Tuesday 31 July 2012

Liverpool Football Club






Liverpool used to have class, after Suarez incident they lost credibility, this will not help them.

Pic Via LozEWright ( lovely person that is worth following on twitter) :)


The Facebook page is in no way endorsed by Liverpool Football Club 

Stop being offended!

I have blogged about freedom of speech before (use search box in to corner to see), I do support freedom of speech and will defend it.

Anyway, apparently someone else has been offended according to the huffingtonpost :

  
"Twitter trolls have been targeting Team GB gymnast Beth Tweddle as she performed at the North Greenwich Arena on Tuesday.
The abuse came after a 17-year-old was arrested in Weymouth for allegedly sending malicious tweets to diving star Tom Daley."

It starts, then carries on with this :

"However, some users of the micro-blogging site preferred to send abuse about the gymnast rather than give her support.
Jonathan Coles, for instance, said: “I would go through that whole team gb team except for that tweedle she would need to bring a bag along.”

"And TheFakeChrisBeattie posted a message that read: “That beth tweedle has good legs.. shame about her face.”


Yes those tweets are not nice, but surely they are just an opinion, are we now living in a country where we cannot express an honest opinion, have we become a country where we cannot speak our minds?

Yes they are idiots and as i said earlier i get death threats to, but those tweets are not nice, but should not be illegal!


    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

Correction by the always polite and must read toadmeister :)

And now for some good news

According to the BBC bar brawler Eric Joyce has been naughty :


"Falkirk MP Eric Joyce has been fined £600 for removing an electronic tag, in breach of a community order.
Joyce, 51, appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court after he cut off the tag to take part in a parliamentary boat race.
The MP left the Labour Party after he was given a 12-month community order following a bar brawl at the Palace of Westminster.
Joyce claimed he was granted permission by officials supervising his community order to temporarily remove the tag.
The conditions of his community order included a weekend curfew.
The boat race, in early July, was a charity event between members of the House of Commons and members of the House of Lords."





I do hope he doesn't put that on expenses.     


Link Via BBC

Todays Olympic empty seat picture

     "Seatwatch: this is the North Greenwich Arena 20 mins before women's gymnastics team final"

Pic Via jameskirkup

     " Seatwatch 2: women's gymnastics final as athletes arrive. The blue patches are empty seats"

All Pics Via jameskirkup

   

This Just came down my timeline


Its from unitetheunion

Death threats and blogging, Par for the course?

I haven't been blogging long and have only been on twitter since just before Christmas.

You can guess by the headline what i am going to blog about. Guido Fawkes mentioned today that he gets death threats sometimes :

      "Incidentally, Guido gets regular online death threats and abuse. He doesn’t dial 999. He does sometimes find out the threatener’s phone number and call them. They never sound very brave in person…"   

 He was not the only one to say so , toadmeister tweeted : 

     " I also get plenty of death threats and the like on Twitter. But I never complain. I just block. Sticks and stones ..."


 Old_Holborn said : " If I had a pound for all the death threats I'd received on the web, I would now have £24,582.50"


I have also received death threats and have never even considered going to the Police over it, That is my own view and others may choose to go to the police (maybe it is also the luxury being anon affords me?).

But to some it seems shocking news that bloggers get this type of stuff, when i got my first death threat ( think it was someone who sympathized with the Occupy mob) I looked at it and just smiled, it was the first response to a tweet i had sent out, it wasn't even after a debate, i thought if that had lowered themselves to that level so early in a debate then it means they have nothing positive to say, no ideas promoted.

I probably get one every 4-6 weeks and each time i just smile and ignore, and i would hazard a guess that if every blogger/tweeter complained when they got a death threat then the Police would never have time to deal with anything else.

Anyway, thats just my thoughts on it.

Monday 30 July 2012

And now some news from Wilmslow

In the well respected Manchester Evening News today they bring us this :

   "Police want to speak to a man who pulled his pants down on top of a bus stop, bounced up and down and fell through it.

Officers are investigating after footage of the escapade was uploaded onto Youtube.

The man – believed to be in his early 20s – is shown climbing on top of the shelter in Green Lane, Wilmslow."


   " He jumps up and down a few times before smashing through it and onto the ground, causing £560 worth of damage to the bus shelter roof."

  What an complete and utter idiot!

Empty seats






This is a picture from the beach volleyball earlier today.

Pic via BethanFerguson 

You never know who you will bump into on a train






It seems the PM has used public transport more than me.

Pic Via stebax 

Todays Olympic story

In this piece in Guardian it claims that security documents were found in a bin :

  
"CONFIDENTIAL security documents for an Olympic Games training venue used by hundreds of athletes have been found dumped in a bin.
The paperwork contains detailed drawings of security cameras and building layouts for a sports hall at the Mayesbrook Park complex in Dagenham, which was designed to provide a safe training environment for 800 sportsmen and women during the Games."

"Walthamstow resident Ron Daniels contacted the Waltham Forest Guardian after he made the "stunning" discovery last week at his workplace in Smithfields Meat Market in Farringdon.
"I noticed them sticking out of a rubbish bin and when I had a closer look I couldn't believe it," the 62-year-old said."

 "The documents show every room, every camera, the wires they are connected to and everything. If it got into the wrong hands it could be very dangerous.


The piece finishes of by saying this :

 " The Guardian has contacted the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and Briggs and Forrester for a comment, but is yet to receive a response."


How soon until this Olympics is tagged a shambles?

Link Via karlos

Sunday 29 July 2012

Its ok to say sorry Labour

So one MP gets a shit storm for saying that part of the Olympic ceremony was "left wing multiculturalism  clap-trap" yet another has a different view.

