FREEDOM OF SPEECH

News from the US - where else?!? And definitely a new slant on the word "pottymouth"!

Whatever else one can say about it, at least it's a victory for freedom of speech over political correctness and petty-minded bureaucracy. Pennsylvania can be thankful that District Judge Terrence Gallagher has a fair sprinkling of common sense.

"WEB PAGES LOST IN THE POST?" OR STOLEN?

As an addendum to Dizzy's post here about his infuriation with mis-addressed html links/dead addresses/&c in Hansard's reports, I offer you this from John Lettice at The Register. As he says, the Government using URLs "that it hasn't even bothered to buy is possibly a new low" even for them.

(MORE) EDUCASHUN, EDUCASHUN, EDUCASHUN

Hot on the heels of my post yesterday about our kids slipping down the literacy league table, we are now told that they're getting worse at science too. I especially like Joe Fay's line: "... the nation's youth probably won't be too upset about their unboffinish performance – it's not like they'd be able to read about it after all." Mind you, given the US ranking, perhaps we don't have quite so much to worry about.

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

Two stories from The Register have caught my eye, this and this.

So, on the one hand, we've got to stop our kids from pigging out on their video games fest so that they can get out there and play footie. On the other, according to Goggle-Eyed Balls, we've got to do it so that they can bury their heads in more books. Umm!?!

Usual stuff, really - dimwits trying to establish a direct causal relationship where none exists (and, in respect of the latter, just so much spin). The sad reality is that our blokes aren't very good at footie because they aren't managed very well - lest you doubt it consider the 'reasons' that Terry Venables or Alex Ferguson attribute to their respective teams' failings in the article (they're new slants on that perennial favourite of "Why the trains don't run on time"). Quite apart from that, nine times out of ten, the other lot are much better than us!

And the reason our kids are getting worse at reading is that the Government's/Bliar's much-trumpeted attempts to concentrate on "educashun, educashun, educashun" have had the perverse effect of making matters infinitely worse - to wit slipping from 3rd to 15th in the league table of reading skills.

BLUNKETT: GENERAL IGNORANCE

Dizzy has an excellent hatchet job on David Blunkett's letter today to The Times. As he says the former Home Secretary - and, lest we forget in light of the HMRC debacle, former Secretary of State at the Department of Work and Pensions (how much of the 'systemic' failure within the Child Benefit system stems from his tenure of that office?) - "should shut up".

I've little enough to add - Dizzy covers all the bases superbly. But I have to admit that a wicked, perhaps even provocative in this politically correct age, thought came unbidden to my mind: "There's none so blind as them that can't see!"

P.S. Rest assured and for avoidance of doubt it's a commentary on his intellectual capacity rather than anything else.

'LOST' HMRC DISKS FOR SALE!!!

So The Register reports.

Well, someone had to do it didn't they? Made me chuckle anyway.

YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP DEPT. (1)

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!?!?!

For sure, with a friend like this, the climate change lobby doesn't need any enemies. What on earth is Mucca on?

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?

Amusingly current advertising for UPS in America runs under the by-line of "What can brown do for you?" The press release announcing the launch of the Ad campaign (way back in 2002) can be found here. I particularly like the comment from Dale Hayes, vice president for brand management, that " ...... [B]rown is more than a color – it's a tangible asset that people associate with all the things that are good about our brand." (Brown, you see, is the corporate colour of UPS.) Just about sums up The Great Bottler's stature in New Labour doesn't it?

It must be my warped sense of humour but when I first discovered this, I had a vision of a whole bunch of UK residents, if they knew about it, getting in touch with UPS and sounding off about the PM - answers of the ilk of 'resign', 'call an election', &c flooding in to their corporate offices. But then I suppose our American cousins would have a huge sense of humour failure if that were to happen. It'd still be fun though, don't you think?