Russell Brand has called on thousands of protesters to be part of a "peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution" that seizes power back from Westminster. The former Big Brother's Big Mouth presenter, who this year implored readers of the New Statesman magazine to abandon the current political system, told crowds gathered in London's Parliament Square that MPs no longer represented the people. Speaking in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament at the end of a march marking the one-year anniversary of the People's Assembly being formed, Brand stripped off his T-shirt and replaced it with one carrying the message "Firefighters rescue people not bankers".
Saturday, 21 June 2014
UN warns Britain over child voodoo rituals pedophile sex tourists
Hundreds of children are being kidnapped in Africa and bought to the UK for voodoo rituals, a UN watchdog said, also voicing alarm about the number of British pedophiles who prey on children abroad. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) urged Britain to do more to stop this brutal form of people trafficking. “We’re concerned about reports that hundreds of children have been abducted from their families in Africa and trafficked to the UK, especially London, for religious rituals,” Kirsten Sandberg, head of the CRC and a former Norwegian Supreme Court judge, said Thursday. She said that trafficking for rituals was part of a wider problem where thousands of minors are brought to the UK, who end up being child prostitutes or being sexually exploited. The CRC advised that Britain should “strengthen the capacity of law-enforcement authorities and judiciary to detect and prosecute trafficking of children for labor, sexual and other forms of exploitation, including for religious rituals.” There have been numerous cases of children who have been brought to the UK from Africa and suffered torture and abuse, often as part of witchcraft rituals, AFP reports. Victoria Climbie from the Ivory Coast was killed by her own relatives in 2000, who thought she was a witch.
Plan to tackle mobile phone blackspots
Mobile phone operators could be made to share their networks in rural areas of the UK where signals are weak under plans being considered by ministers. Some parts of rural Britain have just one or two of the main mobile phone networks available, or none at all, leaving some people without any signal. It is hoped so-called national roaming could be used to plug blackspots. However, mobile phone companies say this would remove their incentive to build more masts to improve coverage. New Culture Secretary Sajid Javid wants mobile phone companies to introduce national roaming which would allow customers to switch to an alternative network if their own was not available, as happens when they are abroad.
Mind-control: ‘I drove a car with my thoughts’
The Brain Driver consists of a headset with 16 sensors monitor electrical signals from the brain. Clinical devices usually use 32 sensors, but Llarena and his team are trying to build something that’s as small, cheap and unobtrusive as possible. “We think that 16 are probably too many,” he says. “We’re trying to figure out if we can take half of them out.” But there’s only so much streamlining they can do before the signals get too weak. They’re already working with tiny, microvolt signals from inside the brain and trying to read and interpret them. “It’s as if we were putting a small microphone on one side and trying to hear one of a million people shouting on the other side,” says Llarena. After reading these signals through the skull, the system has to turn them into instructions for the wheelchair or car. The idea is that the driver thinks one distinct thought to turn right, and another left, while the electrodes pick up the associated activity. But those thoughts won’t necessarily be as simple as the words “left”and “right”; it could be something more abstract, like a certain place or a shape. “It was a long process because I didn’t know what to do at all. I was thinking of everything, the beach, red cubes, red circles.” Eventually he figured out that if he pictured a red cube in his mind, and then imagined that cube moving forward in his skull he could make the machine move forward. If he thought about that cube moving left, he could go left. Later on, the team realised that what he was really doing was activating his motor cortex, a process that sent out a strong enough signal to detect.
Man jailed for illegally exporting electrical waste to Africa
Man jailed for illegally exporting electrical waste to Africa Waste dealer Joe Benson is first defendant to be sentenced to prison for illegally exporting waste
Heirforce One Queen Gets New Helicopter For William And Kate
Queen Gets New Helicopter For William And Kate Dubbed 'Heirforce One', the helicopter will whisk William and Kate between royal engagements and time with Prince George.
Brian Johnson says it's likely AC/DC will tour this year
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson says it’s likely AC/DC will tour this year. In a message posted to his Brian Johnson Racing website, the singer says his "day job" with AC/DC will be distracting him from producing more episodes of his TV series Cars That Rock for the time being. Johnson writes: "We hope to bring you more shows in the near future but, of course, there is the slight distraction of my day job with AC/DC – and it looks very likely that we will be on the road again before the end of the year. So stand by for more music – and more Cars That Rock. thanks – Brian"
Islamist militant group Isis, taken off-line. and free speech
The father of a British man who has appeared in a video aimed at recruiting jihadists has said he is "heartbroken" his son left the UK to fight in Syria. In the film, would-be medical student Nasser Muthana, 20, from Cardiff, urges others to fight in Syria and Iraq. His father, Ahmed Muthana, told the BBC his other son had gone with Nasser, and that someone must be "driving" them. UK police are trying to get the film, posted by accounts linked to Islamist militant group Isis, taken off-line. The 13-minute video, entitled "There is No Life Without Jihad", emerged on Friday and appears to show six fighters - apparently including three Britons - urging Muslims to join the conflicts abroad.
English Heritage ruined Stonehenge?
Has English Heritage ruined Stonehenge? The summer solstice, King Arthur, the Holy Grail … Stonehenge is supposed to be a site of myths and mystery. But with timed tickets and a £27m visitor centre, does it herald a rampant commercialisation of our heritage?
The use of CCTV
CCTV spy cars can be seen lurking on every street raking in cash for greedy councils and breaking the rules that clearly state that fines should not be used to generate profit for town halls. "Over-zealous parking enforcement and unreasonable stealth fines by post undermine the high street, push up the cost of living and cost local authorities more in the long term. "Today the government is taking urgently needed action to ban this clear abuse of CCTV, which should be used to catch criminals, and not as a cash cow." The ban follows a three-month consultation. Other measures being introduced include trialling a 25% discount for motorists who lose an appeal against a parking ticket and no longer fining drivers parking near broken meters if there is no other way to pay. Residents and businesses will have the right to demand a review of parking in their area, including the use of yellow lines and charges, and parking guidance will be reformed so it is less "heavy-handed" with motorists to stop over-aggression from bailiffs. Councils will also be forced to publish how income from parking charges is used, and the cost of penalty notices will be frozen for the remainder of this parliament. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "These measures will deliver a fairer deal for motorists, ensuring that parking enforcement is proportionate, that schoolchildren are protected and buses can move freely, and that key routes are kept clear."
CCTV 'spy cars' to be banned in victory for drivers and shoppers
CCTV 'spy cars' to be banned in victory for drivers and shoppers Wardens will have to fix tickets onto windscreens instead of penalties being issued by post
Saturday, 14 June 2014
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