Cluster Bluster?

A report released by Cluster Munition Coalition members IKV Pax Christi (Netherlands) and Netwerk Vlaanderen (Belgium) has found that 138 financial institutions worldwide still provide over $20 billion to the producers of cluster bombs.
One of the producers listed is Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defence manufacturer who amongst other things produce Trident, Hercules aircraft and Merlin helicopters - all staples of the UK defence forces, and hence funded by the UK taxpayer. I'm not sure what amnesty are actually trying to achieve here - yes cluster bombs are wrong but I find this approach to be misleading. They are quoting huge funding figures which are more likely to be related to work such as space exploration than cluster bombs.

The end of Whitehall

Back on politics already :-P

Tens of thousands of civil servants may be moved out of London in a dramatic downscaling of Whitehall under Labour plans to cut public debts and instil a culture of "smarter government''.

Leaked sections of a report to be published in a fortnight reveal that the government wants a review into the possibility of relocating some of the 132,000 civil servants and 90,000 employees of "arm's-length bodies" currently based in London and the south-east.

This has been mooted for a while so not really new and perfect common sense. I know our local council has been angling for a civil service department for several months. In this electronic age, the need to have the whole service collocated in London in no longer there, and especially with support services there is clearly a cost benefit.
It will also benefit the sites to where they go, providing a large beacon employer and additional support jobs around it. Places like Mansfield - which lack this kind of large-scale business/department would benefit greatly.

Big European Nights?

One of the advantages of following a Championship side is that you see the Premiership for what it is - a cash cow for the benefit of a few - it's not a competition. Derby may not be the best team in the world but they get 33k gates, have mainly British players and are very much party of the community. The league they play in is competitive and they play against similar sides - it's so much more interesting, than having 4 or, yes, 2 teams dominate. I'm from Glasgow so my heart will always be with the Gers but a levelling of the domestic playing field may be just what the Scottish game needs to rebuild.

Weddings

I have become bored with politics. It exists for itself, not for us. So I think I shall now be writing about life, and where better to start than the preoccupation of society with the dream wedding - that most exhorbitant of self-aggrandising exercises. These days so much effort is put into the day that people forget the basics. Is it any wonder that divorce is the logical end-point?

The best way to have a dream wedding is to concentrate your efforts and your energies on the marriage, not the wedding.

Think about the possible highs and lows of the rest of your life, think about how you can benefit from it and how you can overcome trials and tribulations that may come your way. See that together two are greater than one, and then start to think about "the wedding"

It's a marvellous day because of what it is and what it represents. It's not about the bling and the bubbly - it is about you and another person and the rest of your lives. Enjoy :-)