The cleanup.

The photos above were taken a little earlier today; they show the environmental charity Thames 21, who, along with volunteers from FORGE (Friends Of Riverside Gardens Erith), the Explorer Scouts and the Army Cadets spent most of the day clearing up items dumped in the Thames mud. The event was scheduled so that the river would be at low tide during the work, and the record for the numbers of shopping trollies from Morrisons that were retrieved from the mud was broken. Last year they rescued a total of 21 trollies; by 1pm the volunteers had collected 25 trollies, and there were still several still in the river. In an improvement on previous years, the volunteers did not just clear up the river, they also collected dozens of bags of rubbish from the Erith Riverside Gardens, which were to be collected by Bexley Council's waste management contractors. I have been reliably told that the collected shopping trollies will be recycled by local scrap processors, the Manor Road based European Metal Recycling. It is not possible to properly clean the muddy trollies, even with a pressure washer, and the mud contains all sorts of harmful bacteria, so they will be melted down and repurposed instead. The trollies cost Morrison's £60 each, so the supermarket will have lost something in the region of £1500 through the thoughtless and malicious actions of local vandals, not to mention the potential danger to the environment and the wildlife inhabiting the river and the Riverside Gardens. The number of volunteers helping with the cleanup was the highest I have seen - something in the region of eighty young people were on site, supervised by Thames 21 and FORGE. Not many appear in the photos above, as I took them when lunch was being served. Morrisons, McDonalds and KFC all donated free food for the volunteers, who were able to use the facilities in Erith Rowing Club next door to the wooden river jetty. 

You may have recently seen in the national news that the British Government is being challenged over its supply of computer and phone surveillance equipment to governments with a poor record on human rights. The issue is complex, and a number of factors are involved. The government and agencies such as GCHQ and MI5 in the UK, and the NSA in America have not recently covered themselves in glory. A lot of classified documents originating in the American National Security Agency (NSA) have been leaked and posted online, initially by Germany's Der Spiegel newspaper. They have been independently verified as genuine by a number of sources, and they make for fascinating reading. Basically, between the American NSA and the British GCHQ every form of electronic communication in the world can be monitored, recorded and decoded. This has been suspected for some time, but this is the first time that it has been backed up with documentary evidence. I was not surprised, by that, but I was astonished as to the level of commercialisation that is now not just government departments spying on other governments, but a lot of it is outsourced to commercial organisations. More on this later. A clanger of jumbo scale was made by British Intelligence when Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. MI5 deployed a device called a Typhon HX; this is a device that mimics a mobile phone providers’ base station and collects phone calls, texts and web traffic – effectively tapping mobile phones. The spying was uncovered as people in the area around the embassy started getting “Welcome to Uganda Telecom” messages on their phones. It would appear that the spooks had not correctly reconfigured the Typhon HX from a previous spying mission in Uganda! I would imagine that the individual responsible would be given a rocket for exposing the whole operation in such an incompetent manner. On top of this, the leaked documents show that no computer, whether it be a server, desktop, laptop or tablet is safe from intrusion. The same is true of mobile phones. The security services are able to remotely control your mobile phone – they can switch on its’ camera and microphone to watch what you are doing, and listen to what you are saying. The phone appears in standby, and there is no way of easily telling it has been hijacked, other than the battery life is far shorter. The documents even detail an exploit for the iPhone code named DROPOUT JEEP which can take complete control of any phone running iOS and is “one hundred percent” reliable. There is some speculation that Apple may have actually helped the NSA to develop the exploit in a bid to assist in potential counter terrorism. A lot of the documentation is quite technical and in great depth, so I will not bore a general readership with it, but you can see more by clicking here.  Earlier I referred to the commercialisation of surveillance; the NSA actually manufacture a wide range of electronic spying equipment which they sell to friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) governments to spy on their citizens. There is even a catalogue complete with price list – almost like a parody of the (now defunct) Maplin catalogue. The trouble with all of this is that the security services are (nominally) controlled by politicians – who almost to a person don’t have a clue about the technology that has been developed – there is a real issue as to who is actually in charge when it comes to digital interception and decryption. On the subject of the commercialisation of the intelligence domain, much of the sales documentation of the software and hardware suite designed to hack and remotely monitor “targets” – a euphemism for people - the documentation also makes it clear that the software is capable of monitoring "up to hundreds of thousands of targets" - if you were genuinely monitoring even the largest of terrorist organisations, I would have thought a couple of hundred "targets" would have been all that was required. It sounds to me like they are enabling repressive governments to spy on substantial proportions of their citizens. The Italian company “Hacking Team” behind it are one of a handful that sell their products all over the world; I wish this was some paranoid fantasy, but it is all too real. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

