On the other hand...What we say and do online has real consequences for the rest of our lives

The Register

A court ruling is a potent reminder that cyberspace, despite the remote-sounding echo of the term, is a real place with real connections to courts of law, jobs and other key parts of our lives.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/28/myspace_personal_injury_suit/

A few single-issue fanatics can skew results... - The Register

Web politics: The honeymoon is over

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/28/web_politics_how_real/

By Andrew Orlowski • Spam and astroturf are souring the dream

Posted in Government, 28th April 2010 12:38 GMT

Parallel moves in Canada and the US may signal the end of the honeymoon for web-based political campaigning - or change it beyond recognition.....................

Cut crime! - PhysOrg

Civic engagement imperative for reduction of violence and improved public health
In a set of papers just published in two leading scholarly journals, LSU sociology professor Matthew Lee reports that both violent crime and all-cause mortality rates are on average substantially lower in communities with a vibrant civic climate.

Our Future World: An analysis of global trends, shocks and scenarios

http://www.csiro.au/files/files/pw2c.pdf

CSIRO Report

This report describes the outcomes from a CSIRO global foresight project. It presents five megatrends and eight megashocks (global risks) that will redefine how the world’s people live.

Crime fighting - back to basics?

Study recommends fighting crime the old-fashioned way - PhysOrg
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Temple’s Department of Criminal Justice, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Police Department, have found a way to reduce violent crime in some of the city’s most dangerous locations. And it doesn’t involve hi-tech equipment or fancy CSI-like crime lab techniques.

Children & Gangs

Probing public policy with a new lens PhysOrg
In each of two cities, a team of local agencies launches a campaign to keep children from joining gangs. The two use similar tactics, combining counseling, tutoring and recreation. One initiative shows great results; the other makes barely a dent. Why the difference?

Please - get on with it! Most of us have been saying this for years

Cutting red tape could save government billions, says PAC chair - CIPFA
The outgoing chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee has told Whitehall it could save billions of pounds without touching frontline services by stripping out bureaucracy, adopting more professional project management and learning from its mistakes...

But don't 'cut' those at the bottom, it is top management where the effect will be felt least and the savings most.

Cutting-edge laser technology for crime labs

Cutting-edge laser technology for crime labs developed by FIU research team
(PhysOrg.com) -- Jose Almirall, director of FIU’s International Forensics Research Institute (IFRI), and his research team have been attracting national attention for their cutting-edge research on how laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) can be used in crime labs.

Help stop Human Trafficking

BBC on modern slavery:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/slavery/default.stm

More about human trafficking around the world at UN Office on Drugs and Crime:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html?ref=menuside

FBI's work on human trafficking:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/slavery.htm

Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings:
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=197&CM=1&CL=ENG

* Investigating and publicly shaming complicit officials and politicians in countries where official corruption is part of the rape trade. The ads would name and shame individuals and campaign for their removal and reform.
* Running a global day of action outside slave houses - exposing locations across the world where trade victims are being sold and raped This shocking violence is often going on just down the road from our homes and schools.
* Partnering with sex work activists, who have deep understanding of the business, to expose the violence and take on the traffickers.
* Tracking key trade routes and blocking ships carrying kidnapped girls and women in key transit ports.
* Lobbying elected leaders to make this issue a priority and use the full resources of our governments to stop it, including passing better legislation to protect and provide for the women caught in the rape trade.
* Going after rape traders directly by publicly exposing them with WANTED billboards in their communities.

Millions of women and girls are sold for rape every year -- some estimate 2 every minute. We cansave these young girls from horror.

Click below to donate to Avaaz's new drive to halt the rape trade:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/fight_rape_trade/?vl

How true

Daniel Ben-Ami
There is an alternative to austerity
Despite what politicians say, the way to reduce the UK’s fiscal deficit is to boost production, not curb consumption.

Oh yes! Hear! Hear!

Tim Black
The new priesthood of meddling experts
Whether they’re marshalling ‘science’ to stop us from smoking or from eating meat, we should all be more sceptical of the new expert class.

Another asylum matter!

Brendan O’Neill
Turning immigration into a tool of social engineering
ELECTION ESSAY: The elite now expresses its snobbery and authoritarianism by being ‘pro-immigration’ rather than anti-immigration.

Asylum matters - ICAR

At the end of the line: restoring the integrity of the UK’s asylum system is a new report from the Refugee Council, which “aims to provide a detailed overview of the human and financial costs of the current system and to propose policy solutions which are humane, efficient and effective.”

