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Posted at 1:06 pm • Trackback Trackback

Posted in politics

3 comments - Latest by:
  • richard
    Thanks Mel, much appreciated ;) And yes, they were even talking about an American-style Presidency the other day, rather than ...
  • MrCorey
    Are you referring to the "American Style" TV debate that has been much ridiculedtouted?
 

May 4
2010

Posted by richard

You know that a political party is in dire trouble when candidates for them are telling the media that the Prime Minister, their leader, is the worst the UK has ever had. Pretty harsh. Also true.

It’s also bad when cabinet ministers, those you would expect to back the PM to the hilt, are suggesting to the media that people vote for another party to stop another party from winning (Ed Balls, on voting for a Lib Dem candidate). Never mind voting for them, because they know they won’t get the vote…

Surprisingly for me, and I will only say this once, I think that Tony Blair is much smarter than I ever gave him credit for. I actually felt sorry for him for getting stabbed in the back and at the time thought he was a bit pathetic for not striking out. But really, he’s the smart one here. He must have seen the writing on the wall and went gracefully with a smile on his face. A cheesy one, but nevertheless, a knowing happy smile.

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Posted at 4:48 am • Trackback Trackback

Posted in politics

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Dec 28
2008

Posted by richard

Movies have them, even TV programs have them these days, but I think that the Government is pushing things with their ambitious plans to rate websites. Considering the -billions- of websites out there, it does seem a little silly to rate them all:

Internet websites could be given cinema-style age-ratings under plans by the Government to limit access to “unacceptable” material, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has warned.

Would would rate these sites? Imagine the amount of work required. Who would verify the rating? Also once given, what would stop any website developer from changing the content?

I completely agree with what he wants to achieve, to prevent children from viewing questionable material, or from stopping violent content such as Islam terrorist beheadings, and so on.

Since he wants to focus on what children see, surely better supervision by parents would seem to be the better solution, as he himself boasts of:

Mr Burnham says that his own children are closely supervised when they use the computer. No impractical rating system is necessary in his household. It is as a parent, therefore, rather than as a politician that he is pointing the way forward.

Clearly then, he is speaking out and pushing a plan for Labour but personally uses supervision. Not just impractical – he seems to think that close supervision of his children would not work with other families, but has made no effort to market that as a plan.

If you set up accounts on computers properly you can tightly control what your children see and do online. Perhaps that is a more practical method rather than a totally unenforceable ratings scheme?

So what do you think – would a ratings scheme help? – would it be completely unenforceable? – would it be easy to cheat such a system?

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