{"id":146,"date":"2004-09-17T19:47:45","date_gmt":"2004-09-17T18:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.randomwire.com\/2004\/09\/17\/parliament\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T22:46:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T20:46:50","slug":"parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:11201,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Palace_of_Westminster&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:11202,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.guardian.co.uk\\\/queenmother\\\/article\\\/0,2763,737154,00.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.theguardian.com\\\/queenmother\\\/article\\\/0,2763,737154,00.html&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:11203,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/news.bbc.co.uk\\\/1\\\/hi\\\/uk_politics\\\/3665152.stm&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20061020191808\\\/http:\\\/\\\/news.bbc.co.uk:80\\\/1\\\/hi\\\/uk_politics\\\/3665152.stm&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-02 19:47:10&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-16 01:34:20&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-19 08:52:15&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-22 10:18:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-30 09:22:35&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-02 20:55:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-09 03:12:44&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-12 05:54:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-12 05:54:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>My trip to the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Palace_of_Westminster\">Houses of Parliament<\/a> today was excellent and it was a very interesting experience to have a look inside and see what the press gets up to there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2272\" height=\"1514\" src=\"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2144.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43154\"\/><figcaption>Big Ben from the entrance to Westminster tube station.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As was to be expected the security was pretty heavy. There were airport-style x-ray scanners and I was frisked immediately after I went through the door. The building itself is as amazing on the inside as it is on the outside. I&#8217;d loved to have taken some pictures to post up here but unfortunately, photography wasn&#8217;t allowed inside and I didn&#8217;t feel like incurring the wrath of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/queenmother\/article\/0,2763,737154,00.html\">Black Rod<\/a>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2184\" height=\"1560\" src=\"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2120.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43155\"\/><figcaption>St. Stephen&#8217;s Entrance: From here on in no photography is allowed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can imagine with all the attention on the <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/uk_politics\/3665152.stm\">goings<\/a> on there this week the place was buzzing with talk about the security in the building. Whilst I was waiting in the main lobby to be shown in I spoke to a security guard there who was obviously fairly annoyed about the whole situation and didn&#8217;t sound at all keen about the prospect of the changes which will <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/uk_politics\/3665152.stm\">undoubtedly<\/a> occur as a consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2272\" height=\"1515\" src=\"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_2111.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43156\"\/><figcaption>Peace protesters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Opposite the main entrance was an encampment of die-hard peace protesters who were obviously there for the duration. Their protest was a lot more calm compared to that of the hunters earlier in the week though!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My trip to the Houses of Parliament today was excellent and it was a very interesting experience to have a look inside and see what the press gets up to there. As was to be expected the security was pretty heavy. There were airport-style x-ray scanners and I was frisked immediately after I went through [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,173],"tags":[348],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photography","category-uk","tag-politics"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":144,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/fox-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":146,"position":0},"title":"Fox Hunt","author":"David","date":"16th September 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The rahs were out in force yesterday, defending their right to chase innocent animals around on horseback until they collapse with exhaustion, at which point they get ripped to pieces by trained dogs. A nice 'sport' for such a rarefied section of society, don't you think? Members of the so-called\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Rant&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Rant","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/rant\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/hunting2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1364,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/window-of-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":146,"position":1},"title":"Window of the World","author":"David","date":"1st January 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As New Years Eve's go, I think mine probably ranked among the most surreal. After work, some colleagues and I went to the \"Window of the World\" theme park located in the western part of Shenzhen. The 48-hectare park contains over 130 scale reproductions of some of the most famous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1000135-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1000135-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1000135-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1000135-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1000135-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1000135-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/dawn-till-dusk\/","url_meta":{"origin":146,"position":2},"title":"Dawn till Dusk","author":"David","date":"31st January 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Not a huge deal going on today but I thought I might share a couple of snaps I took of the sky today - one at dawn and one at dusk. Although they're nothing special I quite like the contrast between them. Photography also provides a much-needed distraction from work\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Photography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Photography","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/dawntilldusk_lg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/dawntilldusk_lg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/dawntilldusk_lg.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/dawntilldusk_lg.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1855,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/conghua-shimen-forest-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":146,"position":3},"title":"Conghua Shimen Forest Park","author":"David","date":"22nd March 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, much against my better nature for a Saturday morning, I got up at the crack of dawn and joined my company's photography group on a trip to Conghua Shimen National Forest Park, located about 1.5 hours north-east of Guangzhou and approx 3 hours from Shenzhen. Conghua is known as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;China&quot;","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_8982-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_8982-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_8982-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_8982-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_8982-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/DSC_8982-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":198,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/moonscape\/","url_meta":{"origin":146,"position":4},"title":"Moonscape","author":"David","date":"22nd November 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The days are drawing in fast, and darkness pervades.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Photography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Photography","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/moonscape_full.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/moonscape_full.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/moonscape_full.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/moonscape_full.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":179,"url":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/map-of-creativity\/","url_meta":{"origin":146,"position":5},"title":"Map of Creativity","author":"David","date":"29th October 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Found a cool visualization today [via kottke.org] called the 'Map of Creativity'. Its aim is to present an \"interactive database of innovative educational projects throughout the world\". The map itself is very innovative, allowing you to drill down to different projects by geographic region whilst the visualization dynamically re-arranges itself\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Design&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Design","link":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/design\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/creative.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93393,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/93393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}