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Friday 31 December 2010

Are we there yet?

Why do we have this obsession for seeing the new year in? It’s going to happen whatever we do. About now I’m sick of seeing mediocre acts on Jool’s hollands Hootenanny and would prefer to just disapear up to bed with a cup of horlicks, and jump into bed in my winciette pyjamas and a hot water bottle. (I made that last bit up).

Instead I shall nurse another large drink until midnight, and then slink quietly off to my slough of despond in the hope that I’ll wake in time for lunch.

The End

of 2010.

I’m off for a few scoops so all remains is to wish all my readers:

A happy New Year

And mind how you go, and think of the Cheeeeldren.

Thursday 30 December 2010

A mess

 

desk

I’ve been tagged by Man Widdicombe to describe my *ahem* work station. This was on the instigation of Dick Puddlecote who started this interesting diversion from the mundane pastime of Ranting Blogging.

Now my desk is an Ikea table set against the wall in my Kitchen so as to be out of the way. I’ve been meaning to move it to one of the bedrooms since the kids flew the coop, but never got around to it.

Not to waste any time, here is my description of my blogging pit.

A computer obviously, situated under the table.

A monitor and keyboard.

A portable hard drive

A camera.

Satnav. (To navigate through the junk on the table).

Two debit card readers. Legal, before you ring the Plod.

2009 diary. I must get around to throwing that out.

A pile of paperwork which I must look through someday.

Order of service for Mother’s funeral. She died recently. (Three years ago).

November’s Parish magazine.

A shredder.

A sealed tin. Containing God knows what.

A cylinder of computer wipes.

Three Christmas crackers.

Piles of used and unused CDs, DVDs, and a floppy.

? (Whatever it is, I hope that it’s dead).

Ashtray(Full). Note to self. Must get a bigger one.

Ciggies. Bugger where’s the lighter gone.

One printed picture entitled “Submarine racing,exciting to watch”

A Christmas card from the Indian Takeaway.

That’s about it. I think.

I would like to nominate Fuel Injected Moose and Mummy Long Legs. lets see what they’ve got in their Blogging pits.

Wednesday 29 December 2010

The swine are at it again.

Not content with the Debacle of last year’s attempt to frighten us, the politicos are at it again.

A ‘perfect storm’ of winter illness will batter Britain’s health services today.

Hospitals will be pushed to breaking point by a post-Christmas deluge of patients suffering from flu and the winter vomiting bug.*

Accident and emergency departments are bracing themselves for a surge of referrals as GP practices open for the first time after the extended bank holiday weekend.

They are also expecting high numbers of elderly patients to be brought in as they are visited by care workers for the first time in four days.

Soaring levels of both seasonal and swine flu will heap extra strain on hospitals already dealing with cases of the sickness bug norovirus, which usually peak at this time of year.

Remember last year when they predicted that thousands would die from the flue? What was the result? No more than usual.

Look you twats. Give the people the real information rather than “suggest” an outcome. What about some good news. Such as: “The Filthy Engineer has survived another festive season.”

This is scaremongering at it’s worst.

And I have been endowed with this most noble award

charonaward2010

*Probably in my case, caused by imbibing too much of the demon drink*

Charity giving is up to me.

They never seem to be able to stop hectoring us, can they?

Cashpoint users will be encouraged to donate to charity every time they withdraw money, under Government plans to encourage a more ‘giving’ society.

Shoppers could also be asked to make donations whenever they make a purchase, on the high street or online.

As far as I’m concerned what I do with my money after the Government has reduced me to near penury, is up to me.

Mr Maude said it was a key part of Tory plans to encourage a ‘Big Society’ in which communities provide more services themselves instead of relying on central government.

As I wrote in a previous post, I don’t want to be part of your “Big Society”. I just want to be left alone from the “Nudge” policy being used by those in power over us.

Where’s all this charity money going to go I wonder? Most likely to those Taxpayer funded fake charities such as ASH who just like to make my life a misery.

On a personal note.

Just Fuck Off and leave me alone.

Monday 27 December 2010

Kill the kids early

Last night I struggled through the snow to keep the spongers my children in booze. Most of them and their hangers-on's  fiancées, husbands, etc, left before I could shame them into contributing to FE’s retirement fund.

However the hard core rump were perturbed that the wine lake was empty. Ok, being a stupid generous father, I braved the elements and visited the local wine vendor to stock up for these parasites family members.

What have they done this evening? Left the wine to die of old age and hit the Vodka, Rum, and  whisky.

I despair.

Moral of the story: Have a vasectomy at the age of about ten.

Sunday 26 December 2010

Think of the Cheeldren

Bloody Locusts Children emptied the cellars of all the alcohol that FE bought for Christmas. Considering that FE bought £ 278 of booze on the thursday before Christmas, that’s some going. They’ve just had the cheek to complain about the lack of stock.

So FE has been forced to trudge through the snowdrifts to the local alcohol retailer and buy the following:

Vodka x 2

Wine (White) x 4

Beer. 24 bottles.

Rum x 1

I’m keeping my coat on as I expect that I’ll have to repeat the journey.

Think of the Cheeeeeldren. Bah humbug.

Friday 24 December 2010

Oh (Rein)Deer

 

santa-hit-by-plane

Next time look where you’re going you bearded old fool.

Just think of the Cheeeeeldren.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Thursday 23 December 2010

Yes. Justice has been done.

Remember the case where a woman was thrown bodily into a cell and injured. Remember how the Officer was charged but won his appeal.

However he has been dismissed from the Police. Good result I think. At least someone is sane.

Wilts custody sergeant sacked.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

How will Santa get here now?

Bah Humbug

reindeer

IMPORTANT: This message is intended for the use of the individual addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humour or irrational religious beliefs. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is not authorised (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. Unless the word "absquatulation" has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this message, although the Jack Russell next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you. Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft. However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. If you have received this message in error, please note that it was your fault.

Tuesday 21 December 2010

The small society

Why does David Cameron keep banging on about the “Big Society”? I’m much happier with my local “Small Society”.

