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Note: David Allen Green has done a blog on the contents of the bill for the FT (reg required). He is a lawyer. I am not a lawyer. So in the grand scheme of things it may wise to check his out if you want more detail about the nitty gritty of the bill. |
David Cameron is very good at press conferences. He doesn't do them with any of the shameless Etonian swagger of his PMQs performances. He comes across as eminently reasonable. Yesterday, as he explained why emergency legislation was needed to protect the British public from paedophiles, terrorists and organised crimin... |
Nick Clegg stood beside him wearing the same pained expression he's had for four years, like a father who can't afford to buy his son a toy he really wants. They were running to stand still, Clegg said. The legislation would merely reinstate the law as it stood before the European courts struck it down. And actually, h... |
But then the legislation was published and things looked rather different. There is a gulf between the description Cameron and Clegg gave us yesterday and what was in the bill in black and white. It's like booking a hotel on a website with soft-focus photos of the beach, only to get there and find a dog crapping in you... |
For a start, Clegg's safeguards are nowhere to be found. |
The two-year sunset clause he promised, whereby the legislation would die and require a further parliamentary debate, is meaningless. |
Look at the current behaviour of the government to assess how reliable its future honour will be. The government is completely ignoring the point of principle behind the European Court of Justice, ruling which criticised a "wide-ranging and particularly serious interference" with our privacy. The debate has not been 'h... |
Clegg's other promises, including a privacy and civil liberties oversight board and annual transparency reports, may be effective or they may be toothless. We don't know. At the moment they are nothing but promises. And we have precious little reason to have faith in him. |
What we do know is that the content of the data retention and investigatory powers bill, which was published yesterday, bears little resemblance to what Clegg and Cameron were talking about at that press conference. If the government really wanted to just keep its current powers ticking over and prevent internet servic... |
"The secretary of state may by regulations make further provision about the retention of relevant communications data." |
It's very broad. The aim here could be to make further legislation unnecessary. Any further extensions of government power could be carried out using a statutory instrument. It would be easier to challenge but perhaps lawyers thought it was worth sticking in there in case it became useful later. |
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) the cornerstone of the UK's surveillance programme, makes a rather sudden appearance in the bill. More than that, it takes the whole thing over, like an over-the-top actor chewing up the scenery in someone else's movie. |
But the changes to Ripa do not go in the direction Clegg would have had you believe. Quite the opposite. This mostly pernicious piece of law now has international reach. Firms outside the UK offering internet services here, like Facebook, must now accept UK interception requests. There are significant civil and crimina... |
There is also a change to the definition of "telecommunications service" which I could barely read without falling into a stupor. |
"For the purposes of the definition of telecommunications service in subsection (1), the cases in which a service is to be taken to consist in the provision of access to, and of facilities for making use of, a telecommunication system include any case where a service consists in or includes facilitating the creation, m... |
The explanatory notes assure us this merely refers to "companies who provide internet-based services, such as webmail". But that's a promise in an area where promises must increasingly be considered unreliable. Nothing in that passage indicates such a limited interpretation. |
Ripa has no business appearing in this bill at all. Its very presence instantly disqualifies what Cameron and Clegg were saying yesterday. |
Of course, they could have written the bill in Mayan and illustrated each clause with hieroglyphics. It wouldn’t have made any difference. It is being railroaded into the statute book next week. An imaginary threat has been cooked up, potentially rebellious ministers have been bought off with promises about the future,... |
It's the same cynical, listless, irresponsible process which took place during New Labour's time in office. And Miliband's participation in it does not suggest anything would change if Labour gets back into power. The idea parliamentary democracy provides a check on state power sometimes seems hopelessly naive. |
Adobe seems to be following the lead of Google and Microsoft, and is said to be ready with their first ever hardware product. |
