Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Nepalese nest egg: Our chance: U-Turn Cam-reality check: G’day Dave: Wombling Crimbo: Getting Nun: and Larry has PMs Confidence.


Cold, damp, dismal and dodgy at the Castle this morn, the study is filling up nicely with things that do not work, his Maj has finally stopped bringing me worms and the garden is still in need of the rest of the vandalism I have had to postpone.
 


The Castle’s local council is to receive the "majority" of a £1.5m fund set up to ease the pressure on resources amid an influx of former Ghurkha soldiers.
Up to 10% of the population of Rushmoor Borough Council, whose area includes Aldershot, is now Nepalese after a legal ruling allowing them to stay.
In 2009 the government allowed Ghurkha soldiers who had retired before 1997 to settle in the UK, which followed a high-profile campaign lead by actress Joanna Lumley.


I used to like Lumley...


Apparently last night U-Turn Cam described the EU as "out of touch" with reality, but insisted that Britain would be worse off if it left the 27-nation club.
In his annual foreign policy speech, the Prime Minister said the crisis in the eurozone offered an opportunity to "refashion" the EU. Describing himself as a sceptic, he attacked the union's "grand plans and utopian visions" and said: "For too long, the European Union has tried to make reality fit its institutions. But you can only succeed in the long run if the institutions fit the reality."
 

That does sound familiar-out of touch with reality, grand plans and utopian visions-ah, yes it is the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition.

 And:  


Brussels has become ‘out of touch’ with ‘pointless interference, rules and regulations that stifle growth not unleash it’, the prime minister said.
However, he insisted that with European countries accounting for half of Britain’s trade, ‘leaving the EU is not in our national interest’.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England is expected to slash its growth forecast today from 1.5 per cent to one per cent amid fears the crisis will drag Britain into a double-dip recession.
Unemployment figures, out on Wednesday, are expected to show youth unemployment has hit one million


It’s all going well then Dave.....



U-Turn Cam was met with laughter and applause for his attempt at mastering the Australian accent while recounting a meeting with our very own Prime Minister Julia Gillard
In his annual set piece foreign policy speech to the Lord Mayor of London's banquet, Cameron described the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth as one of the highlights of his year.
Cameron labelled the meeting's decision to allow first-born daughters the right to the British thrown as an 'historic agreement' and preceded to relate a conversation with Gillard.
'At the end of this meeting I turned to the Australian Prime Minister and said thank you very much Julia for allowing us to have this meeting in Australia,' Cameron said.
'And she said, I can't quite do the accent but I'll try - 'Not a bit David, this is good news for Sheila’s everywhere'.' 

He isn’t doing much of a job mimicking being a politician either....



Britain’s furriest eco-warriors The Wombles have decided to take on the TV talent contest after their Glastonbury performance became the surprise hit of this summer’s festivals.
The video for Wombling Merry Christmas, which charted at No.2 in Christmas 1974, sees the novelty stars send up former X-Factor hopefuls Jedward as they perform to judges, including a Womble Simon Cowell.
A greatest hits album, The W Factor, will also be released on December 12, featuring singles such as Remember You’re A Womble.

Uncle Bulgaria, star of the children’s TV show that spawned the band, said: ‘I don’t watch much television – I leave that to the young Wombles – but I hear The X Factor is jolly popular.


Not in the Castle it isn’t.....



A nun has narrowly avoided jail in the US after she admitted stealing £620,000 to gamble in slot machines.
Sister Marie Thornton, 65, took the cash from a Catholic college where she worked as a financial officer, reports The Mirror.
Manhattan federal court heard she would regularly lose more than £3,000 in one session in casinos in Atlantic City.
She submitted false invoices and arranged for Iona College in New York to pay her credit card bills. The college has clawed £300,000 back through insurance.
Thornton admitted stealing over 10 years and said she was "deeply sorry" for the embarrassment caused to her religious order and family.
A judge ordered her to complete 2,000 hours of unpaid work and pay back £217,600, saying it appeared she had been rehabilitated.
As an act of contrition, the nun now spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a small room inside a Philadelphia convent.


