Proud boast of the month

3,000 receipts

Man gets 3,000 C-charge receipts

A tradesman from Kent who went online to pay the London congestion charge ended up being sent 3,000 receipts.

Graeme Ellis from Swanley, went on the Transport for London (TfL) website to pay the £8 fee and then requested a receipt. The first time, he was sent 500, and then on the next occasion 3,000 arrived at his house, delivered by Royal Mail.

Mr Ellis said: “The second time it happened I ended up with four boxes, about 3,000 receipts all turned up on the doorstep in a big Royal Mail lorry.

“I think I might pay at the petrol station tomorrow. The kids love opening them though, we make castles out of them and towers.” [BBC]

In a statement TfL said: “This is clearly an unacceptable error. Our service provider, Capita, have identified the fault and put in additional controls to ensure it does not happen in future.” In other words, they’re reviewing their procedures.

“Distinguish right and wrong”

Keen to demonstrate that (a) it’s true to the spirit of Communism and (b) it would barely scrape a “D” in GCSE English, Chinese news agency Xinhua (pronounced “Zhinshwa”, which you’d never guess from, um, our own spelling of it) has much to say about recent events in Tibet:

Relevant countries urged to respect fact, distinguish right and wrong on Lhasa riot

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Monday urged relevant countries to respect fact and distinguish right and wrong on the riot occurred in Lhasa. Liu made the remarks in responding to a press question about some countries calling for solution on the incident via dialogue.

The action of the lawless persons is not at all a peace demonstration but a violent crime, Liu said. The law breakers killed innocent people brutally, arousing great indignation and condemnation from people of all ethnic groups in Tibet Autonomous Region.

The riot was organized, premeditated and fanned by the Dalai Lama clique, which not only caused heavy losses of life and property in the city but also seriously disturbed social order, Liu said. He said the riot exposed once again the separatist inbeing of the Dalai Lama clique and the hypocritical and fraudulent nature of its so-called “peace” and “non-violence” allegations.

Any attempts to split the motherland are firmly apposed by Chinese people of all ethnic groups including the Tibetan compatriots, and are doomed to failure, he said. The international community widely acknowledges that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and the Chinese government’s stance on the issue of Dalai Lama has been broadly understood and supported by countries and peoples who uphold justice, he said.

... Starting from March 10, the group launched a so-called “Marching to Tibet” in India. Organizers claimed that once they were blocked outside China, they would stage protests and instigate followers to echo them by making troubles inside China... The “marching to Tibet” in India became another aborted act as the crowd were greeted by Indian police awaiting in the midway.

Xinhua in general reads like a bitter parody of totalitarian news. Here’s its lead story as I write this:

Jiang Zemin Hails 100th Anniversary of Nine Universities

President Jiang Zemin has sent a letter to congratulate the 100th anniversary of the founding of nine universities in east China's Jiangsu Province.

The nine universities are Nanjing University, Southeast University, Nanjing Normal University, Hehai University, Nanjing University of Industries, Nanjing University of Agriculture, Nanjing Forestry University, Jiangsu University, and Jiangnan University.

... and many more words ensue.