If all goes well, the foray of the creative software company into hardware market is expected to happen in the next year. |
The company has announced two hardware products – its Project Mighty cloud-connected pen and Project Napoleon digital ruler. Both products are expected to hit the market during the first half of 2014. |
The digital stylus, named Project Mighty and the Napoleon ruler were first introduced by Adobe at the Adobe Max Conference in May. The company had inked an agreement with Adonit, the makers of the Jot tablet stylus , for manufacturing the new hardware. |
After their first introduction, the company made some design revisions to improve the design and performance. |
The pressure sensitive stylus is Bluetooth enabled. The pressure sensitive nature of the new product gives the user the choice to draw lines of varying widths on a screen. The device can be used with iPad and Adobe’s creative cloud. This makes the user able to work on his drawings on multiple devices. |
The Project Mighty pen has a variable color LED indicator light opposite to its drawing tip. This light alerts the user by giving information about the status of the device like battery charge level and Bluetooth connection. The LED light is surrounded by USB connector for connecting the charging cable. |
The Bluetooth link of the Mighty pen is made to communicate the information such as how much pressure the user is exerting on the pen, to the connected device. The special Adobe software, which will be available with the hardware will allow the device to perform to its full potential. |
The digital drawing tool is mainly aimed at those in the design industry who are waiting for a good companion for their tablets and smart phones so as to work on the go. |
In the meantime, Project Napoleon aims at professionals such as architects. The device is a digital ruler that can be used to draw accurate lines and edges for architectural projects. This companion device which is designed to use with the Mighty pen is also Bluetooth enabled. |
Adobe’s Vice President of Experience Design Michael Gough has been quoted as saying about the new hardware that the Mighty pen is precise and responsive. He added saying that Adobe is looking to manufacture only a minimum number of the gadgets for the time being. So that could also mean that the major focus would conti... |
We don’t have any information regarding the pricing of the two new products. The company hasn’t discloses the details of the probable apps that would be made available alongside Mighty and Napoleon. Well, let’s wait. |
Look back on Britain's Got Talent host Declan Donnelly and Ali Astall's wedding day | HELLO! |
With Declan Donnelly back on screens on Saturday with the return of Britain’s Got Talent alongside Ant McPartlin, we’re taking a look back at Dec and his wife Ali Astall’s magical wedding day. The Geordie presenter married his girlfriend of three years in his home town of Newcastle on 1 August 2015, in front of family,... |
The bride and groom, who had known each other for ten years, got engaged in November 2014 and married less than 12 months later. They have since welcomed their baby daughter Isla together in September 2018. "Thank you for all the kind and lovely messages," wrote Dec on Twitter at the time. "They are appreciated. My wif... |
The star-studded nuptials took place at St Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Elswick, close to where Dec was born. Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton, Ashley Roberts, Dermott O’Leary, Phillip Schofield, Marvin and Rochelle Humes and Vernon Kay and Tess Daly were just some of the celebrity guests who were spotted arriving... |
But the famous attendees couldn't draw the attention away from Dec’s leading lady, Ali, who wowed in a silk couture wedding dress designed by British creative Phillipa Lepley. The bride looked beautiful in her crisp and elegant gown, which she paired with a dainty veil and a bouquet of white roses. She and Dec said "I ... |
Best man Ant, who matched the groom in a blue suit, gave an amusing speech, in which he also paid compliments to the blushing bride. Ant, who attended with his wife Lisa Armstrong, later told the Mirror: "Ali looked amazing. It was very emotional, I was really emotional. He finally got married." Dec and Ali got engaged... |
Discussion in 'UFC Discussion' started by machida90, Dec 29, 2012. |
I couldn't find any with it, funny because it seems to be made by the UFC. I am watching right now and is very well done, if it wasn't such a time consuming work I would do the subs. |
Machida's wife is a cutie. |
Shogun's woman is delish. Ah, the life of a pro athlete. |
there's a bunch of HUEHUEHEU's on sherdog. |
You have Mitt Romney -- one of the wealthiest men ever to run for office -- critiquing east-coast elitism, and Mike Huckabee -- who is an economic populist in disguise -- critiquing big government, and Sarah Palin -- who voters don't know one iota about -- critiquing Barack Obama's biography. |
