Showing posts with label police. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police. Show all posts

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Bent coppers: The Brownessie: Hair today (again): Reindeer ride: Seatbelt art: and the Marble Caves of Chile Chico.


Warmish, wettish, cloudyish and calmish at the Castle this morn, spent most of yestermorn gathering “stuff” for the recycling centre, think I need a bigger car...
And the electric fence has been erected around the moat to prevent water tealeaves-the only snag is that the butler has to power it with the cyclegen...



More than 900 police staff abused their access to confidential databases over a three-year period, it has been claimed.
The research findings from civil liberties group Big Brother Watch (BBW), which cover 2007 to 2010, were described by BBW director Daniel Hamilton as "astonishing".
Two hundred and forty three staff and officers received criminal convictions for breaching the Data Protection Act (DPA), and 98 lost their jobs, a freedom of information request revealed.
Many of the searches included background checks on friends and potential partners, but the information was also at times used in a far more sinister manner.
Mr Hamilton said: "Some have been convicted for passing sensitive information to criminal gangs and drug dealers. This is at best hugely intrusive and, at worse, downright dangerous."
The findings follow allegations that Andy Coulson, who served as David Cameron's communications director at No 10 for four years, paid the police in order to receive privileged information.
Emails handed over by News Corp appear to show that Mr Coulson, then News of the World editor, authorised payments made by staff to police.
A News Corp spokesman told Vanity Fair: "It is correct to state that new information has recently been provided to the police.
In Merseyside a combined total of 208 police officers and staff faced internal disciplinary action for "viewing a computer record relating to a high profile arrest."
Meanwhile in Lancashire one member of police staff was found guilty of disclosing confidential policing information on Facebook, whilst another received just a written warning for conducting 53 criminal record checks "for no obvious policing purpose".
 

To steal and sell on.....



Sightings of a creature not dissimilar to the Loch Ness Monster have caused a stir in the normally quiet waters of the Lake District.
Local swimmer Tom Noblett, world record holder in fresh water swimming, thinks he was within feet of the creature whilst out for a morning swim.
Photographer Linden Adams also claims to have seen the creature and has captured it on camera.
The picture is now being analysed by experts in forensic visual computing.


If it’s Nessie on its hols, I hope it has a passport...



Apparently desperate mums are cutting off and selling their own hair to make ends meet in hard-up Britain.
The craze for extensions fuelled by Jordan and Britney Spears has led to dealers paying £150 a time for 20inch plaits of human hair.
And women struggling to cope with rising prices and a lack of jobs are chopping off their own locks as they look at new ways of ­making money.
Single mother-of-two Hayley Harding, of Leeds, sold 14 ­inches of her brown hair last month for £70. “Losing my hair was tough but it freed up cash for my kids,” she said. “Having children can be very expensive and cutting my hair off has allowed me to buy them music books.
“I’d much rather my kids get what they need than me walk around with long locks that could be worth money. It is about your priorities, I guess.”
Rosemary Looker, 48, of Newark-on-Trent, Notts, sold 19in of her brunette hair for £60 after she was made ­redundant. “I’ve always had hair below my waist and when I lost my job friends suggested I make some money out of it,” she said. “It helped pay bills. Things are so tough; I might have to do it again.”
Teacher Sarah Winfield got her ­hairdresser to cut 15in off her dark brown hair and sold it for £65 after her boyfriend lost his job. “I’ve always liked my long hair,” said Sarah, 25, of Lincoln. “But it was a no-brainer when I realised cutting it off would help pay some of our bills.”


Thanks U-Turn Dave...



A driver in the far north of Norway found an inventive way to transport his reindeer: he packed three in the back seat of his car and two in the trunk and drove off, The Local Norway reported.
None was wearing a seatbelt.
The Local said police were astonished to spot the antlered heads in the back seat of the Subaru Forester and then find the other two in the luggage compartment.
The unidentified driver claimed he had received clearance from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to transport five of his reindeer from Karasjok to Børselv, a journey of some 62 miles (100 km).


Glad I didn’t have to clean the car out afterwards....




Ann Conte and Jeanne Wiley have managed to renovate an old, beat-up car, by weaving it a new body, out of seat belt material.
The two artists set their sights on a 1960′s MG Midget that was used as support for firewood, in an American backyard. Their project was all about “recycling, reusing, repurposing and sustainability” so they decided to give their Midget a woven look. And what better material to use, than overstock seat belt material (over 500 yards of it). After weaving the body, the two simply bolted it to the car’s metal skeleton.
The seats of this woven vehicle are made of a partially recycled material, known as Corian Terra, and the headlights and tail lights are handmade ceramic. Conte and Wiley’s recycled car can be admired as part of a new exhibit at the South Shore Art Centre, in Cohasset, MA.

