11-Feb-12
Policeare appealing forwitnesses to come forward, following a handbag theft at Tesco, Hewitts Circus, Cleethorpes on Thursday 09 February 2012.
Two men on mountain bikes were seen to have been loitering outside the entrance to the store.
An elderly woman, exited the store and along with her small sized trolley she walked towards the pedestrian exit - heading onto Grimsby Road, Humberston.
The woman was then approached by the twomen on mountain bikes, who are alleged to have stolen her red coloured leather handbag, which was placed inside her trolley, along with two bags of shopping.
The men then cycled off towards Belvoir Road, pursued by a member of the public, who lost sight of the men as they headed onto Tree Estate.
Following a number of enquiries police managed to locate one of the possible offenders, who was taken to Grimsby Police station for questioning.
The 31-year-old man was released on police bail, pending further enquiries.
Police would like to remind anyone who is in possession of valuables such as handbags, mobile phones and cash to make sure they are not easily accessible to opportunist thieves.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is asked to call Humberside Police tel 101 quoting crime reference 1889827 or call Crimestoppers tel 0800 555 111.
Mike Tuffrey always did have a way of telling it like it is. In my day on the London Assembly it was Ken on the receiving end. Nice to see that he is still on it – and holding the current Mayor to account – pointing out to people in London just how measly and insignificant Boris Johnson's ‘tax cut' is.
Commenting on the Mayor's budget proposals for the year 2012 - 2013 Mike said:
"A few weeks ago the Mayor was resisting our (Liberal Democrats') proposal for a cut in the council tax bill. Now as the election approaches at the eleventh hour he has come forward with a mouse of a cut.
"The Mayor has failed to share with Londoners the fruits of the central government grant and he has failed to make real savings in the huge budgets he controls.
"By tackling waste and extravagant expenditure our proposals enable key services to be protected whilst giving Londoners a tax cut four times larger.
"When most Londoners are struggling with zero pay rises and increased household costs it is wrong that the Mayor has failed to help them in these tough economic times."
Go Mike!
Parasite capitalism
The destruction of the manufacturing base of the country from the days of Thatcher in the 1970s; the turn to service sector and finance as the main source of profit; and the complete dominance of the monetarist razor gang in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank have all piled on the misery and destitution for a whole generation.School leavers now usually face a choice of low-paid or even unpaid work experience; insecure 'precarious' jobs; pressure to take on voluntary work on pain of loss of benefits; or shoddy training schemes.Even University places are shrinking, with a massive drop in applications recently reported, through a combination of rocketing fees, cuts to student support grants and fear of rising graduate unemployment or underemployment. In the further education colleges, increasingly an escape route from poverty and unemployment for some working class people of all ages, savage cuts threaten to choke off people's chances. Behind the noisy battle between the SNP government and the imperialist arrogance of Cameron & Co, the SNP quietly slashed student support grants by over 10 per cent, from £95.6m to £84.2m. And that is on top of about £54m being hacked off FE college funding.
Cameron out of Scotland!
When Cameron breezes into Scotland on 24 March to address Scottish Tory Party conference in Troon, he should face a furious demo against youth unemployment, cuts to education and cuts in general. The unions need to make a massive event against the Westminster butcher. They should likewise mount pressure on the SNP government to stand up for Scotland's future in terms of jobs, education, and housing (which they have cut by an appalling £150m, or 40 per cent, despite 120,000 Scots languishing on the housing waiting lists), as well as on the constitutional issue.
Recession an excuse to attack workers
As the recent survey by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) confirms, employers are using the recession as a golden opportunity to hammer workers' rights, wages and conditions. Over the past two years CAS has dealt with 107,000 cases of unfair treatment at work - and that is only the tip of the iceberg. Tens of thousands more are afraid to object to pay cuts, withheld wages, longer hours, illegal changes to contracts and victimisation of those who dare to object.As the CAS report comments, often these are low paid and low skilled workers, who do not even know their legal rights.The unions have a massive job to do to organise and defend these vulnerable sections of workers, who are being hammered to pay for the capitalist crisis and the naked greed for profit of those at the top of society.
Mad-dog Tories on rampage
Of course the Tory Coalition is egging on all the worst employers to do their damnedest. They are planning further anti-union legislation. An obnoxious cabal of right wingers in the Tory party has launched what is called the Trade Union Reform Campaign.This extremist outfit has been praised in writing by David Cameron. It is chaired by Aidan Burley MP, who was sacked as Transport Minister after it was revealed he had strutted round in a Nazi SS uniform, toasting the Third Reich, with Nazi salutes, at a stag party in France. It's most prominent members include Eric Pickles, local government minister, and the disgraced Liam Fox.At their launch meeting in Westminster they boasted that the government is about to produce a White Paper to slash trade union facility time in the civil service, issue 'helpful guidance' to councils on how best to cut facility time for union reps, and charge unions for deduction of union subs from wages across the public sector.
Shackling workers' reps
These creatures of profit and reaction want to outlaw unions, to abolish the ability of elected shop stewards to defend workers from abuse, as highlighted in the CAS report. In doing so, they ignore inconvenient facts, like the report by Hertfordshire University showing that the role of workplace union reps in reducing staff turnover, cutting down on the number of Employment Tribunals and reducing workplace sickness and injuries, saves the economy about £700m a year!Compare that to the paltry sums paid in wages to shop stewards, who in real life invest vast amounts of their own time in defending workers from the unscrupulous attacks that are running riot across workplaces, especially now the employers have the whip of mass unemployment to try and cow workers who live in fear of their jobs.And contrast too, the vast sums of taxpayers' money consumed by the salaries and expenses - legal or otherwise - of MPs and government ministers, who then use hobnail boots to walk all over workers' rights!The bankers, bosses and billionaires rely on capitalist politicians to pass laws that help to shackle workers whilst this class of robbers dip their pockets, with pay cuts, benefit cuts, job losses, grinding more work out of fewer workers, and vast amounts of unpaid overtime, squeezed out of workers through terror tactics, fear of losing their job and family livelihood.
Wealth transfusion to the rich
It is no surprise to discover that a new study proves workers today are paid £60billion a year less in real terms than 30 years ago!This shocking revelation goes alongside company executives' pay rising 10 per cent in 2010 and another 17 per cent in 2011- a planet apart from the pay cuts workers have suffered, with economists predicting their wages will not recover their pre-banking crisis value until at least 2020.This appalling transfer of wealth to the rich from the rest of us, from those who actually produce and deliver the goods and services, is causing such widespread fury that the parties of the capitalist elite have to pretend to do something about it - whilst actually making it easier to exploit workers and those on the likes of sickness benefits through their legislative changes.
Sops and diversions
The recent hue and cry about stripping Sir Fred Goodwin of his knighthood is cheap diversionary tactics, a tiny sop to the public outcry at greedy bankers. He still has his £650,000 a year pension, on top of the £2.7m lump sum he walked off the job with in the middle of the taxpayers' bailout of the banks. If a worker had wrecked the state of his company (let alone a whole banking system), he would at best have been sent packing without a penny or a reference, and probably jailed.Likewise the headlines greeting Stephen Hester's decision to hand back his £963,000 bonus as head of the RBS diverted many people's gaze from the fact that his fellow executives are to get £425m in bonuses, that Hester himself got a package worth £7.7m last year, and that the Coalition has said they will not 'micro-manage' future RBS bonuses.So they intend it to be 'big business as usual', with a thin smokescreen of one or two high profile 'sacrifices'.
Stand up and fight!
Fighting for a reversal of the wealth transfusion from the millions to the millionaires is at the heart of every specific struggle against cuts to pay, jobs, benefits, education and workers' rights. Without powerful union memberships, workers will be left defenceless against ruthless employers out to maximise profit. And unless the unions are seen to stand up on their hind legs for the members they already have, young workers in precarious jobs, or workers of all ages in the least-organised sectors, will see little point in joining the unions.
