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These are what have culturally done it for me over 2007. Some were released before 2007, but it took me until this year to get round to them!
Thursday 27 December 2007
Monday 17 December 2007
Thursday 13 December 2007
The sad case of Megan Meier
Whilst catching up on the morning's blog action, I came across the follwing link on Kevin Smith's blog. A very sad story, and one that us with kids should think carefully about.....
http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2007/11/24/news/sj2tn20071110-1111stc_pokin_1.ii1.txt
http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2007/11/24/news/sj2tn20071110-1111stc_pokin_1.ii1.txt
Wednesday 12 December 2007
Monday 10 December 2007
WOLVERHAMPTON - Wed 5th/Thu 6th November
THE MIGHTY BOOSH
Two different men. One Mighty Boosh.
Following the sell out success of their debut live tour, “the funniest comedy double-act in Britain,” (NME) Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, return to the live stage with their glorious mix of music and comedy.
Back with a vengeance, Vince Noir and Howard Moon will be joined on stage by a profusion of characters from their hit TV show. See Naboo the Enigma dazzle with shaman magic, see Bollo the Gorilla takes on the irksome evil Cockney Hitcher and marvel at the worldly observations of the Moon… There may be punks and yetis, monsters, music and mayhem, in one terrific psychedelic melting pot.
“A triumphant spectacle… One of the most joyful shows around.”
The Observer
“A beguilingly trippy comic universe… Overwhelmingly fun for fun’s sake.”The Telegraph
Two different men. One Mighty Boosh.
Following the sell out success of their debut live tour, “the funniest comedy double-act in Britain,” (NME) Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, return to the live stage with their glorious mix of music and comedy.
Back with a vengeance, Vince Noir and Howard Moon will be joined on stage by a profusion of characters from their hit TV show. See Naboo the Enigma dazzle with shaman magic, see Bollo the Gorilla takes on the irksome evil Cockney Hitcher and marvel at the worldly observations of the Moon… There may be punks and yetis, monsters, music and mayhem, in one terrific psychedelic melting pot.
“A triumphant spectacle… One of the most joyful shows around.”
The Observer
“A beguilingly trippy comic universe… Overwhelmingly fun for fun’s sake.”The Telegraph
Official Website: www.themightyboosh.com
Tickets priced £25.00 will be available from 10.00am on Saturday 15th December at Midland Box Office: 0870 320 7000 or online at www.wolvescivic.co.uk
Tickets priced £25.00 will be available from 10.00am on Saturday 15th December at Midland Box Office: 0870 320 7000 or online at www.wolvescivic.co.uk
Saturday 8 December 2007
Sleep Deprivation
Elizabeth is like an alarm clock. She wakes at 6. Everyone has to wake at 6. Today it was half past five. I had a lie-in (I'll do tomorrow's shift). One thing I noticed whilst lying-in, is that it was quiet. Lisa showed me a picture to why it was quiet. Typical, the cheek!
Thursday 6 December 2007
Extraordinary Rendition, Ordinary?
Interesting article on The Times online website:
#AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.
A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.
The admission will alarm the British business community after the case of the so-called NatWest Three, bankers who were extradited to America on fraud charges. More than a dozen other British executives, including senior managers at British Airways and BAE Systems, are under investigation by the US authorities and could face criminal charges in America. Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects. Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial.
Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty hunting and Washington believes it is still legitimate. The US government’s view emerged during a hearing involving Stanley Tollman, a former director of Chelsea football club and a friend of Baroness Thatcher, and his wife Beatrice. The Tollmans, who control the Red Carnation hotel group and are resident in London, are wanted in America for bank fraud and tax evasion. They have been fighting extradition through the British courts. During a hearing last month Lord Justice Moses, one of the Court of Appeal judges, asked Alun Jones QC, representing the US government, about its treatment of Gavin, Tollman’s nephew. Gavin Tollman was the subject of an attempted abduction during a visit to Canada in 2005. Jones replied that it was acceptable under American law to kidnap people if they were wanted for offences in America.
“The United States does have a view about procuring people to its own shores which is not shared,” he said. He said that if a person was kidnapped by the US authorities in another country and was brought back to face charges in America, no US court could rule that the abduction was illegal and free him: “If you kidnap a person outside the United States and you bring him there, the court has no jurisdiction to refuse — it goes back to bounty hunting days in the 1860s.” Mr Justice Ouseley, a second judge, challenged Jones to be “honest about [his] position”. Jones replied: “That is United States law.” He cited the case of Humberto Alvarez Machain, a suspect who was abducted by the US government at his medical office in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1990. He was flown by Drug Enforcement Administration agents to Texas for criminal prosecution. Although there was an extradition treaty in place between America and Mexico at the time — as there currently is between the United States and Britain — the Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that the Mexican had no legal remedy because of his abduction.
In 2005, Gavin Tollman, the head of Trafalgar Tours, a holiday company, had arrived in Toronto by plane when he was arrested by Canadian immigration authorities. An American prosecutor, who had tried and failed to extradite him from Britain, persuaded Canadian officials to detain him. He wanted the Canadians to drive Tollman to the border to be handed over. Tollman was escorted in handcuffs from the aircraft in Toronto, taken to prison and held for 10 days. A Canadian judge ordered his release, ruling that the US Justice Department had set a “sinister trap” and wrongly bypassed extradition rules. Tollman returned to Britain.