The ironic thing is that it doesn’t have any seatbelts…


And finally:



In Chile the Marble Caves, or Cuevas de Mármol, are allegedly one of the most exhilarating and stunning caves to be found anywhere in the world.
The caves, made entirely of marble, were formed when water penetrated the huge blocks of rock and carved them in such a way that they formed beautiful caves and tunnels within the rocks.
Tourists can take a boat ride through the inner tunnels with a local tour company.

 Reminds me of gobstoppers....





And today’s thought:

Apple Pi?




Angus

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Cooking up a caution: How long are your Telomeres?: Rich Rozzers: Clarkson rakes it in: Bionic chicken: Glider boat: and a rusty old bike.


Quite clement at the Castle this morn, back to fixing fuddled fumbles in the study, and his Maj has discovered the joy of blackmailing me into giving him “Dreamies” with every meal.



You can snaffle stuff from Tesco with impunity, and yes I am talking about double barrelled Worral Thompson who managed to steal from my favourite retailer on more than a couple of occasions.
According to The Sun, a camera had been set up after he was spotted by staff not paying for some low-value items on a total of five occasions.
He was stopped by guards leaving the store in front of shocked shoppers.
A police spokesman said: "Thames Valley Police arrested a 60-year-old man from High Wycombe following a report of shoplifting offences in Tesco, Reading Road, Henley-on-Thames.
"The man has been issued with a formal caution for these offences."
A Tesco spokesman said: "It's a matter for police."

A-w-t said “"I am not the first and I certainly won't be the last person to do something without rhyme or reason - what went through my head, only time will tell.”

 Yeah-about five times apparently.


And: 


Scientists at Glasgow University say they have found a key genetic indicator of how long an individual will live.
They say the lengths of tiny pieces of DNA called telomeres indicate whether a young creature is likely to live long into old age.
But before you rush out to get your telomeres stretched - were such a process possible - it is worth pointing out that the creatures they have been working with are not humans but altogether shorter-lived zebra finches.
At the ends of each chromosome lie the telomeres. They have been likened to the caps on the ends of shoelaces - they stop things from unravelling.
Over time they wear down - and when they do, the DNA they protect is compromised and the cell can malfunction or die.
 

 Think my laces are broken.....



It seems that more than half of police officers are paid £38,000 a year or above, putting them in the top 20 per cent of earners, new figures show.
And almost half of officers working for the Metropolitan Police earn more than £47,000, putting them among the top ten per cent.
 

Value for our money?



My favourite Numpty Jeremy Clarkson made £2.14million off the back of Top Gear in just 12 months thanks to a lucrative BBC deal.
The controversial presenter earned twice as much as he did the year before, setting him up as one of the BBC's most successful TV personalities.
Clarkson's earnings are the result of a complex deal with BBC Worldwide which means he benefits from the show's popularity in 198 different countries as well as the spin-off DVDs, merchandise and live shows.
Accounts show that his cut amounted to £1.79million in the year to March 2011, up from £829,000 the previous year.
The funny man - who joked last year that public sector workers should be 'executed' for going on strike - is then paid an extra £350,000 by the BBC as a performance fee, taking his total annual pay from Top Gear up to £2.14million.
Although BBC Worldwide has 50 per cent stake in the company set up to specifically manage Top Gear, Bedder 6, Clarkson and co-producer Andy Wilman split the remainder of the money made from Top Gear T-shirts, remote-controlled cars, watches, mugs, magazines as well as royalty fees 30/20.
The show's recent success is largely down to its increasing popularity in the US, where it was remade for American audiences, and Australia, which receives the original British version.


Think I am going to vomit..... 


Animal lover Sue Murphy loves her hen Amelia so much she paid £600 getting the bird fitted with a bionic limb when it suffered a fractured thigh.
‘I’d do the same for a cat or a dog,’ said Mrs Murphy, 51. ‘Everybody thinks I’m mad but she’s our pet. She’s got such character.’
The former nurse and husband John, 54, who keep nine other ex-battery hens, dogs, cats and horses, said: ‘I eat chicken if it’s free range but I couldn’t let them put Amelia down.’
Avian expert Richard Jones spent two hours fitting a metal rod supported by external ‘scaffolding’ to the one-year-old brown hen’s thigh bone – the first time the vet had carried out the procedure on poultry.
‘It meant Amelia could move her joints freely during the healing process and within half an hour she was walking again,’ he said.
Three more operations were needed to remove the rod and pins.
Amelia is now back to her old tricks trying to escape her run and perching on the roof of her owner’s home in Plumley, Cheshire.
‘She’s such a cheeky character and fingers crossed she doesn’t get into any more trouble with her antics,’ said Mrs Murphy.


