Office of onanism...

More logo madness, but at least this time the cost wasn't extortionate: it only cost £14,000 however the new logo for part of the UK government Treasury (Office of Government Commerce, OGC) 'was intended to signify a bold commitment to the body's aim of "improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement". Quite simple and effective when viewed normally but once rotated 90 degrees the letters OGC tend to make a more amusing design, click on the image for the full story; also, full marks for sense of humour to an OGC spokesman whom is reported as saying :

"It is true that it caused a few titters among some staff when viewed on its side, but on consideration we concluded that the effect was generic to the particular combination of the letters OGC - and it is not inappropriate to an organisation that’s looking to have a firm grip on Government spend."

...a firm grip...hehehe. Or perhaps it reflects some people's opinion of the Government...

Office of onanism...

More logo madness, but at least this time the cost wasn't extortionate: it only cost £14,000 however the new logo for part of the UK government Treasury (Office of Government Commerce, OGC) 'was intended to signify a bold commitment to the body's aim of "improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement". Quite simple and effective when viewed normally but once rotated 90 degrees the letters OGC tend to make a more amusing design, click on the image for the full story; also, full marks for sense of humour to an OGC spokesman whom is reported as saying :

"It is true that it caused a few titters among some staff when viewed on its side, but on consideration we concluded that the effect was generic to the particular combination of the letters OGC - and it is not inappropriate to an organisation that’s looking to have a firm grip on Government spend."

...a firm grip...hehehe. Or perhaps it reflects some people's opinion of the Government...

Only one Oldham...

Only my second time posting 3 stories in one day...I think! I read this first browsing the threads on the BBC Radio 5Live message boards! [link] What's this image? A nice button? No. A child's badge? Not quite. It is in fact the new logo of English town Oldham - the full logo has the town name attached too; in a "down to earth and practical character" font. Not bad; I like it...I do! However, it did cost rather a lot of money... £100,000. [Oldham Chronicle] Of course it may be worth it, especially if it manages to fulfil what's expected of it: "OLDHAM’S brand new identity will soon be unveiled in a bid to create a borough where different cultures can live together in harmony." An altogether noble aim. However I'm not sure whether it's all an exercise to justify the cost or not. The article reports that Mr. Nick Brown, the chairman of Oldham Strategic Partnership, said:

"The younger generation wants to be able to say with pride 'I live in Oldham' and the new brand will be an important step on the path to achieving that wish."

No Nick, it won't. I know they're not the only ones: rebranding has been the in thing for years but one does wonder where it will all end; I suspect it ends when peoples' own money is involved: those spending other people's money will always find ways to spend it.

Only one Oldham...

Only my second time posting 3 stories in one day...I think! I read this first browsing the threads on the BBC Radio 5Live message boards! [link] What's this image? A nice button? No. A child's badge? Not quite. It is in fact the new logo of English town Oldham - the full logo has the town name attached too; in a "down to earth and practical character" font. Not bad; I like it...I do! However, it did cost rather a lot of money... £100,000. [Oldham Chronicle] Of course it may be worth it, especially if it manages to fulfil what's expected of it: "OLDHAM’S brand new identity will soon be unveiled in a bid to create a borough where different cultures can live together in harmony." An altogether noble aim. However I'm not sure whether it's all an exercise to justify the cost or not. The article reports that Mr. Nick Brown, the chairman of Oldham Strategic Partnership, said:

"The younger generation wants to be able to say with pride 'I live in Oldham' and the new brand will be an important step on the path to achieving that wish."

No Nick, it won't. I know they're not the only ones: rebranding has been the in thing for years but one does wonder where it will all end; I suspect it ends when peoples' own money is involved: those spending other people's money will always find ways to spend it.

Oats or offal...

"Blair was like champagne and caviar, Brown is more like porridge or Haggis. He is very solid, very nourishing but not exciting,"

Oats are GOOD for you! I like oats, I love porridge. From the Wiki link: Oat is the only cereal containing a globulin (avenalin), as the major storage protein. Oat protein is nearly equivalent in quality to soy protein, which has been shown by the World Health Organization to be equal to meat, milk, and egg protein. The protein content of the hull-less oat kernel (groat) ranges from 12–24%, the highest among cereals.

Haggis is TASTY and pretty nourishing: sheep's 'pluck' (the offal: heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock... "and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours"...OK, that last bit may 'sound' a bit dodgy but it's just a glorified sausage!

