Gareth Evans pleads not guilty to obstructing police on duty during Queen’s private visit to Portsmouth last week A man has pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the clamping of two unmarked police cars as officers allegedly sat inside carrying out security duties during a visit by the Queen. The incident happened as the monarch made an unannounced visit to Portsmouth to have lunch on a luxury yacht on 25 May. The officers were allegedly sitting in unmarked cars at the Gunwharf Quays marina retail complex when the vehicles were targeted. Gareth Andrews, 37, of Privett Road, Fareham, was arrested and charged with wilfully obstructing a police constable in the execution of his duty. He was also charged with contravening the Private Security Industry Act by not displaying the appropriate licensing badge. Andrews, wearing his Shoal Enforcement uniform, pleaded not guilty to both charges at Portsmouth magistrates court, and the case was adjourned for trial. Bill Charlton, defending, told the court: “There was an initial exchange between my client and the officer – he said the officer declined to show him any kind of identity. “As he was on the phone to his superior, the officer grabbed his earpiece, produced his warrant card and arrested him.” District judge Anthony Calloway set a trial date of 19 August and released Andrews on unconditional bail. Speaking outside the court, Charlton said: “As far as Mr Andrews is concerned, the vehicles were illegally parked. “He had clamped one and was in the process of clamping the second when an officer in plain clothes turned up and challenged him. Mr Andrews says they were not in the cars at the time. “Mr Andrews asked for his ID, which the officer allegedly declined to provide. He phoned his superior and, while that telephone conversation was taking place, the officer produced his warrant card and Mr Andrews was arrested.” Shoppers at Gunwharf Quays were taken by surprise when word spread that the Queen had arrived, and a small crowd gathered to greet her. It is understood the monarch had arranged to have lunch with NCP car parks boss, Sir Donald Gosling, on board his yacht, Leander. She arrived in Southsea by helicopter and was taken to Gunwharf Quays in a Range Rover. Wearing a pink coat and headscarf, the Queen waved to the crowds before going aboard the 75-metre (245ft) yacht. A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said she could not confirm details because the visit was a “private engagement”. The Queen visited Gunwharf Quays as part of her golden jubilee tour in 2002. Police The Queen Monarchy guardian.co.uk
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Type: Lawn & Patio Title: LawnBott LB1200 Spyder Robotic Cordless Electric Lawn Mower See all customer reviews Product Description: The LawnBott LB1200 Spyder is the world’s first robotic mower that doesn’t require a perimeter wire to operate. Able to maintain yards up to 5,500 square feet, the LB1200 keeps your lawn looking great, with less work from you. Using patented sensors, actually detecting grass, the LB1200 will move across your yard, mowing until it comes to a non-grass area: mulched flower beds, patio or driveway, then reverse direction. With its Li-ion battery, the LB1200 Spyder will mow for up to 5 hours without needing a recharge. And at a lightweight 18lbs, the LB1200 is very easy to move from its storage area to your lawn. When it is done, simply place it back in the garage and connect the charging cable so your LawnBott is always ready to go. By letting it cut a couple of times per week, your yard looks good all week long. No more overgrown lawns. And as a bonus feature, since most weeds need to flower to spread seed, by keeping your grass trim, the LawnBott helps to reduce the amount of weeds you have. The LawnBott only take about 7-10 a year in electricity to operate; a great low cost, energy efficient alternative to gas powered mowers. No gas, No oil and No noise; easier for you, better for the environment. With its 4-wheel drive and aggressive rubber tread design, the LB1200 can handle slopes up to 27-Degree and virtually any yard or grass type. No more sweating it out in the summer to cut your grass, smelly fumes to worry about, bugs biting you or allergies to ruin your day. With the LawnBott you can enjoy your yard without having to work at it. Now that will make our neighbors jealous. 2 year warranty on robot, 1 year warranty on battery. Features: The LawnBott LB1200 Spyder cuts up to 5 hours on single charge using a lithium-ion battery This lightweight lawn mower only weighs 18-pounds and is designed for yards up to 5,500-square-feet Set the mower to cut a couple times per week to keep your lawn looking great with no bagging or clipping The world’s first robotic mower that doesn’t require a perimeter wire to operate Easy to use, just set it down, turn it on, and walk away ; measures 19.2 by 19.2 by 10.6 inches See the details
