We have blog-off

We have blog-off Tuesday 1st August 21.00 (a bit late with this posting sorry Dave) all I need is words now.

I am now the proud owner of a newborn blog. This isn't special in itself, as I believe a community the size of Western Europe has already beaten me to this activity, and has written on topics as obscure and bizarre as sparrow porn, reusable bullets and Ron Atkinson's next career move.

For anyone who is unaware, 'blog' is short for 'web log', deriving from the latest fashion where you take the last letter of the first word, and combine it with the first three letters of the next word to create the abbreviation. Hopefully, expressions like 'wrist watch' can be spared the same treatment.

But there is a special kind of powerful thrill of being able to write whatever and add whatever to the www. I doubt I will be more useful or entertaining than anyone else, but I will wait and see.
I frankly haven't a clue what I will write about right now.

As I sit here at my PC, on this hot evening, my sole inspiration is the sound of some local youths laughing hysterically on the street outside.

They are not riding their bikes, or playing Top Trumps - indeed, I believe they're filling the fuel tank of an abandoned moped with fizzy pop. That is playtime in AL9, and it sounds like a hoot.

I blame the absence of the World Cup. Were this sporting spectacle still on, they would be safely indoors, watching a festival of violence, cheating, thespian exceesses, big hair and step-overs.

If I see the same lads tomorrow, I might encourage them to start a blog themselves.

Not for the last time, I am running out of things to say, and will sign off for the evening. It's nice to be here.

Smoking litter

We have all, probably, become accustomed to seeing some smokers drop litter on the street when they stub out their cigarettes, but now a man has been taken to task for flicking ash from his car.

A step too far? If it stops other smokers littering - perhaps not?

Driver fuming over cigarette fine

A £75 fine has been given to a Dorset man for "dripping his cigarette" out of a car window.

Alan Joyce of Lower Parkstone, Poole, has said by "dripping" Poole Council must mean flicking his cigarette ash.

The retired 68-year-old said: "I am really annoyed - to me that is not worth being branded a litter bug."

Councillor Don Collier, who said he was unable to comment on individual cases, said: "The people of Poole won't tolerate littering."

Mr Joyce, a former carpenter, was served a fixed penalty notice which states he must pay the fine within 14 days or face court action.

It states that on 25 July a council officer had reason to believe Mr Joyce was "dripping his cigarette" from his car while driving along Sandbanks Road, Poole.

'Instant Justice'

According to the Guardian, police are pressing ministers for radical new powers to dispense 'instant justice', including the immediate exclusion of "yobs" from town centres at night, and bans on street gang members associating with each other.

The Guardian claims that senior officers say the powers would be the "modern equivalent of a clip round the ear from the local bobby" and would ensure the introduction of neighbourhood policing across England and Wales has "bite" and meets public expectations.

It's claimed the measures would include...

• Powers for police officers to tackle "town centre yobs" by immediately excluding an offender from the town centre at night "for an appropriate period" when they are issued with an informal warning or a fixed-penalty fine.

• Powers to tackle disorder by giving the neighbourhood constable, who understands the local context, the right to issue a three-month ban on gangs who cause repeat disorder on estates from associating with each other in public or frequenting a particular location. The ban could include a requirement to clear up local damage. Breaching the order would lead to an immediate court appearance with a possible fine, parenting order or Asbo.

• Powers to tackle "the yob driver": those repeatedly stopped in an unregistered car with no insurance, no driving licence or MOT, could face immediate seizure of the car which would be crushed. An instant interim driving ban would be imposed pending a court appearance.

• Tackling knife crime by enabling "reasonable suspicion" for stop and search to be based on previous convictions.

BBC News Online is also reporting this story.

Note: The use of the word 'yob' is a direct quote from the newspaper. Also, free subscription usually required to access the Guardian online.

First silverware sorted

As Liverpool lifted the Community Shield at the Millennium Stadium after stuffing Chelski 2-1, the beaten blues commiserate.

Lampard: Come on JT, get a grip, stop crying, it's only a game and the gaffer, Maureen, has given us loads of excuses.

Terry: I know, but it's still hard being a losing captain.

Lampard: Yea, and just think, you'll get to do it twice as much now.

Too old at 50?

The TUC says many over 50s have been dumped out of work and on the employment scrap heap, scraping by on benefits or small work pensions.

It's calling on firms to 'stop discriminating' and to retrain and recruit older staff, saying that the size of the potential workforce aged between 50 and 69 will rise by 17% over the next decade.

But can over 50s be retrained or are younger workers a better bet?

The CBI's Director of human resources policy, Susan Anderson, is quoted by the BBC as saying...

"Evidence suggests that older people do find it hard to find a job and this is mainly because they have lower skills levels, particularly in regard to the literacy and numeracy requirements of the modern workplace.

"However employers are very aware of the benefits and advantages which older people offer, especially their attitude to work and their customer service skills, so where possible they will do all they can to hire and retain them."

So, according to Susan Anderson, older people have lower skill levels - not much encouragment there then.

Hand luggage ban

The BBC says police have disrupted a major terrorist polot to blow up planes in mid-flight.

As a result, security is being increased at all UK airports.

According to the BBC, it means that passengers on all flights will not be allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK.

Only the barest essentials - including passports and wallets - will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags.

Click here for more.