Showing posts with label libya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label libya. Show all posts

Sunday 27 March 2011

Clegg needs a re-brand: Clegg and winter fuel payments: Lost Cobra: Tesco get ripped off: Kebab goes for a walk: and Sweet sixteen million.

Back to the dark morns at the Castle this Sunday, but at least it is “summer time” ha bloody ha.
I see that the “alternative” demo attracted a lot of people, it won’t make a blind bit of difference to the arrogant, useless, greedy Coalition, we are still fucked…..


 Wade Allison of Oxford University seems to think that “nuclear radiation at very high levels is dangerous, but the scale of concern that it evokes is misplaced. Nuclear technology cures countless cancer patients every day - and a radiation dose given for radiotherapy in hospital is no different in principle to a similar dose received in the environment.
So what of the radioactivity released at Fukushima? How does it compare with that at Chernobyl? Let's look at the measured count rates. The highest rate reported, at 1900 on 22 March, for any Japanese prefecture was 12 kBq per sq m (for the radioactive isotope of caesium, caesium-137).
Unfortunately, the Japanese seem to be repeating the mistake. On 23 March they advised that children should not drink tap water in Tokyo, where an activity of 200 Bq per litre had been measured the day before. Let's put this in perspective. The natural radioactivity in every human body is 50 Bq per litre - 200 Bq per litre is really not going to do much harm.
Some might ask whether I would accept it if it were buried 100 metres under my own house. My answer would be: "Yes, why not?" More generally, we should stop running away from radiation.”
Travel to Japan in twenty years or so Wade, and talk to the young people then…..



Libyan rebels have pushed on westwards after recapturing the key oil town of Ajdabiya from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
Reports said they later seized the town of Brega, 70km (44 miles) away.
The eastern towns along the coast had been lost one-by-one to advancing pro-Gaddafi forces before coalition air strikes started last week.
Fresh air strikes have been reported at Sabha in central Libya.
Libyan state television said military and civilian areas had been hit, but there was no independent confirmation.

The interesting bit is “key oil town of Ajdabiya” but of course this isn’t about oil-is it?



Nick Clegg has ordered a re-branding of the Liberal Democrats amid signs that he could face a challenge to his leadership if his party continues to slump in the polls.
The Deputy Prime Minister has commissioned a complete rethink of Lib Dem strategy amid rumblings about his stewardship at the highest level.
Insiders say senior party figures including Chris Huhne, a former leadership contender, have been jockeying for position behind the scenes.
Rumours about Mr Clegg's leadership have emerged after mounting discontent among party members in the country who are furious at the direction the party has been taking in government.

I’ve never mounted a discontent……..and the new “brand” of the LibDems?.....Tory.


Nick Clegg has said he will write to a member of the public to "clarify" remarks he made about winter fuel payments, after appearing to be unaware of changes announced in the Budget.
Extra "top up" payments worth between £50 and £100 a year are being ended.
But when asked about it by two callers to a phone-in programme on BBC Radio Sheffield earlier, Mr Clegg initially dismissed their concerns.
Mr Clegg's spokesman insisted he was fully aware of the Budget's contents.
But, the aide added, the deputy prime minister's response could have been more clearly worded and he confirmed Mr Clegg would be writing to one of the callers to clear up any confusion.
He said Mr Clegg was correct to say that the main winter fuel payment would not be cut.
Under plans contained in the Budget, increases in winter fuel allowance for England, Wales and Scotland introduced by Labour in 2008-9 - but which the government says were regarded as temporary - are to be discontinued.
As a result, the annual tax-free payment to help people pay for their heating over the winter months will fall from £250 to £200 for the over 60s and from £400 to £300 for the over 80s in 2011-12.

So it’s not a cut then……


Officials have closed the Reptile House at New York's Bronx Zoo after a poisonous Egyptian cobra disappeared from an enclosure that's separate from the animal exhibits.
Zoo officials say the building was immediately closed and secured after staff learned that the adolescent snake was missing Friday afternoon.
The zoo released a statement Saturday saying it's confident the 20-inch-long snake is in an area of the building that's not accessible to the public. Snakes usually seek closed-in spaces and aren't comfortable in open areas.
Officials say they are informing the public out of an "abundance of caution and will continue to take whatever steps necessary to ensure public safety."

Shan’t be going there then.


