Remembrance Sunday

The "Ode of Remembrance" is an ode taken from Laurence Binyon's poem "For the Fallen", which was first published in The Times in September 1914. The poet wrote For the Fallen, which has seven stanzas, while sitting on the cliffs between Pentire Point and The Rumps in north Cornwall, UK. A stone plaque was erected at the spot in 2001 to commemorate the fact. The plaque bears the inscription For the Fallen Composed on these cliffs 1914 However there is also a plaque on the beehive monument on the East Cliff above Portreath in central North Cornwall which cites that as the place where Binyon composed the poem. The poem honoured the World War I British war dead of that time and in particular the British Expeditionary Force, which had by then already had high casualty rates on the developing Western Front. The poem was published when the Battle of the Marne was foremost in people's minds. Over time, the third and fourth stanzas of the poem (although often just the fourth)were claimed as a tribute to all casualties of war, regardless of state. They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. The line Lest we forget is often added to the end of the ode, which is repeated in response by those listening, especially in Australia. In the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the final line of the ode, "We will remember them", is repeated in response. In Canada, the last stanza of the above extract has become known as the Act of Remembrance, and the final line is also repeated. The second line of the fourth stanza, 'Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn', draws upon Enobarbus' description of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra: 'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale'. Today is a day for remembering those who put their lives on the line and those who are currently putting their lives on the line. It is a day for honouring those who have fallen, those who have served and those who are currently serving. It is a day for putting yourself in someone else’s shoes – the wife, the mother, the daughter – and only being able to imagine what they were going through, never fully understanding how it must have felt when their husbands, sons, fathers went away and many did not come back, and for those serving now always hoping nothing bad will happen to those they love most. It is a very emotional day for me, I cannot describe it. I always have a few tears. How does one even begin to understand …….

The Ultimate Sacrifice

I have not posted for a while.
Work has been somewhat full on but whilst going through my blog roll this morning I came across a post by The Captain.

I have reposted his clip and indeed I was stunned by what I watched.
So thank you Capt!
I have served as my blog friend know for several years.
Those days are behind me now ............ well physically anyway if you get my meaning.

I will salute all member of any armed force anywhere in the world who gives the ultimate sacrifice.
The thing is there scarifice and endeavours these days is tainted by lies, mistruths and politicians using soliders blood for personal gain.

However for the brief 3 minutes of this clip I tip my hat to the Kiwi Infantry.
A most amazing show of respect as only they can.

God Speed !

Oooopppsssss Daily Express

On a personal note I have been loving the Olympics.

I am so glad the doom mongers have been so far proven wrong.

The success we have been getting is just superb. Indeed if you look at the medal tally and compare it per capita I believe (hopefully a stato will confirm)that medals per head of population we are winning.

Indeed take the USA out of the pool or invoke the same rules on swimming as in cycling (only 1 competitor per even per country..........yes i know team sprints) and the USA really are not performing at all.

And as for that bastion of all Sporting nations the Aussies ............ WHO ??????

Anyway today many newspapers are banging the drum about our medal success.

Indeed 1 did catch my eye this am and that is the Daily Express........not because it was particularly witty or anything like that but because errrrrrr



THAT'S THE BLOODY DUTCH TEAM YOU BUNCH OF PILLOCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man Cold

Yes I am a little under the weather right now.
But SOMEONE thought it would be funny to send this.

And yes if was from an "effin" woman.!!!!

Why are ....................?????????

Certain things the way they are .......????

For Example.......The US standard railroad gauge (width between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. Now that is a very odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the gauge used in England and the first US railroads were built by English engineers.

Why did the English use that gauge? Well, the first railways were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.

Why did they use that gauge? It’s simple, the people who built the tramways used the same jogs and tools that they used for building wagons which used that wheel spacing.

Okay, so why did the wagons have that odd wheel spacing? If they tried to use any other spacing the wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England because that was the spacing of the wheel ruts.

Why were the ruts that wide? The first long distance roads in England (and most of Europe) were built by the Roman Legions and these roads have been used ever since then. And the ruts in the roads? Roman chariots first formed the ruts and everyone else had to match the ruts for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made by Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

Consequently, the United States standard railroad gauge is derived from the specifications of the original Roman war chariot. Yes, bureaucracy lasts forever!

