Girl with the Bloke with a dirt track...........

Abby Lee has just posted this brilliant piece

Yuk!

Usage and Abusage (2)

Just got this terrible story in from Lord Wells of Pfizer

Be aware of this. I had a lucky escape.

I walked into B&Q at lunchtime yesterday and some old guy dressed in orange asked me if I wanted decking.

Fortunately I got the first punch in and that was the end of that.

Those less suspecting might not be so lucky.

Usage and Abusage

Carrying on from the theme of collective nouns from over here, I thought I would extend this to the Blogosphere. How about,

an inbox of bloggers

a rank of technorati users

a moan of memes

a lovely of ellee's

a struggle of Nulabour bloggers

what's yours?

Margate v Tottenham Hotspur 13.1.1973

And on this day in 1973, we played Spurs in the 3rd round of the Cup. We should have scored after 10 minutes but went on to lose 6-0. It was the first time since 1936 that Margate FC had reached the 3rd Round. God knows when that will be repeated again.

The crowd that day was 14,169. Even if we had a decent ground nowadays, the Health & Safety Nazi's would stop us from having half that figure. For the Fulham game in 1997, "only" 5100 were allowed in.

Today, Margate FC is playing Worthing. The crowd is around 600.

For the football buffs amongst you, there's an excellent description of the Spurs match, with photographs, at Jeff Trice's excellent MFC history site.

On this Day in 1929

Wyatt Earp died. He was 80.

courtesy of Gabay's Copywriters Compendium.

Those 5 things............................

which were hitherto not known by the Blogosphere

1. Sold an FA Cup Final ticket to a Spurs fan outside Wembley in 1981 for £50.00.

2. I've been shopping in Lakeside. (Look it was just once, OK)

3. Asked to leave the Carlton Hotel in Cannes for wearing short shorts.

4. Went to Cubs

5. Been to Cuba

Jewish Book Week

Sashinka has reminded me that next month it's Jewish Book Week. I really must make the effort to pop along this year. But I could be recovering from this

Great Cartoon from Beau Bo D'or

Right here

Americans, they do make me smile...........

Just seen this on this US website. One of the best Americanisms I've ever come across. Can someone please explain what it means?

"Just hanging out your shingle"...................

Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe: Goodbye

Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe: Goodbye

AGPC posted this a little earlier.Yvonne de Carlo is no more.

James Brown, Gerald Ford, Charlie Drake, Carlo Ponti, who's next?

YID With LID: News Flash: Mass Resignation at Jimmy's Carter Center

YID With LID: News Flash: Mass Resignation at Jimmy's Carter Center

Serves Peanuthead right. Ghastly little anti-semite.

Publicly Speaking

I've just posted this

Over at the other place

As you all know by now, I'm very passionate about public speaking and how it can help individuals achieve a higher sense of self-expression, confidence and achievement. Also, I'm a advocat of my Victoria-based speaking club, London Corinthians and the organization it's part of, Toastmasters International.

If you fear public speaking or worried about that presentation you have to deliver at work, you may like to consider joining your local Toastmasters Club.

What a waste of space these MP's are

From Melanie Phillips site. Some of these MP's appear to be so thick, they probably can't touch their bums with both hands. Sarah Teather has no excuses, there's plenty of Jewish and Muslim people in her constituency who could explain to her about Israel and the terrorists of Hezbollah.

Perhaps she should consider becoming a shelf-stacker at Tesco's.

January 10, 2007

Spelling it out

First we learned that Americans on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee didn’t know their Sunni from their Shia. Then we learned from the Sunday Times that British politicians who claimed some expertise in the Middle East were no better:

Both Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, and Sally Keeble, Labour member for Northampton North, thought Hezbollah was an organisation based in Palestine. Anne Milton, the Tory MP for Guildford, wears the dunce’s cap after getting 13 out of 14 questions wrong. It even slipped her mind that she was a member of the Friends of Islam group. ‘Ooh, am I?’ she said. ‘Oh yes, I suppose so. I forgot. I don’t think I’ve sat on it yet.’ Gordon Marsden, the Labour MP for Blackpool South and treasurer for the British Lebanon all-party parliamentary group, did not know who the leader of Hezbollah was. Asked if Al-Qaeda was Sunni or Sh’ite, Brian Iddon, Labour MP for Bolton South East and secretary of the Britain-Palestine parliamentary group, said: ‘Well, it attracts all sorts.’

