An Englishman's Castle

July 4, 2008

Supping with the Devil

I very pleased the Devil from The Devil's Kitchen is coming to stay tonight, however Mrs Englishman has never read his blog, or even heard of him. How do I describe him to her before he arrives so she isn't surprised?

Posted by The Englishman at 5:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

50 Reasons to Love America

(A Repost for Independence Day - and also because I'm sure there are some more reasons to be added.)

Iain Dale's Diary: 50 Reasons to Love & Hate the EU and other upstanding bloggers have been fisking the Indy's 50 reasons to love the EU - they have done it far better than I ever could.
But as a reply I did start noting down 50 reasons why we should love the USA, but I have lost the notes - please could you help out in the comments as I try and recreate the list from my poor and failing memory.

1) Making English the international language.
2) Computers for all
3) Dodge Charger
4) Daisy Duke
5) Defeating Communism
6) Saving us in World Wars (twice)
7) Cheese Burgers
9) NASA
10) Pissing off the French
11) Blogs
12) Skiing in Colorado
13) Rock and Roll
14) Jeans
15) Marilyn Monroe
16) John Moses Browning
17) Keeping the flame of Capitalism alive
18) ditto free Speech
19) Hollywood
20) Did I mention pissing off the French?
21) The Atomic Bomb
22) Pizza
23) Porn Stars who shave their armpits
24) Ronald Reagan

TBC

Posted by The Englishman at 9:20 AM | Comments (26) | TrackBack (0)

Naturewatch - Badgers show an election is being planned.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Badger cull proposals rejected

The government has decided against a cull of badgers in England to control TB in cattle, the BBC understands.

The policy announcement, which was due to be made next Monday, goes against the recommendations of the former Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir David King.

No surprise there, there is more money in political donations from cuddly badger lovers than from anyone interested in actually controlling this plague.

Posted by The Englishman at 7:08 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

No bloody bible bashing at my local

Landlords protest after pub swearing ban gets them sacked - Telegraph

John Fleming, 44, and his wife Krista, 36, both devout Christians, decided that foul language was beyond the pale at the King's Head and started barring any customers who broke the rule.

However so many drinkers were banned that the brewery saw profits fall and decided it was the landlords who had to go.

Regulars said that Mrs Fleming would walk round the pub with a Bible, and lecture people for bad language.

"You can't run a pub and not swear," a customer said. "If they are Christians they should run a church, not a bloody pub."

I must warn any sensitive souls that there may be swearing tomorrow at The King's Arms, All Cannings as the Grand Chilli Cook-off takes place at lunchtime (all welcome - details below) - if Geoff Baker cooks up his infamous brew again then from memory there was a five minute silence as I struggled for breath before a stream of Anglo Saxon poured forth...

Continue reading "No bloody bible bashing at my local"

Posted by The Englishman at 7:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Leviticus 19:18 vs 2 Kings 2:23-24

Hug-a-hoody speechwriter mugged by hoodies - Times Online

The former Tory adviser behind David Cameron's controversial “hug a hoody” campaign got a bloody lip when he was punched by a hooded teenager as he tried to stop a gang stealing a moped.

I wrote ‘hug a hoodie’ and I’m proud of it | The Spectator

Danny Kruger, who was David Cameron’s speechwriter, defends his most notorious piece of work for the Tory leader and says that love is a neglected crime-fighting device

My main memory of this incident is rather horrid: the spit-filled mouth of the little rat-faced boy who punched me. Short, white, in a grey hooded tracksuit, he shouted at me with all the rage of Cain...

You are a better man than me if you can love such a "neighbour" - Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: Leviticus 19:18 (King James Version) (Old Testament - that surprised you!)

I tend to favour Elisha's story:
2 Kings 2 (King James Version)

23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Don't take an axe to a laptop fight

Girl fought off home raiders with laptop - Scotsman.com News

Mohammed Razaq saw four men, wearing balaclavas and dark clothing, running across the garden to a conservatory. They had a variety of weapons, including an axe, a large knife, a bat and a bar. They smashed windows in the conservatory and entered.

"Mr Razaq attempted to hold the living room door closed to block their access to the rest of the property, but one of the males smashed its glass panels with an axe. The glass showered Mr Razaq, causing him to back away," said Miss Cross. Mr Razaq fell over and the man with the axe fell on top of him.

One of the gang grabbed the girl, 15, by the hair and pushed her into a door and punched her. A man picked up the laptop and the girl tried to retrieve it.

"She was upset at the prospect of this being taken, and a struggle broke out between them. She eventually retrieved the laptop, which she then used to hit the male over the head," said Miss Cross.

Mr Razaq had taken hold of a baseball bat, which he kept in the house, and struck two of the gang. They fled, as they had come in, through the conservatory.

