Gagging at the MOD

 

It would appear that our lords and masters (Gag) in the Government, want to airbrush any mention of bad news about our armed forces during the election campaign.

Nick Gurr, the MoD's director of media and communications, says 'embeds' for all British news broadcasters and national journalists will be prohibited during the election campaign, expected to begin later this month.

Mr Gurr's memo, written last week, is entitled "Purdah (the period generally known to be between an election being called and taking place)* - Key Principles for Defence Communicators."

It details a string of steps the MoD is taking to minimise the chance of embarrassing disclosures. Information on MoD and armed forces websites, it says, must be 'cleansed.' Official blogs and website must 'report factual information only.' Even internal MoD and service journals must be 'submitted for approval before publication' with 'controversial issues avoided' because 'these get into the public domain'. Another order is that 'Any activity that can be delayed should be.'

Well lads and lassies in government, the media, and especialy the armed forces (I've been there). If you disagree and need a voice contact me here (Either in the comments or via my Email) and I will post it here for you. The Blogosphere will not be silenced just because the government wants an easy ride to a labour victory.

 

H/T to Subrosa

ASH v Forest

This hideous woman, Deborah Arnott has the temerity to state that Forest is funded by Big tobacco. What she doesn't let the viewer know is that ASH is in the main, funded as a lobby group by the government, and by Big Pharma.

The figures for Ash's funds over at the Fake Charities site are as follows.

Its 2008/09 accounts show a total income of £742,562, of which:

• Department of Health: £142,000
• ---
• Total £142,000 (19.1% of all income)

The remainder of its income comes from ASH International (part-funded by Pfizer), and supporting charities, principally Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.

It received just £4,975 in voluntary donations from the public, plus a £10,000 legacy.

Surely if the public were so against smoking the private donations would be flooding in.

Amazingly Smokers and anti smokers were able to collect twice as much in the campaign to free the Publican Nick Hogan. IN 4 DAYS.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, you overpaid Harridan.

Jeremy thinks the country is going to the dogs.

 

Just read his article in the Times. He's just saying what we all think. The country has gone barking mad. (Pun intended).

He starts his rant with this:

As we know, one man once got on one plane in a pair of exploding hiking boots and as a result everyone else in the entire world is now forced to strip naked at airports and hand over their toiletries to a man in a high-visibility jacket.

In other words, the behaviour of one man has skewed the concept of everyday life for everyone else. And we are seeing this all the time.

Go and read it. He ends up with commonsense which the righteous abhor.

Article is linked here.

Love Never dies. The verdict.

 

Lover never dies. The verdict.

Tough shit, You'll have to wait till a later hour. Ie when I'm sober.

Entertainment time

 

I'm going to the Theatre.

 

Love never dies

I'll let you know what it was like Tommorrow.

No smoking. (Or anything else)

Sums it all up

 

 

H/T to 13th Spitfire

Nick Hogan Update

 

The target figure of £10,000 has been reached. The announcement is over at Old Holborn's Blog .

Happy Birthday to me

 

 

I'm going out for a meal with my family tonight. However I wonder who will be paying for it? I think you've guessed it.

Drinkers guide to looking sober

 

Alcohol drinkers fall into two categories regarding self-consciousness - those who become embarrassed by their drunkenness and those to whom nothing and no one matters as soon as they chuck the first pint of Guinness down their gullets. If you happen to be unfortunate enough to belong to the former category, then here are a few strategies which may or may not make you appear less inebriated than you actually are.

Conversational Tips

• Talk intellectually. This tactic should be attempted only after the consideration of three criteria:

  1. Do I have anything intellectual to talk about? Politics, film directors and books may be acceptable subjects. Whatever you do, don't go over the top - discussions focusing on Aristotelian ethics may make you look like a prat.

  2. Will this be so far removed from my normal style of talking as to make me look even more drunk than I already am? If so, move on.

  3. Can I cope? Here you will have to honestly assess your state of drunkenness, taking into account the stumbling blocks of pronunciation associated with words such as 'conspiratorial,' 'revolutionary,' and 'hullabaloo.'

• When questioned about your level of intoxication, do not reply 'I'm fine. I'm not drunk. See?' - then stand rigid with a blank expression on your face. This rarely works for more than four seconds, at which point giggling begins.

• Don't pester the waitress. It is a well-known fact that waitresses are only pestered by the highly intoxicated. If you leave her alone, you'll seem normal.

• Loudly accusing other parties of drunkenness helps: 'I'm not drunk! You must be drunk.' (It often helps if one is not wearing the lampshade at this point.)

• Be a good listener: occasionally say things to encourage the person talking (who in all likelihood will be drunk as well), like 'Hmmm' or 'yeah, yeah' or 'you're dead right' or 'they're not laughing at you, they're laughing with you.' The bonus of this approach is it works even if you're too drunk to understand what they're saying.

Actions Speak Louder than Slurred Words

• Appear reluctant to dance. If you see dancing as the last resort of the foolhardy and desperate, this may be the right tactic. However, sitting aloof in the corner watching others have fun may not be the best way to go about making friends.

• Appear reluctant to engage in 'childish' pranks and games. This may emphasise your maturity. However, considering that everybody else in your party will have to be pretty far gone to take part in activities like the 'South Park whisky drinking tournament', then it may well be pointless.

• Maintain reasonable eye contact with everyone. This is good if this is your normal behaviour, but liable to make you seem a bit weird if not. If people start to avoid you, stop this.

• Flag down taxis on the way home. This will make you very popular. Just make sure that light on the car's roof isn't a flashing blue one.

• Restrict your toilet visits. Everybody knows that your need to use the lavatory rises exponentially with your drunkenness, so why not make it look as if the sound of flushing water is the furthest thing from your mind. Beware, though, unpleasant smelling puddles under the table will indicate that this plan has backfired.

• Keeping a low profile and not making a noisy a**e out of yourself is a good way to go. The trouble is, this path more often than not leads unavoidably to catatonia.

• Relativity - get everyone else around you more drunk than you are, and you will seem less drunk.

• Avoid performing REM's 'Losing My Religion' as beat poetry - for one Researcher this is an early indicator that they're getting squiffy.

• When you are drunk, people will often suggest that you do things. At the time, these things seem sensible and funny. The following morning they do not. Kids, just say 'No!'.

Don't forget you can still Donate to the Nick Hogan fighting fund.