Tag Archives | UK

Jack the Ripper’s Blade Found?

By SpaceNeedle on November 13, 2011 in News 9

It was found among possessions belonging to Welsh surgeon Sir John Williams, a chief suspect in the Victorian murders. Sir John, known to his family at the time of the killings as “Uncle Jack” was the surgeon to Queen Victoria who lived in London at the time of the slayings.

He fled the capital after the murders and later founded the National Library for Wales in Aberystwyth. One of his distant relatives has now unearthed the old black-handled surgeon’s knife, which he used for operations, and believes it could be the murder weapon.

Tony Williams, 49, Sir John’s great-great-great-great nephew, has now published a book, which features the startling image of the knife, to expose his relative’s guilt.

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Royal Navy Finds 61 Bombs On Nudist Beach

By bluemana on October 15, 2011 in News 4

Via the Telegraph:

Experts were called in after 26 bombs — including two submarine depth charges and at least six 10lb mortar bombs — were washed up on Leysdown Beach last month. And last week, during a two day search of the beach, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent — the Navy found another 61 bombs, taking the total to 87.

The team found mortars, submarine depth charges, a string of 10lb bombs, bullets and a string of other ordnance, some dating back to the late 19th century, during the sweep. The east side of the beach — often called Shellness — is an official nudist beach.

It is listed on the UK’s Naturist Factfile, which states: “This official naturist beach is located near Leysdown-on-Sea at the eastern end of the Isle of Sheppey on the north Kent coast.

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UK Doctors Claim Gonorrhea Is ‘Drug Resistant’

By bluemana on October 11, 2011 in News 1

The good ol’ days of penicillin …. Michelle Roberts reports for BBC News:

UK doctors are being told the antibiotic normally used to treat gonorrhoea is no longer effective because the sexually transmitted disease is now largely resistant to it. The Health Protection Agency says we may be heading to a point when the disease is incurable unless new treatments can be found.

For now, doctors must stop using the usual treatment cefixime and instead use two more powerful antibiotics. One is a pill and the other a jab.

The HPA say the change is necessary because of increasing resistance. Tests on samples taken from patients and grown in the laboratory showed reduced susceptibility to the usual antibiotic cefixime in nearly 20% of cases in 2010, compared with just 10% of cases in 2009.

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Living in Little Boxes

By Jin_TheNinja on October 10, 2011 in News 8

For years, it has been reported that standard homesizes (with the US being the glaring exception) are shrinking. How small is too small? And what is the relationship between liveable space, architecture, community, and sustainability? In this article from the Independent, RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) “slams” the (non) architectural standards of suburban house building.

Architects have criticised the “shameful shoe-box homes” being built in Britain today, saying many are too small for family life. Research by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) found the floor area of the average new three-bedroom home in the UK is 88 sq m, some 8 sq m short of the recommended space.

One-bedroom properties, at an average of 46 sq m, are 4 sq m smaller than the recommended size, the Case For Space study found. This is the equivalent of a single bed, a bedside table and a dressing table with a stool, the report said.

… Read the rest

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Best Tabloid Headline Ever?

By majestic on September 15, 2011 in News 20

I have to congratulate Gavon Laessig at Buzzfeed for bringing this to the world’s attention. Really quite extraordinary what the headline writers at the British tabloids are capable of!

Get ready to feel guilty after you stop laughing. Percy Foster was a 3-foot-6-inch dwarf who starred in the UK porno “Hi-Ho Hi-Ho, It’s Up Your Arse We Go.”

He bore an uncanny resemblance to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Welsh agriculture officials discovered Foster’s body in an underground chamber, leading to this grisly headline from British tabloid The Sunday Sport.

Quite possibly a new low in print journalism…… Read the rest

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Stop Atos From Censoring the Web!

By johnnyvoid on September 2, 2011 in News 6

Call for solidarity from the UK! Poverty pimps and well known corporate slime Atos Origin have taken their harassment of disabled people one step further by using flaky legal threats to censor and close down websites in the UK which have been critical of them. At least three websites have now been hit by legal threats attempting to censor online criticism of the company.

The Carer Watch forum, which is an online meeting place for hundreds of disabled people and carers has been taken offline by the hosting company after legal threats made by Atos Origin regarding unspecified comments made on the forum. Atos Origin’s involvement in the condemn Government’s notorious health and disability testing has made them a target of fury amongst many disabled people, which has led to a fierce campaigning against them both on and offline. Atos are fighting back with the CarerWatch forum being only the latest website hit by Atos legal threats.… Read the rest

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The Future Of Capitalism

By majestic on September 2, 2011 in News 10

Noreena Hertz‘s ideas for the future of capitalism set off against British conservative journalist Danny Finkelstein:

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Ancient Greeks Help Explain The Rioting Of Modern Britons

By majestic on August 19, 2011 in News 5

riots Dr. Mark A. Wolfgram writes a fascinating letter to the Financial Times:

Sir, The August 17 commentaries by Richard Florida (“The inchoate rage beneath our global cities”) and John Kay (“Why the rioters should be reading Rousseau”), as well as the excellent Financial Times series on “The Squeezed Middle”, are all making important observations about a similar social, economic and political factor — inequality. Inequality is a fact of human societies built on hierarchies. We come to accommodate ourselves to different levels of inequality, as long as we feel that our society, overall, is at some level just.

In a recent academic work, “A Cultural Theory of International Relations”, Richard Ned Lebow goes back to ancient Greek thought on human motivations and argues that we need to reintegrate their notion of spirit into our understanding of human behaviour. The Greeks argued that humans are motivated by both appetite (the pursuit of material goods), as well as spirit (self-esteem, respect).

… Read the rest

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Britain Is Only ‘Four Meals Away From Anarchy’

By Join Or DIE on August 12, 2011 in News 29

[Site notice: Re-posting this now (originally posted 7/19/2011) due to a timely observation (of an older post) from Disinfo.com commenter SuddenlySpam.] A blast from the past for all you newshounds. Enjoy via the Times:

Modern civilisation may not be quite as safe as we thought. Britain’s security services have been privately warning their staff that western societies are just 48 hours from anarchy. MI5’s maxim is that society is “four meals away from anarchy”. In other words, the security agency believes that Britain could be quickly reduced to large-scale disorder, including looting and rioting in the event of a catastrophe that stops the supply of food.

The maxim will provoke debate over whether MI5 is over-egging the threat, partly to justify its rapidly growing budget. It also opens a wider question as to whether civilised societies could so quickly revert to primitive behaviour. MI5 — whose motto is “regnum defende”, defend the realm — uses the “four meals” rule to assess the threat levels from attacks on strategic installations, such as computer networks and power stations; natural disasters; or widespread strikes and civil disobedience.

… Read the rest

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