Good girl, but what I want to know was make of laptop was it? It can't be one of those funky apples, you couldn't swat a fly with one of those, an IBM would be too heavy for her to lift and I tried to hit anyone with my old Dell there would just be a shower of plastic and components flying everywhere. Of course there are some who might say there are better ways of confronting such intruders that don't rely on having a handy laptop and a bat left lying about by chance after a game practice (I'm sure he didn't keep it handy for self defence as that would be illegal. )

Posted by The Englishman at 6:37 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Don't take more water with it.

Junkfood Science: Wellness water — the 8x8 myth

People carry bottles of water everywhere, sipping from them continually. We’ve become obsessed with our pee. More incredibly, so have our employers....companies offer water points, send emails to coax workers to drink water, distribute water bottles, and post pee charts in the bathrooms to check the color of workers’ urine. Yes, pee charts. Bosses actually think it’s their business what you do in the privacy of the bathroom. Don’t laugh,

Companies have made workers’ bathroom business their business. Drinking 8 (8 ounce) glasses of water — known as 8x8 — has become a key part of preventive health and workplace wellness programs. Like many other aspects of these wellness programs, their claims to prevent chronic diseases and promote optimum wellness have little credible scientific support.

But how many people know that the roots of this adage aren’t in science, but vitalism and nostrum remediums? How many know that after centuries, there’s still no medical evidence for the belief that normal, healthy people all need to be concerned about drinking more water?

As ever Sandy does a sterling job demolishing the myths - read the rest so you can giggle at those poor saps who can't walk 200 yards up the street without rehydration, I actually think the constant sucking at "sports" bottle is a dummy (or pacifier) substitute as they have failed to grow up.

(As a note as we don't talk about 8oz glasses over here I had never heard of the 8x8 campaign, I suppose we are lucky it hasn't gone metric and called the 275x275 rule, encouraging us to drink 275 275millilubes (or whatever the metric for 8oz is) a day.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:32 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Gordon ducks challenging the pigs

Are MPs living in a dream world by voting to keep £24,000 allowance? - Scotsman.com News

MPS were last night accused of having their "snouts in the trough" after refusing to surrender their ability to furnish their second homes with up to £24,000 of plasma TV screens and new kitchens...

Chris Grayling, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "David Cameron and the shadow cabinet voted for the abolition of the John Lewis list while Gordon Brown and his most senior ministers went Awol. They are showing blatant contempt for public concerns."

Does Gordon Brown turn up for anything that involves voting?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Darling takes the rap for Brown's books not adding up

National Audit Office rejects Treasury accounts - Times Online

Britain’s spending watchdog is refusing to approve the Treasury’s accounts, compounding a miserable year for Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Senior officials spoke last night of a collapse of morale at the Treasury after a string of U-turns and interference by No 10.

Mr Darling is fighting a bruising battle with the National Audit Office (NAO), which is unhappy at the way that the nationalisation of Northern Rock is being treated in the Treasury’s books.

I betting on this chart rising as fast as the cost of living:

English blog posts that contain Whelk Stall per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

Posted by The Englishman at 6:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 3, 2008

Is gun control behind our loss of civil liberties?

- Bishop Hill blog - Is gun control behind our loss of civil liberties?

the idea that gun control might be behind our loss of civil liberties is deeply, deeply politically incorrect. It's an idea which is likely to get one labelled as a "nutter". A couple of years ago, I couldn't have imagined holding this kind of belief. But perhaps things are changing, now the civil liberties debate is in full flow, and maybe it's time to try the idea out for size. ...
....
the root cause of the wave of authoritarian legislation which threatens to swamp us is not authoritarianism so much as "woolly liberalism". We won't punish criminals adequately, so we get more criminals. We won't allow the law-abiding to uphold the law, so our streets get swamped with CCTV. Witnesses can't defend themselves guns, so we have to allow anonymous evidence in court. Women can't defend themselves from rapists, so they shouldn't go out alone. The opinionated can't defend themselves from retribution, so better to legislate them into silence.

We find ourselves between the horns of a dilemma. The idea of rearming the populace is greeted by most "right-thinking" members of the middle classes as evidence of a kind of madness, an idea to get you cast out from polite society. "We don't want to end up like America", they will say, as they check the locks on their doors and windows, and test the burglar alarm one more time.

But the alternative is to continue our increasingly precipitous slide down the slippery slope that ends up with the UK resembling North Korea.

America or North Korea. You decide.

Posted by The Englishman at 10:02 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

Council Tax - Don't argue, we will just take the money.

Council tax rebels will have money seized from bank accounts - Telegraph

Council tax rebels will have cash seized from their bank accounts rather being sent to prison under Government plans to avoid the embarrassment of elderly martyrs.

