How to buy a Policy: Aunties “personal service” non employees: High living on Mont Blanc: Zombie proof motor: Paint your lawn: and The poisonous Moon.

Yet again we have sunny/cloudy, wet/dry, warm/cold, calm and atmospheric movement at the Castle this morn, late again-I overslept and his Maj was waiting at his rear exit with his legs crossed.

The interweb thingy has perked up a bit this day-sort of so I decided to give the laptop a good “seeing to” and managed to rip orf the ‘pause’ and ‘print screen’ buttons from the keyboard, which of course won’t go back on, that’ll teach me....

Up in the smoke

Allegedly ‘The City’ spent £93 million lobbying the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition last year according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ).

It seems that the lobbyists managed to cut the UKs corporation tax in Britain and duties on banks' overseas divisions, which TBIJ claim will save the sector – and deprive the Treasury – of billions of pounds.

And the "neutering of a national not-for-profit pension scheme launching in October that was supposed to benefit millions of low-paid and temporary workers"

Why am I not surprised....

Still in Olympic city

Auntie is being a tad naughty: in evidence to the Public Accounts Committee the BBC admitted that 148 of its 467 “on screen” presenters were paid through “personal service” firms rather than as ordinary employees.

Being paid in this fashion allows the employee to be taxed in part at the corporation tax rate of 21 per cent rather than pay as much as 50 per cent in income tax.

MPs said they had received evidence from one presenter who was told to charge the BBC through a company or take a pay cut.

The broadcaster said that “in light of public concern” it was now reviewing the number of its employees who were paid through these companies.

A breakdown submitted to the committee showed that some of the actors, presenters or musicians were paid more than £100,000 a year through personal service companies. Three of the performers received more than £150,000 annually. The broadcaster did not provide any names.

The news came as the corporation’s annual report disclosed that it pays 16 performers more than £500,000, including three who earn more than £1 million a year.

Nice to see our license fee being spent so carefully...

Right a bit to the land of big rocky things

Teetering 1,000ft above jagged rock faces on the approach to Mont Blanc in the Alps; this ultra-modern refuge is designed to be a lifesaver for weary rock climbers.

Built to withstand extreme weather conditions on Europe’s highest mountain, the red and white metal tube can sleep up to 12 mountaineers en route from the Italian side of the peak.

It includes wooden bunk beds, a kitchen, dining room, storage racks and a living room with stunning views.

The 100 square foot shelter is 9,000ft above sea level and half of it hangs over a ­terrifying drop.

It is “fastened securely” to the rock face using heavy-duty bolts.



Sod that....

Left a lot to the home of motors and the land of Zombies

Hyundai has come up with some new wheels with-spikes, armoured windows, a top hatch, a nice Zombie plough all designed to make your trip to the shops safe from the undead.



Spiffing, I could use one of those dahn Tesco’s….

Still in the land of hot weather and no water

An Indiana man said his lawn has stayed lush and green during the current dry weather due to his secret weapon: paint.

Timothy Birdwell of Indianapolis, an employee of Imperial Painting, said he and a friend came up with the idea to paint the grass when they were confronted with dry weather and a watering ban, WISH-TV, Indianapolis, reported Monday.

Birdwell said the paint, which is specially designed for grass, wills last two to three months.

"If it rains, the grass just grows," Birdwell said. "At that point, you can go out there and touch it up if need be. You can have that kind of yard all year round with no water bill from watering your yard."

Wonder if they have something to make lawns waterproof....

And finally:

According to ‘Scientists’

Any thought of living on the Moon has taken a bit of a knock because it is poisonous.

The surface of the moon is coated in a layer of thick, undisturbed dust, which is not only ultra-fine - and therefore easy to inhale - but can increase the risk of various cancers, similar to breathing asbestos and volcanic ash.

Researchers from the University of Tennessee, referring to Neil Armstrong's first steps onto the moon, said: "The Apollo astronauts reported undesirable effects affecting the skin, eyes and airways that could be related to exposure to the dust that had adhered to their space suits during their extravehicular activities and was subsequently brought into their spacecraft."

