U-Turn Cam-still no plan “B”: Yet another 180 by the Coalition: Video games Kids: Bog orf Dahn Unda: Pepper Roo: and the Taxman runneth out of paper.

Summer seems to be over (again) at the Castle this morn, cloudy, cold, dismal, dingy, damp and dodgy.

I think I overdid the fettling in the garden yesterday-done my back and right shoulder while trying to avoid slicing his Maj into pieces with the hedge trimmer.

Knackered......

 I see that they have started to restore the Victory dahn in Pompey.

A crane has begun removing the masts of HMS Victory in Portsmouth as major restoration of Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship gets under way.

The project was described as the ship's "most extensive restoration" since the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, during which Lord Nelson was killed onboard Victory.

The ship's three masts, bowsprit and rigging will all be dismantled.

It will be the first time since World War II that Victory has been seen without its top masts.

Recent survey work revealed the ship was leaking, suffering from rot and was being pulled apart by its own weight.

I know how it feels.

And as the economy sinks as fast as the temperature

U-turn Cam poured cold water on hopes that tax cuts or a fresh round of money-printing may be deployed to stimulate the economy, on the eve of what are expected to be weak growth figures.

Business Secretary Vince Cable yesterday suggested that the Bank of England could stimulate a sluggish economy with a further injection of money through so-called "quantitative easing", while Chancellor George Osborne has hinted that he would like to cut taxes on business.

But Dave insisted that there was no leeway for either fiscal stimulus through tax cuts or public spending increases, or monetary stimulus in the form of the Bank reducing interest rates or printing money.

 

So what are you going to do then Prime Minister?

The Millionaires Club Coalition

Has reneged on yet another “promise”, The DNA of more than one million innocent people will not be wiped from police records.

Instead the police will retain DNA profiles in anonymised form, leaving open the possibility of connecting them up with people's names, ministers have admitted.

The admission appears to break a Coalition commitment to delete all innocent profiles, apart from those accused of violent or sex crimes, from police databases.

Civil liberties groups accused the Government of a “disgraceful U-turn” and a “breach of promise” to destroy innocent people’s DNA.

 

Nowt new there then...

 Over to the East

According to the Sanxiang City News, a Chinese couple sold their kids to buy and play video games at Internet cafes, the second child of Li Lin and Li Juan was sold for less than $500, while their first and third child were sold for around $4600 shortly after.

The couple was turned in after Li Lin, the father, told his mother what happened. She took them to the police, where they apparently showed no remorse.

The parents are young and naive, so when asked about their nefarious deeds, they stated that they were unaware what they were doing is illegal. “We didn’t want to raise them,” they said. “We just want to sell them for some money.”

The couple met in an Internet cafe in 2007, and shortly after meeting quickly consummated the relationship and moved in together, spending most of their time playing video games in Internet cafes. Shortly after their first child was born in 2008, they left it at home and traveled 30km to play video games. 

Seems like a bargain to me...

 

Dahn Unda

A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is in serious condition after the portable toilet he was using exploded.

The Australian department of defence reported the man went into the toilet during a military exercise around 9:30 a.m. Monday. It exploded moments later.

The man was rushed to hospital with severe burns.

"The cause of the explosion is unknown and is being investigated," Brig. Bob Brown said in a statement.

The Courier-Mail newspaper reported it's believed the man may have lit a cigarette inside the portable toilet, causing it to explode.

 

See how dangerous smoking is.

Still Dahn Unda

Police have used capsicum spray to subdue a kangaroo that attacked a 94-year-old woman in her backyard at Charleville in south-west Queensland.

Senior Sergeant Stephen Perkins says officers were called to the incident on Sunday afternoon.

"The officers had to use their [capsicum spray] on the kangaroo to avoid being attacked. Once the kangaroo was sprayed it left the immediate area," he said.

"Quite often dogs do attack police officers and we are forced to use capsicum spray on the dogs to [avoid] being bitten, but never on a kangaroo."

Phyllis Johnson is recovering in hospital from her ordeal.

 Good job I have just planted some pepper plants-just in case.

 And finally:

Paperless HMRC

HMRC was due to send out millions of reminder letters to those who owed monies to be paid by July 31.

But several hundred thousand people have still not received the reminders after HMRC officials failed to order enough paper on which to print the letters.

Officials apologised for the error and insisted that no one would be left out of pocket as those who did not receive reminders would be given an extra 30 days to pay without incurring interest charges.

It is understood that officials failed to increase the paper order in line with an unexpected rise in the number of statements being issued this year.

An HMRC spokesman said: “Due to exceptionally high demand this year we are experiencing delays in sending paper self assessment tax statements to customers.

 Really gives you confidence-doesn’t it?

 

That’s it: I’m orf to have a lie down...

And today’s thought: If you want to be happy for a year, plant a garden; If you want to be happy for life, plant a tree.

Angus