Black and white Blighty: Post a crime: Abreast of Venus de Milo: Rubbish old fart: Smurfs and fags: and Garlic smuggling.

Minimal lack of warm, maximum lack of skywater, middling atmospheric movement and murky amounts of solar stuff at the Castle this morn, just returned from the stale bread, gruel and his Maj’s food run dahn Tesco, and now I know why their profits are up over the Crimbo thingy-a loaf of bread now costs £1.45, a bag of what used to be £1 fruit is now £1.99, my deodorant has gorn up 50p almost everything else costs more than it did before the “C” period.

The only good news is that all the electronics in the go-Juice bit have gorn tits up and they have had to close it until him/her upstairs decides that they deserve to keep trading.

 

Still having to use HMTL to insert pics into posts, I know what I would like to insert into the tossers at Blogger.

According to Auntie

 

 

More than 13,000 households across the UK are still using black-and-white television sets, London had the highest number of monochrome licences, at 2,715, followed by Birmingham and Manchester, it said.

The number of licences issued each year has dwindled from 212,000 in 2000. A total of 13,202 monochrome licences were in force at the start of 2013.

A black-and-white TV licence costs £49 a year, a colour licence costs £145.50.

TV Licensing spokesman Stephen Farmer said: "It's remarkable that with the digital switchover complete, 41% of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet, more than 13,000 households still watch their favourite programmes on a black-and-white telly."

 

Oh no it isn’t-look at the price difference plonker....

Up in the Smoke

 

 

Victims could report crimes at the Post Office as 65 front desks in police stations across the capital are closed amid sweeping budget cuts of more than £500 million.

Stephen Greenhalgh, the deputy mayor of London, said post offices could be used to replace the “underused” counters as staff were typically security-cleared, used to taking cash and often had secure rooms as well.

The Metropolitan Police, Britain’s biggest force, is looking for more than 200 contact points in supermarkets, community centres and libraries where members of the public could access police services as stations close and is in the early stages of planning a trial with the Post Office.

 

Oh fucking great, now we will have to wait even fucking longer in the queue while some blood soaked mugger’s victim tells his story...

 

Dahn Unda

 

Stonemasonry boss Tom Finlay, 48, was standing 50m from his voluptuous hand-carved Venus de Milo when a flash of white light and an "almighty kaboom" sent stone flying through the air.

Mr Finlay said he was amazed her 30kg breasts had survived the phenomenon.

"There was a clap of thunder and the sculpture blew up like a rocket-launcher had hit it," he said.

"The lightning looked like a serpent.

"Everything disintegrated but the breasts - all that's left is what's under her hips," he added.

The 1.5m high sculpture, made of local porcelanite, was perched on a 6m steel reinforced column.

Shattered stone was strewn about the small courtyard at Finlay's Stonemasonry - near the Stuart Hwy, at Yarrawonga - where the top half of the headless Venus was obliterated about 2.45pm on Friday.

But her breasts withstood the 8m drop on to the stone mural below. Only one nipple was damaged.

Mr Finlay said he had not yet decided the fate of the surviving breasts "I might mount the breasts and hang them in my office." He said.

 

Whatever floats your boat cobber...

Back up a long way to the land below sea level 

 

A 76-year-old man trapped himself in an underground waste paper container in Amsterdam after he clambered in to hunt for a lottery ticket.

Police said in a statement the elderly man managed to open the container and climb in Thursday because he feared he had tossed out a lottery ticket along with other used paper.

Passers-by heard him calling for help and alerted the police who freed him with the help of fire-fighters.

 

Methinks the daft old fart has been visiting too many wacky baccy cafes.

 

Back Dahn Unda

 

Four men who were dressed as Smurfs when they were allegedly involved in an assault at a 7-Eleven have handed themselves into police.

Police said a 37-year-old Pascoe Vale man had been buying cigarettes at a 7-Eleven store, on the corner of West and Pascoe streets, when he was approached by a man painted blue and dressed as a character from the 1980s cartoon, about 1am on December 16.

The Smurf-dressed man asked for a cigarette and was offered one, but demanded the man light it before handing it over.

The man refused and was later assaulted.

A police spokeswoman said the alleged victim passed out in the car park, only realising he had been assaulted when he woke up.

Earlier today, police appealed for the smoking Smurf and his three Smurf mates to come forward.

Two 19-year-old Broadmeadows men, a 19-year-old Greenvale man and an 18-year-old Jacana man handed themselves into police after the appeal.

