I think writing letters of complaint and/or nitpicking might be my new hobby

Dear BBC, I’m uncomfortable with your use of the word “leftist”. This isn’t a word commonly used in the UK, but in the USA it is *not* a neutral term. “Left-wing” or “Socialist” would be a more neutral term. In the USA “leftist” is effectively a derogatory term. There is no “rightist”, as such views are assumed to be normal, safe and good. “Leftist” implies that people or organisations have abnormal, dangerous ideologies. A Google search for “leftist” shows it is used negatively in an overwhelming number of cases, and when used positively it’s usually in a “reclaiming” or ironic context. The USA’s mainstream media *does* have a bias, please don’t repeat it. Please adjust your styleguide! Yes, I have nothing better to do this morning :-)

Link: Leftist trio seals Americas pact

Of course, in this case at least two of the leaders involved are rather unusual.

This site features many interesting cycle lanes.

Link: Cycle Facility of the Month

If you prefer gentle curves to 90degree turns, you will appreciate this scenic and useful cycle path in Warrington.

These fellows are good.

I’m going to be a heretic now: the Jedi fight scenes in the original Star Wars movies are rather feeble, especially in Episide IV. Vader and Kenobi are obviously rather out-of-practice and just tired of it all. If the fight had gone on for a little while longer they would both have agreed to a sit down and a nice cup of tea instead.

A: “I think we should look for the best places to buy new fridges and dishwashers and things, in case the new flat is missing things. Then we can get one at short notice if we need to.” Me: “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ve got a pretty good idea from when I was looking for things for the old flat, but I might check out John Le-LOOK! A KITTEN WITH A MONKEY!”

If a government creates a new law to be used only in ‘special’ cases, you can bet that someone will want to ‘try it out’ as soon as possible, and soon the new special law will be used with all the subtlety of opening a tin using a shotgun.

The special anti-terror legislation passed to protect the public from the grim spectre of terror has also been used against:

• A pensioner who shouted ‘nonsense’ at Jack Straw
• A pensioner who wore an anti-Blair T-shirt
• A young woman who read out the names of dead UK servicemen at the War Memorial
• A Dundee woman for walking in a cycle lane
• Two anglers fishing without a license
• A busload of CND protestors, one of whom was carrying ‘a weapon’ later identified as a toy kite
• Morrisey (in the USA)
• Vegans (in the USA)
• Manchester United fans
• Actors who played terrorists in a film

and the latest:

• Someone who listened to Led Zeppelin and The Clash

(Content shamelessly stolen from Blairwatch)

Missouri has interesting skies. Manchester does not.

Link: Missouri Skies Gallery

Bus Station Art
Originally uploaded by BinaryApe.

While trying to find out more about this statue in Blackburn, Google led me to Omnibus Girls, in which someone collects photos of women in bus stations, especially if the woman is near a bus. This is not a hobby I was previously aware of.

Link: Omnibus Girls

Walmart: Protecting Your Children From The Haberdashery of Satan:

Link: The No Coast Blog » Blog Archive » The Wal-Mart

Almost certainly not company policy of course, but still remarkably daft. There’s a good chance this shop sells guns - their Jesus was a big fan of shooting things (it’s in the bits you didn’t read, probably) but frowns on coloured ribbons used by crazy dancing black folk.

It seems that the media, from Channel 4 News to Recess Monkey, find it enjoyably ironic that the kidnapped Christian peace activists were rescued by soldiers. In addition, the army is spinning the story that they are upset at not being publicly thanked, and the media are lapping up the “ungrateful old man wastes time and public money” story.

I’m amazed that I’ve not heard anyone ask the obvious question: “Was this a staged rescue following a ransom payment?”

The kidnappers were after money: the demand of “release all women prisoners” was clearly a cover and is used time and time again. They had recently executed one of the hostages. Yet the “rescue” involved a nicely arranged international selection of soldiers following a “tip-off” from a captive to find the hostages in an empty house.

• If the captors were warned of the attack and escaped, why didn’t they take the hostages with them or kill them?

• If the attack was a surprise, why would the hostages be left alone, unguarded? I doubt that Mr Kember could have fled by forcing a lock and running through the streets, but there would be a big risk the captives could be found by patrols or neighbours.

Here is my theory of what happened: With the UK government in a weak state at home, and one hostage already dead, the UK government paid the ransom. The kidnappers left the surviving captives in the house, and passed the location to the authorities. A nicely staged rescue went ahead, and the heroic SAS saved the lives of the ungrateful, time wasting meddlers.

Whenever other captives are released the Press in the UK always run stories asking “Was a ransom paid?” In this case, the smokescreen story blaming Mr Kember has neatly displaced the obvious question.

Update:

I think the BBC journalist in this article is hinting at the same doubt:

Although foreign hostages have been freed in Iraq before, most were released as the result of secret negotiations, many involving the payment of ransom money, our correspondent adds.

Update 2: The official release says that the men were discovered “bound”. The men themselves say they were “not bound during captivity”

More unpleasantness from NeoLabour:

The boringly-named Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill is in fact a very dangerous piece of legislation. It grants any minister the ability to amend, replace, or repeal existing legislation. The frightening thing is this: they would be able to make major changes to the law without Parliament being able to examine it properly, taking away the ability of Parliament to meaningfully represent the citizens of this country.

Please write to your MP. Writing to your MP might not be much use now but if this bill goes through it might be the last time writing to your MP will be of any use at all.

Link: Save Parliament!