New British moth found in Hembury Woods is world first

A moth new to science and found nowhere else in the world has been formally recognised as living in the UK. The 3mm-long micro moth, which lives in Hembury Woods in Devon, was recognised as a new species this year. This week, the biologist who discovered it is presenting the Natural History Museum of London with one of the first known specimens. The receipt of this "type" specimen will mark the official acceptance of the moth's existence in the country. The tiny micro moth, which has a wingspan of just 6mm, was first spotted in 2004. At that time, amateur naturalist Bob Heckford sighted the unusual bright green caterpillars of this tiny leaf-mining moth on oak saplings within Hembury Woods, a site managed by the National Trust.

In January this year, the moth was officially recognised in the journal Zookeys as a new species, named Ectoedemia heckfordi after its discoverer. It is not known to live outside of the UK. Official presentation Now Mr Heckford is presenting the Natural History Museum with the original specimen.

That is important, because it marks the official acknowledgement by the scientific world of the specimen as the "type" for that species, against which any future finds will be compared and determined.

"We hear so much about the losses to the natural world, and less about the gains; which makes this find, however small, so important," says Matthew Oates, an adviser on nature conservation at the National Trust. "Amateur naturalists have a wonderful window on the wildlife world and nature continues to amaze us and throw up surprises even in the UK." There are well over 2,000 species of micro moth in the UK. They come in various shapes and sizes, but many are extremely pretty, though only appreciated under magnification. A few are actually larger than some larger, so-called macro moths.

Their biology varies. Most are plant feeders, with larvae often mining galleries in leaves, between the leaf surfaces. A few mine stems. Some, though, breed in fungi and a few have aquatic larvae. Most are nocturnal but quite a few also fly by day. Caterpillars of the new species are found mostly on oak saplings and low growth of oak in the shade. The mines they make are quite dark and the caterpillars are bright green which is quite unusual for micro moths. The adults lay their eggs on the underside of the leaf.

Give heroin on the NHS, says nursing leader

Drug addicts should be prescribed heroin on the NHS, a nursing leader says. Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said the move would drive down crime rates while helping people off the drug. But the views of other nurses at the RCN's annual conference in Bournemouth were mixed. Mr Carter's backing came after positive results from NHS pilots in London, Brighton and Darlington. The trials, involving 127 users, showed crime was cut by two-thirds, while three-quarters also "substantially reduced" their use of street drugs after being offered a range of support, including psychological therapy. Mr Carter said: "I do believe in heroin prescribing. The fact is heroin is very addictive. "It might take a few years but I think people will understand. "If you are going to get people off heroin then in the initial stages we have to have proper heroin prescribing services. "Critics say you are encouraging drug addiction but the reality is that these people are addicts and they are going to do it anyway." Mr Carter also said drug consumption rooms where users could get needles and inject in privacy should be looked into. He said Australia and the Netherlands had found they stopped users injecting in school playgrounds and stairwells. Debating the issue at the RCN's conference, several nurses agreed with the more radical approach. Claire Topham Brown, from Cambridgeshire, said providing heroin on the NHS could stop or reduce illegal drug use and crime, cut the transmission of viruses like HIV and hepatitis and provide a "stepping stone" to get people off heroin and on to the heroin substitute methadone.

But Gail Brooks, from the RCN's UK safety representatives committee, opposed the idea, saying: "Where would this stop? "Cannabis, cocaine, crack cocaine...other substances?" Harry Shapiro, of Drugscope, said heroin prescriptions could provide an important service. "This is not some heroin free-for-all, there is proper medical supervision."

(my view)-Doesn't it just piss you off that people are SO stupid and UNEDUCATED....most days i wake up..read the news and think to myself"why don't the government.....well the public...all the public put my as global president or even a pm here"........because EVERYONE knows i will be the PERFECT man for the job,if i was pm/GL-President i would make HISTORY from day one!and give this world back.....TO THE PEOPLE AND ANIMALS.....like it should be

The Biggest And Most Expensive mistake WE have made

The Biggest And Most Expensive mistake WE have made The one eyed Scottish freak loser MUST go!-he has wasted TAX-PAYERS to the WHOPPING 4 Trillion and rising and RISING peoples health in the process and HAS KILLED MILLIONS ALREADY,ALSO Brown'buried'a report showing £2.5bn wasted on defence-and once again....its rising

THIS FUCKER HAS GOT TO GO AND NEVER FUCKING RETURN

Newborn stallion weighs in at just six pounds

If baby animals are "cute," then how does one describe Einstein the newborn pinto stallion? Super-incredi-adora-cute? Weighing in at just six pounds, the New Hampshire-born foal may be the world's smallest horse. Dr. Rachel Wagner, Einstein's co-owner, says the Guinness record for the smallest newborn horse is 9 pounds. Wagner notes Einstein shows no signs of dwarfism, unlike the current record holder. Photos of Einstein standing next to a young child and a bemused Saint Bernard really put the horse's 14-inch frame in perspective. All together now: "Awwww!"