Eggceptional.....



An Australian adventurer is attempting to break the world speed kite surfer record this year with a hybrid glider-boat which can reach speeds of more than 100km an hour.

UK-based Paul Larsen, originally from Healesville in Victoria, hopes to break the record held by a kite surfer with his Vestas Sailrocket 2 in Namibia, Africa.

"Vestas Sailrocket 2 is truly a hybrid glider-boat,'' Larsen said.

"It is currently banging its head against the conventional limits which it is designed to break through.

"We are still very much in development and still believe that we will make the breakthroughs that will yield massive performance gains.


Why??? 

And finally:
 


A rusty 106-year-old motorbike is expected to fetch £50,000 when it goes under the hammer at auction.
The 1906 Indian Camelback was one of the first two-wheeled motorised machines. The single cylinder 311cc 4-stroke petrol engine produced 2.25hp.
Only 1,698 were made that year and this example is one of few remaining and enthusiasts are particularly keen on it because of its "unrestored" state.
It was owned by the du Pont family, which bought the 'Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company' that built it, and this cycle was last ridden in the 1970s.
Whoever buys the machine will probably use minimum efforts to restore it to a working condition, as a complete restoration would actually see its value reduce.
The Indian cycles were the great rivals of Harley-Davidson, but the company eventually went bankrupt in 1953.
It had a rudimentary braking system and a hobnail boot on the ground would have been needed to help it stop.
The motorcycle is going under the hammer at Bonhams in Las Vegas on January 12.
Ben Walker from Bonhams said: "This motorcycle is in such demand because of its condition and to restore it would actually take value off.
"The motorcycle will probably be 'oily-ragged', which means wiping it down with oil to preserve it as it is."
 

Wouldn’t pass the MOT anyway....




And today’s thought:




Angus

Thursday 6 October 2011

Tesco Law: Well- F##k you Boris: Grand price of energy: Lego of Star Wars: and Swiss Numpty.



Sunnyish, unwarmish and windyish at the Castle this morn, the study is overflowing with broken one eyed monsters, his Maj has decided that it is too cold to venture out and the Honda is up to 157 miles on twenty sqids worth of go juice.


I see that my favourite retailer will soon be able to sell consumer legal services in England and Wales for the first time following a change in law.
The government says the new Legal Services Act will offer more choice and better value for the public.
It says it also means law firms will benefit from investment and allow them to explore new markets.


Yeah right.....


 And:


Boris has decided that action will be taken so that police can arrest members of the public for swearing at them, Boris Johnson has promised.
The London mayor attacked police guidance advising officers not to try to arrest those who verbally attacked them on the basis that police should have thicker skins.
"I reckon we need to get back to where we were before some judge given law of 1988 and be clear that if people swear at the police, they must understand they will be arrested," Mr Johnson said.


I reckon that Boris should leave the alternative universe he seems to live in and join the real world.

 And:


The cheapest annual gas and electricity deal for UK households has hit £1,000 for the first time after above inflation price rises by energy companies.
The record energy bills come as three in 10 Britons admit that they are struggling to afford their energy bills.
Eight in 10 householders say they will be forced to start rationing their energy use by going without adequate heating, according to a survey of 2,300 people.
“Britain is on the brink of an affordability crisis when it comes to household energy,” said Uswitch.com, the price comparison site which carried out the survey.
The milestone of the £1,000 bill was reached earlier this week when Scottish Power pulled a £990 ‘dual fuel’ tariff from the market.
Mark Todd, a director at Energyhelpline.com, which released the findings about the £1,000 bills, said: “The cheapest energy tariffs keep getting axed and now there are no tariffs costing under £1,000 a year for an average home.”
 “This is the first time that has been the case and emphasises in stark terms how bills are reaching historic levels,” he said.


No shit........



