March 2009
UK troops begin Iraqi withdrawal →
British forces have begun their official withdrawal from Iraq after the UK’s commander in the south of the country handed over to a US general.
Major General Andy Salmon has transferred authority for what will become Multi-National Division South to US Major General Michael Oates.
The generals’ pennants were raised and lowered in a handover ceremony.
Most of Britain’s 4,000...
Marital bliss
Whoever said women are from Venus and men are from Mars got it right. How did I just end up in an argument about where my shirts should live?
I’d just got back from waking the dog and started to prepare the BBQ for tonight’s dinner:-
Sue: “Before you do that, I’ve sorted all of your shirts out and I want you to go through them and tell me which ones you want”
me:...
G20: Met police and protesters fear London marches... →
bossa:
shadowfirebird:
Isn’t it supposed to be that the police warn of violence by the protesters? This year we seem to have it the other way around:
‘Yesterday, the Metropolitan police was understood to have contacted a number of protest groups warning that the main day of protest, Wednesday, 1 April would be “very violent”, and senior commanders have insisted that they are “up for it, and...
closer to fine
bossa:
vruz:
by snowblind
To each his own. A philosophy that’s always worked for me. As such, I’ve never felt the need to respond to posts that I felt were asinine. Anyone here is entitled to their opinion no matter how absurd I might think it is. But I’m jumping in now with a counterpoint. That’s all it is, my opinion. When I started working patrol, I wanted to be everyone’s friend. I...
Online survey | Help us to keep all women safe -... →
bossa:
Online survey
We’re working hard to prevent violence against women, and you can help by telling us what you think about this complicated issue.
We are asking you to comment on:
general questions about you and your views
the sexualisation of young girls
education
personal safety (women only)
impressions and attitudes
This survey should take about five minutes, and it is...
“They will not jump, these people. They cannot easily accept that they are...”
– Dan Hind, “Jump! You Fuckers!”
In case you’ve not already read it, Jump! You Fuckers! is a pamphlet by Dan Hind, which gives the most persuasive account yet of the origins of the present economic and financial crisis, and of what we might want to happen next. I’ve taken the liberty of posting the...
Only God can destroy the Earth? Phew! →
retropolitics:
atheistramblings:
Illinois Congressman John Shimkus says we don’t need to worry about Global Warming as Man can’t hurt the Earth, only God can destroy it. How does he know? Because it says so in the Bible.
Read the rest of the article and see the video over at the Bad Astronomy blog
OK, so bear with me a moment here….. what if, and this is only a thought, what if God...
'Worse than the Taliban' - new law rolls back... →
squashed:
(via Jhn Brssndn, who reliably delivers the news that goes best with a bitter, bitter cup of coffee.)
It seems the law, which seems to be an electoral ploy, would legalize marital rape and prevent women from leaving their homes, seeking work, or visiting a doctor without their husband’s permission.
Isn’t it good to know that British and American troops will be fighting and...
Greed and inhumanity have always been with us but does anyone else here think they’re spiralling out of control?
Or am I just becoming depressed and paranoid?
Zimbabwe seeks £7bn to rebuild economy →
Zimbabwe has requested up to £7 billion in assistance to help rebuild the country’s devastated economy.
This from a man who has authorised the eviction and even murder of numerous white farmers and who recently spent £500K of state funds on his own birthday party.
Not helping Zimbabwe with this funding would be cruel but giving them the money while Mugabe is still in power would be even...
Big Sister is Watching You
So Gordon Brown thinks the Home Secretary is doing a great job and doesn’t think a small issue like fraud should be allowed to detract from everything she is doing to ensure they can protect the public and keep Britain’s neighbourhoods safe.
This woman is a crooked, power hungry, fascist scumbag who is almost single handedly dismantling British society and remodelling it as a police...
Under-fire Smith battles to save job →
Beleaguered Home Secretary Jacqui Smith claimed £22,948 in taxpayer-funded allowances for her second home, official figures show.
Ms Smith has been forced to apologise for “mistakenly” claiming the cost of two porn films watched by her husband Richard Timney, who is also her Parliamentary aide.
It has been stressed that she was away when he viewed the films at their home in her...
'Tunnel' links New York to London →
Whatever next, horse-less carriages?
You are eight times more likely to be killed by a... →
bossa:
(via claytoncubitt)
This is exactly the argument I use when people ask me why I’m so willing to work in the Middle East. Believe me, I’m much more likely to die in a traffic accident there than I am to be killed or kidnapped by terrorists.
It’s called pragmatism.
Now we need ID cards for a trip to the Isle of... →
shadowfirebird:
‘Last night a Home Office spokesman confirmed the measures would ‘require passengers to show photo ID, such as a driving licence or the (proposed) Government ID cards, when booking tickets for domestic air and sea journeys’.
He added that ‘ferry journeys to the Isle of Wight or the Isle of Skye’ and ‘private jet passengers’ would be included in the new measures, due to be...
British cops identify 200 schoolchildren as... →
(via shadowfirebird)
I am truly, truly ashamed to be British.