1. My lovely Post girl who always waves and shouts a greeting with a beaming smile which lights up my day.

2. My local shop, where the staff are polite and helpful.

3. The local Postmaster who is always cheery and nothing I post is beyond him.

4. The Milkman that delivers the milk whilst attired in shorts, even when the temperature is Minus Eight.

5. The Ditsy Blonde from down the road who pops in for a drink and has me in fits of laughter.

6. Watching the local cricket team playing badly.

7. My neighbour who feeds the cats whilst we’re away.

8.  The Bin men who run down the road but will take anything.

I Could go on but this is a small society. So sod off Dave, I don’t need you and your “Big Society” I have real Society.

Fail

The cold snap may have only just bitten but Heathrow's snow team has been working for months to ensure the UK's hub airport will once again be prepared for the onset of winter.

Hidden away in Google Cache

Lessons to be learnt?

H/T to Tim

Superheroes. No. Green Nutjobs

I found a Green Nut job site whilst trawling the internet a while ago (Ten minutes). Global warming Superheroes. Their puerile mission statement:

Your Friendly Neighborhood Climate Heroes

Spider-Man made a big deal of protecting New York from the GreenGoblin. But let’s be honest: scrapping a lycra-clad gimp on a hover-board is about as gutsy as wiping a pube from the bath.

Before you leap to old Spidey’s defense, we reckon we’re free to say what we like about him. Because we’re fighting a far greater peril…

The Earth is under threat from evil forces – a deadly combination of short-term thinking and lazy habits, and an ignorance generated by twisted minds spreading doubt about the seriousness of climate science. Damn those evil-doers.

Why they should choose to do this to our one planet, god only knows. The rest of us just want it to go on, engaged in its mysterious, rhythmic flight through its little corner of the cosmos. Seen from out there, at a distance, this place must still seem such a gift.

Yet it’s being destroyed knowingly. These super-crimes are being perpetrated by the only species capable of examining life and reflecting on its wonders. Yes, the human race understands gravity, DNA and mathematics, and is taking a stab at black holes and the Big Bang – yet some of us are clearly just still dicks.

So that’s why the Global Warming Superheroes have decided to fightback. You could say we’re like the Incredible Hulk. Now there’s a hero we can relate to: a scientist turned green and angry by a near-fatal dose of gamma rays. We too have been exposed to near-fatal doses: doses of gas from idiots denying climate science. Now we can be green and angry too.

We are, however, more patient than our monosyllabic friend. We don’t throw cars around, and our suits are still intact. Luckily our nemeses’ arguments are as wobbly as a hover-board, and one hit with the simple truth is enough to knock them back to earth.

This blog will contain all the facts you need to convince yourself which side of the fight you’re on. Still, we’re happy to stand by Hulk’s timeless warning, which gains added bite when the future of an entire planet is at stake:

“Don’t make us angry. You wouldn’t like us when we’re angry…”

As for the bit where they state “This blog contains all the facts you need……………) Well Boys and Girls. Where are they?

Monday 20 December 2010

It’s cold down South.

It would appear that our Antipodeon  cousins are having unseasonable Climate weather as well.

image

These are anomalies and not the actual Temps.

H/T Jonova

Have Guardian Readers changed their minds about Global Warming?

Maybe so if the comments on this article are something to go by.

The majority have been quite scathing about AGW and quite a few are slagging off the Quango that masquerades as the Met Office.

It was also interesting Today that Boris Johnson is also wobbling, and that the BBC  6 O’clock news were erring on the side of caution. Normally the Beeb would have made the case that it was all to do with man made warming.

It’s all coming apart for the worshippers of AGW.

Google Earth

Every year just before Christmas, Google Earth allows you to watch Santa’s progress across the Globe courtesy of NORAD.

Just for a change could NORAD track the Kentish grit lorry that has yet to spread any grit on my road?

Missing in Action.

grit lorry

Sunday 19 December 2010

Ed Vaisey to be banned.

image

The latest saga from the Government is to stop ISPs allowing porn to be seen. A case of think of the Cheeeeldren you would think and applaud. I really think this is the thin end of the edge. First they came for the Porn watchers, then they came for the Bloggers, etc, etc. You get my gist.

Others have posted on this subject better than I could, so I’ll leave you with this gem

Seasonal Fare

My Recipe for a good Christmas lunch

No chipmunks were harmed in the making of this song

Saturday 18 December 2010

Enough is enough

This is an open letter to David Cameron.

I wanted to believe that you Mr Cameron and your so called conservative (Spelt with the smallest c I could find) party were worth supporting.

All I can see is more and more broken promises whilst my taxes and bills soar.

Where is a proper discussion on the smoking ban that you promised? Seems to have disappeared in a puff of second hand smoke.

What is this obsession with wind turbines that is going to increase my energy bills by £250 a year? What’s that? Oh I see. Global warming has fried your brain.  How do they work with a high pressure area when there is no wind and the temperature is minus ten? How does that solar panel work when it’s covered in snow?

Why scrap the harrier jump jets and therefore end protection of our Navy for a mere £1 billion in savings when you could have scrapped the Tornado and saved £7 billion? How can you have a Navy without aircraft to defend it?

Why in God’s name have you ring fenced spending on the NHS when we all know how bloated it’s management has become? You’re abolishing targets in the NHS for A&E admission? But then you’re advocating performance indicators or some such crap. The whole idea Dave, should be to throw a layer of middle managers out, thus freeing up money that can actually be spent on care. All you’ve done is a name changing exercise instead of cutting out the cancer.

Where is the Bonfire of the Quangos that you promised?  I’ve seen more fire from a match.

Why have you ring fenced overseas spending for third world countries when we know that it will end up in Dictators’ pockets? (And of course the Indian space programme will do Nicely out of it).

Oh and where is that referendum on the EU that you promised us? I suppose that you’ve been too busy in the race to prop up the Euro? And it would appear that you can’t even put a cap on immigrants  from outside the EU now. And now the latest news is that you’ve surrendered sovereignty to Brussels. That used to be called Treason. In fact I’m sure it still is Dave.

What’s this Big Society crap, you are pedalling? I want to live in a small society where I’m not castigated for living a lifestyle that I chose. What I smoke, eat, drink, or anything else is nothing to do with government. My Lifestyle is my choice. Not yours to hector and Nanny.  (There’s a few state funded, so-called charities that can be axed here to save some money).

Why do you fail to see that the biggest gain by terrorists is the fact that they have succeeded in their aim of terror  by ensuring that draconian restrictions are now in force across the land? Detention, restraining orders. Stalin would be so proud of you.

