Friday - March 19, 2010

Some history wherein …. I found myself kind of up close and personal

I only have minutes to put this together as I have to go out for an appointment and then the post office.

For more then a year and in bits and drabs, we have been unloading things that are mostly dead memories and or junk that was rat packed by the late mil.
The woman kept every little item she ever acquired including her own school report card at the age of 12. 

Many of the things she got her claws into really were nothing but junk.  Hundreds of empty bottles stored in plastic bags in the badly rotted garage.  A box of coal on top of which sat an old decayed and rotted wardrobe.  Which completely fell apart when the guys we called to haul things away tried to lift it after it was emptied. I can not even begin to describe the things here inside the house from clothes to cheap pottery. When we arrived in April of 2004 we had a heck of a time making room for ourselves and had to fight to toss out old and decayed junk, much of it along with the mouse droppings and whatever other varmints were using the upstairs as a hotel.  She ( the mil) worried that we were getting rid of treasure. Sure. Like a double size mattress completely folded in half in a large plastic bag in the attic. The plastic and the mattress having been gnawed most thoroughly by her unseen guests. See, when she bought the new one, she kept the old one too.

Well, among the many things squirreled away, there were a few (very few) items of interest.  A WW1 bayonet for one. Old letters from the war including the notice that her fiancé was lost in the RAF on a mission. In fact, neither the plane or the crew were ever found.  It makes for some sad reading going over all these very old letters of his that she saved through all these years.
He writes of his worry for her as he was aware of the serious bombing of Southampton, and says he won’t sleep until he hears that she and family are okay.

The letters are written on small size stationary and a small cramped hand in many places, so it isn’t easy to read everything. I have never been good at making out other people’s handwriting.  Anyway, it’s interesting reading and gives one a sense of things back then.  While I remember clearly the concern of our family for uncles away at war, one a navigator on a Liberator bomber and the other in the Navy, my uncles didn’t have to worry when the next air raid would occur in the USA. 

(There’s even a short note she wrote to him in 1938. How it came to be in her possession I’ve no idea. Surely it was sent and read by him, as also she had the original envelope franked and all.)

Well, there’s still talk of a strike over Easter by the union against Brit Airways and now as I read the letters from another time the radio of today is informing us that the union representing the Railroad wants to vote a strike too.  But at the front in August of 41 and writing from an RAF base somewhere, a Sgt. Bill Rogers is writing to my wife’s future mom, a letter of condolence to a young lady named Peggy, who Roy “constantly talked about.” Sgt. Rogers assures the young lady that having spent some many months together, he and Roy’s friends got to know him well.  There were apparently some crew photos taken (? not sure and hard to read here) which he promises to forward.  Must be photos. This was August and Peggy replies to him.
But in a letter dated 4th Sept. 1941 from Wing Commander (can not make out the name) No. 78 Squadron, he writes as follows.

“ It is with deep regret that I have to inform you that Sgt. Rogers was reported missing on 25 August 1941, this being the reason for the return of your letter.”

How that must have hurt, and how many times that feeling was duplicated over the course of the war.  It wasn’t until I held letters like these in my own hands and read them that the war finally came home to me, as much as it could given time and generations. It was vastly different from reading the diaries and memories of that generation in a magazine or newspaper.  Reading those is reading history to be certain. But it isn’t near as personal.

Who knows what else we may find in some cubbyhole or under a rafter somewhere in the attic.

Stay Tuned.

Posted by peiper     on 03/19/2010 at 07:16 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • History • Personal •  
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   Thursday - March 18, 2010

A bungling nurse who hardly speaks the language and police forced into political correctness

Oh boy oh boy. What a fine mess these folks have got the public in.

England’s troubles aren’t feudalism (as one person may have suggested.? ) or the monarchy. (in decline?) Nope.
The problems are ones like this.

BUNGLING and DANGEROUS NURSE. READS LIKE A CARRY ON MOVIE.

Bungling foreign nurse can KEEP his job… despite barely any English and ‘worrying’ lack of competence

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:17 PM on 18th March 2010

A bungling Indian nurse who could barely understand English and refused to learn the language can keep his job, a tribunal ruled today.

Biju John, 38, from Cambridge, has been declared fit to work even though the chairman of the Nursing and Midwifery Council panel said he displayed a ‘worrying’ lack of competence.