A mystery has been brought to my attention, and I know that some correspondence has taken place on social media, including FaceBook. For several weeks a large, quite old camper van has been parked outside of the main gates of Erith Hospital. There have been rumours and suppositions as to why it is parked there, and if indeed anyone is living in it. I have passed the site several times whilst on the B12 bus to and from Bexleyheath, and the camper van has mystified me. If anyone has any concrete background information about the strange, out of place vehicle, then please do let me know - Email hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

Much has been written - both by me, and others in respect of the threat that streaming video services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and even YouTube have made to traditional broadcasters. Linear video - as in, you have to remember to watch a TV show whilst it is actually being broadcast, is now far less of a factor than it used to be. The BBC have responded with BBC iPlayer, and other commercial stations have done similar things, with a greater or lesser degree of success. The one major broadcaster who seem to be still rooted in the past is Sky. Although they have announced that all of their services will eventually be available to be streamed on demand, they are still in my opinion culturally tied to their linear satellite services. Historically, before fast digital networking and the World Wide Web were in common use, the only way to send data over a large geographical area was either to build and operate a large and high powered network of terrestrial transmitters, or alternatively to purchase or lease a number of broadcast satellites in geostationary orbit. Each satellite costs somewhere in the region of £100 million to build and launch, so the financial commitment is extremely high, either way. Nowadays the requirement for very expensive broadcasting infrastructure is no longer present, but Sky don't seem to be moving anything like as quickly as I feel they should to respond to the changes in technology, and where the market is inevitably heading. Also, their pricing structure for their "standard" HD service is now prohibitive. A package with all channels minus the sports ones currently costs around £65 per month, and is due to increase to £68 per month in April. On top of this, Sky and the other broadcasters using the Sky platform all show adverts during the programmes. In essence you are paying to watch commercials. In contrast the newer streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix offer unlimited viewing starting at around £7.99 a month, depending on the package desired. On top of this, the streaming video services have no adverts whatsoever. It seems to me that market forces will cause Sky to alter their business model; if they don't, then in time they will cease to exist.

Founders of not for profit organisation The Exchange, Sarah and Peter have made the front page of the Bexley edition of the News Shopper this week; their hard work in the ongoing refurbishment and repurposing of the old Carnegie Library in Walnut Tree Road, Erith has been recognised by the local paper. The Exchange are converting the former library into a community and arts centre. Phase one of the project - the opening of The Bookstore Cafe has already been completed, and phase two, the refurbishment of the ground and upper floor of the building will take place when further funding has been confirmed. You can read more about The Exchange by clicking here.