They are expected to be charged with assault-related offences, police said.

 

Smokin Smurfs....

 

And finally:

 

Way up to the land of ABBA and Volvos 

 

Swedish prosecutors have issued international arrest warrants for two Britons suspected of masterminding a smuggling ring involving over a ton of Chinese garlic.

The men first shipped the garlic to Norway by boat, where it entered the country duty-free since it was considered to be in transit, prosecutor Thomas Ahlstrand said Wednesday. They then drove the approximately 1.2 tons of garlic across the expansive Norwegian-Swedish border, avoiding customs checks and thus Swedish import duties.

Ahlstrand said the men avoided more than $13.1 million in Swedish taxes through the scheme. A lengthy police investigation led to the identification of the two Britons allegedly behind the Swedish operation, which took place in 2009-10.

It was not the first time smugglers had shown a preference for garlic from China, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of world output and is often significantly cheaper than local varieties.

In 2010, Polish authorities seized six containers with 144 tons of Chinese garlic that had been smuggled into the country via the Netherlands.

It was not immediately clear whether the Polish smuggling was linked to the Swedish case.

 

You would have thought that they smelt them coming.

 

That’s it: I’m orf to have a butchers at Mingus

 

And today’s thought:

Police Post 

 

Angus

Winter fool allowance: Bid for health: Hover bike: Man bites snake-snake dies: Norwegian plank: and a Hippopoolamus.

Not a lot going on atmospherically at the Castle this morn, just a whimsy of warm stuff, no wet stuff, even less windy stuff and lots of cloudy stuff.

Still stunned over the cost of a new “toof”, I could sell the old bod, and I reckon that might raise abaht 50p.

 

All over what used to be Europe and the sarf of Blighty

Trouble is brewing, the Work and Pensions Secretary also known as the Irritable Bowel Twins is fighting “ludicrous” European rules that mean the winter fuel payment must be made to an estimated 440,000 British pensioners living abroad.

Knob head Smith announced yesterday that he intended to introduce a new “temperature” test to prevent pensioners receiving the benefit if they live in warm countries and do not need extra money to spend on winter fuel.

However, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed that the new temperature rule would also apply to pensioners in Britain.

Apparently this would see the elderly in milder areas of the south of England lose the benefit, while those in colder parts of Europe continue to receive it. The reform could also mean that pensioners living in Labour-supporting parts of Scotland and northern England keep the payment, while those in the southern Tory heartlands lose out.

The average low January temperature in Portsmouth is 41.4F (5.2C), warmer than Madrid, which has an average low of 37.4F (3C).

Mr Duncan Smith yesterday promised to “protect taxpayers’ money and bring in temperature criteria”. DWP officials said the details had not been finalised.

David Cameron has promised not to cut pensioners’ benefits during this parliament.

 

Yet another Piss Poor Policy...

 

Meanwhile up in the Smoke

South London Healthcare Trust, which runs three hospitals in the capital, was put in the hands of special administrator Matthew Kershaw last month because it was losing more than £1 million a week.

On Thursday, Mr Kershaw announced that he had invited providers of NHS-funded care - including both NHS organisations and private companies - to submit expressions of interest.

That could mean firms including Virgin Care, Serco and Circle bidding for the contract to run the trust, which has a turnover of £424 million.

Mr Kershaw wrote that he was “seeking to identify any parties who may be interested in being part of one or more of the solutions”.

That indicates different services could be hived off to be run by different providers.

 

I see that the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition’s plan to privatise the NHS is going well....

 

Left quite a few linear units and then left even more

 

A US company has tested a device that allows riders to float over the ground, in footage released by Californian manufacturer Aerofex Corp the device can be seen hovering above a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert and performing a series of manoeuvres.

Aerofex has spent the best part of four years perfecting its 'hover bike' and its latest offering can hover up to 15ft in the air, reaching speeds of 30mph.

The craft is steered by the rider leaning from side to side - just like a motorcycle - in a style reminiscent of the speeder bikes from "Return of the Jedi".

In a statement accompanying the video, the company explains the latest test model has technology to keep dust and debris away from the pilot, which had been a problem with rotored vehicles in the past.

The company plans to use the technology to develop unmanned aerial vehicles that can be used to patrol borders where there are no roads.

 

Seen it all before, it’s called a hovercraft.....