At present, people who fail to pay council tax can be prosecuted only in magistrates' courts, where prison sentences are the main sanction.

The move would mean that the Government would be spared the embarrassment of high-profile protests by council tax rebels such as Sylvia Hardy, a pensioner from Exeter in Devon who was jailed for a week at the age of 73 in 2005 for refusing to pay an above-inflation increase on her tax bill.

Have your say: Should the Government have the right to collect taxes directly from bank accounts?

My local council tried to mulct a "penalty" payment out of me after they mishandled a council tax demand, I refused to pay and was pleased that I had the right to appear in front of the local magistrates, real people who understand the world, much to the council's surprise. I won and the council was sent away with a flea in its ear, I doubt the same would happen under the proposed scheme....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:11 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Dave - where's the beef?

The Conservatives have a plan and we can make it work | David Cameron - Times Online

The Conservative leader replies to a call by The Times to make clear what his party stands for...

How exactly are we going to do it? At our conference last October, we set out three agendas - for opportunity, responsibility and security. These aren't plucked from thin air. They are all intimately connected to one another. ...

We will give parents the power to set up new schools. ..

We will give more power to charities and social enterprises that really know how to get people into work - paying them for their success....

Our green papers on schools, welfare, decentralised energy, prisons and the not-for-profit sector are designed for what I call the post-bureaucratic age, in which the information revolution can give real power and control to individuals in a way we have never seen before.

We can book a tailor-made holiday on the other side of the world at a click of a button. Social networking can drive the environmental agenda. And Google can tell us more about our illness than our doctors. Yet we still have a government wedded to top-down state control. The future is people-led.

Um. Does that make it "clear" exactly "what his party stands for" and "how we are going to do it"? Or did it read like vacuous aims and aspirations from a marketeer?

Posted by The Englishman at 7:11 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The NHS in Scotland - Labour celebrates the waste

Wasted: The millions spent trying to boost Scottish healthcare - Scotsman.com News

A LUCRATIVE new contract for Scottish GPs that gave them a 38 per cent pay rise over three years has failed to reduce health inequalities or improve access for patients.
A damning report today reveals there has been only limited progress for patients in several key areas – despite the contract costing £160 million more than anticipated.

Proud of the NHS at 60: new Labour for Scotland

Our National Health Service is 60 years old on 5 July 2008, so let’s celebrate one of Britain’s most treasured institutions, that’s touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

Thanks a million

Posted by The Englishman at 6:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Gordon hides away from an election, as usual

Gordon Brown 'running away' from Glasgow East by-election

The Prime Minister has decided not to campaign in the Glasgow East by-election even though the result could decide his political future, The Times has learnt.

It is the only chance Labour has in Glasgow - keep Jonah Brown away.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

After cuddly beaver, it is a pussy with teeth...

Fur flies over chief's call to bring back missing lynx - Scotsman.com News

LYNX should once again prowl around the mountains of Scotland, according to Allan Bantick, who will become chairman of the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) later this year,

Mr Bantick is already heavily involved in the project to reintroduce the beaver, which was given the green light by the Scottish Government earlier this year.

"I'm quite convinced that the beaver will be a success story," he said. "I suspect there is also a case for the lynx. If the beaver trial is a success then maybe the lynx will be next."

He added: "I personally would certainly support the return of the lynx."

He thinks bringing them back would benefit Scotland's forests. "There are very large populations of roe deer in our forests. In other countries where lynx have been introduced the population of roe deer has been reduced and stabilised so the forest can cope with them," he said.

And he believes as humans killed off lynx in Scotland, it is up to us to try to reintroduce them. "The lynx were part of our historical world," he said. "It was eliminated by the hand of man so we should consider whether it can brought back."

He emphasised this was his personal opinion rather than the stance of SWT, and said any move to reintroduce the lynx would require years of research and planning.

Mr Bantick said he hopes there is scope for reintroducing other animals that once roamed Scotland but admits bears and wolves could pose difficulties.

"The beaver is definitely do-able. The lynx may well be. What happens next who knows?

"There may be serious political reservations about bringing back predators such as the bear or the wolf.

"Personally I don't think you would know they were there, but the very first hillwalker that died, it would be blamed on them."

I think I could forgive a rambler eating bear quite easily. What I find harder to stomach is this return to the stone age, the lights are going out as the power stations close, regional seasonal food only is being mandated, that's neaps only for five months in Scotland, and the benefits of progress are being scorned and outlawed in the name of greenery.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Government lapdog turns and bites over ID cards

Airlines anger over ID cards - Telegraph

The aviation industry is being used as a political pawn with the introduction of ID cards for its workers, airline bosses claim.

