Slow BoB

The Secretary of State for Defence says the government was not serious enough about the needs of troops in the early years of conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bob Ainsworth is quoted by the Daily Telegraph today as saying British government ministers did not respond quickly enough to the military's complaints about inadequate equipment and poor pay.



He also accepted his own intellectual limitations and insisted he was still the best man for the job in these difficult times.

Chilcot inquiry

Chilcot says, "The inquiry is not a court of law and nobody is on trial".



That's the under-coat for the final whitewash

2009 climate change cancelled

Earlier this year the Met Office unveiled Britain's most powerful super computer, which is capable of 1,000 billion calculations every second. It cost £30million and is more powerful than 100,000 PCs

The computer, is located in a special room bigger than two football pitches, it requires 1.2 megawatts of energy to run, that's enough to power a small town. It provides meteorological information to a team of 400 scientists.

At the time the chief technology officer at the Met Office, said: 'This computer will allow us to make the most accurate weather forecasts we have ever produced. 'People should be able to see a noticeable improvement in the accuracy of forecasting....'Not only will it help us tell you what the weather will be like today and tomorrow, it will help create a much better long term picture".

Well, that was a waste of time, energy and money then

And these are the quack scientists that provide "Impartial and peer-reviewed science undertaken by the Met Office and others which enables our government to develop sound policies to put the UK on a firm footing to lead international negotiations on taking action to tackle climate change".

Who will hang the 'Hartlepool Monkey'

Dr Peter Slowe, chair of the Labour Finance and Industry Group, said MPs should oust Gordon Brown and replace him with Peter Mandelson the Business Secretary. (Daily Mirror)



Peter Mandelson recently refused to rule this out.

What did you do during the war dad?

Toby Helm reports in The Observer that Gordon Brown is considering the idea of holding a referendum on electoral reform on the same day as the next general election.



This proposal just go's to show that Brown is not concentrating on the economic crisis and getting public spending under control or for that matter the proper supply and support for our troops in Afghanistan. The only thing this man is interested in, is his own future and on playing politics.

poppy from start to finish

Watch the progress of this poppy from start to finish! You'll be amazed at how beautiful they are and how easy it is to grow your own.



Harry Patch, who has died today aged 111, was believed to be the last surviving British soldier to have served in the trenches on the Western Front (1914-18)

Brown's a 'CUNT'

The BBC Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson calls Gordon Brown a ‘Cunt’



After yesterday’s by-election result in Norwich, I dare say a majority of Labour party MP’s would agree with Jeremy.

Labour seeks a new stalking donkey

Pants on Fire

On Wednesday The Daily Telegraph reported that Lord Malloch-Brown had become the first senior government minister to admit that British troops need more helicopters in Afghanistan.

His remarks had been made during an interview with Mary Riddell .

By that evening, the Foreign Office Minister had told the BBC that he had been misrepresented.

However, here is a link to a recording of what he said to Mary Riddell.

good bye....election

Voting is under way in the Norwich North by-election with Labour seeking to defend a 5459 majority.



Gordon Brown is braced for defeat in a seat that Labour has held comfortably since 1997.

The complete and utter bard

Out of 43 committees, the Prince of Darkness now sits on no fewer than 35 of them.

Brick by brick

Labourcopter

Cigarettes , whiskey and wild women.

Henry Allingham 1896 - 2009

He attributed his longevity to "cigarettes, whiskey and wild women"

At least one of his vices was TAX free

I dearly hope he has left nothing else for the governments TAX man, because as eggs is eggs the fuckers will now be sniffing at his corpse for death duty.

RIP

HOUSE FIRE!!!

Did you hear about the fire in the three storey block of flats in Bradford ?

An Eastern European family of six lived on the first floor.
They all perished in the fire.

A Pakistani family of eight lived on the second floor.
They also perished.

An English white couple lived on the third floor.
They survived.

The local muslim society demanded to know why the whites had survived when the others didn't.

The fire brigade said the answer was simple.

The white English couple were at work when the fire broke out.

CRB Check

Several high-profile authors are to stop visiting schools in protest at new laws requiring them to be vetted to work with youngsters. ... BUT



From September any MP visiting a school in his or her constituency will need a CRB check.

No problem with that, you might think, but to get a check carried out you need a sponsoring organisation, which would usually be your employer.

Would you trust Gordon Brown with your children?

Lisbon...With regards to Irish neutrality

Question:

Could the research and technological developments contained in Article 179 of the Lisbon Treaty include the military use of space, and could the joint undertakings contained in Article 187 of the Lisbon Treaty be undertaken in the area of military use of space?

Lisbon Treaty Declaration on Article 179 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

The Conference agrees that the Union's action in the area of research and technological development will pay due respect to the fundamental orientations and choices of the research policies of the Member States.

RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPACE

Article 179 (ex Article 163 TEC)

1. The Union shall have the objective of strengthening its scientific and technological bases by achieving a European research area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely, and encouraging it to become more competitive, including in its industry, while promoting all the research activities deemed necessary by virtue of other Chapters of the Treaties.

2. For this purpose the Union shall, throughout the Union, encourage undertakings, including small and medium-sized undertakings, research centres and universities in their research and technological development activities of high quality; it shall support their efforts to cooperate with one another, aiming, notably, at permitting researchers to cooperate freely across borders and at enabling undertakings to exploit the internal market potential to the full, in particular through the opening-up of national public contracts, the definition of common standards and the removal of legal and fiscal obstacles to that cooperation.

3. All Union activities under the Treaties in the area of research and technological development, including demonstration projects, shall be decided on and implemented in accordance with the provisions of this Title.

However, Article 187 states:-
The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, shall, on the basis of the experience acquired under the association of the countries and territories with the Union and of the principles set out in the Treaties, lay down provisions as regards the detailed rules and the procedure for the association of the countries and territories with the Union. Where the provisions in question are adopted by the Council in accordance with a special legislative procedure, it shall act unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament.

My friend George in Cork wants to know

IMF Warning

The International Monetary Fund has warned that Britain is the world's only leading economy unable to budget for any kind of economic rescue package next year.




According to the IMF calculations, Britain is spending 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product on emergency measures this year, largely constituting the temporary VAT cut. This compares to 2 per cent in the US, 4.1 per cent in Russia and 2.7 per cent in Japan. The average stimulus within the G20 next year is 1.6 per cent, compared with Britain's zero per cent contribution.

The IMF has already warned the Government that its plans to cut public debt do not go far enough. In its most recent assessment of the UK economy, the IMF said the Chancellor must start paying back debt significantly earlier than projected in April's Budget. The organisation favours sharper spending cuts and bringing the Budget back into balance over an electoral term.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has also made grim predictions about the state of Britain's public finances. It is forecasting the fiscal deficit next year will climb to 14 per cent of GDP, higher than Ireland or Iceland, and the worst in the industrialised world.

DfID

Three quarters of British fatalities this year have been from improvised explosive devices (IEDs).



The Taliban have become adept at observing British soldiers’ movements and ruthlessly exploiting them

British taxpayers have funded a £420,000 “women's park” in Afghanistan's Helmand province, complete with picnic tables and a Ferris wheel. ...

Wheel of Misfortune

Soldiers die, but the Ferris wheel turns on



Why are we investing in bizarre projects to promote equality in Afghanistan while our soldiers are dying, wonders Christopher Booker.

treasure and lives

The First Afghan War provided the clear lesson to the British authorities that while it may be relatively straightforward to invade Afghanistan it is wholly impracticable to occupy the country or attempt to impose a government not welcomed by the inhabitants.



The only result will be failure and great expense in treasure and lives.

The National Express

Education White Paper

1. Teaching Maths In 1970
A woodsman sells a lorry load of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?

2. Teaching Maths In 1980
A woodsman sells a lorry load of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 80% of the price.
What is his profit?

3. Teaching Maths In 1990
A woodsman sells a lorry load of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80.
How much was his profit?

4. Teaching Maths In 2000
A woodsman sells a lorry load of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Maths In 2005
A woodsman cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habit of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. Your assignment: Discuss how the birds and squirrels might feel as the woodsman cuts down their homes just for a measly profit of £20.

6. Teaching Maths In 2009
A woodsman is arrested for trying to cut down a tree in case it may be offensive to Muslims or other religious groups not consulted in the felling licence. He is also fined a £100 as his chainsaw is in breach of Health and Safety legislation as it deemed too dangerous and could cut something. He has used the chainsaw for over 20 years without incident however he does not have the correct certificate of competence and is therefore considered to be a recidivist and habitual criminal. His DNA is sampled and his details circulated throughout all government agencies. He protests and is taken to court and fined another £100 because he is such an easy target. When he is released he returns to find Gypsies have cut down half his wood to build a camp on his land. He tries to throw them off but is arrested, prosecuted for harassing an ethnic minority, imprisoned and fined a further £100. While he is in jail the Gypsies cut down the rest of his wood and sell it on the black market for £100 cash. They also have a leaving BBQ of squirrel and pheasant, and depart leaving behind several tonnes of rubbish and asbestos sheeting. The forester on release is warned that failure to clear the fly tipped rubbish immediately at his own cost is an offence. He complains and is arrested for environmental pollution, breach of the peace and invoiced £12,000 plus VAT for safe disposal costs by a regulated government contractor.

Your assignment: How many times is the woodsman going to have to be arrested and fined before he realises that he is never going to make £20 profit by hard work, give up, sign onto the dole and live off the state for the rest of his life?