The hearing had been told staff felt they were ‘carrying’ him and did not feel safe leaving patients in his care.

He had even written to the NMC insisting he could understand instructions, stating ‘I never be confused at all (sic).’

The tribunal was told the Indian nurse had a limited knowledge of basic nursing skills and did nothing when a patient was struggling to breathe.

The NMC heard John, who did not attend the hearing, should have started basic airway management as the man gasped for breath after coming round from an operation.

John was this week found guilty of seven charges relating to his lack of competency when he worked at the hospital between July 2003 and December 2004.

These include failing to complete basic skills required of a nurse, not demonstrating his English was sufficient to communicate with colleagues effectively, which gave rise to the incident with the latex gloves, and failing to take appropriate action when a patient’s oxygen levels dropped.

However, the panel ruled John could keep his job subject to a number of conditions.

NMC chair David Kyle said his lack of competence was ‘worrying’ but ‘not irremediable’.

‘Other nurses felt they were carrying him. Anaesthetists were nervous about leaving their patients in his care and adopted a practice of returning to check on their patients because they were concerned about them.

So then, how much time should be allowed to bring this guy up to speed?  How many more chances should he have to perhaps kill someone?

And then there is this bit of fluff and nonsense as well.  No, the problem isn’t a non existent order that ended long ago. It’s PC and all it stands for.

Police banned from asking for someone’s ‘Christian’ name because it might offend those of other faiths
By REBECCA CAMBER

Police officers have been banned from asking for ‘Christian’ names for fear of offending other religions.

Officers taking down a suspect’s particulars must now refer to their ‘personal’ or ‘family name’ as the word ‘Christian’ could offend Muslims, Sikhs and other faiths, according to new diversity guidelines.

They are also warned not to use terms like afternoon or evening as it could confuse people of ‘different cultural backgrounds’ about the time of day.

The 62-page ‘Faith and Culture Resource’ booklet produced by the force’s diversity support group sets out customs and practices in a number of religions and beliefs including paganism and rastafarianism.

In it, officers are told to offer to remove their shoes on entering people’s homes as some religions frown upon shoes being worn inside the home.

Other handy tips for police include wiping their feet to get rid of mud when entering a gypsy’s trailer and not to put a cup of proffered tea on the floor as this could offend their standards of cleanliness.

Another guide also warns against the phrases ‘manning the phones’, ‘layman’s terms’ and ‘the tax man’, as it ‘makes women invisible’.

MORE HERE

Posted by peiper     on 03/18/2010 at 02:02 PM   
Filed Under: • Daily Life • DIVERSITY BS • Politically Correct B.S. • UK •  
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The Lion of Lucerne, The Swiss and a EuroSeptic rant from Mary Ellen Synon

My postings today may be very lite to nil. Never expected such a busy day when we got up early this morning. Busy with old documents and papers and shredding, and all due to an old lady who died 14 months ago.  We thought we were done finally, a month or two ago. Ha.  I guess the old dame had other plans for us.

I read the following late yesterday and didn’t get to post it. It’s quite interesting.  For example,

the cowardly royal family fled the palace

Just exactly what were they supposed to do?  After all, there’s a baying bloodthirsty mob outside just itching to rip you apart.  What are you gonna do if you’re an over indulged royal who probably isn’t in any shape to fight anyone, and a queen with no military training?  Isn’t run for your life the normal instinct in their particular case? 

EuroSeptic, Matty Ellen Synon
The Mail

Now Brussels says the loyalty and the bravery of the Swiss isn’t European

On Tuesday the European Commission proposed widening an existing ‘European heritage’ label, which they stick onto sites which the eurocrats decide are part of European ‘common history.’ The idea is to feed propaganda about how we all have a ‘common yet diverse cultural heritage.’

Problem is, when the scheme was set up four years ago, some eurocrat (clearly off-message) let Switzerland join the scheme. Three sites in blissfully-non-EU Switzerland are listed as part of European heritage.

Now however the Swiss will be cut out from adding more to the list.

Such a gesture is a disgrace. While on the one hand I welcome any distance Switzerland can put between itself and the undemocratic empire of Brussels, the idea of insulting the Swiss and their history in order to feed the lie that ‘Europe is the EU and the EU is Europe’ is shameful.

So, I shall nominate a Swiss site which ought to be added to anyone’s list of European history. It is the Lion of Lucerne, which commemorates the Swiss Guards who were slaughtered by French revolutionaries on August 10, 1792.

