news
well, trawling through today's news has been interesting...
oxfam and the government appear to be having a bit of a lovers tiff at the moment. after championing last year's make poverty history campaign, selling ethically produced wristbands and pronouncing the results of the g8 summit to be "not an end, but a beginning" ("One thing is sure - lives will be saved and lives transformed because of the steps taken at Gleneagles and in the finance ministers' discussions that preceded it"), Oxfam now seem a little less sure that their enthusiasm was warranted....
"After lobbying from Whitehall, Oxfam agreed to make changes to its report on the progress made by the G8 nations in the year since they agreed at the Gleneagles summit to double aid by 2010. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) had been planning to name and shame Britain, France and Germany by saying in the report that aid had "actually decreased" in 2005 but left this out of the final text." (source: bbc news)
the independent declare "Like many an alpha male, David Cameron is visiting Liverpool in pursuit of willing females. The Tory leader's optimistically-titled "women2win" campaign will launch its recruitment campaign at a Scouse branch of the "very funky" restaurant chain EstEstEst later this month.
"We are shedding the old image, and showing the new face of Cameron's Conservatives," claims a (spam) e-mail invitation. "Theresa May MP, Shadow Leader of the Commons and wearer of gorgeous shoes, will be there. So come along, enjoy a glass of wine, meet people and find out how Women2Win can help you."
see - we don't care about policies or anything clever like that - obviously we are but simple women. however, tell us that someone with nice taste in footwear's gonna be there, offer us a drink, and we'll bite your hand off to attend....
out of curiousity, i've signed up for their email newsletter... a host of invites to similar events has appeared in my inbox, each one stating that the venue is either "cool" or "funky", and promising that ms may (seemingly the only woman candidate the tories will let out in public?) will be there... and for us "new girls who want to know more" (who "might be interested in becoming an mp or getting further involved, but know very little about the world of politics") there are two informal events (with a buffet supper! super!) with a panel of "experts in their field" (mp's and party officials, apparently). 'scuse me while i sharpen up my shoe collection in preparation.....
demands are apparently being made for a secret id card report by the dwp into how the cards may fight identity fraud to be published. having previously refused a lib dem request to do so in 2004, richard thomas (information commissioner) now thinks it is in the public interest. seeing as it's all been irreversibly passed through parliament, it seems that the cat's ready to be let out the bag..
on a related note, no2id are recommending renewing your passport asap:
"Did you know that, from October of this year, as preparation for the ID scheme, ALL first-time passport applicants will have background checks and be interviewed by officials at one of the government's 69 new 'enrolment centres'? This will include your children as they reach 16. Before long it will include you too, when you renew your passport. And you will be fingerprinted as well.
So, unless you need it soon, you should renew your passport NOW. If you wait till autumn, you risk giving up personal data to be used for the government identity database. Pay £51 for a 10-year passport while you can. The charge for ID registration and a record for life will be at least £93. The website www.renewforfreedom.org explains in more detail. There's a fact-sheet there that you can download and pass on to others."
and on a non-newsworthy note, i had the misfortune to be subjected to this year's big brother for the first time earlier this evening. good god - i wanted to scoop my eyeballs out and tear my ears off, but unfortunately i was a guest in someone else's house and didn't want to make a mess. the apparent appeal of the programme (along with world cup fever) remains a complete mystery to me, and i intend to keep it that way.
tonight's thrilling viewing was the introduction of a 'golden housemate' - channel 4 whored together with scumpigs nestle to hide 'golden tickets' in kitkats giving a "lucky" few the opportunity to be up for random selection to join the big brother house. the woman who got in had 60 boxes of baby-killers confectionery bought for her, and when she didn't find a five minutes of fame opportunity inside, got her husband to bid £4,000 on ebay for an unwanted ticket. that combined with a squealing, gurning selection of existing 'housemates' made me feel queasy. yet another reason to put a mallet through the tv screen...
my justification as to why i've not done that (yet)? pure self indulgence - dr who's on tomorrow night...
oxfam and the government appear to be having a bit of a lovers tiff at the moment. after championing last year's make poverty history campaign, selling ethically produced wristbands and pronouncing the results of the g8 summit to be "not an end, but a beginning" ("One thing is sure - lives will be saved and lives transformed because of the steps taken at Gleneagles and in the finance ministers' discussions that preceded it"), Oxfam now seem a little less sure that their enthusiasm was warranted....