Tesco has been left back-tracking after customers used a price promise to cash in — some effectively ending up with free food and money to spare.
The supermarket promised to give its 20 million customers a voucher worth double the difference between its price and Asda's in the "unlikely event" that products were cheaper when bought from their rival.
However, customers have been taking full advantage of the deal, with several getting hold of vouchers worth more than £100 after searching for the items with the biggest price gap solely to claim twice the money back.
One man claimed on a Manchester United web forum that he outsmarted the system - scooping a huge £600 from the Price Check pledge.
According to the Daily Mail, one ­­shopper splashed out on two bottles of Chardonnay, two bottles of Magners pear cider, two Nivea rich body moisturisers and a pack of mature cheddar after comparing items using Tesco's Price Check website.
The total bill came to £17.48 at Asda and £38.46 at Tesco — a difference of £20.98, which meant that Tesco was required to pay out a shopping voucher equivalent to £41.96.
Another customer spent £126 on a shop that would have cost £81 at Asda, and claimed back a £90 voucher.
The company promised: "We'll check the price of your comparable grocery shopping versus Asda and then send you an email when we have your results. Of course we're confident you will find your shopping cheaper at Tesco, but if not, we'll refund double the difference."
But the story has changed since then, with a spokesman for Tesco telling Yahoo! Finance: "The vast majority of our customers who use Price Check find that Tesco is cheaper than Asda.
"A very small number of people have used Price Check just to seek out products which a competitor has on promotion and to make some money out of our guarantee.
"We commend their ingenuity, but this isn't why we set up the guarantee. So we've introduced a £20 limit."
Tesco added that less than one in 5,000 customers have been awarded vouchers worth more than £20.

Whoops…..


Thieves have stolen an 18kg (40lb) frozen kebab from a takeaway outlet at Trowbridge railway station.
The massive block of meat, with a metal skewer running through the centre, was taken from La Capricciosa between 0230 GMT and 1400 GMT on Saturday.
The haul, valued at about £400, included bags of frozen chips and onion rings and 500 polystyrene kebab trays.
Anyone offered kebab meat in suspicious circumstances is asked to contact British Transport police.
Det Sgt Jon Rawson said: "If you are aware of anyone who has recently come into possession of kebab meat, or may perhaps be offering kebabs for sale when they are not usually in that line of business, we would appreciate your call."

Mainly because the local plod has gone into withdrawal…

And finally:


An Ohio man saw his credit card declined when attempting to pay for access to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, because his credit card couldn't handle the $16 million bill.
Lt. Daniel DeVirgilio, an engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, received the letter informing him of the problem on Wednesday, from Time-Warner Cable the letter informed him that his credit card payment had been rejected for non-sufficient funds, for a bill of $16,409,107.
Time Warner Cable Southwest Ohio officials on Thursday attributed the $16.4 million mis-charge to simple human error. An employee typed in the wrong number, which caused the TWC’s automated system to generate the rejection letter.
DeVirgilio didn’t receive a bill for $16.4 million, and that amount wasn’t charged to his credit card, a Time Warner spokesman said. However, DeVirgilio was concerned that it would affect his credit rating or cause his cable service to be cut off.
The TWC spokesman added, “We apologize for the inconvenience that it caused. We are going to work with the customer to get this resolved.”

Ah… the old “computer says no” excuse.

That’s it: I’m orf to touch up my pics

And today’s thought: If you can't be a good example . . . you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

Angus

Thursday 24 March 2011

Boring budget: Arepa, Arepa: Automatic kiss: Hanging out in China: My-what a big sausage: and Yeti-gain.

Loads of misty stuff at the Castle this morn, just been down to Tesco to stock up on stale bread and gruel, the forecourt was packed with motorists enjoying the 1p per litre cut-not, and because the weather was far too nice to sit indoors in front of the one eyed dominator yesterday, I took a day off and went to the seaside.
There may be a second post later today-then again………



Engineers have resumed work to restore the cooling system of reactor 3 at Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, reports say.

Good luck with that, and if they knew that the reactors were in an earthquake zone, why didn’t they build them on the North coast?




The debacle continues, Infighting and confusion over the command of the Libya military mission threatened on Wednesday night to continue into next week as NATO remained deeply split and Barack Obama announced the US would pull back "this week".

No surprises there then.



Load of old bollocks presented by the wanker reptilian alien in disguise.



