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political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The Last Post on This Blog...Happy New Year!
This is the last post on this blog ever..... in 2006! We're off to Brighton to have dinner with a friend and see in the New Year. Hope you all have a great evening and an even better 2007.
Lord Lambton Dies
In an interview with Sir Robin Day after he was exposed he was was asked why he used call girls. He said: "I think that people sometimes like variety. I think it's as simple as that and I think that impulse is probably understood by almost everybody. Don't you?"
After his resignation Lambton moved to Italy where he has lived ever since. He was married to Belinda Blew Jones, who died three years ago. They are survived by five children.
Coming in 2007: Battle of the Dave Books
Earlier this year I toyed with the idea of writing a book about David Cameron. In the end I decided to do other things, but in 2007 there will be three books published about the Tory leader. Already there's a little battle developing between the authors of two of them to see who can hit the bookshelves first. Francis Elliott and James Hanning of the Independent on Sunday will probably write the better book, with some interesting new perspectives, but according to their publishers CAMERON: THE RISE OF THE NEW CONSERVATIVE won't appear until the beginning of April, a month after Bruce Anderson's DAVID CAMERON. However, Anderson's book was supposed to have appeared in October so I wouldn't bet my house on it appearing in March. Jo-Anne Nadler is also writing a follow up to TOO NICE TO BE A TORY called THE REGENERATION GAME: CAN DAVID CAMERON REVIVE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY? but it won't be out until July.
To Those Who BlogScratched Me in 2006, I Salute You!
UPDATE: As Dizzy points out in the Comments what I really mean is that more than 1,000 people have come to this blog via those listed here. Clear? Thought not.
Top Ten Most Unlikely Predictions for 2007
2. John McDonnell gets 44 nominations to enable him to run against Gordon Brown
3. The SNP win the Sedgefield By Election
4. Arise Sir John Yates
5. Cherie Blair turns down free holiday to Mustique courtesy of Richard Branson
6. George Pascoe-Watson or Kevin Maguire write a story slagging off Gordon Brown
7. In Shadow Cabinet reshuffle Lord Lawson is appointed Shadow Environment Minister
8. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown concedes that the British Empire might not have been all bad
9. Saddam Hussein spotted at lunch with Elvis and Princess Diana in Little Chef on the A1
10. Bruce Anderson writes column criticising David Cameron
Feel free to add more. You know you want to...
My Top Ten Predictions for 2007
2. Sir Ming Campbell will not be leader of the LibDems by the end of the year
3. Ed Vaizey, Jeremy Hunt and Nick Herbert will be promoted to the Shadow Cabinet
4. The Conservative Party 'A' List will be junked, having served its purpose
5. The SNP become the largest Party in Scotland after the May elections but cannot form a coalition
6. A Labour MP and a LibDem MP defect to the Conservatives
7. John Hutton challenges Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership after John Reid wimps out
8. In one of his first acts as PM Brown announces timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq
9. Depending on the opinion poll bounce from that decision and his honeymoon period, Brown will consider calling a General Election within six months of becoming Prime Minister
10. West Ham will not get relegated
Other bloggers with 2007 predictions include Guido, Dizzy, Jeremy Jacobs.
Can Rudi Giuliani Attract the Big Bucks to Run?
Yes, he has personal weaknesses and some decidedly liberal views on social issues which will be anathema to Christian fundamentalists, but hopefully even they will be able to see the wider picture.
But there is a view among Republican commentators that is worrying me. Friends of mine in Washington seem unanimous in their view that Giuliani won't get very far because he won't be able to raise the necessary cash to fund his campaign. The big bucks are already going to John McCain, which bearing in mind his own liberal views on social issues, is odd. Surely if McCain can attract the money, Giuliani ought to be able to as well? What am I missing?
Good Year Bad Year
These statistics reflect my own position. 2006 has been a good year for me (after 2005, it could hardly have been worse!) but I do think it has been a bad year for the country. If I were a Labour strategist I'd be deeply concerned by this poll, as it seems to reflect the findings of Philip Gould's leaked memo last week. Traditionally people turn against a government because of economic circumstances which affect them badly. If the findings of this poll are anything to go by it is social issues which may be the trigger in 2007. Anti social behaviour and the level of immigration now outrank financial considerations as the issues which concern people most on a day to day basis. Only 24% have an optimistic outlook about Britain's prospects for 2007. 58% are pessimistic.
Still, that eternal optimist Gordon Brown will know how to shake us out of our gloom, won't he?!
Saddam: Should the Pictures Have Been Shown?
We also had a debate about whether it was right for him to be given the death penalty. Kate naturally thought it was barbaric. My view is that it frankly hasn't got anything to do with us. He was sentenced to death under the Iraqi legal system without, so far as anyone can tell, outside interference. My only slight discomfort at the fact that he has been hanged came when I was listening to a Radio 5 Live discussion. They had a Kurdish lady on, who said that she and her people felt cheated. While he had been hanged for his role in killing 182 people following a failed assassination attempt, he had not yet been put on trial for his role in killing hundreds of thousands of Kurds. Now he never would be. I must admit that she has a very good point. The end result would have been the same, but the Kurdish people would have felt that their own case had been heard properly. Now, it may never be.
COMING LATER: My predictions for 2007.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Ivan Lewis MP: Hypocrite of the Year
Not only is Ivan Lewis a junior minister at the Department of Health, he is listed on the Department of Health Website as being responsible for 'maternity services'. So the very policy he himself has drafted and is implementing is the one which he is protesting against in his own constituency. You really couldn't make this up, could you? Joined up government? Don't make me laugh.
According to the newspapers this morning, seven Labour Ministers have protested publicly about government policy affecting their own constituency. In days gone by they would have found it proper and necessary to resign. And we wonder why voters think politicians are hypocrites. Ivan Lewis is a prime example.
On the Media Today
11pm Radio 5 Live discussing sentencing policy
11.45pm BBC News 24 newspaper review
Friday, December 29, 2006
End of the Year Awards - The Political Results
Quotes of the Day
"Peers of the realm face a shaky future which, as reform of the House of Lords plods on, will get shakier still" - Tory peer Lord Deedes.
"Why bother voting? What is the point of placing your cross next to the name of this or that candidate when four out of every five laws adopted by Britain are proposed, not just by people that you didn't vote for, but by EU officials whom nobody voted for?" - Tory MEP Daniel Hannan.
"People ask me what I will be remembered for. I will be remembered for my trees. My arboretum will be my legacy" - Lord Heseltine, former Tory deputy Prime Minister.
"If telly vice in your room not perform, do not investigate with screw pusher, you may get shocking electrics. Instead attack hotel electric man" - Warning notice in Tokyo hotel.
Labour Supporters Call on Hazel Blears to Resign
Paul Linford disagrees. He writes: I have always regarded Hazel Blears as a just another shameless New Labour careerist, but perhaps there is more to her after all. She has certainly gone up in my estimation this week, and more importantly, I suspect she will also have gone up in the estimation of thousands of Labour members with votes in the party's deputy leadership election.
And there we have it. Could this be the real reason for Ms Blears putting her nose above the parapet? Well, if so, she need only look at THIS thread on LabourHome to see the reaction of some Labour members. They are not impressed. Not impressed at all.
I suspect that Ms Blears is rather more worried about her political future closer to home than the Deputy leadership. She's taken a calculated gamble, and the gamble is that local Labour Party members will view her move positively and help her be selected for her much redrawn seat. Hmmm. Not so sure.
For Us Tommies, Ze War Iz Over
In 1945 Britain borrowed $4.34bn from the US consisting of a
$3.75bn line of credit and a "lend-lease" loan facility of $586m. The following
year the government agreed a $1.185bn line of credit loan from Canada. The money
was primarily designed to assist in the post-war reconstruction of Britain's
exhausted economy and shattered infrastructure. But the lend-lease loan related
to wartime supplies already in transit from the US under President Franklin D
Roosevelt's programme of the same name which began in 1941 and which ended
abruptly shortly after VJ Day in 1945. Roosevelt famously said the scheme was
like lending a neighbour a hosepipe to put out a fire. It marked a significant
step away from America's post-first world war isolationism.
The final payments today to the United States and Canada, are $83.25m and $22.7m respectively. Part of me thinks these loans should have been reassigned to Germany as soon as the Witschaftswunder was underway...
Polls, Two Party Politics & Why the LibDems Have a Problem
YouGov and ICM have consistently shown the Tories at 36-41%, while Populus show smaller leads and MORI have been inconsistent. The trend in all polls show the LibDems declining in support, although I don't believe the 14% figure for a moment. As we look forward to 2007 it seems to be that the true level of Tory support is around 37-38%, Labour are on 32-33% and the LibDems are on 18-19%.
It seems to me that by the middle of the year the Tories should be polling 38-42% to be confident that they are on course. If that is to happen I expect LibDem support to decline a per centage point or two. I do not expect Labour to go down much more than 31-32%.
Of course the big question is this: what will happen when Gordon Brown takes over? My instinct is that he may well get a honeymoon bounce of a few per centage points, but this may well come at the expense of the LibDems. At the moment the LibDems have managed to end a difficult year in better fettle than they could reasonably have expected. But this is largely because they have replaced their exiting Tory supporters with disaffected Labour voters. Picture a turnstile with Labour voters entering the LibDem turnstile and Tories exiting. That steady flow of disaffected Labour supporters may well dry up once Brown becomes Labour leader.
If I'm right we could expect to see a gradual return to two party politics. Or not. The fact is that it can never quite happen like that as long as the fringe parties continue to grow in support. In the 1970s and 1980s voters mainly had a choice of two parties, or possibly the Liberals. Now there are UKIP, the Greens, the BNP, the nationalist parties in Wales and Scotland to whom devolution has given an unexpected boost.