One of the few land based pirate radio stations to make a successful transition to a legal commercial radio station celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last week. Radio Jackie started life as a pirate in 1969, with occasional programmes. The first transmission was just 30 minutes long before it expanded to a weekly broadcast. It was created by current owner and founder Tony Collis. It pre-dated Independent Local Radio in the UK and was raided by the authorities on several occasions. After initial broadcasts from houses and flats, Jackie decided that these regular locations were going to attract the attentions of the authorities, so they became the first station to move transmissions to open spaces. While it meant that they couldn't broadcast live and no longer had access to mains electricity for the power-hungry valve transmitters of the day, it did make operations considerably less risky. The equipment could be set up in the undergrowth with an aerial between trees, while station staff could be on lookout from a distance, ready to either whisk the equipment away if they had enough warning of the arrival of the Post Office investigators – or to simply run away if they didn't. Gradually Radio Jackie refined its mobile broadcasting, at one time even making use of a pram to house all the heavy equipment. From initial broadcasts in Sutton's Nonsuch Park, for a long time they could be found every Sunday in a corner of Beddington Sewage Works. Transmissions moved to 227m, where they would continue for most of their part-time pirate life. In 1971 they also experimented with VHF transmissions every Saturday night, at first on their own and then as part of the London Transmitter of Independent Radio group. At this time the authorities found it hard to track VHF transmissions, but when they could they rapidly wiped them off the dial and in 1973 Jackie were back to AM-only broadcasts. 1975 saw Radio Jackie disappear from the airwaves for most of the year. Several of the staff had jumped ship to Radio Kaleidoscope, while founder Mike Knight was caught in a raid at another station and sentenced to 28 days in Pentonville Prison because of his previous four convictions. After their return the format of the station began to change, positioning Radio Jackie as The Sound of South-West London and with more content for their broadcast area – though mostly confined to local listings. In 1983 Radio Jackie launched a full 24 hours a day service with Dave Pearce and Paul McKenna amongst the people involved in their early careers. As a pirate, it operated with full-time staff, high street offices and the support of locals. In 1984 a petition, calling for the station to be given a licence, was signed by over 55,000 people and supported by many local councillors and the MP for Mitcham and Morden. Offices and studios were set up in Worcester Park, a more professional transmitter and aerial system installed in Cheam and Jackie registered as a proper business with PAYE-enrolled employees. There was even a Radio Jackie shop. After the introduction of the 1984 Telecoms Act, Radio Jackie seems to have known it was living on borrowed time. On Friday 1st February 1984 the new DTI Radio Investigation Service launched separate raids on Radio Jackie's offices and studios and at the transmitter site. They stripped the premises of every last piece of equipment and all the paperwork that was needed to prove individuals' involvement in the station. Concluding that they could not continue operating in the way they had before and that if they didn't then it would not be Radio Jackie, the station decided to close down. They came back on the air using makeshift equipment and prepared for a final farewell on Monday 4 February 1985. Hundreds of listeners turned up outside their offices at Central Road, Worcester Park to say goodbye, with programmes also going out on a VHF transmitter from the same location to ensure they could not be taken off. Even then the DTI couldn't resist raiding the medium wave transmitter site in the last minutes of the broadcast. Members of Radio Jackie continued campaigning for a licence. When in 1996 the Radio Authority finally advertised one for South West London they applied, only to be beaten by Thames Radio. When Thames ran into financial difficulties Jackie bought the loss-making station for £1, returning as Radio Jackie in October 2003, restoring live broadcasting and local news bulletins. Radio Jackie is now a successful legitimate commercial radio station serving South West London. You can see their website and listen to them online by clicking here. 

