Tuesday - September 22, 2009

Done, finally

Seven straight days of work to do that house, and I’m done. Finally. No tip, but they paid me the full price, even though I didn’t clean 7 of the lamps and 2 of the skylights. Not because I couldn’t have, but because the homeowner asked me not to.

And they say they want me back next year. We’ll see if they actually call. And if I’m still in that line of work. Because I need to earn like this every single week, and it’s just not happening. I give folks a fair price, then I work really hard for them and do a superb job that they’re all so in love with. Yet nobody ever calls me back a year later. Sure, I get some referrals, and that’s great. But I need a client base I can mostly depend on. And I don’t seem to be making on. Overall I’d make more money being a receptionist at some doctor’s office, working full time.

Ok, into the shower. The last part of this job was cleaning the gutters, which were so mucked up they had compost in the bottom and small trees growing out the top. And a fair amount of that mess is all over me. Time for a power shower.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/22/2009 at 04:49 PM   
Filed Under: • work and the workplace •  
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A bit different but I find extremly interesting from the world of business and DELL

I don’t follow this stuff a close as I used to and ran across it tonight in the business section of the paper.  A section I hardly ever go to these days.
I still follow the Q’s (QQQQ) but mostly I pass over things.  Bet the folks who knew were buying a week ago. And there’s ALWAYS someone that knows.
This lights my fire even though I wasn’t playing.

Dell offers $3.9 billion for Perot Systems

Alexandra Frean, US Business Correspondent

Dell, the maker of PCs and laptops, has announced a $3.9 billion (£2.4 billion) proposed takeover of Perot Systems, the technology services provider founded by former presidential candidate, Ross Perot.

Dell will pay $30 per share in cash for the outstanding stock in Perot under the deal.

For Dell, the world’s second-biggest maker of personal computers, the deal represents an opportunity to expand its information technology services portfolio and to expand Perot’s reach around the world.

The two companies have a combined enterprise-hardware and IT-services revenue of $16 billion, with half of that coming from enhanced services and support.

Michael Dell, chairman of Dell, said the acquisition made “great sense” because of the obvious ways the two businesses complemented each other. “There will be efficiencies from combining the companies,” he added.

Terms of the agreement were approved on Sunday by the boards of directors of both companies, although it is still subject to government approval. Dell expects to close the deal in its November-January quarter.

Perot, which is now chaired by Mr Perot’s son, will become Dell’s service unit and will be led by the current Perot chief executive Peter Altabef.

Dell shares fell 0.9 per cent in pre-market trading to $15.79. Perot shares rose in pre market trading by 11.78 per cent to $29.69

SOURCE,THE TIMES

AND ON THE SAME SUBJECT, THERE IS THIS.

­­­­­­­

Perots work the system to perfection

David Wighton, Business Editor’s Commentary
September 22, 2009

Dell’s takeover of Perot Systems for $3.9 billion has a pleasing symmetry about it.

Last year Hewlett-Packard, Dell’s rival, expanded its own services unit with the takeover of Electronic Data Systems for $13.9 billion.

EDS was started in 1962 by H Ross Perot Sr, the former presidential candidate, who sold the company to General Motors for $2.5 billion in 1984 before going on to found Perot Systems in 1988.

His son, H Ross Perot Jr, is the chairman and he is expected to take a seat on the Dell board.

The Perots, in effect, have pulled off the same deal twice, making a great deal of money both times.

Dell did not have much option but to go for IT services. The company has been losing market share to rivals and seen profits dwindle. Its revenue comes almost exclusively from the battered hardware business of personal computers, while competitors such as IBM and HP have been diversifying into services for a number of years.

Dell is probably paying a little over the odds for its acquisition of Perot Systems. It is paying 1.4 times sales, while HP got EDS for 0.6 times. But there are not that many companies of Perot’s size and expertise out there.

The EDS deal seems to be working out for HP and Michael Dell will be hoping that some of the Perot magic will rub off on him, too.

But, on past experience, it will not be long before H Ross Perot Jr is off to set up a new systems company.

SOURCE, TIMES

Posted by peiper     on 09/22/2009 at 01:00 PM   
Filed Under: • Big Business •  
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A hostile Muslim population that sets fires, then attacks firemen in Sweden

H/T sevenload.com/videos

I am not certain at all with regard to the embed here but I tested out the link and that does work. Sweden has its problem. And France, And UK And Germany And Norway and Holland And .................