 

East to the land where llamas are called Dali

 

A Nepali man who was bitten by a cobra snake bit it back and killed the reptile in a tit-for-tat attack, a newspaper said on Thursday.

Nepali daily Annapurna Post said Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the snake, which bit him in his rice paddy on Tuesday caught it and bit it until it died.

"I could have killed it with a stick but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry," the 55-year-old Miya, who lives in a village some 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, was quoted by the daily as saying.

The snake, called "goman" in Nepal, is also known as the Common Cobra.

Police official Niraj Shahi said the man, who was being treated at a village health post and was not in danger of dying, would not be charged with killing the snake because the reptile was not among snake species listed as endangered in Nepal.

 

Oh well, at least that’s his lunch sorted out.

 

West to the land of lots of woody stuff

 

A Norwegian art gallery lost a Rembrandt etching worth up to $8,600 in the mail after trying to save money on courier and insurance costs, the gallery's chief said on Thursday.

The Soli Brug Gallery in Greaaker, about 80 kilometres south of Oslo, purchased a copy of Rembrandt's 'Lieven Willemsz, van Coppenol, Writing-Master' made in around 1658 from a British dealer, only to have it lost in the Norwegian postal system

"Using a courier or special insurance is quite expensive so we have used regular mail until now," Ole Derje, the gallery's chairman said.

"It is worth around 40,000 to 50,000 crowns ($6,900-$8,600) and the postal service is offering us compensation of 500-1,000 crowns."

 

Could have been worse, they could have used Parcel Force....

 

And finally:

 

Right a lot and dahn more than that

 

A young hippo chased away from his herd at a South African game reserve has found a refreshing place to relax: the lodge's swimming pool. Now it's stuck there.

The young hippopotamus plopped into the pool on Tuesday at the Monate Conservation Lodge north of Johannesburg. The pool is big enough for the hippo to swim but its eight feet deep with no steps and "there's no way he can come out," lodge manager Ruby Ferreira told The Associated Press on Thursday.

A game capture team will sedate the hippo and lift it out of the pool with a crane, said MuIsabel Wentzel of South Africa's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Much of the water has already been drained to make the extraction easier. A veterinarian will be present during operation hippo extraction today.

Staff have been feeding the hippo. Ferreira said it's been noticeably relaxed with no other hippos fighting it for dominance, though the water in the pool has been getting mucky with hippo poop. The pool will be entirely drained before the hippo is lifted out.

Oh well that’s dinner sorted out then.....

 

That’s it: I’m orf to try out a Maser

 

And today’s thought:

Not entitled to a winter fuel allowance.

 

Angus

Profit before Patients: Post Offices on the Horizon: Racoon rumpus: Swedish strawberries: Millie the minder: and Exotic “art”

Sunny, cold, oodles of atmospheric movement and more than a whimsy of white fluffy stuff but dry at the Castle this morn, I snatched a glimpse of Dawn’s crack earlier and it wasn’t a pretty sight, but at least his Maj can canter around the garden again...

In the “new” Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition privatised NHS

Apparently four in five NHS trusts in England and Wales say patients are suffering “unacceptable” delays for drugs to treat life-threatening conditions including cancer, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and organ failure.

A survey of 60 NHS authorities found that the shortage was doing patients “serious harm”, with some having to be admitted to hospital for emergency treatment after they were unable to get their medicines.

Pharmaceutical companies began rationing drugs to the NHS four years ago after British wholesalers and pharmacies started selling them abroad to take advantage of favourable exchange rates.

The Department of Health said it was considering an investigation to determine the scale of the problem. A spokesman said it was up to drug companies to make sure quotas were set fairly.

He said the Government had an emergency reserve of essential medicines. “We will take any action necessary in the event of disruption to supply and distribution of medicines that causes serious risk to patients.”

Yeah right....

And what is left of our Post Offices

Are under as bit of a cloud, The Post Office has appointed external investigators to examine allegations of deficiencies in the computer system used in all its outlets.

It comes after many sub-postmasters said they had been wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting.

Around 100 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses have registered an interest in suing Post Office Ltd over its Horizon computer system.

Horizon records financial transactions in branches across the UK.

Sub-postmasters say they have been forced to pay back many thousands of pounds' worth of money which they did not take.

Many of them were stripped of their post office contracts and bankrupted, and a handful has served prison sentences.

The Post Office has instructed a firm of forensic accountants, 2nd Sight Limited, to conduct an independent review of 10 existing cases raised by a number of MPs and the law firm Shoosmiths.