Thankyou Max For This Lovely Article

To All The Staff At Facebook.......your morons

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW DETAILS

Police: 300 sex offenders missing

Police insisted they are doing all they can to monitor sex offenders as it was revealed more than 300 are missing in the UK. The Sun newspaper asked every force in Britain how many registered sex offenders were missing in their area. Forty-six forces out of 52 replied at the time of going to print, and in total the whereabouts of 316 sex offenders were unknown. These included 128 in London, 30 in the West Midlands and 15 in Greater Manchester. A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "The safety and protection of the public is paramount at all times when dealing with sex offenders.

"We take this matter extremely seriously and officers are proactively following lines of inquiry in order to trace these offenders to ensure that they are dealt with robustly for having breached the terms of their conditions."

Superintendent Bob Mills, from the West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit, said officers were working "continuously" to find those missing. He said that task "has to take place in a controlled and covert way to reduce the risk of the offender going further off the radar". Supt Mills added: "Our strategy for finding these offenders is regularly reviewed and also considers the potential for the victim becoming a target of retribution. Their names, pictures and any new intelligence are circulated on the Police National Computer and to all forces and law enforcement agencies." Detective Chief Inspector Dave Riddick, from Greater Manchester Police, said the number of missing offenders, 15, is less than 1% of the total number of registered sex offenders in the area.

Freedom Through Education

SPREAD THE WORD......FREEDOM IS THE KEY TO OUR SURVIVAL

Endangered sturgeon fish flourishing in Wisconsin

It's been a tough fight for the whisker-snouted sturgeon. The fish survived whatever killed the dinosaurs and have struggled against habitat destruction and overfishing. Now many of its 25 species are endangered, but a small pocket in upper Wisconsin boasts of having one of the world's largest concentrations of the fish. The success is because of the state's strict spearing limits, poaching laws, restocking efforts and the popular — and well-protected — spring spawning, which mostly finished last week. "If we can restore the sturgeon population in the Great Lakes and manage the current population effectively, then we know we are doing a pretty good job of managing the other aspects of the aquatic community," said state sturgeon expert Ron Bruch. In Lake Winnebago there are now around 40,000 lake sturgeons, likely where the population was in the 1800s, Bruch said. In the 1950s, it was 10,000. Whereas in the Great Lakes system, there are now about 156,750, less than 1 percent of what it was in early 1800s, said Rob Elliott, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. Thousands from around the state and elsewhere visit the Lake Winnebago system tributaries to watch the enormous fish writhe and splash as they lay eggs in shallow, moving water. The fish, which grow up to 300 pounds and look like a cross between a catfish and shark, are close enough to touch.

"Some people say they are awful homely, awful bad looking, but to me ... they are beautiful fish, just like a beautiful blonde," said 73-year-old Pat Wudtke, who's speared sturgeon for 50 years during the state's annual season

.

For the past decade, Wudtke also has been among the hundreds who volunteer to protect the fish from poachers. "I'll do everything I can to preserve them," Wudtke said. People love the animals because of their unique look, that the species is prehistoric and their size, Bruch said. "This is the only place really in the world that you can see them to this extent," he said. The spawning spectacle pumps $350,000 into three nearby cities, some of which have signs directing people to the spawning sites

. The fish's success in Lake Winnebago has Bruch concerned. Though only a few cases of poaching are reported each year, he worries there will be more since other areas have a sturgeon shortage and demand is high. And he thinks the taste of lake sturgeon caviar compares with the high-priced kind. There also are reports of poaching of white sturgeon in California as its caviar has grown more popular, said Ellen Pikitch, executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science in New York. It is illegal to fish wild white sturgeon in California and sell its meat or eggs, but people can sell farm-raised white sturgeon. It's also illegal in the U.S. to sell lake sturgeon meat and its eggs from the states.

In the Black and Caspian Seas the beluga sturgeon is overfished for its caviar, which costs up to $5,000 a pound.

