A motorist has been fined £30 for defrosting his car outside his home because he left it unattended with the engine running.

Ken Hardman, 45, was prosecuted for the offence of "quitting" after the vehicle was spotted by a police officer.

However, Mr Hardman, of Whittle-le-Woods, Lancashire, said that thieves had no way of stealing his Mercedes saloon because its windows and doors could be locked while the engine was running.

He said: "I heard a knock on the door at 8.20am. The officer asked me whether the car was mine and said that, if it was, I was committing a crime.

"I think it's completely outrageous. This fine means that I'm paying stealth charges even though there was no way of stealing it."

A police spokesman said: "The officer tried to offer words of advice but the male refused to accept them. So the officer was left with no option but to issue a fixed penalty notice of £30.

"Every year we appeal to the public not to leave their cars running unattended on frosty mornings as they are easy pickings for thieves."

(The Telegraph)

SEVEN HURT IN PUNCH-UP AT CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

The cradle of Christianity was rocked by an unholy punch-up when Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows in a dispute over how to clean Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.

The ancient place of worship, built over the site where Jesus Christ is said to have been born in a stable more than 2,000 years ago, is shared by various branches of Christianity, each of which controls and jealously guards a part of the holy site.

The brawl apparently began when Greek Orthodox priests set up ladders to clean the walls and ceilings of their part of the church after the Christmas Day celebrations.

Armenian priests claimed that the ladders encroached on their portion of the church, which led the two sects to exchange angry words which quickly turned to blows.

Witnesses said that the robed and bearded priests scuffled for more than an hour using fists, brooms and iron rods as weapons.

Photographers who came to document the annual cleaning ceremony instead recorded the entire event.

Five priests were lightly injured in the melee, which was eventually broken up by a dozen unarmed Palestinian policemen. Two of the policemen were hurt in ending the brawl.

Victor Batarseh, the Mayor of Bethlehem, said that he has had to intervene in the past to ensure that the cleaning of the Church happened in an orderly fashion. “As usual the cleaning of the church after Christmas is a cause of problems,” he said.

It is not the first time that a ladder has led to fisticuffs among priests in the Holy Land. In the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem’s Old City, a ladder still stands as a reminder for all priests to watch their tempers.

One hundred years ago, the ladder was erected by a priest attempting to repair damage done during an earthquake. Another sect accused the priest of trespassing and a fight broke out.

When the dust settled, the priests decided to leave the ladder as a reminder to the future keepers of the Church to solve their disputes in a more Christian fashion.

Under the "30 year rule" we are only now finding out details of events during 1977 which, at the time, our Government decided it was not in the national interest for us to be told about.

One such event was when Baroness Thatcher got locked in the lavatory on one of her first official visits to the US.

The then leader of the Conservative opposition booked into the upmarket Warwick Hotel in Houston, Texas, as part of a lecture tour in 1977. But her schedule nearly went awry when a bathroom door handle stopped working and she and Denis, her husband, had to be released.

It was one of a number of gripes the future prime minister had with the hotel. Her disappointment was reported to the British Embassy in Washington.

I can't see why the incident had to remain a secret for so long.

Perhaps it was because she was in there with Dennis?

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS HITS AGAIN

For decades, children have enjoyed singing about the little donkey which is said to have carried the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem.

But one group of young singers was ordered to change the traditional lyrics of the Christmas song - because they were said to be "too religious".

Instead of "Little donkey, carry Mary safely on her way", the youngsters were told to sing "carry Lucy" at the school's Christmas concert for fear of offending non-Christians.

STARKEY CRITICISES THE QUEEN

One of Britain's leading historians has sparked a row after accusing the Queen of lacking education, culture or any proper sense of history.

David Starkey, who on Boxing Day presents the last of his 17-part Channel 4 series Monarchy, said: "I don't think she's at all comfortable with anybody intellectual.

"I think she's got elements a bit like Goebbels in her attitude - you remember, he said: 'Every time I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver'."

Dr Starkey said that while accompanying the Queen on a tour of his exhibition on Elizabeth I at the National Maritime Museum, she showed scant interest in the displays, save when she identified a portrait of her ancestor as one of "mine".

He compared her to an uneducated "housewife" who has simply been left some wonderful possessions, and seemed more concerned with the late arrival of her gin and Dubonnet than the exhibits.

