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The Highlights
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I am so close to going down with a cold of the morning, but it tends to go away just before lunchtime. Doesn't help. I could so use a few days off, work has been really draining these past few weeks. Today is little better. Our runners are at the office that suffered a breakin last week. Only, the monitors we've ordered have been held at the depot a few miles away, owing to ... a spate of thefts there! Irony upon irony. It falls to me to hold the fort at HQ, and cover for the problems arising from the roll-out of some crap anti-virus software that doesn't really work. I'm also informed that the boss has given me a job to do some installs last week. Only, she *so* didn't have the courtesy to actually tell me. If I had much hair left, it would be torn out by now. Sabrina The first college series begins on Nickleodeon. Our heroine doesn't quite leave her aunts behind, and moves to college. Soleil Moon Frye has a recurring part as Sabrina's roommate. This is probably better than the last high school series, which ran the same jokes into the ground. Jaeda: |
A busy day. Sanding and staining the wood around the windows. It's one of those preventative maintainance jobs that isn't required in the first few years of a house's life, but then needs to be done every few years. Don't think the original owners had touched it in the seven winters, so it's well due. Two coats should see us through the winter, one more in the spring should last to about 2005.
Jaeda: |
| Retrospective rumours reach me that the Queen Mother popped her clogs, and Friday's schedules were to be cleared. This is, as we now know, false. But it's going to be true one day, and there's something like a 45% chance that it will be within the year. Remind me to know where CNBC and CNN are that week, it's the only chance I'll have of real news, not royal news. |
Very much as you were. Janet holds her vice-like grip on the planet; Jennifer Lopez in the US. Nickleback move to the #1 Mainstream Rock position, How You Remind Me deposes Staind after 20 weeks. Aaliyah's eponymous album secures the #1 position in the US.
Highest new entry honours to The Superman Lovers: Starlight is a piece of French house that just about defines "buzzing" - it leaves a subtle zzzz in the head after listening, as opposed to the zeds of going to sleep. Bob The Builder is hot on their heels, following up last year's biggest seller with Mambo Number Five, a re-worded version of Lou Bega's 1999 chart-topper. This is the best seller in stores. The Artful Dodger crashes the lists, Twentyfourseven features the vocal talent of former All Saint Melanie Blatt. Staind's It's Been A While is released in the UK, and subtly retitled. Lower down, Alicia Keys' Fallin' was a triumph at the VMAs, and rises to #24. US rapper Redman bows at #29 with Smash Something, ably assisted by UK knob-twiddler Adam F. The first release from Macy Gray's new album, Sweet Baby, is new at #32. Extra vocals from Erykah Badu result in huge airplay but limited sales - this is the curse of Badu. Spiritualized have their biggest hit with Stop Your Crying, new at #34. Darrude are at #36 with Out Of Control. Kylie places Can't Get You Out Of My Mind at #41 on airplay alone, and it's a similar source for Alien Ant Farm's Smooth Criminal at #46; Michael Jackson's You Rock My World at #49; and Afroman's Because I Got High at #50. The Weaver 21: New entries for Spiritualized: Stop Your Crying is the power ballad that goes all anthemic without threatening to be mushy. Chart entries for Staind's rock classic It's Been A While, for Uncle Kraker's AOR Follow Me and Nelly Furtardo's poppy-with-a-lyrical-twist Turn Off The Light. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE
This week, Wadham Oxford takes on the University of Cranfield. Cranfield lost heavily to Nottingham in the first round two years ago, and lost heavily to Imperial in the opener last year. It's Wadham's first appearance in the Paxman era. This show swiftly into Conor O'Neill (Wadham) -v- Andrew Gregory (Cranfield) - the two split the first six starters. Wadham takes the lead, only for Cranfield to briefly draw level. Wadham pulls ahead again, leading 110-40 going into the music round. At this stage, Wadham has just 7 of 24 bonuses; Cranfield has 8 of 9. Not answering bonuses correctly doesn't hurt Wadham, as they're getting the lion's share of the starters. Cranfield does narrow the gap to 65 points with a few minutes to play, but can only lose heavily, 235-120. We won't be able to discuss the finer points of apple packing with Paul Dauny, Cranfield captain and PhD researcher into that field. For Wadham, O'Neill got 9 starters and credit for 116 points, just under half the team total. Alex Carroll didn't buzz on a starter. The team got 16 of 48 bonuses. Cranfield finished with 12 of 21. US Millionaire host Regis Philbin reckons that teachers are amongst the worst performers in his hot seat. They're worrying about how stupid they'll look in front of their pupils. Weakest Link Daily (round maximum: £1000) put this to the test last Friday, with a Teachers' Special. Anne Robinson commented: "Round 2, team, and so far you've banked £70." The winner left class with a quite respectable £2620. Judith Keppel, Millionaire's First Millionaire, has been doing the rounds on the chat shows recently. She's put her name to a quiz book, and a quick flick shows the standard of questions is rather high. 6 pounds or less from all good bookstores. |