Here is an interview with some firemen in Sweden talking about how they cope with a hostile Muslim population that sets fires, then attacks them when they come to put them out and save anyone who may be in danger from them. This of course is now familiar as it is classic ‘Al Queda Handbook’ stuff on how to make a no go zone. However it is nice to see cracks in the political correctness that has prevented European agents of the state from reporting the facts, although this video does not name Islam specifically, one can easily infer it from the interviews and pictures of the ‘natives’ of the area in Question.

Link:

sevenload.com

Bottom line as everyone knows by now. The fault isn’t with muzzies entirely. It’s the hand wringing, bleeding heart leftist libtards that believe in this multi-culture crap.  The frightened and guilt ridden (why?) whites in our countries who appease and pander and accommodate, and know no end to make happy diversity and continuing appeasement of a sub-human species who will in the end, do us all in. 

Posted by peiper     on 09/22/2009 at 09:31 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration • RoPMA •  
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A DOOMED CULTURE CONTINUES ITS DRIFT INTO THE ABYSS. LAST OUT LEAVE LIGHTS ON.

Correct. Leave all the lights burning cox it’ll really piss off the greens.

OK so. Here’s our story of doom and one for the books.

Every time I ask can things and ppl get any dumber, they do.

Little girl, school kid, is attacked by four boys ,, and she’s tied to fence and whipped. Nice huh?  They’re just yoots having fun.  So … a lady who works at the school saves the kid , she had to be dragged away from the yoots and suffered rope burns in addition to being beaten.

Well …. the lady who saved the little girl told the parents what happened but no matter.  The school told the parents that the girl was injured in a skipping rope accident.  Turns out they lied.

Result … lady who saved the girl and informed parents of the truth of it all, got the sack. Yeah.. the school fired her because …. ready?

She breached pupil ( that is the punks) confidentiality.  Oh that makes sense. The miserable bastards who tied up the girl get “confidentiality” the victim gets bruises and rope burns, and the woman who dragged the girl to safety gets fired.  Yup … That’s about right for this freeken country these days.
Justice would be to tie those boys to a fence and dish out the same treatment.  Then use the little snots to harvest body parts for the law abiding ill.

Sacked for exposing the bullies: School employee is fired for telling parents girl had been whipped
By SARAH HARRIS
Last updated at 1:46 AM on 22nd September 2009

A school employee who told the parents of a seven-year-old girl that she had been viciously bullied in the playground has been sacked.
Scott and Claire David were simply informed in a letter home that their daughter Chloe had been ‘hurt’ in an incident with a skipping rope.
In fact, she had been tied to a fence, whipped by four boys, had to be dragged to safety and suffered burns to her wrists.

But the attempted cover-up was exposed when Carol Hill - a school employee who saved her from further injury - bumped into Mr and Mrs David and told them what really happened.
Mrs Hill, 60, was suspended after the incident in June and yesterday it emerged that she has been fired by a disciplinary tribunal for breaching pupil confidentiality at Great Tey Primary School, near Colchester, Essex.

The decision has been condemned by the girl’s family, who were prevented from giving evidence on Mrs Hill’s behalf.
Other parents at the school are considering withdrawing their children in protest.
Friends say that Mrs Hill, from Great Tey, who has worked at the school for almost eight years, is ‘shocked and very disappointed’ but is planning to appeal.

One said: ‘She thinks she’s been treated really shabbily but she insists that if she saw a child being bullied again she would definitely step in like she did.’
Her husband, Ron, said: ‘She’s not been eating and has been really down. I can’t describe how cross I am. I can’t believe it’s got this far. She’s done nothing wrong.’
Mrs Hill has previously told how another pupil alerted her to the bullying incident. She found Chloe bound up and terrified.

She said: ‘She had eight knots around her wrists and had been whipped across the legs with a skipping rope. I took her back into the school, along with four boys who had been seen with her. Two admitted it.’

Mr and Mrs David say Chloe, who had rope burns to her wrists and whip marks on her legs, was sent home with an accident notification letter. They could not find out what exactly had happened as she was in shock and refused to talk about it.

Later that evening, Mrs Hill was helping at a Beaver Scouts meeting and went over to Mrs David to say she was sorry about what happened.
Speaking in July, she said: ‘As I was talking to her it became clear she did not know the whole story. I had to tell her because she then realised there was more to it.’
Mr and Mrs David have since withdrawn Chloe and their five-year-old son, Cameron, from the school.