Now for the weekly local safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. Firstly from Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst are pleased to report there have been no burglaries in the past week. On Tuesday 12th March 2019 at 23.00 hours there was an attempted burglary in Erith Road whereby the victim heard someone tampering with the lock on the front door, the victim did not open the door. The following morning a small knife was found outside the address, this has been sent off for forensics. In Taunton Close on Thursday 14th March 2019 registrations plates were stolen from a Ford Transit. The team have been distributing Smart Water to all residents of Hillingdon Road following a spate of vehicle crime recently. We hope to continue in getting over areas of the ward covered in the near future. Coffee with cops at the Barnehurst Golf Club has been very successful in recent weeks. Following requests from residents we will be arranging some of these meetings at later times to accommodate those who are unable to attend earlier sessions. The next coffee with cops will be held at the golf club at 4.00pm, please join us to hear about what we are doing in your area and to discuss any concerns you may have". Belvedere ward:- "Throughout the last week, as part of Operation Sceptre, the team have continued to take part in ‘weapon sweeps' in several areas of the ward – Mitchell Close, Halt Robin Road, Salmon Road, Albert Road park areas, Parkside Road ad Franks Park to name a few…. .so far we have found no items of concern; On Thursday 14th March, PC Holmes and PCSO Worrall, during patrols of Picardy Street and in particular Mary Slessor House, discovered a motorbike in the rear courtyard of the building which (after checks were completed) transpired to have been stolen in the early hours of that morning. The vehicle was swiftly returned to a very happy owner. There have been four recent burglaries, three of which took place in the lower part of the ward – one in Gordon Road and two in Stanmore Road (these were thought to have taken place on the same day). The same method of entry was used here as rear patio doors where damaged / glass smashed in gaining entry. The fourth occurred in Milton Road and was an apparent attempted break in as the person(s) responsible do not appear to have entered the property after the house alarm sounded. Staff at the Lesness Abbey ruins site contacted the team recently as they happened to discover a discarded gun in the undergrowth whilst carrying out gardening duties around the site. The team attended and discovered that this weapon was in fact an air pistol. We have now removed this item to a safe location in order for it to be destroyed. Our next Community Contact Session is due to take place on Monday 25th March at Starbucks on the Belvedere Park estate from 4pm". Bexleyheath ward:- "On Thursday 14/03/2019 – There was a report of a burglary along Broomfield Road Bexleyheath. Alloy wheels had been stolen from the side gate access to the property; On Monday 18/03/2019.  There was a report of a theft of motor vehicle along Mayplace Road East that was taken from the driveway, taken by means unknown . This had taken place between 1am in the morning and 12 midday; Also on Thursday 14/03/2019 - There was a theft of a catalytic converter from a vehicle that was at the CIVIC office car park; Tuesday 19/03.2019 – Along Church Road Bexleyheath, victim had reported that their vehicle was scratched. There were four reports of theft from motor vehicles all on Monday 18/03/2019. The location are Midfield Avenue and Albion Road Car Park, two had taken place at each location and all of them seem to be during the day. On the Thursday 14/03/2018 – Victim had reported that they had their credit card stolen in Iceland's Store on the Broadway when the suspect had deliberately bumped into them. A person was stopped by the Premiere Inn with possession of cannabis and also 9 stop and searches conducted at the cinema car par. Also just to make you are, we have had problems with our ward phone and is now up and running again. We apologise if anyone was trying to call us and was unable to get through to us. Please note our contact number is not for emergency use and anything that does need reporting should ideally be via 999 or101 and online. If you do wish to pass on information to Police then please contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111. Please do not hesitate to contact us via Twitter, Facebook, email and the ward phone. If you are after crime prevention advice, please look at the Met Police website which has lots of information that you may find useful. Remember in an emergency please dial 999 or 101 for non-urgent reporting".  Crayford ward:- "On Wednesday 13th March at approx. 13.37 a laptop valued at £1600.00 was stolen from Currys, the cable ties securing it were cut. There was a business burglary in Crayford High Street at 3am on Friday 15th March, a significant amount of fishing equipment was stolen from the premises, entry and exit was via the smashed front door, a white van was used and two suspects were seen. A white Ford Transit, number plate BW11TWZ was stolen from a property in Stour Road overnight Sunday 10th to Monday 11th March, the van had work tools inside. Number plates KF07XMU were stolen overnight Friday 15th in to Saturday 16th March in Mayplace Road East. these should be on a black Vauxhall. Two Males were seen stealing number plates from a black 1 series BMW and placing them on a White Audi A5 at Church Hill/Perry Street. Number plates PF57FFP were stolen from a white DAF overnight Sunday 17th - Monday 18th March whilst parked in Swaislands Drive. A Black GTF Vespa was stolen along with the chain and padlock from Bourne Road on Thursday 14th March between 12.00 - 13.00. Please be vigilant if using Bookers at Thames Road. On Sunday 17th March a lady's vehicle was hit from behind at Thames Road, she got out to exchange details with the driver, the accomplice snatched her handbag and just purchased cigarettes off the passenger seat. On the same day a lady had her handbag stolen containing a large amount of cash, driving licence, bank and credit cards, the suspect in this instance was seen to get in to a black Landrover before heading off towards Dartford. Please keep bags secured and out of sight whilst in your vehicle. We will be at Beano's café on Wednesday 27th March between 11.00 and 12.00 if you would like to come along and speak with us. Our next ward panel will also be held on Thursday 28th March at 7pm. The venue will be Vintage Lindy Lou's". Erith ward:- "We have unfortunately had a few burglaries in Erith this last week, All areas have been and will be patrolled more both plain clothing and in uniform, we will be checking residents CCTV and offering crime prevention advise to residents as well as trying to set up more Neighbourhood Watchesin the areas. Tower Road - By suspect(s) unknown breaking into the rear of the premises by smashing a rear window and conducting an untidy search and appropriating items unknown at time of report and making off. Bexley Road - Victim reporting attempted burglary at home address. Front doors smashed, no entry gained. Park Crescent – suspect detained nearby to venue who opened unlocked front door with no legal reason or good cause before being disturbed by occupier and making off on foot. Riverdale Road - By suspect(s) unknown entering garden then smashing rear window of property and conducting an untidy search and making off direction unknown". There was also a contribution from a Neighbourhood Watch member who observed:- "'A somewhat unusual event to report from Tuesday (19th March). I was just picking up a few supplies from Morrison's and spotted a man apparently keen to set his own bonfire by Wharfside Close, apparently trying to burn some sort of papers and other material(?!) with the aid of what I believe was a jerry can'. We understand that the Fire Brigade was called and the incident reported" There will be a special report on this incident in next week's Maggot Sandwich update. Northumberland Heath ward:- "This week the team have continued target area patrols. The team had 1 horse seized by the RSPCA and have reported a second horse. The team have also recovered a stolen moped that was found in South Road, DA8. In the early hours of Thursday 14th March officers were called to York Terrace where it was reported a male was rooting around in a garden shed, police attended and arrested a male for burglary. Unfortunately we do have a few crimes of note this week :- On Thursday the 14th March a white ford transit van was stolen from Hurst Road. On Thursday the 14th March there was a shed burglary in Belmont Road. On Monday the 18th March we had a theft of number plates from a vehicle in Carlton Road". Slade Green and Northend ward:- "We had a burglary reported on Saturday 16/03/2019 on Elm Road whereby a suspect was able to gain access to the property via an open window on the ground floor. This serves as a timely reminder to make sure that all windows are secured when going out especially as the weather (hopefully) starts to improve. We have also noted a slight rise in the number of reported thefts of motorcycles and mopeds, some of which are preventable. If you own one then I would encourage residents to remember ‘LOCK, CHAIN, COVER'. For more information go to: www.met.police.uk/scootersecurity. The team have had an eventful week which has even including seizing a horse and leaving it in the capable hands of the RSPCA, seizing a stolen moped found on South Road, Erith as well as a number of stop and searches, mainly for drugs".