From the Guardian it quotes Paul Flynn MP , The Guardian says :

  "Paul Flynn, MP for Newport West, praised Danny Boyle for highlighting the NHS, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the futility of war. "Wonderfully progressive socialist sentiments and ideas were smuggled into the opening romp,"

The Guardian then went on to say:

  " The Labour MP said he echoed the sentiment of Labour colleague Carl Sargeant, minister for local government and communities in the Welsh assembly government, who had tweeted that the opening ceremony was "the best Labour party political broadcast I have seen in a while".

 "Wonderfully progressive socialist sentiments and ideas were smuggled into the opening romp. The Tory Olympic twosome were tricked into praising the Trojan horse. Cameron and Boris could not condemn the wonders that [they]had praised to the skies 12 hours earlier."

I take it the left will now retract the comments aimed at Mr Burley?

It can happen to anyone

In the joy and elation of team GB winning the first medal today a mistake was bound to happen.

Step forward Ed Miliband with this :

    "That was incredible. Well done Lizzie Armistead. Brilliant effort and result. She seemed rightly delighted in her interview."


One slight problem Ed, its "Lizzie Armitstead" , I take it you will appoint a judge led inquiry to get to the bottom of this?

But then again it has happened before.


Update: it seems Ed was not alone, StuartAndrewMP with the same mistake

   "Congratulations to local Otley athlete, Lizzie Armistead, for winning Team GB's first medal. Making West Yorkshire proud"

Update 2: Mr Andrew has seen the error of his ways and corrected the record

  "Congratulations to local Otley athlete,Lizzie Armitstead,for winning Team GB's first medal.Making West Yorkshire proud.Sorry for misspelling"

Oh the things we do in that moment of excitement and passion :)

Update 3: Ed Miliband also sees the error of his ways here

  " Congrats again to Lizzie Armitstead, this time spelt right...!"

Some Olympics news

Ok, i am trying to ignore the Olympics, however when i see something that makes me chuckle or something i would like to share with you i will bring it to you.

In Firstpost they bring us this story about the opening ceremony :

"The mystery lady who gatecrashed the Indian teams Olympics opening ceremony march in has been identified by the Deccan Chronicle newspaper as Madhura Honey, a post-graduate from Bengaluru."


“DC sources say that her friend from the college was also baffled seeing her with the Indian contingent. She has been living in London and before she went with the Indian team, she had displayed her Olympic passes on her Facebook account. But once this became an issue, she had deactivated her Facebook account”, the report said.
The appearance of the mystery woman gatecrashed India’s march past at the Olympic opening ceremony has caused the delegation to seek an apology from the London organizers, Times of India reported on Sunday.
Acting chef de mission PKM Raja was quoted as saying by the newspaper that the incident had “embarrassed us in front of the world”.

It goes onto say:

" Photographs show a woman in red and blue walking close to flag-bearing wrestler Sushil Kumar on Friday night, in complete contrast to female members of the contingent who were wearing yellow sarees and blue blazers."

 It ends with these quotes :

"“This was bizarre. We will ask for an apology,” added Raja. “The Indian contingent was shown for just 10 seconds and to think this lady hogged all the limelight.”

Link Via adarshv89

Another Labour own goal!

You will have read about this story on the interweb other day, But it has been picked up in the Daily Mail today :

"John Prescott has become caught up in a bizarre Twitter row after accusing Tory Minister Grant Shapps of advertising ‘Thai brides’ on his website.
The former Deputy Prime Minister made the astonishing claim when he told his followers on Friday: ‘NEW – Tory minister advertises Thai brides on his website... another @grantshapps internet fail.’


"Mr Shapps then heaped embarrassment on Lord Prescott by pointing out that the pictures he had seen had been generated by advertising software that had tracked previous internet searches on the peer’s computer.
Mr Shapps messaged back: ‘Ads are rendered based on previous browser use – found a bride yet John? Wouldn’t mention to your Mrs.’

But the best bit is this:

"However, a Labour source stressed that Lord Prescott had merely forwarded an internet link to a story making the claim without knowing whether it was factually accurate."
 Its a good thing Lord Prescott is not running for anything important like Police commissioner where facts are important.
The other question to be asked is why would Scrapbook run that story? Anyone who has basic knowledge of blogs and ads knows that they are generated by software that track the users (in this case Scrapbook/Prezza) browsing history.
Anyway am sure Scrapbook are now setting up a judge led inquiry into how this happened.

Saturday 28 July 2012

Something for the weekend

I was not going to blog today (was going to leave caption contest up) as i was going to try and relax this weekend. Anyway, after getting sick of twitter getting knickers in a twist over a certain MP i decided to go down the pub for a pint, however most pubs round my way are loved up with the Olympics.

So i thought i would take a drive to a pub in the middle of nowhere and have a smoke and a pint in peace and quiet, I also decided to face up to my fear and actually start reading the books i got for Christmas ( this is because i have not read a book from start to finish as an adult, hence why i feared it), anyway the two books had been had been gathering dust and i took one with me.

So i parked the car in the car park (just missed a wall, silly place to put it anyway) and got a pint, some dry roasted nuts and then took myself to the beer garden to start on the book, I only intended to read maybe 2-3, maybe 4 chapters as i could only have one pint as driving.

I skipped the introduction blah, i wanted to start at chapter one.

Someone once said "You have become the one thing you set out to oppose" (or words to that effect).

The book was "Animal Farm" by George Orwell ( i take it you have all read it?).

I had heard that it was a must read for politics student/leaners and when the opportunity came to obtain a copy i jumped at it (after it being recommended by someone on twitter).

I sort of new what happened at the end and what the story was going to say. What i was amazed at was how it would do it in such a simple , yet meaningful way. The story of the animals rising up against the human master for the right reasons, they wanted freedom and to own what they produce themselves, they didn't want to rely on humans or have a master, they wanted self sufficiency and just to be left alone to get on with it. They worked on a windmill no matter what happened , one horse (called Boxer) had two main phrases :

    "I must try harder"   "Napoleon is always right"

The first phrase is indeed a noble and worthy phrase, the second is blind ignorance that only a member of a cult would follow or spout. But then there was Squealer , the master of spin who prayed on the weak and dumb animals to deceive them, tractor stats were used to convince them that life was better than under the humans before.

