A lovely piece of mischief making at the Winter Olympics by seating the US and North Korea within spitting distance of each other.
There was Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo-jong having a whale of a time while Mike Pence and his wife sat there with a face like a slapped arse looking like they would rather be anywhere else but sat infront of the Representative of the country his boss said he would mass murder only a few weeks ago.
You hope Kim Yo-jong spent the whole three hours of the ceremony kicking the back of Pence's chair and making remarks in broken English about mentally deranged doltards but it seemed she was enjoying herself too much to worry about the couple infront who made their excuses to avoided the official meal to avoid bumping into her.
North Korea has played a blinder over the past few weeks with their reconcilatory tone and sending the North Koreans to join up with the South Korean hockey team although how the South Koreans dropped to accommodate them may not be so happy about it.
SO North Korea made America look like a miserable old curmudgeon and even more so when the North Korean and South Koreans came out holding a unified Korea Flag to which everyone went wild except the Pence's who refused to join in the celebrations, much more at home making threats to annihilate nations rather than celebrate when they come together.
They really should have sent Trump, he wouldn't have woosed out on the dinner just because he didn't like the company because by looking at his waistline he has never missed a dinner in his life.
I'm sure the fat tyrant with strange hair will start throwing around insults and threatening nuclear war again soon enough and so will Kim Jung-Un but until then the Gold Medal for Public Relations goes to North Korea.
Friday, 9 February 2018
Thursday, 8 February 2018
Snowless Winter Olympics
I do like to watch the Winter Olympics although being held in South Korea and they are nine hours in front of the UK i will only be able to see a few minutes while i am charging around with my cornflakes in the morning and the highlights package in the evening.
The average temperature in Pyeongchang is 0C with temperatures at night getting down to around -10C but due to the unreliability of snow, the snow cannons are on standby to make some of the white stuff if needed but this is becoming a common theme as due to global warming and the steady rise in temperatures, it's becoming harder and harder for hosting nations to provide enough
quality snow needed for athletes to perform.
Snow cannons were in action in 2014 at Sochi in Russia and in 2010 at the Vancouver Winter Olympics they had to fly in snow via helicopter.
Researchers predict that by 2080, only six of the previous Winter Olympic venues will still be cold enough to qualify as hosts again but holding the Winter Olympics in a place that might not have any snow might prove to be a plus for us Brits.
The average temperature in Pyeongchang is 0C with temperatures at night getting down to around -10C but due to the unreliability of snow, the snow cannons are on standby to make some of the white stuff if needed but this is becoming a common theme as due to global warming and the steady rise in temperatures, it's becoming harder and harder for hosting nations to provide enough
quality snow needed for athletes to perform.
Snow cannons were in action in 2014 at Sochi in Russia and in 2010 at the Vancouver Winter Olympics they had to fly in snow via helicopter.
Researchers predict that by 2080, only six of the previous Winter Olympic venues will still be cold enough to qualify as hosts again but holding the Winter Olympics in a place that might not have any snow might prove to be a plus for us Brits.
Tuesday, 6 February 2018
Space Exploration Takes Another Step Forward
Humans have taken another huge step forward courtesy of Elon Musk and his tactfully renamed Falcon Heavy Rocket which not only launched perfectly but returned back again to be reused.
Absolutely awe inspiring and one of those moments that come along every now and then that makes you think how amazing humans can be when we stop being jerks to each other and focus on something brilliant.
The image of those boosters landing by themselves simultaneously will be played alongside the moon landings when the story of Space Exploration is revised.
What this opens up is the possibility of space launches vastly cheaper than government alternatives. Nasa is working on its own heavy rocket, called the Space Launch System, which remains untested and is projected to cost around $1bn per flight while the Falcon Heavy would cost less than a tenth of that, at $90m per flight.
Just awesome Mr Musk and finally a giant leap forward after so many wasted years following the Moon landings.
Absolutely awe inspiring and one of those moments that come along every now and then that makes you think how amazing humans can be when we stop being jerks to each other and focus on something brilliant.
The image of those boosters landing by themselves simultaneously will be played alongside the moon landings when the story of Space Exploration is revised.
What this opens up is the possibility of space launches vastly cheaper than government alternatives. Nasa is working on its own heavy rocket, called the Space Launch System, which remains untested and is projected to cost around $1bn per flight while the Falcon Heavy would cost less than a tenth of that, at $90m per flight.
