The Wardman Wire

Here is today’s roundup of stories.

Comment

Jeff Jarvis (Comment is Free) - Perhaps I should join the cult
Super Tuesday: Compare and contrast the Obama and Clinton victory speeches last night and you see the essential difference is oratory not issues

Economist (Economist) - Surveillance states
PRIVACY is a thorny issue. And the level of intrusion by the state in the private lives of its citizens differs from country to country. In recent years terrorist threats have driven many governments to enact laws that erode privacy. Technological advances have made this job all the easier. Countries with fewer enemies, or less cash, tend to afford their citizens more privacy. The result is that the world is becoming a less private place, though not necessarily any safer.

News

BBC (BBC) - UK navy to end goat experiments
The Ministry of Defence says it will abandon deep-diving experiments which involve inducing decompression sickness in live goats.

BBC (BBC) - Tories bid to transform Lottery
They say that since 1998 £3.8bn for the National Lottery four good causes has been diverted to fund government priorities like health and education.

FT (FT) - SocGen faces US investigation
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether Société Générale violated US securities laws as it unwound and revealed its €4.9bn loss from the Jérôme Kerviel allegedly rogue derivatives trades, the Financial Times has learnt.

Guardian (Guardian) - Serbia PM blocks EU pact in protest over Kosovo declaration
The Serbia nationalist prime minister yesterday blocked the signing of a landmark pact between Belgrade and the EU in an attempt to delay the secession of Kosovo.

NYT (NYT)
- For Jarvik Heart Pioneer, Drug Ads Raise Questions
Dr. Robert Jarvik is best known for the artificial heart he pioneered more than a quarter-century ago. Since then he had toiled in relative obscurity — until he began appearing in television ads two years ago for the Pfizer cholesterol drug Lipitor.

Sky (Sky) - Will Ipswich Accused Give Evidence?
Jurors are waiting today to discover whether a forklift truck driver accused of murdering five prostitutes in Suffolk will give evidence at his trial.

Catherine Philp (Times Online) - CIA admits waterboarding of terror suspects
It was a good day to bury bad news. As millions of Americans were glued to the most exciting presidential race in living memory, the Bush Administration admitted publicly for the first time that it had used the simulated drowning technique of waterboarding on terror suspects in its custody.

Christine Seib and Siobhan Kennedy (Times Online)

- Northern Rock faces 2,400 job cuts
As many as 2,400 jobs could be cut from Northern Rock over the next three years, managers of the troubled bank said yesterday, as they outlined their plan to rescue the Rock.

Scotland

BBC (BBC) - MSPs agree to pass Scots budget
The Scottish Government’s budget has been passed with Conservative support, after ministers made several last-minute concessions.

BBC (BBC) - Trump team denies sleaze claims
Donald Trump’s spokesman, George Sorial, told a Holyrood inquiry that the organisation was very offended by the claims of special treatment.

Wales

BBC (BBC)

- Garden’s £1.9m debt is wiped out
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said it was a one-off grant to put the £43m garden on a sound financial footing to attract private investment.

Blogs

Cassilis (Cassilis)

- This weeks Think Tank Roundup…
I mentioned below that I’d try and introduce a weekly roundup of all the most interesting things coming out of the leading UK / US think tanks. I find I spend more & more time reading those sorts of things rather than blogs so I might as well share what I find.

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