The Swiss were posted at the Tuileries Palace. Their duty was to protect Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their children from the revolutionary forces taking over the streets of Paris. Even as the cowardly royal family fled the palace, the Swiss stayed true their oaths as soldiers. They knew their duty. They fought to the end.

And what an end it was, with more than 600 hundred Swiss dead on the day and hundreds more dead later of wounds or butchery in prison.

Simon Schama describes it this way in his history of the revolution, ‘Citizens.’ The Swiss Guards ‘were given neither shelter nor quarter. Hunted down, they were mercilessly butchered: stabbed, sabered, stoned and clubbed. Mutilators hacked off limbs and scissored out genitals and stuffed them in the gaping mouths or fed them to the dogs.’

In reply to this barbarity, Robespierre called it ‘the most beautiful revolution that has ever honoured humanity.’ Which tells you almost all you need to know about the French.

And in reply to this barbarity, the Swiss built a magnificent and heart-breaking monument, the Lion of Lucerne. Which tells you almost all you need to know about the Swiss.

Here is how the American writer, Mark Twain, described it after a visit in 1880: ‘The Lion lies in his lair in the perpendicular face of a low cliff—for he is carved from the living rock of the cliff. His size is colossal, his attitude is noble. His head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking into his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France...’

‘Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion—and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.’

Above the lion is the Latin inscription: ‘Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti ‘-- The loyalty and bravery of the Swiss.

The rest of Europe is unworthy of such a nation.

the swiss source

Posted by peiper     on 03/18/2010 at 12:18 PM   
Filed Under: • EUro-peons •  
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Nearsighted Pirates

No apologies to John Irving for corrupting his “sorrow floats” line from The Hotel New Hampshire. Looks like those Somali Pirates could use some binoculars and a class in ship profile identification.

This is kind of like the armed robbers who try to hold up a pistol range on gun club night. Not too smart an idea.

Somali pirates attempt attack on Dutch warship

Troops aboard the Dutch warship HNLMS Tromp fired warning shots Wednesday off the coast of East Africa as suspected Somali pirates in two small skiffs raced toward their warship, the EU Naval Force said.

After the pirates realized they had made what spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour called a “rather silly mistake,” they turned around and fled. EU Naval Force personnel tracked down the two skiffs and a third suspected mothership, finding ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades on board, said Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force.

The two skiffs were destroyed and the pirates were set free on the mothership after it had been cleared of weapons.

“This morning’s attack may show a lack of sophistication in the pirate’s selection of targets, but it should be a warning to the merchant community that the pirates will try to attack any vessel on the high seas,” said Harbour.

Yeah, there’s a tune in there somewhere. Write your own lyrics and sing it to It’s been a long, long, time.

Ok, now I really have to get going. 

Posted by Drew458     on 03/18/2010 at 07:49 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor • Terrorists •  
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bizzy day

I’ll be on the road for most of the day. Have to run downstate to get some parts, then up to NY to get some work done on them. Then back down to NJ to shop for the other stuff.

Will post later if possible.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/18/2010 at 07:11 AM   
Filed Under: • work and the workplace •  
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   Wednesday - March 17, 2010

More on the jerk who says,I’d rather recruit ex-drug dealers, convicts and even child molesters

A company boss has compared British soldiers to paedophiles and drug dealers after refusing a request by a recruitment service to provide jobs for former troops.

Karl Winn, 60, said he would rather ‘recruit ex-drug dealers, convicts and child molesters’ than employ former servicemen or women.

His comments came after he was contacted by Forces Recruitment Services and asked if he would consider taking on ex-soldiers at his net design company Webeurope.

Mr Winn, of Taunton, Somerset, wrote back: ‘Personally, I’d rather recruit ex-drug dealers, convicts and even child molesters rather than consider anybody who has been in the pay of the British Government.’

‘The reality for the families of their victims is that there will never be any justice, and there never will be any closure, for the loss of a son, a husband, a child, or a family member who has fallen victim to British Military personnel who are going beyond ‘just doing their job’.

‘Please remove us from your email list. Regards, Karl.’

Despite initially blaming a disgruntled ex-worker who he claimed had hacked into his emails, Mr Winn later admitted to The Sun that he had written them - and stood by his comments.

