I am being told that this blog and others cannot be accessed from certain areas of Central Goverment.
One blog which cannot be accessed belongs to an MP.
These things are usually 90% cockup over conspiracy (either in the reporting or the implementation of a blocl), but if you have any instances of websites which appear to be being blocked please post details in the comments.
Blogs of politicians and public figures are of particular interest.
I emphasise that I am not specifically claiming that there are restrictions, simply gathering data to follow up some reports.
If you do not wish to post on a public site, you can email mattwardman AT gmail DOT com, or twitter @mattwardman or on the hashtag #ukblogblock.
Post from: The Wardman Wire
]]>I am being told that this blog and others cannot be accessed from certain areas of Central Goverment.
One blog which cannot be accessed belongs to an MP.
These things are usually 90% cockup over conspiracy (either in the reporting or the implementation of a blocl), but if you have any instances of websites which appear to be being blocked please post details in the comments.
Blogs of politicians and public figures are of particular interest.
I emphasise that I am not specifically claiming that there are restrictions, simply gathering data to follow up some reports.
If you do not wish to post on a public site, you can email mattwardman AT gmail DOT com, or twitter @mattwardman or on the hashtag #ukblogblock.
Post from: The Wardman Wire
]]>I have uploaded the report, since it will vanish from the BBC website in a week. It is a far more sensible conversation than is likely to occur elsewhere in the media on this question (10 minutes). (Click through for the audio report).
The report concerns Shirlie McKaskie, disabled after being "attacked" by a herd of cows while walking her dog in Cumbria, who has won a ruling from Preston Crown Court that the farmer is "liable" by because "because he had not properly considered the risk. ". Ms McKaskie, who was brain damaged in the incident, is claiming one million pounds in damages.
Cases of walkers being trampled or "attacked" by cows are unusual, but this is not unique. The vast majority of cases involve dog-walkers.
(Photo source).
Post from: The Wardman Wire
The Shirlie Mckaskie Case: Killler Herds of Cows - the Underlying Questions
]]>Ar ôl hanner blwyddyn mae'n werth achub ar y cyfle i gael cipolwg arall ar y deg a cheisio mesur beth sydd wedi newid a beth sy ddim. Rhain oedd y "deg uchaf" ym Mis Ionawr;
Aberconwy
Gogledd Caerdydd
Ceredigion
Bro Morgannwg
Arfon
Gorllewin Caerfyrddin a De Penfro
Dyffryn Clwyd
Ynys Môn
Maldwyn
Pen-y-bont
Pe bawn i'n llunio'r rhestr nawr ni fyddai Arfon, Gogledd Caerdydd na Bro Morgannwg yn cael eu cynnwys. Pe bai'r etholiad yn cael ei gynnal heddiw dwi o'r farn y byddai 'na fwyafrif teilwng iawn i Blaid Cymru yn Arfon a rhai cysurus i'r Ceidwadwyr yn y ddwy sedd arall. Yn eu lle byswn yn cynnwys Delyn, Gwyr a Llanelli ar y rhestr. Roeddwn i'n credu bod yr etholaethau hynny yn ddiogel yn y golofn Lafur. Erbyn hyn dydw i ddim mor sicr.
Mae gen i ambell i beth i ddweud hefyd am rai o'r etholaethau sydd o hyd ar y rhestr. Yn ôl ym Mis Ionawr fe wnes i ddarogan mai brwydr rhwng y Ceidwadwyr a Phlaid Cymru fyddai un Aberconwy ac fy mod yn meddwl mai'r Tori, Guto Bebb, oedd y ffefryn. Rwy'n ddigon parod i gadw'r ffydd o safbwynt hanner cynta'r broffwydoliaeth. Rwy'n llai sicr ynghylch yr ail ran. Mae 'na fwy a mwy o sïon wedi fy nghyrraedd ynghylch rhaniadau mewnol o fewn y blaid Geidwadol yn yr etholaeth. Ar ben hynny mae 'na rai o fewn y blaid yn ganolog sy'n dymuno gweld ei hadnoddau yn cael eu canolbwyntio ar rasys dau geffyl yn erbyn Llafur mewn etholaethau megis Delyn a De Clwyd. Rwyf bellach o'r farn fod gan y Pleidiwr Phil Edwards gystal cyfle a Guto i gipio'r sedd.
Gan fod gwleidyddiaeth Ynys Môn yn ddryslyd i bawb o'r tir mawr fe ges i sgwrs dros beint gyda fy nghyfaill Rhun ap Iorwerth sy'n gwybod a deall popeth am y fam ynys. Mae Rhun yn gallu rhestri rhesymau i esbonio pam na fydd hwn neu'r llall yn ennill ond yn ei chael hi'n anodd llunio achos cryf dros fuddugoliaeth i unrhyw un o'r ymgeiswyr. Ar ddiwedd y dydd gallai trefniadaeth Plaid Cymru ynghyd a'i phleidlais graidd soled fod yn ddigon i sicrhau buddugoliaeth i ymgeisydd nad yw'n tanio dychymyg yr etholwyr ar hyn o bryd.
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British mainland police want water cannons to use against demonstrators in the face of criticism that conventional crowd-control tactics, such as those used during the G20 demonstrations, are failing to prevent violence.
The Metropolitan and Greater Manchester forces are set to request permission to use cannons, according to internal documents seen by The Independent on Sunday.
Let's back pedal here.
1 - Since when has "kettling" as used at the G20 demonstrations - mass detention while refusing to allow those with a legitimate reason, including people on their way home from work and journalists, to leave - been a "conventional crowd control" technique.
2 - Unless I am hallucinating, the problem at the G20 demonstrations was not "violence", but heavy-handed policing and interference with people going about their normal business - following on from the creation of such expectations in advance by official and unofficial briefings.
This looks like lobbying for further sustenance of a "hard-policing" culture which needs to be laid to rest. I hope that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, is whistling in the wind here.
Post from: The Wardman Wire
]]>Mike Semple-Pigott interviewed Simon Fodden, a Canadian legal academic who runs a prominent law blog which covers law mainly within the "Commonwealth" with an international team of contributors.
In the second half of the podcast there is a detailed conversation about the international nature of blogs, and which parts of the legal world are using them well (or not).
Post from: The Wardman Wire
Podcast interview with Steve Fodden, Editor of slaw.ca, about Law and Blogging
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Cartoon: ASBO Jesus
(Click through for the full size version)
Post from: The Wardman Wire
Michael Jackson: a Thriller in Paradise: Cartoon by ASBO Jesus
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