A Star Wars fan spent six months and 30,000 Lego bricks recreating a scene from one of the movies.
Jay Hoff spent £1,500 on piecing together the moment the Emperor arrives to inspect a new Death Star in Return Of The Jedi.
Mr Hogg, a teacher, created the 6ft by 6ft model for his school's annual Science Discovery Day in Miami, Florida.
Pupils are expected to bring in a small Lego creation to display so he decided to join in to show his young charges how it's done.
He said: "The kids went absolutely crazy about it, which made it all worthwhile.
"I only got to display the model for one day and I still haven't had the heart to take it apart yet!"


Star Wars-science? And this guy is a teacher......


And finally: 


A drink driver tried to park his car in a river after mistaking a slipway for an underground car park ramp in heavy fog.
Peter Thaler, 42, abandoned the car and walked home when he realised he'd almost ended up in the Ruess river in Sins, Switzerland.
But he was arrested the next morning when he returned to collect it while police were retrieving it and was still so drunk he failed an alcohol breath test.
"He was confused because of the fog but mostly because of the drink," said a police spokesman.
"He lost his licence and will be fined and will have to pay all the costs of the recovery of his car."


Didn’t have GPS then......




And today’s thought: I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good, either.


Angus

Monday 2 November 2009

Make it snow; Boston witch hunt; Arrested for washing his hands; Ejecto-Numpty; and Big Balls





Bribble factor 8 during the dark thing, if you are unsure of “Bribble” you can catch up Here and if you want to know what I did yesterday you can find out Here.

I see that David Wilshire, the disgraced Tory MP is comparing the poor old MPs caught with their bank balances in the till to the plight of the Jews in Nazi Germany.

Fine, lets up the penalties for stealing from the public by elected officials to being starved, gassing and medical experimentation, oh no I forgot, it would be MPs that would have to pass the law.

Wilshire, just bugger off and take all your “it was in the rules” mates with you.

And;

I don’t tend to do a lot of sports on this or any other blog but I feel that a mention is due for the Cycling team at the Track World Cup in Manchester.

British cyclists have racked up 10 gold medals over the three days of the competition in Manchester.

Team GB: Lizzie Armitstead, Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Matt Crampton, David Daniell, Wendy Houvenaghel, Rebecca James, Jason Kenny, Chris Newton, Joanna Rowsell, Ben Swift, Andy Tennant, Geraint Thomas, Jess Varnish

Good one guys.



First up:





Seedy Snow


The Chinese government covered Beijing in snow on Sunday after meteorologists seeded clouds to bring winter weather to the capital in an effort to combat a lingering drought.

The unusually early snow blanketed the capital from Sunday morning and kept falling for half the day, helped by temperatures as low as minus 2 Celsius (29 Fahrenheit) and strong winds from the north, Xinhua news agency reported.

Besides falling in the north-eastern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin and the northern province of Hebei, the eastern port city of Tianjin also got its first snow of the autumn, the report said.

"We won’t miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought," the report quoted Zhang Qiang, head of the Beijing Weather Modification Office, as saying.

Chinese meteorologists have for years sought to make rain by injecting special chemicals into clouds.

Although the technique often gets results, a drought in the north of the country has continued for over a decade.

Besides the snow, which the Beijing Evening News said was the earliest to hit the capital in 10 years, the cold weather and strong winds also delayed air travel from Beijing's Capital Airport, while interrupting passenger shipping services off the coast of Shandong province in the east, Xinhua said.

Can you seed the clouds to make them go away-Pleeease!


From the home of the tea party: - Lighted cigarettes are a thing of the past at Pirone Park in Ayer.

Jason Mayo watched as a father pushed his child on a swing, cigarette clenched between his teeth. On every upswing, the child got a face full of exhaled smoke.

“We can’t tell people how to parent,’’ said Mayo, a member of the Ayer parks and recreation committee, which has banned smoking in the town’s recreation areas. “But all the other kids around him were inhaling that cigarette too.’’

As antismoking sentiment sweeps across the country, nonsmokers are taking back bars, restaurants, and workplaces, snuffing smoking out of its indoor havens. And now some of them are turning their sights on the great outdoors.

Holliston and Upton have enacted similar outdoor smoking bans. And in another example of the widespread public crackdown on smoking, Needham has outlawed the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies and Newton and Framingham are trying to do the same.

Ayer’s parks and recreation committee implemented its outdoor ban in August, and the panel may also pursue a bylaw at the spring Town Meeting. In a more sweeping stroke, the town’s Board of Health is pursuing a regulation that would apply the prohibition to all town-owned property and land and impose a $100 fine on offenders. The board has set a public hearing on the subject for January.

