Clegg - We Need Less MPs

Interesting outburst from Nick Clegg today who argues there should be 150 less MPs in Britain.

The Lib Dems usually just moan about how unfair the voting system is (i.e. under the current system joke third parties never get a look in - although in fairness that would be true under most electoral systems), but now they have had a stroke of genius and want to get rid of some MPs to redistribute power away from the two major parties.

Perhaps Clegg could do us all a favour and just get rid of the 63 Lib Dem MPs in the House of Commons, that would save us all a lot of time, money and bother.

But then again, if you look at the polls, he already seems to be doing a good job of ensuring there are no Lib Dem MPs after the next General Election! ;-)

Perhaps he would like to join up to my "No Lib Dem Zone" campaign?

What Clegg seems unable to understand is that even if you took away all the Labour and Conservative MPs and called a General Election the next day, the Lib Dems would still finish third. :-/
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Darling's First Budget

So what can we learn from Alistair Darling's first Budget today?

As tax has gone up on drink and also on driving, I suppose we can surmise that he is against drink driving. (Indeed I wonder if many people will be able to afford to do both again.)

I guess it's the same principle of putting up the taxes on cigarettes and (eventually) petrol.

You may have been bored watching it, but at least you can say it wasn't an explosive Budget like it could have been without those important changes. :-/
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(Photo Source: Antonio Cruz/ABr, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:AlistairDarlingABr.JPG)

Bearly Noticing

As I've just criticised the dumbness of one advert this morning, perhaps I should readdress the balance by pointing you in the direction of an advert which goes to prove you do not have to be offensive to get your message across.

Click here to watch the advert and take the test.

Much more enjoyable than watching that old ad of a road accident outside my ex's house. :-/
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(Photo Source: Reisio, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Basketball.png)

MPs Sent To Jail

It's not what you are thinking btw. There are always stories of MPs ending up in prison, but today a group went there by their own volition as the UK Parliamentary Football Club visited Reading Young Offenders Prison for a couple of games of football against the inmates.

The MPs, and yours truly, were visiting to see the work of the National Grid Young Offenders Programme.

National Grid has been pioneering business involvement in the rehabilitation of offenders, training over 140 offenders in the workplace on day release schemes. (The re-offending rate amongst the people on these schemes is only 7%, resulting in a significant saving to taxpayers in the United Kingdom, compared with the national average of over 70%.)

Apparently it costs approximately £36,000 to keep a person in prison for one year and there are currently 11,000 under 21 years of age in prison. That is an incredible number. And for low level offenses it's important that these young people are educated, rehabilitated and have support to get them back into the workplace, making a positive contribution to society again.

Giving young offenders the chance to gain an educational qualification like this, with a guaranteed job on release, gives them an excellent opportunity to make a new start in life and put something back into the community. And massively reduces reoffending levels at the same time.

It was quite an eye-opening experience today and good to have the opportunity to talk to some of these young people and see the difference this programme is making to their lives - especially at restoring self esteem.

As for the football, the MPs won the first game (rather against the run of play) 3-2 and drew the second game 2-2.

I would say we got out of jail despite some criminal defending, but I'll resist the temptation. ;-)
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10 Celebrity Body Urban Legends...Real or Fake?

Is Jamie Lee Curtis Trying to Hide Something?

Body-Philosophy Rss Feed

By Brianne DiSylvester
Published: Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - 16:51

Celebrities are known for living the extravagant lifestyle, but some of them have been accused of taking things a step too far when it comes to matters of the flesh. Removing ribs? Assaulting gerbils? Cryogenically freezing the body? Is this Hollywood, or "Tales from the Crypt"? Luckily we've got the 411 on 10 celebrity urban legends and the details on whether they're false, or…ew…true.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman leave Byron Bay

Singer Keith Urban and actress wife Nicole Kidman, both 40, board their private jet in Byron Bay on Friday, March 21st. The couple, who expect their first child in July, were in the northern NSW coastal town for Blues Fest 2008, where Keith performed. They know the sex, but are not sharing.

Photos by Flynet.

One more photo below.

Friday Night Atheist - HAL 9000 Edition - Re-Post

I’m Afraid I Won’t Be Able To Do That, Dave

In 1968, I was eight years old and went with the family to a movie in Winnipeg. I knew it was going to be a science fiction movie, but I didn’t know much more about it. My older brother Greg, and my older sister Nancy were both familiar with the story having read it at the recommendation of their science teacher. I knew that it was set 33 years in the future but started out with proto-humans at the dawn of time. They rattled some bones and learned to use weapons, then were awakened to find an artifact which was accompanied by a killer choir.