UNHCR has released its annual report Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, 2009

The European Commission’s ‘Clandestino’ research project has released its final report on Undocumented Migration: Counting the Uncountable. Data and Trends

At the end of the line: restoring the integrity of the UK’s asylum system is a new report from the Refugee Council, which “aims to provide a detailed overview of the human and financial costs of the current system and to propose policy solutions which are humane, efficient and effective.”

Safe at Last? Children on the front line of UK Border Control is a Refugee Migrant Justice report into the problems faced by unaccompanied asylum seeking children on arrival in the UK. See also press release

MPs criticise government's climate of fear - The Register

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/25/terror_human_right/

By Chris Williams • 'All terror all the time' presumption prodded

Posted in Government, 25th March 2010 12:27 GMT

The "permanent state of emergency" over terrorism since 9/11 has blocked debate over whether the dozens of new laws introduced to combat the threat are justified, according to a cross-party group of peers and MPs.

The Joint Committeee on Human Rights today questioned ministers' claim that there has been a "public emergency threatening the life of the nation" ever since the attacks on New York and Washington.

The full document is here (pdf)

Mass immigration kills Aussie culture... News.com.au

TRADITIONS based on heritage, sporting culture and common language are threatened by mass immigration, a leading demographer has warned.

Monash University population expert Dr Bob Birrell has said the huge influx of people with few or no English skills had created social problems in Melbourne suburbs such as Dandenong, Sunshine and Broadmeadows and most major cities were feeling the population strain, theHerald Sun reported.

"This is not a pretty picture," he said. "Social divisions are becoming more obvious and geographically concentrated and certain areas are being overlain by an ethnic identification."

Dr Birrell made the explosive comments in an article for Policy, a magazine published by the Centre for Independent Studies, a right-wing think tank.

Politics, Public Services and Society: Context for the General Election 2010 - Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute

At this stage in 2010, all eyes are on the upcoming election, which our latest polls suggest is getting tighter. So this seems an opportune moment to take stock of the state of public opinion as voters face a decision that will set the direction of the economy, public spending and the shape of many public services, possibly for years to come.

On the eve of a general election campaign, we offer this review partly as a synthesis of our work on the major issues of the last year, partly as an interpretation of what seem to be the crucial dynamics of 2010. We’ve grouped these into three big themes: Politics, Public Services and Society.

At the end of 2009, most people’s money would have been on a Conservative victory. Now, however, a whole series of polls are suggesting a hung parliament is still a possibility (though evidence that the Tories are performing better in the marginals still puts them in the driving seat). But whichever party wins, it is certain that the economic crisis will dictate a tightening of belts, and significantly lower public spending at some point soon. At the minimum public services will have to significantly adapt, and there is a good chance that many will need to be radically reshaped – but this may not be a bad thing; in the well-worn words of various US Democrats, we should never waste a good crisis.

PDF - Report

15 years of visa-free travel in Europe - Deutsche Welle

"The European Union began the process of abolishing its internal borders 15 years ago by implementing the Schengen Agreement. DW takes a look at the positives and the negatives of Europe's visa-free Schengen Area."

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5365354,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

Checkpoint-free Europe counfounds Germany's sceptics

"Sceptics in Germany initially thought the treaty on the abolition of border checks in Europe would be a major security disaster. With 15 years of experience, there are fewer pessimists around now."

What do people want, need and expect from public services - IPSOS MORI

The review explores what people want, need and expect from public services, drawing together Ipsos MORI’s historical data across all key public service areas. In particular, it shows that the public remains deeply worried about postcode lotteries and concerned that greater local control and choice will benefit the more advantaged. Moreover, while people favour the idea of being involved in the design of services in affecting local spending priorities and in local decision making, most do not personally get involved in practice. This presents real challenges for decision-makers, since as Paul Buddery and Henry Kippin from the 2020 Public Services Trust point out in their introduction:

‘Without properly understanding what the public want and value, and how they relate to today’s services, it will be impossible to design services for tomorrow that fit the lives they live, and develop the capabilities they need to fulfill their aspirations. Ipsos MORI’s evidence should be of interest to anyone concerned about the meaning and impact of public services today, and their democratic reform in the future.’

