Cold, sunny and calm at the Castle this morn, the study is
brimming over with dodgy, defunct computers and according
to “them” the world economy is about to disappear up its own rear exit while
the Politicians sit about on their bums claiming expenses as Blighty slowly
sinks beneath the waves.
I have come to the conclusion that the world is run by the “markets”
and governments are about as much use as the NHS IT system, but hasn’t it
always been that way?
“Our”
piss poor policies millionaires club coalition have even managed to balls
up the sale of the Olympic village at the cost of £275 million to UK taxpayers.
The joint deal, between real estate investment company
Delancey and Qatari Diar, was worth £557m but latest budget figures show
development of the village has cost £1.1 billion.
The Olympic
Delivery Authority, which sold the site, had already sold 1,379 of the village
residences to Triathlon Homes for £268m back in 2009 with the intention of
using them for affordable housing.
However, insiders say this deal will ensure £324m of
contingency monies are repaid, something that was in doubt for a while during
the economic crisis.
Scientists of the
future are being discouraged by over-zealous health and safety concerns at
school, a committee of MPs has said.
The Commons science
and technology committee's report found that health and safety was often
levelled as a "convenient excuse" for declining practical experiments
and trips.
However the
committee concluded that there was no credible evidence to support a decrease
in practical experiments and work outside the classroom on these grounds.
Still it will save on gas bills...
And allegedly; Tesco my
favourite retailer is preparing to launch a major price-cutting initiative
this weekend, in a move that could have serious implications for the
supermarket sector as it tries to woo squeezed consumers.
Britain's biggest supermarket chain has ordered all of its
store managers to come into work on Sunday to help the shops prepare for the
announcement, which is expected to see Tesco concentrate on simpler promotions,
with fewer buy-one-get-one-free offers and more low, round prices.
It is also expected to use its Clubcard scheme to reduce the
number of shoppers who increasingly flit from Tesco to rivals in search of
lower prices.
Shoppers have been cutting back on groceries as gas and
electricity bills have climbed. Latest official statistics show that volumes of
sales in large food stores were down 1.3pc last month.
Tesco refused to comment on the announcement but Phil
Clarke, the new chief executive, is understood to want to win back customers
from the likes of Aldi and Lidl by focusing on the Tesco Club Card and
refreshing its range of own-label products.
Time will tell....
In the glory days, the Blue Peter Annual sold well over
100,000, but back then there were fewer than 40 such books published at
Christmas. Now, there are more than 200 to choose from.
Last year, sales dropped by 16 per cent, with only a handful
selling more than 100,000, the biggest seller of 2010 was The Beano with
201,277 copies – followed by Doctor Who (140,044) and Peppa Pig (133,651).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, booksellers expect this year’s best-selling
annual to be the Moshi Monster one.
Sign of the times......
An Edmonton woman
has launched a $100,000 lawsuit after alleging she "suffered depression
for approximately 10 minutes" when her chewing gum stuck to her dentures.
According to a
statement of claim filed in Edmonton's Court of Queen's Bench on Sept. 14,
Elsie C. Pawlow is suing Kraft Canada Inc., which is the parent company of
Cadbury Adams, the creator of Stride gum.
In the statement of claim, Pawlow alleges she bought at
least five packages of Stride gum.
"Over a period
of five minutes the gum falls apart into little pieces and sticks to the
dentures," Pawlow said in her statement of claim.
She then alleges in
the statement of claim, filed at a cost of $200, that she had to "dig
out" the pieces of chewing gum from her dentures, which she described as a
"disgusting" procedure.
"As a result,
the plaintiff has suffered depression for approximately 10 minutes,"
Pawlow said.
Pawlow is seeking
$100,000 in general damages as well as interest and court costs.
A statement of
defence has not yet been filed.
Simple answer-don’t
buy it.
Young
designer Rita Maria has made a collection of handbags out of recycled
Wonderbras.
The iconic push-up lingerie, which soared in popularity
during the 1990s, has undergone an extraordinary transformation thanks to the
enterprising designer.
Using old bras donated by her friends, Miss Maria has now
built up a vast collection of all types of sizes and colours of the innovative
handbag.
And today’s thought: don’t forget to
look up tonight.
Angus