By the way, why was the wheel spacing of the Roman war chariot that width? It was just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two Roman war horses.

Thus, we have the answer to the original question. Now here is a modern twist to the story…



When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two booster rockets attached to each side of the main fuel tank. These are the solid rocket boosters (SRB) that were made by Thiokol in their factory in Utah.

The engineers who designed the solid rocket boosters might have preferred to make them a bit wider, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The rail line had to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel and the tunnel was only slightly wider that the railroad track, which was slightly wider than two horses behinds.



So, the major design factor of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

Taxes, Taxation and Morals

Well dear me a certain "stooshie" has erupted since Tuesday with regards to a certain Jimmy Carr and soon to be raised to the title of Chief Man of the UK Gary Barlow.

Amazing what a wee concert can do for ya eh!

Anyway its all over a certain K2 taxation scheme.

Here is the basic premise of how it operates:

UK earners 'quit' their job
They then sign new employment contracts with offshore companies
The offshore companies 'rehire' their new employee to the UK but take their earnings
The offshore company pays the employee a much lower salary each month, but 'loans' them several thousand pounds
These loans can be written down as tax liabilities, thus substantially reducing tax payable to the Government

The thing on this is its legal !!!!!!!!

A certain David Cameron described it as "very dodgy".
Infact went on record yesterday in an interview as saying its "morally wrong".

He is the issue I have ............morally wrong??
For 1 I cannot associate politicians and morals at all in any way. I mean only 9 of 646 MP's under the Telegraph expenses scandal being in the clear shows a distinct lack of morals at all. The lying the cheating the sheer contempt to which they hold the public more than hammers Mr Cameron's statement into the dirt. And that's not an anti-Tory dig, that's not a public schoolboy old Etonian dig (as a certain reader of my blog and as an avid reader of his blog) would most commonly write, that's a body politic as a whole dig.

But here's my point ...........Morally wrong. Who decides the morals.
Are not moral people own person choices and feelings on a subject.
I mean if the scheme is legal .......... where is the moral issue if the scheme is used.
I cant see it.
Look watching a pornographic movie is legal...........but is it morally wrong to watch 1............eerrrr don't think so.

I for 1 am sick to death of the morally wrong phrase being used to describe a situation of peoples making in order to gain people onside when clearly the establishment is at fault. Its easy to shout morally wrong when clearly your own loopholes have been exploited and you are being shown to be weak. Its easy to shout morals to cover up your own failings, or to shout morals to gain support from thoose who are easily led.

Jimmy Carr is not morally wrong. There was a loophole and he can afford an accountant who can exploit that loop hole. Exactly the same as Gary Barlow has.

I do notice however in the case of the Queen personal entertainment manager that today the Daily Mirror, yes that most excellent red top (read tawdry little rag) has called for his new honour to be removed.............oh FFS. So the very group of Labour peers who indeed several of whom have gone to prison of late in the wake of the expenses and cash for question scandal still have there's..........jeez what kind of journalism do these people trot out.

Anyway back on topic..........I notice Jimmy Carr's moral have kicked in (note the sarcasm there). And today he tweets the following.

I now realise I’ve made a terrible error of judgement.—
Jimmy Carr (@jimmycarr) June 21, 2012

Although I’ve been advised the K2 Tax scheme is entirely legal, and has been fully disclosed to HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs),—
Jimmy Carr (@jimmycarr) June 21, 2012

I’m no longer involved in it and will in future conduct my financial affairs much more responsibly.

Apologies to everyone.

Jimmy Carr—
Jimmy Carr (@jimmycarr) June 21, 2012

Danny Alexander has gone on record to say the treasury will be looking to close this loophole out.
I expect some rapid HMRC and new Govt legislation to come through rather sharpish.
Some say the HMRC may litigate ........... quite how with a legal scheme I do not understand but we await the next instalment.

Just for the record I am not a fan of Jimmy Carr. Personally I find his humour quite repellent. I avoid him on TV and always turn off. His jokes about servicemen in Afghanistan and the Para Olympic team kind of sealed his fate for me. But he is not morally wrong with his tax affairs........on that point I will defend him.

