BMEWS
 
Sarah Palin is the other whom Yoda spoke about.

calendar   Friday - July 31, 2009

Is it okay to help someone whose life has become unendurable, to end it all at their choosing?

This topic has raised a number of comments.

Here in the UK, a number of ppl have made the trip to Switzerland to help loved ones end it. Strictly speaking, that is against the law here. BUT, nobody has been prosecuted so far for assisting or enabling suicide.  The thinking is I suppose, that a jury would not convict in that circumstance. 

One problem I have with some opponents, is that many are churchmen and are speaking from a religious point of view.  That’s okay when they are trying to influence their own flock.  But I surely do not want them making a decision in law, based on their religious beliefs, that will eventually affect me.  I have a real problem with that.  I don’t want them minding my business along with theirs.

A bill has already been shot down here only last week. Or was it the beginning of this week?  That had to do with this subject. 
I’ve heard pointless debates on radio here with some pie in the sky dreamers talking about improved palliative care.  Yeah. Easy for them to preach. None are in a state of painful ill health wishing it could be over.

Then there’s the scare about how greedy people will talk old and sick relatives into killing themselves so they can make off with the family jewels a bit earlier.
Thing of it is, people that mean and that rotten are gonna do it anyway. 
There are folks being murdered in the streets here every day.  Youth gangs are everywhere and not just in the inner cities.  They’re stealing life from those who had years of healthy life ahead of them.  But the focus on assisted suicide always seems to run to the what if scenario re. doing away with the elderly and ill for gain.

Another thing to note.  I don’t agree with this feel right about it theory that it’s only okay if the person wanting a final exit, has reached a point where they only have months to go anyway.  Why should any very sick person be required to wait that long?  The lady in this particular case hasn’t asked (yet) for a change in law.  Not exactly that.  She quite rightly wants clarification on the penalty with regard to the person who might help her end it by traveling overseas with her.
As others have done.  There is a downside however to what she has done this day. In an editorial, here in part is what The telegraph has to say.
And they are quite right I think.

In reality, it is unlikely that the authorities would ever sanction a prosecution in such a case. A total of 115 British citizens are known to have ended their lives in the Dignitas clinic, yet there have been no prosecutions. The law’s very ambiguity has allowed this to happen. That ambiguity is now to be removed. And far from making assisted suicide easier, as
Miss Purdy and her supporters maintain, it could make it more legally fraught. For Parliament made clear this month that it does not want the law
changed, and the law says that aiding or abetting suicide is a crime.

Debbie Purdy case: MP David Winnick pledges to launch Bill calling for assisted suicide to be legalised in UK
An MP has begun a bid to legalise assisted suicide in Britain a day after Debbie Purdy won the right to have the law clarified.

By Martin Beckford, Social Affairs Correspondent
Published: 2:10PM BST 31 Jul 2009

A Bill is being proposed that would allow terminally ill people to end their lives with the help of loved ones in their home country, rather than having to travel to “suicide clinics” overseas.

It comes after five Law Lords ruled in the case of Ms Purdy, who has multiple sclerosis, that the Director of Public Prosecutions must state exactly when prosecutions would be launched against those who accompany people to commit suicide abroad.

Although aiding and abetting suicide remains a crime punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment, none of the Britons who have helped terminally ill people die at clinics such as Dignitas in Switzerland has been prosecuted.

David Winnick, the Labour MP for Walsall North, said: “The question arises from yesterday’s decision – should we recognise cases such as Debbie Purdy, should we change the law, should people have to go abroad?

“I’m not saying for a moment ‘let’s try and encourage people to die’ but if a person with a terminal illness does reach such a conclusion, that they don’t want to go on, and want assisted dying such a facility should exist.

“If the law was changed we would need to have absolute safeguards against abuse and to give the person who has made such a decision every opportunity to change their minds and to make it clear it would be limited to those suffering from terminal illness.”

He said the issue needs to be “debated thoroughly” in Parliament and will put forward a Private Members’ Bill suggesting “a measure whereby assisted dying could take place in this country”.

The proposal would be entered into a ballot in the autumn, along with an estimated 300 others, and a handful will be given some time for debate in the Commons.

