A Tale of Two Cities or... a picture tells more than 1,000 words!

This is Lahore in Pakistan...

 

And this is Dewsbury in the United Kingdom...

 

 

Something odd? Can't quite put my finger on it............

What do a puppy, a bulldozer, and Hells Angels have in common.

A German student created a major traffic jam in Bavaria when he made a rude gesture at a group of Hells Angels, hurled a puppy at them and then escaped on a stolen bulldozer.

WTF. But it gets better.

After making his getaway, he stole the bulldozer from a construction site, and attempted to drive it to Munich. However, it was not fast enough, and his snail-like pace caused a 3-mile traffic jam near the southern town of Allershausen, according to a report in the English-language newspaper The Local, which cited the daily tz.

Apparently he was suffering from depression.

No puppies were hurled hurt in the writing of this article.

 

SOURCE

*The cat will get it though, if it climbs over the keyboard again*

Scoop. Whales save planet.

 

Who would of thunk it? Whale shit is saving the planet from biggest ever scare story man made global warming.

Sperm whales offset their carbon footprint by stimulating plant growth with their own faeces, scientists have discovered.

Australian researchers worked out that Southern Ocean sperm whales release about 50 tonnes of iron when they defecate every year.

This stimulates the growth of phytoplankton - which absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.

Phytoplankton are marine plants which are eaten in turn by tiny marine animals - zooplankton -  which are then eaten by larger sea animals.

Must enlarge the pond at FE towers.

Thou doth protest too much.

There seems to be a new group of islamofascists in town.

They really are playing with fire in the current situation where we are getting reports of more deaths of servicemen by the day.

I respect their right to free speech but fear that those of a patriotic persuasion may snap in the near future. There may be blood on the streets soon.

A group of predominantly Muslim protesters gathered in Barking town centre, in east London, as members of the 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment marched through the streets.

One witness said: "There were about 25 to 50 Muslim protesters carrying placards with things like 'Muslims Against Crusades' and 'British Soldiers Go To Hell'.

And

"Then there was a counter-protest of about 100 guys barracking them."

I gather that these were members of "The English Defence League", who proceeded to pelt the MAC with beer and sausages.

The URL for Muslims against crusade if you are interested.

However it's either overloaded or else they've got crap computing power as it is almost impossible to get on there. Mind you, the message I left there with mahommed and Kiddy fidler in the same sentence might have sent their server into meltdown.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

 

An interesting article I've been reading this morning about the fervour of the Anti smoking lobby.

Here are a few bites of the cherry:

 

The Antismoking Lobby has perfected the art of media sound bites. Short, sweet, sticky to the mind, almost totally void of meaning … but deadly in their effectiveness. They are just more lies though, and if you know them you can laugh when you hear them. Some to watch for:

Antismokers claim smoking causes 400,000 deaths a year. (Actually, this is a computer generated imaginary number. And half of those imaginary deaths occur after age 72 … almost 20% of them after age 85!)

Antismokers claim scientific studies are unanimous and unequivocal in proving secondary smoke is killing thousands from lung cancer.
(Actually, the vast majority fail to find even a basic statistically significant link. The UN’s huge 1998 study actually found significant protection from lung cancer in children exposed to secondary smoke at home!)

Antismokers claim smoke contains 4,000 poisons and carcinogens.
(Actually, the EPA can only identify 432: the rest are theory. In toxicology “The dose makes the poison.” Nonsmokers never absorb enough smoke to even approach OSHA safety concern levels for any of them!)

Antismokers claim secondary smoke is just like Asbestos and Radon.
(Actually, sunshine, beer and sawdust are also all Class A Carcinogens.)

Antismokers claim having a non-smoking section in a restaurant is the same as having a non-pissing section in a pool.
(Actually, since pool water is changed about 1x/year and the air in a decent restaurant is changed about 50,000x/year, they’re not the same at all!)

Antismokers claim California’s extreme bans reduced lung cancer by 14%.
(Actually, that drop occurred in 1996… two years before their total ban!)

Antismokers claim that uncounted masses of hospitality workers are dying every year from secondary smoke.
(Actually, “uncounted” is absolutely right… they must all be stacked in a pile next to Saddam Hussein’s nukes and watched over by OJ’s “real killer.”)

You can read the whole article at the Encyclopedia.

It's an easy read, that you can print out and thrust in an antismokers face. (Preferably rolled up, end first).

Even when smokers die they're still in the wrong.

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Lynsey Scott, of Wigan, died months after surgery at Wythenshawe Hospital last year.

Sad but it happens.

Well the crux of the matter is that she had a double lung transplant. All well and good.

But oh Noes.

Shock horror. The lungs were from a smoker.

The father of Lynsey who died after a double lung transplant said she would have been "horrified" to discover the organs were from a smoker of 30 years.

What is it with the righteous, that even when a good deed has been done to prolongue this woman's life, they still have to castigate the donor, because he or she smoked.