And that explains why it will be difficult for any Party to ever poll more than the low forties. This means that one of the key Tory strategies over the two years before the election must be to convince people of this self evident fact:
Expect to hear a lot of that in the run-up to the election.
Three More LibDem Candidates Join Conservatives
Richard Porter stood in Camberwell and Peckham in 2005 and wrote the Liberal Democrat manifesto for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community in the 2005 general election. Richard said: "Ming Campbell is a 'has-been' and since he has been in control of the party, they have been stuck firmly in reverse gear. After the election, I took time out to reflect on my own personal beliefs and values. Previously I thought that these values were best represented by the Liberal Democrats but I now believe that the principles of freedom from state interference, personal freedom, the environment and civil liberties are all areas where the Conservative Party leads the way.
John Barstow, a shop steward for USDAW and Liberal Democrat PPC in Tonbridge and Malling in 2005 said: "I have joined the Conservative Party because I sincerely believe David Cameron is the right person to be Prime Minister. And that I am a natural Conservative in the great One Nation tradition, proudly conserving what is best and well tried and taking decisive action to eradicate black spots of despair and unemployment within the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrats are bland, formulaic and out of touch with real life."
Dr Tariq Mahmood, a physician, consultant gastroenterologist and honorary senior lecturer at the University of London, stood in Uxbridge as the Liberal Democrat candidate in 2005. He also works as a TV presenter on the ARY Digital channel. Tariq said: "Under the leadership of David Cameron I have seen that the Party is moving forward. There is now a real possibility for the Conservative Party.
During the course of 2006 three former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidates have joined the Conservatives. Today's recruits make seven in all, joining Adrian Childs, former Liberal Democrat candidate for West Suffolk, Jeff Clarke, former Liberal Democrat candidate for West Wirral, Rene Kinsett, former Liberal Democrat candidate for Swansea West and Tim Perkins, Salford Councillor and former LibDem Candidate for Bolton West.
UPDATE: It's 7.50pm and not a single LibDem blog has commented on this story yet. Strange, eh? Can you imagine the crowing there would be if it had been three Tory candidates going the other way?!
Tories Hail Green Hero Al Gore...And Arnie S
Another Conservative hero is Al Gore "for his film An Inconvenient Truth, which brought home the threat of climate change to millions of people". He is joined on the list by Sir Nicholas Stern "for authoritatively placing an economic cost on the threat of climate change and for asserting the need for action in the clearest terms". Arnold Schwarzenegger is a hero "for making California the first US State to put greenhouse gas reductions into State law". And just for good measure they thrown in Labour MP Colin Challen "for his energetic work as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group". That should do him a lot of good in his reselection battle with Ed Balls...
Anti heroes in the list include Exxon "for continuing to fund 'think tanks' which deny that human activity is contributing to climate change", Ryan Air's Michael O'Leary, the Competitive Enterprise Institute "for responding to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" with an ad campaign with the strap-line " Carbon Dioxide: they call it pollution. We call it Life"". They are joined by Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander "for an aviation policy that is totally inconsistent with the Government's supposed attempts to tackle climate change".
This, of course, begs the question: how would a Conservative Aviation policy be different? The implication is that aircraft will be taxed out of the skies as cheap fares are consigned to the dustbin of history. I hope when the Quality of Life policy commission reports later in 2007 that it will look at green incentives rather than a whole plethora of green taxes, as Dizzy suggests HERE and HERE...
"There is no incentive present when you use tax to punish people into changing their ways. Genuine incentives do not use negativity (in this case financial pain) as a means to an end. Attempting to draw a distinction between increased tax and incentives is like arguing in favour of torture because it provides an incentive to talk. Incentives are positive benefits that are acheived from a neutral status-quo position. You do not move the goalposts then ask for money as an incentive to move them back, there is only one name for that, and it's blackmail. To argue as Miliband does is at best disingenuous, and at worst intellectually fatuous."
Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth comments on the list:
"2006 was the year when the environment took its rightful place at the centre of British
politics. It became a fact not worth disputing that climate change is an enormous issue requiring urgent action if we are to prevent an ecological, economic and social catastrophe, and if the UK is to reap the potential rewards of green growth. This list is by no means comprehensive, but takes a look at some of those who have been a part of the solution in 2006, and some who are still part of the problem – in the hope that they will do better next
Let me make it clear. Al Gore is no hero of mine. Never was. Never will be. Arnie, on the other hand...
PM's Political Secretary Interviewed by Police
New Book of Political Quotations
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Blair Reneges on Promise to Ban Extremist Group
Despite public concerns about Hizb ut-Tahrir's perceived extremism, Home
Office lawyers, the Foreign Office and representatives of the Association of
Chief Police Officers have quietly lobbied against outlawing the group and have,
for now, won the argument."If there was evidence for proscribing Hizb ut-Tahrir,
we would support a move to proscribe it," said Rob Beckley, Acpo lead for
communities and counter-terrorism. "But we think such a move would be
counter-productive and not in the spirit of the government's [anti-terrorism]
legislation. It is not an offence to hold extreme views."
No, indeed not. But why then did Tony Blair promise to ban them in the first place? Another case of talking tough and acting weak? Surely not.
Quotes of the Day
"Not suitable for children aged 36 months or less" - Advice notice on a birthday card for a one-year-old.
"It is time someone had the guts to say No to Nintendo. It is time to Garotte the Game Boy and Paralyse the PlayStation, and it is about time we admitted the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males" - Tory MP Boris Johnson.
"Truth is the glue that holds governments together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go" - The late US President Gerald Ford had a message for today's politicians.
"No matter how funky, sexy and innovative a musician James Brown may have been, he was undoubtedly as mad as a bag of snakes" - Writer Will Self on the soul singer who died over Christmas.
End of the Year Awards - The Media Results
Prove You Are a Political Anorak
Former Tory Minister Dies
EXCLUSIVE: Airlines Want Passengers to Complain About Brown's Ultra Vires Airport Tax Hike
I now understand that the airlines were expecting the whole media to be up in arms about it too and that they would get huge numbers of complaints from the public, but so far there has been a whimper. I'm told they are looking for an excuse not to levy the charge and would positively welcome lots of complaints to give them the pretext. So unless there's a media backlash in the next few days it will be too late, as I am sure the Treasury are already drafting the legislation which they will push through as soon as the Commons returns in the New Year. Interestingly, there are also rumours that it may be possible for any passenger who has already been charged with this levy to reclaim it. If this is so the government's only way of closing this loophole would be to intriduce retrospective legislation, something which always causes a huge parliamentary rumpus.
Talking Politics with Heffer and Hitchens
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Blair in Holidays for Honours
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Labour MP a Year Behind the Times
Constituents of Luton Labour MP Margaret Moran will no doubt have been delighted to receive Christmas cards from her, albeit they all had a 2006 calendar on the back of them, which had been struck through with a felt pen. I wonder who paid for these cards - Margaret Moran or you, the poor bloody taxpayer. Whoever it was should be demanding their money back.
UPDATE: A correspondent writes: From www.theyworkforyou.com in 2004-5 Margaret Moran had the 2nd highest expenses of any MP (£168,567)(despite having a constituency local to London and therefore low travel). Her postal expenses that year were £35,347, the 4th highest of all MPs".
Wonder why that could be then.
Christmas Quote of the Day
"Your Christmas tree doesn't look as pretty as it did when I had cateracts..."
Monday, December 25, 2006
A Christmas Without Nick
Christmas Day, though, has to be the exception. Perfection will be the order of the day. I will smile on Christmas Day — for the boys. I will not let them see my tears. I will sing and dance, pull crackers and tear wrapping paper. And I will do it well. They will never know how hard it will have been, and why should they? Christmas is for children and these two fatherless four-year-olds deserve to have a good one. At the end of the day, though, there will be nobody to congratulate me on what I'll have done. Nick won't be there with a hug and an indulgent smile of congratulation. So I shall go to bed, our bed, on my own, and bury my face in the jumper he wore when he died and sob. And sob. But I'll try to remember that there are tens of thousands of others who will also be facing their first Christmas without their loved one, and who will be feeling the same. I share with them the words of comfort I heard from my bereavement counsellor: you really will feel stronger by the time you get to Christmas next year.
Those of us who have reached our forties without ever experiencing the pain of losing a partner, parent or sibling cannot begin to understand what Barbara is going through today. Her kids are so very lucky to have such a mother.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
A Happy Christmas To You All
Anyway, this will probably be the last blog post until Wednesday. Even I am not sad enough to blog much on Christmas Day, and Boxing Day will be spent largely at West Ham and visiting friends in East Sussex.
A very merry Christmas to everyone who has been a loyal reader of this blog during 2006. It's been quite a year, hasn't it?
The Top Ten Nicest MPs
Dominic Grieve (Con)
Shadow Attorney General, a more honest and fastidious MP you could not hope to come across. He was an absolute pleasure to work with when I was working for David Davis.
Nick Clegg (LibDem)
Maybe disproving the theory that nice guys never make it to the top. Great sense of humour
Martin Horwood (LibDem)
First met him when he worked for the Alzheimers Society - quiet, a bit studious and gives me the impression of can't quite believing his luck that he has made it to the green benches. Not a bad attitdue to have.
Andrew MacKinlay (Lab)
A genuine Parliamentarian. I have known him for 15 years and have a huge respect for him.
James Brokenshire (Con)
Newly elected MP for Hornchurch, a real family man who is liked by all that come into contact with him. Deservedly promoted in front bench reshuffle.
Angus MacNeil (SNP)
Wicked sense of humour and fun to be with. His work on Cash for Peerages has upped his profile but he remains loyal to his crofting roots.
Greg Clark (Con)
My local MP in Tunbridge Wells, until his Toynbee remarks didn't have an enemy in the world! Genuinely caring and deserves to reach the top.
David Lidington (Con)
Seems to smile permanently and has an infectious laugh. Has done a great job as Northern Ireland spokesman.
