Showing posts with label railways. Show all posts
Showing posts with label railways. Show all posts

Thursday 5 July 2012

Higgs Boson-maybe: Anybody here seen.....150,000 immigrants?: Chuffin Golden handcuffs: Free-ish boat: Numpty Mondeo owner: 'Snow joke-cupid stunt: and How not to run the 110m hurdles.



The sun has got his hat on-orf-on-orf at the Castle this morn; instead of skywater we have oodles of moist atmosphere, no breeze and not a lot of temperature.

More than a bit late this Thursday, been dahn to Tesco on the stale bread, gruel and his Maj’s food run which was a bit confusing because they have stopped stocking his fave Whiskas jelly meat selection and whacked up the price of all the other flavours to £4.39-robbing bastards.

So it looks as if I am orf to Pets at home later.

And the interweb thingy is as slow as the intellect of the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition today.

Here is a nice pic of some strawberries from the underwater garden, this is actually the second crop-I ate the first lot before I remembered to photograph them.






Scientists at Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research) are confident that they have discovered a new sub-atomic particle and a boson (those which carry forces) but the question of whether it is the Higgs boson or not remains unconfirmed.
"We are very careful in not stating that it is the Higgs boson. It could be the Higgs boson, but I am pretty convinced it is a Higgs boson," Rolf Heuer, director-general of Cern, which operates the LHC, told BBC News.
"Our famous Standard Model contains only one Higgs. That would be the Higgs boson. But there are extensions to the Standard Model, which we need because [this theory] is not everything.
"There could be many more Higgs bosons."
Indeed, according to one idea, there could be five Higgs bosons with similar masses but different electric charges. But there are many other possible schemes to describe the "new physics" that must lie beyond the best theory of how the Universe works. 

That’s clarified that then...




Has allegedly managed to lose track of about 150,000 foreign nationals staying on after their visas expired, Immigration minister Damian Green blamed the last government - but Labour said the report was damning.
The latest report from the inspector focuses on a previously unknown problem in the UKBA, concerning people from outside Europe who have deadlines to leave the UK.
Many of these people are students and if they do not leave when told to do so, they are added to the "migration refusal pool" (MRP).


They are probably still in the queue at Heathrow....



Are seeking long-term bonuses of almost £12 million on top of two other reward schemes for bosses at the taxpayer-funded company.
It emerged this week that the rail operator wants to pay £1.7 million to directors for their work over the last three years and £900,000 in “golden handcuffs” to make sure three bosses stay until 2014.
Now the company has confirmed it is also seeking permission to pay executives up to £11.7 million in future, prompting calls for Justine Greening, the Transport Secretary, to intervene.
The company is backed with £4 billion of taxpayer money and will also benefit from fares increasing up to 11 per cent this year.
Under the plans, a group of up to six bosses, including chief executive Sir Dave Higgins, would share up to £2.4 million every year for five years if they hit performance targets.
 

Still-we are all still in this together....wonder if “Sir” Dave is related to El Papa?





Jack Roberts’ has posted on Craigslist that he is giving his boat away, snag is the 16-foot fishing boat capsized Sunday about 2 miles off-shore near the old Destin Bridge rubble reef in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The Coast Guard said if the boat doesn’t come out of the water, they’re going to charge me with a crime,” he told the paper. “And somebody can sue me if they hit the boat.”
Roberts said he posted his Craigslist ad to avoid a $2,400 salvage fee. He is offering the title to the watercraft, as well as $2,000 worth of fishing gear and $800 cash left aboard, to anyone who can successfully retrieve the vessel and its loot.


Caveat Emptor....



When Mr Razi's car broke down in Storey's Gate, he slipped a note on the dashboard explaining 'this car is broken. I am just waiting for the AA to arrive. Please do not fine! Thank you, yours sincerely'.
He then decided to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace, just a five minute stroll away.

While he was gone, police spotted the car and deciding it was a security risk to the nearby Houses of Parliament, evacuated the area so they could carry out a controlled explosion.

When Mr Razi - a MBA student at the University of Wales visiting London for just 24 hours - returned from his sightseeing trip, he found swarms of police officers scouring the remains of his mangled car.
To add insult to injury - a traffic warden arrived on the scene and issued him a ticket, after being alerted by the police.


If I had a Mondeo I would blow it up as well...






A Russian base jumper leaps orf a 120 metre pylon, his parachute fails to open and he does a nice belly flop into the snow.
A sickening thud can just about be made out as he hits the ground, with a dusting of snow visibly rising from the ground on impact.
But the “lucky” Numpty fractured his vertebrae, pelvis and legs and was walking again after a three month recovery period.


Bet that stung....


And finally:




A young student at the Chinese University Games appears to forget the basic premise of the 110m hurdles.
After he hit the first two hurdles, the unidentified competitor decided to dispense with hurdling altogether and simply sprinted through the remaining barriers chest first.
He successfully negotiated four hurdles in the fashion, and even managed to catch up with the leaders before the seventh hurdle sent him tumbling into a neighbouring competitor's lane.
Unperturbed, the athlete then clattered the final hurdle whilst still in the wrong lane before finally crossing the finish line in a remarkable sixth place.




And today’s thought:
Hit me with your rhythm stick Wimbledon.