Pensions battle continues
That is one of many reasons why the battle over public sector pensions is of critical importance, to the future of the entire working class. Well over 2 million workers showed their readiness to battle the Westminster pension robbers on the magnificent 30 November strike. To their eternal shame, central leaders of the TUC, UNISON, GMB and other unions caved in to the pre-Xmas offer from the government, despite the latter boasting it still contained every single penny in cuts to pensions that was threatened before the N30 strike.And to their eternal credit, other union leaders - and a vast army of active members who have bombarded their leaderships in protest any dirty betrayal of their pension rights - are standing firm and preparing for further united strike action to try and force the Coalition into re
The HTC Sensation XE features a built in Wi-Fi hotspot feature, meaning you can utilise your data connection to provide wireless internet access to a range of compatible devices. In this article I will look at how this works, and some of the real world applications it is suited to.
Occasionally you may find that you need to browse the internet on your laptop but are unable to gain a Wi-Fi connection. If you own a smartphone like the HTC Sensation XE which features a WI-Fi hotspot feature you can use it to provide a Wi-Fi connection for your laptop or iPad. If you are out of range of a Wi-Fi connection or do not have the appropriate login details, you can use this feature to enable web browsing on a compatible device.
To enable the feature, open the quick settings menu in your HTC Sensation which can be accessed by sliding your finger from the top of the screen to reveal the notifications panel. At the bottom, select quick settings and select the Wi-Fi hotspot feature. After waiting for a few seconds, the feature will activate. Once this is done, go onto the device you would like to use the internet on, such as a laptop computer or a tablet like an Apple iPad. In the device's respective internet connection settings, you should see an option called "HTC Portable Hotspot". Select this and you will now be able to use the internet on your computer without a traditional Wi-Fi connection. The first time you use this on a new device, the phone will display a pass code which must be entered on the computer you wish to use, to ensure you are the only person using your Wi-Fi hotspot, although you can of course share this with others should you wish, meaning they can also benefit.
The Wi-Fi hotspot feature will only work when your phone has a 3G connection. This data is then converted into a useable Wi-Fi connection for other devices. Up to five devices can use the internet connection provided by your HTC Sensation XE, but data usage will reflect this. The Wi-Fi hotspot feature can be invaluable in a number of scenarios. If you are in a public location with no Wi-Fi connectivity you can activate the Wi-Fi hotspot feature to provide an internet connection, or maybe your internet connection has unexpectedly stopped working at home or in the office.
If you are on a restricted data plan (many tariffs limit data to 500MB or 1GB per month in the UK) then I recommend using the feature only as a backup and by no means as a permanent replacement to a wireless router. If you are lucky enough to have the benefit of unlimited data on your tariff though, you can use it as much as you like. If this is the case, please ensure that you phone has ample battery or preferably is on charge when using it, as the feature can be quickly drain even a fully charged battery. When using the Wi-Fi hotspot feature it is likely that you will have your phone with you when you are on your laptop or other supported device, which means the signal strength will be excellent.
In conclusion, the Wi-Fi hotspot feature on phones like the HTC Sensation XE is a handy back up plan should your internet connection stop working, or you need to carry out some important work when out of range of an accessible Wi-Fi connection. If you have unlimited data on your tariff, you can take advantage of the excellent signal without worrying about going over your monthly data allowance.
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Chris Lightfoot (by Gavin Bell)
My friend and mySociety's first developer Chris Lightfoot died five years ago today. He killed himself in his own flat for reasons that we will never really know, but which are doubtless linked to the depression which he'd been fighting for years. He was just 28, but had already achieved so much that The Times ran anobituaryof him. He would have laughed mightily about the fact that this is now behind a paywall.
To mark this occasion I wanted to write something for mySociety staff and volunteers who never knew Chris, and for a wider audience of people who work in places like GDS,Code For America or indeed anyone with an interest in politics and governance. What Chris represented is too important to be lost in the grief at his passing.
The basic fact to understand about Chris was that he was a very specific kind of polymath – one perfectly suited to the internet age. What I mean by this is that he did much more than simply master varying disciplines: he saw and drew connections between fields. He wouldn't just master cartographic principles, engage in politics and, as Francis Irving put it, ‘write Perl like other people write English': he invariably saw the connections and mixed them up in meaningful and often pioneering ways.
Moreover, this mixing of disciplines was conducted at a furious, restless pace, and knew absolutely no concept of ‘too hard' – either something was fundamentally impossible, or ‘trivially soluble', to use one of his favourite and most gloriously under-stated phrases. Who else would build the technology to break a captcha just to investigate what American truck rental costs tell us about internal migration in America, for fun? The answer is ‘Trivial'.
That he was a genius is not what I want you to understand. Telling you that someone you never met was smarter than you is not helpful, and doesn't fulfil my promise to tell you why understanding Chris matters.
What is fundamentally valuable about Chris' legacy (besides piles of code which power services that are still running today) is that his story signals how we all need to change our conception of what it means to be ‘wise enough to rule'. Let me explain.
Unlike most of us, Chris had the luxury of being able to pick any field of study that interested him, dig up some books and papers, and teach himself a graduate-level understanding in what felt like a few days. It is hard to express quite how fast he could consume and internalise complex new information, and how relentlessly he went at it. To note that he got 6 A grades at A-level is to give toopuerileaprcis, but it is indicative.*
Again, I am not telling you this to make you feel stupid: what matters is what he chose to do with this gift. What he chose to do was built an ever-expanding palette of skills from which he could paint as he pleased. And what he chose to paint was a vision of a better, saner world.
This painting ranged across a huge expanse of topics and disciplines: nuclear engineering, politicalideologies, constitutional law, military history, statistics, psephology, economics, security engineering, behavioural psychology,propaganda, intellectual propery law and more. His favourite brushes were Perl and a blog composed of prose sosharp andfunny that George Bernard Shaw would not have been displeased by the comparison. I still wish I could write half as well as him.
What I want to communicate most is this: the disciplines he chose to study form a combined19th, 20th and 21st centurycurriculumof skills required by modern leaders, both leaders of political organisations and governmentbureaucracies. Chris's life was the invention of a massivelyexpanded, far more up to date version of the traditional ‘Politics, Philosophy and Economics‘course that this country still uses to educateits elites.
Some of these disciplines are timeless, like the understanding of ideologies or economics. Some represent vital new issues that emerged in the 20th century, like nuclear energy and world-scale warfare. But mixed in there are wholly new, alien group of skills that the recent SOPA, Wikileaks and ID cards debacles show that modern leaders haven't got anywhere near to internalising: they include knowledge about security engineering, intellectual property and how new technologies clash with old laws and ideologies. They are skills that nobody used to think were political, but which are now centre stage in a polity that can't keep up.
This doesn't mean Chris would have made a perfect leader: I used to argue with him a lot about how he weighed up the costs and benefits of different issues. But what he fundamentally had right was the understanding that you could no longer run a country properly if the elites don't understand technology in the same way they grasp economics or ideology or propaganda. His analysis and predictions about what would happens if elites couldn't learn was savage and depressingly accurate.
The canon of Chris's writings and projects embody the idea that what good governance and the good society look like are now inextricably linked to an understanding of the digital. He truly saw how complex and interesting the world was when you understood power as well as networking principles in a way that few have since.
There is, of course, much more to say about Chris's life. His blog, built on software that foresaw Posterous,is wonderful, hilarious and utterly readable, so you can learn more yourself. Martin Keegan's obituary is touching and a much better portrait of how much fun it was to be friends with Chris. I hope to memorialise what he represents to me, if I can. But for now, I'll sign off with a quote from a blog commentor:
"Chris was kind enough to take the time to reply to me, an internet nobody whom he didn't know from a bar of soap, on a fairly complex statistical question once. He took a lot of time and effort in his response, and he made sure I understood it properly. It's not often you find knowledgeable people willing to take their own time to educate an unknown person. We need more people like him, not less."
* For US readers, this is like having a GPA of 4.0, but achieved across twice as many subjects as you actually need to take.Carefully.
The early USSR is an example of doing it no holds barred. Stalin simply confiscated the peasants grain and sold it abroad to buy machine tools, generators etc etc. Now in its way that was successful, in that they did build a growing economy, but it also meant several million peasants starving to death. I think a market orientated approach can achieve the growth without the deaths. I think a market orientated approach would have worked better in the USSR at the time but that wasn't an option because the USSR, being poverty struck and coming out of a civil war, had no spare money to invest; because of western anti-communism wasn't able to borrow internationally; because of Soviet anti-capitalism, wasn't willing to allow investment either by foreigners or natives; and because they had grabbed the assets of both foreigners and natives nobody was going to be silly enough to invest there no matter how good the opportunities. The state having destroyed all other options had to do it itself.