They say that if Mrs Hill had not told them, they would never have been alerted to what had really happened. They later demanded to see the school’s accident book which stated that Chloe had been tied up.
Mr David, 33, a steel worker, said last night: ‘I’m disgusted and shocked that Mrs Hill has been sacked and I’m disgusted that the school has been able to cover everything up.

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 09/22/2009 at 08:11 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • UK •  
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Just another one of those this place is damned well DOOMED stories. Yawn. This is life in the UK

I have another story to follow that makes even less sense and is worse in every way.

I will never understand so don’t try and explain it, how these folks came to be so freeken STUPID! OK you can try and explain and I’ll listen but I still can not understand where common sense and logic went to. Off with the fairies somewhere.
See what ya make of this.

Man arrested for carrying out citizen’s arrest on yobs ‘who threw apples at him and his wife’
By DAVID WILKES
Last updated at 12:16 AM on 22nd September 2009

When police failed to help after Roland Digby’s house was repeatedly pelted with apples by a gang of youths, the father-of-three tried to perform a citizen’s arrest.
But instead of the yobs, it is he who has been left facing court.
He was arrested and charged with common assault after allegedly placing his hand on a 16-year-old’s shoulder to restrain him.

The youth swore at him and a scuffle broke out, so Mr Digby put him in a ‘full-nelson’ behind-the-back armlock ‘to make sure he didn’t get away’.
About 15 other teenagers then joined the fray, which ended after several minutes when Mr Digby escaped with a ‘clipped lip’.

But despite four 999 calls no officers turned up to his house. When they did arrive five days later, it was Mr Digby that was arrested.
The courier driver, 49, said: ‘ People who stand up for their own rights face a criminal record, while the perpetrators get off. I am totally disgusted by this. The police have just hung me out to dry.

‘When I was young, if someone told you to disappear, you would, but now people say you can’t touch them or you’ll get in trouble.
‘I have lived in this town for 25 years and used to run an off-licence. I always complied with enforcing ID checks and I had a good relationship with the police.
‘They know me well but I am shocked by what has happened.’

Mr Digby, from Royston, Hertfordshire, says his property had already been targeted twice in a week by youths throwing dozens of crab apples from a nearby BMX bike track.
Despite calling 999 each time, police only turned up hours after the incident, when the teenagers were nowhere to be seen.

After a third night of harassment on September 3, when more than 20 teenagers pelted him and his wife Janette with apples as they sat in their garden, Mr Digby called the police at 8.30pm and went to confront the group.

Mr Digby complained to two passing policeman on the way home after he broke free from the scuffle.
They told him to go back to the house and wait, but at 11pm he received a call saying no officers would be able to attend that evening. When he was arrested Mr Digby refused to accept a caution and was charged.

He will appear in Stevenage Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, but is unrepentant and plans to plead not guilty. He said: ‘I don’t even know if the kid complained about me or if police finally went to investigate my complaint and arrested me as a result of his story.’

The law allows any person to make a citizen’s arrest as long as they use only ‘reasonable force’.
It is understood that the level of force Mr Digby used to restrain the boy will be at the centre of the court case.

None of the youths have been arrested but police are investigating Mr Digby’s claims about the apple-throwing and scuffle.
A spokesman for Hertfordshire Police said: ‘This is a matter reviewed by the CPS who felt there was enough evidence to bring charges against Mr Digby.

‘However, we have not lost sight of the circumstances surrounding this incident which are still under investigation and are committed to resolving the complexities of this case with all parties involved.’

MAIL

Posted by peiper     on 09/22/2009 at 07:26 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • Outrageous • UK •  
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   Monday - September 21, 2009

Another one of those small stories that point to the ridiculous way of life in a nanny state.

It isn’t earth shattering and everyone will forget this post even before they finish reading it. But it strikes me as just another bit of proof as to how far people have gone here, to make certain they comply with the law. Even if it means going to ridiculous extremes.

It’s also btw, further proof that Brits for the most in spite of very bad news and coddling of criminals and a justice system that has little or none of that, many Brits do try and play by the rules and do try and obey laws. With this govt. in place tho it’s sometimes hard to figure out what new thing will become illegal today that may not have been yesterday.  It’s that old play by the rules attitude while the rest of Europe often plays by theirs when it comes to the EU. But I’m getting a bit off topic so here’s the story I want you to see.

David Hockney said he loathes the Labour Government for interfering in his life by introducing the smoking ban.