A confidential Post Office internal memo in September 2008 said that in its crown offices alone - those operated by the Post Office itself rather than by sub-postmasters - there had been £2.2m of losses in one year, which was having a serious effect on its ability to achieve profitability.

The Post Office has repeatedly denied there is a problem with the system, saying the claims have been made by a very small number of people who had contracts with it.

A spokesman said: "The Post Office continues to have absolute confidence in the robustness and integrity of its branch accounting processes.

It has refused to publish figures on apparent losses at sub-post offices.

Should be interesting...

West to the place that used to make music and motors

A baby raccoon got caught in a Dearborn Heights sewer grate, Department of Public Works Director Bill Zimmer was in his front yard late Wednesday morning when he noticed the critter. It was stuck head-first in the centre of a large iron sewer grate, Zimmer told colleagues.

Zimmer called on fellow DPW employees Don Sepanski, Sean Moylan and Carl Kennedy for help, the DPW crew carefully removed the manhole so they didn't injure the raccoon, and then went to work "with a quantity of vegetable oil and dish soap ... and a little TLC."

"The furry friend was freed and placed in a cage for a trip to the DPW yard for a much-needed shower,"  

"Once cleaned, watered and cooled down, the unharmed raccoon was set free in a nearby wooded area to enjoy the rest of the day's heat wave in a familiar (but cooler) habitat," Ankrapp's release said.

Never had a Raccoon stuck in my manhole....

East a lot to one of the Northern countries

Swedish authorities said strawberries are being analyzed in a German lab in an attempt to stop foreign fruits from being passed off as local.

Waldemar Ibron of the Swedish Board of Agriculture told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper officials are trying to stop foreign strawberries from being passed off as Swedish ahead of midsummer, when locally grown strawberries are part of traditional festivities, Swedish news agency TT/The Local.se reported Friday.

"We have taken a few samples and they're on the way to Germany for analysis," Ibron said.

Growers in southern Sweden said the counterfeit strawberries are hurting their business by offering the fruits for lower prices.

Mid summer-har fucking har....

Back in befuddled Blighty

Millie the Bengal cat, thought to be the world's first ever feline security guard, has been hired to guard some of the UK's best-selling toy ranges.

Bandai's warehouse in Sarfampton was on the lookout for a new security guard when workers spotted the attentive moggy roaming around the factory floor.

'We are expecting a bumper year this Christmas with orders starting to fly in from retailers putting in their requests, including new boys action toy releases for Ben 10 and Power Rangers,' a spokesman said.

'With the appointment of Millie the security cat, our toys are now very well protected.'

Millie will be paid in cat food and fish at the factory.

She will be guarding toys including the new Ben 10, Power Rangers and Thunder Cats figures, expected to be top-sellers this Christmas.

I see that she is already checking out the stock...

 And finally:

Norf of the border

An X-RATED arts festival featuring Japanese bondage workshops is set for a sell-out, with more than 700 expected to attend.

Tickets for the Festival of Erotic Arts, taking place at city venues this weekend, have been so popular that many of the risqué shows are already at capacity.

Organisers say the most popular events include flagship club night Torture Garden and revue spectacular Kabarett, which boasts burlesque and showgirl performers.

The festival will feature readings of erotic poetry, film screenings and parties, the largest of which will include a sado-masochist dungeon and require revellers to wear “latex, leather or rubber” or “all-out burlesque glamour”.

End-of-night parties will be hosted at the Voodoo Rooms in West Register Street and The Caves and Banshee Labyrinth in Niddry Street. White Space in Gayfield Square and the Pleasance Cabaret Bar will also house erotic art exhibitions and revues.

About two-thirds of tickets have been sold in Edinburgh or the central belt of Scotland.

Festival director Donna McGrory said: “Ticket sales are going very well. Our VIP tickets sold out within three weeks of going on sale and our short film screening, literary showcase and closing party events have sold out.

“We’ve a number of free events, including a talk by Edinburgh-based striptease artist Dr Gypsy Charms on Sunday, Saturday’s craft fair and, of course, our flagship Visual Art exhibitions running across the weekend. We’re excited about our launch weekend and are very happy to report a high number of ticket sales and artist participation at the festival.

Spanking weekend....

 

That’s it: I’m orf to have a word with my printer

And today’s thought:

Does my bum feel big in this Olympics?