Fortunately none of this applies to us today (well ok there are some politicians ideologically opposed to sanity). There is no shortage of money in the world economy available for commercial investments. Companies are bulging with money. It is simply a shortage of such investment opportunities, at least in the slow growing Luddite economies of the EU and USA. So my proposals involve working with market incentives rather than against them.
Even better, from our point of view, is the fact that there is a method of greatly reducing the cost of electricity production and producing it in far greater quantity without any technological breakthrough. That method is reducing the regulatory burden on nuclear power, which makes up most of its cost, and allowing/encouraging the mass production of reactors. It seems certain that wholesale electricity prices in Britain could be reduced by 93% by doing this. Since ours is some of the most expensive electricity in the world the effect elsewhere might be as low as only cutting 75%.
So what should we do to bring this about.
1 - Set a target. I have previously given the calculations that showed a maximum theoretical sustainable growth rate of 23.8%. To achieve that would obviously require a minimum of that rate of increase in energy usage. In practice one would want more than that and suggest we should be prepared to support a growth rate 1 1/2 times that ie 35%.
We use an average of 40GW per hour Call it 50 to cover normal variation.
So we should be wanting to produce 67.5 (increase of 17.5%) after 1 year.; 90 ((inc 22.5) after 2; 120 (30 inc) in the 3rd; 160GW (inc 40) in the 4th; 215 (55 up) in the 5th; 290GW (75 up) in the 6th; and 390GW (100 up) in the 7th.
In fact, since it takes some time to build reactors I assume we would not get those increases in the first 3 years. However if a mass production reactor factory is involved able to turn out 100 Gigawatt reactors a year, at a flat rate, the production in years 3,4 & 5 should sufficiently exceed the target to catch up.
However simply ending the subsidy of windmills would reduce prices immediately and investors, knowing that the increased supply/reduced prices were online, would start investing and growing the economy immediately.
Up till now the normal assumption has been that it takes 3 years to build a new reactor so with building a factory mass producing them one would expect somewhat longer. However there are 2 alternatives. Firstly an X_prize for early completion and secondly the new Westinghouse SMR which is 1/4 GW but designed for mass production & easy delivery within 18 months - it is 1/4 the size but takes up only just over 1/4 the space of a traditional reactor, 1/4 the cost and presumably could be mass produced 4 times as fast.
With mass produced reactors costing £800 million per GW retail I would expect such a factory, producing 100 GW a year , would cost not more than £200 billion - I'm assuming Westinghouse are expecting that of the £80 billion they will make a year in turnover, 1/2 will be marginal profit giving them a 20% return on capital - highly profitable but by no means outstanding for a new product. A massive investment indeed but at 4% of GDP, not much to get an economy growing at 24%. In fact it would be in national surplus in a year if we only got it growing at 4.1%.
It is also close to what the government insist they want to spend on windmills, for no obvious beneficial effect, so clearly they think we can afford.
That is assuming government has decided they want the ownership and long term profits of the business If government decided it was happy to keep only about 20|% of ownership it could arrange this simply by providing Westinghouse with land, instant planning permission, the end of all unnecessary regulations, ministerial support in negotiating international loans, a guarantee to support purchasers in adding the power to the grid and a holiday on VAT & other taxes for the first 3 years. This would obviously cost virtually nothing since not collecting taxes on an industry which is currently not intended to be allowed to exist, is not a cost.
I suspect the optimum would be somewhere between government paying the lot and owning it all and government paying nothing and owning 20%.
A few other ideas which are less hands on:
- Planning permission to be decided for any power project in a matter of days and to go through unless they are very strong reasons against.
- Tax holidays or rebates for the entire industry so long as it isn't growing faster than the target rate.
- A state guarantee a minimum purchase price for up to the target amount of electricity which they then resell at whatever price the market will bear. This could be expensive if demand is seriously overestimated but it does greatly reduce the business risks of investing in such expansion. (this idea is derived from a similar proposal for orbital launch cargoes and was used by me in a proposal to encourage the modular housebuilding industry.
- Strong programme of cutting unnecessary nuclear regulations.
- A constitutional right to demand the suspension of any regulation that imposes a heavier cost/safety ratio on one industry than comparable regulations in another. Again something previously advocated. With 5 people having died in Britain from windmills in the last 5 years and only 2, because of reactors, anywhere in the world, over the last 20, while nuclear produces orders of magnitude more power, it cannot honestly be argued that we have a level regulatory field.
- Government providing loans at the normal government borrowing rate.
- An X-Prize for the completion of the first new reactor. Smaller ones for 2nd & so on.
- Improving the national grid so that it can handle as much new power as wanted.
- X-Prize for the first commercial thorium reactor. This is based on what the Saltire prize is supposed to be doing for sea-turbines.
- Building links for an International Grid based on high voltage DC current (HVDC). Once such links are in place we have an export market ready to hand. One of the few things government appears to be able to do cost effectively is to improve transport infrastructure and since facilitating transport of electricity, while technically entirely different, follows the same economic arguments as those for facilitating the transport of lorries, this is something government can properly do.
- Algal oil. The potential for producing oil grown from algae is virtually unlimited if done from mid ocean plants using nutrient heavy water from the ocean depths. Substantial prizes for early successes in developing this should work.
- The Saltire prize. I don't think it will work because i don't think ocean energy i has the necessary energy density to ever be competitive. But if the prize is properly run it will do no harm and might even prove me wrong. If it doesn't no prize is awarded. This is only part of the "renewable" industry that might prove worthwhile
- X-Prize for improved efficiency of solar power. Solar power units are dropping fast in price along with other electronic goods. At some stage, possibly quite soon, they may become cheaper than the ele
A couple of weeks ago, Nick Clegg signalled his determination to cut the taxes of the lowest-paid — now Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander is pressing for the tax-rise that would enable the Coalition to get on with it.
Here's how the Telegraph reports it:
Danny Alexander, a Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister, says the better-off are receiving overly-generous tax relief when they invest money for their retirement. Mr Alexander's proposals would see tax relief halve from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. He also wants workers on the minimum wage, who earn up to 12,500 a year, to pay no income tax at all. Mr Alexander claims that removing the higher-rate tax relief would save the Exchequer more than 7 billion and make the system fairer. Even restricted to those earning more than 100,000 the Treasury could save 3.6 billion.
"If you look at the amount of money that we spend on pensions tax relief, which is very significant, the majority of that money goes to paying tax relief at the higher rate," Mr Alexander told The Daily Telegraph. His remarks may open up a new dispute between the Tories and Lib Dems over tax. They are already at odds over Lib Dem calls to keep the 50p top rate of tax and introduce a "mansion tax" on high-value homes. George Osborne, the Chancellor, is expected to strongly resist any calls to scrap higher-rate tax relief. ...
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, wants to move "further and faster" with tax cuts for lower-paid workers -- a move that would be funded by higher taxes on the better-off, but which had not been accepted by Conservatives.
At the Liberal Democrat spring conference next month, the party's members are expected to pass a motion calling for cuts in tax relief for higher-rate savers, with the Chief Secretary likely to back it. "I'm willing to study that motion but I dare say I will [support it]," he says. "I wrote an election manifesto at the last election which proposed going considerably further for precisely the reasons of fairness that I've set out. As a Coalition government, we've made some decisions in this area already, which go in the right direction. When it comes to people on low and middle income, I am a tax-cutter by instinct."
Strange Thoughts detects a whiff of conspiracy about the opposition to Professor Les Ebdon becoming the new director of the Office for Fair Access.
Greg Farrell on Bloomberg Businessweek dissects what happened on the fateful night last May when Rupert Murdoch decided how News Corporation would manage its phone-hacking scandal.
The novelist Elizabeth Taylor shared a name with one of the greatest female movie stars of her age. In the New York Times Christopher Beha examines her career.