He admitted they may have been ‘a bit over the top’ but then said: ‘I don’t regret saying it at all.’

‘Even if it costs me money I’ll still stand up for what I believe in,’ he said.

A company boss has refused to consider former soldiers as potential employees

‘If you have a paedophile, at least he goes to court and is seen to be accountable for what he’s done. That’s why I made a reference.’

And here’s the grand offices of this creep’s business. Impressed?

OK, I know ppl have going concerns even operating out of their homes. So what looks to me like a public loo doesn’t mean his business isn’t a good one. Too bad if it is. Here what this guy is all about.

webeurope - press statement

Extract from a Press Statement issued by Relatives for Justice on 13th March 2010
“‘Webeurope .. have heard at first hand the true extent of the role of the British army, the trauma, hurt and anguish caused - importantly they have acted to heal, support and address in their own way the awful legacy left behind as a direct consequence of British state violence in our country. ‘For that we are greatly indebted to them and in particular Karl Winn whose commitment to non-violence means, human rights, social justice, compassion and humanity are an example to us all.’

Background
Karl Winn, Webeurope’s founder and principle owner, has for many years supported numerous organisations (NGO’s), such organisations include: -
The International Human Rights Network - Supporting others in applying Human Rights Based Approaches to UN Agencies, countries, and organisations.
Film Makers Against War - FAW seeks to educate and raise awareness of UK and international war law
Art and Sacred Places - Encourages the interaction of art and religion by commissioning artists to make work in sacred places.

Relatives for Justice – A northern Ireland based organisation that supports and campaigns on behalf of the families of the 367 men, women, and children, who have been killed by members of the British Military and Police services. The campaign seeks to bring the perpetrators of such killings before the courts.

Should you be interested, here’s a link to all of his press statement. http://www.webeurope.co.uk/press-release.php The usual anti war, anti-military and oh how bad the Brit military acted in Ireland, illegally and with murder in their hearts yadda,yadda.  Well hell, you can read it all for yourselves.  Of course, not a word about ira bombings and killings of innocents. Nooo. Only the Brit military did that.  That’s my take and if I’m wrong, let me know.

Here’s a bit more just so you’re clear about this idiot.

‘The reality from the north of Ireland, to Afghanistan and Iraq, is that the perpetrators of such atrocities will always be free to get on with their lives, safe in the knowledge that the policy of the British Government is to ensure their protection from prosecution.’

‘I will therefore continue with my blanket ban on employing ex-military personnel. I understand this will affect innocent as well as guilty people.’

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 03/17/2010 at 02:08 PM   
Filed Under: • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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ON YOUR KNEES IN AMERICA AND KISS THE GROUND FOR YOUR GOOD FORTUNE. BE THANKFUL EVRY DAY.

They wouldn’t dare try this crap in the USA. Or would they?  I wish the heck they would.  It might be interesting to see what the reaction, and action, would be.
Perhaps it could trigger the final confrontation needed to rid ourselves of this virus in our own back yard. But it won’t.
Meanwhile, DO NOT place the blame on the muzzies. No,no.  They’ll go as far as the powers that be allow them to go. That’s the nature of the beast.  If there’s any fault, it’s with the BS diversity, left wing libtard, muslim apologists and sympathizers.  Do not blame the muslims.

Blame creeps like this bastard, this filthy lying SOB, this traitor and fugitive from a fetid swamp crawling with slime and disease. Blame ppl like this.

‘I’d rather employ a paedophile than a hero’: Company boss compares British troops to child molesters in rant at job agency

RANT SOURCE

I can’t wish enough bad things on that perv. I can’t even come up with swear words that fit the anger. I’d like to feed him to a pack of rabid wild dogs. No, that’s way too easy.  His comments are way beyond freedom of speech and expression.  It’s life forms like that, that in turn allow things like the following.

Defamation case over Prophet Mohammed cartoons ‘to be held’ in Britain

A Saudi Arabian lawyer has threatened to use British courts to overturn a Danish free speech ruling by bringing a defamation case over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that depicted Islam’s founder as a terrorist.

By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels

Faisal Yamani, a Jeddah based lawyer, is planning to take a case to London’s libel courts on behalf of over 90,000 descendants of Mohammed who have claimed that the drawings have defamed them and the Islamic faith.

Cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed were published in Danish newspapers in 2006 triggering violent protests across the Muslim world and riots which claimed the lives of over 50 people.

