Entries from November 2006 ↓

I’m saying nothing at all about this (very funny) post.

Many shoppers in Japan can now trace the origin of their food using their mobile phone. The Food Standards Commission, established after their own BSE outbreak in 2001 has been working to tag products using RFID and other technologies. According to one Japanese food industry site:

“Consumers can trace back the vegetables until the day of harvest, when and where they were packed, how they were shipped, etc. Many of the local producers have followed this example and some even go as far as displaying a picture of the farmer to bring a sense of proximity as additional reassurance to the consumer.”

World Changing.com, the site where I got this story, is sceptical that it will catch on anywhere else, particularly the States. I’m not so sure. I think if people could trace the origin of their food in the UK, it would definitely take-off. There is another issue that I am currently investigating that entails the exploitation of migrant workers by unscupulous industrial scale farming interests. I would definitely not be buying my vegetables from exploitative agricultural companies. What do you think? Would it work in the UK?

Prescott job must be axed’ (Mirror p4) – Spellar: ‘Why do we want to spend the best part of £2m on a non-job that has no real role. Let’s call the whole thing off. Not only are there costs to consider, but we face increasing problems inside the Cabinet where so many members will be trying to differentiate themselves from colleagues rather than working together under collective responsibility. We face a costly exercise & divisions among Cabinet ministers for the next 9 mnths. We don’t need a deputy leader in government’

I rarely disagree with John Spellar. I also thinks that he speaks for a large number of MPs when he says that the Deputy PM/Leader post should be abolished. This blog is a little bit broken and can’t accept comments at the moment but why not email your thoughts to me at watsont, then add @parliament.uk.

Today is the ballot for Private Members Bills. Any backbencher can promote their own piece of legislation. If you come top of the draw, you get bombarded by charities and pressure groups asking you to introduce their particular Bill. Which begs the question, if I win the ballot, what piece of legislation should I promote?

NB Comments have been temporarily disabled because of DOS attacks on the server. Normal service should resume shortly though.

Ann is boycotting British Airways over Nadia Eweida, who is not allowed to wear a cross over her uniform. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ann. If she’s doing something like this, it must warrant further scrutiny at least. What do you think? Is she right?

More proof, if needed, that we live in a post-ironic age: The British Citizenship Test for Dummies (authored by a BBC reporter).

I like this little energy saving device a lot. You plug the multi-socket that powers your peripherals into it. Then, when your computer switches off, it closes all the power to your printers and miscellaneous devices automatically. Saves you pulling out the wrong plug or if you’re like me, leaving your printer switched on forever. Can you get a UK version I wonder?

I’ve just been sent, presumably as have all MPs, a copy of a DVD entitled “Specific evidence for creation in the classroom – what GCSE textbooks forgot to include. Why creation should be taught in the science classroom”
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I’d promised myself that I’d stop posting Lib Dem councillors do daft things stories. But this one is just simply incredible. Why on earth would you stand for public office if you were a former mercenary who had been sentenced to 16 years in prison for your role in the Angolan civil war, clocked up a total of 9 previous convictions for 17 offences and held 3 aliases?

Actually it does raise an issue though. I have absolutely no doubt that had local lib dems known about this guy’s past, they wouldn’t have touched him with a barge pole. But how are any of us to know? If someone is going to lie about or deny their past, then there is little that anyone can do to check.

Bob’s got a new skin for his blog proving that there is such thing as substance and style.

I was disturbed to read recently that the BBC intended to pay the public for their photos and footage. I can see it now thought I, road accident: quick get the phone…and record the carnage. In a thoughtful repost to the the stories, Vicky Taylor clarifies the position. They will not pay for user generated content, unless its a really, really big story.

I don’t know what it is about Chevy Chase that I find so funny. There aren’t many films that I can watch over and over again but Caddyshack is one. I know it would never make the Time Out 1000 but the film is a series of very funny visual gags strung together by a half-baked plot and hilarious characters. If I had a film review site, it would get five stars out of five.
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