Legal sources said that under traditional American justice, rendition meant capturing wanted people abroad and bringing them to the United States. The term “extraordinary rendition” was coined in the 1990s for the kidnapping of terror suspects from one foreign country to another for interrogation. There was concern this weekend from Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP, who said: “The very idea of kidnapping is repugnant to us and we must handle these cases with extreme caution and a thorough understanding of the implications in American law.” Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, said: “This law may date back to bounty hunting days, but they should sort it out if they claim to be a civilised nation.” The US Justice Department declined to comment.
David Leppard
Additional reporting: Anna Mikhailova
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2982640.ece
#AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.
A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.
The admission will alarm the British business community after the case of the so-called NatWest Three, bankers who were extradited to America on fraud charges. More than a dozen other British executives, including senior managers at British Airways and BAE Systems, are under investigation by the US authorities and could face criminal charges in America. Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects. Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial.
Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty hunting and Washington believes it is still legitimate. The US government’s view emerged during a hearing involving Stanley Tollman, a former director of Chelsea football club and a friend of Baroness Thatcher, and his wife Beatrice. The Tollmans, who control the Red Carnation hotel group and are resident in London, are wanted in America for bank fraud and tax evasion. They have been fighting extradition through the British courts. During a hearing last month Lord Justice Moses, one of the Court of Appeal judges, asked Alun Jones QC, representing the US government, about its treatment of Gavin, Tollman’s nephew. Gavin Tollman was the subject of an attempted abduction during a visit to Canada in 2005. Jones replied that it was acceptable under American law to kidnap people if they were wanted for offences in America.
“The United States does have a view about procuring people to its own shores which is not shared,” he said. He said that if a person was kidnapped by the US authorities in another country and was brought back to face charges in America, no US court could rule that the abduction was illegal and free him: “If you kidnap a person outside the United States and you bring him there, the court has no jurisdiction to refuse — it goes back to bounty hunting days in the 1860s.” Mr Justice Ouseley, a second judge, challenged Jones to be “honest about [his] position”. Jones replied: “That is United States law.” He cited the case of Humberto Alvarez Machain, a suspect who was abducted by the US government at his medical office in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1990. He was flown by Drug Enforcement Administration agents to Texas for criminal prosecution. Although there was an extradition treaty in place between America and Mexico at the time — as there currently is between the United States and Britain — the Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that the Mexican had no legal remedy because of his abduction.
In 2005, Gavin Tollman, the head of Trafalgar Tours, a holiday company, had arrived in Toronto by plane when he was arrested by Canadian immigration authorities. An American prosecutor, who had tried and failed to extradite him from Britain, persuaded Canadian officials to detain him. He wanted the Canadians to drive Tollman to the border to be handed over. Tollman was escorted in handcuffs from the aircraft in Toronto, taken to prison and held for 10 days. A Canadian judge ordered his release, ruling that the US Justice Department had set a “sinister trap” and wrongly bypassed extradition rules. Tollman returned to Britain.
Legal sources said that under traditional American justice, rendition meant capturing wanted people abroad and bringing them to the United States. The term “extraordinary rendition” was coined in the 1990s for the kidnapping of terror suspects from one foreign country to another for interrogation. There was concern this weekend from Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP, who said: “The very idea of kidnapping is repugnant to us and we must handle these cases with extreme caution and a thorough understanding of the implications in American law.” Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, said: “This law may date back to bounty hunting days, but they should sort it out if they claim to be a civilised nation.” The US Justice Department declined to comment.
David Leppard
Additional reporting: Anna Mikhailova
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2982640.ece
Wednesday 5 December 2007
The Human League - Wolverhampton Civic Hall: December 04th 2007
It’s December, therefore it’s time for the annual Human League gig at
Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Last year it was a straight up set of classic league, from the old through to the new (ish). This time there was a difference, and that difference being the 25th anniversary of their classic slab of electropop ‘Dare’, an album that accompanied many a jaunt through the rainy valleys of Wales on the tape deck of the Skoda Estelle.
Dare, live, sounded fantastic. The beats were crispier and harder, the cheese relatively toned down, and on “seconds” the bass was so intense it bought back memories of Leftfield.
All was about to go to pot though. If you’re going to play a classic album in its entirety (for the first time ever, incidentally), common sense says to play it last. Don’t play any non-classics after the set as they’re going to sound rather pale by comparison. After the Dare set, the league didn’t go pale though, I’d say they turned Albino. Where they should have belted out classics such as ‘Empire State Human’ ‘Circus of Death’ and ‘The Black hit of Space’, we were subjected to the direst of the league back catalogue. Just look at the evidence!
Tell me when
Heart like a wheel
Only Human
(Together in Electric Dreams).
The Lebanon.
Hits granted, but just not cutting the mustard after dare, the only classic pre-dare track aired was a fantastic ‘Being Boiled’. Let’s hope next year the league either play ‘Reproduction’ in it’s entirety, or at least smatter a good deal of older classics through the set.
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Solitary Bapple
The last solitary apple (or as Elizabeth says, Bapple) hangs on to our tree for all it's worth.
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