She was bloody lucky to get the transplant in any case.

And now she didn't die because of that lung transplant.

She died a few months later in July. Tests later concluded the primary cause of death was pneumonia.

Well Mr Scott and the NHS. Tough shit. My lungs are going to the crematorium with me.

My second Quango for the chop.

The Food Standards Agency.

The FSA was established on 1 April 2000
by Act of Parliament (Food Standards
Act 1999).

I wonder what we did before this quango was established?

We did of course have this:

The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) was
originally established on 1st April 1995.

What  I can't understand is why did we ever need them in the first place? In my childhood we never had people dying by the thousands, with bodies littering the houses and streets of the country.

Why not, you ask?

Because we had cookery classes in school which taught the basics about food preparation, storage and hygiene.

We also had parents who passed on their knowledge gained by their experience.

And none of this cost an eye watering £155,000,000 per annum.

The net cost of the FSA was £155m against
available funding of £160m to 31 March
2009.

Their success rate is astounding. Look at the huge amount of successful prosecutions that they have accomplished with taxpayer funded millions.

However, it is possible to report on all
those cases that were concluded during
2008/09. Overall, 18 cases (comprising
a total of 106 individual charges) were
brought before the courts by the FSA,
Defra, or Procurators fiscal during the year.
The charges laid in these cases covered a
total of 41 separate referrals from the MHS.
Convictions were secured in 14 of the
cases. One case resulted in acquittal with
proceedings withdrawn in three cases.

Rant over. I rest my case.

 

The FSA

I wonder?

Pass The Butter ... Please.  

 This is interesting . .. .

Margarine  was originally manufactured to fatten  turkeys.  When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put  all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their  heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get  their money back. 

It was a white substance with no food appeal  so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter.  How do you like it?   They have come out  with some clever new flavourings....   

DO  YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter?  

Read on to the end...gets very interesting!   

Both  have the same amount of calories.

Butter  is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8  grams; compared   to 5 grams for margarine.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53%  over  eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent  Harvard  Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in  other foods.

Butter

  has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and only  because  they are added!

Butter  tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of  other foods.

Butter  has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years .

And now, for Margarine.. 

Very High in Trans fatty acids.

Triples risk of coronary heart disease .... 

Increases  total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and  lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases  the risk of cancers up to five times..

Lowers  quality of breast milk.

Decreases immune response.

Decreases  insulin response.

And  here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT  IS  VERY INTERESTING! 

Margarine  is but ONE MOLECULE away  from being PLASTIC... and shares 27 ingredients with PAINT

These facts alone were enough to have me avoiding margarine for life  and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is  added,  changing the molecular structure of the  substance).   

You  can try this yourself:

Purchase  a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded  area.  Within a couple of days you will notice a couple of things:

*  no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it  (that should tell you something)

*  it does not rot or smell differently because it has  no nutritional value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny  microorganisms will not a find a home to grow.  Why?   Because it is nearly plastic .  Would you melt your Tupperware and  spread that  on your toast?  

Hmmm. makes you wonder.

Oi!

If you work for a charity get some charitable work done. During the working day you shouldn't be reading my blog.

Go out and rattle a tin.

My first Quango.

Natural England

Here's just a few snippets  from their own annual report and accounts.

Natural England is predominantly financed by annual Grant-in-aid from the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

All very laudable you say. Yes it would be if they didn't have their pockets filled by you and me. Government theft without us having any say.

Just look at the figure below from the report April 2008 - March 2009. It's eye watering.

Natural England’s main source of funding is Grantin-aid (GIA) from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In 2008/09 Natural England’s grant-in-aid was £265,103,000, which made up 97% of its gross income. The other 3% was made up as
shown in the graph below. For a further breakdown of other income see notes to accounts 1 to 5.

What. Only 3% from other sources? I presume they are all voluntary contributions. It's certainly not clear in notes 1 to 5. It must come from all those tin shakers then. Although I've never seen one. maybe they are camouflaged as bushes, or hanging baskets, or some such?

And what the hell are they on about below?

Natural England has established a firm
commitment to Diversity and Equality helping all employees to work together to build an inclusive environment. Dave Webster, Executive Director
Corporate Services, is the Executive Diversity and Equality Champion for Natural England and is supported by diversity strand champions, a steering group and forty Diversity Ambassadors [employees who have stepped forward to help
embed diversity across our organisation].

What sort of non-job is a diversity strand champion or a Diversity Ambassador?

And would you believe That there's a member of their staff that works for 7 weeks in a year and earns  up to £15,000 for the privilege

*FE turns his fag packet over and scribbles a quick calculation*.

FFS, that's an equivalent annual salary of £ 111,428.

I would suggest the government should axe this quango. However they might need a combine harvester.

Go and read it for yourself, if you want to be further depressed.

Natural England Quango Accounts