Big Brother is watching...

There was a story in the Yorkshire Evening Post this week about how Leeds City Council hired a firm, Jacobs UK and Entec, to conduct a survey. Not just any survey but a ''top secret study that began in June 2005 that saw contractors rifling through the black and green bins of hundreds of homes on SIX occasions to find out how much and what sort of waste [residents] threw away.''

Now those opposed, like the current coalition government, say they do not approve because ''it is engaging in activity which could reasonably be understood as encroaching on individual privacies and liberties.'' The rebuttal from the council is that they couldn't tell the public because ''it could have led to changes in recycling behaviour.''

Let's take a hypothetical situation: Suppose Leeds City Council had warned the residents of Leeds that a survey would be conducted for the next five years to study their waste and recycling behaviour. Do you think residents would go out of their way to ensure no incriminating evidence was in the bins on the off chance that their bins were checked? I think to give more credit to the local community, most people don't care what they put in their bins so long as the waste is out of the house. Most people understand what is considered the appropriate items to place in the respective bins. Plastic bottles, tin cans, etc = recycling; cardboard boxes, food waste, etc=waste bin. It isn't a difficult concept to grasp but apparently, it requires a five-year study to prove that.

What is right versus what is popular?

OK so I was thinking about politics, as I often do, more specifically American politics, and came across a new development that causes confusion.

Eliot Spitzer, the former Governor of New York, has recently become half of a television duo, nicknamed ''Parker Spitzer.'' It sounds a bit like Regis and Kelly but nonetheless, CNN has given him a spot on the prestigious network to host a ''round table'' discussion with guests, etc. While I'm sure Parker and Spitzer will rival the four ladies on ''The View,'' I will be missing this show. I love Wolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs and Lester Holt, but Eliot Spitzer just doesn't speak to me.

Is it possible that it is due to his highly publicised affair two years ago, or is it something else? Wolf, Lou and Lester haven't had affairs, that we know of, and I don't mind watching them. They just appear so professional on television and have done a good job keeping their personal life closed off to the masses.

I will be interested to see how the ratings are affected by Spitzer's former love life. It is quite possible that no one will care and watch the two with adoration and interest.

Here's hoping...