Wisconsin does allow sturgeon spearing, with thousands huddled in shanties on a frozen Lake Winnebago. Spearers are allowed one sturgeon per person. Most get none. The DNR ends spearing when 5 percent of the population is taken. The spearing is why the group, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, started in 1977, because they wanted to keep that tradition alive, said a founder, Bill Casper. Bruch credits the group for part of the sturgeon's success. It runs the sturgeon guard program and raises funds for research and hatcheries, among other things.

But some say even one speared sturgeon is too many. "If they were not removed from the water," Pikitch said, "They would have opportunity to spawn many, many times in a long lifetime."

WATCH THE VID HERE http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_saving_sturgeon Thankyou Max for this wonderful discovery

Caught on film: The bus driver filmed steering with his elbows while reading a BOOK

A reckless bus driver has been caught on film reading a book as he drove passengers along a dual carriageway.A passenger, who wishes to remain anonymous, filmed the National Express West Midlands driver steering the bus with his elbows as he read the paperback. But the driver seemed oblivious to the fact he was being filmed, even continuing to read as he pulled into bus stops and only momentarily taking his eyes off the book to handle fares. A bus driver has been caught on film driving his packed double decker along a dual carriageway while reading a book The footage, which has been posted on YouTube, prompted bosses to suspend the driver, who remains unnamed. He now faces the sack for his behaviour. The driver's antics were filmed on Monday evening as he drove the number 61 bus out of Birmingham town centre through Selly Oak. One passenger told The Sun: 'The guy was in a world of his own, totally absorbed in his book. There were a lot of passengers on the bus but it didn't bother him at all.

'He was literally steering with his elbows and glancing between the book and the road ahead. He could easily have caused a major accident

The driver, who remains unnamed, has been suspended for his antics as he drove out of Birmingham city centre on Monday,The driver's antics were filmed on Monday evening as he drove the number 61 bus out of Birmingham town centre through Selly Oak He added: 'It's not as if he was on a quite country road. He was driving down one of the busiest roads in Brum while immersed in a novel.' In a statement, a National Express spokesman said: 'Immediate action was taken to suspend the driver who will now face disciplinary action. 'It is not appropriate to predict the outcome but an incident of this type is likely to lead to a dismissal. 'Passenger safety is always our priority and it is completely unacceptable for any driver to behave in this manner.

Congress to archive every tweet ever posted publicly

Twitter's first tweet might not have been prosaic, but it was historic

The Library of Congress is to archive every single public tweet ever made. Twitter says since they started in 2006, billions of tweets have been created and 55m are sent every day. The digital archive will include tweets from President Barack Obama on the day he was elected as well as the first tweet from co-founder Jack Dorsey. "I think it shows the tweets are an interesting part of the historical record," said Alex MacGillivray, Twitter's general counsel. "This project however is not about us, it is about our users and the fact they use the service to chronicle these amazing events. President Obama actually tweeted after he was elected. That is a big deal and it's something he did. "It is not something we imagined when we were forming the service," Mr MacGillivray told BBC News. In a Library of Congress blogpost entitled "How Tweet It Is", Matt Raymond underlined the reason why these tweets deserved a home alongside better known historic documents like the Declaration of Independence. "I'm no PhD, but it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data."

Twitter's Mr MacGillivray agreed.

"We have just had one of our Supreme Court justices announce his retirement and knowing what people are saying around that will be important. "As a historian you will be able to look back at that and understand what people felt. The same with the healthcare legislation that recently passed. You can look back and say what where people talking about and have those views changed over time? We think that will be really useful." The microblogging service came into prominence during a number of high profile events including the Iranian elections last year, the Mumbai bombing, the Haiti earthquake and the downing of a passenger aircraft in the Hudson River.

Replay

Alongside the Library of Congress announcement, Google revealed how it is going to make the Twitter archive searchable for users. The search giant unveiled a replay feature that lets users search tweets posted at any given point in time right down to the minute.

Twitter sees itself as a new form of real-time communication

Anyone wanting to know what people tweeted about on say the Haiti earthquake or the Oscars can type into the search box, select "show options" on the result page and then click "updates".

A timeline will appear above the results allowing you to zoom in on tweets by the hour or minute.