People in the tubesThere are few more notorious examples of the way European nations pass the buck in handling asylum seekers than events in the Channel tunnel in recent days. When 44 asylum seekers were caught six miles into the tunnel, they were detained and interviewed by the French police but let go rather than prosecuted. The French police said that as they had been unable to find an interpreter, they had been unable to continue with proceedings against them. In reality, French prosecutors have been systematically refusing to press charges against illegal migrants caught in Calais docks or tunnel entrance. Facing fines from the UK government for every refugee who enters through the tube, Eurotunnel is now calling for the closure of the Red Cross refugee camp at Sangatte, close to the tunnel and port. But the camp is a symptom, not a cause. The asylum seekers were there before the camp was opened - sleeping in parks or on pavements - and would remain there after closure. There is only one way to stop France turning a blind eye to illegal refugees - a common European approach. European Union member states in the Schengen group have a common policy but UK, Ireland and Denmark opted out. The European Commission, more liberal than most member governments, is working on a directive to improve harmonisation. The EU moves are in line with a call from Ruud Lubbers, former Dutch prime minister and now UN high commissioner for refugees, for a more generous regional approach by the developed world: both in accepting more asylum seekers and in supporting third world countries that have large camps. One reason for the rise in illegal refugees is tighter restrictions in the west. But a more regional approach must not supersede the obligation on all states to consider individual asylum applications on an individual basis. We notice that those countries with a more welcoming approach to immigration have performed better than those countries that sought to seal themselves off from immigration. The contrast between the US and Japan in this context is striking. Those seeking a better life for themselves could be forgiven for accusing the west of inconsistency. It is one of the articles of faith of globalisation that there should be free movement of capital, but the same principle does not seem apply to the other factor of production - labour. This means that it is easy for money to escape when problems arise, while people take the strain of economic adjustment. In the long run this is unsustainable. Emigration is the safety valve for globalisation. Maybe a UK court ruling this week reflects that. Holding asylum seekers in a detention centre while their applications are being assessed, if they are not suspected of a crime, breaches their human rights. The decision could see the government having to release hundreds of asylum seekers from reception centres, and there will be pressure to revise the whole system of asylum detention centres, and the fundamental policy. 18-year-old Clare Selby and 20-year-old Rachael Millar are in the press this week, and are our Dunderheads Of The week. They were reportedly "furious" after learning that Victoria Posh Spice Aadams Beckham's lip ring - all over the press last week - was a clip-on fake. Clare, an art student, said: "She is a real cow. She must have known fans would copy her. I had this done because of her and now I feel like a right idiot." So... pushing a ring through your lips simply because a well-known singer has had it done is all right. But having your lips pierced and learning that she hasn't had it done after all makes you an idiot, does it? Protestants protestLook what loyalism has become in Ulster. After the First World War they ran guns to prevent home rule. In the Seventies they brought down Stormont. Now they heroically stop five-year-old girls from getting to PE. Each morning, before they go off to the battlefield, does their leader stop for a tense moment before saying "So, good luck. And remember, some of these bastards have got Fuzzy-Felt – so be careful"? Even now statements are made like that of the local Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds, who