In a strongly worded letter to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, airline bosses said that forcing airport workers to have an ID card from November next year was "unnecessary" and "unjustified".

They wrote: "Indeed, there is a real risk that enrolment in the National ID scheme will be seen to provide an added, but ultimately false, sense of security to our processes."

They accused the Government of using aviation industry "for political purposes on a project which has questionable public support."

Ouch that hurt, normally the industry rolls over to have it tummy tickled whenever the government asks, so this shows two things, firstly how anti-ID cards they are, and secondly how weak they see the government is.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

July 2, 2008

BBC - rotten penis acceptable - splicing the mainbrace not.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Top Gear rapped for alcohol use

Motoring show Top Gear has been criticised by the BBC Trust after viewers complained about "highly irresponsible" footage.

The Polar Special featured hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May drinking while driving as they tried to reach the Magnetic North Pole last year.

The trust said the scene "could be seen to glamorise the misuse of alcohol".

The show's executive producer said they were beyond the jurisdiction of drink driving laws in international waters. ...

In the same show complaints were also made about scenes showing frostbitten genitalia.

The trust said there was "a clear editorial purpose for the inclusion of an image of a frostbitten penis, which had been shown for "a medical rather than a sexual purpose".

Posted by The Englishman at 10:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

CO2 - the physics behind the scare

THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING HOAX

....Next, let's take a look CO2 from an Atmospheric Physicist's view - straightforward physics that we hope most of you will be able to follow:...

Yep, I did. I suggest you read it as well...

Man-made CO2 doesn't appear physically capable of absorbing much more than two-thousandths of the radiated heat (IR) passing upward through the atmosphere.

And, if all of the available heat in that spectrum is indeed being captured by the current CO2 levels before leaving the atmosphere, then adding more CO2 to the atmosphere won't matter a bit.....

Now, you can sit back and give yourself a pat on the back, because you now know more pure physics of the atmosphere than a lot of so-called "climate scientists", and likely know more than almost all of the non-scientist Popular Journalists and other writers churning out panic-stricken books and newspaper articles on the subject.

And for sure, you now know a lot more than Al Gore.

Posted by The Englishman at 10:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

How Labour MPs really view their constituents

MP David Clelland: ‘I don't want your vote, stick it' - Times Online

Mr Clelland, 64, offered this advice in response to a letter from Gary Scott, 27, an IT salesman with concerns over civil liberties.

Mr Scott had written to his MP once before, while living in a different part of the city, a constituency represented by a Liberal Democrat MP. “He was kind enough to write a considerate reply and I hope you will do the same,” Mr Scott wrote. He then detailed his concerns. The Government was authoritarian and out of touch. He could no longer ignore what he regarded as a “blatant power grab”.

Mr Clelland is regarded as a man of the Centre Left who votes broadly with the Labour mainstream: indeed, he was once a parliamentary whip. He voted in favour of identity cards and 42-day detention for terror suspects. He also voted for the hunting ban. He did stand up for civil liberties when it came to the smoking ban, perhaps because he is a pipe smoker.

Mr Scott was very disappointed with what he saw. “You vote with your party on pretty much every single issue,” he wrote. “It’s not your constituents you represent, it’s your party.”

In short, he held the Government and Mr Clelland himself “responsible for destroying civil liberties that have been hard won from tyrannical monarchs over centuries”.

Concluding what he described as “a bit of ranting and raving from one of your constituents”, he said that if Mr Clelland continued “toeing the party line”, he could “kiss my vote goodbye”.

The warning did not have the desired effect. Mr Clelland replied accusing Mr Scott of arrogance for thinking that “you . . . represent the views of the people of our community”. This, Mr Clelland wrote, was his job.... “I’m not here to be dictated to like that,”...“I do not want your vote so you can stick it wherever best pleases you.”

Posted by The Englishman at 7:27 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Blogging Puppies "Offensive"

Police apologise for 'offensive to Muslims' puppy dog advert

A police force apologised today after complaints that an advert featuring a German shepherd puppy could be offensive to members of the local Muslim community.

Tayside Police used a picture of 29-week-old black puppy Rebel on postcards promoting the force's new non-emergency telephone number.

But the choice of the image, which shows Rebel sitting in a police officer's hat, was questioned by a Dundee councillor who said it would "not be welcomed" by some communities.

And the puppy has a blog so he is one of us, we must protest on his behalf!

Posted by The Englishman at 7:09 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Happiness is ...being Healthy, Wealthy and Wise, not Being Equal.

The world has never been so happy, study says - Telegraph

The world has never been a happier place, according to a survey of global wellbeing which has ranked Denmark as the most content nation.

Denmark scored highest marks thanks to its peaceful atmosphere, democracy and social equality.