As i was reading this certain things made sense, the main one was why we call politicians "pigs" and accuse them of having "snout in trough".

I said up the post a bit i only intended reading tops of 4 chapters, i finished the book. It was a brilliant read and if you haven't got it then, get it!!!

It is available at all good book shops and some rubbish ones as well (Gag borrowed from Socceram) :)

Just a note, when i asked for recommendations for books i asked for one on libertarianism  and one on Socialism, I didn't get a book on socialisim i got a book on the state/gov instead.


Friday 27 July 2012

Caption Contest


Seeing as lasts weeks was quite popular i thought i would run it again :)

Last weeks winner was Tachybaptus :

"Woman on left thinks: 'And they say women get annoyed when they wear the same clothes to a party.'

Congratulations :)

Thursday 26 July 2012

Boris Rocks!

If you want to see Boris at his best then click here


"Mayor Boris Johnson has said that people coming to London for the Olympic Games will find it to be "the greatest city on earth".
Mr Johnson was speaking as the Olympic flame was used to light a cauldron in front of thousands of cheering spectators in Hyde Park.
The event marked the end of day 69 of the torch relay, which has travelled around the UK ahead of Friday's Opening Ceremony."

Well i think Boris has almost sold me :)

Link Via BBC

For those that don`t want to go via the BBC :

  Published on Jul 26, 2012 by on You Tube

And they say Politicians are not the same?

It appears they French have not learned from the UK, this report in the BBC explains :


"Members of the French parliament have thrown out a proposal to audit their allowances as the government prepares austerity measures for the economy.
They voted four to one to reject the bill which would have each deputy account for his or her annual allowance of 76,944 euros (£60,000; $93,000).
One deputy who opposed the bill said it would impinge on parliamentary freedom.
The bill's sponsor predicted an eventual expenses scandal like that which gripped Westminster in 2009.
A French study conducted in June suggested that, on average, those working for the French parliament enjoyed a 77% higher income than their counterparts in the British House of Commons or the German Bundestag."

"Last month the Mediapart website exposed the Socialist member for the Ardeche region, Pascal Terrasse, who had reportedly charged to his expenses account foreign holidays for his family and private bar bills. Mr Terrasse said he sometimes muddled his credit cards."

And it ends by saying :

"The sponsor of the new bill, centre-right MP Charles de Courson, had proposed that members should declare to the taxation authorities that part of their expenses which was being used for personal rather than professional purposes.
Referring to the British parliamentary expenses scandal, he said: "Knowing what I do of how some colleagues use their allowance, I am sure that one day there will be such a scandal in France."

Yep, the politicians are all in it together.

This is a joke right?

According to the never missed Romford recorder  residents are unhappy :

"The future of the Upminster Mini Golf Course is looking uncertain due to a lack of funding, according to the Leader of the Havering Residents’ Association.

"Cllr Clarence Barrett has hit out at the administration over their lack of investment in the golf course in Hall Lane, Upminster.
He said: “This is a great community asset which should be enjoyed by young and old alike. Without a moderate degree of investment it will become even more run down, attracting fewer users and placing its long term future as green and open space in jeopardy.”

He goes on to say :


"Cllr Barrett said: “Anyone passing the course would not know it was there because there is no decent signage, no promotion, no marketing and, if this carries on, no future.
“The facility includes a crazy golf course which is in an appalling condition, in fact it is difficult to know where the crazy golf ends and the mini golf begins!."

" Cabinet Member for Culture, Towns and Communities, Councillor Andrew Curtin, said: “As part of our efforts to save £40 million over the next two years, we looked for a partner to help us manage the golf course. Unfortunately this was not successful. Once this season is over we will look at other options.”

Just one question, since when has a golf course been a essential service? 

And now some news from Yorkshire

In the much loved Yorkshire Evening Post today, it reports a sad but predictable story :


"AN Olympic athlete has walked into a police station in Leeds and asked for asylum in the UK.
It is understood the male competitor turned up at the Bridewell Police Station, in the city centre.
The man is believed to have entered Britain as a legitimate member of the Olympic squad of an East African country and is having his application processed in the normal way after police passed the case to the UK Border Agency (UKBA)
A number of countries have training camps in Yorkshire, the largest being the Chinese team in Leeds."

It goes on to say:

"Chief executive of the Refugee Council Donna Covey said: “It’s a tragic fact that many people competing in the Olympics come from countries around the world where they are at risk of human rights abuses, conflict, and violence.
“Asylum is a human right, meaning that anyone can apply for asylum in a safe country if they are being persecuted in their own.
“The UK is a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention which means we will offer protection to people who are found to be in need of it.
“So, as we welcome the world to the UK for the Olympics, we must also uphold our proud tradition of offering safety to those fleeing persecution.”

Now i know i spend a lot of my time whinging about certain things , and while they are important things (freedom of speech) and things i will keep blogging about this does kind off put some things in to perspective. There are a hell of a lot of people in this world that are worse of by a million miles to life in the UK and those people don`t have the amount of freedom we have. I welcome genuine asylum seekers to this country with open arms.


G4S-Ed

According to the New Statesman it looks like Ed miliband and comrades have made a small gaff :

"Ed Miliband may have left himself exposed after demanding that G4S, winner of Olympic gold for corporate incompetence, be suspended from bidding for public contracts. The name of the firm hired to provide security at this autumn’s Labour conference? G4S. Should Ed Mili hear the snap of rubber gloves being pulled on for a strip search after he’s called out of the line, he should take it personally."


Anyway Labour probably got a good deal from G4S director Lord Ried.