Even if it were one of the few chosen, there may not be time for it to be voted on as the Government decides the timetable for legislation.

In addition, the forthcoming Parliament will be shorter than most as it must be dissolved in time for a general election by June at the latest.

However, even as a symbolic gesture it shows the determination of MPs to keep up public debate on the controversial issue of assisted suicide.

Just weeks ago Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor under Tony Blair, made a failed attempt to change the law on travel to Dignitas in the House of Lords.

SOURCE AND MORE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/31/2009 at 11:33 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-MedicineMiscellaneousScary StuffUK •  
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Here’s the story. Woman has child, state takes it away. She has 13 more, state takes, she having #14

Unbelievable, isn’t it?

This one really does leave me speechless.  Almost. The state keeps taking away her kids due to neglect, she says the state was right to do that but wants another chance. But she’s had 13 chances with 13 babies.  Good Grief!

Now she says screw the state, I’m gonna have another and let the state keep picking up the tab.  Which they have been doing. She now carrying number 14.

Earlier today a letter arrived from our probate attorney informing us that the the Inland Revenue, Brit version of our IRS, is questioning the value of the house the wife inherited from her mother.  We got the value appraisal in writing from a real estate agent.  Quite honestly, I wish the place were worth a ka-zillion dollars as that might be something to look forward to.  In any event, we had to to come up with a LOT of money a few months ago to pay the tax ppl on the value given us at the time.  BUT ... if the Inland Rev. folks believe this place is worth more, then we’re gonna have to scramble for the extra money. Fine.
But it sorely pisses me off knowing where the money goes.  MPs on vacation “fact finding” trips to warm waters and couples like the ones here.
Both on the dole and no surprise.

Stay Tuned.


‘I’ll go abroad to keep my baby’: Pregnant again mother of 13 vows to save new baby as sister calls for her to be sterilised

By Emily Andrews, Julie Moult, David Wilkes and Beth Hale
Last updated at 11:26 AM on 31st July 2009

A pregnant woman who has had all 13 of her previous children taken into care has vowed to flee abroad to prevent social workers taking away her 14th.

Theresa Winters, 36, says leaving the country could be the only way she and partner Tony Housden will be allowed to keep the child.

It comes as her sister Louise Walls said she was ashamed of her own sibling and called for her to be sterilised.

Miss Winters, a heavy smoker who was herself taken into care as a teenager, accused social workers of failing to help her achieve her deepest wish of having a family and she would keep giving birth until she is allowed to keep one.

She told the Sun: ‘Leaving the country would be the easiest thing to do. If we had the money we would go tomorrow.

‘Then these people wouldn’t be able to touch us.

‘People think we’re bad parents but we’re not. We have changed - since we had the first five babies anyway.

‘No one has given us a chance since then.’

Miss Winters has now spent more than 10 years of her life pregnant and is four months from giving birth to her 14th child.

Mr Housden, 36, said: ‘We don’t want to scrounge off taxpayers’ money. We want to work and do the right thing but we don’t feel we’re being given a chance.

‘If we could leave the country we would. Then we would grow up like a real family and keep our baby.’

The couple, who live on £1,100 in benefits, believe they could save enough money to move abroad.

Louise Walls, 37, accused her sister of having more children out of ‘pure spite’.

The mother-of-three told the Daily Mirror: ‘She should be sterilised. She’s going to end up with 20 kids taken into care.

‘It has to be stopped. I’m ashamed to be her sister.

TIMELINE TO THERESA WINTERS’ CHILDREN

August 1992 - Girl

January 1994 - Boy

January 1995 - Boy

September 1996 - Boy

September 1997 - Boy

May 1999 - Girl

June 2000 - Girl

June 2001 - Boy

September 2002 - Girl

November 2003 - Boy

January 2006 - Girl

March 2007 - Girl

March 2008 - Boy

photos and the rest of this article click here.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/31/2009 at 09:01 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeOutrageousPersonalTaxesUK •  
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calendar   Thursday - July 30, 2009

Now we know

Fall Guy or Malefactor?





Terry Shiavo’s husband’s lawyer, who argued that she be allowed to starve to death, is now Assistant Attorney General, after being part of Obama’s transition team. This is the guy who put the nix on the Black Panther voter intimidation case.