But Dr Starkey - who has been described as "the rudest man in Britain" - reserves his most trenchant criticism for what he regards as the Queen's lack of awareness of her place in the long line of the British monarchy.

"Her frames of reference to the monarchy, despite this 1,500-year history, are entirely her father and grandfather," he said.

His comments were dismissed by the royal biographer Penny Junor, who said: "The Queen is certainly cultured even if not that moved by the arts. The Prince of Wales has a great sense of history and a lot of that comes from his mother."

The royal historian Robert Lacey said: "She is absolutely genuine and that's what people respond to. After 50 years the Queen is at the peak of her popularity. She must be doing something right."

{Daily Telegraph)

BOY 'WITHOUT FAITH' BANNED FROM CHRISTMAS PARTY

A boy of nine was banned from his class Christmas party because he is not religious.

Douglas Stewart should have been enjoying ice cream and jelly with his friends and receiving a present. Instead, he stayed at home in tears.

The school said that he could not attend because he had been withdrawn from religious education classes.

His mother, Dawn Riddell, 38, said her son was "heartbroken" at the school's decision. He had been looking forward to his class's party for weeks, she said.

But just hours before it was to take place, she received a call from Ian Davidson, the head teacher of Cluny Primary, in the tiny village of Buckie, Banffshire, in north-east Scotland, to say that her son was not welcome.

She said: "Douglas had come home to get changed for the party. No one had said anything to him so as far as he knew he was going. He was really upset when I told him he couldn't go back to school. He just lay on the rug and cried." She said it was "cruel" for him to be excluded.

"It doesn't make any sense to me. I've helped out at the Christmas party before and it's got absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. It's all about the kids getting excited about Santa and enjoying themselves. If it had been something like a nativity play then I could understand.

"But Christmas parties are totally different. They're not all about religion or Jesus."

Douglas said: "People put up Christmas trees at Christmas. They're not religious so why would a party be religious?"

Earlier this year, the family, which is not religious, had decided to request that Douglas and his elder brother Callum, 11, be exempt from the classes. At the time, Mr Davidson contacted the family to warn that the children could miss out on fun activities, but the family decided to go ahead with their decision.

With Callum due to attend his class's Christmas party, their mother contacted the council to find out their policy. The education department confirmed that Christmas parties were not religious.

Mr Davidson called later to apologise and said that Douglas's exclusion had been a "misunderstanding". He was given a present that Father Christmas had left for him while Callum was allowed to attend his class's party.

(The Daily Telegraph)

Royal Mail has been attacked for putting up the price of first class stamps to 36p, in a rise of more than twice the 2.1 per cent inflation rate.

It announced increases for next year that represent the largest rise since the 1980s - adding 3p to a second class stamp and 2p to first class.

From April, first class mail will cost 36p and second class 27p.

Consumer groups were angered by this fourth consecutive above-inflation rise.

They complained that the service has not improved significantly.

Royal Mail - which will reap £200 million from the increase - said it loses money on every stamped letter that it collects, sorts and delivers.

Petrol was more than 111p a litre in some places recently - so it's write or drive - but perhaps not both.

The BBC has spent thousands of pounds on a team bonding course in which presenters had to wash raspberry jelly from each other's feet.

Adrian Chiles, a presenter, and Alan Yentob, the creative director, were among 200 executives who took part in the sensory assault course.

Staff were blindfolded and required to walk barefoot through pools of raspberry jelly and autumn leaves while clutching plastic babies programmed to wet themselves and cry.

At the end they had to wash each other's feet. The babies were props from the BBC3 show Baby Borrowers. Staff were given masks of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

One senior BBC executive, who declined to be named, said: "The course is the talk of the place. It's hilarious.

"The point was that they did not know what they were walking through until the end. Well, I think that was the point. I don't think they were too thrilled about washing the jelly off each other's feet."

The course was for 200 staff from the BBC Learning department to "complement knowledge output".

Ariel, the BBC's in-house magazine, reported that the aim of the exercise was also to help staff "refresh perspectives" through "immersive experiences".

When they were not walking through jelly, or changing the nappies of the plastic babies, staff were invited to pitch programme ideas at a panel of senior executives.

The BBC, which is cutting 1,800 jobs because of a £2 billion deficit in funding, spent £10,000 on the bonding day course.