Humans have only spent, at max, two or three days on the moon in total, and this time has often been spent in spaceships or airtight suits.

But with long-term exposure, the team says that inhalation would be harmful - even when wearing protective gear, as dust trails the astronauts back into living quarters.

Once inside the lungs the super-fine, sharp-edged lunar dust could health issues, affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular system, causing airway inflammation and increasing the risks of various cancers.

 

That’ll piss orf bearded Branson.

That’s it; I’m orf to have a look at UK science for free

And today’s thought:

Invisible 100 metres hurdles Olympics

Angus

Fruitless payments: Self defence pens: 1652 Coffee ad: Times to stop the rain: Phthalates: and Austin Healey comes home.

Wet, cold, windy and winsome at the Castle this morn, his Maj is still fed up, the left elbow is well on the mend and the interweb thingy went tits up yet again yestermorn due to the vast amounts of skywater, and it is as slow as the slowest thing you can think of this Monday. 

Bit late, been dahn to Tesco on the stale bread, gruel and his Maj’s food run, good news is that his fave Whiskas meat in jelly is back dahn to three squids a box and his Dreamies are still at one squid a packet.

The Farnborough air Show is finally over, peace has returned to the Castle and his Maj can stop hiding under the stairs.

Up in the Smoke

Allegedly the Home Office wasted nearly half a million pounds on unsafe rubber bullets they are not allowed to use.

Under a section titled "Fruitless payments" in its annual accounts, it shows that £427,000 was spent on baton rounds bought from abroad even though they did not pass UK safety standards.

The decision meant they could "not be used in the UK".

The payment was part of more than £806,000 needlessly spent under the "Fruitless payment" section which also included a botched property transaction.

The section of the report describes them as "payments for which liability ought not to have been incurred or where the demand for the goods or services in question could have been cancelled in time to avoid liability".

The latest accounts also reveal that the Home Office is expected to spend £11.2 million renovating a grade 1 listed used as a training centre for police.

The money was spent on renovating the Jacobean mansion in Hampshire which since 1960 has been the home of the Police Staff College.

I can think of a use for 650 of them....

East to the non-irradiated land

Japanese customs officials who impounded 200 pens more than a year ago said Friday the writing implements needed a weapons import licence because they were shaped like bullets.

Fountain and ballpoint pens made by US firearms and knife manufacturers, including Smith and Wesson, have been held up by inspectors in Nagoya and Osaka since April 2011.

The pens, which are made from a mixture of titanium and other metals, are fashioned to resemble bullets on the non-writing end.

A Nagoya customs official told AFP that under international regulations, the pens are classified as self-defence weapons, adding: "Special procedures are needed for the import of such products."

The company had successfully imported and sold the pens, which ranged in price between 5,500 yen ($70) and 32,500 yen, from 2008 to 2011.

So the pen really is mightier than the sword....

 

Back in the days

When coffee was very expensive and rare comes this ad.

It supresseth Fumes exceedingly, and therefore good against the Head-ach, and will very much stop any Defluxion of Rheumas, that distil from the Head upon the Stomach, and so prevent and help Consumptions and the Cough of the Lungs.

It is excellent to prevent and cure the Dropsy, Gout, and Scurvy.


It is known by experience to be better then any other Drying Drink for People in years, or Children that have any running humors upon them, as the Kings Evil. &c.

It is very good to prevent Mis-carryings in Child-bearing Women.

It is a most excellent Remedy against the Spleen, Hypocondriack Winds, or the like.

It will prevent Drowsiness, and make one fit for Busines, if one have occasion to Watch, and therefore you are not to drink of it after Supper, unless you intend to be watchful, for it will hinder sleep for 3 or 4 hours.

Mind you, it still is expensive....

Back up to the Smoke

And that venerable pay to view paper known as the Times cometh this editorial: 

"Let us make our position crystal clear: We are against this weather,"

"It must stop raining, and soon."