THEN:

An attorney who won an award for representing Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael in his efforts to kill his disabled wife is now an advisor to the transition team of incoming president Barack Obama.

Thomas Perrelli, who raised over $500,000 for the pro-abortion presidential candidate and is the managing partner of a Washington law firm, Jenner & Block LLP, is helping advise Obama on putting together a Justice Department team.

However, Perrelli provided Michael Schiavo with legal advice during his response to the Congressional bill that President Bush signed allowing the Schindler family to take their lawsuit seeking to prevent Terri’s euthanasia death from state to federal courts.

Perrelli led the Jenner & Block team that developed the legal briefs opposing appeals for Michael and he ultimately received the Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Pro Bono Award in October 2006 for representing Terri’s former husband at no cost.

On Michael’s legal team, Perrelli worked with infamous pro-euthanasia attorney George Felos as well as lawyers from the Florida chapter of the ACLU.

Obama’s selection of Perrelli to participate on his Justice Department transition team is no surprise given his comments on Terri’s painful 13-day starvation and dehydration death during the presidential campaign.

During his debate with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, Obama said his biggest mistake was voting with a unanimous Senate to help save Terri.




NOW:

No. 3 official in the Obama Justice Department was consulted and ultimately approved a decision in May to reverse course and drop a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party.

Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, the No. 3 official in the Obama Justice Department, was consulted and ultimately approved a decision in May to reverse course and drop a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party of intimidating voters in Philadelphia during November’s election, according to interviews.

The department’s career lawyers in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who pursued the complaint for five months had recommended that Justice seek sanctions against the party and three of its members after the government had already won a default judgment in federal court against the men.

Front-line lawyers were in the final stages of completing that work when they were unexpectedly told by their superiors in late April to seek a delay after a meeting between political appointees and career supervisors, according to federal records and interviews.




This guy was given an award for that mess? Horry clap. And now we find out he was the mover who had this open and shut case dropped.

My only question is, did he actually do that, or is he just the latest bus fodder?

And my statement for the day is that all you’ll ever need to know about Obama’s stance on health care can be deduced from his stated regret about the Terry Schiavo vote.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/30/2009 at 09:11 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists •  
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calendar   Wednesday - July 29, 2009

If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

One Down -

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And One To Go -
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Having ridden her little Garden of Eden of snakes, Wardmama takes on the bigger critters.
Next week, lions and tigers and bears, oh my!!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/29/2009 at 09:27 PM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeFun-Stuff •  
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Art vs Porn

Somewhere in one of those Terry Pratchett books, Thud! I think, the Keystone Cops pair of watchmen, Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobbs, are in the art museum, discussing the difference between art and smut. Cpl. Nobbs, a man so odd looking that he carries a certificate that proves he’s human, has been dating a drop dead bombshell beauty who works as a stripper. (cops are cops everywhere in the multiverse!)

Nobby says that his girlfriend, Tawneee, a pole dancer “says what she does is Art, sarge. And she wears more clothes than a lot of the women on the walls around here, so why be sniffy about it?”

“Yeah, but...” Fred Colon hesitated here. He knew in his heart that spinning around upside down around a pole wearing a costume you could floss with definitely was not Art, and being painted lying on a bed wearing nothing but a smile and a small bunch of grapes was good solid Art, but putting your finger on why this was the case was a bit tricky.

“No urns,” he said at last.

“What urns?” said Nobby.

“Nude women are only Art if there’s an urn in it,” said Fred Colon. This sounded a bit weak even to him, so he added, “or a plinth. Both is best, o’course. It’s a secret sign, see, that they put in to say that it is Art and okay to look at.”

“What about a potted plant?”

“That’s okay if it’s in an urn.”

“What about if it’s not got an urn or a plinth or a potted plant?” said Nobby.

“Have you one in mind, Nobby?” said Colon, suspiciously.

“Yes, The Goddess Anoia arising from the Cutlery,” said Nobby. “They’ve got it here. It was painted by a bloke with three i’s in his name, which sounds pretty artistic to me.”

