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Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: UK Page 7 of 8

€ > $ + £ 2x > $ = !?!?!?!?!

By

On July 10, 2007

In EU, Society, UK

I had a practical interest in the international currency exchanges at an early age.  When I was 10, my allowance came in US dollars, but the all the places I wanted to spend it at only accepted Deutsche Marks.   I had discovered that my one US dollar would get me much more in my hometown village of Eichenzell than it would get me at the US dollar store at the base exchange at Downs Barracks in Fulda.  That was the start of an understanding that would lead me to the thrills of the black market rates of the East German Marks when we went to Berlin, the generous exchange rate with Venezuelan Bolivars in the late 90s, and the joys of cheap Euro-denominated vacations in 2001.

But everything comes at a price, no?  I had an inkling this was coming, as my last trip back to England was pretty expensive.  But I wasn’t entirely prepared for this:

The euro rose to an all-time high against the yen and traded near a record versus the dollar on prospects the European Central Bank will signal plans to raise its benchmark interest rate at least once more this year.

[ . . . ]

The pound was near a 26-year high against the dollar on speculation the Bank of England will raise rates today.

[The Euro] was at $1.3614 against the dollar from $1.3613 yesterday and an all-time high $1.3681 reached on April 27.

[ . . . ]

The pound traded at $2.0152 after touching $2.0207 yesterday, the most since June 1981.

If you’re an American reading this, and don’t know why this matters to you, let me help – it means that it looks like you’re living on a soon to be third world currency.

Why I Can’t Vote for David Cameron: An Illustrated Guide

By

On June 12, 2007

In Politics, UK

I, and many of my fellow countrymen, have been extraordinarily disappointed with Labour of late. Putting aside (work with me here) Blair’s unfathomable shadowing of Bush in Iraq, Labour’s domestic policy initiatives – National ID, expanded CCTV surveillance, anti-social behaviour laws, among others – have me running into the arms of another party. You know, if there *were* another party to run to. The Lib Dems? One trick ponys. The Tories? Ha.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Honestly, I’ve been fairly impressed (in a relative sense) with where David Cameron is trying to drag the Tories, but I just can’t imagine myself actually casting a ballot for his party.  Why?  Because this is what the Tories have always been,  and may always be, to me:

Go on, click it for the high res version and all of its detailed glory.  Wait.  To be clear, it’s horribly racist and ignorant and only (really really) funny if you paid attention to the Tories in the 70s and 80s.  When I hear “Tory”, two things come to mind: Enoch “Rivers of Blood” Powell and the sort of mindset that could create this map (sans humour).  To be fair, I’ve not lived in Britain for forever and a day,  and maybe the Tories are honestly and truly changing.  But I doubt it, and David Cameron & Co. will have to work pretty hard to overcome this map.

(This post courtesy of my exploration of the many glorious maps highlighted by Waldo’s link to StrangeMaps.)

Friday Notes

By

On June 8, 2007

In Personal, UK

Okay, let’s get this out of the way: ha ha!

I am anti-cat (unless, say, we’re talking about solid fuel replacements), but this is great. Follow the photo tour.

More lies about New Orleans? I’d really like it to turn out that this guy is overreacting, but I don’t think he is at all . . .

If you’re interested in amateur racing in the DC/Mid-Atlantic region, and you haven’t checked out GamJams.net yet, do it. Mike May keeps us up to date on which races are coming up, and what happened in the races that just finished. And yes, I’d say he has an excellent eye for header graphics . . .

The Economics of NYC Businesses. Whether it is to my detriment or credit, I’m not sure, but I’ve no particular interest in making money for the sake of making money. But I always find the bottom line economics of a given store or industry fascinating. It’s a well organized quick read – check it out.

I used to think it was a big deal when all the tanks used to come rolling down Gersfelderstraße in my old village. But I never saw anything like this.

Mourning the Cutty Sark

By

On May 21, 2007

In Personal, UK

In case you haven’t heard, the Cutty Sark is no more. The New York Times is treating the emotional impact of the loss of the clipper ship as something of a curiosity, which I suppose is understandable for a paper with a readership that likely has little to no connection with the Cutty Sark. But in Britain – and for many of us around the world – the Cutty Sark was something important, tied up in history and shared memories.

My own connection with the Cutty Sark comes from a simple photograph. Taken by my father in the mid-60s, it was framed and hung in every house we ever lived in as a family. The towns and furniture changed a dozen or more times, but the picture was a constant. Seeing the Cutty Sark in person on my first trip to Greenwich (20-something years ago, now that I think about it) was as exciting as anything else I’d ever seen.