Oh dear.

They should read this article in the Wall Street Journal by Peter Wehner, deputy assistant to the President and Director of the White House’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, who explains the differences between Sunni and Shia. In particular, he sets out how the Shi’ite Ayatollah Khomeini subscribed to the cult of apocalyptic messianism of which Ahmadinejad is also an apostle, and which makes the Iranian regime totally impervious to the theory of mutually assured destruction which has kept the nuclear peace until now. By contrast, Sunni al Qaeda does not believe in the imminent end of days but sees its war upon the infidels as very much part of this earthly life. Both agendas, in their different ways, are totally non-negotiable. Wehner goes on:

Since the attacks of September 11, we have learned important things about al Qaeda and its allies. Their movement is fueled by hatred and deep resentments against the West, America, and the course of history. In Islam’s first few centuries of existence, it was a dominant and expanding force in the world, sweeping across lands in the modern-day Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and elsewhere. During its Golden Age — which spanned from the eighth to the 13th century — Islam was the philosophical, educational, and scientific center of the world. The Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century. Islam then began to recede as a political force. In the 17th century, for example, advancing Muslims were defeated at the gates of Vienna, the last time an Islamic army threatened the heart of Europe. And for radicals like bin Laden, a milestone event and historic humiliation came when the Ottoman Empire crumbled at the end of World War I.

This is significant because for many Muslims, the proper order of life in this world is for them to rule and for the ‘infidels’ to be ruled over. The end of the Ottoman Empire was deeply disorienting. Then, in 1923-24 came the establishment of modern, secular Turkey under Kemal Ataturk–and the abolishment of the caliphate. Osama bin Laden and his militant Sunni followers seek to reverse all that. Bin Laden sees himself as the new caliph; he has referred to himself as the ‘commander of the faithful.’ He is seeking to unify all of Islam–and resume a jihad against the unbelievers.

According to Mary Habeck of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University: ‘Jihadis thus neither recognize national boundaries within the Islamic lands nor do they believe that the coming Islamic state, when it is created, should have permanent borders with the unbelievers. The recognition of such boundaries would end the expansion of Islam and stop offensive jihad, both of which are transgressions against the laws of God that command jihad to last until Judgment Day or until the entire earth is under the rule of Islamic law.’

Al Qaeda and its terrorist allies are waging their war on several continents. They have killed innocent people in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Far East, and the United States. They will try to overthrow governments and seize power where they can–and where they cannot, they will attempt to inflict fear and destruction by disrupting settled ways of life. They will employ every weapon they can: assassinations, car bombs, airplanes, and, if they can secure them, biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. The theocratic and totalitarian ideology that characterizes al Qaeda makes typical negotiations impossible. ‘Anyone who stands in the way of our struggle is our enemy and target of the swords,’ said Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the late leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Osama bin Laden put it this way: ‘Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us.’

…The war against global jihadism will be long, and we will experience success and setbacks along the way. The temptation of the West will be to grow impatient and, in the face of this long struggle, to grow weary. Some will demand a quick victory and, absent that, they will want to withdraw from the battle. But this is a war from which we cannot withdraw. As we saw on September 11th, there are no safe harbors in which to hide. Our enemies have declared war on us, and their hatreds cannot be sated. We will either defeat them, or they will come after us with the unsheathed sword.

Maybe someone should send this to all our members of Parliament and Congress. If they read it aloud very slowly and trace each word with their fingers, they might just get it.

I doubt it Melanie!

Scotland the Brave - really?