Shortly thereafter, a man in a shuttle napped on his way from earth to a space station in a shuttle while the flight attendant with velcro shoes walked through, grabbed his floating pen and then went to the cockpit. Later, a meeting on the moon while a group of scientists talked about another obelisk. I had no idea what they were talking about, but they went out to a dig to have a look-see at the artifact and tried in vain to cover their ears as a loud noise pierced their helmets. Finally, a journey to Jupiter goes horribly wrong and a computer has to be shut down because it became a little to big for its breeches and tried to kill the astronauts.

I was fascinated by the visuals. I was amazed that they were trying to get the science right. I was amazed at 20 minutes of flashing colors flying past Dave Bowman’s pod as he flew through the artifact to find out what the hell his mission was all about. He left HAL behind, mindless. Dave died and was reborn.

I saw the movie three times over the next year, never figuring out what was really happening. I read the book, and still didn’t understand the point that Arthur C Clarke was trying to make. Some bits are still obscure to me, but I love the movie. (Part of the mystery was cleared up in the sequel released in 1984; but we never really learn who these aliens are. They blew up Jupiter and made a second sun in our solar system. They played God with us and our solar system. “Something wonderful was about to happen.”)

Within a few years of seeing the movie I started reading quite a bit of science fiction, and the public library had a good selection for a small town. I read 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time, and understood a bit more. I read Rendezvous with Rama, the story of a mysterious, abandoned cylinder which had entered the solar system and had been created as an interstellar spaceship. Earth’s scientists find that it only entered the solar system to take advantage of the gravity well and slingshot to another solar system. They never met the makers, they never met the occupants. They never solved the mystery of who these aliens were.

Accept it or not, there are mysteries that may never be resolved. One of those is the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Deep Thought said it was “42″ but only because it had been asked in the wrong way. People who search for God are asking the question in the wrong way. They are looking for an anthropomorphic intelligence to explain everything when we die and reading through scriptures and interpreting and listening to other people’s interpretations in order to get a heads up on the answer. What if there is no answer?

Arthur C. Clarke, in his fiction, didn’t wrap things up in nice little answers at the end. The question outlasts the book. And perhaps he is trying to tell us that there are no books that can answer all of the questions. Perhaps he is trying to tell us that the search for answers continues indefinitely. Perhaps he is trying to tell us that in death lay no answers; just death.

Arthur C. Clarke has not had his final questions answered. He is still living in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90.

Arthur C. Clarke is an atheist.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. 1961

I’m sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I’m rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books. 1975

“Space is actually paying for itself in the communication and weather satellites. The money we have put into space has been returned many, many times over in the unmanned application satellites. Similarly, explorations of deeper space will eventually pay for themselves, too.” 1997

friday night atheist arthur c clarke

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Our Economy Is Not a Child's Erector Set (by Don Boudreaux)

Here's a letter that I sent today to the New York Times:

Like Gail Collins, I was unimpressed with George Bush's speech yesterday to the Economic Club of New York ("George Speaks, Badly," March 15).

But I disagree with Ms. Collins that "in times of crisis you would like to at least believe your leader has the capacity to pretend he's in control."  A defining characteristic of this economy that produces such enormous abundance for us all (and yes, despite the current downturn, it continues to produce prodigiously) is that no one is "in control."  Indeed, no one could possibly be "in control."  A far greater danger to Americans' prosperity than a President with a poor speaking style and a penchant for standard-fare political shenanigans is the spread of the belief that economic salvation lies in having someone "in control."

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux

Remember, no one knows, no one has ever known, and no one can possibly know, all that is necessary to make even the ubiquitous commercial-grade pencil.  It's astonishing how prevalent is the view that economies are "run" by people pulling levers -- or should be, or could be, run by people pulling levers.  This misconception is the economics equivalent of the belief that the earth is flat, or that volcanoes won't erupt if they are fed a sufficient number of virgins.

Emotional and Ethical Dwarfs (by Don Boudreaux)

Speaking of all-too-many successful politicians, David Brooks -- in his New York Times column today -- notes that "their sensitivity synapses are still performing at preschool levels" and that they "have an almost limitless capacity for self-pity."

In other words, politicians are children disguised as adults - persons who ought to be playing with wooden blocks while seated at their little desks in Romper Room rather than playing with our liberties and resources while seated at their mahogany desks within marble-domed monuments to their stupid power.

Palate Cleanser: Fun with SiteMeter. And Trains. And Sixties Music.

This site is visited frequently by somebody from Downingtown, Pennsylvania. I can’t see a place name ending in -town without thinking of this song, “Morningtown Ride,” by The Seekers:

This is one my dad sang when I was a kid, but it didn’t survive into our later repertoire … until I heard my little cousin, three years old, piping it during a camping trip last year. It came back with a vengeance. Doesn’t get much better than a train lullaby … unless maybe it’s a cowboy lullaby.

And speaking of trains, if you didn’t already, check out these beautiful shots of Appalachian railroad scenes. The photographer, Kevin Scanlon, has an exhibition currently running in Grafton, West Virginia.

Via Rick Lee.