According to Danish press reports, the case can be heard in the Britain because the images, including a caricature of Mohammed with a bomb shaped turban, have been freely accessible via the internet.

Danish politicians and publishers are furious that European Union rules reward “libel tourism” by enforcing British defamation rulings across Europe.

Ebbe Dal, managing director of Danske Dagblades Forening, the Danish national newspaper association, is concerned that Britain’s tough libel laws could be used to restrict free speech in liberal countries such as Denmark.

“The Danish courts have decided that the case is not actionable and that we are allowed to print the drawings in Danish newspapers and websites,” he said.

“It would be very odd if a civilised country like Britain could go against that. If this succeeded we would have to pay a lot of money to Saudi Arabians misusing the British courts to make it difficult for freedom of speech.”

Mr Yamani demanded last year that 11 Danish newspapers remove all cartoon images of Mohammed from their websites and issue front page apologies along with promises that the images would never be printed again.

Only one newspaper, Politiken, agreed to the demand leading to the new threat of an expensive British court action backed by wealthy Saudi Muslims.

Lars Barfoed, the Danish justice minister, has complained to the European Commission that EU rules forcing Denmark to enact British court rulings would damage freedom of expression.

“It’s fundamentally reasonable that judgments in the EU can often be exercised across borders. But it would be taking it to the extreme if a UK court could rule against the Danish media and then require compensation and court costs to be paid,” he said.

EU officials have acknowledged that libel judgements in the British courts have become a major issue since “Rome II” rules on mutual recognition of European court rulings entered into force last year.

“We are well aware that there is a problem with libel and defamation tourism involving Britain, where judges can be sympathetic and damages awards are high. There will be a review next year,” said an official.

A British Ministry of Justice working group on libel law is expected to publish a report calling for reform later this month.

“The government is concerned about any potential chilling effect that our libel laws are having on freedom of speech,” said a spokesman.

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 03/17/2010 at 12:50 PM   
Filed Under: • Insanity • International • Judges-Courts-Lawyers • Outrageous • RoPMA • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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Political correctness strikes back: Jedi believer wins apology and says he’ll sue. Ah diversity.

Surely this has to be embarrassing for Brits.  This guy isn’t a fool. He knows exactly what he’s doing.  The fools are the people who allow it and cave in with “Oh we are so sorry.” A brick in the face and he’d soon change his religion. My problem with the hood thing is the very same problem that most others have. The association with often violent crime committed by guys (often younger this this fellow) wearing hoods. Referred to as “Hoodies.” And they damn well are intimidating in groups. OK so he was alone. He’s bogus and he can say whatever he wants to about adopting this movie thing as a religion. The fault also is at the foot of the lady who wrote the letter of apology. See it at the link.  This is just another example of the declining culture that’s been allowed to flourish.
I wonder what the end game will look like.  I won’t be here to see it that’s certain, and maybe that’s a good thing.

Political correctness strikes back: Jedi believer wins apology after being kicked out of Jobcentre for wearing a hood

By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 8:48 AM on 17th March 2010

When benefits claimant Chris Jarvis was asked to put down his hood in a Jobcentre, he said he was entitled to wear it because of his Jedi ‘faith’.

When he continued to wear the cowl despite repeated warnings, he was escorted from the premises by security guards.

Yet in a case which sums up the march of political correctness in the public sector, he has now received a grovelling apology saying that the government agency ‘embraces diversity and respects a customer’s religion’. ‘Jediism’ was made up for the Star Wars films.

The father of three now plans to sue Jobcentre Plus in Southend for discrimination, despite admitting he took up the ‘faith’ last year only as an excuse to wear hooded tops.

‘I am a Star Wars follower. It means following the way of the Jedi,’ he said yesterday. ‘The main reason is I want to wear my hood up and I have got a religion which allows me to do that.

‘Someone with their own religious views is allowed to wear what their religion says - the Sikhs are able to carry a great big dagger. My religion allows me to wear my hood.’

Mr Jarvis later wrote to complain. In response, manager Wendy Flewers wrote: ‘Jobcentre Plus is committed to provide a customer service which embraces diversity and respects a customer’s religion or beliefs.