Angela Smith (Lab)
I knew her a bit when I ran Politico's and she was first elected for Basildon in 1997. Great sense of humour and fun to be with.
Hilary Benn (Lab)
If Labour had any sense, he'd be their next leader rather than the Dour One. The perfect antidote to New Labour spin, he's a genuinely nice guy.
Naturally I'm sure you will want to leave your own nominations in the Comments...
UPDATE: And for those of you devoid of the Christmas spirit, vote in the Wonko's World T**t of the Year poll HERE.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
It Shouldn't Happen to an ITV Celebrity
6.40 Celebrity Family Fortunes
7.30 Downfall of a Celebrity: Gareth Gates
8.30 Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire
9.30 Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes
10.30 Michael Parkinson talking to, er, celebrities
Whoever ITV's scheduler is, they should be fired. Is it any surprise they are in trouble if this is the best they can come up with on the night before Christmas Eve?
The Fred Elliott Guide to Political Speak
Jowell Plays Politics With English Heritage
Having said all that, the fact that Penny Cobham chooses to live with that old relic David Mellor indicates that she might have an edge over Marland, I suppose. She's obvious a lover of ugly ancient monuments which are decaying round the edges. Saucer of milk, anyone?
Sir Ian Blair's Scare Tactics Must Not Be Allowed to Work
The government operates a system of alerts on terrorist threats and it has been set at SEVERE since July 2005. I am beginning to question why this is. It is appalling to accuse the government of trying to scare the population into accepting yet more draconian anti-terror legislation, but that's what appears to be happening. We mustn't let them succeed.
Gordon Brown's Record Tax Burden
And yet we are being told that our economy is performing brilliantly, that everything in the garden is rosy. If that were so, taxes would be coming down, not going up.
This is a major opportunity for the Conservatives to exploit in 2007. Let's hope they grab it.
Friday, December 22, 2006
18 Doughty Street 24 Hour Christmas Schedule
0.00 One to One with Iain Duncan Smith
0.30 One to One with Gillian Shephard
01.30 Up Front: Europe & Business with Tim Montgomerie
02.00 Your Money: Green Tax & Public Sector Rich List
02.25 Vox Politix: Douglas Carswell MP & David Torrance
03.25 One to One with Don Brash
03.55 Conservatism in America
04.50 Culture Clash: Borat, The Archers & TV Talent Shows
05.20 Vox Politix with Ann Widdecombe
06.20 Vox Politix: The A List debate with Ann Widdecombe v Bernard Jenkin
06.50 David Cameron: Year 2 - A discussion
07.45 Vox Politix with Chris Mullin MP
08.45 Vox Politix with Francis Maude MP
09.45 One to One with Australian Prime Minister John Howard
10.45 One to One with Professor Peter Hennessy
11.45 One to One with Stephen Twigg
12.45 Vox Politix Scottish Evening with David Mundell MP and Jo Swinson MP
13.50 One to One with SNP MP Angus MacNeil
14.20 Leftfield with Rena Valeh
14.50 Vox Politix with UKIP leader Nigel Farage
15.50 One to One with Ian Bremmer, author of the J Curve
16.21 Vox Politix, including an interview with David Davis
18.25 One to One with Lord Pearson of Rannoch
18.55 One to One with Professor Peter Hennessy
19.55 One to One with Nigel Cameron
20.25 World View: Russia, Friend or Foe
20.50 Brought to Book with Michael Dobbs
21.20 Up Front
21.50 Brought to Book with Michael Ashcroft
22.15 Vox Politix with Andrew MacKinlay MP and John Redwood MP
23.20 World View: Iran - Sleepwalking to disaster?
A Short History of Religion in 90 Seconds
Poll: Best Weekday Political Print Journalist
The Seven Best Things You Did This Year
1. Go to Cardiff to the FA Cup Final and witness one of the greatest football matches of all time
2. Meet Cliff Richard
3. Resume blogging and make many new friends through it
4. Lose two stone in weight
5. Rediscover the delights of playing golf
6. Celebrate eleven years with my partner
7. 18 Doughty Street
Now I shall tag Rob McGibbon, Bryan Appleyard, Trevor Ivory, Ellee Seymour, West Brom, Dizzy, Antony Little.
The Web We Love 2006
EXCLUSIVE: Gordon Brown In Tax Cock Up
The problem has arisen because the duty increase was announced in the Pre Budget Report and not the Budget but is intended to come into effect before the 2007 Budget. It is not unusual for changes in rates and allowances to be announced at the time of the Pre Budget Report. What is different this year is that the changes are intended to come into effect before the next Budget, and therein lies a problem. There is a general principle established in the Bill of Rights of 1689 that the government cannot raise taxes without enacting legislation. This would give the government a problem every year when they raise the rate of duty on alcohol, cigarettes and petrol with effect from the Budget Day, because they would not be able collect the higher rate of duty until the Finance Act had been passed many months later. To get around this problem there is an Act of Parliament called the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act which allows the government to collect taxes provisionally on the assumption that the announced changes will be enacted, provided that the House of Commons passes a specific resolution in favour of the changes. The resolution is made immediately after the Budget Speech, and that is the resolution that is voted at the end of the subsequent debate. For example after the 2006 Budget, the resolutions looked like THIS.
The trouble for Mr Brown is that there was no such resolution after this month's Pre Budget Report. Now that Parliament has risen, there is no opportunity to pass such a resolution until January. To be fair to the Chancellor, there isn't normally any need for a resolution, because changes announced at the time of the Pre Budget Report do not usually need to come into effect until after the Budget.
Without the passing of the resolution, there is no legal obligation on the airlines to collect the higher rate of duty, and it is hard to see how the airlines could force their customers to pay the higher rate before the airlines themselves are required to collect it. One might imagine that the Chancellor would have understood the parliamentary procedures, particularly because he has been the proposer of all the Budget resolutions since May 1997, but apparently not, because on 13 December he told the Treasury Select Committee that he thought he already had the powers to collect the increased duty:
Col 315 - 482
Q344 Chairman: I will write to you then, Chancellor, because I think there is a case here for them. Do you expect airlines then to pay that before it is authorised by the House of Commons and, if so, do you have the legal sanction to do that?
Mr Brown: I believe we do."
Oh dear, the Dour One seems to have got it wrong, doesn't he? Very unlike him to pay no attention to detail. I wonder if the likes of Ryan Air will now see this as payback time...
UPDATE: I particualrly like this comment from one of my readers... "If people really cared, they would send in tax payments for all their past flights."
John O'Sullivan on Frank Johnson
Poll: Conservative MP of the Year
Thursday, December 21, 2006
And in the Blue Corner...
Poll: Who is Your Cabinet Minister of the Year?
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Top Ten Political Chat Up Lines
1 Would you like to see the contents of my despatch box?
2 Have you ever had a whip?
3 Hello, I'm David Mellor
4 I've asked Angie to join us, you don't mind do you?
5 I've asked Bobby to join us, you don't mind do you?
6 I'm so depressed about the world crisis I really don't think I should spend tonight alone
7 In your honour I'm naming 2007 the International Year of the Babe
8 Hello, I'm Lembit Opik
9 Ever done it in the lobby?
10 You know what they say about Black Rod?
Coming soon to this blog: Top Ten Labour, LibDem and Tory chat up lines. Feel free to offer suggestions in the Comments... I may live to regret this...
UPDATE: Dave's Part blog had the Top Ten Trotskist Chat Up Lines HERE. The final four are...
4. That secondhand donkey jacket of yours would look great on my bedroom floor.
3. What's a nice girl like you doing in a lousy union fraction like this?
2. Do you sell papers here often?
1. So, babe ... just how degenerate would your ideal workers' state be?
Welsh Assembly Speaker Backs English Parliament
"In England I detect there is a strong feeling that the consequences of devolution for England must now be addressed. I think it is important for those of us who campaigned for devolution in Scotland and Wales to support that. There should be a proper English Parliament, and that could be arranged very easily if the Commons sat on a Tuesday or Wednesday as an English parliament."
Frank Field said: "I think the danger is that the English voters will see that we are against the English, and as they make up the vast majority of voters and return the vast majority of MPs, it's not a position to get into if you're only worried about the politics of it." He said English voters had to see Labour represented their views adding: "There's going to be another big sweeping issue that the electorate in England has got a clear view on, and the Labour Party is opposed to it."
Nick Robinson Blasts Indy Journalists
Gordon Brown: Miserabilist of the Year
2007 looks like a fun year then...
How They Are Stealing the Spirit of Christmas
Recent examples of political correctness gone mad include Shadow Minister for Children, Tim Loughton, being prevented from acting as a Christmas elf because he had not had a criminal records check. At one children's Christmas party in Bristol, non-vetted volunteers had to wear different coloured t-shirts. Many schools and charities now ask for volunteer Santas to be CRB checked. Churches require all adults in mixed-age choirs to be vetted. Bell ringing towers must have two CRB checked 'designated people'. (Did you know I used to be a camponologist?!).
The report argues that this suspicious climate is killing the spirit of Christmas - and doing little to protect children. Some schools have banned parents taking photos at nativity plays - but officials could not cite a single case of a paedophile found with nativity photos. Expert on child sex offenders, Ray Wyre, argues: 'We cannot allow our society to descend to the lowest common denominator, where we think of everything in terms of how a child molester might see it.'
You can download the Christmas report HERE.
Francis Maude Tonight on 18 Doughty Street
A History of the Middle East in 90 Seconds
Poll: Right Wing Blogger of the Year
Poll Boost for Cameron
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Unfunny Joke No 94
Report Reveals Irish PM Took Bribes
And in other news, bears were seen s***ing in the woods.
Politicians in Wife Swapping Shocker!
I'll Have a 'P', Please Michael
Martin Bright is the political editor of the New Statesman and has been one of the journalists who has been pushing the barriers of the Cash for Peerages issue. On his BLOG he has just posted this...