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Bellwether group sees total sales slip in last week of May, although Waitrose bucks trend with 7.3% increase John Lewis has added to concerns that the UK economic recovery is weakening by reporting that turnover across its department stores fell during the last week of May. Total sales at John Lewis dropped by 0.8% in the week to Saturday 28 May compared with a year ago – or a 3% fall in sales excluding VAT (discounting the distortion produced by January’s rise in VAT to 20%). The figure also included contributions from three new stores which were not trading a year ago, suggesting a larger like-for-like decline at its established outlets. Sales fell by 10% at some stores, including the out-of-town sites at High Wycombe and Bluewater. John Lewis cited poor weather during the week, and also pointed out that a year ago it had seen strong demand for new televisions before the football World Cup. Economists, though, said the figures underlined the fragile state of consumer confidence. “Given that John Lewis is seen as a bellwether for the state of the retail sector – in fact, it has been a consistent outperformer in recent times – this suggests that consumers have generally become more circumspect in their spending again after splashing out a bit in April due to the later Easter, royal wedding and good weather,” said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight. Waitrose, the partnership’s grocery chain, performed well with weekly sales up by 7.3%. Lesley Ballantyne, director of operational development at John Lewis, said the sales performance was “credible”. “We had a very good week of weather against us last year and this year there was rain and even hail in parts of the UK,” Ballantyne said. Separately, the latest data from the services sector released on Friday showed that household consumption was still weak. John Lewis Retail industry Consumer spending Economics Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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With 1,350 shops, Betfred be a nationwide competitor to Coral, Ladbrokes and market leader William Hill Betfred, the betting shop chain owned by industry veteran Fred Done, has won the race to buy state-owned bookmaker the Tote after raising its offer to £265m. Racing minister John Penrose said the deal would provide a £90m windfall for the taxpayer while a similar sum will be channelled to support parts of the racing industry. The racing lobby have expressed concern that promised funds may be tied up in Treasury coffers for some time because of limits on how the money can be dispersed under European state aid rules. Done has promised to limit Tote redundancies to 150 posts as he merges many Wigan head office functions with Betfred’s existing base in Warrington. His 800-shop Betfred business beat off stiff competition from an innovative bid put together by Sir Martin Broughton, the former chairman of the British Horseracing Board, who had planned to float the business on the Aim Bejunior stock market. The final decision on Tote privatisation comes after weeks of bitter sniping between the rival bidders during which the British Horseracing Authority gave its backing to Broughton’s bid vehicle Sports Investment Partners. SIP, which would have handed racing an equity interest in the Tote rather than a cash windfall, had argued that its proposal offered a better deal for taxpayers and protected more jobs at the Tote’s Wigan headquarters. However, the complexity and uncertainty of SIP’s plans for an independent Tote appear ultimately to have proven to much for ministers. “It was a closely fought contest which has ended up giving the Tote business and the racing industry the certainty they have been looking for,” said culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. Much of the rowing centred on the future relationship between the Tote’s pool betting monopoly business and the racing lobby. The BHA had wanted ongoing commercial ties to this part of the Tote business rather than a 50% share cash proceeds from the Tote sale. Keen to win over sceptics in the racing industry Betfred has promised to make this business a growth priority. However, the commercial prize for Done is the Tote’s 550 high street betting shops which are to be rebranded as Betfred shops. Finance director Barry Nightingale said the deal made Betfred a “fourth force” in high street bookmaking. With 1,350 shops, it will be a nationwide competitor to Coral, Ladbrokes and market leader William Hill. Broughton is understood to be disappointed by the government’s decision and has not ruled out seeking a judicial review. Sources close the the SIP camp said they had been told that their bid had been unsuccessful because it had breached state aid rules rather than because it had offered less value to taxpayers or other stakeholders. If this is the case, Broughton will be asking ministers to explain how his bid was allowed to progress so far through the auction process despite always being doomed. The Tote Sport betting Gambling Horse racing Ladbrokes William Hill Travel & leisure Simon Bowers guardian.co.uk