Disgruntled Radical provides our Sign of the Day.
"Mr Bond grew up in Reading and says the character of the polite bear from 'darkest Peru' was inspired by his childhood and watching newsreels of children being evacuated from the capital. 'When I was small, I had memories of children being evacuated from London with a label around their necks and all their possessions in a suitcase, and this became part of Paddington as well.'" Michael Bonds reveals the origins of Paddington to Emma Midgley on BBC News Berkshire pages.
For the past two years we have seen numerous additions to Samsung's Galaxy line-up, and this year we will be treated to the Samsung Galaxy S3. Filling the shoes of the wildly successful Galaxy S2 is no mean feat, but knowing Samsung we are sure to be treated to some next generation smartphone tech.
In this article I will look at the rumours which are currently circulating about what we can expect from the device.
Processor
Two years ago, a 1 GHz single-core processor was seen as the holy grail of processing power thanks to phones like the HTC Desire and original Samsung Galaxy S. A year later, dual-core processors were introduced, as seen in the Galaxy S2 and quickly became the norm in many manufacturers' releases. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is likely to be the first mainstream smartphone release to pack a quad-core processor. Because the processor is essential to the performance of many aspects of the phone, expect to see the benefits throughout the hardware (such as touchscreen responsiveness) and software (loading times of apps and the speed of the interface). It is expected that each core of the processor will be clocked at 1.2 GHz although it is entirely possible that upto 1.5GHz may be included.
Screen
Until recently, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S reined supreme when it came to the resolution of their touchscreen thanks to the retina display. Recently though, several handsets like the Sony Xperia S and Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Note came with screens which packed a resolution much higher than Apple's offering. Samsung already has the hi res technology so we are guaranteed to see this transferred to the Galaxy S3 along with a possible increase in screen size over its predecessor. It is also widely expected that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will keep the S-AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of both predecessors, which are well known for their wide viewing angles, brightness (even when outdoors) and colour rendering.
Design
Although we can only speculate on the design of the Samsung Galaxy S3 until it is officially unveiled, it is likely that Samsung will carry on with the aesthetics of the Galaxy S2 but probably look to make it thinner. Recent releases like the Motorola RAZR have put pressure on the competition to match or even outdo its 7.1mm thickness. We can expect to see a black version released, with a white version released on or soon after its release date if past Galaxy models are anything to go by.
Along with the features mentioned above, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is likely to have a higher pixel count on its camera, enhanced multimedia capabilities and of course the new version of the Android operating system. This is called Ice Cream Sandwich and is showcased on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and will be rolled out to compatible handsets next month. It sees a massive overhaul to the popular platform meaning the Samsung Galaxy S3 will definitely satisfy in terms of software.
It was recently announced that Samsung will not be unveiling the Galaxy S3 at the Mobile World Congress show next month, which has been a surprise to many. However this suggests that Samsung will be putting on quite an event to showcase their new flagship so we can expect something very special indeed.
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Share and Enjoy:Most Liberal Democrats would agree that there's only one Roger Roberts. As I discovered this morning in Sutton, however, there is a second and a darn fine chap he is too. For the Sutton Roger Roberts is the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Worcester Park ward by-election, where he has lived for over thirty years.
Unlike my previous weekend campaign trip, this time I didnot come acrossany interesting signs ofthis sortnor was Ifollowing in the steps of royaltythis time. I was instead doing the next best thing, out canvassing with Sutton's very ownRuth Dombey, councillor and campaigner extraordinaire. And I really shouldn't be surprised that a campaign Ruth is involved in has such a rather nice way of making sure that campaigners don't wander off into the wrong area by mistake.
At one point I was stood on the doorstep waiting for a reply as I heard a man walking down the street behind me saying, "... and our election computer database is very poor...". I turned round, expecting to see that Ruth had bumped into another of the many Lib Dem activists out this morning (including both Caroline Pidgeon and Paul Burstow). But no, it was a local Conservative. Some things are clearly common across parties...
The polling day for Roger Roberts is this Thursday and details of how you can help him are over on Flock Together.
Born on 11 February 1932, Dennis Skinner worked as a miner in Derbyshire for 20 years until becoming the MP for Bolsover in 1970. Since then, the 'Beast of Bolsover' has been a thorn in the side for eight prime ministers and continues to champion the cause of the working classes
After 42 years as a Labour MP, he revels in his role as a partisan outsider - and in being called a dinosaur by David Cameron
The Beast of Bolsover turns 80 this weekend. But Dennis Skinner will not be having a party. Or a dinner out with his three children and four grandchildren. In fact, he will not be marking the day at all. Not even some good-natured abuse of a passing Tory? "No, nothing," he says. "I don't believe in organised happiness. There won't be any [party]. I've never had one. It just won't happen, as natural as night follows day."
Skinner has been MP for the Derbyshire constituency of Bolsover for 42 years. So disdain for the merits of organisation is, perhaps, not what you would expect of such a dyed-in-the-wool political animal.
A former miner who became the youngest chairman of the Derbyshire National Union of Miners in the 1960s, Skinner then became a renowned parliamentary rabble-rouser in the 70s. Organisation and planning also plays its part in his role as leader of the "awkward squad" - the small number of leftwing MPs who like to sit at the front of the opposition benches throwing verbal grenades at Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers - "I did for [Nick] Clegg today," he tells me.
But then there are two sides to Skinner, the bright boy from the grammar school who went into the pits to join his mates. There is the Labour loyalist, union man ("You in a union?" he demands during negotiations leading to our interview): a loud, sometimes crude, often entertaining, party tribalist who sings two rather tuneful songs from musical theatre during our chat, each with the words changed to include slurs on Tories and SDP leaders from the past.
Then there's the side which enjoys more than anything the solitary pursuits of killer sudoku, cycling and road-walking. "I'm not gregarious," he admits. "I spend a lot of time in the parks when it is fine. I do know almost every blade of grass."
Skinner is very much his own man. Asked who his friends are in the Commons, he mentions Bob Cryer, the MP for Bradford South, who was killed in a car crash in 1994.
But he is not in parliament to make friends, he says, sitting with a mug of tea in the Commons terrace canteen. He eschews the bars, describing the socialising between MPs as a "sloppy embrace", and has never been on a parliamentary trip abroad. He recalls the terror on the face of MPs in the tearoom who had recently returned from an all-expenses paid trip to Romania. They watched aghast as television images showed their erstwhile host, the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, attempting to flee the country from a helicopter perched on top of a government building. "I thought, yes, Skinner, you were right."
Indeed the genesis of the Beast of Bolsover nickname sums up Skinner's propensity for independent bloody-mindedness. The former prime minister Anthony Eden, author of the ill-fated invasion of Suez in 1956, had died and parliament was going to break early after a tribute debate, he explains. "They were making speeches about the wonder of Anthony Eden, so I got up and talked about miners and people seriously injured and dead in the pits and the 200 given to the widow," Skinner growls. "There was booing and then all the Tories left and the papers had a go, some serious ones. That's where it came from."
It was hardly a one-off moment of controversy. Skinner has been ordered to leave the Commons chamber repeatedly over the years: for accusing the government of conducting a crooked deal to sell off coal mines (1995); accusing George Osborne of snorting cocaine (2005); calling David Owen a "pompous sod" (1984); alleging the deputy speaker was biased towards the Conservatives (2006); and calling Jim Prior, then secretary of state for employment, the "minister of unemployment" (1980).
In 1992 he was expelled for likening John Gummer, then agriculture secretary, to a "slimy wart" on Margaret Thatcher's nose. Does he regret that? "There are occasions when I think: why on earth did you do that? Course. Absolutely. But I don't regret that. He [Gummer] would do anything to get a job. He'd be right, he'd be left and that was what I was trying to personify," he chuckles.
"I always work on the principle that if my heart and my head are together on an issue, write it, say it." And he has certainly not been shy in passing on his wisdom to Labour leaders, from Harold Wilson ("very sharp"), to Gordon Brown ("wouldn't listen") and Ed Miliband ("there's been an improvement").
In 1976, he advised Jim Callaghan, then Labour prime minister, on how he was coming across on the radio recordings of parliament, introduced for the first time that year. Callaghan took the advice and suggested there might be a spot in his government for Skinner at an upcoming reshuffle.