Wooa! Denmark has been voted happiest many times over the years, but where did that bit of editorialisation about social equality come from?

Lets look at the rest of the top five:

2 - Puerto Rico

3 - Colombia

4 - Iceland

5 - N Ireland

Do "peaceful atmosphere, democracy and social equality" come to mind? No. "Social equality" is not a factor - the boffins at the University of Leicester say:

"..a nation's level of happiness was most closely associated with health levels (correlation of .62), followed by wealth (.52), and then provision of education (.51).

"The three predictor variables of health, wealth and education were also very closely associated with each other, illustrating the interdependence of these factors.

“There is a belief that capitalism leads to unhappy people. However, when people are asked if they are happy with their lives, people in countries with good healthcare, a higher GDP per captia, and access to education were much more likely to report being happy.

“We were surprised to see countries in Asia scoring so low, with China 82nd, Japan 90th and India 125th. These are countries that are thought as having a strong sense of collective identity which other researchers have associated with well-being.

"It is also notable that many of the largest countries in terms of population do quite badly. With China 82nd, India 125th and Russia 167th it is interesting to note that larger populations are not associated with happy countries."

"Happiness is ...being Healthy, Wealthy and Wise" and not living in a large population socialist superstate made up of different countries, - anyone listening in Brussels?

Posted by The Englishman at 7:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

A Question for Meg Hillier

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Arrests made at ID cards meeting

Nine people have been charged with breach of the peace following an incident at a meeting about ID cards in Edinburgh.

There were protests as a Home Office minister was meeting business leaders and local government officials to outline the proposals..The event was part of a UK-wide consultation which allows organisations to give feedback on the plans.

The Anti-ID card campaign group NO2ID said repeated requests for them to attend the consultation had been refused and they branded the process a "sham".

The Home Office minister for identity, Meg Hillier, said: "We are committed to providing people with the option of having an identity card which will make day-to-day life much easier.

"I am convinced, like people everywhere, the people of Scotland are keen to protect themselves and their families against identity fraud, as well as protecting their communities against crime, illegal immigration and terrorism."

Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: "When government ministers refuse to attend public meetings but instead hide behind secretly organised 'consultation' meetings, we know New Labour is losing the plot.

"But when peaceful protesters are arrested for simply standing up against a government's abuse of power, then anyone who cares about liberty should be outraged."

So the we are "keen" on ID cards are we? But you won't let us "consult" with you over it in case we say the wrong thing. Do you really believe this, are you so far up your nuLabour arsehole you can no longer distinguish day from night, right from wrong or truth from lies; or are just an authoritarian fascist?

Posted by The Englishman at 6:51 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

July 1, 2008

What Council Taxes are really spent on

Councils see smoking as greater problem than violence says Hazel Blears - Times Online

Violent assaults and serious antisocial behaviour are lower priorities for councils than stopping people smoking, town hall targets showed yesterday.

Despite a government poll showing community safety was voters' overwhelming priority, anti-crime initiatives will not be the main focus of authorities.

Details published yesterday by Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, set out the targets picked by each local authority — and agreed by her department — to be their future priorities. While performance will be measured across the whole range of 198 indicators, targets will be set only for the 35 chosen as top local concerns.

Jobless 16-18 year olds, reducing teenage pregnancy, providing housing, protecting the environment and cutting child obesity were the five selected by most councils. While reducing “serious acquisitive crime” such as thefts from cars was sixth, cutting the rate of “assault with injury” was 13th and domestic violence 20th.

Considered a higher priority than both by most councils were stopping smoking and boosting the numbers of local people “who feel they can influence decisions in their locality”.

No wonder the
Local Government Association is giving councils posters to counter what it says is an unfairly poor public perception.
It hopes they will help educate people on what their council tax is spent on.

Except the posters try and persuade us that the Councils concentrate on useful things like cleaning the streets, rather than the councils nannying us to stop our kids eating chips and screwing.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Bulb Mania

BBC NEWS | Magazine | The bulb hoarders

The government wants your old-fashioned energy-hungry incandescent tungsten light bulb gone, and gone soon. But some people are willing to go to great lengths to hang onto the lights they love.

The 150w, in particular, is seriously rare. They're gone from Tesco. Morrisons have already chosen to ditch them, with 100w to follow in the autumn and 60w next year.

Campaigners see the hoarding of bulbs in a dim light. "It's a bad idea," says Ben Stewart of Greenpeace.

Right, that's a a box of them going on the shopping list. Not sure why I need them but if Greenpeace says it is a bad idea history shows it normally isn't.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

What are they on?

Dutch tobacco ban means cafe smokers can only light up pure cannabis cigarettes - Telegraph

Smoking tobacco in restaurants and cafes across Holland is now illegal, but customers are still allowed to light up pure cannabis cigarettes.

