Goodbye Blair

I'm not a fan of Blair, I never have been.

Just seen his speech in Parliament this afternoon.

Over the years I've said my bit on each of his plans, policies & actions.

He's made some poor decisions which have cost us all dearly. He's lied to us (intentionally or not) and he's took us into a number of wars. Some valid, some not.

That said, I do admire the way he bowed out today. It was odd to see him going after all this time. I was pleased to see the applause from all sides of the house.

I have a bottle of Glen Morangie here and I think a drop is in order. Not as a celebration more to toast the end of an era.

The question is of course, what happens now? What is Brown going to do now he has his prize?

I'm not a fan for various reasons but will judge him (as I suspect most will) on what he does. Lets hope its for the better.

Hundreds trapped by flooding in Sheffield

June. A time when we can expect warm weather, blue skies and little rain.

June 2007. Hundreds trapped by flooding in Sheffield

Emergency services are mounting a major rescue operation after hundreds of people became trapped in their workplaces by rising flood waters in Sheffield.
People stranded inside buildings told Sky News how they had watched helplessly as walls were pulled down and cars swept away by torrents of water raging outside.

There seems to be an increasing number of these "freak" weather events around the world.

Welcome to climate change.

[Update 20:49]About an hour ago I saw one of the Sea King Helicopters flying over, presumably to aid in the rescue. It was an ominous sight. The more information that comes out, the worse the effects of this sound. Sky News are reporting that these floods are far more widespread than first thought and could affect other areas of that region.

I wish everyone involved all the best. These aren't areas you would expect to have problems with flooding.

$54 million claim for lost trousers dismissed

Strictly speaking, this isn't a UK story but It does highlight the dangers of the litigation culture which has found its way across the Atlantic in the last few years.

A US judge has lost a $54m (£27m) claim against a South Korean dry-cleaning firm which lost a pair of his trousers.

By refusing to pay him $1,000 (£500) after losing his trousers, they failed to honour a pledge to provide "Satisfaction Guaranteed", he argued.

But a Washington judge dismissed the case, which drew international attention, awarding the cleaners costs.

Legal groups have said the case, which has dragged on for two years and involved thousands of hours of legal investigative work, has damaged the image of the US judicial system.

BBC

I think the worst part of this story is that the suit was launched by a JUDGE

Coverup

Not sure I buy the bullshit they're selling about the Iran Sailors affair.

Irrespective of that, I take issue with -

On the decision to allow two sailors to sell their stories, there had been a "collective failure of judgment".

Armed forces personnel would be banned from selling stories in future he said.

Collective? No. Its the fault of the person who made the decision - who was it and do they still have a job? If so, why? Simple I guess - because it was a snide attempt at propaganda which failed miserably.

In addition - "banned in future" err.. aren't they already prohibited from doing this? Didn't this "collective" take the decision to make an exception?

As the gran on Catherine Tate would say - "...what a load of old shit"!

Queen's birthday honours: Bottom of the barrel

BBC

Salman Rushdie and Ryan Giggs have been 'honoured' this time around.

Fuck me! Talk about the dregs of society - a washed up author and a footballer.

Time to abolish the corrupt honours system. Whilst we're at it, time to get rid of the monarchy.

BBC's Alan Johnston about to be released?

I've just caught a report on Fox News that Alan Johnston is now 'with Hamas' and that his release could be imminent.

Lets hope so.

Saudi Prince 'paid' by BAE

BBC

A Saudi prince received secret payments from the UK's biggest arms dealer, a BBC investigation has revealed.

BAE Systems made regular payments of hundreds of millions of pounds to Prince Bandar bin Sultan for more than a decade.

The payments were made with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence.

Prince Bandar would not comment and BAE systems said they acted lawfully at all times. The MoD said information about the Al Yamamah deal was confidential.

Well there's a surprise, eh?!

And what did our corrupt government do? Scuppered the investigation.

Why does nobody get angry about this? Why do we let it happen?

Despicable

BBC

A mother has been fined for abandoning her two young children alongside a busy dual carriageway on a winter afternoon.

The 44-year-old left her daughters, aged six and nine, on Northumberland's A69 after an argument.

Police were called by concerned motorists who had spotted the children at the roadside in January.

The woman admitted two charges of abandoning or exposing a child to unnecessary suffering and was fined £2,000 by Hexham magistrates.

What kind of a mother does this to her kids?

I don't know what I find most offensive - the action or the punishment.

Doesn't work in a punitive way nor does it work as a deterrent for other terrible parents.

I'd have locked her up for life. The risks she exposed these children to in such a way indicate she's clearly not stable enough to raise them and who knows what happens behind closed doors.

Another portion of 'justice' served by the state.

John Prescott:

I've just seen a brief report about John Prescott on BBC News 24.

It said he has Pneumonia and was now in a high dependency unit.

This doesn't sound good.

I'm about as far from a Labour supporter as you are likely to get but I've never really had an issue with Prescott.

Ok, so he had his affair, something I don't approve of. He's also supported New Labour, something I also don't approve of, he's also held on to the Deputy PM position when he should have resigned/been fired.

That said, He's one of the few senior Labour politicians I would wish well in these circumstances.

He's a character and doesn't seem like an arrogant prick (unlike most of his colleagues). He also gave the idiot who threw an egg at him what he deserved.

Here's hoping he recovers.

London 2012: Logo unveiled

This travesty is the London 2012 Olympics logo.

What can one say about this crap?

According to Seb Coe -

"It's not a logo, it's a brand that will take us forward for the next five years,"

And guess what? This monstrosity actually cost £400,000!

Apparently, this logo will be 'the image he wants the London games to deliver to the world'.

Jeeezz! If this is the best they can come up with, god only knows what a farce this Olympics will turn out to be.