CRB checks. What have these achieved? All they’ve done is stopped people like me from volunteering to help vulnerable groups, due to the fact I prefer the tenet of being innocent and guilt has to be proved. (And no. I’m not a paedophile).

Bye the way when are you going to repeal that Human Rights act you kept banging on about earlier in the year? You’ve gone very quiet on that one.

I could go on, and on, and on……………………………………,and on.

I like many others are losing their patience with your left of centre government, which to me, seems to have the same objective as the last one. just to have power for power’s sake. After all, you’re comfortably off with your millions. Of course you could use some of that to help pay of the national debt of £4.7 Trillion.

Let me tell you this Mr Cameron. There are a lot of like minded people like me that are starting to think that rebellion is called for. It won’t happen soon I believe. But it will. You’d better start brushing the dust off that civil contingencies act that the last lot brought into law. You’re going to need it

What worries me about that last paragraph, is that direct action is usually carried out by the left wingers, and I am advocating the same. Especially as I consider myself to be a Libertarian.

But then desperate times beget desperate measures. Unless the country wakes up from it’s sleepwalk, It is destined for ruin at the hands of a few powerful individuals. This link sums it all up about what we have lost. The loss of Liberty. By Phillip Pullman.

I’ve almost enough piano wire stored in my garage. All I need to do is mark out 650 lamp posts. Anyone know how many there are in Oxford street? Make a change from the Christmas lights.

I despair, as I sit here huddled up hoping that Global warming will hurry up and arrive before I’m arrested for breaking some illiberal EU made, law...

Yours Faithfully

The Filthy Engineer

A Christmas carol

With a difference

 

Fun

If you want to brighten your snow covered day. Read how MummyLonglegs fared this morning.

Friday 17 December 2010

Twat

To the twat who bought a 4 x4 and proceeded to drive at 5 Mph on one cm of snow, from Sevenoaks to Hildenborough. Next time stay at home.

The Nativity as told in the Digital Era

Well it made me larf.

Thursday 16 December 2010

Wrong again.

The Met office predicted snow for the South East of the country on Saturday or Sunday. If that’s the case why have I got white stuff falling from the Sky, this Thursday evening?

That’s the grit lorries caught out then.

Huhne the Cartoon

 

I give you Fenbeagle’s take on him.

Darwin

1 October 2010, ARIZONA | The Grand Canyon, one of the seven wonders of the world, recently welcomed home the soul of one of the witless wonders of the world. The death of a 42-year-old California man named Andrew, who was leaping from outcropping to outcropping on the South Rim near Pipe Creek Vista, reminds me of an incident in March 2000 involving a "financial entrepreneur" visiting the famous National Park.

Because of the tiresome problem of tourists farting their way into disaster, the more treacherous overlooks in the Grand Canyon are protected by fences and signs. All of these overlooks are spectacular. Some have towering columns, some have small plateaus that tourists toss coins onto, like dry wishing wells.

Make a wish!

One entrepreneur wished for financial success. And there in front of him was a means to an end. He had a brilliant, an obvious, idea. No stranger to danger, the man climbed over the fence with a bag, leapt to one of the precarious, coin-covered perches, and filled the bag with booty. Harvest time!

But. When he tried to leap back to the safe side, he went head to head with physics. Specifically, F = mg. Our entrepreneur had increased his mass, and the force required to lift himself against the pull of gravity was now greater.

The heavy bag of coins arrested his jump, and the birds were treated to a view of his long plunge to the valley floor below, followed by a shower of coins. Brilliant idea with a fatal flaw in the execution.

Gravity. More than a good idea, it's The Law.

"Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas, Jumping Jack Cash..."

It’s probably not true but it makes a good story anyway.

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Now I see the light.

If you read my last post, Good Grief, and if you delve further into the site it came from you will find this section titled Propaganda. Below are the sub plots.

Atrocity accusations 

 Hyperbolic inflations 

 Demonization and dehumanization 

 Polarization 

 Divine sanction 

 Meta-propaganda

It would seem that ASH and the AGW groups have been  following these tenets to the letter.

I’ll give you the text of the first section. After that you’re on your own. Follow the links if you can be arsed to.

Atrocity accusations

Accuse the other side of committing acts of gross indecency and atrocities that will shock and show the enemy to be sub-human. (Ed. Accuse them of slaughtering thousands of bartenders through SHS. Or the Polar bears are dying in their trillions)When values are broken badly, then this legitimises extreme punishment and revenge.

Examples
  • Bombing a religious building or hospital.
  • Killing innocent victims, especially children.

It’s always for the sake of the Cheeeeeldren isn’t it.

Good grief

I was just trawling through my councils web site when I found this little gem.

9.1.1 At the outset of this topic review, Mr Peter Moore, KCC’s Environment Strategy Manager, suggested to the Select Committee that the degree of acceptance of  climate change could be likened to the stages of ‘the grief cycle’.

9.1.2 This cycle details the stages of emotional response that an individual goes through over time in reaction to bad news175. This cycle begins with paralysis, progressing through denial and anger and ultimately to acceptance and the desire to move forward constructively.

9.1.3 Members of the Select Committee each began the inquiry at different stages on this cycle but ended it with clear and unanimous acceptance that climate change
above and beyond that which can be explained by natural variation is happening and accelerating and that human activity is, at least in part, responsible. This is matched by a desire to ensure that KCC and Kent as a whole move rapidly towards a constructive, appropriate and adequate response to the many challenges which climate change represents. All Members of the Select Committee hope that the considered recommendations in this report will drive KCC and Kent to achieve this.

Now my reader might wonder why I’m writing about this. You’ll see in the above text the number 175. This a link to an external web site of which I’ll give you a little excerpt.

The Kübler-Ross grief cycle

Background

For many years, people with terminal illnesses were an embarrassment for doctors. Someone who could not be cured was evidence of the doctors' fallibility, and as a result the doctors regularly shunned the dying with the excuse that there was nothing more that could be done (and that there was plenty of other demand on the doctors' time).

Elizabeth Kübler-Ross was a doctor in Switzerland who railed against this unkindness and spent a lot of time with dying people, both comforting and studying them. She wrote a book, called 'On Death and Dying' which included a cycle of emotional states that is often referred to (but not exclusively called) the Grief Cycle.

In the ensuing years, it was noticed that this emotional cycle was not exclusive just to the terminally ill, but also other people who were affected by bad news, such as losing their jobs or otherwise being negatively affected by change. The important factor is not that the change is good or bad, but that they perceive it as a significantly negative event.