The Times lamented that the country was full of discounted swimwear, unsold garden furniture, and unused barbecues. It even said that the country's potato harvest has been affected - pushing up the price of chips

"When the proverbial cheapness of chips comes under threat, The Times says enough is enough," the editorial said.

"The British climate is supposed to be unpredictable," it continued. "At the moment, it is anything but. If sustained sunshine is too much to ask for, most of us would settle for a little bit of fickle."

Still waiting.....

Apparently the Ladies are doing themselves harm

According to “experts” A group of chemicals found in personal care products may raise the risk of diabetes, a new study suggests.

Women in the study with highest concentrations of these chemicals, called phthalates, in their bodies were more likely to have diabetes than women with lowest concentrations, the researchers said.

Phthalates are found in a variety of products, including nail polish, hair sprays, soaps and shampoos.

There was also a link between high concentrations of phthalates and insulin resistance among women who did not have diabetes. (Insulin resistance is often a precursor to Type 2 diabetes).

The findings suggest that phthalates could disrupt blood sugar metabolism, said study researcher Tamarra James-Todd, of Brigham and Women's Hospital's Division of Women's Health.

 The good news is that the study surveyed participants at only one point in time, and more research is needed that follows women over years to confirm the results.#

 Panic over-for now.....

 

Left to the home of the auto and the land of eBay

A Texas man whose prized sports car was stolen 42 years ago recovered the vehicle in California after spotting it on eBay, authorities said Sunday.

Robert Russell told the Los Angeles County sheriff's officials that he had never given up searching for the 1967 Austin-Healey after it was stolen from his Philadelphia home in 1970.

The 66-year-old retired sales manager from Southlake told the Dallas Morning News (http://dallasne.ws/ML2fBq ) he paid a friend $3000 for the car. It had sentimental value to him because it was stolen the morning after he took his future wife out on their second date.

Russell said he spent years surfing the Internet looking for the car and didn't have much hope of finding it

"The fact that the car still exists is improbable," he said. "It could have been junked or wrecked."

He said he checked on eBay periodically and spotted it a few weeks ago. He immediately called a Beverly Hills car dealership that was selling it.

He said the vehicle's identification number matched that of his car. He had the original key and car title, but not a copy of the stolen-car report to prove that it was stolen from him.

Russell contacted Philadelphia police for help and learned that the stolen-car report wasn't showing up at the FBI's national crime index because one vehicle identification number was entered incorrectly. The report was finally found and the file was reactivated, enabling Los Angeles authorities to impound the car.

Russell and his wife, Cynthia, drove to Los Angeles and took possession of the car. It's now valued at $23,000.

"It still runs, but the brakes don't work well," he said. "We're going to put it back the way it was

Ain’t modern technology wonderful.......?

That’s it: I’m orf to update me Android Jelly Bean

And today’s thought:

G4s Olympics

Angus

Careless NHS: Live high-die younger: Puffin poser: Industrial parrot: Boob clamp: and Carbonaceous chondrites.

The usual at the Castle this morn-wet/dry, sunny/cloudy/ windy/calm, hot/cold, just a normal “summer” day in the central part of Blighty then.

The left elbow is feeling much better, the industrial strength pain killers have worn orf, the nightmares and hallucinations (as proven by yesterday’s post) have stopped and all is calm this Saturday.

A nice bit of music for those who live in more than a bit damp bits of the country.

There is a nice new widget on the left sidebar so that those who believe in it can keep a check on the global warming thingy.

And the interweb thingy is behaving rather badly-again.

According to The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Almost 1,000 patients are needlessly dying in NHS hospitals each month as a result of poor patient care, Researchers concluded that blundering medical staff committed basic errors in more than one in 10 cases, in which a patient died.

Apparently mistakes occurred because hospital staff made wrong diagnosis or gave out wrong drugs.

In some cases they failed to adequately monitor patients – such as failing to check a pulse or blood pressure – or react when their condition deteriorated.

The study found that something went wrong with the care of 13 per cent of the patients who died in hospitals.

