or glorify terrorism anywhere in the world, holding pre-trial hearings to allow sensitive (dishonest use of english, should use 'secret') evidence to be admitted (these have already been dubbed “secret courts”), banning some Islamist (religious bias. use 'political' then question why BNP faces no sanctions) organisations from Britain, and closing troublesome (dishonest english; infers speech is dangerous. delete word) places of worship.

That was more than enough to frighten libertarians. “Just having undergraduate debates about whether it is ever right to take up arms could get you into this,” reckons Shami Chakrabati, director of Liberty, a pressure group (dishonest use of english. 'Pressure group' infers that Liberty is on the outside of society putting pressure on HMG, when in fact, they are a 'lobby group' or 'lobby' just like any other). But then the attorney-general raised the temperature (inflamatory language. revise) further, by letting it be known that radical (delete) imams might be charged with treason, an ancient crime in English law that dates back to an era when having sex with the king’s consort was a capital offence.

Part of this is politicking. “Everything the prime minister said will go down well in Conservative associations,” notes Edward Garnier, the shadow home affairs minister with the main opposition Conservative Party. The treason idea was quickly scotched (dropped), though not before it had inspired some headlines.

But Mr Blair’s insistence that “the rules of the game are changing”, plus a nagging suspicion that Britain’s legal system might be less well equipped to deal with Islamic extremism (dishonest use of english; you mean 'free speech') than those of other European countries, has left the government looking for ways to make Britain a bit more like France (innapropriate ambush humor). The French have both experience of Islamic extremism and a reputation for toughness—they have long been exasperated by what they see as excessive tolerance of radical Islam in Britain. The French government has promised a new anti-terrorism law by the end of this month, designed to strengthen the hardline approach it has adopted in recent years (see article).

According to Mr Blair, the first step towards a tougher approach in Britain is to find a way around (use honest english: 'a way to nullify' or 'a way to cancel') the 1998 Human Rights Act. That’s (informal contraction. delete) odd, because the other members of the Council of Europe are also bound by the European Convention on Human Rights (which British civil servants played a big part in drafting). Though Mr Blair says that Article 3, which prohibits torture, makes it difficult to deport undesirables (use honest english. you will be deporting PEOPLE not 'UNDESIREABLES' the latter is a prejorative and introduces bias into the article.) to countries where their toenails might be pulled out, (torture) this has not prevented other signatories to the convention from doing so. So what is Britain’s problem? (flippant. 'So what is preventing Britian from implimenting these measures')

First, though the convention is the same everywhere, Britain’s adversarial legal system means that it works differently there. Defendants typically have the right to appeal at several stages of the legal process. That makes appeals against extradition protracted and expensive. In 2001, it took an average of eight months to extradite someone to Britain, but 18 months to send someone the other way. Contested hearings cost around £125,000 ($223,000). An attempt two years ago to streamline the process has not altered its fundamentally fractious nature. In France, by contrast, deporting suspects to countries with patchy human-rights records causes little fuss (is easy). Rights of appeal are more restricted and deportees may not be able to appeal until after they have left the country, by which time it might be too late. “Often you send a fellow back to Algeria and that’s the last you hear of him,” says Clive Walker, who studies terrorism laws at Leeds University.

Second, Britain has a long tradition of sheltering firebrands, (use plain english. this is a 'free speech' issue and nothing more) which is reflected in the law. Victorian London was an excellent place for foreign radicals to set up shop—whether they were scholarly types like Karl Marx, who plotted the overthrow of capitalism from the reading room of the British Museum, or militants like Johann Most, a German anarchist who was allowed to wander the streets despite penning a guide called “The Science of Revolutionary Warfare”. Ancient laws on free speech, a light touch from the censor and a lack of legal distinctions between citizens and non-citizens have appealed to African National Congress supporters and Islamist radicals (when 'The Caliphate' is established, no doubt this language will change to 'supporters of Islam'? This is how 'African National Congress radicals' turns into 'ANC supporters'. 'Radicals' is a loaded word and should be used only in the context of criticising its use in speech or writing, and never to describe people who merely excersise their right to free speech.) alike. If the government really wanted (wants) to overturn this tradition, it would need extensive legislation.

A more straightforward (another) option is to get agreements from foreign countries not to harm anyone who is extradited from Britain. It already has one such agreement with Jordan, and is seeking similar undertakings from nine other countries. On August 11th, police arrested ten foreign nationals in south-east England and the Midlands, with a view to deporting them. It will provide the first test of how judges respond to Mr Blair’s hectoring. (??? use simple english)

None of this helps much where the culprits ('culprits'? does this refer to people excersising their right to free speech? Or maybe The Economist thinks that free speech is only for journalists? These people can in no way be described as 'culprits'. They are 'defendants' at the very least and, 'victims' depending on who is doing the talking.) are British-born, however. For them, the government proposes to use more control orders—a new legal device that deprives people of some liberties without actually locking them up. Mr Blair also said that the government would look at stripping naturalised Brits of their citizenship if they support terrorists. In practice that is difficult: unless someone has dual nationality, revoking their citizenship means making them stateless.

Some have suggested that the flurry of announcements, coupled with a lack of detail on how they might work, is really aimed at scaring the firebrands away (doshonest use of english; this really means 'supressing free speech'). If so, it might be working. Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Syrian-born imam who could be caught out by the new laws, recently left Britain to visit his mother. He told reporters he would be coming back (not to foment terror (this is a libel. he has never 'fomented terror'), but to have a heart operation on the state-run National Health Service). On August 12th, however—following Mr Mohammed's brief detention by the Lebanese authorities—the British government said that he would be barred from returning as his presence was not “conducive to the public good”.

So. We see how A) the economist lets through all sorts of garbage english, and B) it is an extremely biased publication I wonder if this had passed throught the style guide filter, and if it had, what it had looked like BEFORE it was trimmed down.