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Contents contributed and discussions participated by David Corking

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David Corking

Why the £70,000 'good salary' doesn't really amount to much | The Observer - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...h-letters-salary-wages-renting

shared by David Corking on 28 Oct 09 - Cached
  • When I looked into the (admittedly ambiguous) legal situation, I'm still tied to the assured shorthold contract and would be liable for outstanding rent if I moved out. However, if he is repossessed, the contract counts for nothing and I can be out in weeks.It's situations like this that mean renting is a rubbish thing in Britain
    • David Corking
      David Corking on 28 Oct 09
       
      Grrrr!
David Corking

Royal Mail - Service Summary for all customers - Saturday 24th October Communication Wo... - 1 views

www.royalmail.com/...content1

Culture Politics

shared by David Corking on 26 Oct 09 - Cached
  • We are really sorry for the significant disruption and inconvenience national industrial action being taken by the CWU is having on customers and for the uncertainty further announcements of industrial action will cause.
    • David Corking
      David Corking on 26 Oct 09
       
      If they are really sorry, or in any way regret the disruption to customers, then they would enter into unconditional mediation. Perhaps Royal Mail managers think it will be better for their careers to win a fight rather than save the postal service.
David Corking

Why Neo-Conservative Pundits Love Jon Stewart -- Daily Intel 2009 -- New York News Blog... - 0 views

nymag.com/...conservative_pundits_love.html

Humour Politics Culture

shared by David Corking on 10 Aug 09 - Cached
  • Since the beginning of the Obama administration, Stewart has interviewed more conservative pundits than liberal ones. (Remember when fans fretted he'd have trouble finding ways to be funny under the new president?) It may be because it's simply easier to tangle with an ideological adversary than to needle a compatriot. A clash of ideas is always more entertaining than an echo chamber.
  • David Corking on 10 Aug 09
     
    It is a very strange world when comedy and satire have become a respected medium for debate.
David Corking

The Health Protection Agency is making a right pig's ear of this swine flu "pandemic" -... - 0 views

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/...ear-of-this-swine-flu-pandemic

Health Life science Culture Politics

shared by David Corking on 16 Jul 09 - Cached
  • you’re right. I shouldn’t be thinking about eating the clinically obese.
    • David Corking
      David Corking on 16 Jul 09
       
      I can't begin to express how angry this journalist James Delingpole has made me. For a start, he has conspiracy theories oozing from his pores.
  • [You've got chronic asthma, if you keep out of fumes and carry an inhaler you'll live another 5 years, if you get H1N1/A you're a goner!]
  • I thought (as directed by medical authorities) you weren’t suppose to take Tamiflu unless doctors were certain you had H1N1. That is because it isn’t effective until you have it. Isn’t that true?
David Corking

Parking charges Bristol Oncology Hospital | May 2009 | This is Bristol - 0 views

www.thisisbristol.co.uk/...article.html

Health Wiltshire

shared by David Corking on 15 May 09 - Cached
  • "Hospital parking fees are an unfair tax on the sick and vulnerable at a time when we really don't need the stress and hassle." Mr Cook added: "There was no advance notice that they were going to increase charges at all.
  • David Corking on 15 May 09
     
    Although there are 2 sides to this story, someone with a long term illness is unlikely to have much disposable income to spend on parking.
David Corking

The Iain Dale interview | LabourList.org | April 2009 - 0 views

www.labourlist.org/alex_smith_iain_dale_interview

education culture politics

shared by David Corking on 12 May 09 - No Cached
  • Boris Johnson, the test case for a Tory government. He’s overturned the tariff on gas-guzzlers; he’s only building social housing in already deprived areas, he praised the sub-prime mortgages in America; he destroyed cycle lane budgets but still called himself green. And those are the very few things he has done…Good. I like politicians who don’t legislate a lot.
    • David Corking
      David Corking on 12 May 09
       
      Great exchange!
  • I don’t regard it as a Socialist Conspiracy, but I do regard it as a monolithic bureaucracy where not enough is spent on direct patient care. To my mind, you could break it up into smaller geographical units, decentralise it more efficiently on a regional basis.
    • David Corking
      David Corking on 12 May 09
       
      Is this a vote _for_ the postcode lottery?
  • I was selected as a candidate by a very conservative constituency – having told them I was gay. If you’d said to me ten years ago that that could happen I’d have laughed. Margot James herself was selected in a marginal seat. I willingly pay tribute to Labour on gay rights
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • I hit back. Having said all of that, I’ve always had a soft spot for Derek, and he shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that he set up LabourList up and it’s going to go on without him,
  • David Corking on 12 May 09
     
    I would love to increase the number of teachers by 20%. I would love to, and to be fair to the Labour government have done a lot on that. But to just say that everything's perfect and we need to spend every pound that we're spending now is just being an ostrich.
David Corking

