I wasn't sure whether to be amused or angry when I first learned of the government giving consideration to taxing rubbish collections as part of council tax reforms for England and Wales (and Scotland?). In principle, it would be a good incentive for people to minimise the waste they send to our already oversized landfills, but only if it's done right. Back in April 2005 I'm sure I recall Belfast City Council saying that every household in Belfast would have a blue recycling bin by the end of 2005. Guess what: they didn't - and we still don't. (They're now saying the end of 2006)

A cynic might question if the government is simply looking for an easy way to raise some extra tax revenue and thinks they will have an easy ride with a 'green' tax. Let's face it, given the Tories recent fuss over the environment, they're not going to oppose it for fear they be lablled environmentally unfriendly - and the Lib Dems will of course be delighted at the prospect of extra revenue and punishing pollution in one foul swoop.

In the real world though, the tax is only useful if citizens are given an accessible alternative, ie a proper rollout of a doorstep recycling scheme alongside the regular waste collection. The sensible thing to do would be to tax the non-recyclable waste and not the recycling collections. Of course that's the point where we see whether the government are more interested in the revenue raising aspect of the plan, or the environmental side. Remember how quickly the metering of water charges in Northern Ireland was dismissed, despite being the obvious sensible option?

I've been saying from I began blogging just over a year ago that I'd like to see the Conservatives perform better in Northern Ireland elections, so you'd naturally expect that I'd be happy at the prospect of UUP members defecting to the Tories. Well you see it's not that simple. I like the Conservatives largely because I find the tribal politics here repetitive and unimaginative and frankly damaging to the country as a whole, but also because I generally feel more at home with their political views than any of the other real parties. That was true, at least, until Cameron took over the leadership.

It's not that I have anything against his highlighting green issues, heavens no! In fact the environment probably should be a higher priority for most of us than it is (particulary so, for reasons I won't go into, in Northern Ireland). The sad truth is though that I can't help but feel that the commentators are correct when they say that Cameron is simply mimicing Blair and his New Labour tactics - ie carefully phrasing every statement to give the broadest possible emotive appeal without actually saying anything meaningful.

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This is one for the fans of loyalist paramilitaries out there. On Saturday, the Mount Vernon UVF sent an 8-man gang into Rathcoole to torture Robert McCord for information he didn't have - ie the location of his estranged cousin, Raymond.

Paramilitaries still blight loyalist communities.
Image adapted from wikipedia image by E Asterion. CC-ASA licence.

Robert McCord (in his 50s) was

• Stripped from the waist up
• Beaten about the head
• Burned with cigarette lighters

... all For God And Ulster, of course.

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Yes folks, another prominent republican has been involved in an altercation with the police - and of course you know what that means. Yes, another whinge about police "heavy handedness". Now that they've accepted claims of 'brutality' were taking the piss, this new Sinn Fein buzzphrase is cropping up more and more (on both sides of the divide!).

This time upstanding holy man Fra McCann intervened as the police were arresting a teenager on the Falls Road for attempted robbery. Fra McCann, according to his own version of events, "put himself between one police officer and [the suspect]".

For some reason Fra McCann was surprised to find that his actions, that could only realistically be perceived as impeding the arrest of an attempted robber, resulted in himself being arrested. Shocking isn't it?

Of course McCann, being a Sinn Fein councillor, raises the usual claims of police 'heavy handedness'. A desperate attempt to throw mud at a police force that seems to be becoming (slowly but surely) more accepted by the nationalist population of Northern Ireland, in the hope that some will stick. After all, the last thing you want when your party wants to keep a tight grip on its communities (including through Community Restorative Justice schemes) is a force that actually upholds law and order.

Another twist in the shacking up of the UUP and PUP in Stormont has seen 25 year old Ulster Unionist party officer and Down councillor Peter Bowles is defecting to the Conservatives in protest over the party's new links to the UVF. As well as becoming the first Ulster Unionist to defect, he will also become the Conservatives' only current elected representative in Northern Irleand.

Interestingly Bowles has chosen a party that has traditionally struggled to attract votes in Northern Ireland over the 'easy option' of joining unionist rivals in the DUP. I for one hope it pays off.

I'm not sure which of these amused me more - the verdict being returned that the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition are not the most oppressed people ever, or the fact that Sinn Fein's very own "No!" men are likely to appeal to Britain's highest court - the House of Lords.

Brendan McKenna described appeal to the Lords as "obviously the next stage" fter the appeal court overturned a ruling that appointments made to the Parades Commission were unlawful.

Their "issue"? It's not that two members of the Loyal Orders were awarded positions on the Parades Commission. The problem is that Peter Hain only wrote to the main political parties (including the SDLP and Sinn Fein), the four main churches (including the Catholic church) and the loyal marching orders. Unfortunately he didn't see fit to go trailing round everybody in Northern Ireland who has moved into an area so they can be 'concerned' about Orange parades there, handing out jobs to the politicised malcontents that infest many of the "residents" groups. Like these self-publicising, shit stirring wastes of space need more influence.

I didn't - and apparently I wasn't that far away from one of them. It can't be just a coincidence that the wastes of space who planned the bomb alerts carried out their hoaxes on a day when they knew Belfast's roads would be hectic anyway, with thousands of employees rushing home to catch the start of the major football tournament* getting underway today.

Let's face it, these cowards (presumably republicans?) haven't the balls to actually cause serious harm because they have no backing from the wider population. Instead they just piss off as many people as possible (at least they keep the army and police officers in jobs). At the risk of sounding reckless, they're more of an irritance than a threat - like all-too-persistent mosquitos. It's well past time they were swatted.

* I'm not naming the tournament in question lest I incur the wrath of FIFA.

The PSNI have confirmed that they do not intend to pursue and arrest Dessie O'Hare, AKA the Border Fox, claiming any investigation would fall under the jurisdiction of the Historical Enquiries Team, which was formed to investigate unsolved murders that took place during the troubles. However the HET have confirmed that they are not pursuing O'Hare, stating that their job is just to investigate old murders, and not to arrest those who are wanted and on the run.

Willie Frazer from victims group FAIR, who was refused a meeting with the police, said that evidence against the Border Fox existed and accused the PSNI of trying to pass the buck. He highlighted a comment from minister Lord Rooker who said "decisions about the arrest or otherwise of terrorist suspects are matters for the police."

The situation seems to be very unclear, however it saddens me to say that I wouldn't be surprised if the police were laying off for fear of upsetting prominent republicans who enjoy the status of being above the law.

The failures of Norhtern Ireland's public transport service have been highlighted by a recent survey by the Engergy Saving Trust which found over a third of drivers would like to use their cars less but believe there is no alternative. It also found 56% of vehicle owners were thinking about the possibilities of buying a cleaner vehicle at some stage.

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That's apparently what thousands of students examinations are worth. A month ago lecturers rejected 12.6% over 2 years in pay increases and today accepted a 13.1% over 3 years deal.

Thanks for that.