W00t! My entire site is now valid HTML 4.0 Transitional (except for the RSS feed, of course).
In fact, that’s not so amazing as the HTML 4.0 Transitional standard is six years old. The next challenge is to make it XHTML 1.0 compliant.
I received a flyer from the Lib Dems for the European Elections. Yet again they demonstrate they haven’t a clue about exactly why the European Parliament is here and what it does. Inside, it goes on about things like council tax and tuition fees even though these issues have nothing to do with the European Parliament. The rest prattles on about ‘what Lib Dems have done for the South East’, when it should be talking about what their MEP will do for the EU as a whole. Either way, I’m not planning to vote for them (I’m voting Green as Caroline Lucas is a star and really does concentrate on issues at a European level) - I wonder if I’ll get thrown out of the party because of it?
Bf emailed and asked:
Would you like to check out the Dell’s while you are here?
At first I thought he was interested in buying a new computer, before realising he meant the Wisconsin Dells. I’m such a nerd.
The webcam is back. I’m done with my Windows machine for the time being. It’s good to be a power user again.
What a day! A water main burst on one of the main roads in Guildford, close to where I work. The road was closed and caused absolute traffic chaos throughout the town. I’d just got up to the road in question when it was closed by Police. This meant I had to find an alternative, rather long-winded, route which, like everywhere else, was jammed. In the end it took me two hours to get in, even though I only live 2
Amnesty International’s 2004 Annual Report is out. I look forward to reading it. The BBC have a good summary of it. You can’t get more blunt than this analysis:
The global security agenda promoted by the US Administration is bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle. Violating rights at home, turning a blind eye to abuses abroad and using pre-emptive military force where and when it chooses has damaged justice and freedom, and made the world a more dangerous place.
Some hope in this section:
2003 saw unequivocal signs that a global justice movement has emerged to respond transnationally to worldwide injustice.
Human Rights are now be driven by the people rather than those at the top. That’s one of the reasons I’m involved.
Also, a recent editorial is a good discussion on why torture cannot be justified under any circumstances.
Bf has been telling me about the thunderstorms and tornados they’ve been suffering in South-Central Wisconsin. I hope that’s all gone when I get there. In 1996 the town of Oakfield, WI was flattened. Have a peek at the one and only Wisconsin tornado resource.
What is rapidly becoming my favourite film of all time: Koyaanisqatsi.
It’s a nice day but I really have to clean the house (and shampoo those flippin’ carpets) so I’ll be staying in. However, I did go shopping and bought some summery clothes. I also got another book: Civil Liberties and Human Rights.
UK insists it will boycott trial if Saddam faces death penalty. Does this mean they won’t actively stop it? Despite all the Government’s high principles and being the second major player in this, it’ll be blatently obvious they have no real influence so won’t even try? From the article:
Government policy and the European Convention on Human Rights lay down that the British cannot hand the prisoners over if there is any risk of them being executed.
Now you know why I was lobbying so hard for ratification of Protocol 13 to the ECHR. Legal force seems to be the only way to make this Government do what is morally right.
Yet again the USA is trying to blackmail the UN into supporting its disgusting plan to exempt its nationals from being handed over to the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes. See Amnesty International’s briefing on why this is not only a bad idea but technically illegal. The two worst aspects of this are that the US is trying to ‘rush through’ their new exemption in the light of the Iraq abuse scandals and that they will most likely use the same threats to get their way as last time, which was block all UN peacekeeping operations. In other words, the lives of innocent thousands around the world are nothing compared to the US attempts to avoid international justice. I really can’t express how sickened I am over this. As Human Rights Watch said:
Given the recent revelations from Abu Ghraib prison, the U.S. government has picked one hell of a moment to ask for special treatment on war crimes.
Also see a webcast of a press conference involving several NGOs discussing this at the UN.
A box arrived from bf today. He promised to send me some (random) goodies as combined birthday, Valentines Day and Easter presents. Highlights included bath crystals, soap, a small polished glass heart, lots of newspaper clippings, stickers, a book, some marshmallows, a funky pencil, a small furry anteater, some post-shave gel and a card. He also included gifts for Valentina, Denise and Daryl. I’m a little overwhelmed to say the least, considering he doesn’t have any money. It’s almost as many as I’ve bought for him to take in June!
This story about Royal Mail losing 14.4m letters every year started me thinking about the Lemon Jelly tickets I’d ordered and how annoyed I would be if they were lost. It seemed like unfounded anxiety when they arrived yesterday (well in advance) but on closer inspection there was a message scribbled on the envelope - it was from one of my neighbours to whom the tickets had been misdelivered!
Not so bad day. Management apologised for any inference and I am definitely considered to be a ‘hard worker’.
Blair hit during Commons protest, by a condom of purple flour to be precise. The outcome of this, no doubt, will be further restrictions on getting within five miles of an elected representitive. I was expecting Blunkett to say “See! This wouldn’t have happened if we’d had ID cards”.
Tiscali need to be hit with a clue stick when it comes to handling spam originating from their network. I received one and forwarded it, with full headers, to their ‘abuse’ email address. It was bounced, due to them having a spam filter on that address… which, of course, means no-one can forward any suspected spam mail to them. The postmaster pointed this out to me and agreed it was a stupid policy.
What a rotten day at work today. Management inferred that I was lazy, despite the recent project deliveries that just wouldn’t have happened as smoothly (or even at all) without me - and I’m not even supposed to be the project manager. I was so pissed I was close to walking out. We’ll have to see how the rest of the week pans out.
From the UN website entitled “10 stories the world should hear more about”, this one about how peacekeeping operations are stretching the UN:
Even if the bill for UN peacekeeping rises to $4 billion a year, which is possible if the UN Security Council calls for new missions in all of the places currently under discussion, UN peacekeeping will still cost less than 1% of what the United States alone spends each year on defence.
Maybe a comparison with what has been spent on the Iraq war already would be more apt.
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