“The number of i’s is important, Nobby,” said Sergeant Colon gravely, “but in these situations you have to ask yourself: where’s the cherub? If there’s a little fat pink kid holding a mirror or a fan or similar, then it’s still okay. Even if he’s grinning. Obviously you can’t get urns everywhere.”




Decorated firearms are the same way, only no cherubs. Usually. Sometimes you just have to know.

Fer instance ...


This is art


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And this is art

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Although both might be pretty near the limits of good taste for some folks.



And this is porn

See More Below The Fold

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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/29/2009 at 08:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-PhotographyGuns and Gun ControlTyrants and Dictators •  
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Freedom and Equality in Sudan. NOT.

Sudanese journalist could face flogging for wearing pants




That’s so, so Seventh Century of them, don’t you think?


A Sudanese journalist could receive 40 lashings after she was caught wearing trousers.

A Sudanese court began hearing Lubna al-Hussein’s case Wednesday. It will continue the hearing August 4.

At the time of her arrest, she was wearing pants, a blouse and a hijab, she said. Police accused her of wearing trousers that were too tight and alleged that her blouse was too transparent, al-Hussein said.

The crime of wearing indecent attire has only one punishment under Sudanese law, a 40-stroke public flogging, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.

“This case is the official retaliation against the reporter for her writings criticizing the Sudanese regime and extremists,” the organization said in a statement.

Al-Hussein was arrested along with 18 others July 3 after Sudan’s “discipline police” accused the women of wearing indecent clothes, al-Hussein said. Six were released, and 10 received the 40 lashes, she said.

Al-Hussein and two others fought the charges and hired attorneys, she said.



Hijab, a head covering, are often quite large, sometimes covering the whole torso. I wonder how long the cops had to stare at her, or how closely they had to inspect things, to determine that her pants were too tight and her blouse too revealing?

CNN gets the story wrong again, too. It’s not that she was caught wearing pants. It’s that they were too tight. She’s going to be flogged for dressing sexy. Or at least what passes for it there. I’ve known Indonesian Muslim women who dress in loose pants, a big shapeless shirt, and an elbow length hijab. It’s accepted dress. Well, at least in Indonesia. Who can tell WTF women should be wearing in flyblown Sudan? If you can tell that they’re female, it’s probably a crime.


Fuckin muzzies. They’re the crime.


I had a big laugh at bowling last night. Some kid on the next lanes over was wearing those low rider pants with his baggy boxers sticking out. Every time he bowled they got a little lower. Halfway through the 2nd game they gave it up, and fell to his knees while he was making his approach. Face first, right onto the lanes. But at least we have the freedom to dress like idiots. Nothing like that in Sudan.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/29/2009 at 06:07 PM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA •  
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Snooze Newz

Because CNN has to report something, because our elected representatives have way too much time on their hands, and because big business will never miss an opportunity to pimp their products!




Beer choice at Obama meeting touches off new debate




You have got to be kidding me. Do you really expect me to believe that Obama is a beer drinker?



The upcoming White House meeting with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and the Cambridge police officer who arrested him earlier this month appears to have touched off a fresh debate all on its own: what kind of beer should be served?

Earlier this week the White House indicated each man would drink the beer of their choice — Bud Light for President Obama, Blue Moon for the police officer, and perhaps Red Stripe or Beck’s for Gates.

But one Massachusetts congressman thinks another beer entirely should be served: Boston’s own Sam Adams.

In a letter to Obama dated Wednesday, Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal strongly urges the president not to drink Budweiser, now owned by a Belgian company. Nor should the White House consider serving Miller or Coors, Neal writes, both owned by a United Kingdom conglomerate.

Instead, the White House should serve the three men — all with ties to Massachusetts — the local favorite, not only because of its popularity in the region but also because it remains the largest American-owned and brewed beer, Neal says.

But Sam Adams founder and brewer Jim Koch told NPR if it was up to him he would make a special beer just for the event.

“I’d make a blend of ingredients from all over the world. Which is certainly what’s represented there with the three participants,” he said. “I would blend those ingredients together artfully and harmoniously, because that’s really what we all hope for.”

Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports other Massachusetts-based beer companies are also hoping to get their product a space at the high-profile meeting.