So...returning to the first quote of this post, the beeb report that Lord Desai, a Labour peer "launched an attack" on Gordon Brown's premiership saying it was like "porridge" compared with predecessor Tony Blair's "champagne"...Mr Brown must "change his style" to be "more presentable". Some 'attack'; more like a veiled complement!

It may be reported as an attack but that's complete rubbish...oats are good, haggis is good; Gordon Brown is BAAAD. He's as solid as quicksand and just as nourishing! And Blair? Well I'd say more like treacle, with an air-filled wafer soft centre.

Oats or offal...

"Blair was like champagne and caviar, Brown is more like porridge or Haggis. He is very solid, very nourishing but not exciting,"

Oats are GOOD for you! I like oats, I love porridge. From the Wiki link: Oat is the only cereal containing a globulin (avenalin), as the major storage protein. Oat protein is nearly equivalent in quality to soy protein, which has been shown by the World Health Organization to be equal to meat, milk, and egg protein. The protein content of the hull-less oat kernel (groat) ranges from 12–24%, the highest among cereals.

Haggis is TASTY and pretty nourishing: sheep's 'pluck' (the offal: heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock... "and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours"...OK, that last bit may 'sound' a bit dodgy but it's just a glorified sausage!

So...returning to the first quote of this post, the beeb report that Lord Desai, a Labour peer "launched an attack" on Gordon Brown's premiership saying it was like "porridge" compared with predecessor Tony Blair's "champagne"...Mr Brown must "change his style" to be "more presentable". Some 'attack'; more like a veiled complement!

It may be reported as an attack but that's complete rubbish...oats are good, haggis is good; Gordon Brown is BAAAD. He's as solid as quicksand and just as nourishing! And Blair? Well I'd say more like treacle, with an air-filled wafer soft centre.

Origins online...

The process of publishing online Charles Darwin's works has been ongoing for some years, however today is the news [BBC] that the "first draft of a book which changed the world's attitude to evolution" is now available free to those interesting in seeing or reading 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'...(thankfully known just as The Origin of Species!). The idea is to provide all works online (BROWSE papers) by 2009, the bicentenary of the naturalist's birth. Coincidentally in two days time is the anniversary of his death. Not entirely unconnected with present day approaching problems of food-supply for the human race Darwin was influenced by the ideas of Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population reminding him of the latter's "statistical proof that human populations breed beyond their means and compete to survive"....something I touched on a few months ago.

Update re food and population (sorry to digress so much from Darwin!); just noticed in this week's Economist: The Silent Tsunami. "Food prices are causing misery and strife around the world. Radical solutions are needed"

Origins online...

The process of publishing online Charles Darwin's works has been ongoing for some years, however today is the news [BBC] that the "first draft of a book which changed the world's attitude to evolution" is now available free to those interesting in seeing or reading 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'...(thankfully known just as The Origin of Species!). The idea is to provide all works online (BROWSE papers) by 2009, the bicentenary of the naturalist's birth. Coincidentally in two days time is the anniversary of his death. Not entirely unconnected with present day approaching problems of food-supply for the human race Darwin was influenced by the ideas of Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population reminding him of the latter's "statistical proof that human populations breed beyond their means and compete to survive"....something I touched on a few months ago.

Update re food and population (sorry to digress so much from Darwin!); just noticed in this week's Economist: The Silent Tsunami. "Food prices are causing misery and strife around the world. Radical solutions are needed"

Outstanding...

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - "A third of adults in Britain believe Margaret Thatcher has been their best head of government since the end of World War II, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 34 per cent of respondents think Thatcher was the greatest prime minister since 1945."

That shows, excluding Churchill, that MT polled more than the rest put together! It also means that to be remembered you have to actually DO something: you have to know what to do and get on and do it. Where are today's Statesmen and women? There are...erm...none. I can think of not a single conviction politician that could LEAD the country.

Margaret Thatcher (1979-90) 34%
Winston Churchill (1951-55) 15%
Tony Blair (1997-2007) 11%
Harold Wilson (1964-70 and 1974-76) 9%
Clement Attlee (1945-51) 7%
Harold Macmillan (1957-63) 3%
Edward Heath (1970-74) 1%
John Major (1990-97) 1%
James Callaghan (1976-79) 1%
Anthony Eden (1955-57) *
Gordon Brown (2007- ) *
Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64) *
Don’t know 18%

(*) - Less than 0.5 per cent.