Philip Davis, a Tory MP on the Commons culture select committee, said: "I am sure the people who are losing their jobs will be delighted to know how licence-payers' money is being spent."

(The Daily Telegraph)

The traditional Midnight Mass normally begins after 11pm
on Christmas Eve

MIDNIGHT MASS TO START EARLIER TO AVOID DRUNKEN LOUTS

Midnight Mass will be held as early as 6 in the evening at churches across the country this Christmas to stop drunks disrupting the services.

The service with candles and carols normally begins between 11 and 11.30pm on Christmas Eve but Roman Catholic clergy in some areas have been advised by police to start much earlier amid fears of rowdy behaviour and violent crime.

Priests concerned for the safety of their parishioners are holding the services as early as 6pm, a survey by The Tablet, the Catholic weekly magazine, has found.

A number of priests contacted by the magazine also said that they were concerned for the safety of elderly worshippers crossing busy roads late at night after accidents in previous years.

In Newcastle Upon Tyne, the Cathedral of St Mary in the heart of the city’s entertainment district, is holding its Christmas Eve Mass at 8pm because of fears of drunken louts disrupting the service.

Fr James O’Keefe, the parish priest of St Bede’s in the Denton area of the city, is also holding his service at 8pm.

“This is a pretty tough part of the city which hasn’t had any regeneration for years,” he said.

“A lot of people, having been disgorged from the pub, were attracted by the light and the music and used to disrupt proceedings.”

Fr Dennis Connor, the parish priest at St Teresa of the Child Jesus church in Liverpool, said that this year he would be holding his Christmas Eve Mass at 6pm.

“In this area there has been a lot of trouble with gun crime,” he said.

“Older people are really scared of meeting teenagers and a few who give them trouble - people coming out of pubs and so on.”

In Glasgow, Fr Joseph McNulty from St John Ogilvie church in Easterhouse told The Tablet: “I wouldn’t hold a Midnight Mass at midnight because of the drunks. There would be too much trouble.”

Fr Peter Dowling, of St Anthony’s church in Govan, said that he now starts his service at 9pm because older parishioners, especially single women, were too frightened to go out late at night.

Similar sentiments were expressed by priests around the country, including Mgr Richard Twomey, of Holy Rood church in Swindon, Wiltshire, who now starts his service at 11pm.

“When the pubs closed we would get people coming in who weren’t Catholics and certainly weren’t there to pray,” he said.

“Also, parishioners became worried about going home very late at night.”

In Birmingham, Fr David Lacy, of Our Lady Help of Christians in Kitts Green, who holds Christmas Eve Masses at 6pm and 9pm, added: “It can be very unsafe if you’re a woman or elderly. “It is not very safe on the streets if you are on your own.

“Also, crossing the road can be dangerous at this time of year when there’s lots of festivities going on as you can’t be sure people will stop for you.”

Church of England churches are not obliged to hold any services on Christmas Eve and though most Anglican churches will now offer a Midnight Mass, some do not.

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

I was reading yesterday about the latest gourmet delicacy - Snail Caviar, which is produced in France.

Apparently it tastes like "walking through the undergrowth after rain" and has a woody taste, " with notes of mushroom and oak leaves".

The eggs are conserved in brine and essence of rosemary, before being marketed in 50g tins that cost £50 each - about the same as farmed sturgeon caviar.

Or how about some tasty slugs?

You may like them deep-fried with green tomatoes. For the recipe go to:

http://rickshawunschooling.blogspot.com/2007/10/wild-food-killing-our-own-meat.html

The secretive British artist Banksy has left his mark in a series of trademark paintings around the birthplace of Jesus.

NHS U-TURN ON PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT

A life-saving treatment will be denied to tens of thousands of victims of Britain's most common male cancer after a U-turn by the NHS rationing body.

The groundbreaking ultrasound therapy has been shown to kill nine out of 10 prostate tumours, and five years after treatment, 80 per cent of patients show no sign of the cancer recurring.

Compared with surgery or conventional radiotherapy treatment, it is not invasive and is far less likely to lead to devastating side effects such as impotence or incontinence.

Suitable for treatment in the early stages of the disease, when it is not known how quickly it will spread, the ultrasound therapy is regarded by doctors as a vital new weapon in the battle against prostate cancer.