Employees of Venezuela's largest food company cooked the world's largest arepa Wednesday, producing a flattened corn flour patty weighing 1,087.31 pounds (493.2 kilos). It was 19.7 feet (6 meters) across.
Arepas, which vaguely resemble Mexican tamales, are a traditional favourite in this South American country and neighbouring Colombia. The patties are usually stuffed with fillings like shredded beef, cheese or black beans.

The previous record weight for an arepa was 440 pounds (200 kilos).

Why?

Helen Staudinger, 92, wanted a kiss, and authorities say she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The central Florida woman fired a semi-automatic pistol four times at her 53-year-old neighbour’s house after he refused to kiss her, police said Tuesday.
“If my head would have been over just a little bit further, (a bullet) probably would have hit me in the back of the head,” the neighbour, Dwight Bettner, told Reuters.
Staudinger was in jail Tuesday, a day after being arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and shooting into a dwelling.
According to a police report, Staudinger told deputies she went to Bettner’s house in Fort McCoy, Florida, and refused to leave until he gave her a kiss.
When he said no, they argued and she left angry, the report said
Bettner said he was on the phone with his father moments later when he heard gunshots. One bullet went through a window, spraying him with glass.
The former law enforcement officer said his elderly neighbour had seemed attracted to him since he moved in six months ago.
“I’ve taken her trash out for her, just neighbourly stuff,” Bettner said. “I guess she just took that as something else.”

Moral-never help out the loony old bat next door, especially if she has a gun…..


Hundreds of people attended a naked and fancy dress skiing party in the mountains of western China.
They wore a bizarre range of costumes - but only 22 were brave enough to turn out in the snow naked or partially dressed.
Two male skiers turned out for the 'Naked Pig' event, at the Tianchi International Ski Resort, in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, completely nude apart from their skis, boots and hats.
"We have this party at the end of the skiing season each year but this has been the best yet," said a spokesman for the resort.
The prize for best costume was won by Zhang Rongmin, who dressed as a half-naked Arab.
And the 'Coldest Beauty' award went to Xie Yong, who wore nothing but a snowflake to cover his modesty. Both won the equivalent of £100 and a trophy.

I get this image of a pickled Walnut……


Butchers in Italy have pinched the record for creating the world’s longest sausage from their Romanian counterparts, creating a banger more than half a kilometre long.
The 594-metre long sausage took ten cooks from Penne, a small town in the centre of the country, three hours to craft.
More than half a tonne of meat - weighing exactly 1,300 lbs - was used to stuff the skin for the longest-ever sausage, which was produced in the main street.
It was officially measured at 597.8m and was declared to have easily beaten the previous Romanian record-holder, whose sausage was only 392m in length, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

The giant sausage was cut up into 7,000 ordinary-sized bangers, stuffed in sandwiches and sold to the spectators to raise money for local charity Caritas.

What a whopper……

And finally:


A scientific institute to study yetis is to open in Siberia, under plans being considered by officials.
The Russian coal-mining region of Kemerovo in western Siberia will announce its final decision after hosting an international conference on yetis later this year, according to the regional government's education and science department.
"The town of Tashtagol will host an international conference with leading experts into hominids. Based on its results, we will take a decision on opening a scientific research institute to study the yeti."
Yetis, or Abominable Snowmen, are hairy apelike creatures of popular myth that are generally believed to inhabit the Himalayas.
But some believe Russia also holds a population of yetis, which it calls Snow Men, in remote areas of Siberia such as the mountains in the southern part of Kemerovo around Tashtagol.
Kemerovo officials cited yeti researcher Igor Burtsev as saying that around 30 Russian scientists are studying yetis and could work together at the planned institute.
The Kemerovo region has used its reputation for sightings of yetis to promote tourism. It holds an annual Yeti Day and this year it will run an ice sculpture competition called "In the World of the Yeti".

Err……right.


And today’s thought: a quote from Tara Palmer-Tomkinson-"I often pay homeless people to come round and clean my car."  

Angus

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Power to the rising sun: Kill Muammar: Up your phone bill: Raking it in: Nicked from the plod: Dirty pipe plummet: Wishing away $30k: and a Pennsylvania Numpty.

Sort of non-weather at the Castle this morn, light-ish, warm-ish, calm-ish and dull-ish, still at least it isn’t raining-yet.

Late again this day, no excuses, just overslept.