Published: 3:39AM BST 20 Sep 2009

The 72-year-old British artist, who is a lifelong smoker, is backing a cross-party group of MPs who want the ban to be relaxed to allow people to light up in designated rooms in pubs.

Hockney told the BBC’s Politics Show that he was appalled to find that his local cafe in east Yorkshire no longer even allowed people to smoke at tables outside because they were frightened that smoke would waft inside and breach the law.

He said that if ministers had told the late TV chef Keith Floyd to give up rich food, alcohol and cigarettes in order to live longer ‘’he would have said to them that’s not what I call living. Up yours!’’

I quit smoking about 22 yrs ago and from time to time I do still miss it. Especially when stressed.  But overall, I’m ok and have no plans to resume a very unhealthy addiction. However .... I confess I enjoy the waft when outdoors on the odd occasion.  That tiny “waft” the folks at that local cafe are so worried about.  I’m also against the ban on smoking in bars and pubs and restaurants.  Why the hell shouldn’t there be areas indoors where it’s okay?
Look, nobody is going to get the big ‘C’ from doses of second hand smoke in those circumstances. If that were the case, then I should have been history years ago as besides smoking myself, I was often in areas of close quarters with many other smokers. So I was not only breathing in mine but theirs as well.  True, I had a tumor removed. But I’m convinced it had nothing to do with other people’s smoke and more to do with me smoking two or packs of unfiltered Lucky Strikes from the age of 13 until the time I quit a few months after my surgery.

I think over here where I am, I’m more likely to be the victim of crime way before I fall victim to someone’s smoking habit. And that’s the truth!

I guess what I hate most is a govt. prodded by special interest groups deciding things best left to choice. Why not pubs that cater to smokers then?
No, can’t do that coz ppl will still get sick. Yeah but once they know, should that not be their choice?

READ THE REST HERE

Posted by peiper     on 09/21/2009 at 03:05 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • Health and Safety • Nanny State • UK •  
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“Everyone knows coyotes have broadband, right? Acme® ISP” (Drew)

everyone knows coyotes have broadband, right? Acme® ISP

Reminds me of an old, a very old routine by Burns and Allen. circa 1930’s and again on TV early days.
Gracie upset over missing dog. George suggests she put an add in the lost and found and Gracie says, “Don’t be silly George. Dogs can’t read.”
George turns to camera. 

I wouldn’t have started Monday off exactly this way but couldn’t resist after reading Drews post.
Note to Drew.  You need to join a union as I see by comments of hard work performed on behalf of capitalist Rich Lady, she is taking unfair advantage of working class proletariat but keep chin up comrade as come the revolution we all drink Borscht. 

OH ... Vital info for conservatives.
Apparently we’ve all been misinformed re. Obama.  Turns out he’s one of us in spite of health care thing. Yeah really.

Would I lie? All I know is what I read in the paper and in the paper Obama says, “I’m a Conservative.”

The article goes on to explain that European Cons talk to him and say they do not understand why Americans are calling him a commie or a socialist as, by their standards, Obama is a Conservative.

which says something doesn’t it, about cons. over here.

Posted by peiper     on 09/21/2009 at 02:42 AM   
Filed Under: • Bowling Blogging • Humor • work and the workplace •  
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   Sunday - September 20, 2009

“First, we kill all the pigs…”

It has exposed the failings of a government where the power is concentrated at the top, where decisions are often carried out with little consideration for their consequences and where follow-up is often nonexistent, according to social commentators and government officials.

Doesn’t that just sound like the Obama (mis)Administration? But, while applicable, it is not. This is about the Mubarak dictatorship in Egypt. Seems, in an effort to halt the swine flu, they actually killed all the swine.

In other news, a Muslim country had swine. Why? We find out later in the story…

When the government killed all the pigs in Egypt this spring — in what public health experts said was a misguided attempt to combat swine flu — it was warned the city would be overwhelmed with trash.

The pigs used to eat tons of organic waste. Now the pigs are gone and the rotting food piles up on the streets of middle-class neighborhoods like Heliopolis and in the poor streets of communities like Imbaba.

This is from a New York Times story which features a picture of goats trying to do a pig’s job. Basically, it looks (and doubtless smells) like New York City during a garbage strike.