Strange to use a paper on grieving as your rational for tackling Climate change. I’d like to give em grief over the amount of MY tax their wasting on this tomfoolery.

Pragmatism?

The things you overhear.

It happened in an Underground station in London .
There were protesters on the concourse handing out pamphlets on the evils of Britain .
I politely declined to take one.
An elderly woman behind me was getting off the escalator and a young (20-ish) female protester offered her a pamphlet, which she politely> declined.
The young protester put her hand on the woman's shoulder as a gesture of friendship and in a very soft voice said, 'Madam, don't you care about the children of Iraq ?'
The elderly woman looked up at her and said, 'My dear, my father died in France during World War II, I lost my husband in Korea and my grandson in Afghanistan . All three died so you could have the right to stand here and bad mouth our country. If you touch me again, I'll stick this umbrella up your arse and open it.'

That would be my mother’s sentiments if she was still alive.

Monday 13 December 2010

Kent PCT Update

I’ve just added a touch more to my letter to the anti smoking brigade which was the subject of my last post. Here’s what I have tacked on:

Point Four:

The fact that anti-smoking has strong financial ties with pharmaceutical multinationals – to the point that it can be said to be a front for the expansionist interests of Big Pharma – demonstrates a double standard and duplicity in public life that has yet to be fully investigated and called out by mainstream media and politicians.
There is massive profit to be had from the sales of nicotine replacements and psycho-active drugs if tobacco and especially cigarettes were to be abolished. It is not a coincidence that the sales of these pharmaceutical products – many dangerous in their own right -- have skyrocketed since the early Nineties, in parallel with the intensification of antismoking propaganda, disinformation by the mass media, and the heavy financing of antismoking groups such as, for example, Tobacco-Free Kids, ASH,and the Global Framework.

Point Five:

I would also imagine if tested in court this policy could in fact be in breach of the Human Rights Act, Article 14, which states:

Article 14: Discrimination

The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.

Anything else I should add?

Sunday 12 December 2010

Kent PCT to deny treatment to smokers.

My letter that I’m cobbling together to write to Kent PCT

Sir
I read with some disquiet that you will be forcing all smokers to undergo a "Smoking Cessation" course before they are allowed an operation.

From the article in Kent News I quote:

From this month, patients who smoke and need planned surgery will have to complete a NHS Stop Smoking course before their operation.

My first point in objecting to this is as follows:

To me this breaches the whole Ethos of the National Health Service. Where is “Universal healthcare we were all promised?” I would ask you this question? If I refused to undergo the course, would I be refused surgery?

My second point is:

Considering that the total cost of all smoking related diseases is £2.7 Billion, (Government's own widely known figure) and smokers pay through taxes, more than £10 Billion. It would appear that smokers adequately cover the costs of their treatment. In fact it would seem that smokers are subsidizing the cost of non smoker treatment.

Point three:

If you refuse treatment to a smoker who has paid National Insurance for his entire life, but offer treatment to a non smoker who has paid no NI. Should not the smoker be entitled to a refund of part of his NI contributions?
It would seem to me that this is nothing more than social engineering which should have no place in a TAXPAYER funded PUBLIC institution.

And finally you could cut your costs by binning smoking cessation therapy which has been a disastrous failure. I can think of no enterprise with only a 1.6% success rate, (Government figures) should be tolerated in this Financial climate we find ourselves in.

With no Regards

The Filthy Engineer.

Anyone got anything I should add?

Saturday 11 December 2010

Sold out

Looks like we’ll be forced to hand over billions more in taxes if Huhne and Cameron get their way.

tombstone

Don’t they realise that it is NOT and never will be THEIR money that they’ll be throwing away. Some of it’s mine, You TOSSERS.

Mind you it’s always been about the building of a new power base revolving about carbon.

Wanker

climate change poster

Need I say more?

And this is warming?

Hail in South Africa? In their summer? This event happened just a week ago on the 2nd of December. Funny that it wasn’t reported in the MSM.

I just wish this had happened in Cancun.

Fools

More than 190 countries have struck an agreement at the latest round of UN climate talks that puts efforts to secure a new international deal to tackle global warming back on track.

So that’ll be more of my money down the drain of bird mincers, photo voltaic crap, and carbon capture then.

Friday 10 December 2010

Friday Horror

If you don’t like spiders, look away now.

How not to catch one.

The remark by the child is priceless.

I Want one of those

It would appear that the Russians have a  low tech version of the predator drone.

Police in central Russia are investigating a bizarre suspected assassination plot with a radio-controlled grenade launcher equipped with a webcam.

rpg7.n

It’s even fitted with a self destruct mechanism.

The car, which had been hijacked earlier, also had two bottles with fuel inside. It is believed that the liquid would have been ignited by the firing of the grenade launcher and the evidence destroyed.

Clever these Ruskies.

Thursday 9 December 2010

Those leaks.

So far I’ve not posted about the Wikileaks as many have posted better than I can.

However I find it strange that there are large corporations trying to cause maximum damage to the Wikileak group. Paypal, Ebay, Visa, Amazon, etc.

It is odd that they feel so strongly about Tittle Tattle voiced by Governments but didn’t seem so concerned about the previously leaked Military documents. Something is not right.

*Dons Tinfoil hat*

tinfoil

Could it be that Assange let slip that the next revelations in January will be about Malpractice in the Banking system? Bank of America was mentioned. Has this so frightened some institutions, that they maybe implicated in some illegal practices, therefore they are trying for a pre-emptive strike in the name of “National security”?

Especially if it was found that governments knew what was happening in the banking system before the crash. It would not only be CEOs of banks that would be prosecuted. Governments could fall.

*Takes of Tinfoil hat and replaces it carefully back in the cupboard*

What do you think?

Fancy a cruise?

I used to do this for a living. Just imagine yourself in that position. Mountainous seas, reduced propulsion, and terrified passengers. Fun heh.

Let’s sing. “A life on the Ocean wave”.

Altogether now.

Note the cargo vessel trying to fire a line across. Really should allow for the wind. 2/10. Must do better.

New World order?

Are we being stitched up at Cancun?

The Secretariat will have the power not merely to invite nation states to perform their obligations under the climate-change Convention, but to compel them to do so. Nation states are to be ordered to collect, compile and submit vast quantities of information, in a manner and form to be specified by the secretariat and its growing army of subsidiary bodies.

