Strangely Perfect

Introduction Yesterday’s News The use of intercept evidence in courts in England and Wales is not “legally viable”, …the Home Office has said.  This is reported on the BBC here, Using intercept evidence in court ‘not yet viable’ Security From the earliest days of the British (English) Secret Service, back in Elizabeth I’s time, all [...]

Manchester launch for ID cards Given all that happened in UK politics since last …er…week, ….it’s clear the reason why Manchester has been chosen as Wacky Backy Jacqui Smith’s test site for ID Cards… …Two wimmin got up Brown’s nose this weekend… – one is always trumpeting her Manchester roots… – the other’s roots are [...]

Two news items today confirm the inadequacy of any security system made by man.  After all, once a secret is out, it’s no longer secret. We have the simple human error of losing something combined with the natural inquisitiveness of human beings.  Both these absolute facts of life should drive a big hole through any [...]

Public Trained in Anti-terrorism Not content with charging us for our ‘freedom’ to have ID Cards and CCTV on every corner, not content from stopping us take photographs in public, our UK Government in the shape of Home Secretary wacky baccy Jacqui Smith now wants everyone to spy on everyone else ‘in case they’re a [...]

The acknowledged founder of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, created the idea and much of the system that allows information to be shared, from the web page, by hyper-links, across the globe.  His was a basically altruistic idea. Brilliantly, it has brought disparate peoples together in hitherto unforeseen ways.  Anyone (like me), can [...]

The appalling erosions of our freedoms instigated by our government under the discredited George Bush’s ‘war on terror’ banner are under attack from another robust source. – Stella Rimington, former boss of the UK’s MI5 intelligence department. Far from condoning the actions like the US Patriot Act, the UK’s attempts to lock people up without [...]

Despite the best made plans and intentions, no security system is perfect. A massive recent security lapse means that (again!), the government’s continuing plans to implement ID Cards should be seriously examined. Not only have their own credentials at data security been demonstrated by themselves to be wholly inadequate (I’m thinking of the DVLA, MOD, [...]

I’ve just been reading this fascinating book, Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism by a non-Buddhist, Richard Seager, who gives a really good, well-balanced investigation into Buddhism, the Soka Gakkai (SGI) and it’s meteoric rise in popularity under the inspirational personas of Makiguchi, Toda and Ikeda. Well you’d [...]

In an amazingly co-incidental follow up to my earlier post, Not all Pirates Win, but Most Do!,  on the very same day news was just being released that some Royal Navy ships had their NavyStar (N*) computers compromised by a virus originating from “the former eastern bloc”. Token News Links: Royal Navy warships lose email [...]

It’s here on Wikileaks! Text and xls spreadsheet – it’s all here. The Wikileaks site went a bit awry earlier today and then fell over completely (as of 20081119 20:31 GMT).  There sure are a lot of people who want to know lives round the corner!   ;-) It’s back up now (20081120 20:24) Wikileaks [...]

Ahoy there! Now we are fully sated in our lust for fresh information on the Credit Crunch and the US Presidential elections, we can now see what’s really going on in the world as the news organs adjust focus for something else to talk about as Ross and Brand are old hat now. Apart from [...]

Many moons ago, I read a short Sci-Fi story in a paperback book I’d bought called Business as Usual, During Alterations by Ralph Williams The book is a 1972 Pan edition of an earlier compilation by Damon Knight called “100 Years of Science Fiction” and is well worth a read if you can get a [...]

Relevant Links: Palin e-mail hack details emerge VP contender Sarah Palin hacked US election: Republicans fight to block inquiry into Palin’s ‘Troopergate’ affair Palin’s e-mail problems spread Governor Is Asked To Release E-Mails Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes Group Posts E-Mail Hacked From Palin Account — Update Palin E-Mail Hacker Says It [...]

Yet again, the proposed implementation of ID Cards and the security of anyone’s data within that system appears to be as mistaken a plan as anyone’s since the Charge of the Light Brigade. Despite the fact that the “Charge” was a military disaster (little known) succeeding against the odds in the objective of taking “The [...]