However the whole taxation issue in the UK is a mess.
HMRC has been described as "not fit for purpose".
The 50p / 45p top threshold debate was a complete mishandled cock up by the "boy George".
High rate earners have always been a fast easy target for the media.
Even in France the new President Francoise Hollande has pledged to tax earners of a million Euro's at 75%. well should he push that through the number of French earners at that figure you could count on 1 hand.
But on a side note that might not happen because the way the Euro is going there might not be Euro soon.

OK lets look at taxation based on a % of earnings.........Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this..

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay £1.
The sixth would pay £3.
The seventh would pay £7.
The eighth would pay £12.
The ninth would pay £18.
And the tenth man (the richest) would pay £59.
So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by £20.” Drinks for the ten men would now cost just £80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free but what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the £20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that £20 divided by six is £3.33 but if they subtracted that from everybody's share then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a 100% saving).
The sixth man now paid £2 instead of £3 (a 33% saving).
The seventh man now paid £5 instead of £7 (a 28% saving).
The eighth man now paid £9 instead of £12 (a 25% saving).
The ninth man now paid £14 instead of £18 (a 22% saving).
And the tenth man now paid £49 instead of £59 (a 16% saving).
Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free.

But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got £1 out of the £20 saving," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got £10"
"Yes, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved £1 too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me"
"That's true" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get £10 back, when I only got £2? The wealthy get all the breaks"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next week the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important - they didn't have enough money between all of them to pay for even half of the bill.

And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible

Abdelbaset al Megrahi

Reports from Libya today state the former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset al Megrahi, has died.

East Renfrewshire Council, which is supposed to receive updates about his condition following his early release from prison, has said it has received no official confirmation of his death but it is investigating.

The Foreign Office said it does not know if the reports are accurate, but they are "seeking further information".

A Scottish court in 2001 convicted Megrahi, 60, of the 1988 attack on Pan Am flight 103, but he was freed on compassionate grounds in 2009 because doctors said he was battling prostate cancer and had only three months to live.

He was greeted like a hero by the Gaddafi regime on his return to the country in 2009having served eight years of a 27-year sentence.

He was the only person convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

To the end, Abdelbaset al Megrahi always insisted he was an innocent man and had nothing to do with the attack, which killed 270 people, most of them American students flying home for Christmas.

Born in Tripoli in 1952 and educated in the United States and the UK, the former Libyan intelligence officer was added to the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list seven years after the atrocity.

He did not fit the stereotype of an international terrorist.

Smartly dressed and quietly spoken, he portrayed himself as a family man who had been the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice.

After almost seven months and evidence from 230 witnesses, Megrahi was eventually found guilty and sentenced to 27 years.

A director of Libya's Centre for Strategic Studies and later put in charge of Libyan
Arab Airlines' security operations, prosecutors said he used his position to organise, prepare and carry out the Lockerbie bombing.

Fragments of clothing, found wrapped around the timing device, linked him to the attack.

He was also identified by Maltese businessman Anthony Gauci, who claimed he sold
items of clothing and an umbrella to a Libyan man who looked "a lot" like Megrahi three weeks before the bombing.

After a lengthy investigation by UK and US police forces, Megrahi was indicted in 1991.

However, years of lengthy diplomatic bargaining with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi followed before he was handed over for trial.

Megrahi and his co-accused, compatriot Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, eventually faced a trial in 2000, conducted under Scottish law at a specially convened court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.

Costing an estimated £75m, it was one of the most complex trials ever staged.

His co-accused was cleared.

A first appeal against his conviction was rejected in March 2002.

Five years later, his lawyers successfully applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and the case was referred back to the Court of Appeal.

Eight years after he was found guilty of blowing up the jet, Megrahi dropped the appeal.

On August 21, 2009, Megrahi was released from Greenock Prison on compassionate grounds amid a storm of protest from victims' families.

But while many of the relatives are convinced of his guilt, there are some, particularly in Britain, who believe he was innocent.

I am 1 of the dissenting voices.
I ask you to read this link here. It will take you back to 11 post relating to this subject.
Some of them with praise, some of them critical, some of them questioning of evidence.

Please just have a wee read!

The 1 thing I know today is certain members of the British Government, Scottish Government and both the UK and USA intelligence services tonight are breathing a lot easier. The 1 man who remained, that knew the actual truth has now gone !!!!

Having a Pun Day ???