From an article on the JoNova Blog written by Viscount Monckton of Brenchley.

Long but worrying.

Weather Alert

Taken from the WeatherAction.com web site.

Solar Climate Change Mid Dec 2010

This is a first for this site, we are posting a Public Warning for a "Winter" Solar Climate Change. Piers and I have agreed to display this information as there is potential "life threatening" conditions that will be underestimated by the media (inc. Met Office) within the next 7-10 days. With the aid of this forecast we hope to give some advance warning to those of you who are already suffering hardship and warn you of a very real risk of further and even bigger snow storms and blizzard conditions set for Scotland & England and Eastern Europe NEXT WEEK.
Please spread news of this forecast to all of those who are vunerable and try to ensure that food supplies are sufficiant to cope with this impending crisis.

Just thought I’d let you know.

This is an FE public service message.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

How strange?

Just had a look at my stats. Why would a load of stamp collecting Germans be interested in this post?

I’m not sure that I see the connection between Christmas lights and postage stamps. Oh well, never mind. I’m sure it will come to me eventually.

UPDATE: Now the French have turned up.

Questions that Cannot be Answered

 

1. Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?
2. Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?
3. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?
4. If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
5. Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?
6. Why does “slow down” and “slow up” mean the same thing?
7. Why does “fat chance” and “slim chance” mean the same thing?
8. Why do “tug” boats push their barges?
9. Why do we sing “Take me out to the ball game” when we are already there?
10. Why are they called “stands” when they are made for sitting?
11. Why is it called “after dark” when it really is “after light”?
12. Doesn’t “expecting the unexpected” make the unexpected expected?
13. Why are a “wise man” and ” wise guy” opposites?
14. Why do “overlook” and “oversee” mean opposite things?
15. Why is “phonics” not spelled the way it sounds?
16. If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?
17. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
18. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
19. If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?
20. Why is bra singular and panties plural?
21. Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?
22. Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?
23. How come abbreviated is such a long word?
24. Why do we wash bath towels? Aren’t we clean when we use them?
25. Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
26. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one?
27. Christmas – What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your socks?

Tuesday 7 December 2010

An ill wind

20030924                      Picture by Ant Upton ©
GV's of North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm
Alex Tritten and Jo Wilson
This image is copyright Anthony Upton 2003©. 
+44(0) 207978 1459 and the author is asserting his full Moral Rights in relation to the publication of this image. All rights reserved.
Rights for onward transmission of any image or file is not granted or implied.  
Changing or deleting Copyright Information is illegal as specified in the Copyright,Design and Patents Act 1988.

I’ve written before on how much renewable energy is becoming the most expensive form ever.

It looks even worse than I thought when I read this:

The UK has doubled its efforts to check the spiraling cost of offshore wind. A UKERC report published in October noted that in the last five years costs in the offshore wind sector have escalated dramatically, with capital costs doubling from approximately £1.5m/MW to over £3.0m/MW in 2009. The report noted that, as of June 2010, capital and energy costs peaked at approximately £3.0m/MW, or £150/MWh. Through funding, new test facilities and initiatives to flush out the most innovative ideas to address the costly challenge of deepwater, far shore wind, the UK hopes to curb these costs.

It looks like we are  shovelling more than just snow at the moment. £50 notes by the look of it.

Though it does look like one of the moneygrabbers is having trouble.

This year Vestas, the world's leading turbine manufacturer, posted first and second-quarter losses and cut its 2010 earnings outlook as customers delayed orders. In October, Vestas announced that  European market growth in 2011 would "not live up to Vestas’ expectations", prompting the company to consider closing down of a number of factories, primarily in Denmark, where its says costs are highest.

Source

It’s not only Nigerians that are scamming, it would seem.

coal

Anyone want to buy some carbon?

Scam artists from around the world, capitalizing on lax regulations at the Danish emissions trading registry, have made off with an estimated $7-billion over the last two years, according to Europol.

H/T to Financial Post

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa

Greed

An Irishman telling it like it is.

A wunch of bankers.

H/T to Grandad

It’s starting.

It looks like the war against smoking and having a higher BMI has started in my area.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00wh1n0/South_East_Today_06_12_2010/

Starts at 1:10 mins in.

The laughable thing is that the hospital the reporter is standing outside is one of the worst Hospitals in the country.

Monday 6 December 2010

Gotcha.

The silly old Christmas Duffer forgot to look. That’ll teach him to eat all my mince pies, drink my sherry, and block my chimney last year.

livery_santa_hit

Is there a skyway code anyone?

Sunday 5 December 2010

My House

Not.

I like the music though. Can anyone tell me what the piece is?

I’m back.

Just back from visiting Master FE in the frozen norths of Durham.

Whilst in the South of the country we had our fair share of snow which is now melting, not so ooop North.

When I left the son’s road, it was still four inches of packed snow and still bitterly cold. Some reports say that it might take till the new year to clear.

But then again we’re bound to get a quick snap of global warming to clear it away so I’m always being told.

Am I being too cynical?

Thursday 2 December 2010

Make this Global Warming stop.

I’ve dug out the path to the garage four times, to enable passage to the freezer.

I’ve de-snowed (Is this a new word?) the car twice.

I’ve cleared the drive twice. (Using the slave labour of Mrs FE).

Run out of milk.

Run out of bread ( I could have killed the couple who came out  of the local shop with eight loaves this morning. I hope they are all stale by tomorrow morning).

My gas and electricity dials are turning faster than a whirling dervish on heat.

The only consolation is that I’ve enough booze and fags to last me through the night. (The booze and fag police won’t be able to get through the snow).

Ho Hum, could be worse I suppose.

In the spring I intend to experiment in adapting the lawnmower into a snow blower.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Christmas present.

The way the snow is falling now, I’ll buy Mrs FE a bigger shovel.

I’m not happy

I decided to test my happiness on The Happy Planet site. I expect a knock on the door any minute now from Cameron’s happy police. Below are a few of the results.

Sustainability Score

Your personal Happy Planet Index(HPI) is 0.

This is well below the UK average of 40.3 and is not far off the estimated HPI for Zimbabwe of 16.6. Sorry. There are however lots of ways that you can improve your score which will be contained in the rest of this feedback.