Dan Kenary, president of Harpoon Brewery, told the paper they are working every “back-door channel” the company has.

“We’d love to be the beer at this event,” Kenary said.

At least officer Crowley has some beer appreciation. Blue Moon is pretty good stuff. It’s an American brewed, unfiltered Belgian wheat style brew. Decently full flavored, without leaning too far in either the hops or malt directions, with a light citrus zest. I’ve got some in the fridge right now actually.

Red Stripe for Imavictimofracism Gates? How apt. How Black Powered. Red Stripe is imported from Jamaica. Give it a “C-” for taste, but it has a fairly high alcohol level at any rate.

And a Bud Light for His Oneness. See? I was right. Obama isn’t a beer drinker at all.

If Sam Adams wants to make up a special “peace beer”, go for it. I’d suggest taking their best beer, their Black Lager, and making it about twice as rich, so it compares to any other run of the mill euro-brew. And get the booze level up to where it ought to be. I like Sammies, but they have no kick. Their Honey Brown is pretty drinkable too, but it isn’t anywhere close to a Newcastle Brown.

And this ... this is news. Snooze!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/29/2009 at 05:54 PM   
Filed Under: • News-Briefs •  
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Hoplophobia!

Girl hit by AK-47

Cops, residents fear surge in machine guns




A 12-year-old Dorchester girl lying in bed watching television was randomly shot Monday night with an AK-47 during a firefight by suspected gangbangers that left tidy triple-deckers on Whitman Street pockmarked with bullet holes - including one in another child’s room.

Incredibly, no one else was hit, and the child suffered a non-life-threatening leg wound. But the incident has cops and residents fearing a profusion of high-powered weapons.

After visiting the shaken girl yesterday in her home, an angry Boston police Commissioner Edward Davis said, “She’s clearly afraid.”

Davis said ample ballistics evidence from dozens of rounds plucked from siding, window frames, home furnishings and at least one photo album suggests three weapons were involved, including one AK-47, when gunplay erupted at 8:30 p.m. from the adjacent rear of Dorchester High School.

“I know one thing: A lot of bullets came out of (the assault rifle),” one rattled witness, who crawled for cover under a car, later told the Herald.

Hubert Holtzclaw, 44, returned home Monday from a trip to find his Whitman Street condominium vented by ammo that pierced a bookcase, a photo album, a mailbox, TV wires and his 5-year-old son’s bedroom closet. Fortunately, no one was home.

In just the past two weeks - separate from Monday night’s potential mass tragedy - Boston cops have seized three state-banned assault rifles.

“It’s very concerning. This weapon does not belong in an urban setting, indiscriminately spraying bullets in neighborhoods,” Davis said.

John Rosenthal, chairman of Stop Handgun Violence, said, “No one should be surprised” gangbangers are arming themselves with AK-47s since a 10-year federal ban on assault weapons expired in 2004.

“Criminals and terrorists purchase AK-47s in 33 states, including Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont - and at thousands of annual gun shows - legally, without an ID or background check. . . . We are reaping what we sow,” Rosenthal said.




Bias much? Boston has it’s own assault weapons ban, so these rifles are illegal there to begin with. And no felon is allowed to purchase a gun anywhere. And nobody can purchase a gun out of state to begin with, at least not from a dealer. And let’s not forget that “assault weapons” aren’t machine guns, and that fully automatic weapons have been severely curtailed and licensed for over 70 years now. Any number of other rifles fire the 7x39 cartridge, not just AK-47s. SKS rifles, Ruger Ranch Rifles, etc. And all sorts of statistics have shown that Clinton’s AWB didn’t do a thing to lower crime. All it did was raise the prices on these particular guns. “cop killer bullets” is a big old smokescreen too. Any bullet is a cop killer bullet, especially from a rifle. Those Black Talon “teflon™” bullets have been off the market for decades, and there never were that many made to being with. And that too was crap. And there is body armor that will stop the 7x39 bullet just fine.

But those are facts. And facts have nothing to do with journalism anymore, except to loosely set the stage for their daily leftwing screed.



