[id cards] fine fisk on the issue

Cleanthes, at The Select Society, has done a fine fisk on the ID card issue, as Timmy Worstall did on the Stern Report. I think you need to head across and view this report. In it, he takes each point one by one: Illegal Immigration, Crime, Terrorism, Identity Fraud and so on and dismantles it. For example: The case for ID cards is a case not about liberty but about the modern world. Wrong: it’s about both, but it is more about the former than the latter. ID cards have been used long before the advent of the new technologies that we are all busy accessing.

[blogfocus] the burning issues

Iain Dale is one who's had to divide his time recently.

Welcome to another Blogfocus. In a post yesterday, I intimated that there were two main issues this time round and that one of these involved what bloggers had not written. Allow me to explain. Although some of those below have subsequently posted this evening, nevertheless, at the point last evening when I trawled through the blogroll, ten had not posted for days and another five appeared to be feeling the strain. This was interesting.

Non posters:

http://www.samizdata.net/ [Johnathan]
http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/
http://www.minettemarrin.com/
http://freedomandwhisky.blogspot.com/
http://vented-spleen.blogspot.com/
http://jeffreyarchers.blogspot.com/
http://existingactually.blogspot.com/
http://reactionarysnob.blogspot.com/
http://www.di2.nu/blog.htm
http://indecent-left.blogspot.com/

Two of the semi-posters:

http://www.theselectsociety.com/blog/
Philo did say though: Off to the Windy City on Tuesday; may live blog the results if jet-lag allows. Cleanthes hadn’t posted.
http://www.stephenpollard.net/003026.html
Stephen Pollard had posted, albeit on music, music, then music, then said: I'll do my best to post, but it's unlikely I'll be posting anything here until Thursday. Apologies.

I wrote about this in an earlier post here and other bloggers have now had their say here.

[fedex] cancels airbus, orders boeings instead

FedEx Corp., the world's largest cargo airline, has scrapped its order for the troubled Airbus A380 jumbo jet and said it would purchase 15 Boeing Co. 777 jets instead. It was the first cancellation of an A380 order. FedEx, working to meet international shipping demand, scrapped the 10-plane Airbus order after production troubles delayed planned deliveries from January 2009 into 2010. Probably wise anyway. Airbus is a fine aircraft; it’s just that this and this and this and this worry one a little. And did you ever see Tom Hank’s Cast Away?

[russia] winter on the roads 2

The car on the left was my British machine – the joys of open top motoring know no bounds, especially with a lady’s hair streaming beside you, the throaty roar of the 2 litre and a spot of lunch at a nice country pub at the end of the ride. The other car is my no-nonsense Lada 102 with beefed up stabilizers, gas shockers and so on. It’s basic and rugged, especially the brakes and shockers – it’s just the electric system which sometimes lets you down. Never buy an imported car here – it will break in half by the end of the year on these roads. The Lada is known as the Russki Tank and if something does break, there are automarkets all over the place where a few roubles will see you with a new part and a thousand mechanics willing to do the job for about $10.

[russia] winter on the roads 1

In response to Ellee’s question, snow is relatively rare in southern Britain and chains will get you from A to B but in Russia, they’re useless – we need to zip about in the snow for over three months and so everyone has two sets of tyres – summer and winter. It should be the case in Britain as well but ridiculous legislation prevents this safety feature. My winter tyres are Gislaved Nordfrost III 175s [pictured], the best you can get according to Za Rulyom. They have hundreds of little metal studs and the tread gives excellent grip. My summer tyres are Michelin 185s All Weather and they are also outlawed in Britain. Why?!! Today was changeover day and I prefer to change alloy wheels ’n all, so I have ten altogether. In the next post, I’ll show you my little car.

[take-a-toke] new from burger king

As the nation goes to the polls, some eyes have turned to another issue: Mark Landavazo and Henry Gabaldon were in uniform and driving a marked patrol car when they stopped for a meal at a drive-through Burger King restaurant in Los Lunas, New Mexico. They ate about half of their burgers before they began to suspect that the meat contained an illegal drug. They used a field test to confirm the substance was marijuana and then went to a hospital for a medical check. Three Burger King employees - Justin Armijo, 19, Robert Nuckols, 21, and manager Joseph Ledesma, 33 - have already been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and aggravated battery on an officer. They were subsequently indicted. Of course my info is out of date but has anyone been to Burger King in Lewisham? Or at Charing Cross? Burger King is a firm I have misgivings about. Is this just imagination? Incidentally, will the Republicans retain control?