The tips and advice below may be useful for you. The websites referred to are all based in the UK, but should be relevant for anyone living in a wealthy country.

You: 0

Average: 54.1

Life Expectancy

You: 44.2

Average: 86.1

Better still

Ecological Footprint

Your ecological footprint is 4.98 global hectares, or 2.77 planets.

Do go and give the survey a try.

*I might have been slightly economical with the truth when answering the questions.*

How long is a Flurry?

The BBC weather reported that deepest Kent would have a flurry of snow today. How can seven hours of continuous snow be a flurry?

30 cms of the stuff and it is still flurrying.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flurry may refer to: A snow flurry; that is, a brief snow shower

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Don’t do this at home.

It’s past the watershed so I’ll pose you a question

This photo is absolutely incredible... it should be a poster for what not to do.
But can you tell what's wrong with it?


prop
Yep, guess you spotted it, too.



Never, never try to Prop-Start an aircraft without chocking the wheels!
I am sure that caught your
eye right away like it did mine..

A song coming to an airport near you in the future

Made me smile.

H/T to Big brother watch

A Parable

I asked a friend's daughter what she wanted to be when she grows up.

She said she wanted to be Prime Minister some day.

Both her parents, Labour supporters, were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were Prime Minister what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people."

Her parents beamed, and said, "Welcome to the Labour Party!"

"Wow...what a worthy goal!" I told her.

I continued, "But you don't have to wait until you're Prime Minister to do that. You can come over to my house, mow the lawn, pull weeds, sweep my drive and I'll pay you £25.”

“Then I'll take you over to the shop where the homeless guy sits outside. You can give him the £25 to use toward food."

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work and you can just pay him the £25?"

I smiled and said, "Welcome to the Conservative Party."

Her parents still aren't speaking to me...........

Weather forecast

I noticed a slight shift last night in the Beeb’s weather presentation.

Now they call it “Tonight’s Report”. They used to call it “Tonight’s Forecast”.

Why the change? Is it because they’ve realised they’re not very good Shite at the forecasting bit?

Monday 29 November 2010

White stuff

Snow is falling.

But wait, it can’t be. This is the warmest year on record.

Ah. I know. It must be super dense second hand smoke, if ASH is to be believed.

Please tell this thicko what it really is. I am confused.com.

*I promise to post decent stuff tommorrow*

I hope justice will be served this time.

But I’m not holding my breath.

A police riot squad officer who escaped prosecution over Ian Tomlinson's death during the G20 protests has been served with gross misconduct allegations.

I posted about this case here. Injustice again.

He will also be accused of using force that "was not necessary, proportionate or reasonable in the circumstances", and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is consulting on whether to hold the misconduct hearing in public.

As far as I’m concerned this should most certainly be held in the public view. Maybe it would be a deterrent to the rest of those thugs dressed up in their stab vests and other accoutrements designed to frighten the average citizen on the streets.

They have long forgotten that they are members of the public given extra powers. I’m sure more and more of them think, that they are above the law, that the rest of us have to abide by.

Will justice be done in this case? As I said, I’m not holding my breath.

What do you think?

Sunday 28 November 2010

Wikileaks

I just hope that they show that Cameron is the spineless shyster that I consider him to be. I would like to see him squirm on television trying to refute the claims.

Rant over.

Saturday 27 November 2010

I think he doth protest too much

Solicitors acting for Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East, sent a strongly-worded warning to Richard Grant for saying in a published letter that Mr Lewis "got away with it" after claiming expenses which would be "considered unacceptable" by most people.

I personally think that his claims were extravagant. A bloody trouser press FFS.

The MP successfully claimed £119 for a wall-mounted trouser press, £5 for a "sweater tidy" and £2,369.75 for kitchen appliances.

Could he not use an iron like the rest of us?

Downfall of the EU

 

H/T to GOT

Friday 26 November 2010

A bit of a boob

Oh dearie me

A Missouri man has been arrested after allegedly carrying out a robbery on a petrol station kiosk by getting his female accomplice to flash her breasts at the clerks as a distraction.

blonde_bimbo

Original to say the least.

Laron Pearson, 21, was taken into custody on Tuesday after showing up at the station three weeks after the original crime, when workers called the police to identify him as the same man according to the Kansas City Star.

And I couldn’t help myself in tampering with the charge

Pearson is charged with first-degree Boobery robbery.

Where’s the proof?

I’ll have a look later to see what I can find. But meanwhile dissect this propaganda piece from the Righteous.

Passive smoking is responsible for one in every 100 deaths around the world each year, according to research published today.

And of course we have the usual band wagon jumpers.

‘This research underpins the long-held understanding that second-hand smoking kills and its greatest impact is on children,’ said Dan Tickle, of the No Smoking Day charity.

And

Betty McBride, of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘These figures should make smokers stop and think about the impact they’re having on other people’s health, particularly children’s. They should also serve as encouragement to government to... promote smoke-free homes and cars.’

Pah,

Thursday 25 November 2010

Things you didn’t know about smoking. Part 4

 

 Smoking might give you a heart attack but smokers have better chances of surviving a heart attack than non-smokers, according to a puzzling phenomenon dubbed "smokers paradox".  The apparently "protective" effect of smoking in heart attack patients was highlighted in a study confirming smoker's paradox among older patients, released at an international cardiology conference.  In a statistical analysis, smokers had a massive 75 per cent better chance of surviving heart attack than non-smokers, the study showed.

These findings may give heart attacks to anti-tobacco operatives.  Although the researchers certainly peppered their report with anti-smoking provisos they deserve credit for examining a phenomenon that goes against the politically correct vein. 

Several reasons for smokers having a better survival rate after heart attacks are advanced.  Each of them implicitly contradicts the false notion that there are no benefits derived from smoking tobacco.  Smokers, according to the director of a heart research institute, are less prone to pulmonary congestion, or fluid on the lungs, and often had lower blood pressure than non-smokers.  They also have higher levels of carbon monoxide in the blood which helps them retain oxygen. 

Despite the negative comments about smoking, a ritualistic defense all researchers must mumble whenever they find something positive to report about smokers, this study provides more evidence that tobacco is not the demon plant that the zealots would have the public believe.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it. ASH

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Go Nigel Go

Nigel Farage telling Herman his future.

And I thought Gatwick was bad.

Security checks in the USA.

*Shakes head*

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Money down the drain.

More of our money lost in this stupid desire by our politicians to ruin the country.