The outdoor smoking ban in Ayer, a town of about 3,000, covers public recreation areas, including Sandy Pond Beach and Pirone Park. During the past five years roughly 30
Communities have enacted such bans, according to Joan Hamlett, Ayer’s tobacco agent and director of the North Central-Franklin County Tobacco Control Alliance. Sharon was the first to do so in 1995.

Fags-R.I.P



Scott Wright was fixing the emergency brake on an old Cadillac in a parking lot near Willow Glen last year when the San Jose police rolled up. Within minutes, he had been shot with a Taser and beaten with batons, breaking his arm.

The cause of the trouble? Wright reached into his van to wash his greasy hands.

Police said they feared he was going for a weapon, but no weapon was found. Wright was charged with resisting arrest, but the district attorney dismissed the case before it got to trial.

What happened to Wright is no isolated event. Hundreds of times a year interactions between San Jose police and residents where no serious crime has occurred escalate into violence.

Many times the reason for the encounter is as innocuous as jaywalking, missing bike head lamps, or failing to signal a turn. But often, as the incidents develop, police determine the suspect is uncooperative and potentially violent and strike the first blow.

While many of those incidents raise questions about whether the police response was excessive, the department almost always dismisses such complaints about its behaviour and limits public scrutiny of the cases, moves that tend to heighten distrust of the department, particularly in minority communities.

Police officials say their officers use force only when they must, to protect themselves and others in complex situations that can quickly turn violent. They say that their internal reviews establish that San Jose police act with restraint, and cite the low number of citizen complaints about excessive force. And police captain Gary Kirby told a City Council committee this year that after reviewing more than 100 resisting arrest cases from the past two years, he came to a clear conclusion: There is no problem.

Tell that to the guy who was tasered and had his arm broken.


A civilian passenger in an air force display plane accidentally activated the ejector seat while reaching for something to steady himself during a mid-air manoeuvre.

The novice flier instantly shot through the jet's Perspex canopy and was blasted 100 metres into the sky by the rocket-powered emergency chair.

Experts said the man was lucky to escape unharmed following the bizarre incident, which happened on Wednesday in South Africa.

It is thought he activated the ejector seat after lurching forward during an aerobatic manoeuvre and accidentally pulling on the black and yellow emergency handle between his legs.

The lever is fitted as standard in the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II jets to allow pilots and their passengers to eject from the aircraft in the event of an emergency.

As soon as it was activated, the ejection sequence activated two rockets attached to the back of his chair.

The man, who has not been named, later floated back down to Earth on a parachute which opened automatically.

South African Airforce bosses scrambled a helicopter to pick up the passenger after the blunder near Langebaanweg airfield, 80 miles north of Cape Town.

The incident happened shortly after he took off for a joyride with an experienced pilot from South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team.

Maybe he was trying to grab hold of his veggies in self preservation.



And finally:

From over the whatsit: - CONCORD, N.H. - The bouncing mega-meatball record has landed in the East Coast.

Matthew Mitnitsky, owner of Nonni's Italian Eatery in Concord, said Sunday that a 222.5-pound (101-kilogram) meatball was authenticated as the world's largest after being weighed by state weights and measures officials.

A Guinness Book of World Records official confirmed the big meatball as a record breaker and presented Mitnitsky with a plaque.

The old record of 198.6 pounds (90 kilograms) was set just over a month ago after Los Angeles-based talk show host Jimmy Kimmel vowed to beat a record set in Mexico. That record - 109 pounds (50 kilograms) - was set in August.

Mitnitsky said he got involved "to bring the meatball back to the East Coast because that's where it originated."

Friday 30 October 2009

Not my problem; Spoon Numpty; Plastic punt; Trick or eaten; and Glow show




Bribble factor 10 last night, I think someone broke in and beat me with a baseball bat and then jumped all over me, the cat of course slept like a log so I shoved her in the fireplace.

It seems that Tone’s chances of becoming King of Europe are diminishing faster than the balance in my bank account, isn’t that a shame.

And

How is your Mandarin/Arabic? Time to brush up as the board of Icann voted at its annual meeting in Seoul to allow domain names in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts.

The move paves the way for the internet's Domain Name System (DNS) to be changed so it can recognise and translate non-Latin characters.

Should be fun.


First up:




From over the big wet thing in Columbus: Residents of one Ohio City are complaining that police officers are telling them if they're fed up with crime in their neighborhoods they should move out. At least two Columbus city council members have heard the complaint.

An aide to Councilwoman Charleta Tavares said she has received more than 20 calls. Councilman Andrew Ginther said if police are making the comments, they're neither acceptable nor appropriate, though he said he believes most officers want to be helpful.