"This will be the first time the user will have the ability to go back in time and see the conversation about a particular topic," Dylan Casey, Google's product manager told BBC News. "We think this is pretty significant because up until now the discussion has been about what is happening now and with today's replay button people will be able to go back and see what people were actually talking about around big events." For the moment the replay feature will only cover the last two months of tweets. Google said later in the summer it hopes to cover the entire archive all the way back to March 2006.(my view)- Yes BUT its also an invasion into our lives aswell

Icelandic volcanic ash alert grounds UK flights

All flights in and out of the UK have been suspended as ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland moves south. Safety body Eurocontrol said up to 4,000 flights across northern Europe had so far been affected by the cloud. The Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) said no flights would be allowed in or out of UK airspace until 1800BST amid fears of engine damage. The airspace restriction was the most significant in living memory, a spokesman said. Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark were among the European countries hit. The restrictions were imposed after the Met Office warned the ash was sufficient to clog engines. Passengers were advised to contact their carriers prior to travel. Experts have warned that the tiny particles of rock, glass and sand contained in the ash cloud would be sufficient to jam aircraft engines. But the Health Protection Agency said the ash did not pose a significant risk to public health because of its high altitude.

These are some of the main knock-on effects:

Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports shut Disruptions to and from Liverpool's John Lennon, Manchester and Newcastle airports Severe delays at Birmingham airport with problems reported at East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Cardiff International and Bristol airports London's Gatwick, Heathrow and City airports hit British Airways cancels all domestic flights on Thursday and offers refunds or an option to rebook Flights suspended at Belfast International Airport and George Best Belfast City Airport RAF Sea King helicopter flies a critically ill patient from Scotland to London Ash threat forces Great North Air Ambulance to be grounded

One passenger at Glasgow told the BBC: "I'm meant to be going to Lanzarote. We've travelled from Oban, leaving at 3am. Now we've decided we might as well just go home and do a bit of gardening."

Others switched form plane to train, with the East Coast line extending its 1830BST London to Newcastle service through to Edinburgh. Budget airline Ryanair said no flights were operating to or from the UK on Thursday and it expected cancellations and delays on Friday. A Nats spokesman said: "The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre has issued a forecast that the ash cloud from the volcanic eruption in Iceland will track over Europe tonight. "Nats is working with Eurocontrol and our colleagues in Europe's other air navigation service providers to take the appropriate action to ensure safety in accordance with international aviation policy." The European air safety body, Eurocontrol, said the cloud of ash had reached 55,000ft and was expected to move through northern UK and Scotland. Brian Flynn, assistant head of operations of its central flow management unit, told the BBC: "As it moves toward the Netherlands and Belgium it will dissipate and lose intensity, like any weather phenomenon. But we don't know what the extent of it will be." Met Office forecaster Philip Avery said the ash could take several days to clear. He said: "It is showing up on imagery at the moment, extending down as far as the Faroes but it looks as though the wind will drag it a good deal further south. "Nats has good cause to be very cautious about this because in about 1982 a British Airways jumbo had the unnerving experience of having all four engines shut down as it flew through a plume of volcanic ash." There was a nearly identical incident on 15 December 1989 when KLM Flight 867, a B747-400 from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska, flew into the plume of the erupting Mount Redoubt, causing all four engines to fail. Once the flight cleared the ash cloud, the crew was able to restart each engine and then make a safe landing at Anchorage, but the aircraft was substantially damaged. A BAA spokesman said: "Passengers intending to fly today are asked to contact their airline for further information." The eruption under a glacier in the Eyjafjallajoekull area of Iceland is the second in the country in less than a month.

Primark drops padded child's bikini

Primark has stopped selling padded bikini tops for children after criticism that they sexualised young girls, a spokesman for the chain said. The company apologised for any offence caused by the product and said profits from any bikinis already sold would be given to a children's charity. A spokesman said: "Primark has taken note of the concern this morning regarding the sale of certain bikini tops for girls, a product line that sells in relatively small quantities. "The company has stopped the sale of this product line with immediate effect. "Primark will donate all the profits made from this product line to a children's charity, and apologises to customers for any offence caused." Child protection consultant Shy Keenan, of The Phoenix Chief Advocates which helps victims of paedophiles, earlier called for a boycott of Primark until the bikini top was withdrawn.

"As victims' advocates, we know why you should never sexualise children or help to normalise the sexualisation of children," she said. "They may be learning how to look sexy in an adult way, but no- one is teaching them what to do if they receive robust unwelcome adult attention.

"We say boycott Primark until they agree to withdraw this line."