Increasingly, it seems to me, the GOP reflects some of the most ADD elements in the culture. There is no sense of accountability, no real pretense that anything is for much more than the present, and reality is constantly shaped to fit the demands of the micro-news-cycle. I thought McCain was unlike that. But he's the ... |
UPTOWN — In anticipation of 35,000 music fans flooding the lakefront in Uptown for Wednesday's Mumford & Son's concert at Montrose Beach, city workers cleared out the homeless living under nearby viaducts. |
An official with the city's Department of Family and Support Services said Tuesday's action was part of a larger effort to secure the area for the concert. But some homeless advocates said the move lacked coordination and led to confusion. |
The move at Lawrence Avenue and Marine Drive was chaotic, but there wasn't noticeable tension between the homeless and city workers. |
Some of the homeless people stuffed their belongings into garbage bags, exchanging hugs and shedding tears before getting into cars with Family and Support Services workers. Others talked to Salvation Army workers and Chicago police officers or dried their clothes in the grassy area near the viaduct. |
The area was hit by a huge storm Monday night, flooding the viaducts under Lake Shore Drive where the homeless had set up tents. |
Billy Bowers, who lives in one of those tents, said the city gave him some extra time to let his belongings dry after the major storm that flooded several neighborhoods. |
Bowers was one of many who was taken to homeless shelter Cornerstone Community Outreach, 4628 N. Clifton Ave. |
"We have no choice but to move," he said. |
According to homeless advocate Patricia Nix-Hodes, who works as the director of the law project for organization the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the scene demonstrated a lack of coordination on the part of city agencies, which resulted in confusion. |
"Some people thought they had to leave on Tuesday. Some people were told they could stay on adjacent lawns. There seems to be so much lack of information that was consistent and communicated to everyone," she said. |
It's common for the city to clean the viaducts, which forces some of the homeless people living there to move their stuff temporarily to a nearby hill. |
But Tuesday's street-sweeping was different. |
They weren't allowed to relocate to a nearby hill or anywhere near the viaduct because the cleaning was part of a larger effort to secure the area ahead of the Mumford & Sons concert Wednesday evening. |
"It's not unlike what we'd normally do, but there's another issue tied to it. There is a concert expected to attract 35,000 people and they'll be using this viaduct [Lawrence Avenue and Marine Drive] and the one at the Wilson [Avenue] as access points. They've got to keep them clear, it's a safety issue," said Matt Smi... |
"We're here to make sure people here know that there is going to be an event in the area. We're here to offer shelter and services and, in some cases, transport people," he said. |
Smith said in addition to posting signs, DFSS officials came out to the viaducts prior to Tuesday to "make sure" the homeless people knew they'd have to leave the area. |
But Nix-Hodes said taking the homeless to shelters isn't enough. |
"If homeless people are being displaced by a concert, they should be offered housing assistance and resources and have some place safe to go," she said, adding that shelter is different than housing and many of them have tried shelters and have had "bad experiences." |
Nix-Hodes and her colleague, Diane O'Connell, who works as a staff attorney for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said if the clearing of homeless were a measure used to secure the area before the lakefront show, the city would likely be doing other things like putting up barricades. |
"I've been Downtown and they start barricading the area for the Blues Fest, but that's not happening. They're just saying the homeless people have to leave," said Nix-Hodes. |
She added: "The concert's tomorrow night. It's not this morning. If that was the concern, why not do something closer in time to when people would be coming to the area?" |
O'Connell said while she understands the city has the authority to secure an area in preparation for a big event, requiring that homeless people leave the area isn't necessary. |
"When you tell people who are homeless that they have to get off the grass in the park, but other people are free to sit on the grass in the park ... there's no real apparent reason why it's necessary. That violates the Homeless Bill of Rights, which says homeless people have the right to freely move about public space... |
O'Connell had been sitting on the grass near the viaduct since 8:40 a.m. |
She and Nix-Hodes were still sitting in the grass on the nearby hill around 12:15 p.m. — at least an hour after all of the homeless people had vacated the area. That's because Nix-Hodes and O'Connell wanted to make sure a shopping cart full of someone's belongings would get picked up, stored in a safe place and eventua... |
