Straight To The Point

It seems that the authorities either have no inclination or no ability to account for their own actions. Any time a policeman is caught speeding, they are usually let off because the police force is unable to determine who was driving the vehicle (!), and now Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has said "..it has not been possible to provide a totally satisfactory explanation for the fractures which Mrs McGinley sustained after her death."

The background to the story is that a post-mortem examination on a 78-year-old Strabane woman revealed 34 bones were broken after her death. And no-one knows why, and no-one is to be held accountable.

The surge was like a raindance - it was bound to work at some point, since eventually there would be some statistic somewhere that proved that "it had worked".

But was does "it worked" mean anyway? Iraq is still in turmoil, soldiers and civilians are still being killed on a daily basis. If the surge worked, then it obviously wasn't designed to solve the Iraq problem. So if it has worked, so what?

It seems we're now in less control of our own computers. Now BT had admitted installing spyware on customer's PCs.

Whenever I hear about police seizing computers, it almost makes me laugh except it's so serious. Just because something is on someone's computer, it doesn't prove a thing. Companies like Sony and BT (and those are just the ones we know of) are installing software on our computers that could be doing absolutely anything.

There is a petition that you can sign to ask the Government to investigate this kind of activity. Until then I'd play safe and install Linux at the very least.

Remember, the word "botox" comes from "botulism toxin" and is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring substances in the world. And it may be bad for you! Honest!

I've been caught speeding, like most people. It's hard to garner any sympathy, even from other people who have also been caught. However, there is still something very annoying at being caught doing, say, 37mph in a 30mph zone. However, I think I've discovered what it is that makes it so galling, even when your own conscience says "well, you shouldn't have been speeding!".

The problem is that speeding is not enforced consistently. If you do 70mph (the maximum legal speed) on a motorway, you are guaranteed to be in the slow lane being overtaken by everyone else. So here, speeding is the norm. But that's okay? The police are giving the drivers the benefit of their own judgement as to what the best speed is to go, and assuming you don't go excessively fast (say, 90mph or more) and don't drive dangerously, you're allowed to go at 80mph or so.

So why don't they apply the same criteria to all driving? That's what is annoying: sometimes you are allowed to make your own judgement at the best speed to go, based on driving conditions, and then on another bit of road - Bam! - 7mph over the limit and you're fined, regardless of the driving conditions.