"In other countries they look to see whether you have marijuana in your cigarette, here they'll look to see if you've got cigarette in your marijuana."

The Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, which is responsible for enforcing the ban, said it had trained around 200 inspectors.

A spokesman said: "They can tell the difference between a mix or a pure joint from its smell and appearance."

The Dutch health minister, Ab Klink, said he hoped the law would help to rid the country of cannabis-induced idleness.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 30, 2008

82% think the NHS wastes a fair amount, or more, of money.

Labour no longer trusted on NHS reforms - Telegraph

Barely one in five people believe the Labour party will deliver a better health service over the next ten years, the You Gov poll shows.

The Prime Minister hopes Lord Darzi's package of reforms will transform Labour's fortunes and restore the party's reputation as guardians of the NHS on its 60th anniversary.

The results of the poll show he Tories have a clear lead on health policy with 31 per cent of people saying they would do a better job of running the health service, compared to 23 per cent who think Labour would deliver on the NHS.

Sixty-nine per cent of people said reorganising the NHS is more important than spending more on it, up from 38 per cent in 1998. Only 24 per cent now want more spent on health, down from 59 per cent a decade ago.

Seventy-eight per cent of voters believe the NHS has too many managers.

And despite the billions Labour has poured into health, the new poll shows that public satisfaction with the NHS is dropping.

Some 44 per cent of people said they think "a great deal" of money is being wasted in the NHS. Another 38 per cent said a "fair amount" is wasted.

People have seen through the NHS scam, its the beginning of the end. It is a shame the Tories don't recognise that.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:37 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

GCSEs Dumbed Down? F*** Off!

Markers award students for writing obscenities on GCSE papers - Times Online

Pupils are being rewarded for writing obscenities in their GCSE English examinations even when it has nothing to do with the question.

One pupil who wrote “f*** off” was given marks for accurate spelling and conveying a meaning successfully.

His paper was marked by Peter Buckroyd, a chief examiner who has instructed fellow examiners to mark in the same way. He told trainee examiners recently to adhere strictly to the mark scheme, to the extent that pupils who wrote only expletives on their papers should be awarded points.

Write ‘f*** off’ on a GCSE paper and you’ll get 7.5%. Add an exclamation mark and it’ll go up to 11%

Presumably without the asterisks....

Posted by The Englishman at 6:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Cuffed

Handcuff shortage with closure of Hiatt & Company - Telegraph

The police are facing a shortage of handcuffs as the biggest supplier prepares to close. The firm, which has been making handcuffs, leg-irons and manacles to shackle humans for more than 200 years, will shut its Birmingham workshops within days.
The company has caused controversy over the years and there have been protests outside its offices in Great Barr.

Another Great British traditional business lost, but no worries because I believe the American firm will continue to supply our needs...

HIATT USA INTRODUCES NEW COLORS FOR HANDCUFFS

These highly durable handcuffs are available in pink, purple, green, blue, yellow and orange.

(Do they do the fur lined ones as well?)

Posted by The Englishman at 6:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Labour Party Funding Crisis Update (and Plod interviews Hain..)

Peter Hain interviewed by police over £100,000 'hidden' campaign donations - Times Online

Peter Hain, who resigned from the Cabinet over allegations that he had failed to register political donations, has been interviewed by police, The Times has learnt.
A file could be sent from police to the Crown Prosecution Service within weeks. The disclosure contradicts Labour Party officials who claimed three months ago that the inquiry was about to collapse. It is a further embarrassment for the party...The party, which files its annual accounts this week, is averting bankruptcy only because of a written guarantee that at least one union, Unite, will continue to provide funding.

Going, going, gone. Sold to the highest bidder.

Posted by The Englishman at 6:09 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Is this Gordon's crunch election?

A storm gathers above 'Fortress East End' – but its Labour defenders remain defiant - Scotsman.com News

Glasgow East is a new constituency with old problems. Born in 2005, following the reorganisation of Scotland's constituencies, it now includes the former Ballieston constituency as well as parts of Shettleston which, unfortunately, makes it the poorest and unhealthiest in Britain. This may be Labour's heartland, but if so it is one clogged by unemployment, drug abuse, depression and obesity.

Male life expectancy across the city's East End is 68, five years less than the Scottish average, while in Shettleston it drops to just 63. Women, meanwhile, live on average to 74, which is still three years less than the national average. Across the area, 30 per cent of the population is described as "deprived", while 25 per cent are unemployed, compared with a national average of 5 per cent.

The by-election that could bring down Brown - Scotsman.com News

Many in the Labour Party now believe victory for the Nationalists in Glasgow East – one of the safest Labour seats in the UK – could force Mr Brown out of 10 Downing Street.

