Splendiferous day at the Castle this morn, sunny, warmish and calm, it won’t last.
The dog and bone started ringing early and the kitchen will soon be bristling with dead, dying and not very well computers.
The Talk Talk internet connection is still iffy, so apologies for not visiting/commenting but I will soon be connected to Orange.
I see that according to Oxfam the prices of staple foods will more than double in 20 years unless world leaders take action to reform the global food system.
Been to Tesco lately? It already has.
New figures have disclosed that some health service chief executives will retire with annual gold-plated payouts worth up to £110,000 despite the fact that the system currently is under severe financial strain.
The revelations, which compare to the annual pension of just £7000 for an average NHS worker, come as many private pension schemes are falling.
Separate statistics also show that more than 2600 senior managers of hospitals and health trusts are paid £250,000 a year – £107,500 more than the salary paid to David Cameron, the Prime Minister.
It also comes amid heavy cutbacks throughout the NHS as frontline services are hit by budget cuts.
According to the new figures, the chief executives of ten strategic health authorities in England have gold-plated final salary pension pots worth between £1.2million and almost £2.6million.
The biggest belongs to Sir Neil McKay of the East of England authority, and is currently valued at £2.59million, reports suggested.
He is currently paid between £230,000 and £235,000, and he is said to have earned an annual retirement of between £105,000 and £110,000.
Sir Ian Carruthers, from the South West strategic health authority, has an estimated pension pot valued at £2.58 million.
He is expected to receive between £100,000 and £105,000 when he retires.
According to “reports” U-Turn is getting closer to abandoning Andrew Lansley's NHS reforms, and could be prepared to lose his health secretary in the process.
Downing Street has begun 'war-gaming' the scenario in which Mr Lansley resigns after much of his reforms are abandoned, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
I would like to be present when the arrogant rich git disappears up his own rear exit.
Rebel cheese rollers have defied the English weather to take part in a bizarre competition of chasing a 4kg wheel of the dairy product down a steep hill.
Hardcore thrill seekers staged their own unofficial event after the world-famous Cheese Rolling was cancelled for a second year running.
The race had been advertised on social networking sites with a page set up on Facebook and people posting messages on Twitter.
There was a large police presence at entrances to Cooper's Hill, at Brockworth, near Gloucester, but the event went ahead.
The bizarre annual event attracts participants, spectators and media from across the world.
Several hundred spectators braved the fog and rain to watch about a dozen daredevil athletes pursue the Double Gloucester cheese 200 metres down the 1:2 gradient slope.
Competitors slip, somersault and tumble their way to the bottom in spectacular fashion during the bone-crunching races - and the first person to grab the cheese wins.
This year champion local cheese roller Chris Anderson, 23, won the three adult male races while 14-year-old Jo Guest, from Wolverhampton, came out on top in the women's race.
After winning the first race, Mr Anderson, from Brockworth, Gloucester, said: "That's the biggest fall I've ever had, ever.
"I got far too much speed up and had a big fall."
Mr Anderson recovered from his tumble to win the further two adult men races and walk away with three Double Gloucester cheeses.
Asked how he was feeling, Mr Anderson, who is planning to join the army and might not be back next year to defend his crown, said: "Amazing, brilliant. First time I've won all three.
"I'm knackered now and cold and wet.
One up for the revolution.
Police were today searching for two suspects who robbed a Chicago bank dressed as nuns - in a scene eerily reminiscent of the movie The Town.
The pair, dressed in black nun costumes with rubber masks on their faces, robbed the TCF bank at 1.58pm local time Sunday just minutes before closing time, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Both robbers, who were carrying guns, jumped over the counter and ordered two employees to the bank vault where they filled a duffel bag with cash, police said.
Police did not disclose how much money was taken, but said no one was hurt in the incident.
One suspect was described as being male, 170cm tall. He was wearing black and white gym shoes, black gloves and was armed with a revolver.
The other person was female, about 165cm tall. She was wearing black boots, white gloves and carrying a semi-automatic pistol.
The couple left the scene in a silver four-door Chevrolet with tinted windows.
I know religion is struggling a bit, but that is going too far…
An investigation is under way in northeast China after a giant hole opened up in a road bridge, swallowing a passing lorry.
Two men who were inside the lorry were injured when the road collapsed beneath their vehicle, causing them to plunge into the river below.
The hole in the bridge measured approximately 14 metres by five metres, and developed in a section of the bridge that was built as an extension in 1995.
Local media reported that authorities suspect the lorry, which was carrying steel pipes, was overloaded.
Earlier in May, another lorry fell through a giant sinkhole that opened up in a Beijing Street, with reports that it could be due to construction work for a subway system.
And in February three people were injured when a motorway viaduct collapsed in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province.
The Foreign Office warns the "poor quality of roads and generally low driving standards" make road travel in China particularly dangerous.
Same problem here in Blighty.
And finally:
Swearing in public could result in boisterous people being fined £80 in a new police initiative to combat anti-social behaviour.
Officers in Barnsley, in south Yorkshire, have been told to monitor the language of people out shopping, eating or merely relaxing in the town centre.
If the member of the public is heard to swear and the profanity is judged to be potentially causing offence or intimidation, the officers have been told to intervene.
The first option is simply to tell the individual to moderate his or her language but if that is unsuccessful, the officer can fine the person a maximum of £80.
Members of the public have also been asked to report offensive and intimidating language, including swearing.
You have been warned-fucking cheek…..
And today’s thought: By the time you find greener pastures-you are too old to climb the fence.
,,
Angus