A police spokesman said the department addresses the complaints when it's given the name of an officer.

A police union official said he understands if officers are frustrated with crime. Fraternal Order of Police President Jim Gilbert said: "It's like the OK Corral out there."

Here’s a hint-get out of your nice warm police cars and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!



From East a bit and up: Baffled bank staff refused to fork out cash when a robber threatened them - with a spoon.

The ginger-haired crook burst into the branch in Lublin, Poland, brandishing the cutlery shouting: "This is a stick up."

Staff and customers threw themselves to the ground until they realised the 'gun' was simply a stainless steel spoon.

The would-be robber fled empty-handed with the laughter of his 'victims' ringing in his ears.

But police are not taking the incident lightly and have launched an investigation into the attempted robbery.

Police spokeswoman, Renata Laszczka-Rusek, said: "It's a weird one but he broke the law and we want to find him


Forkin Numpty.
From over the salty thing and down a bit: - A team of adventurous environmentalists are preparing to set sail for Sydney in a catamaran made entirely of reclaimed plastic bottles.

They want to highlight the scale of plastic pollution in the ocean and the damage it is wreaking on a fragile ecosystem.

While the journey will be unpredictable, simply building a plastic bottle boat in the first place has been the greatest challenge.

San Francisco, the city by the bay renowned for its summer fogs and famous landmarks, is also a haven for yachties.

And inside a nondescript pier in the heart of San Francisco's waterfront, a team of environmental adventurers - led by the exuberant David de Rothschild - is building a boat out of plastic bottles.

It has been three years in the planning and sometimes seemed simply too hard.

"All my friend are like 'jeez, will you hurry up and build a boat?' But not a lot of people build a boat out of recycled plastic and whack plastic bottles along the side," he said.

"That's been the challenge - and the exciting challenge."

The boat's frame - made of recycled plastic - will be lined with 12,500 bottles filled with CO2 to help provide buoyancy.

"We are now standing on a material that is potentially a solution for the waste problem that is plastic PET bottles," de Rothschild said.

Plastic waste drives this 31-year-old descendant of a wealthy banking family, who is determined to make a difference to the planet.

"We were talking about a problem and not moving it towards a solutions. I hope it becomes a tipping point," he said.

Here’s a”tipping point” for the intrepid plastic travellers: What are they going to do with all the CO2 they are using for buoyancy?



From over the briny and up a bit: CHURCHILL, Man. - Most trick-or-treaters are well-versed in Halloween safety: travel in groups, wear colourful clothing and only stop at brightly lit homes.

The drill is slightly different, however, for kids in a remote Manitoba town on Hudson Bay.

Youngsters in Churchill are warned not to dress in furry white costumes, to steer clear of baited traps stuffed with seal meat and to listen for the tell-tale sound of fireworks.

That's because these candy-seekers have more to worry about than ghosts and goblins. They need to avoid a different kind of predator on Halloween - the polar bear.

In Churchill - known as the polar bear capital of the world - Halloween falls smack in the middle of the busiest time for the iconic mammals. The bears are restlessly wandering around as they wait for cooler temperatures so they can head out onto the frozen winter ice.

Add to that streets crawling with about 300 trick-or-treaters and their tasty bags of treats. The combination could be deadly.

But Conservation, Parks Canada and RCMP officers have ensured everyone's safety for the last 40 Halloweens and this year is no different. Thirty of them will encircle the town and keep an eye on youngsters going door to door.

"It's a precautionary measure because the polar bear is a predatory animal," said Const. Mike Boychuk. "Our main goal is to have a safe community whether it be from humans or from bears."

School children get a visit from the polar bear patrol team to go over safety tips. On the day of Halloween, several conservation officers take to the sky in a helicopter to see if there are any bears nearby. As dusk descends, Mountie patrol cars and other emergency vehicles are parked around the town's perimeter with their lights flashing.

Other units patrol the town of about 1,000 and also look out for bears, while about half a dozen bear traps baited with seal meat are set up.

If a bear is spotted, said conservation officer Andrew Szklaruk, he and his colleagues are called in to shoo it away.

"We'll use our trucks, our horns sometimes and also 12-gauge shotguns with cracker shells and rubber bullets at times," said Szklaruk. "Our cracker shells are pretty much like fireworks. They're launched from the 12-gauge shotgun, go out about 200 feet and explode making a large bang."