SNP leaders believe the Glasgow by-election – triggered by the resignation of MP David Marshall for health reasons – is within their grasp given the turmoil in the Scottish Labour Party following Ms Alexander's resignation.

The old saying about you could put a rosette on a donkey and it would be voted in was coined for constituencies like this so the result will strike fear into Labour MPs across the land. And the question the deprived voters have to ask themselves is "what has Labour done for them?"

Posted by The Englishman at 6:03 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

June 29, 2008

That LGA Disgusting Poster

BBC NEWS | UK | Councils launch charm offensive

Research by the Local Government Association found residents in England and Wales were satisfied with services but did not realise who provided them.
It is giving councils posters to counter what it says is an unfairly poor public perception.
It hopes they will help educate people on what their council tax is spent on.

'Disgusting' council poster campaign criticised - Telegraph

Local authorities have been criticised for using 'disgusting' posters ...
The controversial poster campaign,.....was immediately condemned as offensive 'propaganda' which could breach guidelines on taste and decency and branded a waste of taxpayers' money.

Can't see what is wrong with that poster....

Posted by The Englishman at 7:55 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Salad Days Update - Thank you Kim

Kim kindly linked to my College return yesterday so it is only fair I give you the update:

British Rail got me to Oxford only 30 minutes late so I was in time for the pre-luncheon drinks and then into the old hall for:

The Gaudy Lunch

2000 Bourgogne Blanc Javillier
Char-Grilled Asparagus with Smoked Salmon served on Baby Salad Leaves with a Citrus Dressing
***
1999 Château d'Armailhac
Pan Fried Medallions of Venison with a Port and Redcurrant Jus Lie
Parmentier Potatoes
A Medley of Roast Vegetables
***
Tirimisu with Fresh Raspberries and a Rich Chocolate Sauce
***
1995 Château Liot
1998 Château Chantalouette
Dessert
***
Coffee served in the Garden Quadrangle Reception Room

The Chateau d'Armailhac (Pauillac) 1999: (Youthful colour. Obvious and attractive youth on the nose, brimming over with coffee, tarry treacle toffee and blackcurrant aromas. Full palate, with coffee notes again, and firm, fresh acidity. Intense and concentrated, with pure black fruits and ripe, firm tannins. Voluptuous and seductive. Delicious, with lovely potential. A tremendous effort for this vintage. Needs five years but should be beautiful when mature.) was superb. After that it all got a bit hazy.

As I walked back across the quad I was approached by a young Texan honey (Youthful colour. Obvious and attractive youth on the nose, brimming over with coffee, tarry treacle toffee and blackcurrant aromas. Full palate, with coffee notes again, and firm, fresh acidity. Intense and concentrated, with pure black fruits and ripe, firm tannins. Voluptuous and seductive. Delicious, with lovely potential. A tremendous effort for this vintage. Needs five years but should be beautiful when mature.) who was lost.

She was trying to find her way round the college having just arrived for a course. She obviously thought I was safe as I was wearing my State of Texas belt buckle, a present from Kim, so in my best Terry Thomas manner I took off to see the magnificent new organ....

The train was very, very late so Mrs Englishman had to drive out late in the evening to pick me up - she has gone for a walk this morning leaving me in my penitence to look after the Englishettes.

Posted by The Englishman at 9:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Bootleggers on the Scottish Border

Supermarkets' border raid on SNP booze ban - Scotsman.com News

Asda chiefs said there was "nothing to stop" them – and other supermarkets – building new warehouses in northern England and transporting alcohol ordered on the web direct to homes in Scotland.

Asda is the first of the big four supermarkets to break its silence over the SNP plans, announced two weeks ago, which include measures to raise the drinking age in off-sales to 21, and to set a minimum price on all alcohol, with each unit being sold at no less than 35p.

Rob Chester, head of licensing at Asda, said: "There is nothing to stop companies looking at expanding their home shopping network or opening up depots just south of the border and delivering to homes in Scotland."

Paul Kelly, the store's corporate affairs director, added: "The big point here is that these measures will actually hurt the poorest.

"Low income Scottish consumers will pay for this. These plans could create two classes of customer: some who are reliant on the local supermarket because they use cash and others who will get deals over the internet."

He added: "The well-off person in Bearsden will be OK. But a poor family in Dundee will pay. It is about a £10,000 a year person being punished for wanting to have a drink at the end of a week. That is the unintended consequence of what is being proposed."

"Unintended consequence"? I'm not so sure. Nanny always bullies the weakest first.

Posted by The Englishman at 8:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Flagflapping

Anger at MoD plan to unfurl £2.5m of new flags - Scotsman.com News

DEFENCE chiefs are spending £2.5m replacing every flag in the British military in a move which has angered troops still fighting for their lives in warzones with outdated and inadequate equipment.