A really bad habit-sorry......


And finally:



Downing Street defended its resident cat Larry on Monday after Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly flung a fork at a mouse that had escaped the tabby's attention.
The Daily Mail newspaper said Cameron saw the mouse during a dinner with Cabinet colleagues at 10 Downing Street in central London and hurled a silver folk at the rodent as it scuttled across the floor.
Larry was recruited from a strays' home as Downing Street's "mouser-in-chief" in February after a rat was spotted in television news bulletins scurrying around outside the famous black door of the PM's residence.
Asked whether Larry should resign, Cameron's official spokesman said only: "Larry brings a lot of pleasure to a lot of people".


Unlike the rest of the residents....


That’s it: I’m orf to put a filter on the moat. 


And today’s thought: Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer.


Angus

Tuesday 25 October 2011

No choice: Lord Young returns: Million miles Honda: ‘Ampshire Zombosium: Life on Earth: and fat cats.


Not a clue about the meteorological conditions at the Castle this morn-too dark to see, but it is warmish and calmish.
The study is chock a thingy with ailing do-dahs, his Maj is stalking things in the lack of light and I have to go to Pets’ City/smart/at home for some pussy litter.



It is with a heavy heart that I see that the EU referendum was shot down by the new Lib/Con/Lab Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition.
It seems that 483 anally retentive “MPs” have decided that 62ish million people in dear old Blighty will not be given a voice over whether or not to stay in the money pit known as the “European Union” which of course started out at the “European Economic Community” a free trade pact designed to allow countries to carry out business without political interference.


I think it was on “Question Time” last week that a point was put to the “panel”-“now that the dictator in Libya has gone: when will ours go?”


Order! Order.

And:


11 months ago “Lord” Young shuffled out of no10 after telling us that we  had "never had it so good" declaring that low interest rates meant home-owners were actually better off thanks to the "so-called recession".
Allegedly the 79-year-old Conservative is returning to his former Downing Street role just 11 months after he stepped down, according to The Telegraph.
Officials have reportedly converted a No 10 meeting room into an office for the peer to use in his unpaid role that will focus on finding ways of removing barriers to growth for small and medium size companies.
Downing Street said it was unable to confirm the appointment. It is understood, however, that an announcement is expected shortly.


Hopefully that the whole bloody useless lot of them are being evicted.



LoCicero, 53 was honoured with a surprise parade and given a 2012 Accord on Sunday afternoon after racking up more than 1 million miles on his trusted older model, nicknamed “True Blue” for its light-blue exterior.
He is the first person documented by the car manufacturer to have driven a Honda to the million-mile mark, according to a company spokeswoman.
LoCicero said he’s not sure what he’ll do with the 1990 Accord now that he has a new model, also made in Ohio. He’s tried to sell the older model to a few car dealers recently for $1 million, hoping they’d want to display it to advertise the longevity of Honda vehicles. 

I do like an optimist......



The University of Winchester is to hold a Zombosium on Friday, 17 speakers will give talks on how the living dead have infected popular culture.
‘The conference has a serious purpose,’ said organiser Dr Marcus Leaning, lecturer in the school of media and film. ‘You should study popular culture if you want to understand society. Zombies reflect the anxieties and concerns people have. One idea is that it’s due to austerity, another that it stems from the ‘‘climate of fear’’ after al-Qaeda. No-one really believes in zombies but it’s a way of thinking about big scary things such as a terrorist attack. It’s cathartic.’


No it isn’t; its bollocks.....


A nice picture of Human life on Earth.



And fat cats.








And today’s thought: "Law will be simplified over the next century. Lawyers will have diminished, & their fees will have been vastly curtailed." - Journalist Julius Henri Browne, 1893



Angus


Monday 24 October 2011

U-Turn Cam’s vow: Ed-EU-cation: Rent a Crimbo tree: Producer gobbled up: and Cheesy thefts.