Engineers have managed to rig power cables to all six reactors at the Fukushima complex, and restarted a water pump that will help reverse the overheating that triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
A spokesman for Tepco, the plant operator, said workers had to be briefly evacuated after light grey plume of smoke was spotted emanating from reactor three but added radiation levels had remained stable.

Oh well; that’s OK then….



Cabinet ministers have contradicted senior military commanders by suggesting that coalition forces in action over Libya can legitimately target Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
The Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen Sir David Richards, flatly insisted that seeking to hit the Libyan dictator was not allowed under the terms of United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.
But after Defence Secretary Liam Fox suggested over the weekend that Col Gaddafi could be a "legitimate target", No 10 sources insisted it was legal to target anyone killing Libyan civilians.

Does that include UN planes and submarines?



BT has said it will raise call charges by 9% and increase its monthly standard line rental charge by 30 pence from 28 April.
The cost of UK landline calls will go up from 7p a minute to 7.6p a minute.
Customers are being informed of the changes by letter, although some with specific packages will not be subject to the price increases.
BT increased its call charges by 10% and its line rental by 50p in October last year.

That’ll help the inflation figures.




Welfare-to-work providers will be rewarded for helping long-term unemployed back into work and Lord Freud said they would be able to earn “very good fees” from the benefits overhaul.
He said: “Depending on the scale of the challenge the jobseeker faces, we will pay anything between £4,000 and £14,000 to the employment specialists – if they can get people into sustainable employment.”
There are 2.2million people on incapacity benefit, of whom 1.6million will be assessed to see if they are fit for work. Trials have suggested that one in three will be judged to fit to go back to work.
The highest premium - £14,000 - would only be paid to a firm who has moved a long term claimant into work, as long as they have stayed there for at least two years.
Lord Freud, a former City banker, was unapologetic about the prospect of large companies making millions of pounds from plans to replace a number of different benefits with the single Universal Credit.
He said: “Payment by results means that we can reward providers who invest successfully to get people into jobs – especially the hardest to help.

Yeah right…..so what is the Jobcentre minus for then?


 
Thieves have swiped £360,000 worth of goods – from Police.

Weapons, drugs, crumpets and a ride-on lawnmower were all stolen between 2008 and 2010, a report revealed yesterday.

Greater Manchester Police fared worst, losing £100,000 worth of goods – enough to pay for three extra officers.

West Midlands (£92,000) and Northumbria Police (£35,500) performed poorly, while City of London officers did better on £293. Eight forces did not take part.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “Being outsmarted by criminals is bad enough, but this also drains resources.”

Makes you feel safe and warm, wanna buy a ride on lawnmower?


Officials in Washington State say a 37-year-old worker came loose from a safety line and slid about 3,000 feet through a large sewer pipe at a wastewater treatment plant.
Authorities say the man was working on the sewer system at the plant and was about 150 feet below ground. He slid through a pipe that's about six feet in diameter.
Fire fighters and co-workers pulled the man, a contractor for Pierce County Public Works and Utilities, to safety on Monday. He appeared to have minor injuries and was taken to an area hospital for further evaluation.


And, a hose down, tetanus jabs, put into isolation and told to stop laughing.



Thieves have stolen up to $30,000 from a theme park wishing well near the Victorian city of Geelong.
Police say the thieves broke into Fairy Park, at Anakie, on Sunday night, and stole the coins that had been in the wishing well for up to eight years.
Detective Senior Constable John McKinnon says shops and banks should be on the look out for anyone trying to cash in large amounts of rusty coins.
He says the thieves brought in a pump to drain water from the well.
"The offenders have forced their way through the fence and drained the water, which is about two metres deep," he said.
Detective Senior Constable McKinnon says the owners believe the well may have contained up to $30,000 worth of coins.

Well…someone’s wish came true.

And finally:



Daniel Rahynes was caught after he showed ID to open an account then robbed the bank in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Darwin is spinning in his grave.

That’s it: I’m orf to upgrade my quantum computer

And today’s thought: A conclusion is the place where you find yourself . . . when tired of thinking.
Angus

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Libya: Pensions for all: Piss Poor Policy Dave C’s latest U-turn: Mind the Moose: Brain damaged dancers: Wandering erection: Big pothole: Pachyderm problem solvers: and Ladies sauntering.