The world’s largest offshore wind project has incurred major cost over-runs in recent months. Wind Energy Update investigates what went wrong and how future projects could avoid similar pitfalls.

And of course it will deliver enough energy for our future needs?

The Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Project, located 25km off the UK’s Suffolk coast, is the world's largest wind farm currently under construction.  When complete, it will boast 140 wind turbines with an installed capacity of 504MW, capable of producing 1,900kWh of energy every year – an impressive 5% of the UK's 2010 renewable energy target of 10%.

Will it buggery. We need gigawatts, not kilowatts. Note as well that they’ve missed their target by 50%.

Then of course they just have a teensy weensy problem with our money.

But the project, estimated to cost £650m excluding the cost of grid-connection, has run into difficulties.  As a result, US-based company Fluor, responsible for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), recently announced that its third quarter results will include approximately US$163 million (£101.484 million) in cost over-runs on the project.

FFS. I’ve had enough of this green shit. I’m going to chuck another log on the fire and pour myself a Large whisky.

Things you didn’t know about smoking. Part 3.

Smoking Does Not Increase Risk Of Receding Gums

Smokers are not at higher risk of developing receding gums than are non-smokers.
Present data do not support the hypothesis that smokers are at greater risk, say researchers in Heidelberg, Koblenz and Münster, Germany.
The researchers noted that smoking is a major risk factor for destructive periodontal disease. There was only limited information, however, about how smoking affected people with minimal periodontal destruction.
To assess the development of gingival recession, the researchers made four assessments over six months of clinical periodontal conditions in 61 systemically healthy volunteers aged 19-30 years. Of these, 30 smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day and 31 did not smoke.
At the outset, about half of both groups had receding gums at one or more sites.
There was severe gum recession of more than two millimetres in more than three times as many non-smokers (23 percent) as among smokers (7 percent). Further gum recession developed during the study.
The risk of recession did not seem to be influenced by smoking status once statistical adjustments had been made for various factors. These included periodontal probing depth, recession at baseline, how often the volunteers brushed their teeth, their sex, their tooth type and the site of periodontal disease.

Read this Mr dentist of mine.

Monday 22 November 2010

Religion of Peace. Don’t make me laugh.

Why is it that the MSM and especially the BBC never show scenes like this? First they insult the Royal Anglian Regiment. Then you hear them demanding that those who are not of their so called Religion should leave their towns or areas. Their towns? Since when has a group of religious fanatics been so pampered to?

Wankers of Islam

I presume that wanker Cameron has seen this? Of course the spineless shit will just hope that it’ll go away.

H/T to G.O.T

Another Climate Change scientist repenteth.

tanker

More and more scientists are trying to jump of the slow moving supertanker before  the propellers fall off.

A top East European climatologist, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with UN global warming colleagues, jumps a sinking ship as ocean data signals a cooler climate.
Dr. Lucka Kajfež Bogataj left cold clear water between herself and her former UN shipmates by declaring that rising levels of airborne carbon dioxide probably don’t cause global temperatures to rise. The news scuppers hopes for a change in fortune for the beleaguered UN climate agency. Their doomed ‘ship,’ the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been sailing on an ill wind ever since it was struck by that
Climategate ‘torpedo’ last year.

They’re taking to the lifeboats  now, faster than you can say “Titanic”.

She’s now saying what most of us have suspected.

Buried in an otherwise drab study on paleo- and proxy methods, Dr. Bogataj admitted to what skeptics have long been saying and what the ice core proxy data shows: that rises in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) are proven to mostly, if not always, occur AFTER rises in temperature.

Do go and read the whole article as it appears that there are even more scientists queuing for a place in the lifeboats. It’s over at Climate realists.

Friday 19 November 2010

Things you didn’t know about smoking. Part 2

Shocker: 'Villain' nicotine slays TB

Nicotine might be a surprising alternative someday for treating stubborn forms of tuberculosis, a University of Central Florida researcher said Monday.
The compound stopped the growth of tuberculosis in laboratory tests, even when used in small quantities, said Saleh Naser, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular biology at UCF.
Naser said nicotine worked better than about 10 other substances also tested. If it proves itself in further study, people might swallow capsules of nicotine or get intravenous doses to stave off their TB in the future.
It could be a potentially white-hat role for one of medicine's great villains. Most scientists agree that nicotine is the substance that causes people to become addicted to cigarettes and other tobacco products.
"Can you imagine if we can get something useful out of it?" said Naser, who presented his study to members of the American Society for Microbiology, which is meeting this week at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. "It's the best thing I've seen to date. It shows there is some hope that this substance we've hated for so long might be formulated in one way or another to fight infectious diseases."
Naser's research team uses naturally occurring substances taken from the jungles of Vietnam to the swamps of Florida in search of ones that might fight disease. He was working with tobacco plants when Naser noticed they were showing some effectiveness in quashing TB.
Unsure what specific component was at work, he decided to test nicotine because it is the most-studied compound in the tobacco plant. He got lucky. First nicotine killed regular tuberculosis, and then harder, drug-resistant strains that will not succumb to the usual medicines.
It worked even when used in doses smaller than what's found in a single cigarette. Naser said such small quantities are not likely to cause addiction. But no one is suggesting that people with TB take up the potentially deadly habit of smoking.
Tuberculosis is highly treatable in most cases but still requires at least six months of antibiotics. When people fail to finish their medications, they can develop dangerous forms of the disease that no longer respond to the standard drugs.
There were no cases of drug-resistant TB in Orange County last year, but statewide, the troublesome forms amount to about 1 percent of all cases, said Graydon Sheperd, chief of the bureau of TB and refugee health at the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.
The contagious disease is caused by a bacteria that is spread through the air when an infected person coughs. There were 1,281 cases of newly diagnosed TB in the state in 1999. Doctors say they welcome the search for more tools to treat the ailment.
"The biggest problem we have with TB is compliance. People don't want to take their medications, and we can end up with something that takes even longer to treat," said Dr. Boubker Naouri, TB program manager for the Orange County Health Department. "If we can have better drugs that work faster, it would be a big help."

Thursday 18 November 2010

Those damned leaves again.

train_ad200

A commuter train from Charing Cross slid for a record two-and-a-half miles because of leaves on the line.

And that’s my line. You can see why I avoid trains like the plague.

Justice?

