h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"I just find it futile to go into a funk and say 'mankind is inherently evil'. It isn't (we aren't)."

Indeed, it´s the circunstances.

Now with the "laboral reform" here, new contracts will be individual in terms of rights and conditions, you as a new worker won´t join the laboral agreements unions and the company stablished. Add to this that the former workers according to that general law are in an extremely weak position since they can be sacked pretty easily. Add also a "gap law" that restricts wildly the right of expression, demostrations, and other public gathering.

Go back to that former worker, what will he do? how will he act? The circunstances call for "I´ll save my arse"

The alternative is to get together and fight. Here, and every where.

This isn't the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30658056

But it's the start of it.

The Conservatives have launched their pre-election campaign with this pretty picture. And of course those that don't like the tories have jumped all over it, focussing on the fact that the road is actually in Germany, not England.
When the photographer was traced (yes, newspapers spent time and money tracking down the photographer) he said where the road was, but also said that the sky and other elements were added later by other people.
The internet has been full of people going on about this picture, and the road being in a different country.

The thing is, why are they focussing on a picture? Is there really nothing else in the pre-election stuff for the "opposition" to focus on? Or have we finally got to the point in politics in this country where no matter what a party you don't like does, you have to try and mock it.

It's not politics, it's petty posturing.

More important is the fact that the Tories' car is actually in reverse gear on that road, and has been since they took charge.

The political road is in dire need of repair. The problem is that the damage is outstripping the ability to repair. This is reflected in the economy where we can not create enough wealth to pay the interest on the national debt, let alone reduce the bill that politicians have created.
Unfortunately our national problems are reflected in the global economy.

There's only one news story being discussed where I am:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-30677320
A gurt big 51,000 tonne container ship that's fallen over on the Brambles cricket pitch containing 1,400 Jaguars and Bentleys.

<BB<

Kudo's to the captain and crew; everyone safe, no fuel spill and out of traffic lanes.

Small correction, this is not a container ship. The evening news here in the States also called it a container ship and me and my father looked at each other, "container ship!?" This is a proper cargo ship with the cargo, in this case vehicles, stored within the ship. A container ship has a low deck with boxes stacked on top of it. If this had been a container ship, the cargo boxes would have fallen into the water. This happens all the time and we've learned a lot about ocean currents by tracking cargo like rubber ducks and Lego pieces.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134923863/moby-duck-when-28-800-bath-toys-are-lost-at-sea

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28367198

The investigation report into that will be interesting.
Sounds like they beached it because it was unstable.

Councillor retweets offensive image "without realising what it was" in attempt to score posturing points: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-30703528

This, once again, is (one of) the problem(s) with what politics has become. Too much focus on trying to make everyone else look bad, rather than working out ways of making life better.

And I fear we're going to see a lot more of this in the run up to the election, and beyond.

And in case anyone thinks I'm politically biased, here's another case of it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-30695312

Does anyone actually follow politicians' Twitter accounts? (apart from the media, that is?)

Only political fanatics or activists I think.

Are you registered to vote???
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-ab95-Young-people-shut-out-of-voting#.VK1F0s2sWUn

Three men armed with assault rifles against a roomful cartoonists armed with pencils.

Twelve dead, eight wounded.

Fundamentalists 1 - 0 Freedom of the press.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30710883


One of the dead cartoonists was originally from my area.

Artists around the world have been responding to the Charlie Hebdo shooting

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/the-moving-tributes-to-the-victims-of-the-charlie-hebdo-shooting--lJVs7t8dcx

oh, sorry when I first clicked the link you could see the cartoons without having to click individual links within the article

Here's a gallery of some of the cartoons on one page.

http://imgur.com/a/asiv1?gallery

Cheers BG!

Thank you BG

I guess you *can* die of a broken heart:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-30724729

You do hear of this sort of thing from time to time. It is as though the remaining partner has no reason to continue to live. So they don't.

And on the other side of the coin, people who ought really, according to medicine, have died, but just didn't because they have a reason to live. For instance Steven Hawking. Should have died 50 years ago, but he was too busy.

PP.