The UK's most prevalent cancer among men, prostate cancer kills 10,000 a year, with 35,000 more cases diagnosed annually. A third of men over 50 contract it.

Three years ago, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) said men across the country should be offered the treatment, called High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (Hifu), free on the NHS.

But The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that Nice has now decided to reverse that decision. In the New Year, the controversial rationing body will massively restrict the use of the HIFU treatment.

Instead of it being available to all prostate cancer sufferers, it will now be restricted only to those who have already failed to respond to conventional treatment and whose cancer has returned.

The decision, set to be made in February, means Hifu will not be available to the vast majority of prostate cancer sufferers.

Cancer charities and senior doctors last night attacked the move as a U-turn.

Mark Emberton, a consultant urologist at University College Hospital, London, said he was worried that patients would be forced into the private sector, "which would be a disaster", if they wanted the treatment.

He also questioned the logic of only offering Hifu to men whose cancer had returned, while denying it to patients in the early stages of the disease.

Meanwhile, Stephen Brown, a consultant urologist at Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport, said: "We think Hifu is a really good option for patients who want a lesser procedure."

Prof Roger Kirby, who chairs the Prostate UK charity, also decried the decision. He said: "Restricting the treatments available will have a massive impact on the patient."

Since Nice made its original ruling, permitting the use of Hifu, just 300 men have been given the treatment on the NHS.

Primary care trusts have so far been slow to foot the bill for the treatment, which is one-off but costs about £13,000.

This amount compares with £3,000 for radiotherapy, which takes six weeks, and £5,000 for surgery.

It is understood that Nice, which has refused to comment on its new guidelines, will rule that there is insufficient evidence to prove that Hifu has long-term value.

The U-turn comes despite the research published last month in the European Journal of Urology which found that eight out of 10 men were healthy five years after being treated with Hifu.

(Sunday Telegraph)

JAIL TOILETS TO FACE AWAY FROM MECCA

Facilities in a prison are being built so Muslim inmates do not have to face Mecca while sitting on the toilet.

The Home Office said two new toilet blocks are being installed as part of a refurbishment at Brixton jail in south London.

Faith leaders had told prison bosses it was unacceptable for Muslim inmates to face Mecca while using the toilet.

"The refurbishment has been carried out with due consideration for all faiths", a Home Office spokeswoman said.

"Following consultation with faith leaders within the prison, various small adjustments were made to ensure the faith issues of all prisoners are taken into account."

She added: "The money spent did not affect the overall cost of the refurbishment programme."

(BBC News)

THE SEVEN WORST EXAMPLES OF WRITTEN ENGLISH

Virgin Trains

Moving forwards, we as Virgin Trains are looking to take ownership of the flow in question to apply our pricing structure, thus resulting in this journey search appearing in the new category-matrix format.

The pricing of this particular flow is an issue going back to 1996 and it is not something that we can change until 2008 at the earliest. I hope this makes the situation clear.'' (Response to Web User magazine about problems booking online)

UKTV - Dave

''With a brief to establish Dave as the home of witty banter and as a refuge from the everyday, the award-winning Red Bee's innovative and original creative juxtaposes traditional weekend retreat imagery with contemporary talent from the channel's key content in a humorous and irreverent way to represent the channel's key brand values.'' (Extract from a press release about the launch of new channel ''Dave''.)

BAA

''Passenger shoe repatriation area only.'' (Sign in Gatwick Airport)

Fastway Couriers

''The Carrier shall not be liable for injury or damage to or destruction or loss of the Goods or any other property arising out of or incidental to or in connection with or occurring during the provision of the Services or for the mis-delivery or nondelivery of the Goods and whether or not caused or contributed to by the default (including negligence) of the Carrier or any agent, servant or officer of the Carrier or any other person entitled to the benefit of these conditions.'' (Terms and conditions on their website)

Nestlé

''Green Sauce'' are an important product group for Buitoni Pesto Basilico. Their quality and flavour profile are enhanced by the basil used in production. However, Buitoni faced sensory profile reproducibility problems due to heterogeneous raw material, challenging the production of uniform quality.'' (Nestlé project news report)

Translink (NI Railways)

''Every Autumn a combination of leaves on the line, atmospheric conditions and prevailing damp conditions lead to a low adhesion between the rail head and the wheel which causes services to be delayed or even cancelled.

