Archive for the ‘Society’ category

Not working for nothing

Sunday, 26 February 2012

Each day this week has brought news of more companies withdrawing from a government scheme to give jobless people work experience. It started with protests against Tesco last weekend. The scheme is simple enough. People who have been unemployed for a certain period of time are eligible to take part in an entirely voluntary programme […]

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Immigrants’ jobs prove they are worth welcoming

Thursday, 2 February 2012

Another day, another government initiative to reduce immigration. They feel they need to do something so as to satisfy those on the right, particularly the tabloids, that they are trying to cut immigration. So they have announced measures that will make it even harder for people from outside the EU to work in the UK. […]

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Benefits should not pay for luxuries

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Today the BBC carried an article about a family who live on benefits who would be affected by the government’s proposed cap on payments. I hardly need to write this article now, as more than a thousand people have commented saying much the same thing, but here goes anyway. The man, an unemployed father of […]

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Internet no excuse for contempt of court

Monday, 23 January 2012

There has been a spate of cases recently of jurors in criminal trials being themselves jailed for acting inappropriately. A number of jurors have been found guilty of researching cases or suspects online, others have used social media such as Facebook to post comments about or even contact the person whose case they were hearing. […]

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Royal Wedding observations

Friday, 29 April 2011

I hadn’t intended to watch it, but then I thought, it is history in the making, and there might not be another one for 30 years, so why not? Then I discovered the live stream on Youtube, and it was fantastic simply because it had the live video from the BBC, but no commentary. That […]

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Tuition fees proposal almost a graduate tax

Sunday, 17 October 2010

I should start by saying I disagree with the whole idea of university tuition fees, and believe university education should be free as it used to be. The trouble is, that only worked when a smaller number of people attended university. Many people now go to university when it does little for their careers, and […]

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None for the road

Monday, 21 June 2010

Last week it was reported that a review of drink-driving laws in the UK has recommended a reduction in the allowed blood alcohol level for drivers. The government must now decide whether to act on the report. Over at Lords of the Blog, Baroness Deech asks for comments, suggesting that a balance has to be […]

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We are not just what we eat

Tuesday, 31 March 2009

The BBC today reports on the diets of centenarians, with the implication that following a similar diet might help other people to live past 100. To be fair on the BBC, they do give the article some balance by giving the opinions of a nutritionist. Yet there is no mention of statistics or probability. When […]

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Sir Fred hasn’t blamed Google Street View

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

With all the bad press Google Street View has been getting recently, with people claiming it invades their privacy, and leaves their homes vulnerable to criminals, I was slightly surprised not to see any sections of the media blaming it for aiding vandals who attacked the home of unpopular RBS banker Sir Fred Goodwin. What’s […]

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BBC phone prank vs spurious complaints

Wednesday, 29 October 2008

The number of complaints made about the BBC radio show in which Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand made a prank call to actor Andrew Sachs currently stands at 27,000. However, the number of people who complained following the actual broadcast stood at just two. The remainder have seemingly only complained following the media coverage in […]

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