Don't you think that gradually over time, Britain is getting to be a harder place to visit? For examples the fees for visas keep going up and up and up, and in this recent article it mentions that some visitors to the UK may have to get a 1,000 bond (refundable) paid for by their relatives.

Also "over the next 12 months Britain would introduce "compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals allowing us to know who is here and what they are entitled to".

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22951725-2703,00.html

The UK Independence Party says it would halt all immigration to the UK for five years if it won a general election.
Leader Nigel Farage told the party's annual conference in London that public services could not cope with growing numbers of migrants. The ban would stay in place until "proper controls" on people entering the country had been implemented. UKIP is also promising stronger border controls, with all non-UK nationals being "registered and tracked". The proposals are contained in a policy review put to the party conference, which runs until Saturday.

'Great strain'
UKIP has now created 17 groups to consider its policies and said it would publish its ideas in full on a daily basis if an election was called. Its main policy is a commitment to remove the UK from the European Union. Mr Farage said migrants, particularly those arriving from eastern Europe, were placing too great a strain on public services. UKIP would "put in place border controls so that all non-UK nationals who enter the UK can be registered and tracked on their entry and exit from the country". "Anyone overstaying their visa will be subject to arrest and removal from the country and will incur a ban on further entry to the UK for a minimum of five years," a party spokesman said. UKIP says anybody who wishes to come to the UK must be able to speak fluent English and have educational qualifications. They must also demonstrate loyalty to the UK and be able to support themselves and their family without help from the taxpayer, it adds.


Thoughts, concerns, complaints?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7028849.stm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2554235.ece

Q. How many of 100 Britons passed the citizenship exam? A. Not one

It is the test that every immigrant must pass to gain British citizenship, ensuring that succesful applicants have a grasp of the country’s life, customs and culture.

But to judge by the results of a quiz conducted in a North London pub this week, the test is too hard for most born-and-bred Britons.

The informal sitting of the test, organised by the Manifesto Club, showed that the questions were so tricky that not one of 100 British citizens was good enough to pass.

The 24-question exam was introduced in 2005 after David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, insisted that new immigrants should grasp the English language and the nature of British life, customs and culture.

Government officials estimate that 100,000 people take the multiple-choice test each year, with two thirds attaining the passage score of 18. However, the British volunteers, made up mainly of young professionals, found the test a far more challenging prospect. After attempting the exam, they were left with one further question in mind: how British are we?

“I think I’m going to be thrown out of the country,” said Alasdair Hopwood, 31, an artist from South London, after getting only 14 questions right.

[for the full article, click the link above]

This 3 min. video clip from the Daily Show is worth posting to this community mainly for the horrid, horrid clips from Richard Quest, CNN's "royal watcher." I believe he's on CNN International and used to be on BBC, but this is the first I've heard of him, and I cannot believe this guy is a) on a legitimate news channel and b) an actual human being.

(For those who don't know, the Daily Show is a satire newscast that's on Comedy Central in the US and More4 in the UK. IMO, it's downright hilarious.)

( Chuck? Play Quest! )

There's always been a debate as to whether Britain should lean towards Europe or the States, and she's consistently found herself somewhere between in every regard. Now it seems that the US may finally be on the point of tipping the scales and forcing us to reject them.

From the Grauniad, and the Torygraph, essentially the same story, just pick your bias.

Apparently the US government is considering requiring British people of Pakistani origin to obtain visas before visiting the US.

If this does go through in any form it would almost certainly mean the end of the visa waiver system for all Britons, among other things it would force Britain and the EU to take action in response, meaning that the nightmare of obtaining a visa would apply to every trip.

According to royal.gov.uk, the Queen is coming to America to celebrate 400 years of the first English settlements.

The full programme of events can be found here:
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5531.asp

She will visit the survivors of the Virginia Tech massacre and visit Jamestown, the site of the English settlement and the local native American (technically native British as they signed an agreement to be British citizens forever) tribes.

The state of Virginia has put together this website celebrating their 400 years:
http://www.jamestown2007.org/

In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act amending the Uniform Time
Act of 1966 that governs Daylight Savings Time.

From now on, instead of DST starting on the first Sunday in April, it
starts on the second Sunday of March. (This year, that's March 11.) Come
Fall, Daylight Savings will end on the first Sunday in November --
November 4, this year -- instead of the last Sunday of October.

This Sunday, the clocks go forward an hour in the US. In the UK, we set the clocks forward March 25th and back October 28th.

I read this article about that UNICEF report in the Economist a couple of weeks ago on my flight home from London. For such a depressing subject, it really did stop my weeping into my Canada Dry for a couple of minutes and induce some embarrassing public laughter.

( article text behind cut for your convenience )

I've just been watching the news from America this lunch time, and I'm surprised as always by how mechanical/technological voting is in the US. Over here you are given a small piece of paper with the candidate's names on, you take this to a shabby booth where there is a stubby bit of pencil tied to the booth with string, you vote, pop it in a battered black box, and that's it!

In the Us there seem to be machines or computers that go wrong or are too difficult for people to use (although I'm sure in the vast majority of cases everything works fine, but where's the news in that :-)). Why did the American people decide to opt for a system that has at least the potential for fraud? Are there advantages? Speed of results for example?

I'm not being critical here, just curious. And are there other countries that use mechanical voting machines, and if so how do they get on with them?

I don't like posting things like this, but if this gets passed, then US citizens will only be able to travel if they get permission from the government:
http://sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3023

Aircraft crashes into NYC building

BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
Updated: 5 minutes ago

NEW YORK - An aircraft crashed into a high-rise apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City on Wednesday, NBC News reported. There were conflicting reports about whether it was an airplane or a chopper.

There were no immediate reports on injuries. A U.S. official told Reuters there was no reason to believe the incident was terrorism-related.

Video from the scene showed at least three buildings in the high-rise engulfed in flames. A column of gray smoke rose over the city, and raging flames could be seen in four windows on two upper floors.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

According to local affiliate WNBC, officials said the aircraft was a helicopter, not a plane. That had not been confirmed by any other sources.

The crash occurred near the heliport on the East River, according to MSNBC cable.

Fire Department spokeswoman Emily Rahimi said an aircraft struck struck the 20th floor of a building on East 72nd Street. Witnesses said the crash caused a loud noise, and burning and falling debris was seen.

Check back for developments on this story.
NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15223650/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5277350.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5282446.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5279052.stm

Latest developments in the 'war on obesity' - the British Government wants to be seen to be doing something as (unlike the US) the UK isn't normally a country which is associated with a predominance of fat people.

I'm in a long-term, long-distance relationship with a 'BBW' so perhaps my reaction to this current media frenzy will be somewhat predictable - but having seen and contributed to a number of debates in the last few days I thought it might be interesting to get a cross section of opinion from a UK AND transatlantic perspective...

Proof that we have the correct approach to life's stresses.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5281046.stm

Have things really gotten this bad with the handling of crime in the U.K? I was near Humberside ten years ago and to think of all this happening there right now is just scary. What's your experience?

Article is behind the cut (kinda long but very disturbing if true):

( Read more... )