But wait, there’s more!! Such a bit of reporting would be incomplete without the accompanying sidebar article:

Police: Thugs’ increased firepower ‘very concerning’

Whether they are real, or cheap, knockoff versions of the AK-47 sought after by gangbangers, the guns are still very effective at blasting cop-killing bullets as fast as a gunman can pull the trigger.

Cops have seized three of the weapons in the past two weeks and said more were at work in a shooting Monday night that left a 12-year-old girl scarred by a bullet wound.

John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence said gang members like AK-47s “because they’re more powerful than what law enforcement carries . . . These weapons are made and marketed to penetrate body armor.”

Is there some buzzword filled text generator somewhere for these articles? They’re all written to a script, I swear.

I feel bad for the little kid who got winged. But this “reporting” is such a load of poop.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/29/2009 at 03:50 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsGuns and Gun Control •  
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Something for Nothing

There are at least one million words in the English language. No matter what you’ve got, English has a word for it. English also has words for things you don’t have, and this is one of them.



No, sorry, no Marina video on this, even though intelligence is sexy.

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Marina is Hot For Words



So the something for nothing word today is ullage.

Pronounced “ull - lage”, not “you-lage”, ullage is the space left over in a container when it’s partially filled. This Norman era word is derived from the latin word for eye, oculus, through the medieval French verb ouiller, which means to fill up a barrel ... because the Romans called the bung hole in a barrel it’s eye, and thus you could eye the contents to see how much more could fit in. The concept was extended to mean the level of wine in a bottle. Ullage is still used this way for describing old wine up for auction, as the level in the bottle decreases with age. Connoisseurs know that too much ullage means an old wine has gone bad. From barrels and bottles ullage grew to mean any open space in any container, and is the appropriate term to use when talking about how much the bunkers are down in a ship’s fuel tanks. [ odd - I had always thought that bunkerage was a noun that meant the fuel storage capacity on a ship. But looking it up shows me that it’s a noun for the act of filling the bunkers. Isn’t something that’s an act actually a verb?

It also applies to the fuel tanks in rocket engines, where ullage can have deadly consequences if not accounted for. The 2nd and 3rd stages of the Saturn V rocket had ullage motors, which would fire off just a little before igniting the main engine while in orbit. In zero gravity, the open space isn’t always on top. Actually, in zero gravity there is no top, no up, no down. A little bit of thrust sloshes the liquid fuel back against the intake pipes, so the rocket engine gets the proper fuel and ignites. No ullage motoring, and the intake pipe could just be passing vapor, which could allow the rocket flame to leap back up into the tank. BOOM. Not a good thing.

It’s probably a waste of time to use ullage to complain about things at McDonald’s. “I want another order of fries. This one has excessive ullage!” Pearls before swine and all that.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/29/2009 at 02:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
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JUST TOOOO STUPID TO IGNORE. AND A MOONBAT AWARD GOES TO ..Barking and Dagenham Council

batbatbatbatbatbat


Barking and Dagenham Council


Yeah, no kidding folks. That’s the name for real.  Barking and Dagenham Council.

So here’s the story .... and I won’t even attempt to add anything or try to make it funnier coz I can’t. 


Drippy health and safety police ban swimmers from doing lengths

By Jaya Narain
Last updated at 8:13 PM on 29th July 2009

Swimmers at a council pool have been banned from doing lengths for health and safety reasons.

They have been told they may only swim across the width of the pool as it makes it easier for lifeguards to ensure their safety.

Regular users of the Dagenham Swimming Pool in Essex say the rules are a clear indication that Britain is gripped by ‘health and safety insanity’.

Local resident Dean Bradford, 33, who has used the pool for more than 20 years, said the ban on lengths was a farce and would impact young and old alike. The municipal pool is 33.3 metres long (108ft) and 25 metres wide (85ft) and attracts thousands of users each week.

Mr Bradford said: ‘A lot of elderly people swim lengths of the pool to maintain their stamina and health and young people swim lengths to become better swimmers.

There are also those people who swim lengths as part of a training regime to compete in the sport. With the Olympics just around the corner I thought we were meant to be encouraging sporting excellence.

‘By banning lengths all these people are being marginalised and will have to go elsewhere. I think it is totally insane.’

