Sim-O

The High Court has ruled that SFO’s decision to halt the investigation was not – as previously claimed – consistent with the rule of law.

As previously stated, the issue of whether a prosecution should or should not be pursued is indeed for an independent prosecuting authority, without political pressure from government or foreign powers, let alone the subject of its investigation.

Come on, sign it, it could be quite interesting.

Via Justin

Nick Kellerstrom (whoever the fuck he is):

I’m not a Nazi sympathising anti-semite…
…but everyone I read and take as an ‘authority’ on Auschwitz is.

Bwa ha ha ha ha.!
It’ll be no surpise to you to here he is also a 9/11 ‘truther’.
Twat.

Via Ministry of Truth

It’s a simple question. It has big ramifications:

Is waterboarding torture?

Bush, McCain et al seem to have made up their mind, but to help you decide watch this short film from Amnestys’ Unsubscribe campaign.

The film itself will be posted later when I get home from work and off a locked-down computer. I’m sure you’ve probably seen it by now anyway.

I just got my first comment on my new blog set up, and I’ve not even told anyone yet!

Cheers Jherad

I’ve got an extra column here, but I don’t quite know what to do with yet.

Via Tygerland.

The Enemies of Reason:

Every Click is a Good Click

…Every click is a good click. That’s the important thing to remember. If you get an ignorant, bigoted, stupid, vile, nasty, thuggish, bullying bastard visiting your website, that’s a good thing. Imagine a suedeheaded BNP goon in a bomber jacket knocking on your door – would you let him in? No? OK then, what if, by letting him in, you knew you could make more money – would that affect your opinion? Still no? Say you got paid for every person who visited your house, and the more times they came back the more you got paid, and the longer they stayed the more you got paid. Let’s say that your house – let’s call it The Internet – is next door to your neighbours’ houses, TV, Radio and Newspapers. They don’t like letting the BNP thug in, to be honest, and he’s pretty frustrated. He feels discriminated against and feels he’s not welcome there. And remember, the more times he comes to your house, the more money you get. What would be wrong in having him pop round every now and then? Would that be so wrong?

Every click is a good click. Just bear that in mind. If you can get more cash from advertising – or, in the case of the BBC, get more clicks to show the valuable work you’re doing in providing a forum for public debate, thereby demonstrating the importance of the licence fee – then you’ll take it. I’ve mentioned before how the far right, including the BNP and some elements of UKIP, are pretty clued up about this. They know they don’t have many places where they can get their message across – but they’re organised, they’re dedicated and they do certainly believe in what they’re saying.

So if you can create a place where these people feel right at home, it makes sense they’re going to come back time and time again, doesn’t it? Especially if you encourage them by asking a series of loaded questions, frequently repeating exactly the same question over and over again to make sure that it doesn’t drop off the radar and that they have the opportunity to make the same points repeatedly, tediously and laboriously. More clicks for you = more money from advertising. Every click is a good click.

Read the rest.

Fancy a race? My ID for Mario Kart Wii is 1289-8368-8210.

See you on the start line.

*Being the modest bloke I am, I make no assertions about the quality of my driving. ok?

Update: If you’ve got an invite, then Monday Night Mario is here.

Comment is Free:

Researchers from Oxford showed that the healthier balance of fats in the blood of lifelong vegans could lower the incidence of heart disease by a whopping 57%, compared with 24% in lifelong vegetarians. Vegetarians eat about two-thirds of the saturated fat, and one half of the cholesterol of omnivores, but vegans consume half the saturated fat and no cholesterol at all. Consequently, they have very low levels of harmful LDL (“bad”) cholesterol in their blood. This means they are less likely to suffer from heart disease and other circulatory problems such as impotence. Not only do they avoid harmful animal-based foods, but the staple foods of a well-balanced vegan diet (nuts, soluble fibre, soya protein and plant sterols) improve blood fat levels. It’s a win-win situation.

Dennis Leary:

You will eat it. Because not eating meat is a decision. Eating meat is an instinct!

Teh Times:

Tesco launched an audacious bid to take on iTunes today, with the announcement of a music and film download service that will compete directly with Apple’s store.

The UK’s largest supermarket said that as of next month, more than 3.3 million songs will be available to download from its website, with 1.6 million of those able to be played on any music player, including iPods and most mobile phones.

The deal, understood to involve all the main record labels, will mean that Tesco becomes the first large retailer to offer tracks to UK customers in an ‘unprotected’ format, allowing users, in theory, to copy songs music they buy from one device to another.

DRM free music. Hooray for Tesco (for once)!