A few weeks back I posted this about Scotland

Tom Paine at The Last Ditch outlined this little gem from the Times. Only 163,000 Scots made a net contribution to the Treasury

This of course comes as no surprise. Most entrepreneurial Scots, and indeed English, may have left in previous brain-drains. You'll find plenty of McTavishes and McClouds doing very nicely thank you in California, Australia and other parts of the English speaking world.

Are the Scots lazy as the article suggests?

I don't think so.

Sodje, Sodje, Sodje!

Was the cheer when Sam received his player of the year award at Margate FC just a couple of seasons back.

A little while ago, I posted this about the exploits of Sam Sodje. Just around the corner of our minds in 2004 he was a Margate player. The photo shows him bedecked in 'Gate colours.

Now he's scored his first goal for Steve Coppell's Reading. What else can Sam achieve in his remarkable career?

Well done Sam!

The Russians are coming - maybe

The Times gets on it's high horse about the Russians cutting off "EU" oil supplies. This is all to do with Belarus tapping into the supply pipeline. On top of this "Yid with Lid" posted about our friends in Iran, who are threatening to seal off the Straits of Hormuz.

Perhaps the Russians and Iranians are buying into the "carbon footprint" regime and our teaching us wasteul Westerners. Or have we spent too much time worrying about the travails in the Middle East, whilst neglecting the ex-"Evil Empire's" intentions

New website

went live a little earlier.

www.jeremyjacobs.com

FA Cup moments

This weekend has seen the 3rd round Proper of the FA Cup. One of the featured games on BBC tv was Tamworth v Norwich. The last time I was at the Lamb I covered Tamworth v Margate in the Conference a few years back. That was for TTFC (The Footballers Football Channel) an internet tv station, now defunct.

One of the radio reporters that day was Marc Webber, who was on duty for the Beeb at Bristol City v Coventry earlier today.

My Sister

Would have been 59 today.

Hence this and this

Set your goals

We're a week into 2007. Do you know what you want to achieve by the end of January? Have you set goals to reach by the end of the first quarter?

If not, why not?

Have you taken on too much, or are you in a dither as to know what to do?

Just how is it for you on the morning of January 6th?

Responses required from: James Higham, The Tin Drummer, Last Ditch, and Colin Campbell from Down Under.

or it's detention!

Cold Kills 136 in Indian sub-continent

This just in from REDDIT...Now this is a story about the cold, unlike the nonsense outlined here


Winter chill kills 80 in northern India
RANCHI, India (Reuters) - Cold weather across northern and eastern India has killed at least 80 people in the past week, forcing authorities to close schools and colleges and deliver firewood to the homeless, officials said on Friday.

Bangladesh said on Thursday at least 56 people, mostly beggars and homeless, had died during the same cold snap this week.

In India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh 34 people have died as night time temperatures plummeted to close to freezing, making life a misery for tens of thousands of people who live on the streets with few ways of keeping warm.

On Friday morning, the minimum temperature in the capital, New Delhi, fell to 4 degrees Celsius, the lowest of the winter.

In Bihar, thousands of homeless people crowded around bonfires as temperatures hovered around 6 degrees Celsius. At least 35 people have died in the impoverished state in the last seven days.

"For the next one week, all educational institutions will remain closed as the cold has become unbearable for many," Madan Mohan Jha, Bihar's human resource development secretary said by phone from Patna, the state capital.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, 11 people have died and officials are distributing firewood for the homeless.

"After dusk there is a mad scramble to get some firewood as only a bonfire can keep us alive at night," Abbas Ansari, a rickshaw puller said in Ranchi.

(Additional reporting by Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow)

Taking the Piss?

From the BBC News Website

"Thief steals urinal from city pub"

Landlord Alan Dreja pictured at the site of a missing urinal

Police are on the hunt for a thief who stole a urinal from a pub in Hampshire.

The man is thought to have spent 40 minutes removing the white toilet bowl after ordering half a pint at the Royal Oak pub in Southampton.