Just awesome Mr Musk and finally a giant leap forward after so many wasted years following the Moon landings.
Monday, 5 February 2018
The NHS, Trump, Farage & Fox News
If ever there was a man who overplayed his hand it is Nigel Farage. The UKIP leader who tried 7 times to become an MP and failed while being widely mocked for blaming absolutely everything on immigration, has been on Fox News and blamed the ills of the NHS on: 'a population crisis caused by government policy on immigration' surprise surprise.
Donald Trump, being the ignorant imbecile that he is was watching and tweeted that: 'The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working'.
Maybe someone should have pointed out to Trump that the thousands marching in the UK was in support of the NHS and demand the Government inject more funds into it and against an American style Health System although Farage would have still blame immigrants because that's what the nasty little racist always says.
The NHS is failing but not due to immigration but due to the right wing ideology of this awful Government.
It is the failure to raise the NHS budget by the required 4% each year since 2010, opting for a grudging 1% instead while making £22 billion worth of cuts, closing 44 hospitals and treatment centres with a loss of 15,000 beds, the loss of 5,870 NHS nurses and a third of ambulance stations.
A Guardian poll showed that 79% of Health Professionals state that NHS cuts have had a detrimental affect on patient care and many see this as a taste of things to come as the NHS gets run down, sliced and diced and then the most financially profitable bits privatised just like the Prison Health Contract.
As the ignorant and uninformed Trump got his news from Nigel Farage and Fox News, it's no surprise that he has made himself look a moron again and laid bare his agenda to keep America one of the most expensive, inefficient and unjust healthcare systems in the world.Trump, Farage and Fox News? No Thanks.
Donald Trump, being the ignorant imbecile that he is was watching and tweeted that: 'The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working'.
Maybe someone should have pointed out to Trump that the thousands marching in the UK was in support of the NHS and demand the Government inject more funds into it and against an American style Health System although Farage would have still blame immigrants because that's what the nasty little racist always says.
The NHS is failing but not due to immigration but due to the right wing ideology of this awful Government.
It is the failure to raise the NHS budget by the required 4% each year since 2010, opting for a grudging 1% instead while making £22 billion worth of cuts, closing 44 hospitals and treatment centres with a loss of 15,000 beds, the loss of 5,870 NHS nurses and a third of ambulance stations.
A Guardian poll showed that 79% of Health Professionals state that NHS cuts have had a detrimental affect on patient care and many see this as a taste of things to come as the NHS gets run down, sliced and diced and then the most financially profitable bits privatised just like the Prison Health Contract.
As the ignorant and uninformed Trump got his news from Nigel Farage and Fox News, it's no surprise that he has made himself look a moron again and laid bare his agenda to keep America one of the most expensive, inefficient and unjust healthcare systems in the world.Trump, Farage and Fox News? No Thanks.
Sunday, 4 February 2018
Duck!! Nope It's A Goose
There is nothing more heart warming than a tale of a hunter who somehow ends up getting hurt themselves so let's have a chuckle at Robert Meilhammer who is currently getting a taste of hospital food care of a goose.
Mr Meilhammer obviously has issues and was out in a field getting his kicks from killing innocent animals for his own amusement when he took aim at a goose which fell from the sky as living things do when you bravely blast a hole in them from the ground.
The goose fell 90ft and landed directly on Mr Meilhammer's head, knocking him unconscious and causing a severe head injury but he is said to be in a stable condition.
Maybe if more hunters got clunked on the head by their unfortunate victims there may not be so many sadistic halfwits around getting their kicks from killing the wildlife but as for karma casualty Mr Meilhammer, oh dear, what a shame, never mind.
Mr Meilhammer obviously has issues and was out in a field getting his kicks from killing innocent animals for his own amusement when he took aim at a goose which fell from the sky as living things do when you bravely blast a hole in them from the ground.
The goose fell 90ft and landed directly on Mr Meilhammer's head, knocking him unconscious and causing a severe head injury but he is said to be in a stable condition.
Maybe if more hunters got clunked on the head by their unfortunate victims there may not be so many sadistic halfwits around getting their kicks from killing the wildlife but as for karma casualty Mr Meilhammer, oh dear, what a shame, never mind.