"I said, 'I better had tell you, I don't agree with patronage'." And that was it. He has only visited Downing Street once and that was in 1979 to offer ideas on the Labour manifesto to be presented to the country. "I suggested a few amendments, but they all got defeated," he says. And while he admits that election to the shadow cabinet was an aspiration for a fleeting moment, he was never at the centre of the party where he needed to be to get the votes required.
And, yet, under Tony Blair, the most rightwing of Labour leaders, he enjoyed a resurgence, taken in by Blair as something akin to a confidant.
It started with Skinner offering some advice to Blair on his speech-giving style. It developed, he says, to the point where Skinner believes he may have motivated Labour's hugely popular winter fuel payments for pensioners after he pointed out during a tte--tte that Labour could develop a Tory policy already in place that was benefiting "only about a dozen people in Inverness".
Skinner appreciated Blair because he listened to him. But it was not his proudest political moment. That, he says, "without doubt", was when he filibustered out a bill introduced by Enoch Powell in 1985 which would have banned stem cell research. By talking through the day on the subject of villages in his constituency, he did not allow any debate time for Powell's proposal.
Skinner was passionate about it, he says, because his instinct was that stem cell research could be a "winner".
"I do rely on my instincts a lot and my imagination." But there may well have been a desire too to outdo a rightwing intellectual, he admits. "Of course, I can't deny it."
Having separated from his wife in 1989, Skinner now lives with his parliamentary assistant, Lois Blasenheim, and says the coalition has "let me imagination run wild".
Of David Cameron's description of him last month as a "dinosaur", Skinner says it was the best thing that could have happened. "He's been down in the polls ever since."
And despite enduring bowel cancer, a heart bypass and a hip replacement, retirement is not on his mind. He knows he is doing too much when the chest tightens and he feels pain in his left arm. But he'll stick with it. "I know what I'm doing," he says. Who could disagree?
The following article was written by Mark Pack and published today on the Liberal Democrat Voice Website.
Liberal Democrat pressure in the coalition government has already secured significant reductions in the tax breaks for the very richest. However, these tax breaks are still sufficiently generous that there is the scope for raising plenty more money without introducing punitive tax rates.
For example, restricting the tax relief on pension contributions to 20% (the standard rate for most people) rather than the current 40% for those earning over 100,000 would raise over 3.5 billion more each year. Last year, in a clear sign of the way in which senior Liberal Democrats are thinking, David Laws asked a series of Parliamentary questions fleshing out the details of what would be raised by different moves.
So it is no surprise that Danny Alexander has returned to the theme in the Daily Telegraph:
Danny Alexander, a Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister, says the better-off are receiving overly-generous tax relief when they invest money for their retirement.
Mr Alexander's proposals would see tax relief halve from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. He also wants workers on the minimum wage, who earn up to 12,500 a year, to pay no income tax at all.
Mr Alexander claims that removing the higher-rate tax relief would save the Exchequer more than 7?billion and make the system fairer. Even restricted to those earning more than 100,000 the Treasury could save 3.6?billion.
"If you look at the amount of money that we spend on pensions tax relief, which is very significant, the majority of that money goes to paying tax relief at the higher rate," Mr Alexander told The Daily Telegraph.
His remarks may open up a new dispute between the Tories and Lib Dems over tax. They are already at odds over Lib Dem calls to keep the 50p top rate of tax and introduce a "mansion tax" on high-value homes. George Osborne, the Chancellor, is expected to strongly resist any calls to scrap higher-rate tax relief.
Arguing for cutting pension tax breaks for the richest in order to fund income tax cuts for millions is both sensible economics and smart politics. Sensible economics - because the net effect does not undermine the struggle to cut the deficit and in fact is likely to cause an economic boost with the extra spending caused by the income tax cut greater than the reduction in spending caused by the tax rise. Sensible politics - because once again it puts the Liberal Democrats on the side of tax cuts for the millions whilst the Tories are on the side of the very richest.
* Mark Pack is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and writes a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats.
Think of a likely venue for the British Monopoly championships on September 6 and 7. Yes, right first time. A nuclear power station. And not in the works canteen, either. Around 240 Monopoly enthusiasts will play the game of their lives on the nuclear pile cap of the Central Electricity Generating Board's power station at Oldbury-on-Severn, 19 miles north of Bristol.
John Waddington of Leeds, which has held the UK licence for Monopoly for over 40 years, started negotiations with the CEGB last summer. In 1975 the championships had been held on a platform at Fenchurch Street station in London and a new gimmick was plainly needed this year. A live-wire public relations man glanced at the Monopoly board, alighted upon the Electric Company and made the short step to the nuclear power station.
The CEGB, keen to prove to the public that their nine nuclear stations are safe, cheap and reliable, found the prospect of 240 people playing the most popular family board game on top of nuclear fuel irresistible. The game will be held in on a vast working floor, 100ft in diameter and 80ft high. Nuclear fuels are loaded and unloaded in the circular, futuristic hall which is directly above the reactor.
Competitors will be subject to stringent security and safety precautions. They will need passes, white clothing and gloves. And no eating, drinking or smoking will be allowed while play is in progress. Film badges will be worn so that technicians can monitor radiation levels, and players must pass through decontamination chambers before and after the game. Last night the CEGB stressed that all possible precautions to ensure competitors' safety would be taken.The report went on to say that the Oldbury championship "should see merchant bankers rubbing shoulders with bricklayers and schoolboys" and that its winner would represent Britain at the World Monopoly championships to be held in a Monaco casino the following.
As I have mentioned before, I was one of those schoolboys. I don't recall any bricklayers or merchant bankers, but I do recall that I won a couple of games and got through to the second day of the event and the last dozen or so competitors.
I had built several houses on Mayfair and Park Lane and my great rival was heading for them fast. I had visions of making the final that afternoon and then a trip to Monaco.
But my opponent went to gaol before he got to my properties and went on to win the game. But at least I got a couple of day off school.
Bristol first UK Council to become Renewable Energy Company Sustainable Bristol
Plenty of simplistic labelling, shallow outright dismissal and self-aggrandisement from Peter Hargeaves here (Bristol lacks leadership... but I won't be running for mayor). Also see here.
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In any callous situation where cash is an imperative need, you may lack it often. In such scenario where you are in dire need of quick cash but do not have any way out to deal with the abrupt liabilities, then you got to hook on to the payday loans. These are short term hassle free advances that are viable for all within few hours. You may just have lounge for an hour or most probably 24 hours to get the amount handy. The cash sum after you have been consented is directly deposited in to the bank account.
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There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader...
Here's David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Andrew Lansley rolling up their sleeves over the NHS reforms — what do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?
And the winner of our last caption comp is...Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Ed Davey "I've got Energy" Edition.
The winner, according to The Voice's judging panel of one, was this one by Tabman, with a highly commended offering by Tony Dawson here.
Got a photo of a prominent Lib Dem you think would work well for a future caption competition? Then please email us at voice - voice.hat.libdemvoice.org.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one).
* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.
