嘣

From the Jewish Chronicle:

The board of Cadbury's have agreed a takeover of their firm by Kraft. (You're not allowed to read it in Japan, apparently, so be very, very careful).

An amusing titbit I received today from the American Statistical Association as a new member:

Originally called the American Statistical Society, the organization's name was changed at its first meeting

The latest MPs' expenses have been revealed. Much juicier findings will be available elsewhere, but I just wanted to draw attention to a minor but telling detail I came across which goes some way to explaining why Parliament is held in such contempt by the public these days.

James Plaskitt is "my" MP. I have little complaint with his Additional Costs Allowance claims, as far as they go. I can't countenance paying for politicians' mortgages, but that's the system currently in place and is not what I want to discuss here.

Here is the PDF document containing the scans of all of his latest claims. Take your time reading through it if you like; it's only recently we gained this right, after all, and it should be savoured.

At length you will reach the last page. There are many redactions throughout this document, but given that the items are redacted, it is quite impossible to know whether those redactions are justified or not. However, on this last page is a letter to Mr. Plaskitt from an (anonymous) Assistant Validation Officer of the Department of Resources of the House of Commons, informing him that his broadband won't be paid for (even though telephone calls will be, for some unfathomable reason). At the top of this letter are Mr Plaskitt's contact details -- or, rather, part of them. The last few digits of his phone and fax numbers are hidden, as is the first part of his email address. The second part of his email address, however, is shown, and it is:

@parliament.uk

So it's his parliamentary email address being kept private! Why would it be kept private?!? This is an especially stupid state of affairs because his email address can easily be found (as it should be), at the BBC, along with those phone and fax numbers. Here they are again, along with other information available from that site:

Constituency:
Warwick & Leamington

Party:
Labour

Date of birth:
23 June 1954

Office address:
Department for Work & Pensions, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London , SW1A 2NS

Office phone:
020 7219 6207

Office fax:
020 7219 4993

Office e-mail:
plaskittj@parliament.uk

Constituency address:
First Floor, 2A Leam Terrace, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV31 1BB

Argh. When will this ridiculous culture of secrecy finally disappear? I sincerely hope it's before there's a revolution.

From my inbox of neverending wonders:

Company: TRAFIGURA
Job Title: COMMODITY TRADING - RISK MANAGEMENT - FINANCE - ASSET MANAGEMENT
Tel:
Email:
Closing Date: 24-Jan-2010

Description:
We are currently recruiting for graduate positions 2010 into: Houston, London, Lucerne, Shanghai, Singapore, StamfordOil and its derivativesOur two year graduate development programme is designed to provide you with a structured series of rotations across business areas such as Credit, Operational Treasury, Corporate Funding, Operations/Contracts, Accounts, Deals Desk, Trade Finance, ensuring that you have a comprehensive understanding of all areas of the business, opening up a future of unlimited opportunities within Trafigura. As part of the 2 year program you will have the opportunity to carry out one of three 8 month rotations in a different country to that of your initial application.

No salary details published, but I guess that's not their style. I wonder who could sign up for this program and not feel at least a tinge of shame.

[The weird typos are all theirs, or perhaps my career service's].

Latest bargain in my inbox:

Stop and search at Leamington station

Published Date: 20 November 2009

By Holly Whitmill

TRANSPORT police targeted Leamington station in a bid to crack down on anti-social behaviour and assaults on staff this week.

Officers were at the station on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a "routine" operation.

They were also responding to a high level of cycle thefts at the station and stopping and searching people under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "These stops and searches are routine. There is nothing particularly at risk about Leamington."

I can't see how the use of a law called the TERRORISM Act can be sanctioned for dealing with NON-TERRORIST offences, let alone an utter lack of any evident crime whatsoever, as seems to be the case here. Is this really fine with anyone? Is it just me that finds this situation a bit scary?