Mr Bradford said he was told by the pool manager that they would need to have an extra lifeguard on duty if people were swimming lengths, as it was more difficult to keep an eye on them and there was not enough funding to pay for one.

But Barking and Dagenham Council, which runs the pool, said they had changed the swimming lanes to run width-ways to help people training for 50metre and 100metre events and to free up more space in the shallow end of the pool for less confident swimmers.

A council spokesman said: ‘This enables people who are less confident to swim lengths of the shallow end to help them get fit and also it makes it easier to see where people are swimming and what they are doing. It’s about variety, giving a whole host of swimming options.

‘Most people who are training for events don’t want to swim 33.3 metres, it doesn’t fit in with the distances involved. It’s not all about health and safety although it is true it does make it easier, they can use different staffing levels. It’s easier for the staff and it’s better swimming.’

But Mr Bradford said: ‘This is just the nanny state gone mad and it’s affecting my life and other people’s lives. It’s another obstacle for people trying to get fit and healthy.’

The council spokesman said the changes affect morning and lunchtime swimming sessions and if feedback was not good the lanes could be changed back to lengths.

SOURCE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/29/2009 at 02:39 PM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeNanny StateUK •  
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HAD THIS FOR YEARS AND JUST FOUND IT AGAIN.  JUST FOR LAFFS.

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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/29/2009 at 01:43 PM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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JUST SAYING OUT LOUD WHAT ALMOST EVERY BRIT ALREADY KNOWS.  ‘BOUT TIME SOMEONE DID.

About time someone in some kind of authority spoke up. The rest of this country has known this for years and years and .................

Question now is, will anyone listen and do something?
Probably not.


Hundreds of thousands of migrants here for handouts, says senior judge


By Steve Doughty

Last updated at 12:43 AM on 29th July 2009

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants come to Britain just to get welfare benefits, a senior judge declared yesterday.
Judge Ian Trigger said the cost of the handouts has helped to double the national debt.
He spoke out as he gave a two-year jail sentence to a Jamaican drug minder who disappeared from the notice of immigration authorities after claiming asylum.
He told Lucien McClearley, 31, at Liverpool Crown Court: ‘Your case illustrates all too clearly the completely lax immigration policy that exists and has existed over recent years.’

Sentencing McClearley, he added: ‘People like you, and there are literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people like you, come to these shores to avail themselves of the generous welfare benefits that exist here.
‘In the past ten years the national debt of this country has risen to extraordinary heights, largely because central Government has wasted billions of pounds. Much of that has been wasted on welfare payments.

‘For every £1 that the decent citizen, who is hard-working, pays in taxes, nearly 10 per cent goes on servicing that national debt. That is twice the amount it was in 1997 when this Government came to power.’ McClearley arrived legally in Britain in November 2001 on a visitor’s visa.
He was arrested in October 2002 after it ran out but claimed asylum and was released while this was being processed.
He then ‘disappeared from the radar of the authorities’, the court heard. His application was rejected in 2004 but he was only arrested this February after police stopped a car he was driving and noticed it smelled of cannabis.
A search of the house where McClearley was staying in Everton uncovered cannabis worth £7,200, a gram of cocaine and a fake passport.

He admitted taking a vehicle without consent, possessing cannabis and cocaine, possessing a class-B drug with intent and two counts of possessing false identity documents.
Judge Trigger, who is also a part-time immigration judge, told McClearley: ‘The fact that it took nearly two years to process your claim shows how desperate the situation in this country has become.’
The 65-year-old judge said he ‘hoped and trusted’ McClearley would be deported immediately on release.

SOURCE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/29/2009 at 01:23 PM   
Filed Under: • Border SecurityIllegal-Aliens and ImmigrationUK •  
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Ancient Roman shipwrecks found ……. a very short post but I love this stuff

Awesome that after all this time this kind of discovery is made.

The small photo doesn’t show a lot. Looks like pottery but what the heck.  A bit of ancient Rome under the water near Italy. WOW.
Must be a thrill plus for the guys who brought stuff up from the bottom. 

Talking about ancient .... I would love to see Pompeii. Or what’s left of it.


Ancient Roman shipwrecks found

Underwater archaeologists in Italy have discovered the wrecks of five ancient Roman ships in the Mediterranean, with their cargo still largely intact.