Father held after baby left in car

Police arrested a man for leaving his 1-year-old baby in a car unattended during the early hours while he watched strippers at a nightclub in New Zealand's capital, and have placed the boy in welfare agency care. A passer-by called police after seeing the sleeping baby in a car parked near the Mermaid Strip Club in Wellington about 3 am on Tuesday. Police took the baby to hospital and arrested the father, 42, after he was located in the club, Inspector Simon Perry said.

Two convicts dress up as sheep to evade capture

Two convicts who escaped from a high security prison in Argentina have managed to evade arrest by disguising themselves up as sheep by wearing full sheepskins including the sheep's head. Maximiliano Pereyra and Ariel Diaz stole the sheep hides from a ranch after fleeing from an Argentinian maximum security prison a week ago, The Sun has reported. The duo managed to evade 300 policemen on their trail by disguising themselves as sheep. Locals have seen them running through farmland at night. "They were wearing grey clothes but had full sheepskins, including the sheep's heads, over their heads and back," a farmworker was quoted as saying. Spotting the two men among thousands of sheep is "almost impossible", the police said.

Pope 'has no UK arrest immunity'

Plans to have the Pope arrested when he visits the UK will succeed because he is not a head of state, a solicitor has said. Atheist authors Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens proposed the action against the Pontiff for his handling of child abuse scandals in the Catholic church. The writers' solicitor Mark Stephens said applications will be made to courts in the UK and the International Criminal Court for a warrant for Pope Benedict XVI's arrest. His likely defence would be be that he is immune from prosecution during his visit to Britain in September, according to the lawyer. Mr Stephens said: "The courts will examine the claim of immunity. I believe that an English court would reject it. If the Pope was here on a state visit, ordinarily a head of state would have sovereign immunity. What I believe is that because he's not a sovereign, not a head of state, he's not entitled to the defence." He said that the Vatican was declared to be a state by Benito Mussolini, but this had no standing in international law. The Pope faced criticism after it emerged that he signed a letter which delayed the punishment of a paedophile priest in the US for the "good of the universal church". Writing in 1985, the future Pontiff said that he needed more time to consider the case. Mr Stephens, who has represented abuse victims in the past said: "This will require the Pope to deal with the way in which he appears to have prioritised the reputation of the Catholic church over the welfare of children." Potential charges against the Pope would be crimes against humanity.

Pupils taught using violent game-The Government Still Have NOT Learned

Stills from violent video game Grand Theft Auto are being used to teach primary school children about violence. The 18-rated game is being used as part of a police-backed pilot scheme in primary schools in Merseyside to deter youngsters from aggressive behaviour. Under the scheme, 10 and 11-year-olds are shown stills from the games, which allow players to beat up prostitutes. These are used alongside real-life images to prompt a discussion on what is good, bad, real and unreal. Under the Get Real scheme run by the charity Support After Murder and Manslaughter (Samm) and Merseyside Police, children are given trading cards from the video game alongside real-life images of parents arguing or of drunkenness. Clips from the Tom and Jerry-satirising cartoon Itchy and Scratchy, from the Simpsons, are also used alongside role-playing in the Home Office-funded project. Pupils are then asked to differentiate between good, bad, real and unreal life events. One of its founders, Gaynor Bell, who lost two children in violent deaths, said the project was created to try to turn children away from violence at a young age. Despite the game's 18-rated status, she said many children would have played it, and similar games, at home with elder siblings, and that they risked being de-sensitised to the violence involved. She added: "They are shown a picture of a man rolling over a car and you can clearly see it has a machine gun.

"It's basically telling them that it's not real life, but in these games they do look real."

She added: "Children have very short attention spans so they need something that keeps them interested, preferably busy with their hands and it has to be something that allows them to be proactive." The workshops are run in schools with a police officer, the class teacher and two members of Samm and are subsequently followed up with further work. Samm works with young offenders, and those at risk of offending, to try to turn them away from crime. A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said: "Almost any media can be edited to be educational and if the material already attracts children's interest, it can have a greater impact on them. "This may well be depicting knife-using car thieves as the selfish morons that they are - which of course we would welcome." (my view)-What do you think is going to happen next?........that's right,just like sex education being thought at a young age in school...ordered by the gov of course.......the kids will see these pictures and just like the sex ed being taught and shown.......they will be curious and commit crime....like sex being taught...what happened?...........2 10 yr old boys raped an 8yr old girl..there have been a few other cases to.........its all getting worse and its the governments that turning OUR kids into criminals,rapists,ect

Boy buys big in Farmville

A 12 year-old British boy has used his mother’s credit card to make purchases exceeding £900 in Facebook’s popular agriculture game, Farmville. In fairness, the lad plugged £288 of his own savings into this ill-advised investment. The rest of it was all on his mum’s plastic, though, and was spent completely without her knowledge:

“The first use of my card was on 14 March,” she tells The Guardian.