Patient Results
All results -Performed since 30-Jan-12
Avebury, Eric
PRE
M83y Haematology OPD
D442931 / V6938322 29-Sep-1928
de Lavallade, Hugu
30-Jan-12 08:10 Renal/Liver/Bone/Urea
Sodium 141 [135-145 mmol/L]
Potassium 4.9 [3.5-5.0 mmol/L]
Urea 7.2 H [3.3-6.7 mmol/L]
Creatinine 114 [45-120 umol/L]
Estimated GFR 53 [mL/min]
Calcium 2.27 [mmol/L]
Corrected Calcium 2.17 [2.15-2.6 mmol/L]
Phosphate 1.11 [0.80-1.40 mmol/L]
Total Protein 77 [60-80 g/L]
Albumin 45 [35-50 g/L]
Globulin 32 [25-35 g/L]
Bilirubin (Total) 7 [3-20 umol/L]
Alkaline Phosphatase 87 [30-130 IU/L]
Aspartate Transaminase 27 [10-50 IU/L]
Gamma-glutamyl 20 [1-55 IU/L]
Transferase
30-Jan-12 08:10 Full Blood Count
WBC 3.97 L [4.00-11.00 10^9/L]
RBC 3.16 L [4.5-5.8 10^12/L]
Hb 10.2 L [13.0-16.5 g/dL]
PCV 0.329 L [0.400-0.540 L/L]
MCV 103.9 H [77.0-95.0 fL]
MCH 32.2 [20.0-36.0 pg]
MCHC 31.0 L [32.0-37.0 g/dL]
RDW 17.8 H [11.0-15.0 %]
PLT 526 H [150-450 10^9/L]
MPV 11.2 H [7.4-10.4 fL]
Neutrophils 1.27 L [2.2-6.3 10^9/L]
Lymphocytes 1.71 [1.3-4.0 10^9/L]
Monocytes 0.87 [0.2-1.0 10^9/L]
Eosinophils 0.08 [0-0.4 10^9/L]
% Hypo 31.7
White Cell Morphology MANUAL DIFF
Red Cell Morphology SLIGHT MACROCYTOSIS, POIKILOCYTES, +
Platelet Morphology NORMAL MORPHOLOGY,
Requested by: Van-der-velde-Ong, Geke (Specialist Nurse) Printed from: King's College Hospital
02-Feb-12 09:19 End of Report Page: 1 of 1
Politics can often feel like something which is far removed from everyday life, and something which most young people don't easily relate to. Yet if you've been a youth worker for any stretch of time, you'll understand that youth work is political with a small 'p'. It's very much about engaging young people to enable them to make positive decisions for themselves as well as giving them the skills to be able to interact positively with the world around them. So inevitably, the issues that most affect them in their daily lives will be discussed and addressed in the course of youth work. And that's the crux of it. The issues that most affect people in their daily lives are precisely what make up politics. And different parties with different world views feel that they have the answers to how they can solve the problems of the day. So encouraging young people to engage in politics is about giving them a voice, and helping them to understand and debate problems and issues which are important to them and their families.
What I'm finding is that I'm seeing young people become more and more politicised and prepared to fight injustices they feel are taking place in the world. Whether that's around cuts to youth services and youth provision here in the UK, where young people recognise the value in good youth work and knowing where to go when they need information, advice and guidance and are kicking back at centres being closed and services being dismantled, or whether it's through the "Occupy" movement and the injustice they see regarding bankers' pay and bonuses, and the sacrifices they see other people (the 99%) being forced to make through redundancy, unemployment and financial hardship.
Over the past year I've been involved in the Choose Youth campaign to save youth services across the UK. It's been interesting and inspiring to watch young people take a vital role in the middle of this campaign, and create a collective voice, so loud that it was almost deafening at times! But the battle is a long one, and young people do need support to keep going. Initial enthusiasm and energy can dissipate quite quickly and perseverance is needed to keep going if a campaign is to be successful.
I work with a group of older young people in a drop in held by a town centre church. Last week I sat down with a group of about 5 or 6 young people who had plenty ideas and without really getting onto the subject of politics myself, young people were very quick to say what they thought. One young person asked me what I thought of David Cameron. The young people are from Reddish, which is a Labour area. I told them I was a Labour Party member, and standing as a council candidate and one of the young people said "Good!" Although ideally, I would prefer to use a less partisan approach, I realised that being honest and open with young people is a big part of my own youth work style, and this conversation will allow for further discussions about politics in the future. I hope that through this brief introduction, I will be able to push and challenge them to see other points of view as well, and encourage them to understand more in the coming weeks about why people from different backgrounds and experiences have different ideas abut how to solve the country's and the world's problems.
For now my young people are happy to make a video of interviews to present to politicians, interviewing other young people at the club around how they feel about lack of youth provision in the town, as well as running activities and events to raise money to fix the church roof.
So why then, should young people engage in politics? My answer? Because they already are, and they didn't even know it!
Emily Hewson is a Youth worker from Manchester
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But now Buckingham Palace have finally got round to letting the world know about the big occasion. That said, I think they still need to give a little more publicity to the festivities. We know there are various events lined up in connection with the celebration. The grand party however is the Queen`s cruise on the Thames accompanied by a flotilla of vessels. I hope to be on one of those. Why not? You get to revel on the Thames and be part of history at the same time. The Buckingham Palace website has loads of information about the various events planned for the celebration.
The thorny issue though is not that Mr Huhne broke the law (allegedly) by going over the speed limit, it is the allegation that he tried to cover it up by involving his ex wife. Oh no Chris! Perverting the course of justice is a much much graver and serious offence than speeding. As far as I'm concerned at present the man is innocent until proven otherwise. The truth will out after the law has taken its due process. I
However the gravity of the allegation is not lost on both himself and his bosses at Westminster and kudos to him for stepping down promptly after learning of the decision to prosecute the case. Now did he jump? Was he pushed? We will never know. I don't personally care. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he went voluntarily. It can never come at a worst time for Chris Hune. What with the groundswell of public anger occasioned by the MPs claim scandal and the spending cuts. People would love to think that politician are beyond reproach, both in their public and private conduct. We like to see those who govern us as being morally adroit. Breaking the speed limit, then asking someone else to take the penalty for you is definitely not the ideal conduct expected of an MP.
LIVE SIX NATIONS: ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB. 11-02-2012 RUGBY SUTERDAY . Italy v England (Kick-off 4.00pm). Gabby Logan introduces coverage of the opening fixture in the second round of matches, staged at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. England began life under Stuart Lancaster with a hard-fought 13-6 win against Scotland last week, but Italy fell to a 30-12 defeat to France in Paris.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
This is the first time a Six Nations clash has been held at this venue, with the Stadio Flaminio undergoing a refurbishment, and England are looking to maintain their unbeaten record against the Azzurri and continue their title defence in style. They have endured some recent scares in Rome though, winning by just four and five points respectively on their last two visits. With commentary by Alastair Eykyn and Lawrence Dallaglio, and analysis by Jeremy Guscott.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
England might not care about flair though and – by their own count – they made more tackles than ever before in a Test match and conceded a mere nine penalties at Murrayfield. The old adage of winning because of defence could well be the formula England adopt under Stuart Lancaster. Comparing to last year against Italy, Chris Ashton scored four as England won 59-13 – but also they conceded 18 penalties, so there is expected to be a shift in thinking.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
"It's a mindset in the team now, with people realising the impact it can have on a game if we keep giving away penalties. It is massive for us," said Ashton, who starts in an unchanged starting line-up and bench as Lancaster gives a second chance to the likes of Phil Dowson.
Hey Rugby Lovers!! Enjoy to watch England vs Italy live stream U20 Six Nations 2012 Game online rugby Exciting match with your Favorite TV channel. Stream coverage Rugby League online TV, Live Rugby games watch on skysports TV, bet with sky bet, betfair TV, ESPN TV, fox sports TV, internet TV. You get links from the site -- Just click the link. Enjoy Rugby live broadcast, live sopcast, live telecast, live coverage, live stream online, live internet pc games, live streaming free games on online. England vs Italy Live Six Nations 2012 Game Rugby Free.
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ALL SIX NATIONS RUGBY TV LINK HERE
watch England vs Italy Live stream online Six Nations rugby 2012. However collect your ticket to watch this match live. If you don't get ticket or not have enough time to enjoy the match at gallary than don't be worried because you can Watch England vs Italy match live online stream here. Enjoy the England vs Italy high voltage match live streaming on your pc to pay some lower cost. rwcfoxtv.com this site will help you to get more details about this game.
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LIVE SIX NATIONS: ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB. 11-02-2012 RUGBY SUTERDAY . Italy v England (Kick-off 4.00pm). Gabby Logan introduces coverage of the opening fixture in the second round of matches, staged at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. England began life under Stuart Lancaster with a hard-fought 13-6 win against Scotland last week, but Italy fell to a 30-12 defeat to France in Paris.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
This is the first time a Six Nations clash has been held at this venue, with the Stadio Flaminio undergoing a refurbishment, and England are looking to maintain their unbeaten record against the Azzurri and continue their title defence in style. They have endured some recent scares in Rome though, winning by just four and five points respectively on their last two visits. With commentary by Alastair Eykyn and Lawrence Dallaglio, and analysis by Jeremy Guscott.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
England might not care about flair though and – by their own count – they made more tackles than ever before in a Test match and conceded a mere nine penalties at Murrayfield. The old adage of winning because of defence could well be the formula England adopt under Stuart Lancaster. Comparing to last year against Italy, Chris Ashton scored four as England won 59-13 – but also they conceded 18 penalties, so there is expected to be a shift in thinking.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
"It's a mindset in the team now, with people realising the impact it can have on a game if we keep giving away penalties. It is massive for us," said Ashton, who starts in an unchanged starting line-up and bench as Lancaster gives a second chance to the likes of Phil Dowson.