I will just point out that G4S also do security for Tory conference as well .

Some of our laptops are missing!

This next story comes from newsnetscotland.com , It appears someone has nicked some laptops :

"Police have been called in to investigate the theft of some 50 laptops from Glasgow City Council, over half of which were previously used by councillors with all but three unencrypted.

Graeme Hendry, the SNP group leader on the Council, has called on the ruling Labour group to explain why they have repeatedly failed on data security. The loss of the computers was noticed last month while council officials were investigating the theft of two other computers, one of which contained the financial and personal details of many thousands of individuals and companies. "

"One of the first laptops reported stolen held the bank account detals of 16,000 individuals and companies, in total the computer held the personal details of 37,835 suppliers and city residents.  The laptop was one of two which were stolen around the 28th of May during a break in at the council's Cochrane St offices.  "

"ACCESS, the company responsible for security on Glasgow Council Premises, was strongly criticised in an internal audit carried out by the Council.  According to the report, the company was responsible for issuing over 160 unencrypted computers earlier this year, in contrary to council policy.

Despite the criticisms from the council's own officials and the recent loss of computers containing sensitive data, Glasgow Council is recommending that the company takes over responsibility for key council buildings, including the City Chambers, Park Circus registry office, Parish Halls and the council's offices in Martha Street.

"ACCESS is a joint venture owned by Glasgow City Council and Serco Ltd – the company which run prisons and immigration removal services across the UK.

The company was created in 2008 when disgraced former leader Stephen Purcell was head of the Labour run local authority.  Mr Purcell resigned in March 2011 admist controversy after admitting to drug use.  Allegations were made that Mr Purcell and his group created the so called arms-length organisations or ALEOs as a means of dispensing favour and patronage.

Glasgow councillors awarded themselves extra payments for sitting on the boards of ALEOs.  In 2010 Glasgow City Council admitted that 40 councillors were sharing an annual payout £261,491 for sitting on these companies.  A report by Herald newspaper in 2010 revealed how Mr Purcell used Aleo payments to support an elaborate system of political patronage, with many Labour councillors received thousands of pounds annually over and above their salaries and council expenses."

If they can`t even keep track of some laptops what hope is there for them spending your money wisely?

This Nun is not a fan of politicians.

Reading the well loved Birmingham Mail this morning i came a cross this story :


"A BIRMINGHAM nun has been convicted of sending six envelopes containing white powder to politicians including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
The letters were intercepted, three at a time on two separate occasions, at a mail screening centre and the powder was found to be non-hazardous, Harrow Crown Court in west London was told."


"One was addressed to Mr Clegg, the second was to Baroness Scotland and the third was to Baroness Kennedy.
The envelopes contained a gritty substance, but police found them to be non-hazardous.
On October 1, at the same place, three more envelopes were found, addressed to Mr Clegg, Lady Kennedy and MP Edward Leigh."


I don`t remember reading that in the Bible.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

While we are on the football topic..

Reading the Guardian (as you do) i came across this piece :

"Evgen Eliseev scores a fantastic 30-yard own goal on the opening day of the Ukrainian Premier League season, the second of three goals that saw his side Goverla slip to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Chernomorets. Attempting to cut out a Chernomorets attack, the defender swiped the ball towards his own net. With his keeper off his line, the ball flew high into the goalmouth …"



However i would like to disagree with those at Guardian Towers, this will always be the greatest own goal ever!


That is a world class own goal  :)

Not the best start...

Seeing a story come done my timeline i admit i chuckled, The BBC report a little cock-up at the Olympics :

"The North Korean women's football team have walked off the pitch at their Olympic match in Glasgow after their images were shown on a screen beside a South Korean flag.
Kick-off was scheduled for 19:45 BST. The game started over an hour late.
North Korea are playing Colombia in the second of the Olympic matches being held at Glasgow's Hampden stadium.
Games organisers in London have apologised to North Korean officials for the mistake.
The error occurred when a video package was being shown ahead of kick-off, with the North Koreans noticing that their faces were being pictured alongside the South Korean flag.
The squad walked off and could only be persuaded to return when the teams were announced again with each player's face displayed next to the North Korean flag."



I am sure a Judge-led inquiry will take place soon ;)

Link Via BBC

Plane out of touch

A follower on twitter alerted me to this story in the respected Daily Record :


"SCOTS council bosses flew business class to a children’s sports festival in Asia – while youngsters travelled economy at the back of the plane.
The three Labour councillors and a senior member of staff travelled to the International Children’s Games in South Korea with flights and expenses costing around £5000.
But the 18 young Scottish athletes competing in the games and their five coaches had to travel in economy – while the four council chiefs were treated to luxury in business class."


"And it’s claimed the youngsters slept in “poor conditions” in a university dorm on hard beds and were fed rice for breakfast – while the councillors stayed in a five-star hotel.
The bill for the week-long trip to the city of Deugu is expected to cost £60,000 – paid for by £20,000 from North Lanarkshire Council, £20,000 from South Lanarkshire Council and the rest from sponsorship.
The bosses on the trip were North Lanarkshire’s council leader Jim McCabe, leisure committee chair Councillor Jim Logue, chief leisure officer Blane Dodds and South Lanarkshire deputy leader Jackie Burns."


Next time you hear your local council whinge about cuts ask them how much they spend on jaunts like this.


Link Via Jock_Bastard






Another Olympics video


Enjoy :)

Video via Daily Mail


Awkward


They say a picture can say a thousand words..

Picture Via Daily Mail

Tuesday 24 July 2012

More woes for Nick Clegg

We all know that Nick is having a rough time at the moment, not many people like him or would vote for his party and membership falling you would think he is unlucky.