Posted by Christopher     on 09/20/2009 at 03:21 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Government • Health and Safety • Nanny State • Scary Stuff •  
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Hurtin

I’ve still got 2 full days left on that darn mansion. Monday I have to race against the clock to finish the inside downstairs. Mrs. Rich Lady’s constraint that all contractors be out and gone by 4pm has really thrown me off. Window cleaning goes from dawn to dusk, and by leaving at 4pm I lose at least 2 1/2 good hours of daylight each day at this time of the year. Even though I’m showing up at the job before then, you really can’t get much done before 8am; it’s pointless trying to clean glass before the sun is up enough to burn off the morning dew. So what should have been a 4 day job has turned into a 6 or 7 day job. Cleaning the exterior lamps and gutters won’t be so bad, but I HAVE to get the insides done tomorrow. Period.

So I was up at Oh God early today, and went and did my regular Sunday cleaning job. Well, the morning part. Then I got up to the bowling alley and prebowled, since there is no way I’ll be able to get to league tomorrow night on time. What with sore muscles, and that slowly healing gash on my thumb, I did poorly. My swing is good, and I’m getting a lot of rev on the ball, but even with a free arm swing the ball is going way too fast. So I need to reinvent the wheel and shorten my approach, so that I take little slow steps ... which means I have to get in quite a bit of practice to recoordinate my timing to the new slower approach. I’m not there at all yet, so I was about 20 points down each game. Sorry.

Ok, another few minutes rest, then time to drive 35 miles to do my afternoon Sunday cleaning job. And then a bunch of laundry. And I’d better get some groceries so I can eat next week.



So, are you sick to death of seeing Fearless Reader on your TV every single day on every news show? It’s barely begun. All the guy knows how to do is campaign, so he’s at it again. Sorry BH, but I don’t want your plan, and that’s not going to change whether you’ve talked it up 30 times or 32 times. It’s wrong, and you’re a commie. So go away.

President Obama blanketed the airwaves Sunday in a bid to sell his health care plan to the American people and put pressure on Congress to pass comprehensive reform legislation in the coming weeks.

As part of the blitz, the president was appearing on the ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN talk and public affairs Sunday shows, and on the Hispanic network Univision.

Obama also is visiting David Letterman on Monday, the first appearance ever by a sitting president on Letterman’s “Late Show.”

...

Critics have raised concerns about the mandate, though, and Obama was pressed on whether it is tantamount to the kind of tax increase he pledged to avoid during the campaign.

“That’s not true. ... My critics say everything’s a tax increase. My critics say that I’m taking over every sector of the economy,” Obama said. “I absolutely reject that notion.”

Yo, holmes, be real. This boondoggle is going to cost a fortune. Where else is the money going to come from? You’ve already borrowed all the money in China. Taxes are all that’s left. We’re not buying it.

Does Hollywood Stupid count as moonbattery? Jessica Simpson’s little foo-foo dog, a “malti-poo”, was snatched by a coyote. She saw it happen. So she’s offering a reward. On the internet. Because, sure, everyone knows coyotes have broadband, right? Acme® ISP, yes? Poor doggy, but ... sheesh.



Penzeys Spice Company sent me another catalog. They sell quality spices, but their recipes can be awfully ... lame. This issue has another great chili recipe. It uses 2 pounds of meat, 4 cans of beans, 2 big cans of tomatoes, 1 onion ... and 4 teaspoons of ground chili. And 1 teaspoon of cumin powder. Are they for real? Horry Clap. My BASIC chili recipe for 2 pounds of meat:
take a double handful of ancho chilis (about 16)
take a big handful of guajillo peppers (about 8)
4 fresh Serrano peppers
4 jalapeno peppers
4 big onions
2 cans of pinto beans
2 pounds of meat
1 big can of tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of freshly ground cumin
beer

and goes from there. Destem and deseed the peppers, and chop into little bits. Chop 3 of the onions. Brown the meat in one pan, then add the chilis and chopped onions and cumin and garlic. Cook it all up for about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes and a beer or two. Stir. Cook slowly for about 4 hours. Now prepare and chop up another 3 or 4 anchos and 2 guajillos. Run them through a grinder to powder them. Mince up the 4th onion and another clove of garlic. Mix it all in, probably adding another beer if the chili is too thick. You could add another can of tomatoes at this point, and you’ll probably want to toss in some hot sauce. Cook the whole thing for another hour, then serve. The pinto beans should pretty much dissolve before it’s done.

See, because chili is actually ... pepper stew. Which means it’s mostly peppers. With some meat and onions thrown in. And some beans and tomatoes for body. Not Sloppy Joe mix with just the slightest taste of chili peppers.