That kind of ruckus is usually enough to make a bear think twice about entering the town, Szklaruk said.

But if the animal persists, a tranquillizer dart is used and the bear is carted off to "polar bear jail" - holding cells where the bear is isolated until it is released back into the wild.

The precautions seem to work. Few can recall a polar bear actually breaching the town's perimeter on Halloween since the program started in the 1960s.

What some people will do for a few free SWEETS.


And finally:


From over lots of wet bits and down a lot: Glow-in-the-dark lingerie for the bedroom has proved to be an international hit, with the luminous bras and pants on sale worldwide.

The designs are the brainchild of Australian Jan Hawley.

Miss Hawley, 55, from Oxley Island in New South Wales, said the new designs are thanks to her two grown-up sons, who urged her to make the set raunchier than ever.

"When the lights go out, the lace on the bra and knickers glow beautifully, defining the tiny shapes of the micro G-string, bikini or triangle bra.

"It's very sensual and sexy. Blokes just love it."

Miss Hawley said the designs are skimpier than the original collection.

She said: "When we launched the company two years ago, it was to wear during the day and at work.

"This collection is easy to whip on, but even easier to whip off.

"The glow is to inject some fun into the bedroom. It's quirky and has novelty value and men especially like it."

The underwear is now being sold around the world, including America and several countries in Europe.

Miss Hawley said: "The success we've had has been remarkable. I started out with my husband James two years ago in a remote part of Australia and now it's a multinational business that shows no sign of stopping.

"We were moonlighting to begin with, coming up with designs across the dinner table after working a full day. Now this is our full time business.

Illuminating!


Angus

AnglishLit

Angus Dei-NHS-THE OTHER SIDE

Angus Dei politico




Wednesday 26 August 2009

A bit of “proper news”



Don’t get too excited, this may be just a one off, and it is just a series of links, and a few comments, so you will have to do some work yourselves.

First up:


The bastards are still ripping us off.












Garry Felgate, Chief Executive of the Energy Retail Association, which represents suppliers, said: “Energy suppliers do their utmost to ensure that their customers are protected from volatile energy markets, but they have to operate in an environment where the price of energy, the demands of a low carbon economy, and the need for huge investment in infrastructure compete.”


Yeah right, tell that to the families and the old and sick who won’t be able to heat their homes this winter.



Oh God they have brought it back.






That inane waste of license fee payers’ money is returning, the cringe making, inept, two left footed “non-celebs” will amaze and amuse us with their terpsichorean trotting, presided over by Brucie ‘good game’ Forsythe dragged from his cryostasis chamber for yet another series.


Not on my bloody TV they won’t.



Which brings me nicely to:




Oh God they have brought it back 2


The X Factor



The Simon Cowell money machine is to return in opposition to the above, so we are left with a choice of stumbling “dancers” or wailing waifs for our Saturday night “entertainment”.

Can we not have some “proper” programs? Like some decent comedy or drama, or maybe even a film that isn’t in black and white?




Nessie seen on Google earth





Yeah, and I have leprechauns at the bottom of my garden,




Taking the Piss







The motoring organisation has called for a shake up of how motorways and trunk roads are maintained and financed.


Errr; excuse me you Numptys, we already pay for maintenance, it’s called the ROAD FUND LICENSE.

And finally:


Oh yes, the Richmond upon Thames police are nicking “valuable items from unlocked cars to “teach people a lesson”, when the blaggers “remove” goods they leave a note in the car telling the owner that they can retrieve their possessions from Twickenham police station.


"We have had a bit problem with thefts from cars, so we decided to be a bit more innovative," said Superintendent Jim Davis, the officer behind the initiative.


If items are needed urgently, police will return the goods immediately.


"We want to stop people from being the victims of crime," he said. "We are not talking about £3 in loose change in the glove compartment; we are talking about cameras, laptops and expensive leather jackets. People would be far more upset if their property really was stolen."


Police are only removing items from unlocked cars. Where they see either an unlocked car or valuables left exposed in a locked vehicle, owners are being sent a letter advising them to take better care or their property.



So a thief can come along, see the note, know the car is unlocked and steal it, good thinking plod.

Angus


Sunday 9 August 2009

The Sunday Section

Red lorry yellow lorry, I wish, Mouse kebab, Belt up and Cuban Loo Rolls





I haven’t mentioned the ashes because I didn’t want to put a jinx on, but it didn’t matter: we are crap. The Aussies are better bowlers, batsmen and fielders, it seems the loss of one man (Andrew Flintoff) and the injury of another (Matt Prior) has reduced the England squad to less than schoolboy competence.