Thamesmead East ward:- "Good News - After a lengthily investigation and subsequent court appearance a male was found guilty of criminal damage and a public order offence. Male is awaiting sentencing. Reception years 1 and 2 Pupils from St John Fisher RC School enjoyed exploring the CCTV Van - see the above photos. CRIMES THIS WEEK - Theft from Motor Vehicle: WOLVERCOTE ROAD Monday 18/03/19 between 8:30am-3pm Vehicle broken into and property stolen from inside by person/s unknown. Burglary: OVERTON ROAD Tuesday 19/03/19 between 11:30pm-9am Wednesday unknown suspect/s entered the victim's rear garden and broken into victims shed". West Heath ward:- "There have been no reported burglaries for 16 days. However after a break of 24 days we had two theft from motor vehicles overnight on Friday 15th- Saturday 16th March. One was in Whitfield Road where a nurses uniform was taken and found later discarded at the end of the road. The other was in Knowle Road where the car was broken into using keyless entry, no damage was caused and nothing was taken. We have held two well attended street briefings one in Milford Close on the Friday 15th March where the only issue raised was some historical suspicious activity in the garages to the rear of Milford Close and today's street briefing was held in Heath Avenue junction with Marley Avenue. The main issue raised was possible drug activity from people in cars late at night. Two males in a car were moved on by the team on Sunday night. The team continue to patrol the area both in uniform and plain clothes at various times to disrupt and deter such activity. We have been busy assisting our colleagues on Crook Log Team with a dispersal zone over the last week end as well as attending the local Mosques and other places of worship following the recent terrorist attacks in New Zealand. The team assisted in patrolling the Crook Log leisure Centre during the Mayor's Peoples Question Time. The next Street Briefing will be on Friday 29th March at 11.30am on the Hurst Lane Estate".

The end video this week features South Thamesmead - an area that is undergoing a great deal of change and redevelopment. A number of the buildings featured in the video will soon be demolished; indeed a number of the locations used in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" no longer exist. 

Robert the Devil.

Following last weeks’ appeal for more information about the notorious Victorian local character Robert Austin (not Austen, as I incorrectly wrote last week), better known as “Robert the Devil”, I have had an Email from local historian and author Ken Chamberlain, who tells me that “Robert William AUSTIN not EN was born in Crayford in 1874. Most of the stories you quote I heard as a child from my father who knew "Robert the Devil" most are probably true. I have never been happy with him swimming over to the Coldharbour Point, a quarter of a mile. UNLESS he managed it at the very top of the tide when it was slack.  He lived at 17 Maxim Road, Erith - the address no longer exists. He was for a time the master of the Sailing Barge "Chance". The subject of the mural on the side of the White Hart ( what is / was Potion bar; see the photo above – click for a larger view). He died on the 4th November 1944, and is buried in the Churchyard of St. Johns Church, West Street. His short obituary does not mention his nickname, but does tell of him being a strong swimmer” Thanks Ken, your observations on Austin probably only being able to manage to swim over from Erith to Coldharbour Point at slack tide; I must admit that I concur. As previously written, I found it very hard to believe that anyone could survive swimming across the Thames at Erith, as the tides and undercurrents are so incredibly powerful – even the strongest of swimmers would seriously struggle. Nearly all of the suicides on the lower Thames happen either by jumping from the Queen Elizabeth Bridge at Dartford, or from Erith foreshore or Pier. I think this says something about the deadly nature of the river in the area.