An error only led to a death in 5.2 per cent of these cases, which was the equivalent to nearly 12,000 preventable deaths in hospitals in England every year.

It found that errors of omission were more frequent than active mistakes.

The study based on analysis of 1,000 deaths at 10 NHS trusts during 2009, found that most of the patients who died were elderly and frail and suffering from multiple conditions although some were aged in their 30s and 40s.

Personally I think they have underestimated the figures by about 200 per cent, is this the “new” way to curtail spending on pensions and care for the old, or is it just consultants and senior consultants who would rather be on the golf course than get their hands dirty on the wards?

It seems that Old Albert was right

Einstein's theory of relativity states that time and space are not as constant as everyday life would suggest. He suggested that the only true constant, the speed of light, meant that time can run faster or slower depending on how high you are, and how fast you are travelling.

Now scientists have demonstrated the true nature of Einstein's theory for the first time with an incredibly accurate atomic clock that is able to keep time to within one second in about 3.7 billion years – roughly the same length of time that life has existed on Earth.

James Chin-Wen Chou and his colleagues from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, found that when they monitored two such clocks positioned just a foot apart in height above sea level, they found that time really does run more quickly the higher you are – just as Einstein predicted.

Marcus Chown reckons that "It's a very small effect, but it brings these esoteric effects into the everyday world. It shows that if you want to live longer, buy a bungalow," he added.

I know someone who will be chuffed about that...

Norf of the border

Young puffins have invaded
a seaside town, with one bird found waddling along a corridor at a hotel and another turning up at a car showroom.

The fledgling puffins or “pufflings” are normally resident this time of year on islands in the Firth of Forth such as the iconic Bass Rock, but experts say the birds are being attracted by the bright lights of nearby North Berwick.

The coastal East Lothian resort is the base of the Scottish Seabird Centre, where staff have been advising residents on how to deal with the visitors. Recently, a puffling, since named “Buddy” by the team at the centre, was found wandering the Macdonald Marine Hotel & Spa.

I do hear that they are quite nice cooked in milk sauce with bacon....

Still Norf of Hadrian’s masonry

Police called out to deal with a noisy neighbour complaint in Glasgow were shocked to be confronted by a swearing parrot.

Officers turned up to an address in Govan to find Pepe, a yellow-headed Amazon parrot, who used to live in a taxi office.

The bird was screeching out phrases such as "taxi for Govan Road", as well as more industrial language, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Pepe's embarrassed owner John McAlinden said: "He mainly shouts out bookings, like 'taxi for Govan' and 'taxi for Lidl'. He also says things like 'car one', 'car two' and '10-4'.

"He also uses a fair bit of industrial language, which is a bit near the knuckle. I think he may have become stressed by his move but I'm now giving him some drops to try to calm him down."

He added: "He's a bit of a handful and I'm sorry if he's caused any upset to my neighbours. Hopefully he's learned his lesson and will settle down a bit."

A Strathclyde police spokeswoman said: "We were contacted by a member of the public who had made a complaint about noise.

"Officers attended and it was quickly ascertained that the culprit was indeed a parrot. The owner was given advice and no further action was taken."

I do hear that they are quite nice in a stew...

East to the land that had the last dry Olympics

Comes the boob clamp, otherwise known as the corset.

Num, num, num.....

And finally: 

According to “experts”

Asteroids from the inner solar system are the most likely source of the majority of Earth's water, a new study suggests.

Conel Alexander, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington analyzed samples from 86 carbonaceous chondrites. These primitive meteorites are thought to be key sources of the early Earth's volatile elements, such as hydrogen and nitrogen.

The team measured the abundance of different hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the chondrite samples. Isotopes are versions of an element that have different numbers of neutrons in their atomic nuclei. For example, the isotope deuterium — also known as "heavy hydrogen" — contains one neutron, while "normal" hydrogen has none.

The amount of deuterium in celestial bodies' water ice sheds light on where the objects formed in the solar system's early days. In general, bodies that took shape farther from the sun have relatively higher concentrations of deuterium, researchers said.