Angus

A BIT OF PROPER(ISH) NEWS

The Gov has decided that if we eat less Lamb and more chicken and pork we will save the planet

And you may well ask why-the answer is that producing 2.2. lbs of lamb puts 37ld of Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, whereas tomatoes only produce 20lbs and potatoes 1lb for each 2.2 lbs.


Lamb produces so much carbon dioxide because sheep belch so much methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas. Cows are also damaging, releasing the equivalent of 35lbs of CO2 per 2.2lbs. Previous studies have shown that a herd of 200 cows can produce annual emissions of methane - roughly equivalent to driving a family car more than 100,000 miles on more than four gallons of petrol.



The study also found that alcoholic drinks contribute significantly to emissions, with the growing and processing of hops and malt into beer and whisky producing 1.5 per cent of Britain's greenhouse gas.


More than a third of all methane emissions in the country is produced by farm animals. By volume, methane is 20 times more powerful at trapping solar energy than carbon dioxide.


Yep and more than 90% of all greenhouse gasses are produced by the bullshit coming from the Houses of Parliament.

And talking of bullshit the government has spent £500,000 of our money on research to discover that commuters want……trains to run on time.

“The report for the RSSB, which is funded by the Department for Transport to the tune of £12million every year, discovered that passengers are likely to be in a "positive emotional state" if their train is punctual and announcements are audible and comprehensible, and in a "negative" frame of mind if the service is late and no one tells them why.”

Rail users were lumped into bizarre categories in the document. "Snipers" hover next to an occupied seat, ready to take it when it becomes vacant, while "Sentinels" lean against a partition, thought to be the most tolerable standing spot.

"Blockers" hold the grab rail, making it impossible for others to pass. "Heroes" fight through the crowd in search of an aisle space or seat.

And “Tossers” run the railways.

Microsoft have come up with a game which needs no controllers, the movement of the players is detected by the games console instead.

The Xbox 360 system, which is expected to be launched next month, means people can drive a virtual car, kick a computer-generated football and dance with an on-screen partner simply by moving in the correct way. A gun can be fired by pulling an imaginary trigger and a fighter plane flown by holding an invisible joystick.

The machine, which uses infra-red light to monitor movements in three dimensions, is designed to end the dominance of the Nintendo Wii, which has revolutionised computer gaming by using the players' own movements to control the action. However it uses motion-sensitive hand or foot controls.

It is expected to be launched as early as next month at the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles.

Just a hint to Microsoft-instead of spending millions on new games, GET THE FIRKIN OPERATING SYSTEMS SORTED OUT ON COMPUTERS FIRST!

Please go to barman five-Drinkers in Oldham will have to queue at bars and buy no more than two beers at a time in an attempt to curb violence and binge-drinking.

Customers will be encouraged to stand behind rope barriers similar to those used in banks and post offices as they wait to be served, while drinking in the queue will also be discouraged, under new proposals.

The new rules have been put in place by Oldham Council in all 22 pubs in the town centre. The 2003 Licensing Act allows police and trading standards to apply for variations in a pub licence if these is concern about alcohol-related violence.

Critics, however, have branded the new plans "unnecessary".

"We have no problem with tackling problem drinking but this is not the way to go about it," said Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association.

"These measures are costly, unnecessary and totally disproportionate at a time when around 40 pubs are closing every week.

"People aren't going to want to drink if they have to queue up as if they're in the post office."
Here’s a novel idea to reduce binge drinking, bring back the licensing hours.

And finally:

The village where Jamie Oliver lives has some new inhabitants, A scarecrow poking fun at money-grabbing MPs is one of nearly 70 which have sprung up in Jamie Oliver's home village.

The figure is part of an invasion of novelty bird-scarers, including Darth Vader, the Village People and Margaret Thatcher, which have popped up all over the tiny rural idyll of Clavering, Essex.

But one enterprising resident saw an opportunity to make a dig at scandal-hit politicians who have been exposed by the Daily Telegraph's investigation into MPs expenses.
The scarecrow of a gardener pushing a lawnmower has popped up outside a pretty thatched cottage in the village.

Signs offering 'moat clearing', 'removals organised for flipping' and stating 'Invoices can be sent direct to Westminster if desired' have also been errected.

Local MP for Saffron Walden Alan Hazlehurst spent £12,000 on gardening costs over five years.
Farmer Peter Balaam, who made the effigy, said he was not pointing the finger at him but at MPs in general.

Organisers of the fete have been astounded by the response to their idea after 67 figures appeared on grass verges, in gardens and on benches in the pretty village.