There very nearly was no Maggot Sandwich this Sunday. I am currently suffering from some kind of stomach bug. I am shivery and achey, very tired, and cannot go far from the loo. I know that there are a couple of gastric infections currently doing the rounds, and I guess that I must have picked up one of them. Not nice.

There has been a lot of activity and attention in the technical and IT security field over the festive break, and a number of lectures and presentations made, many of which are now readily available on YouTube; a lot of classified documents originating in the American National Security Agency (NSA) have been leaked and posted online, initially by Germany's Der Spiegel newspaper. They have been independently verified as genuine by a number of sources, and they make for fascinating reading. Basically, between the American NSA and the British GCHQ every form of electronic communication in the world can be monitored, recorded and decoded. This has been suspected for some time, but this is the first time that it has been backed up with documentary evidence. I was not surprised, by that, but I was astonished as to the level of commercialisation that is now not just government departments spying on other governments, but a lot of it is outsourced to commercial organisations. More on this later. A clanger of jumbo scale was made by British Intelligence when Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. MI5 deployed a device called a Typhon HX; this is a device that mimics a mobile phone providers’ base station and collects phone calls, texts and web traffic – effectively tapping mobile phones. The spying was uncovered as people in the area around the embassy started getting “Welcome to Uganda Telecom” messages on their phones. It would appear that the spooks had not correctly reconfigured the Typhon HX from a previous spying mission in Uganda! I would imagine that the individual responsible would be given a rocket for exposing the whole operation in such an incompetent manner. On top of this, the leaked documents show that no computer, whether it be a server, desktop, laptop or tablet is safe from intrusion. The same is true of mobile phones. The security services are able to remotely control your mobile phone – they can switch on its’ camera and microphone to watch what you are doing, and listen to what you are saying. The phone appears in standby, and there is no way of easily telling it has been hijacked, other than the battery life is far shorter. The documents even detail an exploit for the iPhone code named DROPOUT JEEP which can take complete control of any phone running iOS and is “one hundred percent” reliable. There is some speculation that Apple may have actually helped the NSA to develop the exploit in a bid to assist in potential counter terrorism. A lot of the documentation is quite technical and in great depth, so I will not bore a general readership with it, but you can see more by clicking here, and here for the full repository of leaked documents.  Earlier I referred to the commercialisation of surveillance; the NSA actually manufacture a wide range of electronic spying equipment which they sell to friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) governments to spy on their citizens. There is even a catalogue complete with price list – almost like a parody of a Maplin catalogue. The trouble with all of this is that the security services are (nominally) controlled by politicians – who almost to a person don’t have a clue about the technology that has been developed – there is a real issue as to who is actually in charge when it comes to digital interception and decryption. On the subject of the commercialisation of the intelligence domain, the embedded promotional video below is of a software and hardware suite designed to hack and remotely monitor “targets” – a euphemism for people - the video also makes it clear that the software is capable of monitoring "up to hundreds of thousands of targets" - if you were genuinely monitoring even the largest of terrorist organisations, I would have thought a couple of hundred "targets" would have been all that was required. It sounds to me like they are enabling repressive governments to spy on substantial proportions of their citizens. The Italian company “Hacking Team” behind it are one of a handful that sell their products all over the world; I wish this was some paranoid fantasy, but it is all too real. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

The terrible weather has continued; this has had a knock – on effect with local drainage. Almost every day (including Christmas Day) a Thames Water pumping lorry has been parked by the foul water drainage pumping station in Appold Street, near the far corner of Morrison’s car park. I talked to one of the Thames Water operatives, and apparently the drains have been blocking up on an almost daily basis. The have rodded and jetted the pipes to remove the blockages, but they keep coming back. I recall this happened back in January 2012, when I wrote about how Morrison’s drainage contractors had to run a remote controlled robot equipped with a camera along a waste pipe that ran from Morrison’s to the waste pumping station. It would appear that the same thing is happening again, but from the opposite direction. On top of the holiday period meaning a lot more people were at home, and therefore visiting the loo more often, the huge amount of additional rainwater that has been dropped on the area has also made the problem worse.  I would not be at all surprised if Thames Water end up digging up Appold Street to replace the pipework underneath; one beneficial side effect of this would mean that for a short period it might discourage fly tippers from dumping stuff – for some reason the road is a favourite for them. Only a couple of days ago I found an old, stained and smelly mattress dumped in the street. It had been carefully rolled up and tied with a length of rope, so the person dumping it had clearly planned the operation. The problem in Appold Street, and as previously mentioned, the nearby Morrison’s recycling centre, is that they are relatively quiet and secluded; someone with a van full of old lorry tyres or worn out furniture can easily dump their load and be off with little chance of anyone actually seeing them do it. I have spoken at length to the Environmental Crimes Unit at Bexley Council, and they are acutely aware of the problem. The have told me that the area spanning Appold Street, James Watt Way and the recycling centre in Morrison’s car park has the worst incidence of illegal fly tipping of anywhere in the whole London Borough of Bexley.  There are some plans afoot to counter this, but at this point I don’t know the details – and even if I did, it would probably not be wise to publish them.