Saturday, 3 February 2018
Food, Glorious Food (Which Can Kill You)
The saying is that you can never get too much of a good thing but try saying that to someone who has just eaten 1,800 cups of rice because they would be too busy dying to hear you because that's how much rice you will need to eat in one sitting to kill you.
Scientists at ASPScience have crunched the numbers and have compiled a list of just how much of something is enough to actually bring your living to an abrupt end.
You may want to stop at that 24th Green Potato because 25 is the number to have you turning up your toes and you would need to have a massive fruit bowl to hold the 11,000 Oranges you would need to eat to die from a fatal Vitamin C Overdose.
Cherry Pips are deadly but only if you eat 588 of them so far more achievable is the 100 apple pips or the 480 bananas you would need to digest to get 'death from fruit' on your death certificate.
Tuna is so full of Mercury that 4 tins of the fish in one sitting would bring down the curtain early as would 80 cups of coffee, 6 litres of water, 40 energy drinks or 13 shots of alcohol.
You would need to like your tea sweet to be able to handle 6 cups of sugar in it but it would be your last as would the 40 bars of chocolate or the 29 tablespoons of pepper, 48 tablespoons of seasoning or 47 teaspoons of Salt.
Just to round it out if you somehow accidentally ate 24 tubes of Toothpaste you would have lovely smelling breath for the funeral director and we all know that cigarettes are bad for your health if you smoke them but if you decide to eat them instead, keep to munching under 5 a day (or half a cigar) if you want to stay alive.
Stay healthy and while an apple a day may keep the doctor away, eating 100 of the cores won't keep away the undertaker.
Scientists at ASPScience have crunched the numbers and have compiled a list of just how much of something is enough to actually bring your living to an abrupt end.
You may want to stop at that 24th Green Potato because 25 is the number to have you turning up your toes and you would need to have a massive fruit bowl to hold the 11,000 Oranges you would need to eat to die from a fatal Vitamin C Overdose.
Cherry Pips are deadly but only if you eat 588 of them so far more achievable is the 100 apple pips or the 480 bananas you would need to digest to get 'death from fruit' on your death certificate.
Tuna is so full of Mercury that 4 tins of the fish in one sitting would bring down the curtain early as would 80 cups of coffee, 6 litres of water, 40 energy drinks or 13 shots of alcohol.
You would need to like your tea sweet to be able to handle 6 cups of sugar in it but it would be your last as would the 40 bars of chocolate or the 29 tablespoons of pepper, 48 tablespoons of seasoning or 47 teaspoons of Salt.
Just to round it out if you somehow accidentally ate 24 tubes of Toothpaste you would have lovely smelling breath for the funeral director and we all know that cigarettes are bad for your health if you smoke them but if you decide to eat them instead, keep to munching under 5 a day (or half a cigar) if you want to stay alive.
Stay healthy and while an apple a day may keep the doctor away, eating 100 of the cores won't keep away the undertaker.
Friday, 2 February 2018
Global Democracy Declining
Winston Churchill said that the best argument against democracy is a conversation an average voter so he would be happy that the number of Democracies around the World is shrinking and we are now down to just 19 full democracies or less than 5% of the world's population according to the annual Democracy Index which looks at governments around the world and tracks elections, politics,
culture and civil rights.
As usual, Scandinavia comes out best with Norway the most democratic nation followed by Iceland and then Sweden, the UK is the 14th most democratic country while the USA is 21st and was downgraded to a 'flawed democracy' last year and remains in the same class as nations such as India, Chile, South Africa, Greece, Colombia and Mexico.
Overall, across the world, democratic norms are slipping, according to the Index authors blaming declining trust in institutions, erosion of civil liberties and curbs on freedom of speech and curtailing freedom of the media under the guise of prevention of terrorism laws, blasphemy and 'hate speech' laws.
The rest of the world’s population live in a hybrid or authoritarian regime with North Korea the lowest-ranking country on the list along with Syria, Chad and Central African Republic.
As for the 95% of those not living in a full democracy, placing a cross on a ballot paper every five years in order to hand over political control to a party is as much say as we have. Yes we can remove a Government but once in they are there for a long time and short of a revolution, we are stuck with them and it's 60 months until Democracy wheels its way back again.
I wouldn't be that upset if your country is not in the top class as Democracy is 1 day every 1826 days so for 1825 days we are no different.
culture and civil rights.