The Daily Telegraph is doing a great series on the great Lady and in one article "Why Britain still needs more Thatcherism" (By Philip Johnston - DT Home affairs editor)

"There has been a failure not only of policies but of the whole philosophy on which they are based - the philosophy which elevates the state, dwarfs the individual and enlarges the bureaucracy."

The failure of 'the Left': they have never understood "the concept of individual choice and freedom"...no, the quote isn't a comment on Blair/Brown but said during the no-confidence debate that led to the fall of the ill-fated Callaghan government 30 years ago!

Outstanding...

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - "A third of adults in Britain believe Margaret Thatcher has been their best head of government since the end of World War II, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 34 per cent of respondents think Thatcher was the greatest prime minister since 1945."

That shows, excluding Churchill, that MT polled more than the rest put together! It also means that to be remembered you have to actually DO something: you have to know what to do and get on and do it. Where are today's Statesmen and women? There are...erm...none. I can think of not a single conviction politician that could LEAD the country.

Margaret Thatcher (1979-90) 34%
Winston Churchill (1951-55) 15%
Tony Blair (1997-2007) 11%
Harold Wilson (1964-70 and 1974-76) 9%
Clement Attlee (1945-51) 7%
Harold Macmillan (1957-63) 3%
Edward Heath (1970-74) 1%
John Major (1990-97) 1%
James Callaghan (1976-79) 1%
Anthony Eden (1955-57) *
Gordon Brown (2007- ) *
Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64) *
Don’t know 18%

(*) - Less than 0.5 per cent.

The Daily Telegraph is doing a great series on the great Lady and in one article "Why Britain still needs more Thatcherism" (By Philip Johnston - DT Home affairs editor)

"There has been a failure not only of policies but of the whole philosophy on which they are based - the philosophy which elevates the state, dwarfs the individual and enlarges the bureaucracy."

The failure of 'the Left': they have never understood "the concept of individual choice and freedom"...no, the quote isn't a comment on Blair/Brown but said during the no-confidence debate that led to the fall of the ill-fated Callaghan government 30 years ago!

Obtenebrating onboard oblectation...

Or in layman's terms: casting a shadow over onboard pleasure. The BBC reports that under new European Commission rules mobile telephone calls will be allowed on planes flying in European airspace (some hope at least, most of my flying is long-haul; no doubt they'll soon get the same treatment though) At least from the offset things are being taken seriously: Viviane Reding (EU telecoms commissioner) has said:

"If consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take-off. "..."I also call on airlines and operators to create the right conditions on board aircraft to ensure that those who want to use in-flight communication services do not disturb other passengers"

Please...no! Just don't do it! The Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency still need to give final approval (for any new systems etc) but alea iacta est...I agree with Clive James' point of view, in response to a telecom industry comment that "social norms, as well as excessive background noise, may dissuade most people from making phone calls in crowded planes" Clive says:

"But I have already met Social Norm, and I know all too well that Social Norm never dissuades anyone from making mobile phone calls. Social Norm is the one making the mobile phone calls. The excessive background noise, on any form of transport, is made by a score of Social Norms shouting their thick heads off, and all it does is make them shout louder."

Obtenebrating onboard oblectation...

Or in layman's terms: casting a shadow over onboard pleasure. The BBC reports that under new European Commission rules mobile telephone calls will be allowed on planes flying in European airspace (some hope at least, most of my flying is long-haul; no doubt they'll soon get the same treatment though) At least from the offset things are being taken seriously: Viviane Reding (EU telecoms commissioner) has said:

"If consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take-off. "..."I also call on airlines and operators to create the right conditions on board aircraft to ensure that those who want to use in-flight communication services do not disturb other passengers"

Please...no! Just don't do it! The Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency still need to give final approval (for any new systems etc) but alea iacta est...I agree with Clive James' point of view, in response to a telecom industry comment that "social norms, as well as excessive background noise, may dissuade most people from making phone calls in crowded planes" Clive says:

"But I have already met Social Norm, and I know all too well that Social Norm never dissuades anyone from making mobile phone calls. Social Norm is the one making the mobile phone calls. The excessive background noise, on any form of transport, is made by a score of Social Norms shouting their thick heads off, and all it does is make them shout louder."

Olympic originals...

The original torch relay before the Olympic Games is more recent than I thought; the idea of lighting the torch in Greece - at the ancient Olympian site - and then sending it, carried by runners, through different countries has more sinister, 'dark’ origins. It was invented in its modern form by the organisers of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and Carl Diem, chief organiser, wanted an event linking the modern Olympics to the ancient; he 'invented' the torch relay, planned with immense care along with the Nazi leadership to portray a dynamic image of the Third Reich.