It gets worse, according to bigpolitics.co.uk the bad news keeps coming:


"The Official Monster Raving Loony candidate Lord Toby Jug finished ahead of the Liberal Democrats and was only two votes behind the Labour candidate.
There was a turnout of just 16.5 per cent in the election.
The results were: Peter Smith (Ind) 336, Ryan Fuller (Con) 308, Margaret King (UKIP) 96, Richard Allen (Lab) 42, Lord Toby Jug (Loony) 40, and John Oliver (Lib Dem) 26." 




I don`t think everyone agrees with Nick and his party anymore.

Those cuts are starting hit.


Via stebax

That went well....

Having a scan through the newspaper websites, I came across this story in the Mail :


"When a police force decided to embrace social networking and set up a Facebook page, they probably didn't anticipate such an enthusiastic response.
But instead of reporting crimes and asking questions about public order, 'friends' have begun inundating Northamptonshire Police with irrelevant questions and joke comments.
One informed officers that Superman had found a lost sock, while another asked if the force had its own hovercraft."

Now i am not on facebook, in fact most people i talk to about it says its rubbish, But seriously what were the police thinking, if they had any idea of how the internet/social media works they would have known that certain elements would play pranks on them.

However, i would like to know if Superman ever did find his lost sock?

Good on you Joey!

He maybe not be the most popular footballer, but well done to Joey Barton for starting his own blog . I would say to anyone that it is the most liberating thing you can do (social media wise).

I may not agree with Joey on his views but to put it in pixel and then put it out there (knowing you going to get stick/abuse etc) is good in my view.

The good thing about having your own blog is that you have a space to write/publish what you want, this brings me onto another point tho, why do people go onto other peoples website/blog and ask them "why are you not reporting or covering X"? (start your own blog then you can report the stories you want).

Anyway , just a short post and would like to wish Joey Barton all the best with his blog.

Monday 23 July 2012

To Readers.

Things have got a bit crazy at moment, I am on the verge of quitting my job. It not because i am shit at it or hate it, its because i want more and have reached the highest point i can go.

That wont make complete sense and i understand that but please bare with me.

I have gone to the dark side and applied to have adverts posted on the blog, its purely to do with employment situation. Until i have found new employment i am going to stay as long as i can possible at my current place (its going to be hard to get job on current salary), My boss is a fantastic man and this is none of his fault.

I will take a job flipping burgers, making tea or almost anything to avoid claiming benefits( for my self respect).

Anyway, another thing i have done is to post an e-mail address for blog on top right hand side of homepage.

The one thing i will promise you is that if i am in any pressured to change content from people that do adverts then the advert app/thingy will be removed straight away. This is my space, my blog.

I am always open to feedback if you have any views/advice/suggestions :)


Sorry people, to be clear i am not quitting until other employment found, the wage/salary not important, i need a change.

Count me in!

So, i was about to go out for some food and drink, just about to shut down the computer when i noticed i had a e-mail in inbox, this is what it said :

Greetings,

Please allow me to intimate you with a business transaction that would benefit both of us. My name is Ramond Adike, I am the director of the project and engineering division of company . I will want you to assist me in the claim and transfer of Seven Million Euros.

This amount was realized from over-invoiced contract amount awarded by us in 2009 to expatriate companies. The Contract's Amount was deliberately overestimated to read more than the actual cost of the project thus leaving a surplus of Seven Million Euros. However, as a staff of company I cannot claim this money without a foreign partner who will act as the contract beneficiary and as such, entitled to receive the funds as payment. This is why I am contacting you to allow this money to be transferred into your account and to be my custodian for the money.

If you are willing to assist me in this transaction please get back to me so I can give you further details about this transaction. I am willing to give you 25% of the total amount after the transfer, the rest will be held and released to me when I get to your country. I look forward to hear from you.

Regards,

Ramond Adike.


And with that i am going to get some food and drink........

And now for something different.

I am no fan of the Olympics, i cant wait for the whole thing to be over with and life in East London can return to normality. However this from the Mirror is awsome :

Value for money?

To be honest i could not give a damn about the Eurovision song contest, however i do have an interest in how taxpayers money is wasted.

So imagine my suprise when i read this sotry in todays mail :

"BBC bosses have been accused of wasting taxpayers' money after spending £310,000 on entering another disastrous Eurovision Song Contest.

76-year-old veteran singer Engelbert Humperdinck opened the show in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 26, but gained a paltry 12 points and came in second last.
The BBC admitted today the failure cost them the equivalent of £45,000 an hour or 2,130 TV licences at £145.50 a pop, according to data released under the Freedom of Information act."

Yep! thats right, 300k of your money wasted on this.

This comes on the back of this story that says :


"The BBC has told thousands of workers to go ‘off the books’ to cut its tax bill.
Whistle-blowers claim stars are routinely ordered to set up personal service companies, or face the sack.
The arrangements – condemned as deplorable and unacceptable by MPs – reduce the tax and national insurance liabilities of the BBC and its big names.

Ministers have banned personal service companies in the public sector in all but exceptional circumstances and are now under pressure to do the same with the public broadcaster."

Don`t you just love Auntie?



Dynasty?

I bet the Labour party cannot believe its luck, despite Ed Miliband claiming this is going to be the "Next generation" of the party and trying his best to move away from the "Blair and Brown" years the Mail report this :

"
His father's turbulent time as Prime Minister doesn't appear to have discouraged Euan Blair from seeking a career in politics.
According to The People Tony Blair's 28-year-old eldest child is keen to follow in his father's famous footsteps by standing as a Labour MP.
A family friend said: 'Euan has been thinking about a career in politics for some time. Cherie is particularly pleased. She likes the idea of a Kennedy-style Blair dynasty.'

Its says that Tony had a turbulent time as PM? maybe, but he did do well out of it. anyway it carries on to say :
 
According to Labour MP Tom Watson the young Blair has shown commitment to the cause by knocking on doors in previous by-elections and is a 'genuine Labour activist'.

Well that is that settled, he has been endorsed by Tom Watson. What could possibly go wrong?
 

