Dog with a pipe in its mouth

Dog with a pipe in its mouth

Originally uploaded by LlGC ~ NLW.

Enough said …

Matt cartoons witty political cartoons and satirical sketches – Telegraph

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Hockey: “Song Away” (Video)

Great song which is permanently stuck in my head at the moment. Following the current trend for retro 80’s style dance music Hockey are well worth a listen. Definitely a bit of Roxy music and maybe some Dylan in there.

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Here’s a bit of a Biog. of the band from last year:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/sep/22/hockey

Scientists show how DNA evidence can be fabricated

Reported on: http://dizzythinks.net/

Remember how we’re constantly told that a DNA database will help us fight crime? That DNA is the way forward in identity terms? That biometrics actually protect your identity? Well those lovely people in the world of science seem to have shown it to be absolute bollocks. The NY Times reports,

Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

This news doesn’t just undermine DNA usage in crime investigation, it also undermines any claim to the protection of identity through the use of DNA. If you can somehow gain access to a DNA profile then you could, in theory, create the means to pass yourself off as that person.

The world of Gattaca is not so fantastical anymore it seems. Let’s see whether the Government responds to this with some line about how their profile database is unhackable.”

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Quite surprised this hasn’t been more widely reported. Could have huge implications for forensic science and the reliability of DNA evidence in the future as well as making any identity database based on DNA very dodgy (technical term).

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Amazing radio, what a great idea

A new DAB station, called Amazing Radio,  is about to launch on the spectrum previously occupied by the space-filling Birdsong station (very soothing, but not money making or a particularly exciting way to use one of the UK’s few national digital licenses). The new station which is currently broadcasting test transmissions on D1, can also be heard here, aims to promote new, unsigned bands who wouldn’t normally get national airplay.

Any band can submit their music to the Amazing Tunes website where the general public then decide what music will played, and where tracks can be purchased, with artists receiving 70% from each track sold. From what I’ve heard so far there’s some half-decent music on there (mixed with some that’s not that great), the production values are still a bit amateurish, but I think this will improve (they’re also looking for new presenters and DJs), but all-in-all it makes a fantastic addition to what’s currently available on other stations.

It’s a great idea and I really hope it works, but the precendents set by other recent niche digital stations (such as Oneword and TheJazz) which had bigger budgets and more publicity,  isn’t brilliant and I can’t see how they’ll be able make it pay in the longer term, but who knows.

Amazing Radio launches on DAB, promoting unsigned talent – Telegraph

Amazing Radio gives voice to unsigned bands – but silences ..

A lively, if slightly cynical (although maybe not unrealistic) discussion about the future prospects of the station is available at DigitalSpy

Rory Bremner does Gordon Brown as Mika’s Grace Kelly

A couple of recent videos from Bremner, Bird and Fortune (The Last Show Before the Recovery) and The Daily Show, both hilarious. But what does it say about politics in this country when our Prime Minister is ridiculed and derided mercilessly both at home and abroad, and how much longer can he go on like this?

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Cows are flatulating the world towards oblivion

Dangerous things, cows.T.S. Eliot feared and distrusted them, as revealed in his recently rediscovered poem:Of all the beasts that God allows In England’s green and pleasant land I most of all dislike the cows:Their ways I do not understand.

Henry Ford, the US car magnate, considered cows the most crude and inefficient machines, and spent much of his life campaigning against them: “We don’t need cows,” he said.And now poor David Blunkett has been trampled by an irate cow in the Peak District, bringing the number of people injured by cows in Britain over the past eight years to 481.

But the real threat from cows comes not from their horns, or that creepy rolling thing they do with their eyes just before they charge, but from their digestive systems: cows are flatulating the world towards oblivion. Daisy and Buttercup may look picturesque, and taste delicious with a little Béarnaise sauce, but each cow is a living factory chimney, spewing out pollution at a quite staggering rate.

The green cow: it’s not emission impossible | Ben Macintyre – Times Online

It’s a very important issue which I’ve always been surprised hasn’t been tackled before now. Like it says in the article people just don’t connect what they see as a ‘natural’ process having an impact on the environment. Plus whenever somebody brings up the issue it’s always treated as a humorous news story, rather than a serious scientific challenge which could and is being researched. Don’t like the idea of laboratory produced meat though, it  might do me out of a job for a start.

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Man found dead mouse in malt loaf

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Man found dead mouse in malt loaf

Entombed in malt loaf, what a way to go. I  never did like the stuff, I think this has just put me off for life! erghhh ..

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Answering the burning question…..

This is the only bookmark you need to know the answer to the question: Is Gordon Brown Still Prime Minister?

Sod the BBC, just bookmark it and check it regularly!

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Go out to vote, you’ve still got time!

As previously mentioned I’m a strong believer in exercising your democratic responsibilities, so I’ll be off down to the local polling station in a few moments. If you can’t spare 10 minutes once in a while to help choose your political representatives you can’t complain when those representatives don’t live up their promises. By not voting you’re in affect endorsing the status quo. Even if the current scandals have put you off voting for the big three there are lots of small parties to whom you can ‘lend’ your positive vote.

It may sound cliched but people gave their lives to ensure that we are able to vote, watching last night’s TV programme about the Tiananmen Square massacre brings home just what ordinary people around the world will do to try and get democracy. So don’t waste your vote.

PS – Vote Libertas for the Euro Elections!