I’m open for new chili recipes, if they’re real. Hey, if I was a spice company, the recipes I’d give away would use LOTS of my product. LOADS and LOADS. 4 teaspoons of powdered chili. Who are they kidding?



Ok, back to work.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/20/2009 at 12:22 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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HORSING AROUND WITH TAXPAYER MONEY.  BUSINESS AS USUAL

Not that the same can’t happen or doesn’t happen elsewhere.  But my concern (for now) is here coz it’s where I are.
Talks of belt tightening and money shortage and cuts proposed in spending .... it’s all talk.

For those of you not familiar with a broadsheet newspaper, it is VERY large.
Measures 29 inches across when opened full, and 22 and 3/4 inches top to bottom. That’s pretty darn large.
Now then, keeping those measurements in mind, on one side of today’s paper in HUGE PRINT way bigger then this .... is a headline that reads “How the the cuts will hit you.”

Cuts?  What cuts? Oh right. Just the ones that hit the average person trying to make ends meet. But certainly NOT these folks.

I already have a headache from my last post.  I’m gone for awhile.

Taxpayers fund ‘Doolittle’ awayday for quango staff
Chris Hastings
The Sunday Times

MOST would regard it as horseplay, but staff at a disability quango have been sent to a farm at taxpayers’ expense to improve management skills by communicating with animals.

The “equine assisted leadership” courses are among a series of bizarre awaydays and team-building exercises used by public bodies to train staff, according to documents obtained under freedom of information rules.
Councils, Whitehall departments, police forces and quangos are spending millions of pounds sending staff to Shakespeare-themed classes, go-karting and on escapades involving black cabs.
“I don’t think taxpayers will approve of this kind of expenditure, particularly in the current climate,” said Jeremy Hunt, the Tory culture spokesman.

“Civil servants hoping to bond with a future Conservative government would be wise to look again at how they are spending public funds.”
In July, two human resources employees at the Independent Living Fund, a disability agency sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions, took part in the equine leadership session at a farm in Derbyshire. They were asked to give non-verbal commands to horses to determine the effectiveness of their body language.

Roz Watkins, director of Templeton Finn, the firm which runs the courses, said: “We use the horses to try and help people understand how they communicate. Many people are totally unaware of their body language. The horses are very perceptive and can pick up the most subtle signals.” The session cost the fund £180.

In December 2008, 20 staff from the Leasehold Advisory Service took part in the so-called “black cab challenge”. They were divided into teams and raced around London in taxis, taking photographs of specified sights and collecting souvenirs. Participants also had to complete The Times crossword and choreograph a song-and-dance routine. The three-hour session cost £2,357.

Dan Collins, director of Fresh Tracks, which organised the event, said: “The black cab challenge is designed so that people can discover each other’s skills. It’s all about combining fun and learning.”

Several Whitehall departments have turned to the theatre for inspiration. Foreign Office staff have taken part in role-playing exercises organised by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Staff from a business department quango called the Fair Markets Group and colleagues from UK Trade and Investment, as well as Bedfordshire police, have been on leadership courses run by Richard Olivier, son of Laurence Olivier.

The total cost of sending 200 business department staff on courses themed around Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Henry V was £9,000. “We use The Tempest to help staff who are trying to implement change in difficult circumstances. In the play, Prospero is doing just that,” said Olivier.
The Northern Lighthouse Board organised a go-karting trip for six staff in October last year which cost £1,952.

Additional reporting: Annabel Turner

SUNDAY TIMES

Posted by peiper     on 09/20/2009 at 09:42 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • UK •  
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A note to England with love.  ARE YOU FREEKEN NUTS? DON’T ANSWER THAT. I ALREADY KNOW.

I hardly know where to begin I’m so damn tongue tied at the moment.  (holler and pull what hair is left)
Of all the stupid freakin - fracken idiocy this has to top the list. And btw.  Brits are not alone. Oh no. Germany and Holland just two more adherents to the church of Bore. Mind you it’s in the name of gween.  Fuckin jerks!  This place is screwed if this goes thru. Wait. It’s already screwed thanks to Liebour.

How to get folks OUT OF CARS and more ppl on bikes. In case of accident, blame the drivers involved in accidents with bikes or pedestrians, even if they are NOT at fault. There ya go. That’ll work.  That’ll get more ppl out of cars.  Jeesh.