A Paradox
I wish someone from our illustrious leadership could explain to me just how destroying our rights and freedoms protects us from the terrorists who would destroy our rights and freedoms.
My life story in six words
Life’s a beach, I found it
There is no crisis. Srsly.
jhnbrssndn:
On Sunday, I happened to find myself driving around Canary Wharf, the glittering tower at the heart of London’s financial centre. I say “around” advisedly, because on the approaches to Canary Wharf, you pass a lurid security cordon, warning lights and signs instructing you to follow diversions in the event of a terrorist attack. Then, as you get nearer, there are signs telling you,...
G20 protesters face police with Tasers →
jhnbrssndn:
SCOTLAND YARD is to deploy officers armed with 50,000-volt Taser stun guns to deal with violent demonstrators planning to disrupt this week’s G20 summit in London.
The centrepiece of the security plan will be hundreds of officers from the Metropolitan police territorial support group, who are routinely armed with speedcuffs, extended batons and CS gas spray.
The Met confirmed...
I found Jesus
He was in my trunk when I got back from Tijuana
“Do not pass by my epitaph, traveler.
But having stopped, listen and learn,...”
– From A Roman Tombstone (via chvnx)
Crazy crack party...
jmarie3:
..going on next door. Tons of people, really loud, and what seems to be a fight. Now all that is fine, except for the fact that there is a 3 year old and a 9 year old in that house (youger siblings of the teen holding the party, he is also the dealer, as is his mother). The boy having the party just got out of jail for rape, is a diagnosed sociopath, and living in the house with the...
“I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure...”
– Leo Tolstoy
Cyprus: The implausibly sunny island is steeped in... →
By Linda Cookson
I don’t know why it took me so long to visit Cyprus. I love the Mediterranean and I love exploring island life – especially in beautiful settings that are steeped in history and myth. The Greek islands have always been my idea of heaven in that respect. Perhaps I simply never felt the need to venture elsewhere.
As the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite, Cyprus has equally...
19,000 UK credit card details posted on the Net... →
The credit card details of up to 19,000 British shoppers were published on the internet - where they could be found using a simple search on Google.
The details apparently originated from the website of a criminal gang in the Far East.
The list, obtained by the Mail, includes the names, home addresses and full card details of thousands of Visa, Mastercard and American Express customers.
...
“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a...”
– Douglas Adams, Speech at Digital Biota 2, 1998 (via affremblequotes)
G20 protests: march passes peacefully - Telegraph →
Up to 35,000 protesters marched through central London on Saturday to demonstrate ahead of this week’s G20 summit of world leaders.
Despite police fears that the protests could turn violent, the four-mile march from Victoria Embankment to Hyde Park was largely good humoured.
Many protesters carried banners bearing slogans such as “People before profit”, “Money for need...
'Dumb' thief picks police summit →
A man in the US state of Pennsylvania accused of a robbery at a narcotics police convention has been described as probably the state’s dumbest criminal.
Retired police chief John Comparetto was attending the meeting of 300 officers when he was allegedly held up at gunpoint in the men’s toilets.
He handed over money and a phone but then he and some colleagues gave chase as the suspect...
A well-spent day brings happy sleep. Leonardo da Vinci
DNA blunder creates phantom serial killer
Police admit they wasted 15 years hunting for the ‘Woman Without a Face’
She was a mysterious serial killer known as the “The Woman Without a Face” and detectives across Europe spent more than 15 years doing their utmost to bring her to justice for at least six brutal murders and a string of break-ins. Yesterday, however, they were forced to admit that she probably...
Women told: 'You have dishonoured your family,... →
When Elif’s father told her she had to kill herself in order to spare him from a prison sentence for her murder, she considered it long and hard. “I loved my father so much, I was ready to commit suicide for him even though I hadn’t done anything wrong,” the 18-year-old said. “But I just couldn’t go through with it. I love life too much.”
All Elif had...
There was a time when the United States was the undisputed world leader when it came to upholding the rule of law. We lost that reputation under George W. Bush. And now, even under President Obama, we are being outclassed and outshone by other nations.
This morning, the Washington Post reported that the British government has launched a criminal investigation to determine whether British...
American Freedom Campaign
http://www.americanfreedomcampaign.org/
Chinese 'find' radioactive ball →
Chinese officials say that potentially deadly radioactive material lost in north-western Shaanxi province may have been found at a steel mill.
Officials told the BBC that they had detected what may be the missing Caesium-137, adding that it may have been melted down.
The Caesium-137, encased in lead, was lost this week when workers at a cement plant demolished an old factory.
The material was...
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Indonesia dam burst... →
A 60% rise for MPs? No, how about a paycut? →
By DOMINIC SANDBROOK
At a time when most ordinary families, betrayed by the bankers and the government, are struggling to pay their bills and have to tighten their belts, it beggars belief that MPs are demanding a 60 per cent rise to take their basic salaries over £100,000.
Of course, few people can genuinely be surprised by such greed. Indeed, our elected representatives’ egregious...