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MSNBC's Thomas Roberts spun furiously for Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) today, dismissing the Twitter controversy as a sideshow undeserving of the media's attention. “He's being pretty transparent,” opined the daytime anchor, turning to Republican strategist Joe Watkins. “Joe, wouldn't you agree?” After Watkins agreed but suggested Weiner's refusal to clarify whether he is the man in the photo does not help his case, Roberts followed up by parroting the Democratic congressman's dodge: “Well why waste taxpayer dollars on something kind of so stupid?” For a compilation video showing Weiner's lack of transparency and inability to cooperate with the media, see below the fold: In the face of overwhelming video evidence, Roberts's dismissive tone and leading questions belie his status as a neutral anchor. A transcript of the segment can be found below: MSNBC News Live June 2, 2011 11:05 a.m. EDT THOMAS ROBERTS: Alright, so this is the Twitter pic heard around the world. Richard, I'm going to start with you because, you know, the nickname for Richard is, you know, whatever. Anyway, what do you think about how he can button this up? RICHARD GOODSTEIN, Democratic strategist: Listen, look. First of all, he's not really denying it. And the woman on the receiving end is not saying she was offended at all. This kind of speaks to how the prurient interest has taken over and eclipsing discussion of really serious issues. There are two models for handling this. One is to kind of slow walk things or semi-deny. And the other is to do what Senator Vitter did when he was caught with prostitutes, which is just stonewall. And he just got re-elected by a sizeable margin. Look this is the South Park kind of version of politics. I just think we're past it. It's kind of a shame. One of these days, Congressman Weiner will look back and wish he had done it differently, but he'll get through it. ROBERTS: He's being pretty transparent. Joe, wouldn't you agree? JOE WATKINS, Republican strategist: He's being very transparent about it. Of course, you know, it does hurt when you say I can't say with certitude that it's not me. And certainly the late-night TV shows have had great fun with it. Jon Stewart is absolutely hilarious. He's brilliant and funny and made some very very good points. If you look at it, he didn't go to law enforcement to see if he was hacked, he hired a private agency. ROBERTS: Well why waste taxpayer dollars on something kind of so stupid? WATKINS: Well I understand. It's a silly, silly thing. The upside for the congressman is that certainly he has 100 percent, or close to, 100 percent name ID out there now nationally, though it's not the kind of name ID that you want. ROBERTS: That's right. Gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us this morning. Richard and Joe, we do appreciate your time. –Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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A 73-year-old man’s shooting rampage in towns near the Arizona border left six people dead Thursday, including the suspect and the attorney who represented his ex-wife in their divorce. (June 3)
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In Europe a new deadly E.Coli strain has infected more than 1600 people and killed at least 18. And this has farmers, consumers and officials looking at possible gaps in the US food system. (June 3)
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Outcry over plan to send unaccompanied children among 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia under a refugee swap deal Tenaganita (Women’s Force) executive director Irene Fernandez protests outside the Australia embassy in Kuala Lumpur over the plan. Photograph: Kamarul Akhir/AFP/Getty Images Australia has come under fire from the UN children’s aid agency and human rights advocates over its plan to send unaccompanied child asylum seekers to Malaysia under a refugee swap deal being negotiated with the country….
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Outcry over plan to send unaccompanied children among 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia under a refugee swap deal Tenaganita (Women’s Force) executive director Irene Fernandez protests outside the Australia embassy in Kuala Lumpur over the plan. Photograph: Kamarul Akhir/AFP/Getty Images Australia has come under fire from the UN children’s aid agency and human rights advocates over its plan to send unaccompanied child asylum seekers to Malaysia under a refugee swap deal being negotiated with the country….
Continue reading …QWERTY wallet shows off your keyboard appreciation, pays homage to The Shining
June 3, 2011 No Comment
Now die-hard QWERTY enthusiasts never have to be away from the keys. This black leather billfold pledges allegiance to the keys with an embossed replica of a QWERTY keyboard wrapping around its exterior, while its interior rocks the phrase made famous by Jack Nicholson in The Shining : “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” It may be a touch less flamboyant than Samuel L. Jackson’s “Bad Mother *&%$#@” wallet, but it’s no less iconic. You can pick one up now at the source link for
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