He then stuffed the urinal in a rucksack and left the pub making sure he wiped his fingerprints off the door as he went.

But his exploits were caught on CCTV and after reviewing the tape landlord Alan Dreja handed it over to police.

"It's unbelievable," said Mr Dreja, 46, who has been landlord at the Royal Oak in Houndwell Place for two years.

'Professional job'

His wife Suzie Dreja added: "We were stunned as he did it at about 5pm.

"He had wandered in and ordered half a pint of Fosters, took a few sips and went into the toilet a few times.

The suspect was captured on CCTV with a bulging rucksack

"He did a very professional job. He turned off the stop cock and capped off the pipe.

"Our staff had thought we had taken it off for repair and it was not until the evening we noticed.

"After we realised, we looked at the CCTV and saw him go in with a flat rucksack and come out with it bulging. He actually wiped his fingerprints off the door as he left."

A spokesman for Hampshire police said: "It is a very unusual theft and we would like to speak to the man captured on the CCTV.

"It was clearly a very professional job," he added.

John Brignall's Number watch Site

Number of the Month

January 2007

Alan Caruba has just sent me a copy of this. He despairs at what he sees in Blair's Britain today. So does author John Brignall, as do I, and probably countless millions of Britons.

The first dawn of a new year and the wintry sun picks out the lines of the ancient strip lynchets on the downs edging the Blackmore Vale.

A time of hope for many, but not for Soviet Britain, where the future is BBC (Blair, Brown, Cameron).

01/01/07

In Blair’s Britain

It takes some believing, even for those of us who live here, no wonder those Aussies are agape. Now you may bugger a sixteen year old boy, but you must not supply him with a cigarette.

Your bending author was recently discovered by that other grumpy old sod, the subject matter being the slow death of Britain’s small towns. Like Charles II, they have been an unconscionable time dying, but dying they are. The moves in the Blairisation of Britain are many and various, and you are hardly aware of it until one hits you in the face. By dint of Sod’s law, such an experience happens only at a time of stress; and so it was chez bending author. Oddly enough it occurred two days before this story broke.

It came about with a recrudescence of the lung infection that played such havoc with Number Watch at the end of last year. It came to a head on the Saturday before New Year’s Eve and it became clear that medical advice would be needed, so the obvious thing was to phone your local surgery (as you do). That is what we did when Mrs bending author had a scare last October and one of the local Wiltshire GPs came and ordered an ambulance for her to be rushed (well, actually, it took the ambulance five and a half hours to arrive, but that is another story) into the “local” hospital, which is now thirty miles away. Well, this time the call was diverted to an emergency service in Ringwood, Hampshire (home of the best ale on the planet). The young lady on duty said she would get a doctor to phone “but we are very busy”. At least she did not say “your call is valuable to us”. Five hours later a rather pleasant Asian gentleman phoned and after some discussion he decided that the case merited a personal visit from a doctor, who would be brought by a car based in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Some seven hours after the original call the doctor arrived and suggested immediate admission to the hospital, an invitation that was politely declined on the grounds of risk. As evinced by this piece, the patient has survived so far.

In the bad old days, the town had its own ambulance station, run by the Red Cross. They worked then on the principle that the health service was there for the well-being of patients and not for the convenience of bureaucrats. The idea then was to minimise the time to reach the patient. In fact, after standing for many years as a silent, derelict monument to health service past, it has just been acquired for private development. Only someone with the chutzpah of Tony Blair could argue that increasing the travel time for emergency cases by closing hospitals will save lives. The justifications come from Blair allies, such as IPPR, armed with figures of theoretical lives saved, which are obtained by careful data selection.

It is another sign of the times that the dedicated GP is a thing of the past. They now only work office hours. It is a story with all the usual modern ingredients – a diktat from the EU, hopeless negotiating by bureaucrats, determined negotiation by a powerful union and complete disregard of the cost to the taxpayer and the consequences for the victims. It is the same across the whole public service, particularly in education.