SEE MORE HERE

Posted by peiper     on 03/17/2010 at 09:43 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • DIVERSITY BS • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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British Airways strike could go global as Unite enlists support of U.S. union Teamsters

About a week or ten days ago it was announced that the post office had caved in to postal union demands, and so the PO will work less hours but will also get a raise.  It’s feared that junk mail deliveries may increase.  That’s okay. We don’t get much mail anyway. Except it becomes a pain in the butt having to shred addresses and separate the trash. But never mind. This could be worse yet.  The union representing airline workers, UNITE, is digging in it’s heels as the heels who head the union and fund the party in power are about to bring down England’s national airline.  BA is hemorrhaging money and has been plagued for some time with reports about bad service etc.  So this doesn’t help.  In fact, I was considering British Airways because of an unusual flight schedule that might have suited us well.  But with this going on, forget that.  I won’t chance it and I can’t imagine too many folks seeing all this buying tickets in this climate.

It looks now as though the evil bastards want to include the unions in the USA.  Can they enlist a foreign union in another country to screw thing up there?

EVIL BLOODSUCKING UNION BAT

* Meeting with U.S. Teamsters union today
* British tourists risk being stranded in Caribbean
* Union claims ‘fast-tracked’ volunteers risk safety

By Tim Shipman

Unite leaders will today meet with a U.S. union as they dramatically escalate the British Airways strike.

Unite is to hold talks with Teamsters, one of the overseas unions to offer its support for their controversial walkout due to start in days.

It has also enlisted unions in Germany, Spain and Italy to an international campaign of militancy that could cause chaos at airports around the world.

Union sources say action from overseas unions could make it impossible to clean, service and refuel BA planes.

This would undermine attempts by BA to keep aircraft in the skies and lead to more misery for the public, who already face massive disruption to flights over Easter.

Teamsters, which has 1.4million members, said last night: ‘We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Unite who are fighting for a fair contract at British Airways.

‘The Teamsters are an active member of the International Transport Workers Federation. ITF affiliates around the world are mobilising to support British Airways workers in their fight for passenger safety and worker respect.’

The move will raise the stakes for Gordon Brown, who yesterday failed for a fourth day to persuade Unite to abandon the strike.

A BA spokesman said: ‘It is sad to see Unite seeking backing from trade unions overseas to support its unjustified strike against an iconic British brand.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said the union was ‘hell-bent’ on causing maximum disruption for travellers.

She said: ‘Unite should not be striking at all and trying to spread the dispute to other countries is even more irresponsible.’

Unite has also warned that BA are ‘rushing through’ volunteer staff to work as cabin crew to help break the strike.

Click evil bat for the rest of the article.

Posted by peiper     on 03/17/2010 at 05:21 AM   
Filed Under: • UK • Unions-Labor • USA •  
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   Tuesday - March 16, 2010

Today in History… and other fun stuff

Vilmar reminds us that today is the anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s claim to fame: death by bulldozer. (Google the moonbat yourself if you don’t know/remember)

However, as I reminded Vilmar in a comment on his post, today is also the birthday of James ‘Father of the Constitution’ Madison (also our fourth President)

This evening I was innocently opening the bills in preparation for paying them. The phone bill contained a surprise:

You are Included in a Class Action Settlement Involving Your DSL Service

I hate class-action lawsuits. How dare they include me without my permission! This is just a way for liberal lawyers to attack capitalism. If we ever get any tort reform, part of that should be the outlawing of class-action lawsuits. But I digress. What was the lawsuit about?

A proposed Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit alleging that AT&T failed to deliver DSL Service to its customers at the speeds promised.

It goes on to state that their records show that my DSL service was not affected. However, if I believe it was I can submit a claim for a one-time payment of…

Wait for it…

$2.00!

I get a whopping $2.00. How much did the lawyers get? And how much will my DSL service go UP PER MONTH as a result?

When I signed up for DSL, AT&T offered three different speed plans. I chose the middle one (don’t ask, I don’t remember the speeds) which I’ve had no complaints about. I WILL complain if my rates go up as a result of this ‘settlement’.

Posted by Christopher     on 03/16/2010 at 09:19 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Editorials • Humor • Stoopid-People •  
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Open Carry In Alaska

I saw this over at Alphecca, but I want to go a different direction with it. Jeff, the guy who runs Alphecca, lives in Vermont where concealed carry ( CCW ) is legal without any licensing. That means any adult citizen of Vermont can have a gun in their pocket if they feel like it. Alaska is the same way. No papers. Alaska also allows for open carry ( OC ) which means carrying a pistol at your side in a holster, like a cop or a cowboy. I guess it also means carrying a rifle or shotgun on your shoulder with a sling. Having a firearm in your hands is called brandishing, and at that point you perhaps start breaking laws, depending on why you are doing that.