Foot in tweet?

Had some beers tonight as was dealing with job situation.

So was in a messing about mood and being cheeky and was asking people to follow me on twitter as a way of passing time.

I have an interest in politics and the Labour party (only because am staying in labour constituency at the moment) , anyway i thought i would ask alexsmith1982 (former editor of Labourlist ) if he would follow me This is the reply :

"Fraid not - you tweet too much and I like to keep my feed lean. Though I like interacting with you occasionally. :-)"

 ( you can view tweet here : here , it goes to Guido Fawkes website )

While it was a nice and polite reply ( and Alex has never been anything other than polite) something got my attention. 

Alex claimed i tweet too much, he may be right on that but for one little thing. He has never followed me. How would he know?

Kinda spooky don`t you think?

Update Alex gets in touch this morning and offered this reply :

" I looked at your profile and there are tens of thousands of tweets!"

Sunday 22 July 2012

If you are going to spin...

Just had a chat with IanAustinMP on twitter, it was about immigration.

He challenged me to find a quote from a Labour MP backing up my claim that Labour had called anyone who questioned immigration "racist". I first sent him a quote saying that Frank Field had been smeared, alas that was not good enough for Mr Austin

So i started to rack my brains and then remembered one ocasion.


So after this i checked thefreedictionary and this is what they say it means :

" One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ."

You are welcome to reply Mr Austin.

Saturday 21 July 2012

Thick people hurt to!

They say life is full of ups and downs, and they say decisions even themselves out over time.I don`t agree.

The readers that take time out to read the blog will know that in a few posts i have tried to explain my past. Now while i am not no shit hot writer or famous actor or even an educated professor, i try not to mince my words while always trying to polite and respectful. I didn't learn much when young but i learnt respect and have always tried to hold myself to the highest standards possible. I will return to this in a moment.


Anyway, tonight it seems i have been stabbed in the back by people i classed as "friends" (amazing what a slip of tongue does), this wont be the first nor last time it happens. I trusted and respected these people and was always willing to take one for the team.
But it seems that behind my back a different truth was being spoken.When you class someone as a friend that means you will give your life for them, it means you respect, trust and be honest with them.

So back to the headline, yes, i am thick, i don`t have qualification in anything (part from driving license) , i don't have the good learning experience. I once blogged about about my glass ceiling and how i don't think i can smash it, its not for wanting to, its because i am to far behind, i struggle sometimes (most the time) to have proper conversations with people on net/twitter/blogs because i cant put in to words what i want to say and do it in a way that expresses the right emotion.

I try my best to impress you all, and yes i probably try to hard and end becoming a right pain in the arse, but its because i trust people enough to feel confident to ask them. I said before that you may see my questions as silly and easy or no-brainers but for me they are not, they might be badly worded but i always try to ask questions that give me the answer i seek.

I sit and watch some days and so wish that i had the opportunities that you had and some have in front of you, bloody hell i would just like a GCSE ffs. Yes i get frustrated, i spend some nights asking myself "what if.."

From where i came from to where i am now is better and progress, but i want more , i want to improve.

I was trying to earn your respect.

So yes, thickos hurt to!              


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

But don`t worry, it`s only Billy.




Bonus



As i have been out all night i thought i would stick this up.



Pictures Via tmsproducer

 Picture Via Aggerscricket






  But at least Ed Miliband got this nice cake.

Friday 20 July 2012

Who do you think you are?

It is often said that politicians think they are above the law , well step forward today's candidate.

As the respected Tameside Advertiser reports :

" A councillor who was caught drink driving after his own council’s CCTV operators shopped him to the police has been banned from the road for 16 months."

"Michael Whitley was almost twice the legal limit when he was stopped by police just yards from his Ashton home."



Well first of all may i congratulate the council staff for doing their job without fear or favour.

But then the piece goes on to say :


"Prosecuting at Tameside magistrates’ court, Lynn Rogers said: "He took a cigarette out and put it in his mouth. The officer said you can’t smoke that and he replied ‘I can do anything I want’. It was at that point he was arrested."

What a charming role model

Well the Court disagreed :

"As well as the driving ban, which can be shortened to 12 months if Whitley pays for and completes a driving course, he was fined £240 and ordered to pay costs of £100."

Drink driving is not clever and can ruin many lives, luckily no one was hurt this time....

 Story Via Tameside Eye
councillor who was caught drink driving after his own council’s CCTV operators shopped him to the police has been banned from the road for 16 months.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/tamesideadvertiser/news/s/1583792_councillor-banned-from-the-road-over-drink-drive-shame
A councillor who was caught drink driving after his own council’s CCTV operators shopped him to the police has been banned from the road for 16 months. Michael Whitley was almost twice the legal limit when he was stopped by police just yards from his Ashton home. The council camera operators were alerted to Whitley’s movements by staff at the town centre Engine Room pub in Ashton where he had been drinking.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/tamesideadvertiser/news/s/1583792_councillor-banned-from-the-road-over-drink-drive-shame
A councillor who was caught drink driving after his own council’s CCTV operators shopped him to the police has been banned from the road for 16 months. Michael Whitley was almost twice the legal limit when he was stopped by police just yards from his Ashton home. The council camera operators were alerted to Whitley’s movements by staff at the town centre Engine Room pub in Ashton where he had been drinking.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/tamesideadvertiser/news/s/1583792_councillor-banned-from-the-road-over-drink-drive-shame
A councillor who was caught drink driving after his own council’s CCTV operators shopped him to the police has been banned from the road for 16 months. Michael Whitley was almost twice the legal limit when he was stopped by police just yards from his Ashton home. The council camera operators were alerted to Whitley’s movements by staff at the town centre Engine Room pub in Ashton where he had been drinking.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/tamesideadvertiser/news/s/1583792_councillor-banned-from-the-road-over-drink-drive-shame

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Where Ed Miliband leads David Cameron follows.