PDF download

Profiles Research Networking Softwar - PhysOrg

Harvard University releases Profiles Research Networking Software as open source
Harvard University has released Profiles Research Networking Software, a form of social networking and expertise mining technology, to the open source community. Developed with the support of Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, the software is now broadly available to institutions seeking a web-based means of facilitating collaboration among their academic researchers.

Facing the deficit...

Facing the facts - CIPFA
The UK’s deficit needs to be addressed and neither main party has a credible plan. Ahead of this month’s Budget, Tony Dolphin says it would be dangerous to implement more cuts now but there is an urgent need for long-term action...

Giving up the ghost, by David Lipsey
	We have mainly faced phantom cuts so far, but the real ones will quickly follow. Expect industrial unrest, racial tension and attacks on public sector ‘bureaucrats’... - CIPFA

Police authorities 'not ensuring value for money' 0- CIPFA

Most police authorities are failing to set priorities for local forces and do not ensure value for money, inspectors have found...

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS IMPACT DIGITAL TERRORISM AND HATE

WIESENTHAL CENTER RELEASES “FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE+: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS IMPACT DIGITAL TERRORISM AND HATE” –ANNUAL REPORT DETAILING HATE ON THE INTERNET

Facebook VP debates anti-hate activist over question of hate speech as free speech at event

Facebook, YouTube +: How Social Media Outlets Impact Digital Terrorism and Hate [cost involved]

......The CD-ROM report, released annually, is designed to assist law enforcement, public officials, educators, parents and the news media to better grasp the scope of hate. The report is used by the FBI, Homeland Security, military officials, hate crime units and joint terrorism taskforces in the U.S. as well as Canada and Europe (a PDF of the presentation which also includes a section about how Twitter is emerging as a new tool for extremists can be downloaded here.)....................

Communities - sex offender laws - PhysOrg

Mathematical model can help communities better evaluate sex offender policies
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new mathematical model developed by Indiana University Bloomington and Arizona State University geographers could help communities that are in the midst of passing or reforming sex offender laws. The researchers describe the model and report its first test in an Early View edition of Papers in Regional Science. By forcing users to quantify risk and issues of special concern, the model can help the policymakers of concerned communities to focus on the spatial management of sex offenders and not mere punitive measures.

Privacy and identity theft - report PhysOrg

UK survey reveals identity theft fears
Researchers from the Information Security Group (ISG) at Royal Holloway, University of London worked together with UK online to conduct a survey of privacy attitudes and behaviours. Focusing on our concerns about privacy while using the internet, the survey reveals that online identity theft is currently the greatest fear for internet users.

Woudhuysen & Lewis
How the state is a roadblock to progress
Red tape-obsessed, visionless governments are holding back the kind of big and risky innovation society needs.

We're a mongrel race - let's celebrate it!

Helene Guldberg
This isn’t racism. It’s just kids being kids
A new book explodes the myth of racist children and reveals how anti-racist initiatives in British schools have split pupils into ethnic camps.

Mick Hume - Spiked
Whoever wins, Britain will have a hung parliament
Size isn’t everything – history shows that it takes more than a majority of members of parliament to make a strong and purposeful government.

Police watchdog to put more forces’ information online - CIPFA

Police watchdog to put more forces’ information online
The police regulator is to publish more data in an easily understood format online, in an effort to make its assessments more relevant to ordinary people...

The current issue of Women’s Asylum News carries an article by Catriona Jarvis, Senior Immigration Judge of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) on new rules of procedure for children, and vulnerable and sensitive witnesses. It also carries articles looking back on 10 years of the Women’s Project at Asylum Aid.

The European Court of Justice has issued a ruling on the conditions of withdrawal of refugee status following a challenge by Iraqi nationals to the withdrawal of their status in Germany.

Secretary of State for the Home Department Alan Johnson has given internal figures to parliament according to which 3,500 unsuccessful removals of migrants have been made since 2007, but in more than 95% of cases the person was eventually removed.

Report on an announced inspection of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre 5-9 October 2009 by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.

See Refugee and Migrant Justice comment

See also The Observer on Yarl’s Wood IRC

How can the Post Office keep pace with the modern world?

History & Policy Newsletter

Feature, March 2010

As the future of the Post Office comes under increasing speculation, Chris Bowlby talks to Adrian Steel about the place of the postal service in the twenty-first century. Changing times: How can the Post Office keep pace with the modern world? is the latest article in H&P's collaborative series with BBC History Magazine. Other articles can be found in our BBC History section.

