In the news

More depressing road-building plans:

theguardian.com/politics/2014­/dec/01/government-invest-15bn-roads-str­ategy-tunnel-stonehenge

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/12/georges-marvellous-marginals-medicine/?utm_source=Coffee+House+Evening+Blend&utm_campaign=197b4c4d00-coffee_house_evening_blend_1_december_the_roadto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7aaa2a4d70-197b4c4d00-43767197

Interesting piece of research on the Spectator website. Unsurprisingly 2/3rds of the proposals are aimed at marginal constituencies.

I vaguely remember Verizon, a US telecom provider, suing the city of Philly or Baltimore for providing low cost broadband to slum areas. Verizon sued them for cutting them out of potential business by doing so. The Vattenfall case is the first similar case I've heard of in Europe, but potentially it's a very nasty slippery slope.

"You want to provide free primary education and free cancer treatment? Hey, I was planning to make good money off that!"

Isn't the Vattenfall one more to do with the issue of spending billions on a facility with a long payback period only to have the government forcibly close the facility before the capital expenditure of building it has been recouped due to post-Fukashima fears?

^^ It is mind boggling the things corporations can get away with.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/nuclear/swedish-energy-giant-vattenfall-nets-billions-for-nuclear-phaseout

"The Atomausstieg ("nuclear exit") means stopping operations, and this means that the nuclear power plants as property have been destroyed, and this can only happen with compensation, according to German law"

I'd guess that the success of the Vattenfall case will depend entirely on what is in the relevant contracts. I can't for the life of me imagine that any German judge would accept the nonsense that the Atomausstieg causes 'destruction of property'.

That makes the angle on this case only slightly different. The state decides they want to offer X (renewable energy) and simultaneously cuts off a company from offering Y (nuclear). It is perhaps a further complication that the phasing out makes sunk costs unrecuperable, but I reckon we're still in the same area ethically.
How about the sunk investment in mephedrone labs that won't be recuperated after Miaow Miaow got banned?
If Vattenfall gets a single cent out of this then any incentive for businesses to be sensitive to public opinion goes out the window.

Isn't the Vattenfall one more to do with the issue of spending billions on a facility with a long payback period only to have the government forcibly close the facility before the capital expenditure of building it has been recouped due to post-Fukashima fears?

Some like that, very broadly speaking. The fact that it was a policy u-turn also.

This is quite a good primer - http://www.tni.org/files/download/vattenfall-icsid-case_oct2013.pdf

ISDS's are mainly scarey because of this bit:

"There are around 500 similar cases of businesses versus nations going on around the world at the moment and they are all taking place before ‘arbitration tribunals’ made up of corporate lawyers appointed on an ad hoc basis, which according to War on Want’s John Hilary, are “little more than kangaroo courts” with “a vested interest in ruling in favour of business.”"

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/what-is-ttip-and-six-reasons-why-the-answer-should-scare-you-9779688.html

incident at ukranian nuclear plant ?
news saying it is a minor incident and will re open in 2 days time

ISDS completely pointless - corporations can take out political risk insurance if they're that worried that conditions might change.

64% of tv programmes over xmas week will be repeats

'Ukip is very very short of money, pleads for financial support, needs £2 - 3 million to campaign in the general election next year' - Page 4 of The Times yesterday.

my heart bleeds for them....

Do they have a just giving page? Rather than just campaigning for the fundraiser it would be helpful if you provided a direct donation link.

here you go

Looks like those bastard radical Green tossbags have hijacked your link.

the swines! next thing we know they'll be telling us all to get out of our cars and ride bikes and walk everywhere instead.

Odds on a Russian bank stepping in?

Odds on a Russian bank steppe-ing in?

sorry

Cheers, donated, fingers crossed etc.

anybody following the Sony Entertainment hack and fallout?

The hide my ass vpn does not cover itself in glory.

So the green party or the UKIP of the left. After the clusterfuck that has happened in brighton will any sensible person vote for them?

Especially for the joy giving cycle lanes?

How can someone be 'the UKIP of the left' when UKIP are pretty much the archetypal right-wing party in almost every respect? Is it just a lazy way of saying they are gaining popularity, or just complete horseshit?