''NI Railways are committed to minimising service delays, where we can, by implementing a comprehensive low adhesion action programme.'' (Translink sign at Coleraine railway station)

Warwickshire Children, Young People and Families Division

''Geoff flagged up that changes will be made to the ways in which the partnerships are assessed this year. The APA will assess all partnership arrangements affecting children, young people and families.

''In the past the APA was not as important as the JAR but this will be reversed. The JAR is no longer being scored: the scores for the CPA will be the APA score so the score we are given as a result of the APA this year will count to the JAR next year so we need to ensure the best possible APA.

''This year's APA will focus on a review of our CYPP. All current forms of assessment will disappear in 2009 when the CAA (Comprehensive Area Assessment) will be introduced.'' (From the minutes of the Warwickshire Children, Young People and Families Division)

(Daily Telegraph)

Earlier this week Conrad Black, the disgraced former owner of the Daily Telegraph, was sentenced to six and a half years in an American jail for criminal fraud and obstructing justice.

He will serve his sentence at FCI Coleman Low, a federal prison in Florida and will still be able to contact the world's media as part of a pilot scheme that allows inmates to send and receive emails.

That must be better than smuggling a mobile phone inside.

One mystery remains: Where did all those misappropriated funds go?

As with OJ Simpson, who was cleared in a murder trial but fined in a private legal action, Black may find the civil courts more ruinous than the criminal ones.

Prosecutors believe much of his fortune remains intact if shrunk by estimated £5 million legal fees from his trial.

Now, his sentencing may revive a multi-million dollar attempt to reclaim the vast sums he is alleged to have looted from his company.

A civil lawsuit, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in New York, had been on hold pending the outcome of the criminal trial. But SEC lawyers have reportedly now returned to the case.

In all, Black faces legal attempts to recover around £500 million but even the £90 million in cash from Hollinger International, his publicly owned newspaper company, has still to be traced.

Millions of dollars are assumed to have been hidden in offshore accounts, possibly under the name of Barbara Amiel, who joins her husband in the defendants' list on several civil actions.

A committee of Hollinger directors reported three years ago that Black had diverted millions of its funds into the Cayman Islands and Barbados. Investigators say this has simply disappeared, presumably into hard-to-trace offshore accounts. But there has been speculation that Black retains about £50 million.

Black will be able to
continue to protest his
innocence from jail -
via email

A security guard believed to have shot dead a gunman in a US evangelical church has credited the Holy Spirit with keeping her hands steady enough to shoot.

"I PRAYED FOR STEADY HANDS"

Jeanne Assam, the security guard believed to
have shot dead church gunman Matthew Murray

Jeanne Assam, 42, was in the congregation at the New Life Church, Colorado Springs, when Matthew Murray opened fire on the crowd, killing two.

She said that she prayed to the Holy Spirit to guide her, and that she "knew [she] was the one given the assignment to stop this thing."

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God", she added.

Investigators say that Murray, 24, may in fact have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, although police and church leaders have praised Mrs Assam, a former officer with Denver police, for her bravery.

The pastor, Brady Boyd, said that she "probably saved over 100 lives".

Twelve hours previously, Murray had killed a further two people at a missionary training centre, Youth with a Mission, sixty-five miles away in a suburb of Denver.

Witnesses say that Murray had asked to spend the night at the centre and had begun his attack when he was turned down.

Colorado Springs police have said that the "common denominator" between the attacks was Youth with a Mission, which has an office at New Life Church.

It is believed that revenge may have been the motive behind the attacks - Murray had previously attended a training programme at the centre, for unspecified health reasons.

Murray had left several ranting posts on a web site for people who have left evangelical organisations, according to Denver TV station KUSA-TV.

The most recent post came between the two shootings, and said "You Christians brought this on yourselves."

"All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you... as I can", it went on, "especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world."

Murray's only previous contact with law enforcement was a traffic offence earlier this year.

The Murray family is described by a neighbour, nineteen-year-old Cody Askeland, as "very, very religious". His relatives said they were grief-stricken and baffled.

"We cannot understand why this has happened. We ask for prayer for the victims and their families during this time of grief," said Phil Abeyta, Murray's uncle, reading a statement from the family.