I was very interested to read in the The Telegraph that the bio-tech entrepreneur Sir Christopher Evans was alleged to have been offered "a K or a Big P" by Lord Levy. This is not the first time I have heard about this very idiosyncratic use of code by Lord Levy to describe knighthoods and peerages. A prominent Labour peer with impeccable media contacts once told me that he had heard that Levy used the letter "K" to mean a knighthood. I have also spoken to one of his tennis partners who told me that he once heard Levy tell a potential Labour donor that a substantial gift "had to be worth a K" (although, of course, that doesn't mean Levy was offering him one!). Unfortunately, when ths individual was interviewed for the Channel 4 documentary I presented on the subject he had a momentary memory lapse. Levy provokes fierce loyalty in his friends, who tell me he is incapable of doing anything illegal. I do hope they are right.
I am sure Mr Bright will be passing on the details to Inspector Knacker.
Denis MacShane Falls Foul of Mr Speaker
Last week Denis MacShane gave a speech saying that the conduct of politicians was turning the electorate off politicians. So anxious was he to prove the point that he indulged in this childish display of petulence int he Commons yesterday. Mr Speaker wasn't willing to play ball.
Mr. Denis MacShane (Rotherham) (Lab): Next year, Britain will celebrate two great acts of union—that with Scotland and that within the European Union. May I invite my right hon. Friend to take off her sober Foreign Secretary garb and, now and then, return to Margaret the great campaigner and campaign against some of the rancid rabble on the Opposition Benches who reject both the EU and the Act of Union with Scotland?
Mr. Speaker: Order. The hon. Gentleman makes a habit of this. He did it the last time that I called him. I did him a favour this time and called him thinking that he had learned the lesson. He is running the risk of not being called.
Mr. Douglas Hogg (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con): May I ask the Foreign Secretary whether in the margins of the Council— [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker: Order. I heard the remark made by the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane). He has been long enough in the House. Of course, he can raise political matters, but he is questioning a Minister on her responsibility. If he cannot learn that, I will not be long in teaching him.
I half expected a ruler to be whipped out...
Poll: Shadow Cabinet Minister of the Year
LibDem MP of the Year
Sunday Political Journalist
Political Broadcast Journalist
Conservative Commentator
John Redwood Has a Blog
My view is that all of us elected to the Westminster Parliament for English constituencies should perform a dual role. We should work with colleagues from Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland on Union matters for part of the week, and for the rest of the week, the Westminster Parliament itself should be the English Parliament, where we, English representatives, settle all the matters that are devolved Scotland ourselves at Westminster, without the help or interference of our colleagues from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The English Parliament at Westminster would therefore create a much more fair and balanced United Kingdom.
Quite right. Now all we have to do is convince the rest of the Tory Party...
Monday, December 18, 2006
End of the Year Review Tonight on 18DS
Hold the Front Page: LibDems Reshuffle Team for 'Snap Election'
The Question Tony Blair Must Answer
Mr Blair's evidence has baffled the donors, who believe they were nominated for the contribution they made to British society, not to the party. The curry magnate Sir Gulam Noon, who lent £250,000 to Labour, told the IoS he had been nominated for a peerage "for my charitable work [and] my building of the business".
A spokesman for the other businessmen at the centre of the cash-for-honours affair, Sir David Garrard and Barry Townsley, said: "My recollection was they were told it was for services to education." Earlier this year, Dr Chai Patel gave a BBC interview in which he outlined the achievements that had led to him being nominated - including founding the Priory Group of clinics. His office refused to comment on his nomination, but a friend said: "When he was nominated he thought it was for public service."
Last night, opposition politicians queried the nature of the "party service" provided by the millionaires, as none has a clear track record of Labour Party activism. It is not clear whether Sir David Garrard is even a Labour Party member, while Sir Gulam Noon has also given cash to the Liberal Democrats.
Downing Street said the "party service" referred to their willingness to serve as working Labour Party peers. A party spokesman said: "I am not going to get into how many leaflets they have delivered."
Dr Chai Patel's official citation lists his contribution to mental health services as well as his advisory positions. The citation for Sir David Garrard notes his £2.4m contribution to the Business Academy in Bexley, and other work. Barry Townsley's citation says he "is involved with numerous charitable organisations and good causes". It concludes: "He would be [sic] active contributor to the Lords speaking on education and business matters." Sir Gulam Noon's citation says "he would be an active member of the Lords bringing wide ranging business experience".
And while we are on the subject, Nick Robinson and others were quick to mention on 'Bur Bad News Thursday' that the PM was in the clear because he hadn't been arrested under caution. May I point out, as several people in the Comments have done so, that the man just arrested in Ipswich had been questioned by the Police four times in the last week without being under caution. That didn't stop him being arrested a few days later. It now seems that Jonathan Powell will be the next one to be questioned under caution.
So, to go back to the original title of this post, here's the question: Did Tony Blair award these peerages for public service or services to the Labour Party?
Second Edition of Labour Sleaze Book to be Published
Following the success of the LITTLE RED BOOK OF NEW LABOUR SLEAZE compiled by 50 UK bloggers in May 2006, a new edition of the book, called the BIG BOOK OF NEW LABOUR SLEAZE will be published this Spring by Harriman House publishers, the new owners of Politicos.co.uk. Guido Fawkes and I will edit the new edition, which will have all the entries from the old edition plus all new material collected since May. Any blogger who wishes to write a new piece for the book should email me as soon as possible as we want to have it ready by the end of January.
Jack Dromey: Lest We Forget
This is Jack Dromey (nee Harman). He's the man who started off the Cash for Peerages saga when he blew a gasket after discovering that Lord Levy had been arranging secret loans to the Labour Party behind his back. Dromey is, after all, only Treasurer of the Labour Party. However, he's remained silent since then. Whatever other charges are laid at the end of this, isn't Levy (and whoever else who knew about the loans) guilty of hiding these loans from the officially appointed Treasurer of the Labour Party? This may be raking over old ground, and may not be considered to be as serious as procuring loans for honours, but it shouldn't be forgotten.
A Perfect Cliffmas Present
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Poll: LibDem MP of the Year
Goldsmith's Precedent is Deeply Worrying
THIS comment on Danny Finkelstein's blog sums it up...
"The rule of law having been dismissed, and the public interest having been equated with the Government's interests (for which Blair takes "full reponsibility"), the Attorney General can now step in to halt the cash for honours enquiry. Not in the public interest, you see. While we're at it, why not arrest DC Yates for conduct prejudicial to national security?"
There's Only Two Alan Pardishleys...
I'm sitting in the Dr Martens Stand at Upton Park wondering the ghost of Alan Pardew which seems to be pervading Upton Park today. He gave a very gracious interview to Sky earlier in which he said he hoped one day to be able to manage the Hammers again.
Anyway, it' Alan Curbishley's time now. He has hardly changed the team but has dropped Carlos Tevez for Harewood. Mascherano doesn't get a look in again.
Most people don't give us a chance this afternoon against Man U, who are at full strength. Even a point would be a result for us - and a goal would nice!
I expect to be chanting in a few minutes "One Alan Pardew, there's only one Alan Pardew..." followed immediately by "Alan Curbishley's claret and blue army!" Fickle? Moi?
UPDATE: Oh joy, oh happy day. We haven't beaten Manchester United ever in the Premiership. It was a fantastic game today. Not a single player put in a weak performance. If only they had done the same for Alan Pardew. Lee Bowyer was particularly outstanding, as were all four defenders.
Who Wrote the 'Shambles' Memo?
"This is not a Downing Street memo, it was not written by any of the Prime Minister's staff and it most certainly does not reflect his views." Downing Street sources also insisted the memo had not been prepared by any of Mr Blair's special advisers or other Labour Party-funded staff in his personal office."
So it's Philip Gould then.
Hazel Blears: Say it Ain't So!
A short while ago I commented on the local Labour Party selection
scrap between sitting MPs Hazel Blears, Barbara Keeley and Ian Stewart. I've
just read on a comment on LabourHome that Barbara Keeley has
received the Labour nomination for the new Worsley and
Eccles South seat. This leaves Eccles MP Stewart to
battle it out with Blairite bigwig Blears for the Salford & Eccles
nomination - a contest she has an excellent chance of losing. Is this the end of
the road for another Blairite minister?
I am not sure I will be getting much sleep tonight.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Downing Street: We're Shit and We Know We Are
"LABOUR has no chance of winning the next Election because voters think the Government is a shambles – and there is little Gordon Brown can do to stop David Cameron becoming Prime Minister. That is the devastating verdict of a secret Downing Street memo drawn up for Tony Blair by his senior advisers and obtained by the Mail on Sunday. The confidential document states:
*Labour's standing is so low that the party's only hope of recovering may be to abandon Mr Brown and 'move to a new generation' by picking a much younger new leader – though it warns of the perils of being 'disloyal' to the 'greatly respected' Chancellor.
*The public believes the party is riven by 'internal conflicts' and shows a 'lack of grip and competence on key issues' such as Iraq, the NHS and immigration.
*People who voted Labour at the last Election 'are moving across' to the Conservatives and Labour is floundering 'on every major issue'.
*Mr Blair faces a 's*** or bust' decision on how to stop the rot.
The leak came as a vicious new war of words flared between the rival Blair and Brown camps over where blame for the cash-for-peerages scandal lies. Mr Brown angrily accused Mr Blair's chief fundraiser Lord Levy of trying to 'smear' him over claims the Chancellor did not tell the truth about nominating two of his cronies for peerages. And Mr Blair's allies responded by claiming the Prime Minister believed Mr Brown had 'fanned the flames' of the row over party funding to bring down his Downing Street neighbour. 'It is outrageous for Brown to play the innocent,' said one. 'No one demanded more money than him – and he knew where it was coming from.'