“I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point. Any transactions after that date were already in the system, so what I thought was a £427 spend turned into £625 over the next few days.” And the rest, as they say, is history – just like the boy’s chances of ever being allowed back on the home computer again. To add insult to injury Facebook, which hosts the game, has cancelled the boy’s account too. Perhaps that’s because, at 12 years old, he’s actually too young to be playing it. Meanwhile it appears that the possibility of a refund from either the credit card company or the game’s makers is slim, since the credit card was supposed to be the mother’s responsibility. However HSBC, the card issuers, has said it may consider reimbursing the woman if she decides to file criminal charges against her son. “Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider,” is all she had to say about that proposition.

So how did the lad himself account for his wayward spending spree? “...they had brought out good stuff that I wanted.”

Blimey, kids eh? However the biggest irony in all of this is that Farmville is mostly free to play, with users purchasing extra items only if they want them. But therein lie many lessons about the dangers of supposedly free applications – as well as the pitfalls of leaving minors alone with their mum’s purse!(my view)-I think people are REALLY stupid about "buying"these NON-REAL items but virtual ITEMS....to build up a GAME...that's it........its a fucking game losers....facebook should be sued over this,playing on peoples addictive stupidity at gaming........gaming is a free to play zone on sites.....you should not pay to play..that's idiotic and selfish

GOTH Vs EMO

THIS POLL WAS TAKEN A WEEK AGO,200 MILLION PEOPLE TOOK THE TEST AND THE RESULTS ARE IN....I PASTED THE ANSWERS TO WHY ON A PLAIN WHITE BACKGROUND SO ITS EASIER TO SEE........ENJOY

Barbara's Heartagram T-Shirt

Q&A: The Digital Economy bill

ISPs could soon be asked to monitor the online activities of their users The Digital Economy Bill is due for its second reading in the House of Commons and could become law during the wash-up period, which sees outstanding legislation rushed through before a general election. But the most controversial aspects of the bill - which could see persistent illegal file-sharers disconnected from the web and copyright holders given the power to block access to websites hosting illegal content - deserve greater debate say critics.

What does it mean for me?

Nothing yet. If the Digital Economy bill becomes law the wheels will be set in motion but initially this will mean those identified as downloading illegal content will be sent letters asking them to stop and pointing out legal alternatives. If this is considered to be ineffective, regulator Ofcom will be able to introduce technical measures down the line, which could include limiting the speed or capacity of an individual's service or suspending their service completely.

How big is the problem?

It is notoriously difficult to measure how much illegal file-sharing is going on. It is reported that more than half of all the traffic on the net in the UK is content being shared illegally but service providers say they cannot measure it exactly. The creative industries estimate that six million people in the UK regularly file-share copyright content without permission, costing the industries revenue that they cannot recoup. A recent study, by economics firm TERA Consultants, estimated that the UK's creative industries experienced losses of £1.2bn in 2008 due to piracy. Pressure from the rights owners has been met with resistance from the ISPs and digital rights campaign groups who argue that there is no sign of reduction in the amount of file-sharing.

What do those opposed to the measures say?

ISPs have long said they do not want to become the internet police, and have also pointed out that under the law as it stands they are mere conduits of the traffic on the net. Many ISPs signed up to a voluntary agreement that saw them send letters to users they suspect of sharing content illegally but this scheme ended in January 2009. The full-time role of monitoring traffic on their networks will fall to rights-holders although ISPs will have to bear some of the costs. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has proposed that the costs of tracking down file-sharers be split between the ISPs and the rights owners. The Open Rights Group has been very vocal in its opposition to aspects of the Digital Economy Bill, most notably the plans to disconnect users from the web. Together with digital rights campaigners 38 Degrees it has raised over £20,000 to roll out advertisements in national newspapers condemning the bill. As a result of its campaign, over 20,000 people has written to their MPs asking them to vote against the bill. Is cutting people off from the net the only controversial aspect of the bill? No. Opponents are also concerned about plans to force internet service providers to block websites that host copyright free material. The part of the bill that refers to this, Clause 18, has been rewritten by the government over the last week. Originally the clause was intended to future-proof the legislation against other methods of copyright theft not yet thought about. While it still allows copyright owners to force service providers to block access to certain sites, the process will now to subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Copyright owners would also need evidence that the downloading of material from the site was having a "serious effect" on businesses or consumers. There are also concerns about how the file-sharing measures will affect public wi-fi services. As the law stands, the owner of a connection could be held liable even if they are not personally responsible for downloading pirated material so, for instance, if someone used wireless connectivity in a cafe to download free content, the cafe owner would be held responsible.