The 86 chondrite samples' deuterium content — which the team gleaned from clays, the remnants of water ice — suggest the meteorites' parent bodies formed relatively close to the sun, perhaps in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Yeah. Right; all I know is that there is far too much of the bleedin stuff....

That’s it: I’m orf to watch Lemurs sliding towards extinction

And today’s thought:

Solo tantric sex Olympics#2

Angus

What a bleedin shambles.

Sunnyish, cloudyish, windyish, rainyish and coldish at the Castle this morn, the left elbow is a pain in ........the elbow and I don’t have the energy for a “proper” post. So here is the Angus Dei viewpoint on poor old busted Blighty.

Shambles-plural of sham·bles (Noun)

Noun:  A state of total disorder.

A butcher's slaughterhouse- (archaic except in place names).

It seems that the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition has managed to balls just about everything up- 

The latest debacle is the Olympic security cock up, which has already cost us more than a smidge of loot promised to G4S for a job not well done at all and will cost us even more when the extra almost redundant soldiers who will lose their leave and spend a couple of weeks camping out in the Smoke arrive.

And as well as being over budget the Olympics is unfortunately...over here:

 

But the word “Shambles (either definition)” can also be applied to the following:

The economy

The NHS

Employment

Pensions

Social services

Welfare

Fuel prices

Water management/prices

The railways

Gas prices

And

Leccy prices

And after not being able to go to the next town for a week because of the Farnborough Air Show I won’t be able to visit friends in the Smoke for two weeks without avoiding “Olympic lanes”, bus lanes, the congestion charge, detours, overcrowded trains, traffic jams and watching the petrol gauge slowly sinking towards empty as I sit among hundreds of thousands of sheep trying to get to work.

I still love this country, the shite weather, the fields of gold, the plains of water, the exorbitant parking charges if you go anywhere and the ‘slightly’ eccentric populace which still manages to function despite all the chaos. 

What I don’t love is the non-elected tosspots that inhabit the leaning tower of Westminster who are it seems incapable of rational thought, logic and seeing further than the end of their wallets when it comes to “what is best for Blighty”. 

I am tired of endless packs of MPs who couldn’t organise an erection in a cat house farting around with All and Sundry and their inept ramblings whilst trying to “Govern” what is left of the soon to be not United Kingdom while the old are treated as the fall people for all the ills in the world, the young are being left to rot on the temporary dole, people are dying of thirst in hospitals, taxes are rising faster than the speed of time, money is poured into countries that don’t seem to have a government of their own while pensioners look forward to spending their dotage in “care homes” waiting to pop orf so that the Gov can recoup costs by selling their houses and depriving the next generation of home ownership. 

It seems to me that Blighty is on the edge of a catastrophic collapse which will see us revert to the eighteenth century with work houses, debtor’s prisons, and vast numbers of homeless people begging on the streets while the rich will live in their gated estates surrounded by immigrant serfs tugging the forelock to their masters. 

It may not get that bad of course but the signs are there, the rich are still getting richer and the poor are still getting poorer, the family has almost gone, morals seem to have gone the way of a broken compass, the young hate the old, the old have not much future and those between are stuck with mortgages, kids, rising prices and no time to consider the big picture. 

Apparently in fifty years time things will be even worse, luckily I won’t be around to see it but shouldn’t those in charge change tack a bit, be a bit more “Blighty-ish” and concentrate on the UK, get us out of the EU stop giving our money to countries that can’t look after themselves, cancel all the Piss Poor “reforms” and try to make life a bit better for those of us who still live here? 

The money is there, it’s just that “they” don’t know how to allocate it, or to take a step back and have butchers at what is really going on.

Angus

A bit more Periosteal pecking: Old age principle: Keep it in your pants: Jelly-Flower: Spagbollocks: The Dog’s in the dinner: and Cheep housing.

A touch of the big yellow thing at the Castle this morn, still cold and a fair amount of atmospheric movement, his Maj is a happy boy because he can go out, get covered in wet stuff and mud from the borders and then come in and sit on my lap.