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that Mr Blair has held secret talks with his chief of staff Jonathan Powell, at which they agreed that the Prime Minister's final six months in office must create a 'leadership legacy' which sets him apart from Mr Brown. The Prime Minister has privately mocked Mr Brown's prospects as Prime Minister, saying: 'The trouble with many of Gordon's ideas is that they butter no parsnips.'
The memo, written in the past few weeks, is the most damaging Government leak in years. It was written by one of the Prime Minister's closest advisers and seen by a handful of senior figures, including Mr Blair. It makes a nonsense of public claims by Labour that Mr Blair is planning a smooth transition to Mr Brown next June or July as part of a carefully co-ordinated strategy to secure a fourth successive Election victory.
It also flatly contradicts Mr Blair's public statements dismissing Mr Cameron as a lightweight with no chance of winning power. In private, Mr Blair's inner circle is in a blind panic over the march of Mr Cameron's Conservatives, and they don't think Mr Brown is any match for him. The memo freely acknowledges Tory gains in the polls since Mr Cameron replaced Michael Howard, with big leads on tax, crime and immigration.
'Labour no longer has a measurable lead on any major issue,' it states. And it confirms Opposition claims that the Government has failed to live up to its promises and that it is haemorrhaging support as a result of the Iraq War. 'The Government is seen as a shambles. It is not just Labour internal conflicts but a lack of grip and competence on key issues. Iraq is a potent and raw issue, so is the NHS, immigration and crime. We have lost control of the big issues and are not delivering,' the memo states.
Nor is the trend likely to change. 'This view is deeply held and entering the bones of the electorate. The public are clearly preparing to shift to the Conservatives if they prove themselves credible and likable. It would be totally wrong to assume this is some kind of mid-term setback. It is not. It is a long-term cyclical shift towards an increasingly acceptable Opposition. People who voted Labour in 2005 are on their way across.'
Mr Blair's advisers believe Mr Brown's position as Labour heir apparent is making things worse. 'Compounding this is an erosion in Gordon Brown's position against David Cameron,' the memo says. Extraordinarily, the document reveals that No10 actively contemplated dumping Mr Brown in favour of a younger successor. 'We can rally round...or we can go for total renewal, moving to a new generation, effectively forming a new government while still in power.' It does not name the potential alternative successors, but it is no secret that Mr Blair once hoped Environment Secretary David Miliband would mount a challenge against Mr Brown. Similarly, despite being slightly older than Mr Brown, Education Secretary Alan Johnson, a relative Cabinet newcomer, was also seen as a way of providing a 'break with the past'.
But the memo warns this tactic could backfire: 'Trying to completely renew in office may look as if we are trying to cheat time. And worse – that we are disavowing our record in government. Gordon Brown is part of our record. If we disown him, we run the risk of disowning our record. The public will recoil from evidence of disloyalty towards Gordon. 'Whatever people think of him as a [potential] Prime Minister, they still greatly respect him as a Chancellor.'
But it shows Mr Blair has serious doubts about allowing Mr Brown to take over without a leadership contest. The public are 'not stupid', says the memo. 'They will not forgive us if we foist an unpopular leader on them without a proper democratic process. They just won't accept it.'
It finishes on a note of desperation. 'We have to focus. We can't sort out everything. The NHS is probably the best place to start. If we can make sense of one or two areas of policy the rest might fall into place. This is really s*** or bust time.'"
Well if that doesn't lead this evening's news bulletins, I'm a Dutchman. "In ander nieuws vanavond.."
I'll be doing the paper review at 11.45pm on News 24. Glad there'll be something to talk about!
Lembit Grope-It Is a Cheeky Boy
Shaun Conquers His Nerves
LibDems: Admit it, You Want to Privatise the Post Office!
You can read the full briefing document HERE. It seeks to explain how they want to split Post Offices Limited away from Royal Mail, but does so without actually ever using the dreaded 'P' word (and I don't mean 'peerage'). The LibDems want to privatise Royal Mail so why don't they just come out and say it? Some of us think it is rather a good idea.
In The Words of Frank Johnson
Johnson's wit was particularly scintillating in his parliamentary sketches, where he displayed a wonderful lightness of touch. Anthony Crosland, the Labour Foreign Secretary, was "one of the cleverest men in the Commons, as he himself would concede".
At a Conservative party conference, Johnson reported: "Mr Heath arrived in the hall and advanced menacingly on the platform… neatly dressed as ever, facially impassive, arms thrust straight down his sides. It was as if he had stepped out of the window of a nearby branch of Burton's. He was warmly applauded and seated himself one place away from Mrs Thatcher. They gave each other a welcoming stare."
Of Michael Heseltine, the darling of Tory party conferences, Johnson observed: "One arrived to find Mr Heseltine engulfed in his own peroration. A huge audience was enthralled. He bellowed at them from beneath that blond mane which causes him so often to be mistaken from behind for Mrs Sally Oppenheim. He was thundering along the lines of: one nation, one Reich, one Heseltine."
Roy Jenkins was a favourite and fruitful subject. In the Labour leadership election following Harold Wilson's resignation in 1976, Jenkins was "expected to sweep Belgravia and the offices of The Times". And noting that Jenkins was described in a by-election campaign leaflet as "a miner's son", Johnson mused: "True, certainly; but only in the way that it is true to describe Mrs Jacqueline Onassis as the widow of a Greek merchant seaman. It simply does not do justice to Mr Jenkins' position in café society."
On Shirley Williams, he wrote: "Mrs Shirley Williams, who is regarded by some of the more primitive followers of the SDP as possessing divine status and miraculous powers, unsuccessfully applied to the Speaker for an emergency debate on the water dispute. At first, one assumed this was because the dispute was beginning to threaten supplies of the only water used by the SDP: Perrier water."
"In the house, Mr Callaghan as prime minister is proving to be many of the things which his predecessor, Sir Harold, was widely said to be, but really was not... Mr Callaghan is genuinely cunning. Such is his deviousness that he always knows the right moment at which to be straightforward. He also gives the impression that he is seriously engaged in the activity of politics, something which Sir Harold could never bring off."
"The sketch," he once said, "is a verbal cartoon. I don't like to be rude and I have no anger. I believe in the system: I'm part of it, like Black Rod or Madam Speaker."


text:
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Real Parent Reviews
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Zynga executives were especially concerned with not creating a "Google chef" scenario.
That reference relates to Google's 2004 IPO when one of the company's chefs, who was hired in the firm's early days, walked away with $20 million worth of stock after the shares went public.
This really bothers me. It presumes that a chef cannot be a significant contributor to the success of a company. As someone who was there in Google's early days I can tell you from firsthand experience that this is not true. If someone at Zynga actually did say this on the record, they owe Charlie Ayers an apology.
Working at a startup is hard. The hours are long, the stress can be brutal, and there is no guarantee of success. In fact, the odds for a raw startup (which is what Google was when Charlie joined) are very much against you. I have no idea what Google's deal with Charlie was, but typically you take a pay cut for a shot at the brass ring. Charlie didn't make $20M for cooking, he made $20M for taking the risk that the company he was joining would fail and that he could end up five years older, unemployed, and with nothing to show for his trouble.
But it is not Zynga's failure to grasp this basic fact of startup economics that bothers me, it is their singling out of Charlie in particular because he's a chef. As someone who was there in the early days I can tell you that Charlie Ayers contributed more to Google's success that I did, and I was a senior software engineer.
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that people get hungry, and when they do their productivity drops. As a company you have three options: make your employees deal with it themselves (bring sack lunches or go out), provide some basic but uninspiring food (stock the break room with snacks, have the odd pizza delivered), or you can, as Google did, provide them with really good food.
The latter option costs more, but it pays dividends. When the best restaurant in town is the company cafeteria it liberates your employees from having to worry about where their next meal is coming from (literally) and lets them focus on their work. For software engineering in particular, where getting into an uninterrupted mental "flow" is crucial to productivity, free quality food is a huge lever.
Providing quality food to an ever-growing roster of hungry engineers is not an easy task. Charlie and his staff worked harder on a light day than I ever did (or probably ever will). If you doubt me, take a job in a restaurant kitchen some time. Not only that, but the stakes are higher than most people realize. Feeding a few hundred people in a professional setting is not just taking the process of preparing a home-cooked meal and multiplying. If a software engineer screws up, the site goes down. But if a chef screws up, people get sick. In extreme cases, they die.
If I were to point out that no one ever got sick from eating Charlie's food most people would consider than to be damning with faint praise, but that is just a testament to how well Charlie did his job. Not only did he keep us well feed and free from salmonella, he inspired us. When I said that the best restaurant in town was Google's cafeteria that was no exaggeration. Charlies food was outstanding, day in and day out. (It still is. If you're in the Bay Area, do yourself a favor and have a meal at his restaurant.)
But Charlie's contribution to Google's early success went even well beyond that. Charlie was a friend and a cheerleader. Everyone at Google got to know him because everyone went through the lunch line, and Charlie was always there making sure everything was ship-shape. And Charlie got to know us, got to know our individual tastes and preferences, and bent over backwards to accommodate them, but never at the cost of compromising on his principles of making his offerings healthy and sustainable, principles he still adheres to. Being fed by Charlie was a privilege. It was inspiring. It was cool. It kept us going.
Don't tell me Charlie deserved his payday any less than the rest of us.
[UPDATE:] Found a link to the WSJ article that isn't behind a paywall. Just to be clear, I am not taking a position on Zynga's policy. I think renegotiating the compensation of underperforming employees could be a defensible practice (albeit fraught with all manner of peril). What I take issue with is citing Charlie in defense of such a policy. Here's the relevant passage:
Built into that arrangement [stock options] is the chance that ... some very early employees will end up with bigger windfalls than latecomers who contribute more to the company. Many in Silicon Valley cite an early-hired Google Inc. cook whose stock was worth $20 million after the firm's 2004 IPO.