"Sporting chivalrous contest,"…"helps knit the bonds of peace between nations. Therefore may the Olympic flame never expire" - Adolf Hitler

Nine years later Carl Diem ended WWII as fanatical military commander at the Olympic stadium exhorting his troops to be like the Spartans, to not fear dying for their country and to die like heroes.

With the recent trouble in Tibet, amongst other things, the fear is that the torch relay will attract a multitude of anti-China protests, and already certain activist groups have planned demonstrations in London, Paris and San Francisco all part of the route that the torch will pass through. (Taiwan and Tibet were removed from the original route, perhaps sparking memories of what happened to countries along the route of the 'original' torch relay!) [Route] Mr Kyriakou, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, said last week at the torch handover - before it was flown to Beijing:

"The Olympic flame is the timeless symbol which stirs admiration, pride and faith [in] the Olympic ideals and values"…"I hope the world community welcomes the flame and honours it".

As an aside and to 'compliment' the image, the swastika has been in the blogosphere news the last couple of days: the 'swastika' logo for the progressive governance Promoting Prosperity summit in London yesterday wasn't really 'proof-read' before use was it - memories of London's own Olympic logo! If you follow the link through to the Number 10 website you'll see it's been changed/updated since the recent polemic.

Olympic originals...

The original torch relay before the Olympic Games is more recent than I thought; the idea of lighting the torch in Greece - at the ancient Olympian site - and then sending it, carried by runners, through different countries has more sinister, 'dark’ origins. It was invented in its modern form by the organisers of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and Carl Diem, chief organiser, wanted an event linking the modern Olympics to the ancient; he 'invented' the torch relay, planned with immense care along with the Nazi leadership to portray a dynamic image of the Third Reich.

"Sporting chivalrous contest,"…"helps knit the bonds of peace between nations. Therefore may the Olympic flame never expire" - Adolf Hitler

Nine years later Carl Diem ended WWII as fanatical military commander at the Olympic stadium exhorting his troops to be like the Spartans, to not fear dying for their country and to die like heroes.

With the recent trouble in Tibet, amongst other things, the fear is that the torch relay will attract a multitude of anti-China protests, and already certain activist groups have planned demonstrations in London, Paris and San Francisco all part of the route that the torch will pass through. (Taiwan and Tibet were removed from the original route, perhaps sparking memories of what happened to countries along the route of the 'original' torch relay!) [Route] Mr Kyriakou, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, said last week at the torch handover - before it was flown to Beijing:

"The Olympic flame is the timeless symbol which stirs admiration, pride and faith [in] the Olympic ideals and values"…"I hope the world community welcomes the flame and honours it".

As an aside and to 'compliment' the image, the swastika has been in the blogosphere news the last couple of days: the 'swastika' logo for the progressive governance Promoting Prosperity summit in London yesterday wasn't really 'proof-read' before use was it - memories of London's own Olympic logo! If you follow the link through to the Number 10 website you'll see it's been changed/updated since the recent polemic.

Offending ocracy...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, after continuous insults and slurs towards the United States of America, or the 'Evil Empire' as he calls it, has taken to imitating one of it's global commercial symbols; or is he just taking the mickey? Enlarged photo HERE. Of course pro-government media Venezuelan media and the chavistas (his supporters) are furious and accuse the empire, the CIA and the oligarchic Murdoch and Reuters media-mogol families of a plot to weaken Chavez, even going as far as calling it "media terrorism". However, it hasn't dampened his drive toward "21st century socialism". [BBC]

"President Hugo Chavez has announced the immediate nationalisation of Venezuela's entire cement industry"..."also begun nationalising its electricity, telecommunications and natural gas industries"

Offending ocracy...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, after continuous insults and slurs towards the United States of America, or the 'Evil Empire' as he calls it, has taken to imitating one of it's global commercial symbols; or is he just taking the mickey? Enlarged photo HERE. Of course pro-government media Venezuelan media and the chavistas (his supporters) are furious and accuse the empire, the CIA and the oligarchic Murdoch and Reuters media-mogol families of a plot to weaken Chavez, even going as far as calling it "media terrorism". However, it hasn't dampened his drive toward "21st century socialism". [BBC]

"President Hugo Chavez has announced the immediate nationalisation of Venezuela's entire cement industry"..."also begun nationalising its electricity, telecommunications and natural gas industries"