Could he be upset?

I think that Counting cats is a trifle miffed.

Jeremy Irons Is A Complete Arsehole.

Oh dear. But he does put it very well.

Cats I mean.

Stress warning.

They say that selling a house is one of the most stressful moments in your life.

Well. I'm in the process of selling a luxury apartment in an old Mill house. It has everything going for it. Complete with gently turning mill wheel outside the sitting room windows.

I actually had a buyer interested before the property went on the market. however he couldn't anywhere near match the asking price. Oh well.

A week after the apartment went on the market a buyer popped up, made a reasonable offer, and wanted a very, very, quick completion. Oh good.

No. Not so good. His survey has just come back with a tale of woes. Subsidence, rising damp (I would expect that, as the mill stream runs under the dining area floor!), and various minor other niggles.

Where the problem lies is that I am managing the sale for two executors, as I live close by. Trying to tie up with the executors, the estate agent, the resident's association, and the conveyancing solicitor, is becoming a real headache.

Am I stressed out? Well actually, no.

I stand to gain nothing from the sale and the recipients of the money from the sale have not lifted a finger to help. Why should I hurry?

Ho Hum. Time for a drink. I wonder if I can claim that as a legitimate expense?

Fears over 'child neglect' cases

More than one in three social workers and police officers have felt powerless to intervene in cases of suspected child neglect, a survey has found.

Half said earlier intervention was needed to ensure cases of possible neglect are dealt with more effectively, according to research for the charity Action for Children.

Some 41% of the professionals said they were under greater pressure now to intervene when children are being neglected than five years ago and 16% reported encountering more cases than last year.

  More....

Those damn pigs.

They're always bleating oinking on about health and safety.

Please stop.

Another bloody E mail from Call me Dave has just fallen into my inbox. I've reported it as spam.

Sunny Jamaica

 

If you do go there, steer clear of the capital, Kingston.

Jamaican police say at least 26 civilians and four members of the security forces have died as police and soldiers battle defenders of a powerful Jamaican gang leader sought by the US.

Thousands of heavily armed forces are raiding the capital's most violent down town slums in a hunt for underworld boss Christopher Coke, known as "Dudus."

Now I've had experience with the southern end of this Idyllic Isle. I was there many years ago as Officer in charge of a combined Royal Naval and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, hurricane relief team. Well, I can tell you that Kingston was just as bad then, as it is now.

The first day ashore we were tasked to try and put the roof of the Kingston General Hospital back on. Bearing in mind that we were all seafarers, not a roofer among us, this was going to be a tad daunting.

However what we were not prepared for was being attacked by the hopped up locals on our way to the project.

Needless to say on the second day we went out armed.

If you do go there stay on the North end of the Island.

At least one Government has a set of balls.

The Bulgarian Parliament passed Tuesday, at second read, the more liberal rules for smoking in public spaces and abolished for good the full smoking ban.

The smoking ban was voted by the previous Parliament and was supposed to become effective on June 1, but the current Members of the Parliament approved the amendments of the Health Care Act, proposed by the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party.

Smoking will now be allowed in separate smoking spaces inside restaurants, bars, coffee shops, railroad stations, airports, ports, and bus stations. In restaurants with less than 50 square meters, the owner is to decide it the establishment will be smoking or non-smoking. In office buildings, employers have the right to designate special smoking spaces. In night clubs smoking will be allowed without the requirement to have separate non-smoking places.

I can't see it happening over here. The Government is too enthralled with every bogus scientific claim made.

Global warming (Sorry,climate change now), Ash clouds, Obesity, Mobile phones, Alcohol, etc, etc.

Still. We have the great repeal bill to look forward to. Although I fear that it will tinker around the edges of our liberty.

It would be a pity.

Frank Field is threatening to refuse to become David Cameron’s ‘poverty tsar’ after a row over whether he is being used as a ‘token’ Labour supporter of the coalition Government.

I don't know how it started but a few months ago I was in Email discussion with Mr Field over his plans for social reforms to the benefits system. in my mind he came across as one of the few politicians who actually wanted to make a difference. I quite see his position in that he can't seem to be the "Token" labour MP to be in government.

But in my eyes he would be eminently suitable for the job.

I wish you well Frank.

(And I've just carried out the Libertarian survey of my political leanings. I'm a right leaning Libertarian.)

Damn Pikeys

Eurostar trains travelling between London and Paris were hit by delays after thieves stole copper cables used for signalling.

Oh dear.

Economics 101. World wide models

Twenty Economic Models Explained:

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM 
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND  VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using Letters of Credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing  them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.