Johnson Unveils ID Card Design

The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, today unveiled the final design for the national identity card. From what I have seen of it, this £30 card, looks pretty standard in design.

I for one will be one of those who, on a point of principle, will refuse to purchase one of these cards. The government’s claim that it will help tackle crime and terrorism is completely erroneous. I mean, the Spanish have ID cards and look what happened in Madrid a few years back!

This card is purely a symptom of this increasingly authoritarian state that we now find ourselves in. It will enable the government to more efficiently gather all the information about an individual, keeping it all in one place. I would not trust the government with any of my data, after the spate of “misplaced information” they have had in recent years.

This whole scheme is also a colossal waste of money, costing well in excess of £1bn. They should divert those funds into something more worth while, like funding the Police and NHS; not this big brother scheme.

Harry Potter and the Charmed Trithor – Visions of Rescue

I have finally started to write my first ever crossover story. “Harry Potter and the Charmed Trithor“, is set in the worlds of Harry Potter (of course, lol) and Charmed. It starts off during the Summer of the second year, with flashbacks to the first.

There are two main focuses to this story, the first being the relationship between Harry Potter and Rachel Halliwell; of how their soul-bond grows and develops over their years at Hogwarts together.

The secondary story revolves around the Thorson triplets, who are characters from my own world that I am creating. They are part of an organization that lives in a world unknown to Wizarding kind, let alone the muggle population.

These 5; along with the help of Hermione Granger, the Weasleys and others; share a common destiny. To know what that is, in the words of Robert Jordan, you’ll have to “read and find out”.

The first chapter is called “Visions of Rescue”. It focuses on Rachel and the vision she has of Harry nearly dying at the hands of his relatives.

As I have not watched Charmed for a while now, I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me with the back story, to make sure I know what I am writing about?

England Win Rugby World Cup Bid

The International Rugby Board have today announced that England will host the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup. The Rugby Football Union won the backing of the Rugby World Cup Ltd (who run the competition), thus helping the board members to back the decision by 16 votes to 10.

This is another feather in the cap of what will be the greatest decade ever for British sport. Not only do we have the Olympics in 2012, but there are tentative talks to host a Super Bowl at Wembley stadium (which would be the first Super Bowl outside America). Now all we have to do is hope that we get the football World Cup, which would really add to the sporting atmosphere in these British Isles.

At the same time as awarding England the rights to host the World Cup in 2015; New Zealand have won the right to host the 2011 World Cup.

In all honesty, I am not a Rugby Union fan, mostly as I do not really understand the game. I am, however, pleased at the awarding of the World Cup to England. I am really looking forward to the next 10 years.

Brentford’s New Away Kit

Brentford FC have recently launched their new away kit for the 2009/10 season. My initial impression is that I like it. The shirt itself is mostly black, with bronze down the lower half of the sides. It is a bronze like colour, but not too sure what to make of that, especially as that is the majority colour for the shorts. Despite that, I do like it.

I have yet to see the new home kit for the coming season.

Ealing Council Offers Election Bribe

With local elections in London happening next year, Tory run Ealing Council has recently approved a £6m package to “help boost the local economy”. Included in this package is a £50 rebate to all 122,000 Ealing residents who pay council tax to the borough. They are not due to hand out this money until 1 December.

The timing of this “Value for Money Premium”, as they are calling it, is rather suspicious. The Tories claim that the money comes from “prudent book-keeping”.

I personally am not a fan of this “give away”. This money should go to paying for front line services. And I agree with the Ealing branch of UNISON who said…

But the Ealing branch of UNISON said they were dismayed by the scheme as the council has already cut services, leading to increased case-loads for social workers and the library book budget was slashed by a third.

Mary Lancaster, Ealing UNISON co-Branch Secretary, said: “It’s only a few months since the Council set its budget for this financial year, and now they’re changing it.

“Public finances are going to be under intense pressure and the Council is expecting reduced resources for years to come. They need to be honest about the implications of the ‘give-away’ for the future of Council services.”

Why would the Tories want to introduce this scheme, especially so close to the local elections next year? I can only think of one reason…

Source: Ealing Gazette = Tories’ £50 giveaway plan comes under fire

FIA v FOTA: Here we go Again!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back onto the race track, things have suddenly taken a dramatic turn.

FOTA have walked out of a meeting with they were having with the FIA (at the Nurburgring in German). This meeting was to discuss the new technical regulations for the 2010 season and onwards. This walk out was due to the FIA’s claims that FOTA members had not submitted their applications to become a part of next year’s championship. This allegation is refuted by FOTA.

This whole argument could very well endanger the future of Formula 1, with the possibility of a break away championship. I would really hate to see that happen.

I agree with Caron Lindsay when she wrote…

Anyway, this drama clearly has some way to play out. We may yet see a breakaway, although I think the teams would possibly be better advised to quietly set about ensuring that if Mosley should stand again in October, that he has credible opposition. The teams can’t do that themselves, because unseating Mosley will require a coalition across all levels of FIA regulated motorsport, but they can play their part in securing a new president with a more pragmatic way of doing things.

And…

I think that F1 would be better without Mosley in it from now. He appears to be the main obstacle to a lasting peace at the moment.

You have to have some sympathy for Ross Brawn, one of the few consistently reasonable voices in F1, who apparently said in yesterday’s meeting to Charlie Whiting, who was delivering the bad news from the FIA “Isn’t this all a bit silly. Can’t we just get on with it.”