You read that right readers, following Ed Miliband`s ruling out of a EU referendum our Prime Minister David Cameron has decided to follow suit, In an interview with the Telegraph the PM makes clear his policy on the EU :

"A growing number of Conservatives, including many MPs, blame many of the problems facing the British economy on unnecessary European interference and regulation. They are demanding an in-or-out referendum which would pave the way for Britain to leave the EU.
The Prime Minister insists that those calling for an immediate referendum have a “perfectly honourable position”. He wants to negotiate a “new settlement” with the EU with powers returned to Britain. But Mr Cameron will not countenance leaving the EU and says he would never campaign for an “out” vote in a referendum.
“I think it would be bad for Britain,” he says. “When I look at what is in our national interest, we are not some country that looks in on ourself or retreats from the world. Britain’s interest – trading a vast share of our GDP – is to be in those markets. Not just buying, selling, investing, receiving investment but also helping to write the rules. If we were outside, we wouldn’t be able to do that.”
He adds: “It comes back to this, who are going to be the winning nations for the 21st century? If your vision of Britain was that we should just withdraw and become a sort of greater Switzerland, I think that would be a complete denial of our national interests.”

We all knew that David Cameron was no Baroness Thatcher and i pointed out other day that some friends of  David say he is "Not a Conservative actually"but each day that passes demonstrates that the blue lot are not any better than the red lot.

As someone once said :

"If voting changed anything, they would ban it"

Just one thing tho, What is wrong with Switzerland?

Out of touch?

I had been seeing rumours of a story flying around on twitter most afternoon/early evening, After thinking that "it can`t be true" and "that would be bonkers" i thought i would have look to see if i could find anything to back it up.

Well, here we go.

A story in the Salford Star says :

"Salford Council voted to ratify the £69,000 salary of the Mayor and £44,850 salary of the Deputy Mayor today with the huge Labour majority voting in favour and the small Conservative opposition voting against, calling it "obscene"


He must have forgotten his slogan on the Labour North West  website, its says :

    "With you in tough times"

Indeed Mayor Stewart.

Update : I just had a look at UK Parliament website, they say :

" On 8 February 2012 IPSA announced that Members’ pay would remain frozen at £65,738 for 2012/13."

That is the salary for a backbench MP (without expenses).

Update 2 : I just had a look to see what the salary of last council leader was so checked the respected Manchester Evening News and this was what i found :

"The figure almost DOUBLE the allowance given to John Merry, the council`s last leader, who last year received £38,265."
ependent pay panel has recommended the figure for Ian Stewart after consulting

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1583237_salfords-new-mayor-ian-stewart-to-be-paid-69000-per-year
he figure is almost DOUBLE the allowance given to John Merry, the council’s last leader, who last year received £38,265. It is also more than an MP’s salary, which is currently £65,738.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1583237_salfords-new-mayor-ian-stewart-to-be-paid-69000-per-year
The figure is almost DOUBLE the allowance given to John Merry, the council’s last leader, who last year received £38,265.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1583237_salfords-new-mayor-ian-stewart-to-be-paid-69000-per-year
The figure is almost DOUBLE the allowance given to John Merry, the council’s last leader, who last year received £38,265.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1583237_salfords-new-mayor-ian-stewart-to-be-paid-69000-per-year
The figure is almost DOUBLE the allowance given to John Merry, the council’s last leader, who last year received £38,265.

Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1583237_salfords-new-mayor-ian-stewart-to-be-paid-69000-per-year

Do we ever learn?

Flicking through the internet tonight i came across a story,  the story was nearly 200 years old but could so easily been written in todays press.

This is the piece in London24 :

"A Romford banker fled the country in 1828, leaving a trail of misery behind him.
Rowland Stephenson entered the family bank, Remingtons, when he left school – Eton of course – and lived a lavish lifestyle.
Around 1816, he bought Marshalls, a small country house off North Street Romford.
He spent huge sums furnishing the house - £20,000 on art work alone.
Although there was no railway to London, Stephenson managed to commute – and was often seen on horseback riding through Romford at 8 a.m.
Marshalls became famous for its glittering weekend parties, which were long remembered in Romford.
But Stephenson always rounded up his guests and made them attend St Edwards’s Church in the Market Place on Sundays"

It then goes on to say :

"Romford shopkeepers had been happy to extend credit to such a wealthy customer, even though Stephenson was slow in settling his bills.
The “fugitive banker”, as he was nicknamed, left many local businesses with big debts.
Stephenson was declared bankrupt, expelled from parliament (where he had never made a speech) and his properties sold."

 That was nearly 200 years ago ( although it appears at least they took some action against the crook unlike these days where we bail them out).

Always trust the people

Flicking through TV channels to see what was on and my ear caught half a headline, the headline was something like "The Mayor who likes his belly rubbed", It was a foreign news channel so i thought, have they got George Galloway mixed up with someone else? ( this is why for those that don't know). However i was wrong, a quick play with Google and i got the story.

This story in Business Insider is wonderful :

"Fifteen years ago, a few residents of Talkeetna, Alaska — a tiny town of 900 — didn't like the candidates who were running for mayor.

 As a joke, they told people to vote for Stubbs the cat as a write-up candidate. Somehow, he won, reports Jason Lamb at KTUU. So, they gave Stubbs the title of honorary mayor, and they've been re-electing him ever since."

Even tho it was 15 years ago when this first happened maybe they were onto to something, maybe they saw what some see now, career politicians in it for their own gain!

I bet Mayor Stubbs expenses are a lot cheaper than those on this side of the water.
 
"Mayor Stubbs has nearly 3,000 fans on Facebook now. That's far more than there are in the town where he lives."

Its almost tempting just to open a facebook account for this alone (tho would prefer it if the Mayor joined Twitter) .

