Moral decay of British society
The entire British political class came together to denounce the rioters. They were right to say that the actions of these looters were abhorrent, and that the police should be given more support. But there was also something very phony and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament. MPs spoke about the week’s dreadful events as if they were nothing to do with them. I cannot accept that this is the case. I believe that the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up.
http://rdd.me/w4r0scci
Meanwhile, in Abu Dhabi...
Models in full riot body armour and chemical survival suits waved cheerily for photographs, while one stall holder demonstrated a black breathing mask for use in a nuclear attack next to a tray of boiled sweets and a pot of free pens. In the British pavilion, defence minister Gerald Howarth came under growing pressure to explain the UK's role in arming dictatorial regimes in the region after the government revoked licences to sell arms to Bahrain and Libya. "Nothing to say today," Howarth told the Guardian as he waited -- fruitlessly as it turned out -- to greet Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, whose attention had been drawn to a handgun on a rival stand.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/abu-dhabi-arms-fair-idex-2011/print
"Smoking to end by 2050"
Smoking could “virtually disappear” in Britain within half a century, according to research by Citigroup. The broker has considered what a decline in smoking means for the tobacco industry. The habit has been on the wane since the 1960s, when just over half of adults in Britain smoked. That figure had dropped to a fifth by 2008. "The percentage of smokers is declining across the developed world, and the declines are more or less in a straight line in most markets," said the analysts. “If these trends continue, then by 2050, many important tobacco markets will have gone to zero smoking.” But Citigroup stressed that these were “extremely long-term” trends.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8246967/Smoking-could-disappear-by-2050-says-Citigroup.html
Thousands searched illegally in Britain
Thousands of people across the UK might have been stopped and searched illegally, figures released by the Home Office suggest. Powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act were used in "error" after the proper authorisations were not given. Section 44 allows police to stop and search someone without suspicion that an offence has occurred. Critics say the rules unfairly target some ethnic groups and increase community tensions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/politics/10283701.stm
Data Rape
Back in January 2009, David Bond packed a rucksack, kissed his pregnant wife Katie and toddler Ivy, climbed into his Toyota Prius and drove away from home. Nobody knew where he was going -- he didn’t even know himself. One thing he was sure about was this: "I'm going to leave my life behind and disappear," he said. In the days that followed, he was being followed by detectives. It was Bond himself who persuaded the detectives to follow him. "I told them I was making a film about privacy and surveillance, and wanted to be hunted." He wondered if it was possible, in surveillance Britain, to keep himself to himself for a month. "I promised I wouldn't sue them, whatever they did, as long as they didn't cause my family any distress. 'We'll have you in four days,' they laughed." Bond spent a long time finding the right detectives for his project, talking to countless retired coppers before he found Duncan Mee and Cameron Gowlett of Cerberus. Ordinarily, they work as investigators for major companies and law firms, scrupulously following the letter of the law as they trail organised gangs, often in unstable parts of the world. How hard could it be to find Bond?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article7096105.ece
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