New Life Church, one of the largest evangelical organisations in the US with an estimated congregation of 14,000, was also in the news in November of last year when its then pastor and founder, Ted Haggard, stepped down after admitting to unspecified "sexual immorality" following allegations of drug use and paying for sex with a male prostitute.

(Daily Telegraph)

Your comments?

I wouldn't like to get in the way of one of these.

Not only can they disable, but they can KILL.

Tasers are yellow precisely
so they are not confused with a gun

A SHARP SHOCK TO DEAL WITH VIOLENCE
(BBC News)

From Monday, the Metropolitan Police will issue Taser stun guns to previously unarmed officers, becoming the 10th force to join the Home Office pilot.

How do you stop a man with adrenaline surging through his veins and a knife in his hand?

After you've used every possible means of restraint, what is left?

That's the dilemma the police face every day and that's why they say they need Taser stun guns.

Pc Simon Ashton, a City of London officer, said: "We use what we call pain and compliance techniques, but we deal with people every day on whom that doesn't work.

"It's fight or flight, the rush of adrenalin. It gives them a lot of strength and they can fight against us.

"So if we want to put handcuffs on them, what do we do?"

Taser works by producing neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI) - disrupting signals from the brain to the muscles causing temporary paralysis.

Pc Ashton, who is on secondment to the Metropolitan Police and involved in Taser training, says it makes the muscles "freeze and tense", forcing the subject into a "plywood state".

He or she then falls over.

Taser generates 50,000 volts, although it is actually the amps delivered, not the voltage, that cause NMI.

Police stress that a household plug carries 13 amps, while Taser delivers 0.0021 amps.

It does this via two probes which are fired on wires into the subject. However, they don't need to pierce the skin and will work through thick clothing.

The initial disabling effect lasts for five seconds, but the probes remain attached so, if the person continues to resist, another burst can be delivered.

"We tell them they will come to no further harm if they comply with us," Pc Ashton said.

But the million dollar question - is it dangerous?

Amnesty International said the weapons have been linked to more than 70 deaths in the US, while the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that up to 18 people have died in Canada since 2003 after being stunned by a Taser.

But, according to UK police, there have been "no severe or adverse reactions" since Taser was introduced in 2003.

PRISON OFFICERS ARE CALLING FOR THE INSTALLATION OF MORE MOBILE PHONE BLOCKING EQUIPMENT IN JAILS

Ministry of Justice figures show up to 3,500 phones were smuggled into England and Wales jails in the last year.

Prison Officers Association (POA) head Brian Caton said inmates ran criminal activities using the phones, and they could arrange attacks on prison staff.

The Prison Service says it is "vigorously tackling" the problem of smuggled mobile phones.

Mr Caton told BBC Radio 4: "Many prisoners, we know, run criminal activities, serious criminal activities, from inside prisons by the use of mobile phones.

"I'm very, very afraid that eventually it's going to get beyond that point and prisoners are going to be able to arrange for prison officers and prison staff to be attacked through using mobile phones from inside the cells."

The POA general secretary said that "with the exception probably of firearms, explosives and probably drugs, it's probably the worst thing that can happen in a prison is to have mobile phones on sale to prisoners or prisoners having them".

The association says many mobile phones are being thrown over prison walls.

In a written Parliamentary answer last week, the Ministry of Justice revealed that up to 400 mobile phones had been seized each month since October 2006.

Of course, mobile phone jammers are generally illegal in the United Kingdom - although they seem to be allowed in prisons.

Personal jammers, like the one below (available on the internet for £145) are definitely ILLEGAL in the UK.

I have often wished I had one when travelling in the "quiet coach" of my train to London. The notices saying "Switch your mobile phone OFF'" are frequently ignored and the guard seems unable or unwilling to tackle offenders.

The position with regard to the use of jammers in other countries is as follows:

Australia: Illegal.

Belgium: Illegal to sell, possess and operate (licensed part of the spectrum).

Canada: Illegal.

Czech Republic: Illegal.

Finland: Illegal.

France: France legalized cell-phone jammers in (movie) theaters and other places with performances in 2004.

Germany: Illegal, but installation in jails has been proposed.

India: Government and schools use jammers.

Mexico: Legal inside jails, often used also in churches and hospitals.

New Zealand: Legal inside jails.

Norway: Illegal to own and operate. The police and the military can use jammers in situations in which it is necessary.