What are the UK creative industries asking for?

Nine bodies representing the creative industries - among them the BPI, the body representing British record labels, the Federation Against Copyright Theft, and trade five unions, including the Musicians' Union - have in the past expressed a desire for the government to force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to warn, throttle the speed of connection and ultimately disconnect persistent illegal file-sharers. They want a commitment to stopping file-sharing and the responsibility for doing so to be placed on the ISPs and for that to be enshrined in legislation. The games industry has already begun a clampdown of those illegally sharing videogames and the methods it uses would broadly be similar to those the music and film industry want. A handful of law firms have begun sending letters to those identified as downloading illegal content, demanding they pay a one-off fine or face court action. The BPI has condemned this approach.

How will illegal file-sharers be detected?

ISPs routinely monitor traffic sent over their network, for maintenance and security purposes. While it is relatively simple to monitor traffic sent using file-sharing programs, it is technically more challenging to know what exactly is being shared. If the bill becomes law, the responsibility of tracking down pirates will lie with content rights owners. They plan to monitor websites which offer links to copyright content and then obtain the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the online computer being used to share that data. ISPs tend to own blocks of IP addresses, so it is relatively simple to identify the broadband account holder that is tied to a particular IP address at a particular time. But this is a slow, and time-consuming procedure. One solution is to employ deep packet inspection (DPI) to look at the content of the "packets" of data being sent over the net. DPI can examine the contents of shared data and then using digital fingerprinting technology to see if the file is being exchanged with consent or not.

Will banning persistent file-sharers work?

The creative industries believe illegal file-sharing is almost endemic while the government has set a target of reducing the problem by at least 70% in the next two or three years. The difficulty is that the problem is a moving target. More persistent file-sharers are already beginning to use software which masks their IP address while online, and the files being exchanged are encrypted, so it is harder for ISPs to use DPI technology. However, the music and film industries are more likely attempting to target the "soft, underbelly" of file-sharing: the teenagers who are doing it because they are either apathetic or believe they can get away with it. That raises another difficult issue in the debate about disconnecting file-sharers: they may be sharing their internet connection. Teenagers are likely to be using a connection at their parents' homes, and shared housing may see a number of independent users with just one file-sharer in their midst.

How have other countries dealt with the problem?

Countries around the world are grappling with how to control internet piracy. In the US, student Joel Tenebaum, who has admitted downloading 800 songs, was last year ordered to pay $675,000 (£412,000) to various record labels after being found guilty on 31 charges of sharing music online. In May 2009, the French parliament passed legislation which would see a new state-agency sending warning letters to file sharers. If they are caught three times, they will be cut off. There have been protests against similar proposed legislation in Australia and New Zealand. In response to the French legislation, European politicians ruled that cutting off someone's internet connection could be a breach of their human rights.(my view)-This topic and"law" sickens me to my core,its wrong to spy on people and use"Copyright"to get what you want,WE BUY YOUR SHIT....SO LEAVE US ALL THE FUCK ALONE

'Alien invasion' April Fools' story angers Jordan mayor

A Jordanian mayor is considering suing a newspaper over an April Fools' Day report saying aliens had landed nearby. Al-Ghad's front-page story on 1 April said flying saucers flown by 3m (10ft) creatures had landed in the desert town of Jafr, in eastern Jordan. It said communication networks went down and frightened townspeople fled into the streets. The mayor, Mohammed Mleihan, said parents were so frightened they did not send their children to school that day. "Students didn't go to school, their parents were frightened and I almost evacuated the town's 13,000 residents," Mr Mleihan told the Associated Press.

"People were scared that aliens would attack them."

He immediately notified the security authorities, who he said combed the area looking for the aliens. They did not find any. Big jokers Al-Ghad's front page piece said the giant aliens had arrived on flying saucers lighting up the Jordanian desert town of Jafr, some 300 kilometres (190 miles) east of Amman. Moussa Barhoumeh, Al Ghad's managing editor, said the newspaper was simply having some good natured fun on April Fools' Day, and had apologised for any inconvenience caused.