Tuesday 17 July 2012

No Laughing Matter.

You know that moment when you see something and it immediately brings a smile to your face and a warm feeling in your belly? well this is one of them.

As readers will know I am a cricket and football fan, and i also live in London. Glancing tho the Daily Mail website tonight i come across this story :

"Crystal Palace have made the funniest signing of the summer after stand-up comedian and actor Eddie Izzard became an associate director of the Championship club.
Izzard has been a Palace fan for over 40 years and is relishing his new role at Selhurst Park.
'I am very happy to lend my support to Crystal Palace FC by becoming an associate director of the club,' said Izzard."

As i said i am a football fan ( Ok i support the mighty West Ham) but i did enjoy watch Crystal Palace when Simon Jordon owned the place. I was also glad when they got back on there feet a few years ago and seem to be stable now.

The only thing i would add is that Eddie is not that good at backing winners , Once would be unlucky, twice would be unfortunate, Lets hope its third time lucky (for Crystal Palace sake) ;)


Update : A Reader reminds me of these two other campaigns he backed , One for the Euro and the one backing Ken Livingstones Mayoral campaign . Not the best track record but am sure this time it will be different ;) 


Thankyou President Hollande

I mean its not like anyone warned the French President that this may happen.

In today's Daily Mail they report some sad news for the new French Socialist Utopia, they say


"France's super-rich are flocking to 'wealth-friendly' nations like Britain and Switzerland to escape looming tax hikes announced by the country's new socialist government.
Large numbers of France's most well-heeled families are selling up and moving to neighbouring countries, estate agency figures have shown.
It is thought many are leaving France to avoid a proposed tax rate of 75 per cent on earnings of more than 1million euros - £780,000."

Come on, would you happily allow the state to take 75% of your wages before you even see it?

Lets hope they invest their money in starting small businesses in this country.  

Excuse Mr President?

I am not a fan of Mitt Romney, but he has to better than President Obama. Surely Mitt would never come out with this?


The left and tax avoidance.

Well, we sort of knew this anyway, But we have had it confirmed in the Telegraph that 148 BBC performers may have avoided paying their "fair share" of tax, it says :

"In evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, the BBC admitted that 148 of its 467 “on screen” presenters were paid through “personal service” firms rather than as ordinary employees.
Being paid in this fashion allows the employee to be taxed in part at the corporation tax rate of 21 per cent rather than pay as much as 50 per cent in income tax."

The first thing i will say and point out is that at no stage is anyone claiming that they have done anything illegal. Tax avoidance is perfectly legal.

The second point i would like to make is this whole "fair share" non-debate. From what i see their is no "fair share" defined in law, There is only a amount that you are required to pay by law. Do you pay £1000 when the law says you only have to pay £600? Of course not! You pay what the law says.David Cameron
may say that tax avoidance is "morally wrong " but it is not illegal.

Back to the Telegraph piece and it quotes Mrs Hodge as saying:

 “The BBC is funded through the taxpayer, through the licence fee, and that makes a completely different set of circumstances. It is utterly unacceptable for anybody to be on a contract that avoids tax.”

Nice logic, Now are not Members of Parliament funded through the taxpayer, I wonder what words of advice Mrs Hodge has for David Miliband and Ed Miliband :

"There a cracking story in Andrew Pierce's column in the Daily Mail this morning (hat tip Guido Fawkes) about a tax avoidance scheme apparently set up by David Miliband. In order to minimise the amount of tax he pays, he's said to have established a company called 'The Office of David Miliband Limited' through which he channels his non-Parliamentary earnings. That way, when he receives a fee of £25,000 for a public speaking engagement, as he did recently in Abu Dhabi, he only has to pay 20% in corporation tax, rather than the standard 40% in income tax he'd have to pay as a high-rate taxpayer.
As regular readers of this blog will know, I don't think there's anything wrong with tax avoidance. I would no more condemn David Miliband's alleged efforts to pay less tax, than I would the scheme he and his brother cooked up to avoid paying more than they had to in inheritance tax when their Marxist father, Ralph Miliband, bequeathed them a £1.5 million house in Primrose Hill."

Ed Miliband said in this piece :

"I'm not in favour of tax avoidance obviously, but I don't think it is for politicians to lecture people about morality.I think what the politicians need to do is - if the wrong thing is happening - change the law to prevent that tax avoidance happening and I think that is the right course the Government should take."

Ed says he is not in favour of tax avoidance, yet both he and his brother benefited from it.

I now fully expect Uk Uncut to be protesting outside the BBC and outside Labour HQ with immediate effect!

Monday 16 July 2012

Copycat?

As readers know i mainly blog about me, politics,football,cricket and post the odd music video. So when i saw this i just knew i had to share it with you, it is slightly out of my comfort zone tho.

This story from the Daily Mail caught my eye because it reminded me of a current politician it starts :

"
A police chief and his wife were today charged with perverting the course of justice after she allegedly accepted speeding penalty points on his behalf.
Acting Deputy Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police, Gordon Fraser, 48, was alleged to have been behind the wheel of a car when it was registered as going over the speed limit in Scotland.
His wife Teresa, 42, is accused of accepting the penalty points on his behalf and claiming she was behind the wheel." 


Now for all those readers that don't follow politics (a few of you), allow me to fill in details.

This all goes back to a story that Guido Fawkes brought us :

" The Mail on Sunday has gone to the trouble of recreating the journey that Vicky Pryce would have had to have undertaken to have got the speeding ticket that she alleged Chris Huhne actually deserved. It was back in May that this blog revealed that Vicky Pryce was speaking at an event at the LSE on the night in question. Tracing the route she would have had to have driven it seems it is nigh on impossible for her to have done the journey in the time required. "

Who would have guessed that politicians accused of this sort of crime should be role models


Links Via GuidoFawkes and Daily Mail

And legal advice Via LeCreusetFiend