No need to have put the blog on autopilot as, much to my other half’s digust, there’s free Wi-fi here in Alicante. Arrived just to discover all these football supporters lurking under the balcony and shot this video just before kick-off.
Having beaten Germany 1-0, the locals packed out the beach and partied hard with fireworks late into the night. And good for them! (Even though this was not a good evening to be looking for a quick bite to eat.)
Next morning not a grain of sand was out of place.
‘ The similarities between Tsvangirai and [US President] Bush are numerous, they are startling. Both men have a predilection for crime, Tsvangirai having had several brushes with the law for treason stretching back to allegations of spying for Apartheid South Africa in 1989, and Bush of drunk driving. Both failed their nation when it needed them most.’ – Caesar Zvayi in Zimbabwe’s Herald
The only country with a meaningful role to play is South Africa, but despite race riots at least partly provoked by the strain of taking on Zimbabwean refugees, it is South Africa that protects Mugabe.
Generations of colonial rule have left Africa apparently uninterested in a transition to democracy. In societies with no experience or culture of self-rule, African leaders have found it easy to wield power in the dictatorial manner to which the people had become accustomed. The democratic institutions – like parliaments on the Westminster model – former ruling powers tried to leave behind are all too easily portrayed as colonial impositions.
To the generation that includes South African president Thabo Mbeki, Robert Mugabe is still a hero who led the great struggle against white minority rule… a hero who can be forgiven anything. But these events show great war leaders too often find the transition to democracy too much to cope with; they can never surrender.
Whenever I pass this ad I can’t help wondering if dirty cars really are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents.
Studying cars speeding along a busy Barlow Moor Road, the cleaner vehicles appear no easier to spot, but I am suspicious of an Innocent Smoothie delivery vehicle clad in what looks like astroturf. Uploaded by mobile phone to Stephen Newton’s diary of sorts
A question mark that hangs over Fairtrade — and every other ethical initiative — is always: will the punters pay?
But here Sainsbury’s prove Fairtrade can be cheap with cotton t-shirts at just £3.
I don’t imagine the cotton pickers are earning a wage that would coax me out of bed, but I trust they’re adults earning more than 20p for a ten hour shift. Uploaded by mobile phone to Stephen Newton’s diary of sorts
Surely that is to play into the hands of those who claim ‘if you’ve nothing to hide, you’ve nothing to fear’ as dog mess and litter do blight some areas and CCTV may well be cost effective. The real issue is mission creep; once a CCTV camera is installed, it can be used for much more than recording a dog taking an illicit dump.
A little while Our Man in Newcastle asked us all to take the pledge not to shout stuff like, ‘hey! I’m blogging from the train station!’ And quite right too. But indulge me. What about: ‘I’m blogging from a moving train!’
Over the last couple of months I’ve been trying out a mobile broadband dongle kindly lent out by those nice guys at 3mobilebuzz, the 3 sponsored website dedicated to getting us talking about 3 and the same people who asked me to try the 3 Skype Phone.
With Wi-Fi everywhere, you might not feel a need to connect to the inevitably slower mobile internet using your laptop. But as Bob Piper recently discovered, Wi-Fi can come expensive. This little USB device currently offers between 1GB and 7GB a month for between £5 and £12.50 per month.
And I have to report it works pretty well. Although, a train trip from Manchester to Preston did push it beyond its limits. It was okay-ish as far as Bolton, but after that pretty ropey. The annoying thing is that it doesn’t tell you when the connection drops or automatically try to reconnect. It needs to much more aggressive here so as to minimise user interventions.
Anyway. Here’s the technical bit. I tried checking my speed using SPEEDTEST.NET. If you run the same test a couple of times the results do vary a fair bit, but it still gives you an idea of the difference between broadband over the mobile phone network and broadband over ADSL. Using my laptop, wirelessly connected to my BT home broadband (signal strength rating ‘excellent’) I’ve got a reading of 5,524kbs downstream and 370kbs upstream. The Three mobile broadband dongle got me 1,166kbs downstream and 338kbs upstream.
Fine for emails and blogging, but wait upto five times longer for that MP3 to download. Great for when you’re on the move.
To be fair, McGrath may not quite have described the Caribbean as black Londoners’ true home, but echoing this racist mantra is unforgivable nonetheless.
Britain is home to the people James McGrath was talking about, most of whom will not have set foot in the Caribbean. Not only will they have born British, their parents are likely to have born British too. To say, we should ‘let them go’ is to promote the idea that they belong in some foreign country, with a foreign culture (most often portrayed as less developed or backward). It is to deny Britain’s true multicultural culture; something of which we should all be proud.
Bob Piper’s faux pas was to reproduce a satirical cartoon of a blacked up David Cameron; an image that mocked the Tories’ attempts to shake off their racist reputation. This was twisted by a malicious individual who bragged about taking scalps, while cowardly hiding behind a cloak of anonymity.
No sooner had we treated ourselves to some rather nice Egyptian Cotton sheets, than Dan McDougall was exposing the plight of Egyptian child cotton pickers in the Observer: ‘10-hour shifts in 40C heat for 20 pence a day’. Fortunately, our cotton was picked elsewhere, but the hardship the world’s poorest (some as young as six) suffer for our luxury should keep us all awake at night.
Longer term retailers must get a grip of their supply chains. It is difficult when so much is outsourced and the competition between rival suppliers is what keeps prices down, but responsibility cannot be shirked.
Surprisingly, given its low profile, there is an international standard with a fighting chance of making a difference. It’s called ‘Made in Green’.
Made in Green is regulated by independent laboratories, like Manchester’s Shirley Technologies, who complement vigorous inspection with forensic science techniques to ensure products are free of harmful substances, respect the environment and respect human rights. Too robust to be a quick fix, Made in Green is an initiative the rag trade must embrace sooner rather than later if it values its reputation at all.
Barton Square at the Trafford Centre has yet to take off and so makes for an oasis of calm.
The aim is to create a village of reasonably up market home stores (you won’t recognise British Home Stores, which has had quite a facelift before being allowed in).
But as is the way with these things, one person’s good taste is another’s tat.
It seems the Trafford Centre has always looked to Las Vegas — and Caesars Palace in particular — for insipation.
But while Caesars’ current extension will cost a billion dollars, this does look rather cheap. Uploaded by mobile phone to Stephen Newton’s diary of sorts
What a shocker! Guess who’s supporting The Police only some student type band that had a couple of hits a couple of years ago, here attempting an anthemic conclusion.
Yes it’s Starsailor, famous for singing ‘don’t you know you have your daddy’s eyes; daddy was an alcoholic’.
Priceless. I believe they are Christians.
The lead singer has just said they’re here because they’re cheap. Perhaps we should forget the whole support band thing. Uploaded by mobile phone to Stephen Newton’s diary of sorts links to follow.
Subscribe