LIVE SIX NATIONS: ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB. 11-02-2012 RUGBY SUTERDAY . Italy v England (Kick-off 4.00pm). Gabby Logan introduces coverage of the opening fixture in the second round of matches, staged at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. England began life under Stuart Lancaster with a hard-fought 13-6 win against Scotland last week, but Italy fell to a 30-12 defeat to France in Paris.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
This is the first time a Six Nations clash has been held at this venue, with the Stadio Flaminio undergoing a refurbishment, and England are looking to maintain their unbeaten record against the Azzurri and continue their title defence in style. They have endured some recent scares in Rome though, winning by just four and five points respectively on their last two visits. With commentary by Alastair Eykyn and Lawrence Dallaglio, and analysis by Jeremy Guscott.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
England might not care about flair though and – by their own count – they made more tackles than ever before in a Test match and conceded a mere nine penalties at Murrayfield. The old adage of winning because of defence could well be the formula England adopt under Stuart Lancaster. Comparing to last year against Italy, Chris Ashton scored four as England won 59-13 – but also they conceded 18 penalties, so there is expected to be a shift in thinking.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
"It's a mindset in the team now, with people realising the impact it can have on a game if we keep giving away penalties. It is massive for us," said Ashton, who starts in an unchanged starting line-up and bench as Lancaster gives a second chance to the likes of Phil Dowson.
Hey Rugby Lovers!! Enjoy to watch England vs Italy live stream U20 Six Nations 2012 Game online rugby Exciting match with your Favorite TV channel. Stream coverage Rugby League online TV, Live Rugby games watch on skysports TV, bet with sky bet, betfair TV, ESPN TV, fox sports TV, internet TV. You get links from the site -- Just click the link. Enjoy Rugby live broadcast, live sopcast, live telecast, live coverage, live stream online, live internet pc games, live streaming free games on online. England vs Italy Live Six Nations 2012 Game Rugby Free.
England v Italy Live Stream at TV of Rugby Now!Watch England vs Italy Live Stream Rugby RBS Six Nations 2012 Online Free TV On PC ,England vs Italy live,England vs Italy rugby live,England vs Italy live rugby,live RBS Six Nations Rugby Video,Free live streaming rugby net TV,England vs Italy live rugby,live RBS Six Nations Rugby Video,Free live streaming rugby net TV,England vs Italy Live,
ALL SIX NATIONS RUGBY TV LINK HERE
watch England vs Italy Live stream online Six Nations rugby 2012. However collect your ticket to watch this match live. If you don't get ticket or not have enough time to enjoy the match at gallary than don't be worried because you can Watch England vs Italy match live online stream here. Enjoy the England vs Italy high voltage match live streaming on your pc to pay some lower cost. rwcfoxtv.com this site will help you to get more details about this game.
Share and Enjoy:
LIVE SIX NATIONS: ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB. 11-02-2012 RUGBY SUTERDAY . Italy v England (Kick-off 4.00pm). Gabby Logan introduces coverage of the opening fixture in the second round of matches, staged at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. England began life under Stuart Lancaster with a hard-fought 13-6 win against Scotland last week, but Italy fell to a 30-12 defeat to France in Paris.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
This is the first time a Six Nations clash has been held at this venue, with the Stadio Flaminio undergoing a refurbishment, and England are looking to maintain their unbeaten record against the Azzurri and continue their title defence in style. They have endured some recent scares in Rome though, winning by just four and five points respectively on their last two visits. With commentary by Alastair Eykyn and Lawrence Dallaglio, and analysis by Jeremy Guscott.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
England might not care about flair though and – by their own count – they made more tackles than ever before in a Test match and conceded a mere nine penalties at Murrayfield. The old adage of winning because of defence could well be the formula England adopt under Stuart Lancaster. Comparing to last year against Italy, Chris Ashton scored four as England won 59-13 – but also they conceded 18 penalties, so there is expected to be a shift in thinking.
ENGLAND VS ITALY LIVE STREAM FEB
"It's a mindset in the team now, with people realising the impact it can have on a game if we keep giving away penalties. It is massive for us," said Ashton, who starts in an unchanged starting line-up and bench as Lancaster gives a second chance to the likes of Phil Dowson.
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Wales boss Gary Speed has an injury doubt over centre-back James Collins along with on-loan Cardiff striker Craig Bellamy, who has been carrying a hamstring injury, which saw him miss the Bluebirds' second-leg defeat in the Championship play-offs.
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Start Now Wales vs Scotland Live Share and Enjoy:France v Ireland Live Six Nations Rugby Union Fixtures 11 Feb 2012 . France v Ireland Live|France vs Ireland Live stream | Watch Ireland vs France Live Six Nations Rugby Union Fixtures 11 Feb 2012 . Looking back over the last ten years, these sides have faced each othe 14 times and Ireland have claimed victory just twice and although the Watch Now : France v Ireland Live Six Nations
Irish have been playing some decent rugby at times it's hard to see that
trend change this weekend.
Watch Now : France v Ireland Live Six Nations
Date/Time: 11 Feb 2012, 8:00pm (GMT)
Competition: Six Nations Championship
Live/Repeat: Live
Venue: Stade de France (Paris)
Watch Now : France v Ireland Live Six Nations
Ireland travel to France for critical 6 Nations match
Ireland cannot afford another defeat as they travel to France
Ireland cannot afford another defeat as they travel to France
France will play host to Ireland in Saturday's second match of the 2012 6 Nations. Victory is crucial for both sides as they attempt to put their own stamp on this years competition.
Liberal Democrat Member of the Commons Health Select Committee and consistent critic of the Government's Health Bill, Andrew George, is calling upon Conservative Cabinet Ministers and Backbenchers to form a Coalition Alliance to save the NHS from the Health Bill.
Andrew George used Prime Minister's Questions on 18th January 2012 to call on David Cameron to scrap the Bill and go back to the Coalition Agreement. Although the Health Bill is proceeding through further stages of debate in the House of Lords in the coming weeks, there are growing signs of unease and a strong sense that the Bill is likely to damage the NHS, and hence the reputation of the Coalition Government.
Andrew George said: "Two thirds of Liberal Democrat Backbenchers rebelled on the Health Bill before it was passed to the House of Lords. Although some are resigned that it can't be stopped, there remain others who believe that the responsible thing is to maintain the campaign to try to stop the Bill as it will do untold damage to the NHS.
"Of course, I acknowledge that stopping the Bill will be disruptive as well. But not as disruptive nor as catastrophic as allowing the Bill to carry on. Clearly, there is understandable restiveness even on the Tory benches. Hence the instruction to the Conservative social networking site to advance a campaign to have it stopped. Although it is very late in the day, I very much appreciate this clear sign of Conservative support for the campaign of some Liberal Democrat MPs to stop this destructive Bill.
"The fact is that we run the risk of creating a health service which is driven more by private profit than by concern for patient care."
Liberal Democrat MP for Southport John Pugh earlier this week heavily criticised the Treasury after official government spending statistics revealed a 1.35trillion black hole in public spending. The 'Whole of Government Accounts' (WGA) are the first attempt by the Treasury to account for all public sector spending, including that of local authorities, in a single set of accounts.
The figures included 15.7billion in compensation to NHS patients for medical negligence cases, as well as a bill for 131.5billion for Private Finance Initiative projects, 4 times the value of the assets built through those projects. The Treasury has also written off a total of 10.9billion in unpaid taxes, a figure the chair of the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge described as 'staggering'.