Zynga attempted to avoid such pitfalls. In meetings last year, Zynga executives said they didn't want a "Google chef" situation, said a person with knowledge of the discussions.
So apparently it's not just Zynga casting Charlie as the poster child for the early employee who got more than he deserved. I do not doubt that some early employees end up not pulling their weight. But Charlie Ayers was not one of them.


text:
Key Features:
- The radio channel central unit with GSM and Ethernet modules
- Maximum number of devices connected to the hub - 100
- Maximum number of users - 50
Ajax is smart, reliable, and lightning fast. It reacts to real dangers only, not to false alarms. If an event occurs, Ajax will notify you in a heartbeat.
Ajax has been designed and built from scratch by combining functional design, the latest technology and the best components available. This uncompromising approach made it possible to create a user friendly security system that provides top level reliability and functionality to security professionals.
The Ajax app turns your security system into one easy-to-manage device. Arm and disarm from anywhere in the world with a few taps. Switch on appliances before you get home. Get instant notifications through SwiftAlerts, a protocol that even modern messengers should envy.
The Hub intelligent control panel is a key element of the Ajax security system. The device monitors operation of all Ajax detectors and immediately sends an alarm signal to the owner and the Central Monitoring Station.
Built in GSM and Ethernet allows alarm notifications to be sent to a Central Monitoring Station or owner. It can also send a notification in case of electrical power loss and operates for up to 15 hours from the included battery backup.
The Hub collects information on detector operation in an encrypted format, analyzes the data, and in case of alarm, notifies the system owner and the Central Monitoring Station in just milliseconds. Ajax uses Jeweller radio technology to monitor the detectors and ensure a quick response to danger. It switches the entire system to clear frequencies during jamming. The device is protected against viruses and hacking at software level.
Ready to operate straight out the box. Ajax can be completely configured using the mobile application, detectors are added by simply scanning a QR code and the system can be mounted in just a few minutes using the included SmartBracket mount.
- The radio channel central unit with GSM and Ethernet modules
- Maximum number of devices connected to the hub - 100
- Maximum number of cameras connected to the hub - 10
- Maximum number of users - 50
- Maximum number of rooms - 50
- Maximum number of groups - 9
- Mobile applications: iOS 9.1 and later, Android 4.1 and later
- Ethernet, GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
- Alarm signal delivery time: 0.15 s
- Types of notifications: SMS message, call, push
- Communication with Central Monitoring Station - Contact ID, SIA
- Mains supply: 110−240 V
- Battery backup: Li-Ion 2 Ah
- Up to 15 hours of offline operation when Ethernet is switched off
- SIM card support - Micro SIM 2G
- Operating temperature range - +5°С to +40°С
- Anti-sabotage
- Protection against fraud
- Jamming detection
- Tamper-resistant
- Video surveillance - Up to 10 cameras or DVRs
- Dimensions - 163x163x36 mm
- Weight - 350 g
- Certification: Grade 2, CE
*Battery backup: Li-Ion 2 Ah (included)*
Payment & Security
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.


text:
Advances in Vet Imaging Tech
Veterinary medicine has made tremendous strides in recent years, particularly in the field of imaging technology. Advances in imaging tech have made it possible for vets to diagnose and treat a wider range of diseases, as well as gain a better understanding of the health of animals.
As the pet healthcare industry continues to evolve, veterinary imaging technology is becoming increasingly advanced to provide the most accurate and precise information possible. Recent advances in veterinary imaging have resulted in improved image quality, lower radiation doses, faster acquisition times, and a wider variety of applications.
The advent of modern veterinary imaging technologies has revolutionised the field of veterinary medicine, offering unprecedented insight into the physical and physiological processes occurring in animals. These technologies, including radiography, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET), enable veterinarians to diagnose a wide range of conditions more accurately and quickly than ever before.
New Possibilities for Pet Scans
The advent of pet vet scans has opened a multitude of possibilities in the field of veterinary medicine. Through innovative imaging technology, veterinarians now have the opportunity to non-invasively evaluate and diagnose a wide array of conditions and diseases in companion animals. This breakthrough has allowed for early detection of serious illnesses and improved treatment outcomes. In addition, these scans are applicable for the evaluation of musculoskeletal conditions, providing detailed insights into potential abnormalities that may have previously been overlooked.
The scans are a novel technological advancement that provides unique advantages for both pet owners and veterinarians. This non-invasive imaging technique offers a number of benefits over traditional radiography, including enhanced visualisation of soft tissue structures, reduced radiation exposure to both the patient and operator, and improved diagnostic accuracy. The use of pet vet scans also offers a degree of flexibility with regard to patient positioning, providing improved visualisation for multiple views in a single session.
Decoding Veterinary X-Rays
Decoding veterinary x-rays is a process of utilising specialised imaging equipment to acquire a radiographic representation of an animal's internal anatomy. As part of the process, the images are then evaluated by an experienced and trained professional who is capable of interpreting the radiographs in order to diagnose any underlying medical conditions or diseases. This diagnostic information is then used to develop a personalised treatment plan for the animal, specifically tailored to its individual needs and condition.
Veterinary X-Rays offer a variety of advantages, most notably the ability to identify and diagnose an array of pathologies. Such diagnostics are critical in order to ascertain the necessary course of treatment and to provide a more accurate prognosis. Furthermore, X-Rays can be used to monitor the progression or regression of certain pathologies as well as providing additional information through specialised techniques such as computed tomography scanning.
How Does Veterinary Medical Imaging work?
Veterinary medical imaging is a fundamental practice utilised in veterinary medicine. It uses sophisticated technology to produce visual representations of the anatomy and physiology of an animal, enabling the identification of diseases and other abnormalities. The most common types of veterinary medical imaging include radiographs, ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear scintigraphy.
Each modality has its own advantages and limitations in terms of image resolution, cost effectiveness, and availability. This can include conventional radiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and positron emission tomography (PET). It is an invaluable tool for veterinarians as it allows for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment planning.
Exploring the Benefits of Veterinary Medical Imaging
The application of veterinary medical imaging techniques has been seen to provide a wealth of benefits in the field of animal healthcare. Utilising technologies such as radiography, ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, practitioners are able to diagnose a range of conditions with heightened accuracy and precision. Moreover, through the use of these modalities, practitioners are able to gain a better understanding of the extent and complexity of disease processes which may be present without needing to resort to exploratory surgery.
The advancements in veterinary imaging technology have greatly improved the accuracy and speed with which veterinarians can diagnose and treat animals. These technologies provide more detailed images than ever before, allowing for greater insight into an animal's health. Additionally, these technologies are much more affordable than they were in the past, so an increasingly larger number of people are able to access them. As a result, this technology is becoming a standard part of everyday life in the veterinary world as it continues to improve and evolve.


text:
You can't take your eyes off him, because he's saturated in grit and has a chance on every hole. You don't love his chances to win, because the putter suddenly is not his friend.
Spieth's newly adopted practice-shot routine, which displays similarities to that of Alex Noren, can be nervy to watch sometimes as well. But he remains in possession of those buttons that produce pure magic, and that is utterly uncanny.
He motions and talks. You think you just want him to hit the shot. Then he motions and talks some more and you realize, no, you don't want Spieth to hit the shot until he motions and talks some more.
When all the numbers had been crunched at the conclusion of Sunday's raucous and fun-filled RBC Heritage, Spieth had ranked No. 60 in Strokes Gained: Putting. He had three-putted for bogey at the 11th to fall three off the lead. He had missed birdie tries from 11 feet on the 15th and 14 feet on the 16th. Oh, and it still gnawed at him that he had carelessly and inexplicably waved at, and mishit, an 18-inch putt on the 18th hole Saturday.
An insurmountable number of obstacles, eh? Especially that inexcusable bogey Saturday that left him in shock.
"I knew that (hiccup) on 18 was going to cost me," said Spieth, "and I hoped it did in a way, because if it didn't, it would mean I just played a very average round today."
Unfathomable, how so many things seemed to stack up against Spieth, to the point where he was where golfers never like to be – without control of the situation. "I needed a lot of things to go right," he admitted. "It's a bit of a surprise."
A wild and maddening surprise is what it was, because from Patrick Cantlay, who appeared to have had the playoff in his control, to Shane Lowry, who made all-world par saves at Nos. 12 and 13 and owned a two-stroke lead walking to the 14th tee, to any number of other candidates (Harold Varner III, Erik van Rooyen, Sepp Straka), the winner appeared likely to be anyone other than Jordan Spieth.
Bless the young Texan's heart, he understood why sitting there as the playoff winner over Cantlay probably had fans a bit stunned.
"(There are those weeks) where you feel like you played good but not good enough to win, and I honestly felt like this was that week," said Spieth, who at 28 won for the 13th time in his PGA TOUR career.
Not that Spieth hadn't done a few gut-checks to give himself a chance, for he surely had. The early-round magic on the par-5s (he holed a bunker shot for eagle at the second and drained a 45-footer for eagle at the fifth) were fading quickly after Spieth had made a bad bogey at the ninth and the three-putt mishap at the 11th.
But he breathed life into his slim chances with a 12-footer for birdie at the 13th, then stuffed a 173-yard approach to 10 feet at No. 18, where the nightmare of Saturday didn't repeat itself.
Spieth's round of 5-under 66 put him in the clubhouse at 13-under 271 and oh, how he watched the pieces fall his way. Yes, he'd rather have had total control of things – all golfers want that – but the putter had betrayed him.
"The hole started to look small to me (Saturday). I was a bit shocked at where I was at Strokes Gained … that was pretty frustrating. I mean, I knew I wasn't putting well, but it was certainly better than that showed."
No, you don't like to call on luck to turn your way, but Spieth knew he needed it to.
Lowry chipped into the water at the par-3 14th, made double bogey and helped.
