The diaTribe blog is our occasional take on life, the universe and everything. Observations on current affairs, the environment, politics, humour and music/gig reviews. Travel diary and extreme sports stories, along with the usual rants/raves are also chucked in for good measure.
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Another grand day out, this time to Greywell in Hampshire which is just a short drive from Basingstoke.
For all those that believe Basingstoke is unattractive, well the surrounding countryside is spectacular. With trees dressed in their new spring green and cascading with blossom, the air was full of fluffy seeds that shimmered in the sunshine and dusted the water; giving a slightly mystical atmosphere to the afternoon.
+13
Spring has sprung in a spectacular fashion in Basingstoke and today we took a walk around The Vyne House in Sherborne St. John.
See the Photos.
We’ve been promising ourselves a spring trip to the Vyne House and surrounding forest grounds for a number of years now to photograph the bluebells in their full glory…and this year we actually managed it.
Britain in spring is truly marvelous.
Result!
+13
Despite the suggested small increase in voter turnout, today’s local council elections got me to thinking about a different way of doing things…
Firstly – let’s assume that Douglas Adams was right: the mere fact that someone wants to represent you in parliament should immediately exclude them from ever being allowed to do so.
But if no-one who wants to be an MP or councilor is allowed to be and assuming we agree that at least part of the job is necessary, how do we decide who does the job?
+17
Would you consent to your phone lines being permanently bugged or all your mail (in and out) being read, so you could be sent advertising leaflets matched to the information gained on your personal interests?
Would you as a business person, allow someone onto your premises (or to bug your phone / read your email) whose ultimate aim was to collect details on how to contact your visitors and customers, in order that your direct business rivals could thus target them with their own advertising?
+25
News this week that Poole council has used legislation designed to combat terrorism, to spy on a family suspected of trying to cheat the school catchment system is the first publicly reported abuse of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), but I’m sure it won’t be the last…
Civil rights groups such as Liberty (rightly it now appears) have expressed concerns about these powers since the tabloid-led knee-jerk reaction policy frenzy, which followed 9/11 and 7/7 which created acts such as RIPA. They argued that existing anti-terrorist legislation already in place in the UK since the early 1970′s to combat terrorist attacks by IRA cells were still relevant enough to be used to deal with the new threat of Islamic extremism. There was therefore no need to introduce further legislation.
+22
This morning we woke up to the rather picturesque sight of an unexpected snowstorm on Saturday night. 4 to 5 inches of snow and not a tyre track or footprint to be seen.
See the photos.
It’s not unknown to have snow in April, but it’s been a fair few years since we had such a heavy dusting, especially after such a mild winter and with an early spring.
The view certainly beats any TV rubbish and being on a Sunday I didn’t have to drive in it (result!)
Shortly after the photos were taken, the sun peeped out between a break in the clouds and within an hour it was all slush. Never mind… 
+13
While driving home on the M4 a couple of weeks ago, I heard a story on the radio that the department of transport is extending use of the hard shoulder to more motorways up and down the UK, in an attempt to reduce congestion.
A week later the news reported that an increasing number of prisoners are now being released, earlier than expected in an effort to reduce overcrowding. An recently, the Ministry of Justice reported that the prison population in England and Wales has exceeded its highest normal level for the first time.
+19
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