UK: Illegal.

USA: Illegal to operate, manufacture, import, or offer for sale, with fines of up to $11,000 and imprisonment of up to one year.

A quarter of Britons aged 18 and over didn't
know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem


NO SURPRISE?

A survey found 27 per cent of Britons aged 18 and over were unable to identify Bethlehem as Jesus's birth place, while the figure rose to 36 per cent of people aged between 18 and 24.

One in ten of those questioned thought the answer was Nazareth and a similar number said Jerusalem.

The poll also found that more than one in four people - 27 per cent - were unaware that an angel told Mary that she would give birth to a son, with some saying she was informed by the shepherds.

Most people surveyed believed that Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Nazareth rather than Egypt when they escaped from King Herod, and a few even said the holy family's destination was Rome.

The survey also revealed that just over half did not know that John the Baptist was Jesus's cousin.

Only 12 per cent of adults could answer all four questions about the Christmas story correctly.

The results of the survey, conducted among 1,015 adults last month, are likely to refuel the debate about the secularisation of Christmas.

The poll found that people's knowledge dips significantly with age, with only seven per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds able to answer all four questions correctly. Middle aged people, aged 55 to 64, knew the most, with 18 per cent getting all the questions right.

The findings followed research by the Sunday Telegraph last weekend showing that only one school in every five was planning to stage a traditional Nativity play this year.

Paul Woolley, the director of Theos, the theological think-tank which commissioned the survey, insisted the survey showed the Christmas story, in its classic formulation, was still "very much" in the "cultural bloodstream" of the nation.

But he said when people were asked in detail about the story, their knowledge and understanding was "rather more shaky."

"The fact that younger people are the least knowledgeable about the Christmas story may reflect a decline in the telling of Bible stories in schools and the popularity of Nativity plays," he said.

"No one seriously thinks that being a Christian or a member of the established Church is the same thing as being British today.

"But, at the same time, if we are serious about social cohesion we can't afford to ignore the stories that have bound us together as a culture for a thousand years.

"Any attempts to down-play the Christmas story in order to help social cohesion are likely to be counterproductive."

The region with the highest proportion of people who answered all four questions correctly was the South East, at 19 per cent, followed by the South West, which scored 17 per cent.

Yorkshire and Humberside and London had the highest percentage of people who got all four questions wrong, at 15 per cent.

Unsurprisingly, Christian churchgoers knew the story best, with 36 per cent answering all questions correctly, compared with only five per cent of those describing themselves as atheists.

The questions

1. According to the story in the Christian Bible, where was Jesus born?

73 per cent correctly said Bethlehem. Of the 27 per cent who were wrong, 10 per cent said Nazareth and 9 per cent said Jerusalem.

2. Who told Mary that she would give birth to a son?

73 per cent correctly said an angel. Of the 27 per cent who were wrong, six per cent said the wise men, five per cent said the shepherds and four per cent said Joseph.

3. Who was Jesus' cousin?

48 per cent correctly said John the Baptist. Of the 52 per cent who were wrong, 12 per cent said Peter, six per cent said Luke and six per cent said James. 26 per cent said they did not know.

4. Where did Joseph, Mary and Jesus go to escape from King Herod when Jesus was a young child?

22 per cent correctly said Egypt. Of the 78 per cent who were wrong, 52 per cent said Nazareth, five per cent said Babylon and one per cent said Rome.

(telegraph.co.uk)

The Flight Into Egypt - Vittore Carpaccio

Most of you know that I have three principal blogs here on the internet and two others that I use only occasionally.

It came as no surprise to me to learn from the following article that more than half of primary school teachers could name no more than two poets.

CLASSIC POEMS "LOSING OUT TO NONSENSE VERSE"

Classic poems are in danger of disappearing from the classroom as poorly trained teachers rely on "lightweight" verse, the education watchdog warn today.

Primary schools increasingly concentrate on nonsense and humorous poems or those that are easy for children to imitate, says Ofsted.

In a report, inspectors warn that "too few" poems are "genuinely challenging" as teachers shun the classics and those from other cultures.

Only a "very small minority of schools" use poems such as Daffodils by William Wordsworth, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge or Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin, the study claims.

What your child should know: four verses from poets highlighted in the report:

William Blake
The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

William Wordsworth
Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at onc