The PAC also took the Treasury to task over its failure to predict future costs accurately and a failure to use the vast amounts of financial data at its disposal to keep better track of government spending. The National Audit Office has issued a similar criticism.
Commenting on the news, John Pugh remarked:
"In a time of national austerity it beggars belief that the Treasury can be so lax about how the country's money is used. HMRC now more than ever needs to make sure it is counting every penny of public money.
"That almost 11billion in unpaid taxes has been written off absolutely beggars belief - this is money we could be investing in our schools, hospitals and services. It astonishes me that HMRC has simply given up on this money as lost when the country is so hard-pressed for cash."
The following article by Mark Pack originally appeared on the Liberal Democrat Voice website:
Liberal Democrat pressure in the coalition government has already secured significant reductions in the tax breaks for the very richest. However, these tax breaks are still sufficiently generous that there is the scope for raising plenty more money without introducing punitive tax rates.
For example, restricting the tax relief on pension contributions to 20% (the standard rate for most people) rather than the current 40% for those earning over 100,000 would raise over 3.5 billion more each year. Last year, in a clear sign of the way in which senior Liberal Democrats are thinking, David Laws asked a series of Parliamentary questions fleshing out the details of what would be raised by different moves.
So it is no surprise that Danny Alexander has returned to the theme in the Daily Telegraph:
Danny Alexander, a Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister, says the better-off are receiving overly-generous tax relief when they invest money for their retirement.
Mr Alexander's proposals would see tax relief halve from 40% to 20%. He also wants workers on the minimum wage, who earn up to 12,500 a year, to pay no income tax at all.
Mr Alexander claims that removing the higher-rate tax relief would save the Exchequer more than 7?billion and make the system fairer. Even restricted to those earning more than 100,000 the Treasury could save 3.6?billion.
"If you look at the amount of money that we spend on pensions tax relief, which is very significant, the majority of that money goes to paying tax relief at the higher rate," Mr Alexander told The Daily Telegraph.
His remarks may open up a new dispute between the Tories and Lib Dems over tax. They are already at odds over Lib Dem calls to keep the 50p top rate of tax and introduce a "mansion tax" on high-value homes. George Osborne, the Chancellor, is expected to strongly resist any calls to scrap higher-rate tax relief.
Arguing for cutting pension tax breaks for the richest in order to fund income tax cuts for millions is both sensible economics and smart politics. Sensible economics - because the net effect does not undermine the struggle to cut the deficit and in fact is likely to cause an economic boost with the extra spending caused by the income tax cut greater than the reduction in spending caused by the tax rise. Sensible politics - because once again it puts the Liberal Democrats on the side of tax cuts for the millions whilst the Tories are on the side of the very richest.
* Mark Pack is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and writes a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats.
North London school at centre of academy row confirms Leslie Church's resignation after latest Ofsted inspection
The headteacher of a school opposed to the government's academy programme has quit after it was placed in special measures by the schools inspectorate.
Leslie Church resigned as headmaster from Downhills Primary in Tottenham, north London, after the school was judged inadequate in the latest inspection by the watchdog Ofsted.
The Department for Education said the school, last placed in special measures in 2002, had struggled to obtain the required standards for years and that the independent inspection, ordered by the education secretary, Michael Gove, was necessary.
The school had claimed Gove was illegally attempting to force academy status on the school and that attainment records, and an interim Ofsted report last September, suggested standards were improving.
The school's governing body confirmed Church's resignation, adding that the governors intended to stay in place while decisions were made about the future of Downhills.
In a statement the governors expressed "gratitude for the work" Church had done, and added: "For personal reasons Leslie has decided to step down from his post as headteacher from Friday.
"Leslie's resignation was reluctantly accepted. Leslie is tremendously popular with parents, staff and children and retains the full support of the governing body. We wish him every success for the future."
The statement said there is strong support for the school and governing body from pupils' parents and the wider community, and that "immediate action" was being taken to deal with the failings.
The governors have written to Gove to ask for a meeting to discuss the future of the school, which is in Haringey, one of London's most deprived boroughs.
They added: "It remains our position that any restructuring of the school should not be imposed from above unless and until there has been a full consultation with parents, staff and the local community."
The school last came out of special measures in 2005 but in January 2010 was told by Ofsted that "significant improvement" was needed.
The Department for Education said: "We will need to see the final Ofsted judgment before any decision about the future of Downhills is made.
"We have been clear that we consider academy status to be the best way to improve schools that are consistently underperforming.
"Academies have already turned around hundreds of struggling secondary schools across the country and are improving their results at twice the national average rate. We can't just stand by and do nothing when schools are sub-standard year after year."
The Home Office argues for secret evidence in Siac deportation cases on national security grounds - except when it applies to them
The use of secret evidence in the special immigration appeals commission (Siac) has long been controversial. Simply put, the legal teams defending Siac appellants - who are appealing a decision to deport them on the grounds of national security - have had to give countless submissions while only knowing part of the evidence held against their clients.
A hearing in the supreme court recently concerned the use of what is called "reverse secret evidence" for seven Algerian appellants - Y, W, Z, G, BB, U and PP - whom Theresa May wants to deport on grounds of national security. These men have challenged their deportation orders in Siac proceedings. For Y, Z, G and BB, the home secretary's team relied upon closed evidence to establish the risk they allegedly pose to national security.
Although called a commission, Siac is in fact a court, presided over by a high court judge without a jury. When the court goes into closed session only the Siac panel, the Home Office team and a special advocate can attend. The special advocate attempts to represent the interests of the appellant, but is not permitted to speak to them at all - or even to their legal team on matters related to the case, once the secret evidence has been served.
Ian MacDonald QC, who resigned as a special advocate in 2004, described the Siac process as "like conducting a case with two hands tied behind your back". Y, one of the Algerian appellants, says he is "fighting ghosts", with no idea of the evidence against him.
Historically, the home secretary's legal team have valiantly argued the case for the use of secret evidence. In a move reminiscent of the star chamber, the government is proposing, through its justice and security green paper, to extend the use of closed material in all civil proceedings. The Guardian has submitted strong criticism of the proposal, which has alarmed many within the justice system. But with Labour unlikely to offer any opposition - given the stance towards civil liberties it adopted after 9/11 - the proposals are likely to come to pass.
In light of this, it might seem ironic that the Home Office argued in the supreme court last week against proposals for more secrecy in Siac hearings. Appellant Z has obtained information relevant to his safety in Algeria if he is deported, which he wants to present in Siac. However, the source refuses to allow it to be used without a guarantee that it will not be disclosed to the Algerian authorities. Siac refused to give an order preventing the home secretary from disclosing the information, which is why the supreme court was hearing Z's appeal.
The proposal is for a two-stage process, with an initial hearing restricted to the appellants' legal team and the Siac panel. Here an outline of the closed material would be presented and the judge would decide whether to authorise an irrevocable order to protect the confidentiality of the evidence and the source. This would initiate the second hearing, where the home secretary's legal team would be allowed to hear all the sensitive material but would be bound to secrecy by the order.
It is to this that the Home Office is opposed, citing national security as a reason. But if national security were truly at stake, it is unlikely that Siac would issue the order allowing a second hearing to go ahead. The appellants' legal team provided scenarios where a source would warrant protection, such as a prison doctor carrying out checks on detainees and finding evidence of torture. Algeria's human rights record is of concern. It is not a country where a source necessarily wants to be identified.
In stark contrast to its usual calls for secret evidence, the Home Office team, led by Robin Tam QC, called these proposals "novel" and "reaching too far". Rather than producing any substantial counter-argument, his submission reinforced the notion that the use of closed material is largely a weapon wielded by the state rather than an instrument for seeking outcomes in complex cases where discretion, anonymity and national security are at risk.
In truth, the Home Office's stance is a camouflage to protect diplomatic and trade relations and safeguard the security services lest they make the kind of error they did in the Binyam Mohamed case, which inspired large parts of the justice and security green paper. Anything else - such as protecting a source in fear of reprisals, imprisonment and torture - is simply not a viable use of closed hearings, according to the Home Office.
As Michael Fordham QC told the supreme court, nothing ought to trump the right to protection against torture in article 3 of the European convention on human rights - even preserving diplomatic relations.
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