Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

An eagle-eyed in one of the national newspaper spotted that while the North Korean leader - Kim Jong-un - is happy to ratchet up his anti-imperialist and warlike rhetoric against America - he is nonetheless happy to have the latest iMac sitting on his desk.

I am normally a great admirer of Frank Field - the Labour MP for Birkenhead - because he's a bit of a maverick and tends not to pull his punches over controversial issues.  Frank is not afarid to lead the charge, when necessary, against his own side - as he did over Gordon Brown's disastrous decision as Labour Prime Minister - to abolish the 10p tax rate, for example. But Frank seems to have lost his senses when it comes to the so-called bedroom tax - which will see changes in the benefits claimed by social housing tenants - depending on their needs and the size of their properties. Because Frank has issued a clarion call - which is likely to be taken up by every loony group in the land - by telling his local newspaper: “I hope landlords will brick up the doors to spare bedrooms and, where appropriate, knock down walls so that the properties can safely fit the tenants. I have never before asked for direct action." Now this seems to be completely bonkers ad...

I came across an advert recently for a job with Glasgow City Council - who wish to recruit a ' City Data Project Officer'. Now I'm not thinking of applying for the post, but I was fascinated by the wording of the advert - which left me completely baffled as to what the job was all about. Here's an extract of what the advert had to say: "Glasgow recently won a UK competition to be a Future Cities Demonstrator for the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and will deliver the Glasgow City Management System. This role will assist with the development of the data requirements and will support delivery of the City Data Work Package in particular. You must have a Degree level qualification, preferably ICT related, excellent communication skills, strong presentation/interpersonal skills and the ability to deliver/make decisions. The ability to manage a workload under pressure and meet deadlines is essential as is being confident in the application of ICT knowledge ...

I enjoyed this Matt cartoon which appeared in The Telegraph the other day. I have to admit to a twinge of sympathy for the current Home Secretary - Theresa May - because the problems presented by Abu Qatada have been with us for years and have thwarted successive governments. Now the courts agree the man represents a danger to people in this country because of his terrorrists links - yet the law has prevented deporting him to Jordan, where he belongs, having entered the UK illegally years ago. The law as it stands may be being upheld by the courts - but that doesn't mean to say the law isn't an making an ass of us all.

The Coalition Government is trying to introduce a cap on welfare benefits - which would place a limit on the amount any individual can claim of up to £500 a week or  £26,000 a year - which is just about the average salary in the UK. The only expection to this new rule would be where people are on disability benefits - where claimants need more support. So it's hard to see what there is to disagree to about the principle of a benefit cap - because to do so would be to encourage system where people are better off not working. As in this example in The Mail newspaper recently where a mother of three (Sharon Minkin) says it's not worth her while working - and her divorced husband pays £13 a week in child support for his three children. Now you can argue whether a benefits cap is the right answer - but clearly there's clearly something badly wrong with a system that allows this kind of nonsense - to continue for years on end....

Private Eye has a regular feature column which features Pseudo Names sent in by readers - covering a range of topical events. I especially liked the following entries which feature in the latets edition of the magazine: Pseudo Names ...Pretty stressful job electing a new pope. Who'd want that? D. CARR D. NAILS I've just been sacked by the BBC, and now I'm not sure whether to join the Catholic Church or the Liberal Democrats. MO (LEICESTER) Are you guilty of excluding contributors with foreing sounding names? JACQUES HUGHES We are pleased to announce the formation of the first Rod Stewart fan club in mainland China. HUEE AHH SEI LING  It surprises me that we never see anything in "Pseudo Names" which can be said to celebrate our wonderful diversity of sexual identity. L.G. BEATTIE Why oh why won't people trust tried and tested pesticides and GM crops? Do they suspect vested interests? FARMER SUE TICKELL I won't give my full ...

To the memory of my young brother - Kevin John Irvine - who died on this day last year (29 March 2012) while living his dream. I think of you most days, but on this one above all - so thanks for all the memories, Kevin, and especially your great company and good cheer. Play -   http://youtu.be/nKgUq5dziEk   Spirit of Adventure Born: 12 August 1967 Died: 29 March 2012 Kevin John Irvine died on his beloved Buell motorbike in Bolivia on Thursday 29 March 2012 while undertaking a dream trip from Whistler in Canada to Tierra del Fuego, the archipelago off the southernmost tip of South America. Kevin left Scotland in 1989 on a family sponsorship scheme following in the footsteps of his parents (Adam and Sheila Irvine) who emigrated to Canada in 1952 before returning to Glasgow some years later, where the Irvine family grew up. Kevin went to the Glasgow Nautical College with dreams of travelling the world, but after two tours of duty he decided that...

Richard Keen QC is one of the most highly respected barristers in Scotland - indeed in the UK. Which is good news for everyone interested in freedom of information (FOI) in Scotland - and the ongoing fight for equal pay.  Because Richard Keen QC is representing the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) in the forthcoming appeal at the UK Supreme Court - where South Lanarkshire Council is trying to overturn a previous decision in the Court of Session, Scotland's  highest civil court. Regular readers will recall that this all started with a simple FOI request in which I asked South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) for some very basic pay information - about traditional male council jobs. Predictably SLC refused, but I appealed their silly decision to the Scottish Information Commissioner - who upheld my perfectly sensible request and ordered the council to release the pay details. Incredibly, South Lanarkshire appealed the SIC decision to the Court of S...

Here's a previous post to the blog site which highlights a key part of a landmark FOI judgment at the Court of Session - Scotland's highest civil court. Lords Marnoch, Mackay and Brailsford unanimously dismissed South Lanarkshire Council's appeal - over the release of pay details ordered by the Scottish Information Commissioner. So the case is now off to the UK Supreme Court in July and is unique in Scotland - as far as I know. In the sense no other Scottish council has refused to follow an independent adjudication from  the Scottish Information Commissioner and then lost a subsequent appeal (unanimously) at the Court of Session - only to lodge a further appeal with the UK Supreme Court. Which begs the obvious question ''What does South Lanarkshire Council have to hide?' Labour Hypocrisy (1 April 2012) Scottish Labour stands accused of hypocrisy in a long running dispute over equal pay in South Lanarkshire Council...

The resignation of David Miliband - the Labour MP for South Shields and Foreign Secretary in the last Labour Government - means that there is now only one big Labour beast from that era - still operating as a part-time MP.  So step forward Gordon Brown - the former Prime Minister and sometime Labour MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath - when he's not at the Abu Dhabi campus of New York University for 70 days a year where he acts as a 'distinguished global leader' in residence. Now it may have taken David Miliband the best part of three years to decide what to do with the rest of his life - having lost the Labour leadership to his younger brother Ed, courtesy of the big public sector trade unions. But at least David Miliband finally made up his mind and did the right thing - for himself and his family - whereas the 'man with the moral compass' (aka Gordon Brown) is still hanging on in there - and gives every impression that he will...