Hardly news, but bears repeating!

Physical education is good for kids' grades, study finds 
(HealthDay) -- Boosting students' levels of physical education improves their grades, a new, small study says.

Everyone is sayong it now - saving the cancer and killing the patient!

"Unemployment is rising by the day, and among young people it now stands at a shameful 54 per cent. Yup, folks – those are the results of an EU plan to produce “growth and jobs”. It was called the euro, and it has been a catastrophe for Greece and pretty bad (with one notable exception) for the rest of the continent.....................................

 And then the strategy would appear to be to cauterise the amputation; to circle the wagons; to issue the most ringing and convincing proclamation to the markets that no more depredations will be tolerated; and to get the Germans to stump up, big time, to protect Spain and Portugal. We are told that the only solution now is a Fiscal Union (or FU). We must have “more Europe”, say our leaders, not less Europe – even though more Europe means more suffering, and a refusal to recognise what has gone wrong in Greece.

The euro has turned out to be a doomsday machine, a destroyer of jobs, a killer of growth, because it entrenches and exacerbates the fundamental and historic inability of some countries to compete with Germany in making high-quality goods with low-unit labour costs. Unable to devalue their way back into the game, these countries are forced to watch industry wilt under German imports, as the euro serves as a giant trebuchet to fire swish German saloon cars and machine tools across the rest of Europe."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/borisjohnson/9278862/Europe-is-driving-full-tilt-foot-on-the-pedal-into-a-brick-wall.html

Living in cloud cuckoo land!

Corporation tax and capital gains tax would be replaced with a 30 per cent tax on dividends, interest and rent, and inheritance tax and stamp taxes on land and shares would be dropped, as well as air passenger duty. Fuel duty would be cut by 5p.

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2147429/Single-rate-30-income-tax-required-boost-economy-radical-realistic-overhaul-say-experts.html#ixzz1vnK0M4Lq

And the pensioner who has no dividends, no expectations of inheritance, little or no interest because little or no savings, can't afford to go on holiday - what happens to these people?

A Holistic view might have predicted this

Revenue job cuts cost £1bn in uncollected taxes

Job cuts at Revenue & Customs led to more than £1bn of tax not being collected, the Public Accounts Committee revealed today. The MPs said the department was not ‘sufficiently clear’ about the impact of the staff cuts, even though around £10 in tax was lost for every £1 saved in costs...

EU exit - Vote UKIP!

Thinking about it, I realised that UKIP has robust plans in place for an exit from Europe, no other party does.

So as it becomes more likely surely it makes sense to have the party who have planned for it in power!

Vince Cable lost the responsibility because of indications that he was against Sky-B; maybe he should have been more discreet, but it was his job to come to a decision, he did.

Apparently Jeremy Hunt has also come to a decision - in favour.  So how culpable was Mr Cameron in appointing him to investigate when he had already made up his mind?

"Frédéric Michel told the inquiry on Thursday that by December 2010, just before Hunt was given quasi-judicial responsibility for the bid, the Conservative cabinet minister and his Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) were supportive of News Corp's argument that the BSkyB deal would not be detrimental to UK media plurality."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/24/news-corp-jeremy-hunt-bskyb?newsfeed=true

This is not the Con-Dem interpretation as heard on Newsnight!

UK growth: will Osborne listen to Lagarde? By Tony Dolphin Despite some complimentary words about the chancellor’s deficit cutting, the clear message from the IMF is that the UK must go for growth...

The IMF interpreted, by Ian Mulheirn Reading between the lines of today’s report on the UK, it’s clear that the International Monetary Fund is calling for the coalition to adopt a funded fiscal stimulus now to encourage growth...

Don't you just love it! How the Con-Dems massage the figures.

The public sector was in surplus by £16.5bn in April, as a result of the one-off transfer of funds from the Royal Mail pension scheme to the Treasury, it was revealed today.

Ministers have taken over responsibility for the pension liabilities of the government-owned postal service, ahead of its possible privatisation. Transferring the scheme’s £28bn assets sent public spending figures into the black, the Office for National Statistics said.

Without the transfer, public sector net borrowing would have been around £11.5bn for the month, compared with borrowing of £9.1bn in the same period last year.

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2012/05/uk-in-surplus-thanks-to-royal-mail-pension-funds/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=

Better the guilty should go free, rather than the innocent suffer?

Wrongful convictions can be reduced through science, but tradeoffs exist 
Many of the wrongful convictions identified in a report this week hinged on a misidentified culprit — and a new report in a top journal on psychological science reveals the paradox of reforms in eyewitness identification procedure.


In our efforts to make sure that good guys don't get locked up, could we let more bad guys go?

