Hoodies Ban from Shopping Mall

starwars_52
Originally uploaded by rashbre.

Bluewater Shopping Mall has banned hoodies. Will that limit their ability to show Star Wars? - The Sith may seek Revenge! {warning 7.5Mb to load this}

555 Election Statistics

Vote050505:: " Vote050505: Election stats

1) 2005 election: votes cast

Lab 35%

Con 32%

LD 22%

Oth

2) 2005 election: seats won

Lab 356

Con 197

LD 62

Oth

3) The last 60 years of political power (plus the next 5)

1945

1951

1964

1970

1974

1979

1997

.

4) Election turnout: average by decade

1920s

74%

1930s

74%

1940s

73%

1950s

80%

1960s

76%

1970s

75%

1980s

74%

1990s

75%

2000s

60%

5) 2005 election: national support for each party

Lab 22%

Con 20%

LD 14%

Oth

did not vote 39%

• See also: qwghlm's updated electoral map of Britain (cor, that was quick)"

(Via diamond geezer.)

VE 60 in Moscow

More than 50 world leaders, including US President George W Bush, have been paying tribute in Moscow to the Soviet people's sacrifice in World War II. A mass parade took place in Red Square - the latest in a series of events in Europe marking 60 years since the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.

Despite the grey skies, Moscow's city centre was transformed into a sea of colour for the celebrations. They began with four soldiers marching across Red Square with the Soviet victory flag, to the sounds of a military band. Thousands of servicemen bearing Red Army standards followed. Fighter jets flew over the square streaming red, white and blue smoke, the colours of the Russian tricolour flag.

Addressing the crowds, Russia's President Vladimir Putin stressed the extent of the Soviet sacrifice to save the world from the Nazis. President Bush, the first US president to attend a Russian victory parade, earlier hailed the liberation from the Nazis, but said the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe that followed was "one of the greatest wrongs of history". More than 40 million people had lost their lives by the time World War II ended in Europe on 8 May 1945, including 27 million from the Soviet Union.

VE Day 8th May 2005 60 Year celebrations end

The concert ended with the Vera Lynn finale, sung by Katherine Jenkins and with showers of tiny paper blasted into the audience. We were about 20 people back from the front, had a great view and a fun experience, with a serious underlying recognition of the tough times experienced in the 1940s.

Katherine Jenkins sings at VE 60

VE Katherine Jenkins
Originally uploaded by rashbre.

Katherine jenkins, the Welsh opera singer, sang with big band accompaniment and then again at the end of the concert sand "We'll meet again" with Dame Vera Lynn also on stage.

Will Young at VE 60

VE will young
Originally uploaded by rashbre.

Will Young sang "The boogie woogie bugle boy of company B", and then "Love for sale". Like many of the singers, he stayed in keeping with the event, singing songs from the era.

Katie sings at VE 60 Celebrations

VE Melua
Originally uploaded by rashbre.

We drove to Kensington and then ambled through streets devoid of cars to Trafalgar Square for the VE 60 Party.

After a lone RAF Dakota flew over the square, Katie Melua sang "White Cliffs of Dover" to start the show.

James, take a look

John's new house has some interesting architectural forms.
Should he keep the 'hole' through the ground floor between the two pieces, or is it acceptable to brick it in to add a downstairs study? and how should the first floor wood cladding be treated? Over to you, James...

655 = 36%

Tony Blair will face a full in-tray when he returns to his desk at No 10 Downing Street on Friday morning. Some key decisions which have been postponed because of the election will now have to be faced, with key reports on council tax and pensions due soon.And the process of deciding Labour's future spending plans will begin in earnest, with a slowdown in the growth of the public sector on the cards.

On Friday morning, Tony Blair outlined five key domestic priorities for the next Parliament: reform of the public services like health and education; further welfare reform to get more people back into work; pension reform; improvements to the immigration system; and tackling "disrespect" in the classroom and the community.

But his reduced majority means he may face difficulty from within his own party on many controversial issues.

IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
ID CARDS
TAXES AND SPENDING
PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM
TACKLING POVERTY
CRIME/IMMIGRATION
PENSION REFORM
COUNCIL TAX
NUCLEAR OPTIONS
VOTING REFORM

AND INTERNATIONALLY
The first few months of his third term, however, could well be dominated by foreign policy issues.

Britain is hosting the G8 Summit of world leaders in Glenagles, Scotland, at the beginning of July, and is planning to use the occasion to push for further movement on climate change and increased aid to tackle poverty in Africa - both issues on which the Prime Minister will face resistance from his close ally, President Bush.

And Britain will also assume the presidency of the European Union on 1 July, taking the lead on key negotiations for six months.

Among the most sensitive issues could well be the future of the European Constitution, unless the French reject it in their referendum on 29 May, which could throw the whole EU into crisis (with Britain in charge of sorting it out).

The government has pledged to call a UK referendum and ask the British public to support it whatever the outcome of the French referendum.

Given the widespread public scepticism about the EU constitution, if the government wants to win that referendum, which is widely expected to take place in the spring of 2006, the campaign would have to begin soon.

And finally, the issue of Iran's nuclear weapons could come to a head sooner rather than later, within Britain a key member of the group of EU countries that is trying to persuade Iran to abandon nuclear reprocessing.

555 Election Special from Five

Islington South - 5/5/5 Deek Deekster

Finsbury - 5/5/5 Deek Deekster
Warm Spring Day Sees London Voter Turnout Up Voter turnout in the densely populated urban consituency of Islington South and Finsbury, is so far up on the last general election in 2001, said Labour and LibDem workers outside the local school turned Polling station in Laycock Street, near Highbury Corner, London, this afternoon.

Both estimated a rise of between 2% and 3%, which suggests that the many predictions of low turnout could be wide of the mark. It has yet to be seen if this is localised. Weather conditions are favouring the south, north London experiencing pleasant sunny spells and occasional showers, while the north is experiencing damper conditions.

Ditto BNN

555 - election special - exit polls

It's illegal to announce exit polls before polling closes as they can impact on voter turnout. The popular view seems to be a 40 seat Labour majority. Exit polls have been wrong before - the US Presidential is a classic example. Not sure about this photomontgage of Tony...



The spread betting pre 22:00 is interesting with most going for a Labour majority between the high 80's and 90's. Higher than the exit poll.

Sunderland South is likely to be the first counted, with a 49.9% turnout. Predicted overall turnout is 65%, somewhat higher than the last time.

555 Election Party Pack

BBC party-pack for tonight's UK election results: Meg says, 'While checking up on the BBC's timeline for tonight's General Election announcements, I stumbled across their Election 2005 party pack, with bingo, sweepstakes and the scariest PDF file known to mankind containing masks of the three main party leaders.
Link
(Thanks, Meg!)

(Via Boing Boing.)