More than a whimsy late because I have been to see my General Medic to have the Left elbow pecked in the Periosteal, hurt like buggery, but the real pain won’t kick in until tomorrow-so don’t expect any posts for a day or so....

The Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition

Has pledged its support in principle for a cap on the amount people would pay for care during their lifetime.

A £35,000 lifetime limit was recommended by a government-ordered inquiry chaired by the economist Andrew Dilnot a year ago. Old people would take out insurance to cover payments up to this ceiling, with the state then picking up the bills.

But Son of a B.......aronet and alien reptile in disguise George (my Parlimentary pension will keep me out of care) Osborne has refused to sanction the £1.7bn a year cost, which was predicted to rise to £3.5bn over time, and decisions have been put off until a government-wide spending review due next year. This means social care reform is unlikely to happen before the 2015 election. When action is taken, the cap could be raised to as much as £75,000 to keep down the cost to taxpayers.

Instead the Elf Secretary will announce today that many of the 40,000 old people who have to sell their homes each year will be offered a form of loan through their local authority from April 2015.

And then get the money back when the old farts die and their houses are sold to repay the “loan”.

Snag-what if there is a husband, wife or partner still living in said dwelling, where do they go;  into care which will have to be paid for by the old farts who have paid tax all their lives?

 

And while the old get stuffed by the young

The Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition is using the £1.7 billion saved from looking after the elderly to donate more than £1 billion to help family planning services in the developing world.

In a bid to help 24 million girls and women in the world's poorest countries, British aid will be doubled for eight years, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell will announce later.

Aid for family planning will increase from £90 million each year to £180 million - more than £1.4 billion over eight years.

Mr Mitchell said: "The health and rights of girls and women are front and centre of Britain's aid programme. Being able to plan the size of her family is a fundamental right that we believe all women should have.

"British support will mean that millions of women who are currently unable to access or use family planning information, services and supplies will be able to decide, freely and for themselves, whether, when and how many children to have.

While Blighty’s hard working older population is treated like second class citizens.

 

Dahn Unda

Australian company Bioconst has started research to create fluorescent flowers by splicing Californian jellyfish DNA into various blooms.

The company already produces a fluorescent substance which is sprayed on to flowers causing a glow but now work has started on flowers which emit light without the need for a spray. Professor Mark Tester, vice-president of Bioconst said:

"They would look the same, until you turn the light out and put them under a UV light. You wouldn't know there's any jellyfish there."

Spiffing...

Up in the Smoke (literally)

A pair of Cupid Stunts thought it would be a good idea to try to heat a tin of spaghetti – with a toaster and set their maisonette on fire, it took four fire engines and about 20 fire fighters to put out the blaze in  Hornsey Rise, north London.

According to Fire brigade watch manager Adam Barnett ‘The two men had wedged the toaster on and were cooking a tin of spaghetti on top of it,’ he said.

The mind boggles.....

And talking of Pasta

 

A recent Internet uprising has led to Caffé Tiamo, an Italian restaurant in Incheon, South Korea, to change its menu.

It seems that “Spaghetti alla Carne,” which contained dog meat is no longer available.

Apparently Korean food always was the Dog’s Bollocks…

And finally:

Left a lot to the home of the tree and the land of cheep housing

Californian builder Jayson Fann has gone into business creating human-sized nests made from locally harvested wood, which he cuts and spirals together

The constructions range from indoor love seats to thirty-person look-outs.

Each construction needs the help of two or three assistants, depending on the size of the project.

The lengthy process begins with stripping branches to ensure no damage is done to the living tree before removing the leaves and twigs.

The nests are mostly made of eucalyptus for its strength, and each sculpture needs two and a half trailers of wood.
By bending the wood and using counter-sunk screws the structure is expected to remain strong and intact for many years.

The custom-made nests can cost anywhere from $4000 to $20,000.

Well, at least they won’t get flooded.....

That’s it: I’m orf to charge my mobile with a T-Shirt

And today’s thought:

Olympic rings

Angus

Olympic License: Capone’s Cadillac: Calcio Storico Fiorentino: Wishful thinking: Eucharistic ice cube: and Men only parking.