Sunny, warmish and damp at the Castle this morn, there was some sky water over the dark thing and more is expected later.
The study is filling up nicely with no-go computers and I carried out even more vandalism on the garden yestermorn.
Been to Tesco on the stale bread, gruel and Pussy food run, I purchased one of those “fake” pounds so that I could use the trolleys, but they only seemed to come in twos, so I ended up with a basket-again....

A touch late today, the elbow is now locked and to be honest I can’t be arsed....


Not a lot of “interesting” stuff in the media this Monday, but apparently French dwarf Sarkozy had a bit of a pop at U-Turn Cam over the Euro debacle-do I give a toad’s todger-no...



It seems that the leader of the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition is going to demand more British control over employment and social laws in return for supporting a new European treaty to shore up the single currency. 

And next week U-Turn Cam is going to solve the problems with the economy by feeding the whole of the country with five loaves and a fish-or three........


Apparently: 


A year promoting itself and its central aim of 'ever closer union', in 2008 alone, it spent more than 2.4 billion Euros. That is more than Coca Cola spends on advertising each year, worldwide.

As well as a sophisticated information and communication strategy designed to 'sell' the EU and its political message, the EU also spends billions of Euros a year on efforts to engender a common European culture and citizenship, with the explicit aim of increasing people's attachment to the EU project.

The EU pours hundreds of millions of Euros a year into think-tanks and lobby groups which promote its policies and campaign for further EU integration, and many of its efforts are directed very deliberately at young people.


Bloody foreigners......



Rent a Crimbo tree, people will be able to “rent” Christmas trees under a scheme that aims to reduce the number of cut trees which are thrown away every January.
The hire scheme provides people with a pruned and potted Christmas tree for the festive period, before it is collected in the new-year and replanted to be rented out the following Christmas.
Once the tree grows too big for homes, it will be planted in sites including schools and nursing homes, where it will absorb a tonne of carbon, according to the Little Tree Company.
Figures suggest some six million real Christmas trees are dumped after the festive season each year, only 10 per cent of which are recycled for composting and wood chipping with the rest ending up in landfill.


Think I’ll stick to the fake one that hasn’t left the loft for six years.




A TV producer checking out reports of wild turkeys bullying a peaceful neighbourhood east of California's capital city is herself chased by a gobbler taking no prisoners.

 Well. What did the dozy mare expect?


And finally: 


Cheese has is now classed as a “high-risk food” due to the rate of theft, Sky News reports.
In the UK, almost £5 million of cheese has been stolen in the last year.
Allegedly, a large percentage of thefts from stores are by the workers, at almost 40 per cent.
The most commonly stolen items from supermarkets after cheese are razorblades, alcohol, coffee and CD’s and DVD’s.


Cheddar Gorge?


And today’s thought: "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein


Angus

Monday 17 October 2011

Silly Billy and repatriation: The lights are on but nobody is home: Woolly Penguins: Ex-moose: Psychopathic language: and Night, night Dahn Unda.


Cold, calm and cloudy at the Castle this morn, the study lies empty, I’m orf to Tesco with a pound in my pocket for the trolley and his Maj has decided that the lack of height in the liquid metal gauge is reason to stay inside. 

I see that U-turn Cam has decided that the government needs to work "harder and faster" to bring down energy bills.
The energy secretary has invited the six biggest power firms to meet consumer groups and regulator Ofgem.
Writing ahead of the meeting, Mr Cameron said they wanted to work out how to create a "trusted, simple and transparent" market.
 

Bollocks.....
 
And:
 


Has decided that there is no "immediate prospect" of repatriating powers from the European Union (EU).
The Foreign Secretary insisted he had "not gone soft and will never go soft on Europe".
However he said the Government's priority had to be ensuring the eurozone was stabilised without damaging Britain's interests.
"The repatriation of powers, which is something I support by the way, is not an immediate prospect because no countries are proposing widespread treaty change," Mr Hague told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
He went on: "Our priority is for the eurozone to be stabilised and at the same time to protect the British national interest."

More bollocks...