Anyway, a few people at a town hall kind of meeting in Alaska were OC. Some people noticed and got upset. Some government officials said it was wrong, some said it was no big deal.

My view is that OC is better than CCW in most normal circumstances. I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be CCW, that’s your right too. Just that OC has no sneaky aspect to it.

To which I feel the proper response is “tough shit, this is America, get used it, learn to love it, or get out”.

Guns in Fairbanks: Should you bring weapons to a heated public debate?

FAIRBANKS — Carrying a firearm into a municipal building is legal, but is it wise to openly display a gun at a heated public meeting?

The presiding officer of the Borough Assembly said openly displayed sidearms at a meeting on Feb. 25, when emotions ran high, didn’t bother him. But some assembly members said it concerns them. Borough officials said no one complained to them about the firearms, however.

On the agenda at that Feb. 25 meeting was the introduction of an air pollution control plan, and it drew more than 100 people to the meeting, including vocal opposition. Many criticized the plan and some criticized the municipal leaders. People held picket signs. There was shouting at assembly members and at the mayor. There were threats.

Officials with the three area municipalities said firearms are allowed in most municipal buildings and at public meetings. State law prohibits local governments from restricting gun rights any more than the state’s restrictions.

But that doesn’t mean openly carrying a firearm to a stormy public meeting is an exercise in good judgment, according to Assemblywoman Nadine Winters and Assemblymen Tim Beck, Guy Sattley, Hank Bartos and Matt Want.

“I think it’s an intimidation factor,” Beck said. “And that’s impeding the public process.”

Want, one of the newest assembly members, said if the firearms were meant to intimidate, then that’s wrong.

“I very much appreciate people’s ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights. But to me, if it’s used to intimidate, then it’s an abuse of that right.”

Bartos said openly carried firearms at heated public meetings make him nervous.

Sattley said the fact that bringing a gun to a meeting is legal doesn’t make it advisable.

“I think that’s not the place for it,” he said. “It’s already heated enough without that added to the twist.”

None of the assemblymen said they saw the openly displayed firearms. But Winters did.

“Did I feel threatened the other night or worried? No, not even one little bit,” she said. But Winters said she wonders why anyone would want to openly carry a firearm to a public meeting.

“I can’t think of any reason why you come to a public hearing on something that affects the community and you need to bring a gun,” she said.

Assemblyman Joe Blanchard said he sees no problem with it.

“I think people have the right to carry their firearms wherever they are,” Blanchard said. “As long as you’re not threatening anybody with it.”

Joe Nava, a local firearms safety instructor who formerly sat on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association, said openly carrying firearms unnecessarily upsets people uncomfortable with guns.

Nava made the point in a short essay he posted on the Web site of Fairbanks radio station KFAR, where he hosts a weekly show on gun issues.

“I am not jumping in on any side of any argument that you might put in the newspaper,” he said when reached by telephone.

Ok, fine Joe. Then allow me to do so. No citizen who lives in Alaska has a right to be “uncomfortable” around firearms used or carried in a legal manner. How’s that? It’s friggin’ Alaska fer cryin’ out loud. Where the bears and the wolves outnumber the people 10 to 1. Where a population of 250 is a big town. You betcha!

“Uncomfortable”?? I hear that PC term all the time, mostly from the lefties. What a patronizing, pusillanimous, evasive, agenda-driven, bullshit utterance. How about reaching down into your lacy mini-thong and doing a double touch to see if your balls are still attached, and if so, then just be upfront and mention what your objection is? And what makes you think you have any right to feel “comfortable” in the first place. Isn’t being “uncomfortable” but keeping your trap shut exactly what “tolerance” means?

No, that little rant wasn’t against this guy Joe. He HAS to remain neutral; he has a gun business to run. I don’t. I’m ranting against elitist government employees who know what’s good for you better than you know yourself, who expose that elitism by assuming base motivations about the citizenry, and also against other small minded pissants who use “uncomfortable” as a petty, peevish ploy to get their way WITHOUT even a discussion. Because then they would have to explicitly state what it is that is making them “uncomfortable”, how much, and why, and they just might find themselves laughed out of town. It’s a power play, and 80% of the time it’s a snotty one. Because if it was over a REAL issue, like “stop setting my cubicle on fire you psycho!” you know they’d find a way to express that thought in an instant.