Same again at the Castle this morn-wet, windy and wobbly, still waiting to fettle the garden but I did have a close up of a Wellington bomber, a spitfire and something that was very, very loud and moved so fast I couldn’t recognise it as they flew under the low cloud cover yesteraftermorn.

The ears have stopped bleeding now.....

As the underwater Olympics approaches at the speed of time

The TV Licensing body has launched a campaign to remind businesses of the need for a TV licence if they allow staff to watch the Olympics at work.

If employees have devices such as mobile phones or laptops plugged into the mains at work, their workplace will need to have a licence.

Catch-up TV services, such as iPlayer or ITV Player, are not subject to licence requirements. However, live streams of sports events, press conferences and news channels are.

Most employers will only need one licence per premise, although it depends on the type of business and how it operates.

People at 2,800 business addresses were caught watching TV without a licence across the UK during 2010 and 2011.

You have been warned....

Left a lot and then a lot more

Gangster Al Capone's green 1928 Cadillac is up for sale.

With bulletproof glass and 1,360kg (3,000lb) of steel armour, the mobster’s customised car was painted like the police cars of the time and even had a flashing light, siren and the first police-band radio in private hands.

The 1928 Cadillac V-8 has inch-thick windows with circular holes for machine guns and the rear screen could drop down quickly during gunfights.

It will go under the hammer in Monterey, California, next month.

Sounds like they will need more than a hammer......

Right many, many thingies to the land of pasta and stuff

Direct Google “translation”-There is an ancient game, a game without rules, where the companions are blood brothers, sworn enemies and opponents.

Four teams, four colours, they play for their women, they win their district. Many men, only one desire; to conquer fear, self-discovery, including fists, caresses and fireworks.

Or just an excuse to beat the crap out of anyone in range-and if there are no rules why is there a referee and linesmen?

For those who live in slightly damp Blighty

The science behind sunburn- When our skin cells are exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, a specific  form of RNA, called micro-RNA, is damaged (RNA is similar in structure to DNA, which makes up our genes.)

This damaged RNA is then released as a signal of solar injury, and prompts neighbouring, healthy cells to stimulate the production of factors that promote inflammation, the researchers said.

Just thought you would like to know what happens if the sun ever comes out again...

Up to the Smoke and up a tad more

The congregation at Brentwood Cathedral, Essex, were undertaking the Eucharistic prayer when they heard a “massive explosion” which left them “trembling”.

Father James MacKay, who was leading the Sunday service, described seeing slate and white ice falling from the roof, damaging the structure and beams.

An usher who inspected the damage believed it had been caused by a block of ice falling from above, which could have come from an aeroplane, he said.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the body received about 30 reports of ice blocks dropping from aircraft in a year, but said they were frequently caused by natural weather conditions.

Fr MacKay told the BBC he was trembling with shock after hearing the collision, but had continued with the service.

 

Him/her upstairs was probably having a glass of Pimms while watching Wombledon and dropped an ice cube....

And finally: 

Right to the land that still wants to conquer Europe

To the small German town of Triberg.

Mayor Gallus Strobel hit the headlines this week after unveiling the new car parking plan for motorists.

Under the new system, each space in the town's main car park been painted with a male or female symbol, depending on its difficulty rating.  

While female drivers have been assigned wider and well-lit spaces located closer to the exit, male drivers will need to pull in at more difficult angles and avoid cement pillars.

The 58-year-old mayor wants to 'challenge political correctness' with his new policy, claiming the tight spaces will be an 'attraction' for ambitious drivers.

 'Men are, as a rule, a little better at such challenges,' the 58-year-old told German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

 Oh dear......

That’s it: I’m orf to count flying ants

And today’s thought:

110 metres hurdles 2012 London Olympics

Angus

A400M simulator: Back office balls up: Canada dry: Humpty Doo drop em: and Tuna tossing.