Voting patterns changing as UKIP is being proved right

"For years, we in UKIP have been pointing out that the EU is a failure, both on its own terms and for this country. It is very hard for people to continue to caricature us as a party of fools, when the evidence that we were right is there on every news bulletin, and on the front pages of every newspaper.
And if UKIP were right about Europe, how about the impact of mass migration on services and the lower paid? How about a belief that education needs to accept difference and give opportunities for all, regardless of background or family wealth through a reintroduction of selection? How about the thought that businesses are not the enemy, but are vital for the growth of employment, and thus the life chances of every single one of us?

But UKIP are about so much more than that. To a UKIP member, the "I" letter of our name is so much more important than the UK, and certainly more than the Party. As a party, we are about hope and aspiration. And if we have aspirations for our country and our communities, it is because we trust those communities and the individuals within them.

If we believe that this country is better suited to make decisions over its future than others who do not have our interests at heart, how can we not believe the same of the counties and cities of our country? We believe firmly in localism and devolving real power down from Brussels, down from Westminster and down from the town halls into the place where power and control is best suited, into the hands of those over which it is exercised. You, the citizen."

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Voting-patterns-changing-UKIP-proved-right/story-16143748-detail/story.html

Nick Clegg rails against British class snobbery 'We need an open society, in which people choose their place,' says Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister

The problem is a perception that there is class snobbery.  People cling to it, and use it as an excuse.

My problem is the opposite, I come from working stock and am proud of it.  We were very poor when I was growing up (alright, I went to school with cornflakes boxes as soles in my shoes.  So some people can't afford cornflakes, and other don't have shoes, but generally speaking.....) but I belonged to a public library, I read, and I speak well.  So it is generally assumed I went to University - I didn't (did years at night school) it is generally assumed I come from a privileged background - I don't!

But I have no problem talking with Princes and Princesses (yes, I have) or people from any walk of life.

And while it would be nice to have what I have achieved acknowledged, I know what can be achieved, and Nick Clegg (who has no idea) is a poor apologist and doing no one any favours.

European court rules! And don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise.

Prisoners must be given right to vote, European court rules

Human rights judges give UK six months to comply, but offer some autonomy to ministers to choose which inmates to excludePrisoners in the UK must...

the true extent of the UK’s obligations in respect of the present and future debts of EU institutions

http://www.brugesgroup.com/EuropeanInvestmentBank.pdf

 

The figures for the UK’s total European liability, are contained and published in a new report by the Bruges Group.

Titled The UK’s risks and exposure to the European Investment Bank and other European financial mechanisms, Bob Lyddon’s report for the Bruges Group reveals the true extent of the UK’s obligations in respect of the present and future debts of EU institutions including:

• How the Government’s defined position is questionable in law and therefore has led it to underestimate its full potential exposure to EU debt
  
• That the true extent of the UK’s potential exposure to the EIB, ECB and EFSM (European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism) the debt is €149.2 billion because:
  
• The ECB is entitled to call upon the Bank of England for up to €50 billion of the UK’s currency reserves. Under Council Regulation 1010/2000 of 8th May 2000, the ECB has the legal right to call on individual member countries’ national reserves (€50 bn in the case of the UK) should the viability of the ECB be at risk.
  
• The EIB can call upon up to €35.7 billion[1] from the UK, should it lose money on the loans that it has made to governments and organisations in vulnerable economies such as Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland.^[2]
  
• The UK currently has a €60 billion liability to the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM). Solvent members are required to jointly take on the insolvent member’s debt.
  
• The UK’s €1.9 billion of paid-in capital to the EIB and a further €1.6 billion to the European Central Bank (lodged to pay the UK’s share of its costs) is also at risk.

Either misquoted, or protecting his own resources!

This is the kind of shallow prediction that can cause the damage it is forecasting!

UK 'may never fully recover' if Greece exits euro

"A Greek exit from the single currency threatens to plunge Britain into a second recession equal in ferocity to the record postwar slump of 2008-09, according to the expert responsible for the government's economic forecasting.

Robert Chote, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, who was speaking to the Guardian as world financial markets staggered to the end of a week that rekindled memories of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, warned that there was risk that a fresh downturn would do irreparable damage to the UK."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/may/18/uk-greece-exits-euro

Are Greek euros safe?

£1 now buys you €1.25 - that is the most since October 2008 and 10 per cent more than this time last year.

But every silver lining has to have a grey cloud, and some of the wilder speculation right now involves the suggestion that holidaymakers should be worried about holding Greek euros.

That's because, while the Eurocrats would have you believe that every euro note is equal, there is one tiny crucial difference. 