April 25, 2009 | Tories shortlist notorious BNP activist for local elections - Blackbur... - 0 views

www.blackburnlabour.org/...ivist-for-local-elections.html

politics BNP Culture

shared by David Corking on 26 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Blackburn MP Jack Straw has commented: "Nick Holt stood against me in the 2005 general election. His campaign and election leaflets were racist and clearly designed to foment divisions in the community in Blackburn. That the Conservatives ever considered selecting him is abhorrent."
David Corking

Pelosi Now Remembers Harman Wiretap - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com - 0 views

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...i-now-remembers-harman-wiretap

shared by David Corking on 23 Apr 09 - Cached
  • when you are briefed on something, it isn’t your information to share with anybody else, whether they are briefing you on legal opinions or whether they are briefing you on actions they are taking, you have no ability to share that information with anyone else, so even if I wanted to share it with her I would not have had the liberty to share it,” Ms. Pelosi said.
    • David Corking
      David Corking on 23 Apr 09
       
      What is the point of a briefing if you are not allowed to use the information? Sounds like a "Yes, Minister" script.
David Corking

HomeBuy Direct - Housing - Communities and Local Government - 0 views

www.communities.gov.uk/...HomeBuyDirect

politics Finance Culture housing

shared by David Corking on 22 Apr 09 - Cached
  • they will be invited to choose one of the HomeBuy Direct properties brought forward by the developers.
    • David Corking
      David Corking on 22 Apr 09
       
      Why do the developers get to choose? Why can't all new homes below x value be eligible, as in Northern Ireland?
  • David Corking on 22 Apr 09
     
    Apparently Darling gave this scheme an extra 80 million pounds in today's budget.
David Corking

140,000 Miles of African Roads Added to Open Street Map | Development Seed - 0 views

www.developmentseed.org/...of_miles_added_open_street_map

mapping Open source

shared by David Corking on 22 Apr 09 - Cached
  • It’s really important that data like GIS data is “open” and freely available to everyone, otherwise that economic (and digital) divide will never lessen.
  • David Corking on 22 Apr 09
     
    OSM is far from a mere hobby project
David Corking

CUES Skybox: A Model for Credit Union Board Renewal |Ginny Brady |April 2009 - 0 views

cuesskybox.typepad.com/...redit-union-board-renewal.html

creditunions cooperatives Culture Finance democracy

shared by David Corking on 22 Apr 09 - Cached
  • It usually takes some kind of crisis to get people to participate - CU Conservatorships, Mergers, Scandals? Believe it or not we have not had one comment from any of our members on the corporate controversies. We want a board and management that make the members secure and not have to think about their CUs viability and strength and yet we want involvement. How to get both is the challenge.
  • David Corking on 22 Apr 09
     
    A challenge - if a healthy democracy means healthy governance, how do we make the democracy healthy?
David Corking

Credit Unions Sleepy? Unexciting? Two Young Execs Beg to Differ - 0 views

www.cutimes.com/...Young-Execs-Beg-to-Differ.aspx

Finance Culture cooperatives Marketing

shared by David Corking on 22 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Davis said he’s seen credit unions as very open to new ideas. Although some may be stuck in the past, he cited online banking and bill pay as two specific examples where credit unions have led the way. Shell added that while credit unions may be somewhat conservative, considering the current economy and the troubles facing many banks, that conservatism has “probably been a really good thing.”
  • David Corking on 22 Apr 09
     
    Short profile of young marketing execs
David Corking

You are being lied to about Pirates | w w w . P e t e r S a n t i l l i . c o m - 0 views

petersantilli.com/?p=173

Law Culture

shared by David Corking on 21 Apr 09 - Cached
  • The pirates showed “quite clearly - and subversively - that ships did not have to be run in the brutal and oppressive ways of the merchant service and the Royal navy.” This is why they were popular, despite being unproductive thieves.
  • Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the U.N. envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury - you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories
  • European ships have been looting Somalia’s seas of their greatest resource: seafood
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • They call themselves the Volunteer Coast Guard of Somalia - and it’s not hard to see why.
  • this doesn’t make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just gangsters
  • 70 percent “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defense of the country’s territorial waters.”
  • George Washington and America’s founding fathers paid pirates to protect America’s territorial waters, because they had no navy or coast guard of their own. Most Americans supported them. Is this so different?
  • David Corking on 21 Apr 09
     
    a column from the Independent - a fascinating alternative view of the Somali Pirates
David Corking

Leading article: Bad judgement - Leading Articles, Opinion - The Independent - 0 views

www.independent.co.uk/...cle-bad-judgement-1669307.html

Writing Culture

shared by David Corking on 16 Apr 09 - Cached
  • When a good journalist needs to be robustly defended, it must not be afraid to do so.
  • David Corking on 16 Apr 09
     
