A whimsy of skywater, sod all solar stuff, even less
atmospheric movement and a murmur of lack of cold at the Castle this
apocalyptic morn, just returned from the stale bread, gruel and his Maj’s food
run dahn Tesco. Hordes of internet robots dressed in their Jim-jams wandering
about aimlessly, hordes and bit of daft old farts staggering about with a
glazed look on their faces while trying to decide whether to purchase one box of
mince pies for a squid or two for two squids and I have sorted my Crimbo dinner
(apocalypse allowing), a chicken for £2.78 (two chicken breasts were £3.00, a box
of one squid mince pies, a small tin of cream (which cost more than the mince
pies), some nuts which smell like farts, a packet of biccies and a box of stuffing
(I already have the parsnips, roast tatties and other stuff).
All I have to do now is try to remember how to use the
oven...
Still have no land line, Orange/EE still can’t connect me to
the “tech dept” because of “technical” difficulties, so I had to phone the 0844
number again and speak to three different people who live in India, the upshot is
that according to the sub continent dwellers I don’t have a fault at all and a “service
person” will arrive on Crimbo eve between eight of the am and one of the pm to “sort
it out” which cost me £8 for 19 minutes and twenty two seconds, and apparently
if the “fault” is my fault there will be a charge of £105 call out plus £55 per
hour.
Cheap at half the price---well it would be...
And now the interweb thingy is bollixed up...been trying to post this since 7.30 am...
Are going to introduce “Jobmatch” for those who are not career
positive, who will have their online job applications remotely monitored by the
Government to see whether they are making serious attempts to find work.
Allegedly the site will scan the CVs of benefit claimants and automatically
match them up with job openings that suit their skills.
It will also allow employers to search for new workers among the unemployed
and send messages inviting them to interviews.
Apparently the activities of benefit claimants can also be tracked using
devices known as "cookies", so their Job Centre advisers can know how
many searches they have been doing, suggest potential jobs and see whether they
are turning down viable opportunities.
But the tracking element of the programme will not be compulsory as
monitoring people's behaviour online without their consent would not be allowed
under EU law.
However job advisers will be able to impose sanctions such as compulsory
work placements or ultimately losing benefits if they feel the unemployed are
not searching hard enough.
The Irritable Bowel Twins, who are supposed to be the Work and Pensions
Secretary, said the scheme would "revolutionise" the process of
looking for work.
Super, a government computer handling tens of thousands of job
seekers details; what could go wrong?
An Australian court
has ruled that a bureaucrat who was injured while having sex on a business trip
is eligible for worker's compensation benefits.
The Full Bench of
the Federal Court ruled Dec. 13 in favour of the woman, who cannot be
identified for legal reasons, and rejecting the appeal of the federal
government's insurer.
The woman was
hospitalized after being injured in 2007 during sex with a male friend while
staying in a motel in the town of Nowra, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of
her hometown of Sydney.
During the sex, a
glass light fitting was torn from its mount above the bed and landed on her
face, injuring her nose and mouth. She later suffered depression and was unable
to continue working for the government.
Her claim for
worker's compensation for her physical and psychological injuries was initially
approved by government insurer Comcare then rejected after further
investigation.
An administrative
tribunal agreed with Comcare that her injuries were not suffered in the course
of her employment, saying the government had not induced or encouraged the
woman's sexual conduct. The tribunal also found the sex was "not an
ordinary incident of an overnight stay" such as showering, sleeping and
eating.
That ruling was
overturned in the Federal Court in 2012, when Judge John Nicholas rejected the
tribunal's findings that the sex had to be condoned by the government if she
were to qualify for compensation.
"If the
applicant had been injured while playing a game of cards in her motel room, she
would be entitled to compensation even though it could not be said that her
employer induced her to engage in such activity," Nicholas wrote in his
judgment in favour of the woman receiving compensation.
In the Full Bench
decision upholding Nicholas' decision, Judges Patrick Keane, Robert Buchanan
and Mordy Bromberg agreed last week that the government's views on the woman
having sex in her motel room were irrelevant.
"No approval,
express or implied, of the respondent's conduct was required," they said.
Wonder if the hotel
is suing her for criminal damage?
Chinese fishermen
managed to haul up a Porsche Cayenne while having an angle orf the Coast
of Beihai.
The Cayenne was covered in seaweed and barnacles, with its state
pointing to it having been underwater for at least two years according to
experts called in to assess it.
Reports on CarNewsChina.com suggest that the waters and
coastal areas around Beihai are a hotspot for smugglers bringing in luxury
goods to escape the huge import tariffs China imposes.
It’s believed the smuggler possibly pushed the Porsche
overboard after spotting a customs patrol.
The vehicle, which would have netted the smuggler a sizable
profit, sold to a Beihai scrap metal dealer for 4000 Yuan ($650).
Would have been
worth more but the MOT has run out.
An Aberdeenshire
couple, Matthew and Carol Short, farmers from Fraserburgh, won the “Home
Throne” award for their “unique toilet in a whisky barrel.”
Flushed with success?
And finally:
Allegedly a
growing number of women are having their toes shortened or even completely
removed, in order to make wearing stilettos a less-painful experience.
According to the American Podiatric Medical Association,
eighty-seven percent of women have had foot problems from wearing uncomfortable
or ill-fitting shoes, like high-heels. But while some give-up on the
problematic footwear, others love wearing them so much they will appeal to
surgical procedures such as shortening toes, receiving foot injections and even
completely cutting off pinkie toes in order to make walking in them bearable.
Hint- buy a pair of shoes that
actually fits.....
And today’s thought
I blame Osborne
Angus