called for both sides to be given "breathing space to work out their dispute". As if there should be a compromise. Maybe there should be an agreement that they only burn down the science block. Suddenly, people who have been yelling that there's no point in further talks on peace in general until the IRA surrenders its weapons are calling for "talks" to sort out these riots. Imagine if the IRA organised a riot similar to the current one, outside a Protestant school. Unionists would instantly declare the peace process at an end and demand the other 26 counties be handed back as well. The hopeful sign is that few Protestants support the actions of the crowd. For some the ideology lives on, that the less you've got, the more important it is to find someone with even less and blame everything on them. Though taking out your wrath on these girls is spectacular, even for loyalists. What must they be chanting out there? "Ulster says no to Papist Playdough"? "Noddy is a Proddy"? The short-term solution may be to send the teachers out to face the protesters. They could stand in front of the howling, wait for a quiet moment and say: "It's your own time you're wasting, you know." Then the PE teacher could yell: "Why aren't you changed into your bowler hats and sashes?" And if any reply that they haven't got them, make them all throw rocks in their underpants. Scientists in Cambridge want to find the world's funniest joke. Here are five punchlines: 5) "I'm a frayed knot." 4) "Jesus must be spinning in his grave." 3) "Dubya for the winnings." 2) "We were on a break!" 1) "A stick." Painful software behemoth Misorchaft will *not* be forcibly split by the US courts. The breakup had promised to split the corporation's Operating Systems division, responsible for the Panes series of crashes; from the Applications division, behind Code Red, Melissa and many other viruses. The main reason for trimming the case in these two ways is a desire to resolve it within the halflife of uranium-235 (about 2.5x10^17 years) based on the realization that the recent appeals court ruling on the case set the bar for prevailing on breakup and on tying so high that it would take protracted legal manoeuvering to get over it. The protracted legal battle over junk email stepped up a gear Friday, as the European Parliament voted to outlaw spam email unless the recipient has specifically requested it. Though the draft law will have to go for further consideration, the will of the people has been heard. Nestlé led a powerful business lobby that persuaded Tony Blair to abandon a plan to go ahead with vaccination against foot and mouth. The prime minister, with the backing of the Treasury and the support of scientists and ministers, believed that vaccination was the best option at the height of the crisis in April, but came under extreme pressure from parts of the food industry that feared a meltdown of exports. During a secret meeting at Chequers, Blair announced that the government had decided on a limited vaccination policy in Cumbria and possibly Devon. The meeting was attended by ministers, leading supermarket and food manufacturing groups, scientific and veterinary advisers, the head of the food standards agency and the permanent secretary. Blair announced vaccination was the best option but within days the industry, led by Peter Blackburn, then chief executive of Nestlé UK, had forced an about turn. The extraordinary events in mid-April raise questions not only about whether the right decision was made, but over the power and influence of big business on government policy. Blair and his pocket ministers were convinced of the scientific and social need for vaccination as early as March 30 but were unable to persuade the industry to change its stance. When their advanced plan fell apart because of opposition, the ministers chose to blame the farmers for not accepting vaccination and played down the influence the food industry had over their decision. Nestle wrote to Blair spelling out its belief that British manufactured food exports, worth up to £8bn a year, would be compromised and would lead to a permanent ban on UK meat and dairy products in many major non-EU markets. The corporation had been concerned about the future of its factory at Dalston, Cumbria, which employs 500 people. The plant is Nestle's major producer of powdered milk with 75% of its output going to developing countries. A vaccination policy could have risked exports of powdered milk to developing countries and even threatened its closure. Faced with this opposition, the government plan was shelved and, according to one Whitehall source, the decision was made to blame the farmers for not accepting vaccination. "The government knew that they would not easily win over the farmers, but they encountered far more opposition than they expected from the food industry," said a source. |