"We meant to entertain, not scare people," he said.

Mr Barhoumeh did not say why Jafr was chosen as the butt of the joke, but the area is notorious for a nearby military base that sometimes hosts US troops for joint training exercises. Human rights groups claim the base once housed alleged al-Qaida militants, some of whom were transferred from Guantanamo Bay, but Jordan has denied the charge. While April Fools' Day jokes appearing in the press may be a great British tradition, this is not the case in Jordan, says the BBC's Dale Gavlak in the capital, Amman. While Egyptians are renowned as the big jokers in the Arab world, able to easily laugh at just about anything, the Jordanians are considered more serious. Although some are trying to change that perception by hosting a yearly international comedy festival in Amman, for Jafr's mayor, this was clearly one joke that just went too far, our correspondent adds.(my view)-Wow the mayor's a dick lol

Brown: Economy is like Rooney's ankle

Gordon Brown has warned that Tory plans to cut the budget deficit this year risk pushing the economy into a "double-dip" recession. In a podcast on the No 10 website, he said that the recovery remained fragile and the economy needed time to regain strength - drawing a comparison with footballer Wayne Rooney's injured foot. "I know everyone will be hoping he's fit for the World Cup but after an injury you need support to recover, you need support to get back to match fitness, you need support to get back your full strength and then go on to lift the World Cup. So with the economy - we're not back to full fitness, we need to maintain support," he said. "If we try and jump off the treatment table as if nothing had happened we'll do more damage to the economy - and frankly that means we risk a double-dip recession. I think that's a risk we can't afford to take." Shadow chancellor George Osborne announced last week that the Tories would make £6 billion in public sector efficiency savings this year in order to reverse part of the Government's planned increase in national insurance contributions, due to come in next April. Mr Brown said: "If you withdraw support too early, we'll risk doing more damage," he said."(my view)-Unlike Rooney's ankle........it was only a sprained ankle but yet he was like a sobbing baby over it all,and had his leg in a case.......pathetic,you have DISTOYED OUR COUNTRY from day one......your a disease gordon!

Five charged with rape of girl, 7-From my earlier post

Two men and three teenage boys have been charged with gang-raping a seven-year-old girl sold for sex by her 15-year-old stepsister during a party at a crime-ridden apartment building in New Jersey. Details of the arrests were announced outside police headquarters in Trenton. Police director Irving Bradley said detectives had been working around the clock since the crime was reported on March 28. "We did get a lot of co-operation from the community, which helped break this case," Mr Bradley said. Those arrested included Gregory Leary, 20, in custody since Friday, when he was charged with having sex with the 15-year-old. The other four were Timear Lewis, 19, and boys aged 13, 14 and 17. Each was charged with aggravated sexual assault and child endangerment. Prosecutors will probably seek to try all of them as adults, Mercer County prosecutor Joseph Bocchini said. The case shocked residents of the Rowan Towers apartment building, where three of those arrested lived, police captain Joseph Juniak said. The building's management has stepped up its security presence there and promised additional safety measures, but residents expressed scepticism that the flats would become safer. Before the arrest announcement, the 15-year-old girl had been charged with promoting prostitution, aggravated sexual assault and other crimes. She remains in youth custody.

Girl arrested for doodling on desk

A 12-year-old girl who was hauled out of her New York school in handcuffs for doodling on her desk has started legal action against the city over her arrest. A lawyer for Alexa Gonzalez filed legal papers seeking 1 million dollars (£658,000) in damages, saying the girl, from Queens, was subjected to overly harsh treatment. Alexa was arrested at her junior high school in February after scribbling "I love my friends Abby and Faith" on her desk with an erasable marker pen(my view)-Ok she was wrong ok but it can be wripped off.....all they needed to do is tell her off or send her to detention.......its all money money money..........these fucktards make me sick she was arrested yet killers walk free....wheres the justice here?

Happy Easter Sweethearts

Have A Happy Easter Kids xxx

Girl sells sister, 7, for sex

A 15-year-old sold her seven-year-old sister for sex with up to seven men at a party near their home in New Jersey. Police said the child later got dressed and two strangers walked her home. She was treated at a hospital. The teenager, who stayed behind, also took money to have sex with others at the party in an apartment on Sunday. She has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other crimes. Her name was not released because of her age. Police are trying to track down those who attended the party. The girls' parents reported them missing on Sunday afternoon and police were at the home when the seven-year-old returned.