Remember the case of the custody Sargent who was convicted of actual bodily harm after throwing a 59 year old woman to the floor of a cell?

The officer was found guilty of causing her actual bodily harm and jailed for six months in September.

Sgt Andrews spent six days in prison, but was released on bail pending the appeal at Oxford Crown Court.

Sgt Mark Andrews. Pic: Wiltshire Police

Mark Andrews spent six days in jail after being convicted

A Wiltshire policeman convicted of assaulting a woman in custody has been cleared on appeal.

The appeal judge, Mr Justice Bean, said after the four-day hearing he was satisfied that Sgt Andrews did not intend to throw Ms Somerville into the cell and that injuries she suffered were probably caused by the door frame.

Justice. Pah. I’m moving to Eastern Europe.

Things you didn’t know about smoking. Part 1

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study adds to the previously reported evidence that cigarette smoking protects against Parkinson's disease. Specifically, the new research shows a temporal relationship between smoking and reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. That is, the protective effect wanes after smokers quit.

"It is not our intent to promote smoking as a protective measure against Parkinson's disease," Evan L. Thacker from Harvard School of Public Health emphasized in comments to Reuters Health. "Obviously smoking has a multitude of negative consequences. Rather, we did this study to try to encourage other scientists...to consider the possibility that neuroprotective chemicals may be present in tobacco leaves."

As reported in the March 6th issue of Neurology, Thacker and colleagues analyzed data, including detailed lifetime smoking histories, from 79,977 women and 63,348 men participating in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort. During about 9 years of follow-up, 413 subjects developed definite or probable Parkinson's disease.

Compared to people who had never smoked and were considered to have "normal" Parkinson's disease risk, former smokers had a 22-percent lower risk of Parkinson's disease and current smokers had a 73-percent lower risk.

"The results were similar for men and women, and were also similar to the results of studies by many other researchers looking at the same topic," Thacker noted.

In former smokers, more years of smoking, fewer years since quitting, more cigarettes per day, and a higher total amount of lifetime smoking were all related to a lower Parkinson's disease risk. The researchers also found that the duration of smoking and the time since quitting influenced risk more than the average daily amount of smoking.

"A 30 percent to 60 percent decreased risk of Parkinson's disease was apparent for smoking as early as 15 to 24 years before symptom onset, but not for smoking 25 or more years before onset," the investigators report.

"The results of our study," Thacker said, "can probably be explained by something in cigarettes -- most likely in the tobacco itself -- actually protecting people against getting Parkinson's disease. That would be the simplest explanation that makes the most sense."

Studies to determine if, in fact, there are neuroprotective compounds in tobacco are warranted, the researchers say. "The observation that smokeless tobacco users also have a lower risk of Parkinson's disease suggests that the most likely candidates are not compounds generated by combustion, but rather constituents of the tobacco leaves."

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Just a thought

bomb

I was just thinking about my time in a para military organisation. (I can’t tell you which, otherwise I’d have to shoot this blog).

It was a while ago and my ship was out in Angola as part of the peace keeping mission at the time.

We’d been sent down  to provide early support for a composite battalion of the British Army, to assist in a settlement of power in the country.

Well I usually keep my head down, and don’t volunteer for anything that might curtail my sojourn in the Officers bar and consequentially was distressed to be summoned to the Captains cabin at short notice, with no idea why.

Conversation goes like this.

Captain: FE. I want you to liaise with the Royal Engineers.

FE: Wouldn’t  another younger, keener, promotion seeking engineer, be a better choice. (FE remembers his time carrying out Hurricane relief. FE’s bar time was severely curtailed).

Captain:  No FE, you’re the man for the job (Add your own claptrap puff piece if you wish), so I’ve nominated you.

FE: Yes Sir. (Under breath remark. You Cunt)

Captain: You’ve full authority.

And here’s the rub. I actually fitted in well with the Royal Engineers that I was liaising with. Being a Marine engineer who has to adapt to any problem, I found kindred spirits in theatre. I was amongst people who used the information available to them and made things happen.

And they taught me all sorts of useful skills.

1. Very important. How to use and strip an SA80 assault rifle.

2. JCB operation.

3. How to use and strip an AK47 assault rifle. (In case I lost the SA80).

4. How to build a bar out of an old container in one day.

5. How to make safe an anti-personnel mine. (Done with some trepidation on my part).

6. How to defuse a BOMB.

7. Too old. Can’t remember 7. Oh yes, it’s coming back to me. The safe way of blowing a door off.

Of course the only really useful one in the UK is number 3. You never know when you might have to prize a cash machine out of a wall.*

*To the Plod. That was a joke.

Junk science and the BBC

There’s a good article over in the Telegraph written by James Delingpole on his blog. In it he commends a letter to the BBC from Andrew Montford of Bishop Hill blog, and Tony Newbery of the Harmless Sky blog. They have submitted a damning document questioning how the BBC’s position on climate change came about
Delingpoles blog in support of their letter is worth a read.

Tuesday 16 November 2010

More anti-smoking Miscellany

I thought the last post of mine was daft, concerning that fact that pregnant mums who smoked were likely to give birth to criminals.

Now “experts” believe that second hand smoke makes you deaf. Well it didn’t affect my kids. They can hear my wallet open from 300 miles.

People who are exposed to the second-hand smoke from others' cigarettes are at increased risk of hearing loss, experts believe.

Doctors already know that people who smoke can damage their hearing.

The latest study in the journal Tobacco Control, involving more than 3,000 US adults, suggests the same is true of passive smoking. (Emphasis mine)

Of course it is the usual culprits who are spouting this drivel. Tobbacco Control. As is usual in the above quoted paragraph, they come out with the weasel words, believe and suggests. In other words hypothesis and not proof.

And they continue

This revealed that people exposed to second-hand smoke were far more likely to have poorer hearing than others, and to a degree where they might struggle to follow a conversation in the presence of background noise.

Now. I’ve been smoking for over forty years, and a fair bit of that time worked in Engine rooms where the levels of noise are extreme. How come my hearing is not reduced to nothing then?

And they finish with this.

"Before you next light up a cigarette, consider how it could impact not only on your own long-term hearing but your friends' and relatives' too."

And I’ll finish with this you miserable control freaks. Just Bugger off.

On a final note, the pic accompanying the article is this.

cheeldren

Please will someone help the poor little Cheeeeldren?