Is open carry a good idea in high density areas with lots of crime and pickpockets? Maybe not. CCW might be better there. Those are not typical, normal circumstances. But I’ll wager the folks in those seedy areas openly brandishing don’t get mugged. They also don’t have to wait on line! And that is a use of firearms to intimidate. But OC at a town hall meeting? Not. At the very worst, it’s a reminder. To elitist government types. Hey, maybe that’s the real reason they’re “uncomfortable”!

Posted by Drew458     on 03/16/2010 at 12:13 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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   Monday - March 15, 2010

BATTLING BRITS IN AFGHANISTAN ….

Nothing for me to add here except to say these fellows are damn good and uphold a long and proud military tradition. They are better and braver then many who are representing them. 

Inside Afghanistan: the sniper’s tale

Heathcliff O’Malley (camera) and David Ferrarotto
Published: 12:30PM GMT 15 Mar 2010

As part of The Telegraph’s series of videos looking at life for the British Army in Afghanistan, we hear from a sniper whose daily challenge is to kill before he is killed.

Telegraph photojournalist Heathcliff O’Malley spent two weeks embedded with British troops in Helmand, Afghanistan.

In this exclusive series, he shows what life is really like on the ground for the 10,000 soldiers serving in the country.

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 03/15/2010 at 01:22 PM   
Filed Under: • Battling Brits • Guns and Gun Control • Military • RoPMA • UK • War-Stories •  
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SHE WEIGHS IN AT 602 POUNDS, AND WANTS TO SET A RECORD BY DOUBLING THAT. MOONBAT CROWN

Ok, this deserves a civilian moonbat crown maybe with skulls(?) as this woman is digging her own grave at some point.  This is GROSS.

Drew ... is there some way to embed just one of the bats on this photo?  I wanted to do that where I have the text on the pix. Jeesh.
This woman needs counseling pretty quick.
If she ever fell down, how would they get her upright short of a construction crane?  And we know who will end up picking up her medical tab.
What was it Texas Guinan said? Oh yeah. [what, like this? Drew]

The super-sized 602 lb. mother who is determined to become the world’s fattest woman

By Daily Mail Reporter

‘My favourite food is sushi, but unlike others I can sit and eat 70 big pieces of sushi in one go,’ she said.

‘I do love cakes and sweet things, doughnuts are my favourite.’

Donna, who wears XXXXXXXL dresses, eats mounds of junk food and tries to move as little as possible.

Ms Simpson already holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s fattest mother, when she gave birth in 2007 weighing 38stone.

She needed a team of 30 medics to deliver her daughter Jacqueline during a high-risk Caesarean birth.

Yet although she can only move 20ft before needing to sit down, she wants to be even bigger.

‘I’d love to be 1,000lb,’ she said.

‘It might be hard though. Running after my daughter keeps my weight down.’

Donna Simpson already weighs 43st, but she is determined to nearly double her size to become the world’s fattest woman.

The 42-year-old from New Jersey, U.S, is set on reaching the 1,000lb mark (71st) in just two years. Remarkably she insists she is healthy, despite now needing a mobility scooter when she goes shopping.

MORE GROSS PHOTOS AND ARTICLE

[or was this the pic you had in mind? - Drew]

Posted by peiper     on 03/15/2010 at 10:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Moonbat Award to: • News-Briefs • Stoopid-People • USA • weird stuff •  
• Comments (8) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Sunday - March 14, 2010

New Image Wanted

The Mad Harriet post earlier gave me an idea.

There are moonbats, and then there are royal moonbats. They may not reign forever, but their excess level of moonbattery ought to be recognized while they are in power.

I’m not a graphics whiz, so I’m asking for submissions. For a Moonbat crown.

I whacked this out quickly with old versions of Fireworks and the MS Photo Editor. I’m sure that OCM and lots more folks could do better. I didn’t even paint the wings gold.

You can email me, or if you’ve got your own place online, just put the url of the image in the comments. Please build your ideas on a transparent background, to make it easier for the rest of us to apply the thing as needed.

I think this could be quite useful down the line.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/14/2010 at 10:17 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
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