I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.
When chemists die, they barium.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
This girl said she recognised me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.
I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.
I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.
They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.
PMS jokes aren't funny. Period.
Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.
We are going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory. I hope there's no pop quiz.
Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?
When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.
Broken pencils are pointless.
I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.
What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.
England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.
I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.
I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.
I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.
Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.
Velcro, what a rip off!
A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.
Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!
The earthquake in Washington obviously was the government's fault.
Be kind to your dentist. He has fillings, too.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.
Marriage is the mourning after the knot before.
Corduroy pillows are making headlines.
Is a book on voyeurism a peeping tome?
Sea captains don't like crew cuts.
A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.
A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumour.
Without geometry, life is pointless.
When you dream in colour, it's a pigment of your imagination.
Reading while sunbathing makes you well-red.
A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.
What's the definition of a will? (Come on, it's a dead giveaway!)
A backwards poet writes inverse.
In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism, your count votes.
With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
Doctors tell us there are over seven million people who are overweight. These, of course, are only round figures.
What is the purpose of reindeer? It makes the grass grow, sweetie.
There were two ships. One had red paint, one had blue paint. They collided. At last report, the survivors were marooned.
The other day I sent my girlfriend a huge pile of snow. I rang her up and asked, "Did you get my drift?"
Where do you find giant snails? On the ends of giant's fingers.
Why is Saudi Arabia free of mental illness? There are nomad people there.
When I was in the supermarket I saw a man and a woman wrapped in a barcode. I asked "Are you two an item?"
When she told me I was average, she was just being mean.
This duck walks into a bar and orders a beer. "Four bucks," says the bartender. "Put it on my bill."
A dog with his leg wrapped in bandages hobbles into a saloon. He sidles up to the bar and announces "I'm lookin' fer the man who shot my paw."
A termite walks into a bar and says "Is the bar tender here?"
Four fonts walk into a bar. The barman says "Hey get out! We don't want your type in here!"

France

So on Sunday just past 06/05/12 the lovely people of France voted and as we all know The current President of the Republic being Nicolas Sarkozy, a position held since 16May 2007, with a result of a loss for him giving the President-Elect to François Hollande, who takes office on 15 May 2012.

Good luck to him but for everyone else I thought it best to provide a few basic facts figures and quotes about this once great Gaullish nation


ABOUT THE FRENCH

"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country" --Mark Twain

"France has usually been governed by prostitutes" --Mark Twain

"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me" --General George S. Patton

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion" --Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

"We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it" --Marge Simpson

"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure" --Jacques Chirac, President of France

"As far as France is concerned, you're right" --Rush Limbaugh

"The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee" --Regis Philbin

"The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whisky I don't know" --PJ O'Rourke

"You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it" --John McCain

"You know why the French don't want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates America, he loves mistresses and wears a beret. He is French, people" --Conan O'Brien

"I don't know why people are surprised that France won't help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn't help us get Hitler out of France either" --Jay Leno.

"The last time the French asked for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag" --David Letterman

"Only thing worse than a Frenchman is a Frenchman who lives in Canada" --Ted Nugent.

"War without France would be like... uh ... World War II" --Unknown

"The favourite bumper sticker in Washington D.C. right now is one that says 'First Iraq, then France'" --Tom Brokaw

"What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of its national will fighting against Disney World and Big Macs than the Nazis?" --Dennis Miller.

"It is important to remember that the French have always been there when they needed us" --Alan Kent

"They've taken their own precautions against al-Qaida. To prepare for an attack, each Frenchman is urged to keep duct tape, a white flag, and a three-day supply of mistresses in the house"--Argus Hamilton

"Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day. The description was 'Never shot. Dropped once" --Rep. Roy Blunt (MO)

"The French will only agree to go to war when we've proven we've found truffles in Iraq" --Dennis Miller

"Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris? It's not known, it's never been tried" --Rep. R. Blount

"Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in WWII? And that's because it was raining" --John Xereas

*snigger*

Its Official

YES ITS OFFICIAL!!!!!!!



Muller Fruit Corner Greek Yogurt Rhubard ............... absolutely F*****G Rock.

I have no connection to the company at all but should a person of the company wish to send me loads of free ones I will accept and post on the blog everytime I eat 1.

I am soooo cheap its not true.

Excuse the shaky photo but I was still overcome in yogurty pleasure !!!!!!!