What You Can Get Away With

Cycle Helmets: The impacts of compulsory cycle helmet legislation on cyclist fatalities and premature deaths in the UK (pdf) – A long piece of research but an interesting one, coming to the conclusion that the reduction in cycling caused by a compulsory helmet law for cyclists would cause more deaths than the helmets would save.
This is not an argument… – BenSix on the Iraq war: “It is hard to express what an appalling man the late dictator was: a man who was cruel that would not merely invade a nation but torch its resources as he fled; a man who was so spiteful that when militants shot at his car near a little town he threw hundreds of its residents into jails and torture chambers; a man who was so arrogant that he claimed to have had an 100% approval rating in the polls. The great tragedy of the Iraq war is that it began in a country run by this specimen and made things worse.”
The new planning legislation concentrates decision-making power at the national level, while eroding the ability of councils to mitigate the local impacts of development – For those of us who’ve dealt with planning issues recently, this isn’t a surprise, but apparently there are still some people out there who think Eric Pickles actually believes in localism.
The Liberal Democrats must rediscover why they even exist – or extinction is certain – Cicero’s Songs says something that a lot of people have been thinking.
Plus Ca Change, Plus Ca La Meme Bullshit Chose – Flying Rodent on Iraq War protest nostalgia: “I mean, this is surely the big story here. When nearly half the population base their opinion on a war – a war with a bodycount big enough for a respectable mid-20th century conflict, mind – on tall tales and oogah-boogah, you’d think that would be an issue. And yet, from what we’ve seen this week, it barely rates a mention.”