Clement-ish at the Castle this morn, no frosty stuff, no wet stuff and no windy stuff, mind you it is early. The kitchen is half full of broken computers, which will keep me off the streets for a while, and someone phoned up and asked if I would fix his broken IPad, the second word I uttered was “off”.
There was an unexpected flaming object in the sky yesterday, apparently it is called the Sun and was there all day (until it got dark), which prompted me to venture into what is laughingly called the garden……yep it’s still there.




Being Gaddafi disadvantaged, I was going to do a piece on Libya today, but to be honest I can’t be arsed, so if you are interested at all you can find out a bit about it Here and Here.




The Irritable Bowel Twins are “reforming” the pension system (again), Iain Duncan Smith- the work and pensions secretary indicated a move towards a flat-rate state pension, removing top-up payments for low earners who do not save.
The government would also ensure fairness for parents who take time off to raise their children, he said.
There is speculation the basic state pension could be set at £140 a week

So far so good-ish.



And, PPP Dave C has it seems (allegedly) appeared to change his position on whether or not to support the fat old Duke of York.
On Sunday, an anonymous source within No.10 said that there would be no “tears shed” if the Duke stood aside from his role as Britain’s trade ambassador. But yesterday morning the Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisted that the Government was “fully supportive” of his decision to stay on.
The spokesman added that ministers were not reviewing the Duke’s position, despite suggestions from within No.10 hours earlier that the Duke would have to stand down if more allegations emerged.
The assurances also appeared to contradict remarks by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, whose department oversees the work of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).
On Sunday, as increasingly damaging reports emerged about the Duke’s connections with Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire convicted paedophile; ministers appeared reluctant to defend the Duke.

Punched or bored? Don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for the Pillocks.




Don't mess with the moose.
That's the warning police in Anchorage, Alaska, are repeating after one of the animals kicked a woman in the chest and shoulder at a city park. She was checked by medics Monday afternoon and didn't have to go to a hospital.
The Anchorage Daily News reports the moose had been in Town Square Park most of the day feeding on trees. The woman in her 20s was attacked when she tried to pet it.
Police spokeswoman Anita Shell says the moose is not a threat unless provoked, so people need to give it space.

You think?





A Montreal man is giving hope to bad dancers everywhere.
Researchers at the University of Montreal have discovered that it's not his fault he can never dance in time to music. His brain is incapable of recognizing rhythm.
"They hypothesize that the young man's beat deafness arises from disconnects in a widespread brain network involved in musical beat, rhythm and meter," according to the report in Science News.
But it doesn't seem to have any real-world downsides, much like the tone-deafness suffered by many.

This doesn’t help old us farts’ lack of terpsichorean adeptness, especially at weddings and parties one little bit.




Scientists believe a spider could lead to a breakthrough in sexual health after finding a single bite can cause a four hour erection.
Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia believe the venom of the Brazilian wandering spider could lead to a new cure for erectile dysfunction.
Dr Kenia Nunes, a physiologist at the college, said it works in a different way to Viagra, reports the Daily Mail.
"This is good because we know that some patients don't respond to the conventional therapy. This could be an optional treatment for them," she said.

Her study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, involved experiments using hypertensive rats with severe erectile dysfunction.
"The toxin was able to normalise the erectile dysfunction in these animals," said Dr Nunes.
However, further research is required.
Other side-effects can include loss of muscle control, severe pain, difficulty breathing and death.

Spot the snags………




Unlucky motorist Carl Nedic, 25, was driving through floodwater left by burst mains when he suddenly plunged into this gaping hole in the road.
Brother Chris, 23, who was in the passenger seat, said: “I thought I was a goner. We’re both lucky to be alive.”
Their dad Chris Snr, 54, rushed to the scene near Albrighton, Shrops, but fell into the water. He said: “The hole suddenly got bigger and the front wheels disappeared.” His sons had only minor injuries. Carl said: “I can’t believe the road was left open for so long. It could have ended in tragedy.”

That’ll take more than a bucket of tarmac to fill up.




Elephants quickly learn to work together to solve problems, according to researchers.
The giant mammals are socially complex, explained lead researcher Joshua Plotnik, of Cambridge University.
"They help others in distress," he said. "They seem in some ways emotionally attached to each other, so you would expect there would be some level of co-operation." However, he added: "I was surprised how quickly they learned."

Now “research” something we don’t know Joshua…

And finally:

Ladies sauntering.






And today’s thought: Don't cry because it's over . . . smile because it happened.

Angus