Angus  


Thursday 2 July 2009

NOT SURE WHAT DAY IT IS

I say that because I actually fell asleep last night, which will teach me because some flesh eating insect got into my bedroom and bit me on the left eyelid, so I now have monocular vision.

And a leer that would get me nicked if I ventured out into the world, so I will sit her in my torpor and attempt to write something vaguely sensible, which would be a first.

The opening gambit was something I heard on Radio 4 this morning, and concerns the digital switch over, Digital UK - Home which is represented by that annoying little robot which I personally could melt down for scrap.





I have already converted my TVs to digital and am ready for the off, which won’t be until 2012 in Hampshire.

The thing that caught my attention was: what will happen to our FM radios when the switch over happens, the reporter said that we will have to scrap them and buy digital radios, and that I suppose includes car radios.

The only reference I can find to this is Nicholas Lezard: Don't force digital radio on us which seems to reinforce the fact that we will not be able to use our FM radios once digital comes in.

Or we will have to listen to “local” stations, and will lose the access to radio 1, 2,3,4,5 the world service and Uncle Tom Cobbly and all.

Bloody cheek, I pay my license fee and this entitles me to watch BBC TV channels and listen to BBC radio channels, will I get a refund if I refuse to buy a new alarm clock/radio, a new Hi-Fi with a tuner and a new portable radio, as well as a new car radio?

Of course I WON’T, because the Government and the BBC have given me no choice in the matter, it is a case of do it or lose it, and never mind the cost to the public, I like digital TV, there is a good choice of programmes, and the quality is much better than analogue, but why haven’t the “powers that be” told us about the radio thing?


Moan over, but it is worth a thought.


Back to the “real world”

Hedge that never forgets:

Gavin Hogg became concerned his hedgerow was getting so overgrown it resembled a jungle he took matters in hand and transformed it into a herd of elephants

Mr Hogg, 49, fell in love with the wildlife during a safari in Kenya that when he returned home he decided to recreate a little bit of Africa in his back garden.

He painstakingly carved out a seven adult elephants and three babies from his hedgerow.

It took two days to craft the herd with a trimmer, shears – and a pair of scissors for the fiddly bits.

The result is a striking 100ft-long trail of green elephants that stretches around the corner of his family home outside Brecon in Mid Wales.

Great idea, wonder how long it will be before someone complains?



Mobile Phones can kill you; at least they can if you drop it on a railway line:

A man had a miracle escape when he was hit by a 100mph train as he went to retrieve his mobile phone from the railtracks.

Noah Hodgkiss, 56, did not notice the train thundering towards him because he has cataracts and hearing problems.

To make matters worse, the batteries on his hearing aid were flat and he had no idea the train was there until he glanced over his shoulder at the last second.

"I was right in the middle of the two tracks when it happened. Before I knew what was going on it was on me.

"I tried to leap out of the way but it was too late and it hit me from behind. I can't describe how it felt, I was just thinking what was going to happen to me."

Mr Hodgkiss flew several metres down the track but remained conscious.

Mr Hodgkiss's ordeal happened as he walked in Tibberton, Worcestershire, on Saturday.

He dropped his mobile from the railway bridge but, as he was looking for it, the train slammed into him.


I don’t want to be pedantic here but what use is a mobile phone to someone who has cataracts and is deaf?



Nanny state:

Britain's towns and countryside are being blighted by unnecessary and patronising safety signs, according to a new book

Photographs taken around the country for the publication show beaches featuring warnings that they have "uneven surfaces", and cemeteries advising visitors that "all memorials have the potential to harm".

Railway stations display posters telling passengers to "use escalators safely" while flower beds are decorated with CCTV signs.

A poster next to a hedge tells passers-by to "be aware of wasps nesting in this area", and traffic cones are used to designate a smoking zone in a supermarket car park.

Between the Royal Festival Hall and Waterloo Bridge on London's South Bank there are now 95 safety signs, it is claimed, while a double-decker bus displays 24 separate cautions.

The Manifesto Club, a libertarian campaign group that compiled the book from pictures sent in by members, says in many cases the signs do not warn of real dangers.

And with their loud colours and hectoring tones, the book says, the notices disfigure buildings and public spaces.

The book is available at www.manifestoclub.com


You can read it but only if you read the warning sign about cutting yourself on sharp paper.

And finally:





Want to be an astronaut?

Guinness has launched a competition offering drinkers the chance to win a trip into space aboard Sir Richard Branson's. Virgin Galactic Spacecraft

The brewer is putting three once-in-a-lifetime experiences up for grabs themed on the colour of its famous black stout beer.

To mark its 250 years in business, the company is sending one winner into space, another to the depths of the ocean, and a third to an exclusive Black Eyed Peas concert.

The competition is open to adults in 28 countries at its website www.guinness.com until the 250-year anniversary on September 24 – dubbed Arthur's Day.

The Guinness space experience gives one person the chance to become one of the first non-professional astronauts to venture into space with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial spaceline.

After training in New Mexico at the Virgin Galactic's home at Spaceport America, the winner will take a flight through the Earth's atmosphere at almost 2,500mph – three times the speed of sound.

Sitting 68 miles above the Earth's surface, they will experience the feeling of weightlessness before they view Earth from the blackness of space.


No thanks, I have seen what happened to Branson’s balloon flight and his speed boat.



Angus

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