The financial system is in chaos the taxpayer is riding to the rescue and all of a sudden the idea that these city workers with their gigantic salaries and even bigger bonuses might be overpaid has moved from being the rantings of left wing, politics of envy madmen like me to commonly held popular opinion. Despite the chaos, the city's PR machine appears to be in full on spin mode, here, for example...
Another day, another… hardly a week goes by without… if I had a fiver for…. I’ve lost count of how… The latest incident of data loss really, really plumbs the depths. I’ve started to pay less attention to the detail of such cases recently because it’s plain they’re simply endemic, human failings and not something we [...]
No big surprise here - a non-American (North or Latin!) winning the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature . Still, it's pretty wild to me that Le Clezio apparently spends most of his year in Albuquerque. As has been the case in the past, I suspect this will lead to broader availability of his works in English. Nonetheless, I'm a little cautious of any literary work that "contrasts the ugliness and ignorance...
It is but eighteen months since I sat in Manchester’s Radisson Hotel, once the great Free Trade Hall, discussing Iceland’s economic miracle with some Icelandic businessmen. They explained to me that their success was due to their speed and decisiveness. “We don’t spend hours in meetings discussing things,” one of them told me, “we just get [...]
Filed under: Sony PSP , Business Sony has announced that all future first-party PSP games will be available through download in Japan beginning later this year via the Wi-Fi Store. The store is scheduled to open in Japan on October 15th with the firmware v5.00 update. Games to be sold by direct download include Secret Agent Clank (11/20), Patapon 2 (11/27), and LocoRoco 2 (12/4) (these titles will...
In my Telegraph column today I look at why so many Conservatives have decided to support Barack Obama rather than John McCain, and I briefly explain my decision to come off the fence and join them. I never thought the day would come when I would not support a Republican candidate. Ronald Reagan is one of my political inspirations, but he is probably turning in his grave when he sees what has happened...
Eurogamer has an interesting piece today regarding GTA4 Downloadable Content. They interviewed John Schappert , who is in charge of Xbox Live and he had this to say: Quote: "Frankly, I don't know," said the Xbox Live boss. "Rockstar are the people to ask for that." He went on to add, "I hope as a gamer, just like I'm sure you do as a gamer, the sooner the better. I can't wait for it." Even though,...
Oranges are not the only hopeless local council We don't know exactly how much our local councils have lost on their deposits with busted Icelandic banks - figures vary from "a few hundred million, up to £1bn plus". But what we do know is that this is only the latest in a long history of such disasters. Everyone remembers BCCI, where 28 local councils lost taxpayers' money on deposits they had placed...
Quote: Medvedev promotes new security pact * Julian Borger, diplomatic editor and Luke Harding in Moscow * The Guardian, * Thursday October 9 2008 Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, outlined plans yesterday for a new security pact to ban the use of force in Europe and defuse increasing tensions between Moscow and Nato. Yesterday's speech at the World Policy Conference in Evian, France, was intended...
Creditors have contacted at least three Premier League clubs to express their concern that their level of debt is unsustainable, according to Paul Kelso of The Daily Telegraph. The question is which clubs do you believe are the ones most likely to have been contacted? Vote now. Which Premier League Clubs Were Contacted By [...]
I’m proud to announce a new website devoted the best of all things comedy in Birmingham and beyond. This site is launched today as part of the Birmingham Comedy Festival (in association with Wye Valley Brewery and Evening Mail) which is currently in progress and runs until Sunday. The brainchild of myself and freelance journalist [...]
City outrage over Peston's reporting has been voiced by Michael Howard. He has written to the FSA to ask for an investigation into the leaking of intensely market sensitive information to Pesto-Wire. Good. click to enlarge
Lost in Iceland Financial Crisis Councils ‘not reckless with cash’ Asian stocks hit after Dow plunge World must follow my example, says Brown Gordon Brown to sue Iceland DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Sarah Ismail Hello Readers! I’m your new Friday NetCaster. I’d like to present a new feature, Friday Fun. Something to smile at, just because [...]
From THE SCOTSMAN : Secret talks are under way to bring Islamic sharia law courts to Scotland. Qamar Bhatti, director of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT), which runs the courts, admitted discussions were taking place with lawyers and Muslim community groups in Scotland. The group is believed to be aiming to set up courts in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In September it emerged that five sharia courts,...
