In the news

When the entire global market is dominated by a totalitarian statewith the avowed aim of destroying western industry using forced cheap labour to produce a steel surplus, this is inevitable. This is how China does business.
I don't have a clue how you could prevent it.

Punitive import tariffs. Which the Tories refused to let the EU implement, on the basis that TATA would stop making cars in the UK if they did so or something.

I've read the pop-bitch thing today, but i still have no idea who the current super-injunction thing is about.
I am obviously too old.

Some degree of protectionism I guess- state driven infrastructure projects that a) need a lot of steel and b) said steel can only be purchased in the UK. You could come up with a carbon cost requirement for the steel that would rule out any that came from outside the UK's borders.

I can only think of one celeb, gay, married, male couple with young children. This may mean I'm old too.

Hilarious april fools prank by Farage. he's voting to stay IN the EU. what jolly japes chortle chortle.

^Ha! That's what the guardian is currently claiming about the royals.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/01/exclusive-royal-family-considering-dramatic-brexit-intervention

Could someone explain how this is not murder but manslaughter...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35943144

Thinking the same, they even say murder a few times in the report.

I was thinking about this earlier. mrs_com runs one of the nearby youth centres and had to deal with a lot of the fall out from this. A lot of very young kids saw him attacked and were understandably traumatised. They were saying things like "then the bad boy hit Stefan with the sword", horrible stuff.

I think it comes down to the fact that they couldn't beyond doubt say that he went there with the intention of killing Stefan. I don't know how I feel about the outcome, you could easily say that nobody carries that kind of shit about without realising it could kill someone.

So many young people carry. Most will say its for protection. They genuinely don't realise that it could end up with someone being killed. There has been some really interesting research in the last 10 years about the teenage brain and how the limbic system can override the prefrontal cortex, the bit that makes you consider consequences and question your actions. There was a production (that ends tomorrow I think) run by Islington Community Theatre called Brainstorm about this research, really eye opening.

I don't think the kid that did this, bought that knife or got hold if it with the real intention of killing someone. They didn't have it on them to whittle a spoon either but it is not a definite that they thought they were going to kill someone.

I'm not saying its anything like diminished responsibility but to be found guilty of murder it would have had to have been proved that he was deliberately trying to kill Stefan and I don't think that was the case here.

Its fucking horrible and the more the Tories cut from youth services (and any other service that is working against the socio-ecenomic situations that produce environments where these things play out) the more this kind of thing is going to happen.

Yep. The Bailey Gywnne case which was also in the news today is a good comparison.

Knife bought on Amazon because “I’ve never fitted in so I was just trying to look cool, act confident, act tough, but I wasn’t,”. The argument was over a biscuit. While he was being handcuffed the killer said “Is he dead? It was just a moment of anger.”

God knows what the answer is but Amazon not selling knives to kids might help.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/01/teenager-jailed-for-killing-of-schoolboy-bailey-gwynne

If they all had guns then it would've never happened.

Meanwhile, some people are very angry about a gif:

https://twitter.com/waxpancake/status/715752594551869440

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35941806

Well Andy Baio is a whiny little bitch isn't he.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35936909

The Labour council tried to close this library a few years ago and were forced to U-turn, now they're trying it again. Really depressing. I'd like the question of library closures to be put to Sadiq Khan before I vote for him. But he probably couldn't do anything anyway.

http://www.friendsofcarnegielibrary.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/leadercorr.pdf

Situation clarified in this correspondance.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/apr/03/icelands-prime-minister-walks-out-of-interview-over-tax-haven-question-video LOL

Panama Papers interactive: https://projects.icij.org/panama-papers/power-players/index.html

oooohh... proper shitstorm that

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/cameron-plans-offshore-summit-as-tax-secrets-are-leaked

What a disgusting man is this Cameron of yours.
I rather prefer a Trump or a Hitler, at least they never lied about their intents or about what they are.

I find shocking that all this people, Cameron's voters, are so conscious and so proud to put in power a such example of misery while giving mandate to fuck to death the most vulnerable.

UK is starting to giving me the nausea.

And I let you imagine my best wishes.

@marcom Do you have a perfect government?

I agree that it's mind boggling that people voted the Tories back in...but there are many reasons people vote for parties that don't serve their own interest. It happens all over the board, Poland, Northern Ireland... it's not unique to the UK. Too many also don't vote.

Of course the Tories are busy making laws so they can get away with things that they can't now...well done UK for propping up the class system that has baffled mainland Europe for yoinks ;)

Not a single Russian news agency reporting the Panama thing. Ain't no thang.

Apart from http://www.novayagazeta.ru/ who carried a seven page spread in their print paper and have a large "special report" section dedicated to it as the first thing on their homepage.

Edit: & Interfax...

Ha, busted. Serves me right for parroting something I scrolled past on Twitter. I stand corrected.