"After lobbying from Whitehall, Oxfam agreed to make changes to its report on the progress made by the G8 nations in the year since they agreed at the Gleneagles summit to double aid by 2010. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) had been planning to name and shame Britain, France and Germany by saying in the report that aid had "actually decreased" in 2005 but left this out of the final text." (source: bbc news)
the independent declare "Like many an alpha male, David Cameron is visiting Liverpool in pursuit of willing females. The Tory leader's optimistically-titled "women2win" campaign will launch its recruitment campaign at a Scouse branch of the "very funky" restaurant chain EstEstEst later this month.
"We are shedding the old image, and showing the new face of Cameron's Conservatives," claims a (spam) e-mail invitation. "Theresa May MP, Shadow Leader of the Commons and wearer of gorgeous shoes, will be there. So come along, enjoy a glass of wine, meet people and find out how Women2Win can help you."
see - we don't care about policies or anything clever like that - obviously we are but simple women. however, tell us that someone with nice taste in footwear's gonna be there, offer us a drink, and we'll bite your hand off to attend....
out of curiousity, i've signed up for their email newsletter... a host of invites to similar events has appeared in my inbox, each one stating that the venue is either "cool" or "funky", and promising that ms may (seemingly the only woman candidate the tories will let out in public?) will be there... and for us "new girls who want to know more" (who "might be interested in becoming an mp or getting further involved, but know very little about the world of politics") there are two informal events (with a buffet supper! super!) with a panel of "experts in their field" (mp's and party officials, apparently). 'scuse me while i sharpen up my shoe collection in preparation.....
demands are apparently being made for a secret id card report by the dwp into how the cards may fight identity fraud to be published. having previously refused a lib dem request to do so in 2004, richard thomas (information commissioner) now thinks it is in the public interest. seeing as it's all been irreversibly passed through parliament, it seems that the cat's ready to be let out the bag..
on a related note, no2id are recommending renewing your passport asap:
"Did you know that, from October of this year, as preparation for the ID scheme, ALL first-time passport applicants will have background checks and be interviewed by officials at one of the government's 69 new 'enrolment centres'? This will include your children as they reach 16. Before long it will include you too, when you renew your passport. And you will be fingerprinted as well.
So, unless you need it soon, you should renew your passport NOW. If you wait till autumn, you risk giving up personal data to be used for the government identity database. Pay £51 for a 10-year passport while you can. The charge for ID registration and a record for life will be at least £93. The website www.renewforfreedom.org explains in more detail. There's a fact-sheet there that you can download and pass on to others."
and on a non-newsworthy note, i had the misfortune to be subjected to this year's big brother for the first time earlier this evening. good god - i wanted to scoop my eyeballs out and tear my ears off, but unfortunately i was a guest in someone else's house and didn't want to make a mess. the apparent appeal of the programme (along with world cup fever) remains a complete mystery to me, and i intend to keep it that way.
tonight's thrilling viewing was the introduction of a 'golden housemate' - channel 4 whored together with scumpigs nestle to hide 'golden tickets' in kitkats giving a "lucky" few the opportunity to be up for random selection to join the big brother house. the woman who got in had 60 boxes of baby-killers confectionery bought for her, and when she didn't find a five minutes of fame opportunity inside, got her husband to bid £4,000 on ebay for an unwanted ticket. that combined with a squealing, gurning selection of existing 'housemates' made me feel queasy. yet another reason to put a mallet through the tv screen...
my justification as to why i've not done that (yet)? pure self indulgence - dr who's on tomorrow night...
posted by zoe at 11:11 pm
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