The little-known way to spot where they come from is a letter in front of the serial number, pictured above. We explain here how to spot a German X from a Greek Y.

Myth: Three Million Jobs Depend on EU Membership

http://www.democracymovementsurrey.co.uk/dyk_myths.html

"Britain in Europe", the pro-EU campaign which eventually folded for lack of support, claimed that three million jobs depend on EU membership, based on research they commissioned.

  The scientist who led the research publicly disowned this claim. His report said that few, if any, jobs would be lost if we left, because trade with Europe would continue.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research supported this view.   It says that 3.5 million jobs are linked with EU trade, but if Britain leaves, few if any of those jobs would disappear.  Indeed, unconstrained by EU red tape, our businesses would be free to create more jobs.  We would continue trading with the EU under a Free Trade Agreement, just as Switzerland, Egypt, Mexico and about 20 other countries do, with about 70 more negotiating their own FTA.  The World Trade Organization says so; the European Commission agrees. The rest of the world trades successfully with the EU from outside - why couldn't we? 

  

EU countries need to trade with us - in or out of the euro. Four million jobs in the EU depend on trade with the UK, and the balance of trade is strongly in their favour.  They would be mad to try to cut off trade with us.

Err - obvious!

Whitehall must join national fraud system, say auditors

The Audit Commission is calling for government departments to be required to join its National Fraud Initiative, which has saved £1bn elsewhere in the public sector since it began in 1996...

Amend the Public Order Act to stop it being abused for the purposes of frivolous prosecution

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2012/may/16/law-hurt-feelings-peter-tatchell

"The campaign which has united diehard rivals such as the National Secular Society and the Christian Institute, not to mention loads of MPs and even peers, to amend the 1986 Public Order Act to stop it being abused for the purposes of frivolous prosecution by the coppers.

Reformers want section 5 of the act amended so that the offence of using "insulting words and behaviour" should have the vague and subjective word "insulting" removed while upholding protection against threatening and abusive speech – that is to say, speech which threatens public order."

Hear! Hear!

"Roughly 2,500 years ago, the citizens of Athens developed a concept of democracy that’s still hailed by the modern world. It was not, however, a democracy in which every citizen had a vote. 


Our democracy isn’t functioning as well as it should. A vast swath of our population is underrepresented. For those who do vote, their choices are heavily influenced by reductive ads often financed by wealthy individuals or corporations with vested interests. Small-group elections could save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. And since they are easier to run, they could be held more often, giving citizens a greater voice in government. If we aspire to be a country governed by the people, we should return to the foundations of our democracy: Let a random subset of the citizenry make reasoned decisions that best express the national will."


http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/05/st_essay_voting/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+UK

Fair?

The North really IS cheaper: firms slap on a premium for the South

High street chains including McDonald's, Greggs, Domino's pizza, Odeon, Cineworld, David Lloyd gyms, Wetherspoons and Beefeater are operating a North-South 'price apartheid' on everything from a cup of coffee to a visit to the cinema.

Luckily (?) I'm not!

Middle classes targeted by conmen in elaborate fraud scams: Are you at risk?

There's a hit list of potential victims compiled by fraudsters. And if you're middle aged, middle class and a saver, they will be trying to steal your money.

Researchers explore alternatives to reducing crime at high-crime locations

Researchers explore alternatives to reducing crime at high-crime locations 
The bar with the regularly flashing police lights in its parking lot.  The apartment building that’s frequently featured on the news because of numerous crime investigations.  A new essay suggests an alternative approach to reducing crime in such places, by placing regulations on places where crime is highly concentrated.  Authors John Eck, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati, and his daughter, Emily Eck, a researcher at Dalhousie University, are featured this month in the journal, Criminology and Public Policy.

How about guidance for parents?

Experiences of migrant children: At home abroad 
Schools, local councils and professionals need better guidance and training to work with migrant families from Eastern Europe and their children, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Ah! But will they?

Whitehall ‘could save billions from better cash management’

Improving cash management and fraud prevention could save the government as much as £18.7bn annually, an analysis of state spending has said...

Now here's an idea - I think...

OPEN DOORS: Government will pay families to house asylum seekers
	FAMILIES paid up to $300 a week to house asylum seekers in their homes to help deal with the increasing flood of arrivals

Why the holistic approach is best!

Body fat linked to reduced fracture risk for women 
(HealthDay) -- Higher body fat mass is associated with a reduced risk of fracture among women, but not men, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.


Heavy new arguments weigh in on the danger of obesity 
A true obesity epidemic is gradually advancing throughout the developed world. A large new Danish-British study from the University of Copenhagen and University of Bristol documents for the first time a definite correlation between a high BMI and the risk of developing life-threatening cardiac disease.