The photo above was taken by local resident and Maggot Sandwich reader Paul Thomas, who wrote "Thames Barrier closed today, Saturday 4th. Resultant extra high tide flooding William Cory Parade by Riverside Gardens". Wow! I had not realised the water had come so high; by the time I passed the Riverside Gardens on Saturday evening, it was dark, and the water had begun to recede. Striking stuff anyway. Click on the photo for a larger view. Thanks for the photo Paul.

As I mentioned last week, I was Emailed by a chap who runs a specialist website documenting the history of UK trolley buses. He was concerned that I had used a photo from his site, which was in breach of his copyright. I had published the photo of a trolley bus outside the Wheatley Hotel in Erith, taken some time in the 1950’s in good faith – it was sent to me a couple of weeks ago by a regular reader and occasional contributor. The photo did not contain any metadata or digital watermark indicating it was held under a copyright, so I published it. I apologised to the copyright owner, and he has permitted me to continue to use the image, which you can see here. This led me to some thought. Copyright law in the UK and elsewhere is a complex area; there are plenty of lawyers who make a very healthy living over intellectual property ownership disputes. The problem for anyone posting online content is that unless you produce one hundred percent of the content yourself, you are always at risk of inadvertently treading on someone’s toes.  The other issue is that just because someone says that they own the copyright to something, it does not always mean that they do – especially in the case of historical material – they may have scanned a photograph or postcard and uploaded it onto the web, but the copyright may actually be owned by a third party, or it may have expired altogether, and the content may have become public domain. I have done some reading up over UK copyright laws, and as the Maggot Sandwich is primarily concerned with reporting local news and current affairs, it is covered under the “Fair Use” clause – which permits the quoting of statements and use of content that illustrates a news story. In the case of historical photographs, my understanding is that copyright exists with the owner for 25 years, after which it falls into the public domain, where they can be freely used by anyone. Having said this, I am not a lawyer and may have misunderstood. If you have any thoughts or experience in the subject, please drop me a line to hugh.neal@gmail.com  My policy is that whatever the circumstances, if someone objects to material they claim is their copyright, I will take down the offending item, or give them copyright credit as they see fit; I am not a legal expert,  and life is really too short to argue over such matters – especially as I make no money out of the Maggot Sandwich. Google have written to me a number of times, trying to encourage me to take targeted advertising, but this is something that I refuse to do. As soon as you monetise a website, you lose all semblance of impartiality. I know of a handful of bloggers who make good, full time – livings out of sites they run – because they have corporate sponsorship. If this is a path you wish to follow, that is fine – if it works for you. Personally, the Maggot Sandwich is an amateur online journal that is  researched, written and published by me in my spare time. I have  no desire to make money from it, and am proud of the fact I am independent and answerable to nobody (within the bounds of the law, and good taste, that is).

The photo above is a bit of a mind boggler to anyone with modern sensibilities. The picture was taken in 1910 (and thus most definitely in the public domain) and shows members of the 4^th Erith Scout Troop (Vickers’ Own). The scout troop were sponsored by armaments manufacturer Vickers, who had factories in both Erith and Crayford. The boys were trained to fire the Vickers machine gun, by their supervisor Gunner Budge, who can be seen sporting a magnificent moustache in the background. The team took the machine gun around the country to Boy Scout rallies, where they gave demonstrations of its’ firepower.  It makes me wonder how many of the boys in the photo were later killed in the First World War, which started only four years after the photo was taken, when they would all have been old enough to be eligible for call – up. Pseudo military organisations such as the Boy’s Brigade and the Scouts were fertile targets for recruiters at the outbreak of war, and in any case, many young men, who were ignorant of the horrors of the trenches, eagerly joined up “to be with their mates” – as the army allowed young men who lived in the same geographical area to sign up and serve together. Whole factories, clubs and churches were emptied of their menfolk in this manner – many of whom would never return. This year is the centenary of the start of World War One, which makes it all the more poignant.