Among the more inventive are four seven foot "Village People" doing the YMCA, an effigy of Margaret Thatcher climbing a roof and Darth Vader sitting by the village pond.

There is also a bride, a scene from The Wizard of Oz and Little Miss Muffet.

Mrs Cook, 39, said: "It's just gone mad. We expected a dozen at most but there has been an invasion in the village.

"There is a man in a bowler hat left on the bench, who looks like he is waiting for a lift and a cleaner was left next to the village sign.

Maybe they should put the scarecrows up for election, they couldn’t do any worse, and they would.t need expenses, apart from the odd bale of straw.

“Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own rules”-Douglas Adams


Angus
NHS Behind the headlines

Angus Dei politico

Angus Dei-NHS The Other Side

SECOND POST

There are so many news items today that I thought I would do another ramble.

First up Royal Mail faces call to change

The Royal mail is in the brown runny stuff, the main problem seems to be the financial position caused by the Pension Fund deficit, which is currently £7 Billion, and Competition from e-mail and the digital delivery of information has wiped £500m from the business's operating profit over the past few years, while the volume of letters Royal Mail delivers was expected to decline at up to 7% a year - before any impact of the economic slowdown.

In other words it was in the shit before the “recession”, not really surprising, hundreds of Post offices closed, Sorting Offices closed and what do the “postmen” do? They go on firkin strike just before Christmas,

I can understand their concerns about their jobs, but, the whole country is in trouble, and Firking up peoples Christmas because of non-delivery will not exactly get much public support.

If they want to get back on track they should provide a service that is designed to make the customer king, not one where you have to travel five miles to post a parcel, or buy some stamps, make deliveries of parcels in the evening, not at ten in the morning when people are at work, and come home to find the “Famous” red card sitting on the door mat.

The Royal mail was founded over a hundred years ago, the attitude of the “Company” is still in those times, they must realise that if you provide a service, it is provided for the good of the customer not the workers or management.

The Gov has done its usual balls up, this time with Transport Dept plan 'incompetent'

The Tossers tried to save £57 Million has actually cost £81 Million, and the problem?

The Department for Transport scheme aimed to cut administration costs by basing payroll, finance and personnel services all on one site in Swansea.

But the public accounts committee said it had started late, had not been fully introduced and was set to make losses.

The computer system had even issued messages in German, the MPs added.
Edward Leigh, the committee's Conservative chairman, said it was one of the worst cases of "project management" the committee had ever seen.


"The result was lamentable. The underlying computer system was inadequately procured and tested, resulting in an unstable set-up when it was switched on," he added.

In its report, the committee said: "Despite the extent of mismanagement in this case, no individuals have been dismissed or properly held to account."

Of course not in this country we reward Tossers that don’t know their arse from their elbow, they will probably get a bonus, or a huge redundancy package


Yet another dismal, useless, incompetent “saving costs” plan, just like the “new” NHS Computer system.

Strictly voters offered refunds I can’t stand this inane, pointless so-called programme, but I feel a mention is necessary. The BBC cocked up the voting system, and is now offering a refund of 25p, I mean it’s not as if there were other channels that did the same thing is it? Or that they had any reason to think it might happen again.

My only comment is-WHO FIRKIN CARES!






Something for all us “Explorer users”- Internet Explorer security alert Yes Microsoft have done it again-

” Users of the world's most common web browser have been advised to switch to another browser until a serious security flaw has been fixed.
The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, Internet experts say.

Microsoft is investigating the problem and preparing an emergency software patch to resolve it, it says.

Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world's computer users.

"Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer," said the firm in a security advisory alert about the flaw.

Microsoft says it has detected attacks against version seven of the browser - its most widely used edition.

But the company warned that other versions were also potentially vulnerable.”


No change there then.

And, “finally-finally”

Repossessions 'to reach 75,000'

Because of our wonderful Gov thousands of people will lose their homes next year.

Because of the Gov thousands of Gordon Brown’s “Hard Working Families” which he said would be his priority will have nowhere to live, still be in debt, and in effect be thrown on the scrapheap.

Because of the Gov thousands of children will have to “give” up Christmas this year because their parents will be too busy packing to “celebrate”.

Because of the Gov thousands of people will descend on Social Services and the Councils in order to try to find an abode.

I would just like to say on behalf of those people-Thank you Gordon and have a nice Christmas and a happy new year.

Angus