When bureaucracy comes through the door, dedication flies out of the window!

Here, for purely sentimental reasons and not artistic merit, is a picture of the old ambulance station.

Footnote: Why is it happening? See here.

03/01/06

Index

Oh my God It's Winter!

Well, blow me down with a feather, it's winter. On page 21 of this evenings Evening Standard, the
headline reads "Don't get comfortable, there's snow on the way" - Really. Well, fancy that.

Mark Prigg, the ES's Science Correspondent(because an ordinary journo couldn't have written this) writes that a Met. Office spokesman said today: "there could be, by the end of February, sharp cold snaps lasting a few days and we think there is a high chance of snow". No shit Sherlock. This usually happens this time of year.

Well known weather geek, Piers Corbyn (brother of the famous Commie Jeremy Corbyn) says "it could be bad for Eastern England" (watch out Ellee). Simon Keeling of the Weather Consultancy, which produces long-range forecasts said "our predictions point to a very average year". ( I mean, why doesn't someone say that Monday will be before Tuesday) - the article goes on to say that GP's are concerned about the cold because it affects people badly. Well short of pissing off to a warmer climate for the entire population what do you expect fellas? Then we're told about El Nino, global warming and how former BBC weatherman Bill Giles says that he's seen certain vegetables in his garden he doesn't normally see until March.

This article is typical of the patronizing fuckwittage spewed out by the ES most days. No wonder they're losing out to those "freebies".

Top tips for keeping fit - Regular Massage

These are outlined over here

One of them is to have a regular massage. I'm plugging Sheline in Boundary Road, St Johns Wood, London NW8

Deutschland uber alles? - THE DAMN EU AGAIN

New EU constitution "without public poll"

Nicholas Cecil in today's Evening Standard reports that Wolfgang Ischinger, the German Ambassador to Britain, said Berlin would "love" to get through a new treaty containing the key parts of the EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters. He suggested this could be done by scrapping the pledge made in countries such as Britain and France........Mr Ischinger told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We would love to preserve to the maximum extent possible the substance of that draft".

........and what is the substance of the draft?

A total loss of sovereignty, our way of life and our laws and customs which have served Britain well for centuries. As I said at the General Election in May 2005, the undemocratic, evil EU is succeeding where the Luftwaffe failed in 1940.

Daniel Finkelstein's 50

Not necessarily his age but his fifty reasons to love being Jewish as highlighted in the latest edition of the Jewish Chronicle.

Amongst his 50 are

11. Michael Grade.

45. Brian Epstein.

21. The fact that I can be completely British and yet different at the same time.

The ones I find the most amusing are

2. Being able to understand all the jokes in a Woody Allen film.....

7. Being able to spot other Jewish people and thereby amaze your non-Jewish friends.

48. The fact that the number of cars at a Jewish event is usually greater than the number of people.


I congratulate Daniel Finkelstein on making me chuckle over the "ghost-town" period.

Sir Phillip Green

Was on Radio 4 this morning talking about his Retail Academy.

The main thrust this morning was his clear dislike of graduates who pitch up at Arcadia with "irrelevant" degrees wishing to have a career in retail. He said he'd rather take on a 17-year old with common sense and train them. A graduate at 22 or 23 years of age will still have to go through the same process. In fact they maybe a bit of a liability, all that student debt.

I think many of us share his view that university degrees for 50% of our youth is a flawed policy of this current Government. What Sir Phillip was saying, is that we need Technical Colleges churning out plumbers, electricians, engineers and so on.

Do you agree, or should we import labour from abroad to fill the skills gap?

Mainstream Media Watchout?

We all know that the Blogosphere likes to expose the twisted truths that eminate from the mainstream media.
Things may have shifted up a gear. Just seen this on LGF.

Hammers hit for 6 by Reading.

Sam Sodje's Reading team smashed 6 past West Ham today and Iain Dale is not a happy man. Presumably, the "honeymoon period" for Hammers manager Alan Curbishley is now firmly over.