Happy New Year!

Have a Happy New Year Everybody!

News

The Subway Ghost has died.

Kerry Packer has died.

It is nearly 4 months since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. However, all the news is about New Orleans. New Orleans was not the only place hit. There are large portions of Mississippi and Alabama that have been affected. Go to Blackfive here, and the article link here.

It appears that Peter Hain doesn't like the opposition. Oh well, don't try and provide amnesty for IRA terrorist murderers then.

Burma...has decided to move its capital...as you do...see here (Washington Post - register).

As if trying to redistribute wealth was not the best idea, it appears the Tory party are trying to outdo themselves...by getting Bob Geldof to join an advisory group on poverty...in addition to being on the group that is formulating green policies for the party.

Why did this happen? Does anyone think Gaza is remotely safe for holidays?

On lighter notes:

Do women really want to know the answer to this?

Cold weather...really?

Remembrance

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Whilst you are taking it easy, spare a thought for those that have to work.

For those in the emergency services, there will be no time off for Ambulance crews, Paramedics, Fire Brigade or Police Force personnel.

In addition, probably the most important of all, spare some time for all the Armed Forces personnel in the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy who are serving overseas, a lot of whom are on active duty.

Stay safe.

Arg and other Comments

Well....police reform....check out some of the articles on Blues And Twos and also here on B&T again. It appears not to be going Mr Clarke's way.

The Conservative Party appears to be no more. Why? Well Oliver Letwin appears to be pushing the 'distribution of wealth' concept forward. Talk about going socialist. He's Head of Policy, which if anything makes it worse.

If anyone happens to read this from the electoral committee...you need to change the voting forms for the next elections....a new box with 'None Of The Above' next to it...seeing as we have left, lefter and whatever the Lib Dems are, with the conservative voters having nothing to vote with...and I'm not voting UKIP or whatever other party is there.

If you want to be socialist....be a Labour member, NOT Conservative you dozy pillock. I suppose that's one way of killing off the Tory Party for good....I'm still not going to be voting Labour regardless....I suppose it'll have to be the Raving Monster Loony Party..although they haven't been the same since Screaming Lord Sutch died....we're doomed!!

Zarking Fardwarks is the only printable thing I can say at this point.

Toga the penguin is still missing.

Microsoft appear to have given up on the Mac version of Internet Explorer.

Update: NORAD Tracks Santa!
Update part 2: Discrimination? I'm a little late on this. If it wasn't mentioned during the interview and subsequent offering, then I think they are up the creek without a paddle. There must be a legal bod out there that can tell me if I'm wrong or not.

Random Articles

Another bomb.

Santa is paying parking fines. Isn't that nice?

You might have to watch yourself if you are with someone of the opposite sex in India.

Ladies...wearing a crop top?

Another winter, another hospital infection. Why is this happening so often? I thought hospitals were supposed to be incredibly clean. Perhaps not.

Trying to teach Intelligent Design? Not in Pennsylvania you aren't.

Keith Duckworth has died aged 72. Along with Mike Costin, they created Cosworth Engineering.

News Reports

Hmm...the first gay marriage in Northern Ireland. My question is why? Why should they have the same rights as a married couple? I'm not against gays (I hate that word) having a relationship, I just don't understand why they deserve more rights than an unmarried heterosexual couple.

Hospitals....clean, sterile environments yes? Well not in this case...and that was intensive care.

His Toniness has been defending giving away over £7 billion to Europe. I think he needs to explain why the decision was made, especially without bothering to inform the general public.

I am not quite sure what the problem is over spying in the USA. I would expect that the security services would be investigating suspicious people on a regular basis...why this should vex people so much is beyond me. Maybe it's because I'm British, we have different ideas I suppose.

Iran is banning Western music from its radio stations. Oh well.

On lighter notes...sort of...

Santa's on the rampage! That is when not being a flasher.
A police officer is arresting too many people. Pardon? I thought that is what the police do.

