Random News Stories

[Junkenstein]

Problems that can be solved with a single magnet # 55332:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-26979187

Dorset Police officers have said it would be "unlawful" to delete intimate photos of a young abuse victim from a paedophile's laptop.

The man was jailed in 2013 for nine years after admitting a string of sex offences, including assaulting a child under the age of 13.

He has now formally requested a laptop and a mobile telephone are handed back.

Liberty, which represents the victim's family, said photos of her in swimwear and leotards were still on his PC.

Dorset Police said they could not delete the pictures as they were not legally classified as indecent or prohibited.

As a result, the sex offender, who is in his 50s but cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, will have access to a large number of personal photos of the girl when he is released from jail.

Naturally this will explode because pedophiles but I really can't help but think that this entire problem could be solved with a strategic magnet while the law catches up to the realities of the world. I've no doubt that this will be remedied fairly swiftly but quite how it's been missed in the wake of all the Savile scandals is odd. I would have thought that someone would have noticed the potential for this situation to arise before now, and it surely must have.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26986408

Conservative MP Peter Bone is under investigation for expenses claims relating to the upkeep of his second home, the parliamentary commissioner for standards has said.

The claims are understood to have been made between 2005 and 2009.

MP for Wellingborough told the Times he had "done nothing wrong", adding that it was "not unusual for MPs to have their expenses challenged".

A spokeswoman for the commissioner declined to comment further.

One UK minister sacked/resigned/whatever, on to the next one. This chap is wanting for redeeming features so it won't be a struggle for the papers to give him a kicking. I'm guessing 3 weeks, give or take a couple of days. Knives still being sharpened not yet in use.

[Telarus]

Hrm, on the laptop issue: In the US, I believe, those photos would technically be the property of the girl (who's likeness was captured). So, they can return the hard-drive to him, but yank the pictures off and give them to her.


And now for something completely different:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2561055/Couple-face-having-Colorado-cabin-confiscated-SNOWMOBILE-row.html

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Hrm, on the laptop issue: In the US, I believe, those photos would technically be the property of the girl (who's likeness was captured). So, they can return the hard-drive to him, but yank the pictures off and give them to her.


And now for something completely different:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2561055/Couple-face-having-Colorado-cabin-confiscated-SNOWMOBILE-row.html

In the US they are legally the property of the person who took the photographs.

[Telarus]

I stand corrected.

[Cain]

Dorset Police officers, giving a shit about legality?  Well, this is new and unexpected.

[minuspace]

I think, given the circumstances, it is then permissible to say it was the magnet that took the photographs.

[Junkenstein]

Glaxosmithkline bribery surprises no-one:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26970873

K drug company GlaxoSmithKline is facing a criminal investigation in Poland for allegedly bribing doctors, BBC Panorama has discovered.

Eleven doctors and a GSK regional manager have been charged over alleged corruption between 2010 and 2012.

A former sales rep said doctors were paid to promote GSK's asthma drug Seretide.

The company said one employee had been disciplined and it was co-operating with investigations.

If the allegations are proved, GSK may have violated both the UK Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is illegal for companies based in either country to bribe government employees abroad.

If they had, in fact, used my newly patented (I've got a bit of a4 with a very crude drawing) Glaxosmithcoin they would have avoided many forthcoming legal woes. Next up, Monsanto whistling and trying to look inconspicuous.

Monsanto Reps, you may want to invest in Monsantoken. I'll do you a deal if you call me today.

[Junkenstein]

Hmm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27007764

The MP for Ribble Valley said his £130,000 legal bill had taken up his entire life savings, adding: "Every penny is gone."

The case also cost him the £30,000-a-year extra salary he had received as deputy speaker.

People who were "dragged through the courts through no fault of their own" and then found not guilty should "get their legal fees back from the CPS budget", Mr Evans said.

"Maybe that will make them focus on whether a case is worth pursuing."


Defendants acquitted in England and Wales can apply for their legal costs to be reimbursed from "central funds" - the taxpayer rather than the CPS - up to the amount of legal aid that would have been provided.

Mr Evans also hit out at the police, saying he had been "shocked" by their "zealotry" in pursuing the investigation.

And he questioned the way prosecutors handled high-profile sex offence cases that dated back many years - also criticising the use of "bundling" - where police build a case against an accused using a number of weaker allegations.

"We need to consider the issue of a statute of limitations and look at how other countries deal with this," he added.

It will be most interesting to see who backs the call for a statute of limitations, particularly towards sexually orientated crimes. I, for one, would have to consider any politician willing to back such a thing in the wake of the Savile fallout with a great deal of suspicion. There's been more than a few people in UK government come unstuck because of their previous behaviours and this seems like a very deliberate attempt to prevent further allegations and issues.

For more detail on people who will probably support this, see the "Brit spags... Jim fixed it" thread for a running list.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26998208

People who hide their money overseas to avoid paying tax face bigger fines and could be jailed more easily under government plans to fight tax evasion.

To prosecute at present, tax officials must prove a person holding income offshore has intended to evade tax.

But under a new criminal standard officials would only have to show money was taxable and undeclared.

Chancellor George Osborne said the changes would mean there was "no safe haven" for those evading tax.

Through the entire article the whole focus appears to be on people and individuals with no real mention of corporate financial planning schemes and systems. There appears to still be no dispute that Vodaphone, Amazon, Google, etc, etc, owe substantial sums of an order of magnitude larger than anything an individual may be liable for.