Varner, the third-round leader, needed one more birdie to tie, but he finished with nine straight pars.
No shock that the coolest of them all, Cantlay, made an 8-footer at the 71st hole to tie Spieth, but it was a major shock at how things unfolded in the playoff.
"Patrick got unlucky," conceded Spieth, whose playoff drive at the 18th was weak and short and his 204-yard approach bunkered. Advantage Cantlay, who had just a 9-iron in from about 170 yards and had feasted on the hole all week.
Not this time. Not on this day when Lady Luck was shining on Spieth. The ball not only found the greenside bunker, but it plugged. "Obviously," sighed Cantlay after he bogeyed to lose, "it's darn near impossible to get it close."
Spieth from his juicy lie had gotten it close for an easy tap-in, which almost seemed to be part of his game plan all week. When the putter is stubborn, don't despair; let the bunker shots and the pitch shots and the flop shots and the bump-and-runs off pine straw and between trees push you up the leaderboard.
Of course, there was time saved for a trip to the woodshed, and Spieth let himself have it over the way he thought he might have thrown away the tournament on the 18th hole Saturday.
"I was about as upset after the round yesterday as I've ever been in a golf tournament," said Spieth. "There's just no excuse for those kind of brain-farts as a professional – to myself, but also to Michael (Greller, his caddie), who is working his butt off – to go out there and do that (when it) could have potentially affected the outcome of a tournament."
Spieth shook his head but added in reference to his missed cut at last week's Masters and a season that had previously been winless: "And I've done that a number of times on this stretch in the last four weeks."
True, all of that. There have been some rough spots in 2021-22, but he remains in possession of the most plentiful supply of "it" – whatever "it" is – of anyone on TOUR.
Source: pgatour.com


text: When we say Dolomiti Superski first thing that comes up on our minds is skiing in on of the most magical landscapes: the Dolomites. The iconic mountain range in the north of Italy is a world famous tourist destination in summer and winter. Although I have never been in summer, Im blessed to have experienced this winter wonderland a couple times. Beginning of January 2019 I got the chance to discover some amazing places to visit in this massive ski area on the Dolomiti Superski Experience 2019.


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Ransomware – A Cybercrime
How to protect against ransomware attacks: What is the source of the ransomware problem? The most common sort of malware encrypts files, making them illegible unless a mathematical key known only to the thieves is used. Once the files have been encrypted, ransomware will display a notice informing the victim that they must pay a small amount in Bitcoin to unlock them in order to reaccess the data. The ransom is usually fixed at a few hundred dollars. This makes it extremely profitable for cybercriminals to demand money in exchange for restoring file access.
Because ransomware poses a serious risk to businesses and important national infrastructure, attackers choose to target enterprises with limited protection expenditures and a diverse user base. This makes it easier for hackers to breach security measures. Furthermore, some organisations are more likely than others to pay the ransom. Government agencies and medical facilities, for example, regularly require fast access to sensitive papers and may be willing to pay a ransom to keep them confidential.
Because it impairs important functions such as government services, ransomware is classified as a cybercrime. Ransomware demands might be life-threatening, but it is also a means of funding criminals. Because of the risk of being discovered, many people are prepared to pay the ransom if it is large enough.
How Did Ransomware Emerge?
In the year 2000, the first case of ransomware was discovered. Popp's AIDS Trojan was responsible for preventing users from accessing their files. It requested $189 to enter Panama, which was prohibited. IT experts soon discovered a decryption key, and the malware was eradicated. It took a long time, though, before it reappeared in the early 2000s.
The AIDS Trojan, which is responsible for the majority of ransomware attacks today, first appeared roughly 30 years ago. A Harvard-educated biologist named Joseph Popp delivered 20,000 diskettes containing a virus that infected MS-DOS systems. Due to the fact that the discs were intended for AIDS conferences, recipients felt they were receiving actual research. They had no idea they were a consuming virus, and they couldn't afford to pay.
In 1989, Joseph L. Popp, a Harvard evolutionary researcher, gave contaminated diskettes to AIDS conference attendees. Upon receipt of payment, the user is informed that they must transfer the key to the business PC Cyborg Corp. in Panama. However, the prosecution's case against Dr Popp was dismissed, and he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Ransomware: A Worldwide Security Concern
Ransomware is the most popular sort of cyberattack and has grown in sophistication and ability to encrypt data over the previous decade. Ransomware has the potential to lock computer systems and encrypt data, as well as participate in distributed denial-of-service assaults. Many of these assaults are also aimed at social media platforms and personal email accounts.
While many businesses take safeguards against ransomware, many others do not. They don't back up their networks and don't protect their systems from default login credentials. In sum, ransomware is a business problem, not an IT problem. While this threat is most dangerous for small enterprises, it can also damage larger corporations. Experts advise a multi-agency approach to ransomware assaults. To defend its systems, the government should collaborate with the private sector.
The threat of ransomware is significantly more prevalent than many people believe. To battle ransomware, various government bodies have banded together. The US Department of Justice, Europol, and the UK's National Crime Agency are also among them. Despite the increasing occurrence of ransomware, these businesses do not take enough protection. They, for example, do not back up their networks, do not block default login passwords, and do not apply security fixes.
Checklist for Ransomware Protection
A ransomware protection checklist is crucial for your company's and data's security. Ransomware attacks are designed to collect money from victims by encrypting files containing critical information. Typically, such attacks target unpatched systems and exploit known vulnerabilities. Regular upgrades to your antivirus and firewall software ensure that your company is safe from these dangers. It would be beneficial if you also considered installing anti-malware software to avoid infection.
Lastly, a ransomware prevention checklist should include best practices to prevent further infections. For example, it is vital to implement an application directory that allows the listing to ensure that only authorized applications are allowed to run. For example, you can enable safe defaults to allow applications to run from PROGRAM FILES, X86, or SYSTEM32. You can also protect your business by securing your network with intrusion detection systems. These systems can detect and block potentially malicious network activity before ransomware's distribution.
After an attack, you can use the malware's root cause analysis to determine the vector and variant of the infection. If your organization cannot shut down the affected hosts or the network, you should take the affected devices offline. This will help you determine how far the infection has spread, allowing you to tighten security measures. However, if you're unsure about what to do, you should try to power down all devices and networks.
How To Prevent Ransomware In Healthcare?
Backing up all data on a regular basis is the greatest strategy to prevent ransomware attacks in hospitals and other healthcare companies. While this may appear to be a straightforward task, numerous medical facilities have neglected to consistently back up their data, making them ideal targets for thieves. Fortunately, there are numerous methods for safeguarding your hospital's sensitive patient data, and the best approach to mitigate the impact of an assault is to plan ahead of time. Support 305 is a cyber security firm that employs highly qualified and efficient cyber professionals.
The first step is to train your employees to recognise strange emails and to run phishing tests to measure their ability to detect these emails. The next step is to promptly unplug affected devices from the network in order to prevent the spread of the infection. While paying a ransom is frequently the only option to get your data back, it is not always a sure thing. The greatest method to reduce the risk is to take precautions against ransomware.
More advanced ransomware attacks may target the healthcare business in the future, therefore it is critical to secure yourself now. It is crucial to understand that paying a ransom does not guarantee that your files will be decrypted. A cyber security expert from Support 305 can assist you in determining the level of encryption and negotiating the appropriate ransom.
How Do Ransomware Protection Firms Work?
You've come to the right place if you're seeking ransomware protection. A ransomware assault can destroy your organisation in minutes, and a ransomware protection solution will assist you in protecting your data. This spyware encrypts your files before requesting payment via numerous means such as BitCoin, MoneyPak, PaySafeCard, Ukash, or prepaid cards.
Support 305, the top ransomware protection business, will safeguard your data from ransomware attacks. These viruses target businesses that have a lot of money to lose and a lot of money to pay. Universities typically have smaller security teams than other organisations, leaving them more vulnerable to compromise. Some businesses may be more susceptible to ransomware than others. The Colonial Pipeline, for example, was targeted in 2021 and was able to repair its system with only one hour of outage. Some of the ransom payments were recovered by cybercriminals. Because law companies frequently want fast access to their files, they can be targets of phishing attacks.
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CopyMinder Prices
On this page you will find prices for CopyMinder in British pounds. Please note that the prices listed on this page do not include taxes.
You pay nothing while you are getting used to the system and testing your protected programs. When you have completed your testing, you can reset the system ready for live use. From then on, we bill you at the end of each calendar month. If your bill at the end of the month is less than £10, you will not be invoiced. Instead, the charges will be carried forward into the next billing period.
CopyMinder Software Development Kit £95
You must purchase a CopyMinder SDK when you first create a CopyMinder account. The SDK includes all of the tools and documentation you need to protect your software with CopyMinder.
We don't charge for support or updates - the price of the SDK covers all updates and technical support for life.
Installation Charges
There is a charge for each new installation of your protected software. There is no charge for re-installation using the same licence. The charge for each new installation depends on whether the installation is activated as a 'Trial' installation, or a 'Normal' or 'non-Trial' installation.
Normal Installations
The charge per normal installation is based on the total number of user installations to date. The number of installations to date is calculated per Product Code:
First 100 new users | £3.00 per user |
Next 1000 new users | £2.00 per user |
Thereafter | £1.00 per user |
For network installations the charge is per end-user, but we only charge for the first 30 users on any one network installation.
Trial Installations 8p per new installation
There is one fixed charge of 8p for each new Trial installation of your protected software, regardless of the number of users. If a network installation is activated as a trial, the charge is 8p regardless of the number of end-users of the software on that network.
Active User Charges 2p per active user per month, or a £1 one-off charge per user
There is also a monthly charge per end-user of each normal installation, for as long as that installation is 'active'. You are only charged if an installation of your software is used within a particular month.
There is no monthly charge for Trial installations.