A government ­department facing massive cuts is ­wasting thousands of pounds at its new HQ... ­because the lights cannot be turned off.
Ken Clarke’s Ministry of Justice – which must slash £2billion from its £9billion annual budget – is throwing away cash every day as switches at the Prison ­Service building in London does not work.
Instead, Clive House uses a ­central ­timer, meaning the entire block is automatically lit up for hours whether lights are needed or not.
A source at the Central London site said: “Every light in the place is either on or off. As winter approaches, they’ll effectively be on 24 hours a day.” 

Bet the “energy” companies are rubbing their hands in glee.




Napier-based Skeinz Natural Yarn Store has knitters going like the clappers to make penguin jumpers for the Bay of Plenty disaster.
General Manager Brendan Jackson told NewstalkZB three to four dozen penguin outfits are likely to be needed.
The knitwear prevents the birds from preening their feathers and ingesting the toxic oil that they've been exposed to.
The Oiled Wildlife Response Unit is taking care of 91 animals as a result of the spill, mostly little blue penguins.

Bless...



The owner of the game park where Pete the Moose lived has taken responsibility for covering up the death of Vermont's favourite animal, the state's fish and wildlife commissioner said Saturday.

Pete, whose life in captivity helped prompt the state to pass new wildlife laws and who received a gubernatorial pardon last winter, died in early September at the Big Rack Ridge in Irasburg while being tranquilized during hoof trimming. But state officials insisted he was alive until Friday, even issuing a photo taken Thursday of a moose it identified as Pete.

Richard Nelson told WCAX-TV that the family misled the state.

"The blame goes to us," he said. "We're the ones that didn't say Pete died."

"We said we would take care of Pete, and then a few weeks later, geez, Pete died," he said. "And so we were mortified, and we said, `Oh, we'll just sit on this one.'"


Bit odd that-sitting on a dead Moose...



The language of psychopathic murderers provides a window to their souls, new research shows.
The words they use "match their personalities, which reflect selfishness, detachment from their crimes and emotional flatness," says Jeff Hancock, a professor of computing and information science at New York State's Cornell University. He conducted the study with colleagues at the University of British Columbia.
Psychopaths were more likely to use the past tense, suggesting a detachment from their crimes, say the researchers. They tended to be less fluent in their speech, using more "ums" and "uhs."
The exact reason for this is not clear, but the researchers speculate that the psychopath is trying harder to make a positive impression, needing to use more mental effort to frame the story.

 Sounds like Parliament...

 And finally:




Taxpayers have forked out for federal public servants to take lessons in how to get a good night's sleep.
The Department of Parliamentary Services also pays for its staff - which in 2010/11 totalled 847 - to use the gym in Parliament House.
The Department has revealed in its annual report that "health-related activities" during the year included seminars on the topics of diabetes, kidney health, cancer prevention, depression and "getting a good night's sleep".
Officials told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra today that staffers also received free gym membership under their enterprise agreement.
"We are very concerned about health and well-being, both physical and mental, of our staff," Department boss Alan Thompson told the hearing.
Ten of the Department's staff earn more than $170,000 a year.

 
$170,000 Aussie dollars-that’s about £7.50 per annum.......

 
That’s it: I’m orf to Tweet my MP 

And today’s thought: "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. - Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929

 Angus

Sunday 15 May 2011

U-Turn Cam on the NHS-again: let’s talk about the EU: Top Tomato: Bunny hop: Camero comes home: and the price of petrol.

Same again at the Castle this morn-sunny, cold and a bit windy, the kitchen is devoid of any fluffy computers and the garden needs fettling.



There is a new resident at the Castle, a nice young chap in need of a warm, comfortable, safe home, but as there weren’t any available he ended up here.

He is well mannered, quiet, tidy and eats what is put in front of him, his name is Oliver and he looks like this.





Here we go again!




I see that the Grave robbers have apparently found Lisa Gherardini Del Giocondo, the “model” for the Mona Lisa.

The crypt was found under the floor of the St Ursula convent in Florence after a foot of modern concrete was removed and unearthed a layer of ancient, 35 inch wide bricks.

