No, not "more severe", just "less effective": Firearms offences also increased, up 4% in the whole of 2007 to 9,967... however, gun deaths fell to 49, seven fewer than in the previous 12 months. What's wrong with kids today? I'm fairly sure that even when I was 15, I could have achieved a better-than-0.5% hit-rate... … Continue reading Gun crime is getting worse
Category: Bit of politics
"Can someone please explain on what basis I am supposed to care more about the plight of the white working classes than that of, say, Congolese people driven out of their homes by war?" (an oasis of sanity in a thread dominated by horrible bigots)
A question for the multiplicity of blogging non-bigots [*] who support the Ham & High's decision to run an advert for the BNP ahead of the current London elections on Voltaire-ish 'free speech for all, however disgraceful' grounds: would you have supported the H&H on the same grounds had it run an advert advocating the … Continue reading I’d defend to the death your right to say anything… err, except for that
In the UK, all debt for which the government is ultimately liable appears as government debt on the national accounts. If the debt of a PFI company is guaranteed by the taxpayer (as for Metronet, for example, unwisely) then it appears as government debt on the national accounts. If it does not appear as government … Continue reading Point of order
From Flat Earth News by Nick Davies: I spoke to a man who had worked for the Daily Mail for some years as a senior news reporter. He said: 'They phoned me early one morning and told me to drive about three hundred miles to cover a murder. It was a woman and two children … Continue reading How journalism works, part N
Would you abolish the current right under English law of Orthodox Jews to have civil cases heard in the Beth Din with the agreement of both parties? If so, why haven't you protested about the Beth Din previously? If not, then why on earth don't you think that Muslims should be granted the same rights … Continue reading Question to people who are cross with Rowan Williams
Tim has an excellent summary of why nearly all discussions about trade miss the point: "Imports are what make us richer... exports are just the dreary shite we have to do to be able to buy the imports." This is also why protectionists should be lined up against a wall and shot.
There's a criminal trial going on at the moment that's interesting on three levels: 1) 'pensioner dies in attack on home' - the usual tabloid-friendly, 'you're not safe from hoodlums even in your own house' story of an old man who was tracked down and harrassed after a road rage incident by the other party's … Continue reading Juvenile senile delinquents
My comment, reproduced from over at Jamie's: I always find it a bit weird that people with leftie leanings tend to favour small businesses over big companies, even though small businessmen tend to be worse-paying, more anti-union, more likely to break employment law, and more socially right-wing than big firms. See also: Pierre Poujade, Jose … Continue reading On Tescopoly…
What the hell is this even trying to say, and what the hell does the music have to do with the subject matter? It's not even the shallow clichés ("ooh, Gordon is the puppet of fat cats, and that's why he didn't let Northern Rock go bust". Not because, y'know, that would have made ordinary … Continue reading Worst political Flash cartoon *ever*