John Prescott comments on education....and shows his prejudices.

That'll do for now....long post being created.

Late Comment

Hmm...just a quick update.

It appears that the elections in Iraq appear to have gone off with relatively few problems. Good luck to all the people in Iraq, I hope things work out for you all.

John Spencer has died. Known for his role as Leo McGarry in The West Wing, and as Tommy Mullaney in LA Law, he died after a heart attack on Friday.

Random Article:
Now you've heard of art theft...the notable example being 'The Scream'. However, this is taking things to the ludicrous. What can you do with a 2.1 tonne sculpture? You can hardly put it in your back garden can you?

Various - Police Reorganisation, China

So, no doubt you have heard of the government plans to reorganise the Police Forces so as to reduce the number. However, it looks like it will cost...and are the Government likely to fund it? No, I don't think so....so how do you think the service is going to cope with the debt? Some think it is not necessarily the best idea, especially with regard to discussion or rather the lack of consultation time.

After the Chinese security forces killed up to 20 people in Dongzhou, a number of dissidents and intellectuals wrote a letter of protest. There are calls for an independent investigation. The letter is here (in Chinese).


On a lighter note :
Brilliant, a monk in trouble? I don't think so. Thanks to Farting Through My Fingertips.

Local and World News

Another anti-Syrian Lebanese MP has been murdered.

Why should Stanley 'Tookie' Williams be spared the death sentence?

The killers of Arash Ghorbani-Zarin have been sentenced.

Well it looks like the Conservatives won't be coming to Blackpool anymore...does anyone seem surprised? I mean those that know Blackpool and it's facilities...such as they are.

Traffic wardens issue parking tickets....but 113,000 in 2 years??? Raised £1.3m in revenue for the council, so it's a nice little earner.

Some daft sod wants to buy Blackpool FC. Why??

Is Santa scary? Pardon? Oh it's been pulled.

Fed up of waiting to be seen in a bank? Well go to NatWest...they've removed the clocks so you can't complain as easily. Does that mean that they aren't very quick?

Random posts

There have been some very lucky people in Hemel Hempstead. However, is this really necessary?

I'm a little late in mentioning the death of Richard Pryor.

On a lighter note - Miss World has been won by Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir, also known as Miss Iceland.

Justice a little different than normal.

The xBox 360 isn't doing as well as expected.

More various...

Egypt's elections are seriously messed up. See Sandmonkey here. Also see Freedom for Egyptians here.

With all the things we have heard about extremist Muslims, we know that Christians are good people right? They are tolerant right? Courtesy Cruella-Blog.

It is 100 years since the first successful cornea transplant.

On other news, seeing as this is the party season, have you thought about keeping your drink safe? See this from Rachel of North London. Don't leave your drink unattended. If you do, leave it and buy another one.

Various

#1 - John Lennon is dead - deal with it already. You wouldn't think that he was half of a songwriting partnership. Oh well.

#2 - Anyone want to watch Jerry Springer : The Opera on DVD? Well you can't get it here(Sainsbury's and Woolworths). Check out MediaWatchWatch, Bloggerheads and Chicken Yoghurt. Here's the boycott at Pledgebank.

#3 - Apple in trouble again. So are Sony. ...and Microsoft.

#4 - Dimebag Darrell was murdered on stage a year ago tomorrow.

#5 - Ken Livingstone once said, "Only some ghastly dehumanised moron would want to get rid of the Routemaster." So, the famous red Routemaster is being phased out tomorrow because of some ghastly dehumanised moron.

Christmas (again) and PPOTY

I came across a cool cartoon thing about Christmas...warning...lots of swearing. Thanks to House of Dumb for spotting it.

Hmm...well Guido Fawkes has done a new award....Press Plaigarist of the Year....and the winner is....the Daily Mail for nicking stuff off The Policeman's Blog.

The Strange Case of the Goat.

The town of Gävle in Sweden has a large billy goat. See here.
Surprisingly it has burnt down....again.