Mark

Last week, I told you about my new book, 107 Days — a behind-the-scenes, candid, and personal account of my time leading the shortest presidential campaign in modern history.

Now, here's a behind-the-scenes look at announcement week.

Judge tells colleagues to be ‘on their guard’ over expert witness evidence Patrick Hodge, supreme court’s deputy president, wants judges to improve their scientific and technical literacy

Judge tells colleagues to be ‘on their guard’ over expert witness evidence

www.theguardian.com/law/2025/aug...

YouTube video by Americana Corner Courts in Early America

The people that wrote this article also did a video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO9m...

Horizon victim Lee Castleton sues Post Office and Fujitsu for £4m This is the first time full details of a complex claim for compensation have been made public.

Well done Lee!
#PostOfficeScandal
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Brexit: Britain will be less secure without access to shared data Finding a substitute for groups like Europol will be a challenge, says Sky's Alistair Bunkall.

"Today's deal confirms the UK will automatically forfeit its membership of Europol, Eurojust, the European Arrest Warrant and real-time sensitive data-sharing agreements such as the Schengen Information System (SIS2) when the UK exits the transition period on 1 January [2021]"

Sky News, 24 Dec 2020

'Facial recognition tech mistook me for wanted man' Shaun Thompson is challenging the Met Police's use of live facial recognition technology.

They should immediately stop "facial recognition" until it is proved accurate and reliable. They should publish their test reports to show there was any justification in deploying it in the first place. I hope he receives substantial compensation
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

hope it goes well

Instrument of Government - Wikipedia

I claim the
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrum...

See all those books of decisions that largely decorate English appeal courts. Written Law being the acts of parliament and "statutory instruments" now. People say the English Constitution is not written down but they are borrowing that old legal term thinking its abut penmanship.

Courts in Early America — Americana Corner The court system in Colonial America, not surprisingly, mirrored that of Great Britain and became one of the great sources of discontent as American colonists moved towards independence. The main issu...

I like this article, if only for the distinction between "unwritten common law" and written codified law. When they say "unwritten common Law" they don't mean its not written down
www.americanacorner.com/blog/courts-...

YouTube video by UK Covid-19 Inquiry UK Covid 19 Inquiry - Module 6 Hearings - 29 July 2025 PM

Its worth listening to Francesca Humi who is on first in the afternoon session. Tissues may be needed
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru5f...

YouTube video by Beyond Reasonable Doubt 🔎 Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? ITV - Full Documentary

Someone has put this documentary on YouTube, about 1hr
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NIw...

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper won't put a number on migrant returns to France The

There is another point never mentioned. What will the returnees do when they are back in France?
The only reason they are there is to come to England
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Not at all. That Inquiry has a video recording of the evidence, a transcription, a witness statement and there will be a report that presents conclusions. If only courts did the same thing

The Inquiry is recorded and they usually publish transcripts though you may have to wait for the report. You make a better point than you realize about PAYE

One day last week the COVID Inquiry dealt with care homes. To a large extent they depend on visa over-stayers. Send back all of those and you will have a financial crisis in care, if you can ever find anyone to do it

In what way?
It was quite a good program, sort of a recap of this years events. They had a clip of Mark McDonald handing over documents to the CCRC. It also mentioned the failure of the first instance team to call defense experts.

Very good program about the Lucy Letby case. It should be showing again on ITVX somewhere
#LucyLetby
www.itv.com/presscentre/...

Tesla not permitted to roll out robotaxi service in SF as reportedly planned Tesla is reported to have had plans to rollout a robotaxi service in San Francisco as early as this weekend. But state officials say they are not permitted to do such a thing and haven't even applied ...

Musk was to roll out a robo taxi service this very weekend, turns out he hasn't even applied for a permit to test
www.ktvu.com/news/tesla-n...

Corp. for Public Broadcasting shuts down after federal funding cuts The Corp. for Public Broadcasting, which funnels federal dollars to NPR and PBS stations, has long been a target of Republicans.

This is terrible, I would have never believed Trump would do such a stupid thing. This probably affects British production companies. They broadcast the best of British and produced excellent documentaries. Most of Florentine Films shown here
www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

COLBERT: You warned everyone…he would prosecute political enemies, cut Medicaid, alienate our allies, give tax cuts to the rich. I know you're not here to say 'I told you so' but would you like to?

HARRIS: You're correct. I did predict a lot of that. But what I did not predict was the capitulation.

Tesla found partly to blame for fatal Autopilot crash The company's self-driving technology failed to prevent a 2019 crash which killed a 22-year-old woman and severely injured her boyfriend in Florida.

self-driving hype! Mr Schreiber said "Tesla and Mr Musk had long propped up the company's valuation with "self-driving hype at the expense of human lives.""
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This could be huge. Leave it to Bernie to do what should have been done long ago. RFK jr should never have been confirmed. He’s completely insane and he’s a public menace.

Phil Scott declines Pentagon request to use Vermont National Guard at ICE facilities The U.S. Department of Defense was seeking 12 Guard members to assist with administrative, logistical and clerical duties inside federal immigration detention facilities, according to a governor’s aid...

The U.S. Department of Defense was seeking 12 Guard members to assist inside federal immigration detention facilities, according to a governor’s aide, who added that the governor’s denial was “divorced” from politics.
www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2...

Berkshire pharmacist warns about unregulated weight loss drugs Olivier Picard says people who try to buy weight loss drugs online

A local article but it may have relevance. Workers were accused of injecting insulin into patients. There were reports of missing insulin at the hospital implying it was difficult to get but this article shows insulin is available over the web to children
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Free Ride by Noraly Schoenmaker | Waterstones Buy Free Ride by Noraly Schoenmaker from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

Also "Free Ride" by Noraly Schoenmaker. Noraly rides around the world on her bikes. I've never met her but it feels as though I have vicariously through the Itchy Boots YouTube channel. She would be greeted at C&I with "my wife follows you"!
www.waterstones.com/book/free-ri...

Why Are You Here, Mrs Hamilton? - Bonnier Books The extraordinary memoir from Jo Hamilton, a victim at the very heart of the Post Office/Horizon scandal

In Waterstones yesterday, always a bad move for me. I picked up "Why are you here Mrs Hamilton?". "The Post Office Scandal and My Extraordinary Fight for Justice". I briefly met Jo a couple of times at the Inquiry so I'm looking forward to reading it all
www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/books/blink-...

Royal Berkshire Hospital awarded £500,000 to find new site A site for the new Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading is expected to be chosen by March 2026.

Nice picture of the three "greater Reading" MP's and the minister. I would prefer it to stay where it is, at least they will get a good look-around
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Do people plead guilty just to get a shorter sentence? On expert advice?
Stephen Niland made that ground 1 of his appeal:

Ground 1: he entered a guilty plea on the basis of advice that the medical evidence against him was overwhelming and in order to get a shorter sentence.