They were told a truck with the city's department of streets and sanitation would be coming to pick up the belongings on Tuesday morning but it hadn't arrived as of 12:30 p.m. |
A spokesperson for the department said the "brief delay in the process" was due to car problems. |
"The process quickly resumed once the vehicle was operational," the statement reads. |
O'Connell said if she and Nix-Hodes weren't there, the homeless people may never have been reunited with their belongings. |
Nix-Hodes asked the city in advance if they could give the homeless people information about where their belongings are being stored, but the city didn't seem prepared. |
"As they were taking these people to the shelter, Patricia was like: 'Are you going to do that? Can I get a copy in writing?' Of course they didn't have that ready." |
She said while they did end up writing down addresses last minute with a Sharpie, the destination of their belongings was not clearly communicated. |
"It was not clear at all that they understood where the objects were going to be. It wasn't clearly communicated," Nix-Hodes said. |
Ald. James Cappleman (46th) whose ward includes the two viaducts, has said that the city needs to do a better job of getting the homeless off the streets, which includes better coordination among city agencies. He could not be immediately reached for comment. |
JAM Productions, which is putting on the show, is expecting 5,000 bikes at the concert Wednesday. |
The production company, which could not be immediately reached for comment regarding the homeless people being required to leave the area, is encouraging people to take public transportation or ride their bikes because there is no parking near the Cricket Hill show. |
When Is Spring Break For Chicago Public Schools? |
Most things that are seven feet and 440 pounds live in the woods (bears, wild pigs, extremely slender horses, ancient druid monuments, etc.). Some don't. Some play high school football in southern California. |
All jokes aside, defensive lineman John Krahn (what a badass name, right?) is perhaps the largest person we've ever seen wearing a helmet and pads -- substantially bigger than the world's heaviest running back -- and Max Preps rather sarcastically describes him as the largest player on a high school roster this season.... |
When we watched his highlight reel we instinctively threw our lunch money at the screen and ran away. |
[Max Preps] Krahn was 6 feet tall in sixth grade, and was 6-foot-5 when he entered high school. As a 6-8, 330-pound sophomore, he cracked the varsity roster but recorded no statistics. |
Since then Krahn has grown another four inches. MaxPreps believes he is the tallest player on a high school football roster this season. |
He is taller than any player to ever play in the NFL, and is roughly the same size as WWE superstar Big Show. |
Irene is expected to unleash its ire on the greater New York metropolitan area between 2 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, with the greatest damage expected closer to the Atlantic Ocean. |
"Just because we may not be in the 'cone' on a map, our area will feel the impacts of Irene," warned Art Snyder, Ulster County's emergency management director. |
-- Ulster County declared an indefinite state of emergency at 8 a.m. Friday, while Sullivan County will be under a state of emergency from 12:01 a.m. Sunday until 5 p.m. Monday. |
-- The Town of Deerpark in Orange County has declared a state of emergency beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday and extending until further notice because of the forecast on Hurricane Irene. |
--Because of the potential for heavy flooding, the town is recommending voluntary evacuations of all people in the flood-prone areas of Myers Grove, Deerpark Manor, Lower Route 209 (near Hobson Road), Edgewater Lane, Sleepy Hollow and Rivers Edge Road. |
-- Ulster County will open shelters at 8 p.m. Saturday at the SUNY New Paltz Health and Wellness Center, Belleayre Mountain Ski Center and a Kingston site to be announced. |
--The Roscoe School District building and the Presbyterian Church in Livingston Manor can open as shelters. |
-- Aircraft from all over upstate will be stationed at Stewart International Airport. The planes will be dispatched to areas needing assistance during the storm. |
-- The Upper Esopus Creek is expected to crest 4 feet above flood levels, the Lower Esopus is expected to crest 3 feet above flood stages, and the Rondout should crest 2 feet above flood levels. |
UnshiftedToast made these custom Red Dead Redemption 2 LEGO minifigs, with plans to recreate all 24 members of Dutch’s gang. |
I’d say you could skip half of them and get to making playsets instead, like the campsite, Valentine Saloon and a little plastic bath so little plastic Arthur can scrub his little plastic arms. |
I do like the detail on these, though. You can almost see Dutch about to tell you that you can only put him away after one last score. |
If you want one for yourself—maybe get one made of your horse—UnshiftedToast is taking commissions. |
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