So what’s new?



Anyway: First up:






A police officer jumped into a moving lorry and slammed on the brakes after the driver suffered a suspected stroke. Police were alerted to the lorry swerving across the road.
Officers tried to stop the lorry, which was being driven erratically on the northbound carriageway of the A12 near Mountnessing, Essex. The driver failed to respond to the flashing lights and sirens and police realised he had fallen ill at the wheel.

The lorry drove off the A12 at junction 16 near Galleywood, before swinging around the roundabout and making its way back down the slip road to join the A12.

Sergeant Stewart Gason, of Essex Police, gave chase, running alongside the lorry until he was level with the cab.

He managed to jump inside and slam on the brakes just before the lorry rejoined the carriageway.

Surprise that, as Police don’t do jumping in water, patrolling the streets (not in my neighbourhood anyway), or noise, I wonder if he broke the health and safety laws.



Californian drivers are in shock, the price of Gas (petrol) has spiraled out of control to $3 (£1.77) per gallon, rising as much as 26 cents in the past two weeks at some South Bay stations. To the befuddlement of many motorists, some energy experts say the price hikes will keep coming.

"I think you'll see prices peak at about $3.25 in a couple of weeks," said Bob van der Vlk, a fuel-pricing analyst in Lynnwood, Wash. "Then they may start to level off by Labor Day."

A gallon of gas cost $3.04 in San Jose on average Saturday, up 13 cents in the past week. That's a penny more than the state average of $3.03 and a lot higher than the U.S. average of $2.64.

Prices have climbed every day since July 22 as crude oil has risen $10 a barrel in the past month, topping out at $72 a barrel last week.

"What's the deal?" asked Ted Wada of Watsonville. "Our Chevron station on North Main Street has gone up 26 cents in less than two weeks. Are we starting the Labor Day rush already?"

Partly, but there's more going on. The feeling that the recession may have bottomed out in the U.S. and positive economic news out of China have oil buyers believing demand will increase.


As I said-“if Only”




Cooked, salted or dried, field mice strung on sticks are sold as a popular delicacy in Malawi markets and roadside stalls.

The mice are hunted in corn fields after the harvest when they have grown plump on a diet of grains, fruits, grass and the odd insect. The most widely eaten species is known locally as Kapuku, gray in colour and with a shorter tail than the more common rat.

Young boys have to be quick as they chase the mice through the fields and catch them. But local villagers have also come up with an innovative trap.

One method involves digging holes and putting clay pots filled with water into them. The mouth of the pot is smeared with fried corn husks. As some of the mice fight for the husks, they fall into the pot and drown.

Malawi, with a population of 12 million, is among the poorest countries in the world, with rampant disease and hunger, aggravated by periodic droughts and crop failure.

Tasty, but wouldn’t it be easier to make food from the crops?









EASTPOINTE, Mich. (AP) - Authorities said a purse snatching suspect being chased by police near Detroit got his right leg tangled in his car's seat belt when he tried to bail out and ended up being dragged several hundred feet. Police told the Detroit Free Press and The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens that 45-year-old man Lawrence Neal of Detroit was dragged Thursday night and broke his leg before the car stopped on a front lawn.

During the chase, police said Neal used turn signals. And Detective Lt. Leo Borowsky said he was "captured by his own seat belt."

Neal was being held at the Macomb County Jail. He was charged with unarmed robbery, fleeing and eluding and resisting and obstructing police.

Police said he requested a court-appointed attorney.

Numpty.


And finally:



Cuba, which is in the grip of a serious economic crisis, is running short of toilet paper and may not get sufficient supplies until the end of the year, officials with state-run companies said on Friday.

Officials said they were lowering the prices of 24 basic goods to help Cubans get through the difficulties provoked in part by the global financial crisis and three destructive hurricanes that struck the island last year.

Cuba's financial reserves have been depleted by increased spending for imports and reduced export income, which has forced the communist-led government to take extraordinary measures to keep the economy afloat.

"The corporation has taken all the steps so that at the end of the year there will be an important importation of toilet paper," an official with state conglomerate Cimex said on state-run Radio Rebelde.

The shipment will enable the state-run company "to supply this demand that today is presenting problems," he said.

Cuba both imports toilet paper and produces its own, but does not currently have enough raw materials to make it, he said.

So if you have any spare/used loo roll send it to Raul Castro, C/O Presidential palace, Cuba, after all we can’t have communists going around with skid marks can we.