At least, I hope, they aren't replacing them with the blue rag with the gold stars on it, yet.

Posted by The Englishman at 8:18 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Let's Party!

School leavers want a prom just like on US television show The OC - Telegraph

...teenagers turn to American-style prom celebrations complete with stretch limousines, dinner jackets and ballgowns. ..

Not everyone is thrilled with the invasion of such an American rite of passage. Gerald Haigh, a former primary school headteacher, worries..: "A friend emailed me to say that outside his local primary school on the night of the Year 6 leaving party, he'd counted four stretch Lincolns, two stretch Hummers, assorted Jags, BMWs and Mercs, all queuing to drop off buffed and puffed sprogs and sprogettes. Doesn't it make you yearn, just a little, for a more
innocent time?"

Hurray - the kids have aspirations! They want glitz and fun - how unlike the grumps and the new survivalists

...Sally Hill, 37, a former teacher, wants her two young children, five-year-old Abby and three-year-old Ben, to live a self-sufficient lifestyle, because she believes the Government will not be able to do anything about future oil shortages.

"When you've given up trying to save the world, the next best solution is working out how to save yourself," says Mrs Hill, whose husband, Matt, 40, a graphic designer, shares her sustainable lifestyle on the south coast. They have a wood-burning stove, kerosene lamps and essential supplies in the cellar to prepare for the possibility of food shortages or prolonged power cuts.

She is guided by the impulse that it is better to be safe than sorry, teaching her children how to grow vegetables as part of their education.

Funny how it is always the "former teachers"....

Posted by The Englishman at 8:16 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

St Tony to Save Us

A climate solution is in reach | Tony Blair - Times Online

"The problem of climate change is almost universally understood and acknowledged. This is in itself an achievement. Now is the moment to get serious about the solution."

Is there anything more depressing to read than Oh-god-we thought-we-had-got-rid-of-him Blair making a comeback as a wannabe Al Gore (Cherie must have noticed how much money Al is trousering as a Climate Saviour) and his fatuous ideas and him pushing for more green policies. And why is "Now the moment" - is it because he didn't do them when he was in power as he knew they are election losers, or is it because after 11 years of no global warming if the socialists don't push through there anti capitalist policies now under cover of saving the world from warming it will soon be too late as increasing numbers realise the scam is up?

Posted by The Englishman at 8:08 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

June 28, 2008

Wendy Goes - Pushed or Jumped?

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Alexander expected to stand down

Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander is expected to announce she will stand down, the BBC understands.

Posted by The Englishman at 9:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Salad Days

Off in a short while to attempt to get to Oxford by train. It is back to the old college today for some agreeable drinks and a spot of lunch. Old memories will be flooding back, I'm more of a Brideshead Revisited generation Oxonian than a Morsean, so I will wander through the Quads in an effete manner remembering my wasted youth, and the other wasted youths I used to get wasted with. I wonder if any others will turn up for the reunion, and if I will remember them. All the clever bastards went to the city and made obscene amounts of money, I'm sure the college gives them extra special lunches; the ugly northeners went into politics and became Labour MPs, I hope they don't turn up, (though it would be fun to meet up again with Angela Eagle, with whom I was like the fabled little Dutch Boy before she discovered she was a Lesbian). And for the rest of them it will probable be the weekend they have access to the kids and will be ferrying them to football or Ikea, or whatever most fortysomethings do that I have never bothered with.

And then if British Rail works, back to Pewsey for a BBQ at a pub - (they don't do finger buffets in Pewsey as it confuses the polydactyl population). The only part of the cunning plan I haven't worked out is how to get back home to the bosom of my loving family at the end of the day. And how Mrs Englishman is going to to greet me...

Wish me luck...

Posted by The Englishman at 6:56 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Stan and Ollie in Downing Street

Darling meets road tax hike rebels - Scotsman.com News

Reports suggest a Labour revolt has been averted by Mr Darling promising to "fix" the issue.

The Treasury insisted he has "not made any concessions or promises to make any in the future" and said there are "no plans whatever" to abandon the changes.

So it will be a full scale retreat then -

Gordon Brown's 10p tax fiasco to cost another £1 billion - Times Online

Gordon Brown is facing a £1 billion annual bill for the 1.1 million people who have yet to be compensated for the 10p tax fiasco.

The scale of liabilities piling up for the Government emerges today with a devastating critique of Mr Brown’s personal handling of the issue that has hobbled his Government.

As Chancellor, Mr Brown acted for the “perceived benefit of seeming to pull rabbits from the hat” when he cut 2p off the basic rate of income tax and