Instead of monthly active user charges, you can opt to pay a one-off charge of £1 per end-user. You will be billed for this at the same time as the new installation charge described above. If you have a large numbers of end-users of your protected software, the number of active users can vary a lot from month to month. Choosing to pay this up-front, one-off charge can therefore greatly simplify your billing.


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Test that the viewer can handle the gradientUnits attribute on linear gradients. It tests the following values of gradientUnits : default (userSpace), objectBoundingBox, and userSpaceOnUse.
From top-down the appearance of objects is as follows.
The first rectangle uses the default attributes on the linearGradient element. Therefore the linear gradient should default to objectBoundingBox. It should appear from the left edge of therectangle (blue) to the right edge of the rectangle (red). The rectangle is smaller than the viewport, because a previous version of the SVG spec had the default value be 'viewport'. The test fails if only a portion of the gradient is shown.
The next rectangle uses gradientUnits=objectBoundingBox. The linear gradient should travel from blue (top) to red (bottom).
The last rectangle uses gradientUnits=userSpaceOnUse. The rectangle element is given it's own transformation and the gradient is assumed to be in this user space. The gradient should appear as a linear gradient from red (left) to blue (right).
The rendered picture should match the reference image exactly, except for possible variations in the labelling text (per CSS2 rules).


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Ancor Safety Duplex Cable - 14/2 - 100' [124510]
Safety Duplex Cable - 14/2 - 100'
- ANCOR Duplex Cable is made to surpass the highest UL Boat Cable standards with ultra flexible (Type 3/Class K) stranding to resist fatigue due to vibration and flexing.
- Outer jacket is made for easy removal and provides the best abrasion resistance available
- ANCORs proprietary premium vinyl insulation stays flexible even in extreme cold and resists salt water, battery acid, oil, gasoline and ultra-violet radiation. Exclusive insulation is rated at 600 volts, 105°C dry and 75°C wet, and is resistant to heat and abrasion.
- Inner conductors are correctly color-coded to ABYC standards
- Features red and yellow Marine Grade primary conductors in white common jacket
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (dehp) which is known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to P65Warnings.ca.gov.
- Color: Red/Yellow
- Length (Feet): 100'
- Gauge: 14/2 AWG
- Box Dimensions: 5"H x 7"W x 7"L WT: 6 lbs
Quick Guide (pdf)
Brochure (pdf)


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Anyway, the discussion was about the dynamics of services. Hal Hildebrand (Oracle) started a discussion about the cardinality of services. This opened a floodgate of mails that I tried to ignore due to after-vacation overload. However, Costin Leau (Interface21) asked me to jump in so I was forced to analyze the thread. I got myself a cup of strong coffee and wrestled through the mail flood.
The issue was revolving around the cardinality. The cardinality indicates how many services of a given type you require and how many of them you are interested in. The OSGi-Spring specification treats OSGi services similar to beans. This allows you to inject beans into other beans, following the concept of inversion of control and dependency injection. For unary services like an OSGi Log Service this works fairly well. However, the devil is usually in the details, so let us take a closer look.
The key differences between beans and OSGi services are:
- Beans are passive, beans are non-existent until someone creates them with Class.newInstance(). The whole idea of Inversion of Control (IoC) is that this creation is done by an outsider and not the POJO itself.
- You rarely require two beans of the same class. Why would you use two different database objects or log objects?
Most Java programmers will recognize this model. Many developers use the Class.forName to find a class and then use Class.newInstance to create an instance for extendibility. Virtually any (non-OSGi) Java application uses this model to extend or configure itself this way. Notice that there is a strong 1:1 relation between the Class and the instance in this model.
In contrast, OSGi services are more like jumping beans; they have a life of their own. When beans start jumping all over the place (spring, as they say in Dutch!) then most programmers will be shocked to the bones. Fortunately, once they grasp the power of a dynamic model they usually fall in love it. However, this model implies that the IoC is not limited to configuration and activation, it means that the IoC container must handle life cycle issues during the active life of the application.
Obviously, many Spring applications will not be able to handle these dynamics, or even want to handle these dynamics. The Spring-OSGi group therefore chose to hide these dynamics behind a proxy. Instead of directly injecting the service object, a proxy to this object is injected into the configured bean. This gives us a choice to control the behavior later when the underlying service arrives or goes away. However, it also gives us a choice of optionality and multiplicity. The proxy mechanism of Spring gives us full control, the tricky thing is to define what to do with this control.
These are exactly the issue we spent a lot of time discussing during the development of declarative services, inspired by Richard Hall's service binder and designed by BJ Hargrave (IBM). Declarative services do not use proxies but instead bind and unbind services to the application using injection. After lots of deep discussions we came up with the following policies for binding and unbinding services to the application.
A mandatory service means that the service must be present before the application is activated and the application will be deactivated when there is no such service available anymore. An optional service does not influence the life cycle of the application. The declarative runtime can unbind a service and bind another service at will when the service is optional. Normal Spring beans are similar to mandatory services.
Mandatory is normally indicated in the cardinality as 1.., and optionality as 0.. .
The application can be interested in a single service (unary) or it can track a set of services. The set may require some explanation. The dynamic service registry enables some very interesting software patterns. For example, one bundle manages a Bluetooth hardware interface. The whiteboard pattern shows that the simplest solution for this bundle is to register a service per discovered device, and unregister this service when the device is no longer reachable. Other bundles can then just track these services from the registry and use when required. This pattern nicely decouples the lifecycle of the bundles that participate, making clients easier to develop.
The idea that you can add and remove beans dynamically from a configured bean is new to Spring but it follows naturally from the OSGi model.
This cardinality is indicated with ..1 for unary and ..n for multiple.
Once an application is activated because its dependencies are met, the lifecycle state of a referred service can change. The traditional choice is to deactivate the application and restart it when the conditions are right again; this is called the static policy. Some people are repelled by this idea but in an OSGi system this is quite natural, and well under the control of the operator. An update can cause a ripple effect of many bundles restarting but well designed systems should be robust enough to handle this. Hmm, let me rephrase, if your system can't handle this model, it will fail in the end anyway.
In certain cases, it would do no harm to replace a service on the fly. If an application uses the Log Service, it is likely not interested which Log Service it uses. If this service is unregistered, it could easily be unbound and then bound again with a new instance. Most stateless services can be replaced this way. Binding and unbinding during the active life of the application is called the dynamic model.
Let us now take a look at the possible combinations and see what they mean, and where they are applicable.
- static, 1..1 – The simplest case. The service must be present before the application is activated and the application is deactivated when the service disappears. The world looks perfectly simple and static for the application. The typical use case for this policy is the Http Service. Many applications should only be started when the Http Service is present and when it goes away the application has no purpose anymore. A once chosen Http Service can not just be replaced because the application must register the servlet with the Http Service; the Http Service is not stateless with respect to the application.
- static, 0..1 – The common case when the service is not really required to operate the application and the programmer does not want to bother when the service shows up later. The application is therefore unconditionally activated, regardless if the service is present. However, if a service is bound to the application before activation, the application is deactivated when that specific service goes away, even if another becomes available. This cardinality could for example be used for the Configuration Admin service because it is likely to be there or not.
- static, 1..n – This case is not very useful, tracking multiple services require a dynamic policy to make sense.
- static, 0..n – See previous.
- dynamic, 1..1 – The service must be present before the application is activated, however, the service can be unbound and bound again if a replacement can be found. This mode is useful when you have a stateless service but you require its presence to operate. For example, if the application needs to send messages then it can not function without a message service. However, it does not really care which message service is used.
- dynamic, 0..1 – An optional service that can dynamically be replaced. The application is unconditionally activated and never deactivated on behalf of this service. This policy is typically used for a Log Service. Logging is nice, but not generating a fire alarm because you can not log it is bound to make some unhappy customers.
- dynamic, 1..n – At least one service is needed, but many are handled. The application is only activated when at least one service is present and is deactivated when no more services can be found. This can be useful if you perform an expensive function that is only relevant when there is at least one consumer. For example, assume you run a GPS device in a phone so battery power is at premium. If there are no positioning listeners, it is no use to run the GPS chip thereby reducing power.
- dynamic, 0..n – The typical tracking case. The application is unconditionally activated and never deactivated on behalf of this service. Services are bound and unbound as they come and go. For example, if you are tracking a set of Bluetooth devices in the service registry then this is your policy to use.
The Spring-OSGi spec can copy the concepts from the declarative services because they have exactly the same issues. The discussion in the mail group got confused because the interaction between the policies for proxying (static/dynamic) were confused with optionality.
Spring adds the concept of proxies. It is my advice that the rules are as close as possible to the declarative services model which means that in most cases the application must participate in the binding and unbinding. It is tempting to automatically replace the service reference in a proxy but most of the time services are stateful and then it is easy to confuse them. Associating proxying with dynamic does not make sense because normally the application must do some action during binding. Maybe Spring needs an extra policy to indicate that replacing the service in the proxy is allowed or not, for example statefull and stateless. Then again, I am starting to have serious doubts how useful proxy rebinds are in reality.
Anyway, this year will be an interesting year for declarative services. It is clear from this issue that declarative services did a good job in this area but the possibilities of Spring will likely encompass all the important features of declarative and then add more. I am not sure if it is a good idea to have declarative services compete with Spring. My personal preference is that the Spring-OSGi specification becomes an official OSGi R5 spec … Let me know if you have ideas how we should handle this.
Peter Kriens


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The version of python which I am using is 2.6, and there is a 2.7 and 3.x. Usually I use python for some trivial program/snippet. I realize there are some major difference between 2.x and 3.x. I would really like to know, if I am going to make a bigger project with python, which version of python should I use?
Should I upgrade to 2.7, or go to 3.x or stay with 2.6?
The decision should be based on these terms:
Number of user in the internet as a community. More users mean more open-source package and help from them.
Support from official development team.
Compatibility for existing module/package.