Cycling plan to blame drivers for all crashes

Ministers are considering a far-reaching change in the law in a bid to promote greener transport
From The Sunday Times

MINISTERS are considering making motorists legally responsible for accidents involving cyclists or pedestrians, even if they are not at fault.
Government advisers are pushing for changes in the civil law that will make the most powerful vehicle involved in a collision automatically liable for insurance and compensation purposes.

The move, intended to encourage greater take-up of environmentally friendly modes of transport, is likely to anger some drivers, many of whom already perceive themselves to be the victims of moneyspinning speed cameras and overzealous traffic wardens.
Many will argue that it is the risky behaviour of some cyclists — particularly those who jump red lights and ride the wrong way along one-way streets — that is to blame for a significant number of crashes.
However, policy-makers believe radical action is required to get people out of cars and onto bicycles or to walk more. Only 1%-2% of journeys are at present made by bike.

Other proposals to promote greener — and healthier — transport include the imposition of blanket 20mph zones on residential streets.
Supporters want such measures to be included in the government’s National Cycling Plan and Active Transport Strategy, due to be published soon.

Phillip Darnton, chief executive of Cycling England, an agency funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) to promote cycling, said four key policy changes were needed. “I would like to see the legal onus placed on motorists when there are accidents; speed limits reduced to 20mph on suburban and residential roads; cycling taught to all schoolchildren; and cycling provision included in major planning applications,” said Darnton.

Such proposals will be seen by some as part of a battle for control of Britain’s roads between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
In London, where cycling has bucked the national trend and increased sharply, clashes are already common.
Last week James Martin, the television celebrity chef, described in a newspaper his joy at running a group of cyclists off the road and into a hedge while test-driving a sports car. Martin was forced to apologise after thousands of angry cyclists protested.

Matthew Parris, a columnist for The Times, was similarly forced to backtrack last year after suggesting that piano wire should be strung across roads to decapitate cyclists. Parris said he was joking, but statistics show that cyclists are actually among the most vulnerable road users, with 115 deaths last year alone.
Last month Harry Wilmers, 25, a mental health support worker, was killed when his bicycle was hit by a lorry in Manchester. Wilmers was the boyfriend of Rebecca Stephenson, the daughter of Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan police commissioner.

The government is spending £100m on building cycle routes in 18 pilot towns. Yet motorists and residents are often infuriated at seeing swathes of road space, or the kerbs where they park their cars, turned into cycle lanes. Councils in York, Huddersfield and Cambridge, have all had to deal with anti-cycling protests.

Last week lobbyists for cycling and walking groups met Jessica Matthew, the DfT official in charge of sustainable transport who is drafting the National Cycling Plan. Placing the onus of responsibility on motorists is perhaps the most controversial move under consideration.
Such scheme would place the presumption of blame against whoever was driving the most powerful vehicle involved in an accident, so they or their insurers would be liable for costs or damages.

If a cyclist were hit by a car, the presumption of blame would fall on the driver, while a cyclist would automatically be blamed if he or she knocked down a pedestrian.
Similar policies — which would not extend to criminal law — have already been adopted by Germany and Holland, where transport campaigners say they have had a significant influence in changing attitudes towards cycling.

Matthew, who has been briefing Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, also confirmed that ministers want to slash speed limits in urban areas.
Her report is expected to recommend that councils should introduce 20mph zones in all residential streets and on other roads with high numbers of cyclists or pedestrians. This would include roads around schools, markets and shopping areas, as long as they are not major through routes.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said it was wrong to see cyclists and motorists as separate and opposed groups. “Many cyclists are motorists and many motorists are cyclists,” he said.
“Simple changes in the law that assume one party is in the wrong because of what they drive will not help harmony on the roads.”

SUNDAY TIMES

Here ya go England. The BMEWS Tiger has the answer and it could work. Pay attention!

When the hell are the people in the UK going to toss Labour out on its ear, FOREVER?  They’ve done an incredible amount of damage.  Whoever gets in really needs to consider an omnibus bill that simply disbands any and all new agencies/departments/councils/laws/regulations passed by Labour during the time they were in.

Yeah, it’ll create a bit of a mess, but NOTHING like what was created BY Labour when they were in.
Posted by Argentium G. Tiger

Posted by peiper     on 09/20/2009 at 08:59 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Government • UK •  
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This one’s for Peiper

Loved your post “WEEKEND WOMEN - WEEKEND GLAMOUR”. And then, you mentioned:

I’ve always enjoyed the mystery.