The ships are lying in up to 150 metres (500 feet) of water off the tiny island of Ventotene, between Rome and Naples.

They are between 1,600 and 1,900 years old, and were laden with - among other things - jars for carrying wine, olive oil and fish sauce.

One expert said: “It is like an underwater museum.”

Also on board were kitchen tools, and certain metal and glass objects which have not yet been identified.

The discovery of wrecked ships is not unusual - there are said to be thousands dotted around the Mediterranean.

But Annalisa Zarattini, from the Italian Culture Ministry, said the latest to be found are much better preserved than usual because they sank in deeper water, which protected them from destructive currents.

The ships also sank without capsizing, she said, allowing examination of the cargo in almost the form it had been loaded.

Officials say the latest finds are the result of a new drive by archaeologists to scan deeper waters, organised by the culture ministry and the Aurora Trust, a maritime research group.

The plan was prompted in part by a desire to prevent the looting of treasures.

Because of improving technology, looters are now able to dive to greater depths than in the past.

Italian authorities are trying to stay ahead of looters
“It’s important that we arrive there first,” said Ms Zarattini.

The team of archaeologists and deep sea divers used sonar technology and miniature robotic submarines in their latest operation.

The biggest of the ships discovered is about 20 metres long (60 feet).

The area they were found in was on a major route for trade between Rome and its North African territories.

Some of the objects are being put on display on Ventotene.

SOURCE IS THE BBC WORLD


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/29/2009 at 10:33 AM   
Filed Under: • Amazing Science and DiscoveriesNews-Briefs •  
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ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE NANNY STATE MAKING DECISIONS FOR US. FOR OUR OWN GOOD OF COURSE.

And likely it’s also for the kiddies.

It bothers me not just because they (govt.) are taking away individual decision making. Not that alone.
It also bugs me because I can’t understand why people with more education( then what I got), can not figure out that folks who want it will simply double up and buy more.  Why can’t they see that?

They want the size of soda cans made smaller and candy bars to be cut from the present 57 or 58g, to 50g.  Will that 7g make that much difference? And will the candy makers drop their prices?  Uh huh.

Something else that is really bizarre. In an unscientific poll on the Daily Mail site, 22% of ppl think that the govt. is right.  Twenty Two percent of those polled would prefer to allow someone else to be responsible for their thinking.  Not a very good sign.

Chocolate bars could be made smaller to help fight obesity

By Sophie Borland
Last updated at 11:32 AM on 29th July 2009

Chocolate bars could be cut in size to help fight the obesity epidemic.

The Food Standards Agency wants the average bar to be reduced by up to a fifth to reduce daily calorie intake.

It has drawn up plans for confectioners to make voluntary changes to the size of their snacks.

By 2012 the watchdog wants all confectionary to weigh no more than 50g - currently Mars bars are 58g and Bounty bars 57g.

Manufacturers have also been asked to sell bite-size bars as single items rather than as part of multibags.

They will be discouraged from promoting large supersize items - such as the Maltesers ‘Big Bag’ and - Mars ‘Duo’ - and instead encouraged to offer healthier snacks as alternatives .

By 2050 up to 60 per cent of Britons will be obese and the cost to the National Health Service estimated to reach more than £8.4 billion.

The plans, drawn up in an FSA consultation, also propose that within six years, fizzy drinks should be sold in 250 ml containers instead of standard 330ml for most brands.

They propose that drinks’ ‘added sugar’ levels are reduced by 4 per cent within three years in the hope that consumers will be gradually weaned off very sweet beverages without noticing the lower sugar content.

Gill Fine, from the FSA said: ‘We are not telling people what to eat. We want to make it easier for people to make healthier choices — to choose foods with reduced saturated fat and sugar — or smaller portion sizes.’

‘We are committed to working in partnership with Government and its agency to help consumers eat more healthily - and reformulation is just one of the ways in which we will continue to make a real difference.’

FOR MORE

‘We are committed to working in partnership with Government and its agency to help consumers eat more healthily

What they’re committed to is playing health bully. 


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/29/2009 at 10:04 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeHealth and SafetyHealth-MedicineNanny StateUK •  
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