At present, offshore tax evaders can be fined twice the amount they owe, and can face criminal prosecution and a possible prison sentence.

The government will look at options to increase these penalties, as well as the possibility of financial rewards for whistleblowers who "help uncover" untaxed offshore assets.

Well, Private Eye can provide a long, long list of individuals and should surely be one of the first in line to collect a whistle blowing reward. It's strange that every time this story appears it's written in such a way as to indicate that we don't know exactly who these people and companies are and exactly what they're doing. The exact opposite is the case most times. 


As an aside, did you know that most UK government buildings are owned off-shore? You'd have thought that they were owned by the UK government or similar but no. Off-shore landlords and rent duly paid. But that's obviously not any kind of tax dodge or anything either.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27018751

Dozens of people have been killed in two blasts that rocked a crowded bus station on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, officials say.

The blast happened as commuters were about to board buses and taxis to go to work in central Abuja, the BBC's Haruna Tangaza reports.

Eyewitnesses say there are dead bodies scattered around the area.

This may have been another attack by the Islamist militant group known as Boko Haram, correspondents say.

Eyewitness Badamsi Nyanya told the BBC he had seen 40 bodies being evacuated; other eyewitnesses say they saw rescue workers and police gathering body parts.

The blast ripped a hole four feet deep (1.2 metre) in the ground of Nyanya Motor Park, some 16km (10 miles) from the city centre, and destroyed more than 30 vehicles, causing secondary explosions as their fuel tanks ignited and burned, the Associated Press news agency reports.

This year, Boko Haram's fighters have killed more than 1,500 civilians in three states in north-east Nigeria, says the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos

Considering it's only April, that's a rather impressive toll.

What's even more impressive is how little you actually hear about Boko Haram. They tick all the classic boxes (Non-white, Islamic, scary foreign language) for an icon of modern fear and hate. Given the level of disruption that they tend to bring to oil production in the areas thy operate in, I would have thought that there would have been some corporate pressure for interventions.

Unless operating in Africa without oversight is actually still very profitable even with terrorists causing all kinds of mayhem. No, that couldn't be it.

[Junkenstein]

Blatant Electioneering #55522454587/Arsehole:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26986002

In a rare comment on his religious beliefs, the prime minister stressed the importance of teaching children about the religious aspects of Easter.

He told BBC Radio Norfolk he wanted Nancy, Arthur and Florence to understand that the festival was more than just "chocolate eggs".

There's pandering, and there's pandering. And then there's this whole line of bullshit about how MP's never discuss religion unless an election is due and suddenly everyone really likes Jesus.

But I'm sure it's all totally sincere and not a cheap vote grab. After all, Jesus had some kind of compassion for the poor and needy according to some book. He must be talking about that other Jesus who beat up cripples and turned water to piss. It's the only way to explain half of the choices the coalition government has made to date.

[Junkenstein]

Things that are totally shocking and unexpected, part 228789/G1 -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27030660

Mr Farage said the "outrageous, ridiculous and absurd" allegation was part of "a campaign... to nobble me".

Office expenditure
The Times said Mr Farage received £15,500 a year to run his constituency office in Bognor Regis - but that the office had been provided rent-free by UKIP supporters.

A former office manager claimed that the premises cost only about £3,000 a year to run

Mr Farage told the BBC the money was an allowance, not an expense, adding: "I can spend the money on whatever I choose to in support of my work as an MEP."

So Murdoch via the proxy of the Times has begun his own smear campaign in earnest. This shouldn't be too much of a struggle as the man is an entirely deplorable creature. I'm sure other UK media will join in in their own time, probably quite swiftly. There's a strong incentive for the media to only have to deal(read: bribe) with only one or/of two parties. When you get other players it can get very expensive and inevitably a few of them will turn out to be total clowns.

For those of you not familiar with UKIP and why I detest them, their two main policies can probably best be summed up as "NO!" and "ARGH!". I'm not even joking and I've probably gone into more detail there than they have in all of their "literature".

[Junkenstein]

No surprises here if you've ever had the misfortune to pass through Swindon:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-27034445

Swindon's mayor has resigned after making derogatory remarks about disabled people during a meeting.

Conservative Nick Martin was found guilty of breaching the members' code of conduct after Labour complained about comments he made last year.

Labour councillors said they heard him say: "Are we still letting Mongols have sex with each other?"

There's just something about the UK voter that makes them pick the most inept and loathsome for positions of power and responsibility.

I think we've had terrible politicians for so long, we've actually forgotten that you may want them to do something in the public interest occasionally. In other news I'm considering a run for local government with a slogan along the lines of "I'll rob you blind". I reckon I've got a chance.   

[Junkenstein]

HO HO HO
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/15/us-italy-berlusconi-idUSBREA3E0K620140415

A court on Tuesday ordered former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to serve a tax fraud sentence by doing community service with the elderly, in a ruling that restricts his movements but not his political activity.

The court ruled that Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, must spend four hours a week in a Catholic old people's home on the outskirts of Milan for a year. The home's director said the media tycoon would keep residents company and take them to Mass.

As far as this chap goes, this is probably the closest thing to "Punishment" you'll actually see. I'm expecting further scandal out of this too because Berlusconi. "Bunga Bunga party in retirement home" doesn't seem to be in the realms of implausible headlines.