And now it’s gone.

Cutty Sark

Image from Graham Binns.

Blair: I’ll watch your kids and pick your music

By

On March 28, 2007

In Society, UK

So this is what a PM on his way out thinks he can get away with:

A new-style “11-plus” to assess the risk every child in Britain runs of turning to crime was among a battery of proposals unveiled in Tony Blair’s crime plan yesterday.

The children of prisoners, problem drug users and others at high risk of offending will also face being “actively managed” by social services and youth justice workers. New technologies are to be used to boost police detection rates while DNA samples are to be taken from any crime suspect who comes into contact with the police.

That’s probably not what the American Big Brother/Big Sister program had in mind when they pitched him. And lest you think he’s only coming for the kids, check this bit out:

The [package of proposals on security, crime and justice] is sprinkled with eye-catching initiatives such as MP3 music players that can be accessed only with the owner’s fingerprints, crowd scanners that detect bombs and efficiency league tables for courts.

Apparently all of Britain’s other problems are solved, if the government has the time and resources for all this. This is absolutely mad.

London, We Have a Problem

By

On March 10, 2007

In Personal, Society, UK

I have absolutely no intention of ever getting a National ID card. The government doesn’t need my fingerprints, biometric details, addresses, driving licence details or my insurance numbers. As a result, it looks like the Home Secretary won’t renew my passport when it comes due in 2009. I trust the British government with my details even less than I trust the US government (and they’ve earned that distinction.)

I cannot believe that I’m saying this, but David Cameron’s Tories are increasingly looking like a reasonable response to the overreaches of Labour.

More (opposition) info about the national identity card scheme here.

Explaining Big Brother

By

On March 9, 2007

In EU, Policy, Society, UK

I’m always on the lookout for works that do a good job of explaining why Big Brother is a problem. A surveillance society doesn’t spring up overnight, but we’ve been moving by leaps and bounds, lately.

In the US and UK, the vast majority of the public seems to be utterly complacent about the ubiquitous gathering and storing of information about our private lives by people who have absolutely no accountability to them. I don’t think it’s necessarily because they don’t care, it’s because they don’t understand what it means. And it’s not always the easiest thing to distill in a few minutes. So I was happy to come across this video.


Updated to link the video. The wordpress visual editor strikes again . . .

Sunday Reading

By

On November 26, 2006

In Law, Policy, Society, UK

Meet the real weapon of mass destruction:

The AK-47 has become the world’s most prolific and effective combat weapon, a device so cheap and simple that it can be bought in many countries for less than the cost of a live chicken. Depicted on the flag and currency of several countries, waved by guerrillas and rebels everywhere, the AK is responsible for about a quarter-million deaths every year.

I have no idea as to what can be done about it. It is very much a genie that was let out of a bottle.

~

So, the National Science Teachers Association isn’t interested in 50,000 free copies of An Inconvenient Truth. Well, I thought that a shame, but did give some credibility to their response, which said that “In their e-mail rejection, they expressed concern that other “special interests” might ask to distribute materials, too; they said they didn’t want to offer “political” endorsement of the film”. Ah, okay. And then I read further:

But there was one more curious argument in the e-mail: Accepting the DVDs, they wrote, would place “unnecessary risk upon the [NSTA] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters.” One of those supporters, it turns out, is the Exxon Mobil Corp.

That’s the same Exxon Mobil that for more than a decade has done everything possible to muddle public understanding of global warming and stifle any serious effort to solve it.

Fantastic job, guys.

~

Looking for good holiday gifts? Check out Make. I’m a subscriber, and a huge fan.

~

And in the “Hmm, there must be more” news, the UK seems to be declining to extend its 50 year copyright term to 95 years. It’s a shocking bit of good sense. We’ll see whether that remains in place. The real test will come in 2012, when the first Beatles recordings bump up against the 50 year term.

Reason #2934 to get out of Iraq

By

On November 26, 2006

In Personal, UK

Yes, Mr. Bush, they hate us for our freedom. That’s exactly it.

Apparently, this video has been up since September. In the context of all of the death and killing in Iraq, it’s not a huge deal. But daily scenes like this? Is why at least a few of those kids will likely soon be fine with, if not actively contributing to, more US troop deaths. More background at this UK news site (you didn’t think the US press would report this, did you?)

Veterans and Remembrance Day

By

On November 11, 2006

In Personal, Society, UK



Poppy and Cloudy Sky

Photo by smcgee.


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