Well, enjoy this little number from Roy Orbison’s posthumous album, which is titled ‘Mystery Girl’. Yes, the song, and the album.

While I was watching and listening to this, it occurred to me that if a women knows what she is doing, ‘mystery girl’ is a redundant phrase.

Of course, a ‘proper’ girl is ‘mysterious’.

Wow! Am I married to a ‘proper’ girl or what? She’s a mystery to me!

BTW, did you notice how the most effective shots were B&W?

Posted by Christopher     on 09/20/2009 at 05:37 AM   
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Christian hoteliers charged with insulting Muslim guest, and it’s a criminal offence.

You bet it is and if the paper’s reporting is honest and unbiased (?) then this is outrageous.

The way it reads, it was more discussion then insult. So why the charges?

This isn’t the only weird pc article today with regard to religious matters.  A nurse (yes, another one) faces the sack because she has worn a small cross on a chain while on duty. Woo-hoo.  How many patients died?  This religious pandering PC shit will be the death of the country yet.  Unless its already dead and there wasn’t anyone left to bury the corpse. 

A Christian couple who run a hotel have been charged with a criminal offence for allegedly insulting a female Muslim guest about her beliefs.

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Sunday Telegraph

Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang are charged with breaching Section 5 of the Public Order Act – causing harassment, alarm or distress. If convicted, they face fines of £2,500 each and a criminal record.
The Muslim woman was staying at the Bounty House Hotel in Liverpool, which is run by the Vogelenzangs, when a conversation arose between the hoteliers and their guest about her faith.

t is understood that among the topics debated was whether Jesus was a minor prophet, as Islam teaches, or whether he was the Son of God, as Christianity teaches.
Among the things Mr Vogelenzang, 53, is alleged to have said is that Mohammad was a warlord. His wife, 54, is said to have stated that Muslim dress is a form of bondage for women.
The conversation, on March 20, was reported by the woman to Merseyside Police. Officers told the couple that they wanted to interview them over the incident.

After being questioned on April 20, they were interrogated again three months later before being charged on July 29 with a religiously-aggravated public order offence. They appeared in court on August 14 and are now awaiting trial.

Mr and Mrs Vogelenzang do not accept that they were threatening or abusive in any way. David White, who is representing them, said that they believe they have the right to defend their religious beliefs.

Their case is being funded by the Christian Institute, which has backed a number of Christians in legal disputes.

A spokesman for the Institute said: “We are funding Ben and Sharon’s defence because we believe important issues of religious liberty and free speech are at stake.

“In many instances we have detected a worrying tendency for public bodies to misapply the law in a way that seems to sideline Christianity more than other faiths.”

A police spokesman said: “Merseyside Police can confirm that Benjamin Vogelenzang and Sharon Vogelenzang, both of Fazakerley, were charged with a religiously-aggravated public order offence on 29 July 2009. This follows an incident on 20 March 2009.”

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 09/20/2009 at 02:39 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Daily Life • Nanny State • RoPMA • UK •  
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   Saturday - September 19, 2009

Walmart sucks up to the sky is falling crowd and launches its own green revolution.

Yeah, no kidding.

Or perhaps you knew already. I saw it just today. What drivel. Bah!

I’m gone ...  Enjoy the wkend everyone.

Walmart launches a green revolution
Being environmentally friendly makes good business sense, says Geoffrey Lean.

Published: 7:48PM BST 18 Sep 2009

Walmart – once a byword for cheap, and not necessarily cheerful, goods – is working on starting a revolution in environmental quality. It is developing a “sustainability index” for rating its hundreds of thousands of products.

Everything it sells would be labelled with a number or a symbol, showing the product’s ecological impact, from the extraction of raw materials to its disposal as waste.

The move would reach far beyond Walmart’s stores. Its 100,000-plus suppliers would have to reveal their ecological impact or have their products taken off the shelves. They are also likely to become greener to attain a higher rating, as shoppers use them to guide purchasing. The impact would be global; one in every five of China’s factories is thought to be in the supply chain of goods the retailer sells.

It’s an example of the green entrepreneurship that one Wamart top executive calls “the biggest business opportunity of the next 50 years”. Or, as the business guru C K Prahalad put it in the Harvard Business Review: “The quest for sustainability is starting to transform the competitive landscape. Sustainable corporations will emerge from today’s recession to upset the status quo.”

telegraph.co.uk

Posted by peiper     on 09/19/2009 at 09:56 AM   
Filed Under: • Environment •  
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