    Reaction to Jeremy Bowen's censure
David Corking

Bowen 'breached rules on impartiality' - April 16, 2009 - The Independent - 0 views

www.independent.co.uk/...s-on-impartiality-1669278.html

Writing Culture

shared by David Corking on 16 Apr 09 - Cached
  • The BBC said it had no intention of taking any disciplinary action against Bowen. Nonetheless, the findings were made by the BBC Trust's editorial standards committee – which includes such figures as Richard Tait, the former editor-in-chief of ITN, and David Liddiment, the former director of television at ITV – and will cause great concern within the BBC newsroom.
  • "It was not necessary for equal space to be given to the other arguments, but ... the existence of alternative theses should have been more clearly signposted."
  • David Corking on 16 Apr 09
     
    some detail and context
David Corking

People: Jeremy Bowen under fire over Israel reports | News | The First Pos | Apr 16 2009t - 0 views

www.thefirstpost.co.uk/fire-over-israel-reports,82260

Writing Culture

shared by David Corking on 16 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Greg Dyke, the BBC's former director general, who said it was wrong for the trust to spend months investigating individual reports by journalists that had been compiled under pressure and tight deadlines."The problem is that journalism is not an exact science,"
  • David Corking on 16 Apr 09
     
    Pressure of deadlines is not an excuse, but it does increase the burden of proof for intent. In addition, in a complex story like this, balance arises from the totality of coverage, and an individual report can only be approximately neutral. Should we not expect an experienced reporter like Bowen to provide some original interpretation of motives?
David Corking

Replace Police With Spin Doctors « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG - 0 views

inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/...place-police-with-spin-doctors

Culture

shared by David Corking on 16 Apr 09 - Cached
  • testing an age old theory about what happens when you approach a 6ft riot cop and tell him to fuck off repeatedly?
  • I blame Globalisation. Lets test this theory by choosing six other countries in the world, going over to each country one at a time, walking up to a riot cop and telling him to fuck off repeatedly. Compare injuries on return to UK. If you return to UK.
  • Will this person now be arrested for verbally abusing a Police Officer? If not, why not?
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • canteen culture of the mindless violence of the few backed up by the silence of the many.
  • As an A+E nurse would it be right for me to strike each and every member of the public if and when the became aggressive?
  • The Police should be held to a higher standard than other services, surely you are trained professionals and as such should be able to deal with the provacation in a much more proportional way?
  • it was against their clients human rights to be filmed with out their consent
  • When it’s not practical for you to be arrested because it would take police resources away from the lines then you deserve to get a shove. If you come back, then you deserve to be struck (something home office approved).
  • You ARE PROFESSIONALS and this kind of insta-agression is something that the public could gain at a fraction of the cost from a security guard. No one is denying that being a police officer is a difficult job at times
  • Sadly people are people, maybe he was wrong to hit her, she was maybe wrong for confronting him in the first place. All I can say that is if a uniformed officer tells me not to do something I don’t do it. Full stop.
  • David Corking on 16 Apr 09
     
    Other countries are worse. So? The rest of us would be jailed for assault if we hit someone with a stick in response to extreme provocation.
David Corking

London G20 Police outnumbered and attacked « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG - 0 views

inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/...2937

Culture

shared by David Corking on 16 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Inappropriate use of force brings with it trouble for the officer who transgresses, as it always did except for the fact that such things were rarely captured on cctv or mini videos - but if they ever show the footage of the anti-Vietnam war Grosvenor Square riot in 1968 you’ll see some stick happy police officer who, ultimately, got the sack
  • Hardly something that should result in the local bobby from an English village being pilloried along with every other officer in the land.
  • I’m-a-citizen-not-a-criminal says that those police who “just stood and watched their colleagues break the law are equally to blame”. The same goes for protesters.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • A whack with the baton on a fleshy part of the body (as taught) ie thigh, calf, upper arm will hurt and sting and maybe bruise. it is a means of control and saying ‘Im in charge’. If the police didnt have these actions in their armoury, what do you think would happen?
  • David Corking on 16 Apr 09
     
    Nasty video of protester brutality
David Corking

CentreRight: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? | Apr 15 2009 - 0 views

conservativehome.blogs.com/...-custodiet-ipsos-custodes.html

Culture

shared by David Corking on 16 Apr 09 - Cached
  • Not wearing a bulky jacket, didn't vault the ticket barrier, didn't resist arrest, wasn't alerted by the shout of 'Armed police' which wasn't ever issued, in fact.
  • Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall. Held down and beaten in a street in Wigan, he was then charged and convicted of assaulting the police, a conviction only over-turned on production of the video evidence
  • The police, particularly in London, appear to have forgotten that they police only with our consent. They are not the armed wing of the state.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • It's not only the stereotypical Guardian-reading liberal left who think there's a problem here, and I think it's time that Conservatives made this clear.
  • I ask readers to get a little perspective and try to see the tragic incidents outlined above for what they are, isolated and very rare examples of errors and abuses in policing
  • We all have a vested interest in a police force that is fair, accountable and has the trust of the people it is there to protect.
  • Peel and Mayne were remarkable men to have set down principles that remain as valid one hundred and eighty years on as they were on the day they were penned.
  • David Corking on 16 Apr 09
     
    Conservative blogger asks if there is a culture of violence in the Met.
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