What Birt didn’t see
Aug 30, 2005 Articles, FOI in the news
My response to John Birt’s attack on political journalism was printed in Monday’s Guardian.
What Birt didn’t see
Monday August 29, 2005
The Guardian
John Birt claims the media are too superficial in their political reporting (Birt attacks ‘easy cruelty’ of tabloid Britain, August 27), but fails to mention the root cause – an intensely secretive and controlling government.
Until [...]
Hospital publishes death rates
Aug 25, 2005 Health
A top UK hospital has claimed it is the first in the nation to publish all of its death rates. Hoorah and full points for issuing a press release about setting such a precedent for openness.
St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south-west London, is already one of only a few hospitals in Britain to [...]
Where’s Tony?
Aug 25, 2005 Central Government
Just as ‘tired and emotional’ is the euphemism for being drunk, so it seems ‘national security’ is becoming the phrase du jour for anything politically embarrassing. Nothing better exemplifies the devaluation of this term than the decision made by the Prime Minister’s office to gag the press from naming Tony Blair’s holiday destination.
This bizarre [...]
Update: HMSO changes name
Aug 24, 2005 Book Updates
The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the new name for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Its function is still much the same as before, though now rather than just restrictively enforcing Crown Copyright, the stated aim is “providing a practical framework of best practice for opening up and encouraging the re-use of public sector [...]
Fighting needless bureaucracy
Aug 22, 2005 Uncategorized
Here’s something that we could really do with in the UK:
Kafka Savings – The Belgian government has saved 230 million euros over the past two years thanks to its web site ‘Kafka,’ which encourages people and businesses to submit examples of unnecessary bureaucracy in a bid to cut down on red tape, according to a [...]
New York City releases 9/11 documents
Aug 14, 2005 FOI in the news
Here’s an example of how the Freedom of Information is used in America. On Friday Aug 11, 2005, the city of New York released thousands of fire department files about the attacks on the World Trade Center. The disclosure was forced by the New York Times newspaper, which made a request in 2002 [...]
National Land Use Database
Aug 10, 2005 Environment
The National Land Use Database provides information about two projects: Previously Developed Land (PDL) and Baseline. According to the website, PDL collects data on vacant and derelict sites and other previously developed land and buildings that may be available for redevelopment in England. Baseline aims to develop a comprehensive and up-to-date land use map.
I found [...]
Rubbish police behaviour
Aug 9, 2005 Uncategorized
Here is an interesting story that local UK newspapers should try here. Police Chief and the Mayor in Portland, Oregon, USA claim that it’s legal to search somebody’s garbage without a warrant, and criticise a judge who declares the activity unconstitutional.
So then the local newspaper raids the Mayor’s and the Police Chief’s garbage! [...]
Comment: Contempt of Court
Aug 4, 2005 Articles, Justice & Courts
Get rid of these paternalistic laws
The Independent, 3 August 2005
By Heather Brooke
Now that the suspected terrorists have been captured, the media moves into murky territory about what it can tell the public. The police are in a difficult position. They know the public wants information but, as an officer involved in the investigation said, “We [...]
Overclassification – a direct threat to national security
Aug 1, 2005 Defence
An interesting and forthright Government hearing published today by a Congressional Reform Subcommittee on “Overclassification and Pseudo-Classification” gives clear evidence why excessive secrecy is a danger to national security both in America and the rest of the world. See:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2005/030205overclass.html
U.S. Representative Christopher Shays (Connecticut) bluntly describes the very real danger to the American public resulting [...]
