[real news] this sultry friday

My suggestion to save the legs next time Welshcakes takes Simi for walkies


Bag draws our attention to the shocking news that there is a criminal subculture in prisons. Bag adds:

I'm sure the next expose we will be reading about is the Immigration Office explaining how all these immigrants are from a different culture from us in the UK. Catholics are religious and politicians are liars. I know. It's hard to believe isn't it?

Well, yes, it is hard to believe but here is one even harder to believe - in this home where I am currently ensconced due to the kindness of St. Welshcakes, you might think I'm the only bloke. Not a bit of it. Here is the household in order of precedence:

* Simone Welshcakes de Beauvoir
* Welshcakes
* Uncle James
* Mr. Tyry [the tractor tyre Simi comes to grips with every afternoon when the neighbourhood dogs go into hysterics]
* Mr. Bony Squeak [has to be seen to be believed but most effective]
* Mr. Dumby-Bell [occasionally I fill in, in this role]
* Mr. Pully-Toy [no comment]
* Mr. Stringy [let's not get tangled up in this]
* Mr. Tuggy [no comment again]

I have to report that Simone Welshcakes de Beauvoir is the first to greet me in the morning, followed by Welshcakes in a more subdued manner.

In other news, Obama's gay Muslim character assassinators are hard at it and Cherie is reaching for the stars.

Finally, Harry Haddock says goodbye to Britain's trees [courtesy of The Englishman].

Finally finally - Kate's had her wheelie bin stolen.

[ergonomics] and blogging don't mix

Fact of the matter is that I did my back in and I can lie or stand perfectly well without pain but sitting, let alone sitting and lifting the hands to type, is a bit out of the question.

On the other hand, there is a surprise post this evening so I'll rest up now and get back to you later. Have a good Friday all.

[this post] complete waste of time

Jams reported today the strange case of Stuart Hill, who decided that the Shetlands should secede from the U.K. and the E.U. and become the State of Forvik.

Commendable, Stuart but surely this comes under the heading of "Complete Waste of Time"? You know very well Iceland will step in and take you over.

This got me thinking about other things which are a complete waste of time:

1. Expecting understanding and compassion from a bureaucracy;

2. Thinking your holiday is going to run smoothly with no accidents and no lost documents;

3. Lending a book, even with your name on the inside cover and hoping to see it again;

4. Getting enough time to blog and visit everyone

... and so on and so on. I wonder what seven things spring to your mind when you hear the words: "Complete Waste of Time"?

McCanns: Physicians heal thyselves

McCanns: Physicians heal thyselves

When I first heard and read the following quote from Kate McCann at yesterday’s press conference in Strasbourg, my initial reaction was that because there was no abduction therefore the McCanns could not suffer any pain.

"A structure we feel is absolutely vital if no other families are to go through the pain we have suffered and continue to suffer since Madeleine’s abduction nearly 14 months ago".

However, there will be those in the extended family who do actually believe the McCanns version of events and this may be painful for them.

My reasoning is restricted to Gerry and Kate McCann, and I thought that evading justice was not painful.

Unlike the McCanns, I hold my hands up when I am in the wrong.

Socrates: May not their way of proceeding, my friend, be compared to the conduct of a person who is afflicted with the worst of diseases and contrives not to pay the penalty to the physician for his sins against his constitution, and will not be cured, because, like a child, he is afraid of being burned or cut: - Is not that a parallel case?

Polus: Yes, truly.

Socrates: He would seem as if he did not know the nature of health and vigour; and if we are right, Polous, in our previous conclusions, they are in a like case who strive to evade justice, which they see to be painful, but are blind to the advantage which ensues from it, not knowing how far more miserable a companion a diseased soul is than a diseased body; a soul, I say, which is corrupt, unrighteous and unholy. And hence they do all that they can to avoid punishment and to avoid being released from the greatest of evils; they provide themselves with money and friends, and cultivate to the utmost the powers of persuasion. But if we, Polus, are right, do you see what follows, or do we draw out the consequences in form?

Polus: If you please.

Socrates: Is it not a fact that injustice, and the doing of injustice, is the greatest evils?

Polus: That is quite clear.

Socrates: And further, that to suffer punishment is the way to be released from this evil?

Polus: True.

Socrates: And not to suffer, is to perpetuate the evil?

Polus: Yes.

Footnote: Is evading justice painful? + Google = Gorgias By Plato = McCanns: Physicians heal thyselves + Google = This now number 1 on Google.

[thought for the day] wednesday evening

Here's some advice:

Always give advice, especially on topics you know absolutely nothing about.

[comment is dear] lord prat bigglesworth pontificates

This may be so:

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's need for lower interest rates to stimulate the US economy conflict with the Treasury's need for a strong dollar to deal with runaway oil prices. The Fed should recognize that its actions are misguided. The potential harm of a sustained weak dollar can make the credit crisis look like a minor storm.

... or it might not be so but one thing is for sure - the Morgan Fed is either incompetent or evil.

Take your pick.