Usual at the Castle this minging Monday morn, wet, cold, calm and dismal, but the good news is that “they” have finally lifted the hosepipe ban dahn ‘ere in ‘Ampshire, all I have to do now is find the bleedin thing under all this water.

No post yestermorn, the vast amounts of skywater finally managed to overwhelm the subterranean telephonic cables and my land line and interweb thingy went tits up for the day.

Just got back from the stale bread, gruel and his Maj’s food run dahn Tesco, his fave Whiskas-jelly-meat stuff has been reduced from £4.39 to three squids per box, and as I pulled into the car park I saw a Bomb Disposal Lorry in one of the spaces so I parked next to it-the safest place to be I thought, just in case.

 And I see that Blighty’s weekend of sport didn’t go too well, we lost the Womble thing, came even farther dahn at Silverstone and didn’t do too well at the other tennis thing abroad.

C’est la vie

And: The jolly old Farnborough Air Show begins this day, a week of ten mile detours, traffic jams and noise from “combat” jets which we can't afford.

And talking of the Ex RAE

U-Turn Cam will be in the next town to Aldershot to celebrate the signing of a contract worth £50 million for a full flight simulator for the Airbus A400M.

The simulator will be located at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The simulators are designed and built by Thales Training and Simulation in Crawley, West Sussex, with the contract helping sustain 50 high-tech UK jobs and skills.

Which works out at £1 million per job.

I wonder if the Prime Monster read This: Engine issues have again curtailed the participation of the Airbus Military A400M in the flying display of a major air show after the manufacturer announced the type would only be shown on the static park at the Farnborough air show, which starts on 9 July.

"The decision to have the aircraft on static display only is based on engine issues that happened last week which need further investigation," says Airbus Military.

Instead, it will show the first production representative example, MSN6.

The MoD has ordered 22 of the A400Ms to replace the fleet of C-130 Hercules, with the first delivery expected in 2014.

Nice one shit for brains.....

Up in the Smoke

The Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition has gorn and done it again- An attempt by civil servants to pool resources across Whitehall has cost hundreds of millions of pounds more than it saved, MPs have found.

The Government announced in 2004 that it wanted Government departments to share ‘back office’ functions like human resources and finance.

Five departments including the Departments for Work and Pensions, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Transport, as well as the Ministry of Justice, signed up to the new way of working.

The new way of working was meant to cost £900million but ran £500million over budget, and eventually cost £1.4billion, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee found.

They were meant to have saved £159million by the end of 2010/11 from the new arrangement – but only one department “broke even”, and two departments reported net costs of £255million.

Nice two fuckwit....

Over to the left a lot and up more than a whimsy

Seeking to protect women from exploitation, Canada is ending visas for foreign strippers, reports the Globe and Mail. Foreign escorts and massage parlour workers will also be banned.

The government says the move is to combat human trafficking but critics say the ruling Conservative Party is just being prudish. The government has issued 496 visas to exotic dancers since 2006, though just 12 were issued last year. There are about 700 foreign strippers currently working in the country, but they won't be allowed to renew their one-year visas when they expire.

Sod it: there goes my trip to Celine Dion land....

Dahn Unda

Male officers attended Darwin's Humpty Doo Tavern after reports of a disturbance and were greeted by an enthusiastic group of women who shouted that the strippers had arrived and tried to pull their shirts off.

"The girls were in fine form," Northern Watch Commander Louise Jorgensen told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "They were most excited about the police presence.

"There were various shouts about how the strippers had arrived."

Jorgensen said the men "nearly had their shirts torn off, but they managed to escape with their dignity intact".

Still in the Southern hemisphere

Every year, men and women gather in Port Lincoln, South Australia to see who can hurl a tuna fish the greatest distance.

While the tuna they throw isn't real, it's still quite a feat to toss the 10kg tuna through the air.

The world record for tuna tossing is more than 37m.

 That’s nearly as much in centimetres as it costs to buy a tin of the real stuff.

That’s it: I’m orf to check my interweb thingy connection

And today’s thought:

Oh shit I only won £575,000

Angus