Professor Vinceti yesterday said: "We are roughly where the altar stood and we have found not one crypt but two, one is older than the other and we believe that one of them is that of Lisa Gherardini.

"We are still a long way to go and we will have to work several more days before we actually reach the tomb and open it to recover the bones.



Leave the poor bloody woman alone.





Allegedly he is to come out fighting over the NHS and insist that controversial health reforms will go ahead.

In a major speech on Monday, Dave the lad will say that the health service must change if it is to improve and avoid a future dogged by a succession of crises.

The address, in West London, will open up a major dividing line between the Conservatives and their Liberal Democrat coalition partners over the future of public services. Last weekend Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, vowed to block NHS reforms unless they were substantially changed.



Wonder what Kick Me Nick’s chances are?





According to the Torygraph the voters want a debate on Europe's influence, and the Government should let them have it.



Don’t bother talking; just get us out……





The tomato is the UK's most Googled fruit, according to new research.

People are twice as likely to Google tomatoes as apples, which is the second most common searched-for fruit.

The review, by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), found Google lists 53.6 million web pages mentioning tomatoes. Bananas and peaches are in joint third place on the Google search, followed by oranges.



Fascinating…..





A driver who swerved to avoid a rabbit in the road made a splash landing when she sailed through a garden hedge into a swimming pool.

Martina Boller, 42, told police in Grafenwoerth, Austria, she'd braked and steered suddenly when she realised the bewildered bunny wasn't going to move.

One fire fighter said: 'She managed to land exactly in the pool which would have been quite a stunt if she'd meant to do it.

'Apart from being very wet and very embarrassed the driver was not hurt.'



The bunny escaped without getting wet.





A classic muscle car stolen from New Jersey's largest city nearly 36 years ago has been recovered on the other side of the country.

A Santa Maria, Calif., man bought the 1969 Chevy Camero SS from a seller on eBay in February. But Keith Williams tells KSBY-TV he contacted the California Highway Patrol after certain features of the car didn't match the model.

Police discovered the vehicle was stolen from Newark, N.J., on July 8, 1975.

The original owner, Janice Maffucci, told the TV station the car was stolen from the post office where her father worked. She can't believe the vehicle was recovered.

Maffucci says she plans to sell the car.

Police are tracing the registration in hopes of finding the thief.



Here’s an idea; why not give it back to the man who last bought it-I presume Ms Maffucci claimed on her insurance.



And finally:





Here are the places to go to:

10-Algiers-20p  per litre.

9-Muscat-20p per litre.

8-Cairo-19p per litre.

7-Doha-15p per litre.

6-Kuwait City-14p per litre.

5-Manama-13p per litre.

4-Ashgabat-12p per litre.

3-Tripoli-9p per litre.

2-Riyadh-8p per litre.

And number 1:

Caracas-3p per litre.



And just to piss us off:

UK-£1.37 per litre.






And today’s thought: "Food is an important part of a balanced diet." - Fran Lebowitz, US writer.



Angus


Wednesday 11 May 2011

Happy Coalition Day?: Windy copper knob: Instant justice: The EU big brother: Dangerous haircut: and another YouTube snippet.


‘Tis brightish, warmish dampish and breezyish at the Castle this morn, the garden is growing faster than a Triffid and the kitchen is overflowing with “overheating” computers.

Is it the hot weather you may ask? And the answer is-sortish, what it is in truth is that “users” do not get their laptops/desktops serviced, and when it gets warm they notice that the cooling fan is running all the time and then the poor little machines cut out because of the “heat” and they phone the Castle in panic thinking that their expensive toys have died.

What it really is, is that fluff and pet hairs and detritus gets sucked into the fans and eventually it clogs up and stops which can in the worst scenario fry the processor and motherboard leading to very expensive replacements/repairs.