Ships slow down in pirate waters to save fuel

[Registration required]

Violent confrontations between Somali pirates and merchant ships’ armed guards could become more common as some shipping companies have reduced ship speeds through the highest-risk area to save on fuel, maritime experts have warned http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/JEVI0J/265N3T/U12CAM/L9ZU1I/D5/h?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=7

Knowledge management - applies across the board!

Why research should be hacked 
Australian researchers are calling for the open sharing of clinical trial data in the medical research community, saying it would be instrumental in eliminating bottlenecks and duplication, and lead to faster and more trustworthy evidence for many of our most pressing health problems.


Calling it hacking might send the wrong message, but an open approach is beneficial in government, in business and in the sciences.

Obvious but often ignored!

Students more likely to be fit when physical education is mandatory 
Fifth graders in California public school districts that comply with the state’s mandatory physical education requirement are more likely to have better fitness levels than students in districts that don’t comply, according to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Tackling Drug Addiction

This month saw the release of Rehabilitating Drug Policy by Nick Cowen.  The report assessed alternative drug rehabilitation techniques and concluded that the evidence does not fall on the side of one particular treatment, but suggests that a diverse range of quality treatments is necessary.

Individual and group IQ predict inmate violence

Study: prison inmate intelligence influences misconduct 
(Medical Xpress) -- A prison inmate’s IQ, as well as the average IQ of a prison unit, can play a role in predicting violent prison misconduct, according to a recently published UT Dallas study.


The study, featured in the latest issue of the academic journalIntelligence, [£] is a rare examinination of the relationship between intelligence and violent misconduct in prison.

Blimey! Facebook intrusion to the max!

US rapper Flo Rida served legal notice via Facebook 
An Australian music festival promoter has served a damages claim against American rapper Flo Rida via Facebook, after a court allowed the social networking site to be used.

Now there's a surprise! Corruption putting the brakes on EU expansion

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15922774,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-eu-2092-rdf

One side effect of the Greek financial crisis are revelations about just how corrupt many EU member states [not to mention Euro MP's!] are.  If practical measures aren't taken soon, plans to enlarge the bloc could be in jeopardy.

It's not about a few euros that change hands illegally or aren't reported to tax authorities.  The Greek financial crisis has been a drastic eye-opener for European Union officials, [why? Another case of do what I say, not what I do?] showing how large-scale graft and corruption are partially responsible for driving a national economy to ruin.

Radicalisation - steps to prevent it?

Preventing, reversing terrorist radicalization: New research initiative 
A University of Maryland-led team of international experts will investigate ways to understand, prevent and reverse the radicalization of young people in destabilized areas of the world, and to keep them from embracing terror as a political tool.

Courts' use of forensic evidence called into question

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-03/courts-use-of-forensic-evidence-called-into-question/3989860

Things like voice comparison evidence, the use of images for identification purposes, other types of evidence like prints, footprints on carpet - there is very little in the way of testing of those practices and we know very little about their value as evidence.

Controversial X-ray method sparks detention concerns
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-08/indonesian-children-in-australian-jails/3651282

A lawyer says up to 30 Indonesian children may be locked up in Australian jails after a controversial X-ray method used by Australian Federal Police (AFP) declared they were adults.

What do you mean? Could be? Always have been!

Libraries: sandbox space for new technology 
Libraries could be a testing ground for new technology such as Google's augmented-reality glasses and advances enabled by the roll-out of the National Broadband Network, a QUT expert says.

Ask Hogarth.

Key lessons from history on alcohol taxes 
Steep rises in taxes on alcohol do not necessarily reduce consumption, according to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) into the history of intoxicants in 16th and 17th England

Reoffending and carrots

Payment by Results is no panacea, by Andrew Neilson

The Ministry of Justice is piloting Payment by Results to try to prevent prisoners from reoffending. But experiments so far have not proved a success and it remains questionable whether this is an appropriate model...

People should not be rewarded for doing the right thing, it sends the wrong message and undermines society.

Now there's a surprise. Stun gun, Tasers, not good for citizens!

Stun guns not safe for citizens, but benefit police, study finds 
The use of stun guns by police significantly increases the chances of citizen injury, yet also protects the officers more than other restraint methods, according to the most comprehensive research to date into the safety of stun guns in a law enforcement setting.

Around £200m of electricity is being stolen every year

The hidden cost of cannabis 
(Phys.org) -- Around £200m of electricity is being stolen every year to run illegal cannabis farms across the UK. Phil Butler, Co-Director of Newcastle University’s Centre for Cybercrime and Computer Security (CCCS), says this would be enough electricity to provide free energy for every household in Newcastle for a whole year.