Twenty historians advise against immediate spending cuts in letter to the Guardian

Letter, 3 March 2010

A letter signed by twenty economic historians in the H&P Network was published in the Guardian. The signatories warn against immediate cuts in public spending and urge support for knowledge-based economic growth. They argue that British public debt is actually relatively low, both in historical and international contexts, and urge policymakers to maintain spending on the knowledge economy, which will contribute to economic growth and speed up repayment of the debt. The letter was initiated by Glen O'Hara of Oxford Brookes University and H&P co-founder Simon Szreter. Other signatories include Professors Martin Daunton, Jane Humphries and Jim Tomlinson.

Read the letter.

The letter was discussed in Madeleine Bunting's article on cuts.

See also: How (not) to cut government spending and reduce public sector debt by Glen O'Hara, and browse other H&P papers on economic history.

Social housing subletters ‘should face fraud charges’ - CIPFA

Social housing subletters ‘should face fraud charges’
Social housing tenants who sublet their properties should be prosecuted for fraud, a think-tank recommends today...

And those who can afford to move on should! It should be part of the initial agreement and rigorously enforced.

Councils planning savage cuts to adult care spending - CIPFA

Councils planning savage cuts to adult care spending
Adult care budgets are set to be slashed as councils strive to safeguard children’s social services in the wake of recent high-profile child protection failures, public spending experts have warned...

MPs criticise frequency of ministerial changes - CIPFA

MPs criticise frequency of ministerial changes
Whitehall departments are under-performing because ministers are not remaining in post long enough to see through their policies, two separate MPs’ reports have found...

Election Issues - Spiked

Kennedy & Lyons
Infrastructure should be an electoral flashpoint
Both the government and the opposition are scared of big, slow-return, risky projects – but Britain needs modernisation.

Brendan O’Neill Let’s reclaim the C-word Labour and the Tories talk non-stop about ‘change’, but only because they would rather be in a state of perpetual flux than face up to political realities.

Nathalie Rothschild We don’t owe politicians our vote Instead of raising awareness about how to vote, how about raising the political temperature and making voting worthwhile?

Tara McCormack
Britain’s national insecurity strategy
UK government policy is built on a long list of potential risks ‘out there’, but that’s no substitute for a political programme.

Climate change - or not? - Spiked

James Howell
Gore, the greens and a pimped-out panic
Al Gore now says the Himalayan glaciers story was just ‘one small error’. In fact, it was every green’s trump card.

The paedophile panic: a product of elite hysteria - Spiked

Tim Black The paedophile panic: a product of elite hysteria The government’s sex offenders disclosure scheme should remind us that it isn’t ‘the mob’ who are obsessed with paedos.

Assisted Suicide - Spiked

	Mick Hume How did the ‘right to die’ become the liveliest cause? Some thoughts on what the assisted suicide debate tells us about our political life and times – and what Leon Trotsky might have made of it all.
			Kevin Yuill Why society should not tolerate suicide Suicide itself – ‘the right of anyone to take his life’ – is being legitimated by the assisted-suicide campaign.

Teaching self-control skills to children reduces classroom problems

Teaching self-control skills to children reduces classroom problems - PhysOrg
Children taught skills to monitor and control their anger and other emotions improved their classroom behavior and had significantly fewer school disciplinary referrals and suspensions, according to a study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.

Airport body scanners spreading across US

Airport body scanners spreading across US - PhysOrg
(AP) -- The Transportation Security Administration on Friday announced nine more U.S. airports that will receive body-scanning technology, as the U.S. heightens its effort to detect hidden explosives and contraband amid a threat highlighted by an attempted bombing on Christmas Day.

Cyber-terrorism a real and growing threat: FBI

Cyber-terrorism a real and growing threat: FBI - PhysOrg
Terrorists, crooks and nation states are ramping up cyber-assaults that are eating away at data, cash and security in the United States, the head of the FBI warned.

Cloud to tackle money laundering problem

Cloud to tackle money laundering problem
(PhysOrg.com) -- Money laundering is estimated at $1.3 trillion worldwide - a huge problem. Now European researchers are using cloud computing services to boost anti-money laundering efforts by tracking suspicious transactions.

Airline attack could lead to more scanners - PhysOrg.com

http://www.physorg.com/news181460233.html
(AP) -- The Christmas Day attack on a jetliner over Detroit, combined with technological improvements to protect people's sense of modesty, could lead to dramatically wider use of full-body scanners that can see through travelers' clothing.