So, a hint to keyboard bangers-either get your computers serviced each year, or with a small vacuum cleaner on the lowest suck possible place the hose over the inlet/outlet to your fan for several seconds after switching said computer orf and clear the life threatening gunge, or an even better decision is to bring it to the Castle and I will do it for you at a very reasonable cost-well one has to pay for stale bread and gruel.



My second attempt at “sensible” blogging is up over at Orphans of Liberty if you can be bothered.





And to mark the occasion, click on the link above and peruse the list of non targets, non promises and Piss Poor Policies which our revered leaders have managed to miss, introduce, un introduce and cancel.

Who says politics is boring…….





Allegedly Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander, dubbed Beaker, was apparently unable to contain himself as he waited to do a TV interview.

He loudly broke wind before he was grilled at Millbank Studios, near Parliament, according to ­broadcasting insiders.

The incident is said to have happened last Friday as he tried to explain his party’s poll ­drubbing, with footage expected to surface online.

But a spokesman for Mr ­Alexander said yesterday: “This story is a lot of hot air.”


Let’s hope he didn’t “follow through”…. Then again…..





Police will be able to hand out on-the-spot fines for careless driving under a new strategy being launched to make Britain's roads safer.

Motorists, who tailgate, undertake or cut up other drivers could be handed an immediate fine - reportedly up to £100 - rather than being taken to court.

There will be a new crackdown on drug-driving and loopholes which allow people to get off drink-driving charges will be closed, said the Department for Transport (DfT).

Disqualified drivers will be forced to retrain - and possibly have to take another test - before they regain their licence.

And the courts will be encouraged to make more use of their powers to seize vehicles for the most serious offences.

But in a written statement to MPs today, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond will also announce a new approach to drivers who make genuine mistakes on the roads and extra help for those who have just passed their tests and need to keep improving their skills.

A wider range of retraining and education courses will be on offer for low-level offences.

And novice drivers will be able to take additional qualifications to reassure insurers that they are safe behind the wheel, in a bid to reverse the steep upward trend in premiums for less experienced motorists.



Yeah right….that’ll boost the coffers a fair bit, and how much will this Daft Old Fart’s insurance go up in July?




Millions of holidaymakers will have their personal details tracked on huge databases thanks to the latest EU diktat.

Countries will be expected to record air passengers’ information, including who they travelled with, the price they paid for a ticket, and even any meal requests they made.

EU member states would then be able to trawl their neighbours’ data to check for links to terrorism or other criminality.

Immigration Minister Damian Green admitted the directive would spark concerns about sovereignty, but insisted the databases would help to keep the UK safe.

However, Eurosceptics accused ministers of presiding over a ‘blizzard’ of ‘undemocratic’ opt-ins to controversial EU legislation.

The move follows anger over the Coalition’s decision last year to join the European Investigation Order, which allows member states to instruct British police to carry out spying missions on their behalf.


Under the latest measure – the Passenger Name Record directive – EU member states will be expected to gather all the information travellers provide to airlines when crossing borders.

This will include details held on the person’s passport as well as their payment card number, travel companions, seat number, onward flight itinerary, meal request and price of ticket.

The final form of the directive is still being hammered out, but it is expected every EU country would establish a so-called Passenger Information Unit. Data would be logged by the country a person left and the one in which they landed.


Nice-think I’ll stay in Blighty.





Nathan Van Someren, who plays for Victorian side Simpson Tigers, was told to leave the field in the third quarter of their match against Otway Districts at the weekend.

Tigers Co-coach Leigh Walsh told Fairfax Radio the reason given was "because his hair was too dangerous" and might have poked another player in the eye.

"I was just standing there and (the umpire) came across to me and goes, 'I thought I told you that you couldn't come on the ground'," Van Someren told Fairfax.

"I sort of just looked at him like 'what?' and he's like, 'no, I told you that you couldn't come on the ground with that hairstyle, you have to go off'."



Elfandsafety Aussie Rules style.



And finally:



Another YouTube snippet, this time a Kitten with a “dangerous” thing.






And today’s thought: Never trust a man, who when left alone with a tea cosy... Doesn't try it on.-Billy Connolly



Angus