The Bexley Times have been running a story this week that at first reading is both encouraging and inspiring, to some degree at least. Sidcup based Indian Restaurant Curry Mahal has been voted as having one of the best chefs in the UK by readers of Curry Life magazine. Magazine editor Syed Ahmed took a number of British based curry chefs to India, in a classic case of coals to Newcastle. Ahmed said that British curry chefs are more innovative and creative than their counterparts in India. He illustrates this point by explaining that the award winning  Curry Mahal chef Sayful Alom has a unique way of preparing Chicken Tikka Massala (which as most people already know has nothing whatsoever to do with traditional Asian cooking - it is an entirely British invention); instead of using powdered beetroot to achieve the signature orangey – red colour of the dish, the Curry Mahal used pureed strawberries. I have to say that personally that sounds utterly revolting, but I am sure that for many CTM (Chicken Tikka Massala) devotees it would be entirely to their liking – as it is famously a curry for people who don’t like curries, being very mild, sweet and luridly coloured. Some people start their Indian cuisine education with CTM, and never progress any further. This is a great pity, but as I always say “if it works for you”. I know of one steely eyed, snake eating, veteran of many conflicts army officer (who I am not going to name and shame – he knows who he is) who I had to work on for several years to wean him off either Chicken Korma or CTM every time we met for a meal and a couple of pints. Suffice to say I was eventually successful (if I recall correctly, he broke his culinary duck with a Chicken Korai – The smell of the meat, onions and peppers sizzling on the ultra hot iron skillet as it was brought to the table eventually prised him away from his beloved CTM).  I sometimes half wonder of I should offer a coaching service for diners who want to become more adventurous with their curries – what do you think? Right now, even plain boiled rice would be too much for me, due to my current exceedingly dodgy guts. Anyway, I have somewhat digressed. The fact is that the Curry Mahal and its’ award winning chef are being cited as both an example of a successful local business and an influence on curry chefs back in India. I have a major problem with this; when you look up the Curry Mahal on the “Scores on the Doors” website, you find out that the place only has a one out of five possible star rating for food hygiene. When broken down, the detail of the assessment reads thus:- Food hygiene and safety – Poor. Structural compliance – Poor. Confidence in management – Little. That is absolutely appalling. One of the fundamental tenets of being a successful chef is to ensure that the food that you and your team prepare is not only delicious, but safe to eat. It would seem that the Curry Mahal and chef Sayful Alom have feet of clay. I wonder just how many people reading the glowing report in the Bexley Times visit the restaurant, only to become ill? A worrying thought.

I have been evangelising about Chromebooks for the last year; I was an early adopter, having bought a Samsung Chromebook the October before last. I have been surprisingly satisfied with it. If you have not heard about Chromebooks, they are a cut down laptop that runs Googles’ Chrome operating system (basically a customised version of Linux) and the Chrome web browser. Chromebooks don’t directly run any software other than the browser, which might make them sound rather restricted. Nowadays however, most people spend a vast majority of their time using a computer on the web – Email, social networking, video watching etc, so a browser only machine is not as stupid an approach as initially thought. The upsides of a Chromebook are 1) very fast start time (my £229 Chromebook starts from cold in seven seconds; half the time of my custom build, very high end iMac, which cost well over ten times as much). 2) They have a very long battery life – eight hours between charges, even with WiFi on and showing HD video. 3) They integrate seamlessly with Gmail, Google Docs and other online services (they should  - that is what they were designed for). 4) They are pretty secure – all updates occur automatically in the background. I suppose I have to reboot the machine once a month – that’s it. 5) Unlike a tablet, you don’t need to tether a Bluetooth keyboard to it in order to do some serious typing – and the keyboard (on the Samsung model, anyway) is actually rather good – something that is very important to someone like me who writes around 6,000 words a week online, over half of that on the blog). 6) They are cheap – you can get some models for under two hundred quid, brand new on Amazon and elsewhere. Chromebooks won’t replace the full computer, but they are great as a second machine on which to surf the web, catch up on Emails and generally keep up with the online world.

The ending video this week is a short rant by the Australian stand up comedian Steve Hughes; he's venting his spleen regarding the X-Factor. I have to admit I concur with his views 100%. Watch and leave a comment below.