As usual, Scandinavia comes out best with Norway the most democratic nation followed by Iceland and then Sweden, the UK is the 14th most democratic country while the USA is 21st and was downgraded to a 'flawed democracy' last year and remains in the same class as nations such as India, Chile, South Africa, Greece, Colombia and Mexico.
Overall, across the world, democratic norms are slipping, according to the Index authors blaming declining trust in institutions, erosion of civil liberties and curbs on freedom of speech and curtailing freedom of the media under the guise of prevention of terrorism laws, blasphemy and 'hate speech' laws.
The rest of the world’s population live in a hybrid or authoritarian regime with North Korea the lowest-ranking country on the list along with Syria, Chad and Central African Republic.
As for the 95% of those not living in a full democracy, placing a cross on a ballot paper every five years in order to hand over political control to a party is as much say as we have. Yes we can remove a Government but once in they are there for a long time and short of a revolution, we are stuck with them and it's 60 months until Democracy wheels its way back again.
I wouldn't be that upset if your country is not in the top class as Democracy is 1 day every 1826 days so for 1825 days we are no different.
Social Kissing Dilemma
My long held social interaction when saying farewell to someone was always a little upper arm rub while saying something like 'Thank you for the coffee, see you soon, Bye' but things have moved on so far and so fast that before i knew it i was being hugged which was immediately uncomfortable but now cheek kissing is the norm and the social awkwardness that brings.
To pull away when a pair of lips come in search of your cheek is bad form but then the decision is which cheek to go for and the amount of cheeks to kiss.
Some people kiss on one cheek, some two, some go back to the first one for a second time and some go left then right while others go right then left which can lead to the embarrassing moment when noses clash if you get it wrong.
Science has managed to answer party of the quandary as a study by Ruhr University found that in a study of couples kissing, they found that both participants went to their right in 65% of kisses with only 35% leftwards.
If you aim for the other persons left cheek, you will therefore avoid a bruised nose two times out of three but that is only half the conundrum solved as how many cheeks should be kissed and how many times.
The standard seems to be a one kiss on the cheek for someone you know such as a colleague and the two kiss greeting (one on each cheek) for long term friends or someone you know very well.
I still persist with the good old upper arm rub and try to get that in first as i say my goodbyes before any kisses are aimed my way and that works enough of the times but sometimes you can't escape and then you have the dilemma of how quick you can wipe your cheek of the faint coffee smelling film of saliva on your cheek.
Whatever happened to just waving goodbye to people??
To pull away when a pair of lips come in search of your cheek is bad form but then the decision is which cheek to go for and the amount of cheeks to kiss.
Some people kiss on one cheek, some two, some go back to the first one for a second time and some go left then right while others go right then left which can lead to the embarrassing moment when noses clash if you get it wrong.
Science has managed to answer party of the quandary as a study by Ruhr University found that in a study of couples kissing, they found that both participants went to their right in 65% of kisses with only 35% leftwards.
If you aim for the other persons left cheek, you will therefore avoid a bruised nose two times out of three but that is only half the conundrum solved as how many cheeks should be kissed and how many times.
The standard seems to be a one kiss on the cheek for someone you know such as a colleague and the two kiss greeting (one on each cheek) for long term friends or someone you know very well.
I still persist with the good old upper arm rub and try to get that in first as i say my goodbyes before any kisses are aimed my way and that works enough of the times but sometimes you can't escape and then you have the dilemma of how quick you can wipe your cheek of the faint coffee smelling film of saliva on your cheek.
Whatever happened to just waving goodbye to people??
Did Things Just Go Woosh?
Excited man on the TV pointing to a graphic that read:
FTSE 250 index down 1.11%
FTSE 100 down 0.63%
Germany’s Dax down 1.68%
France’s Cac down 1.64%
Italy’s FTSE MIB down 1.44%
Spain’s Ibex down 1.81%
Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.37%.
Sterling down 1%
It is no longer 'if' but 'when' he explained saying it was a bad day all round for global markets before another serious looking man said global meltdowns doesn't work like this, they tend to go 'woosh' and we have been 'wooshed' a few times so we would know a 'woosh' when it happens.
I have no idea what the hell they were talking about or what would woosh or how to tell even if it went woosh but from what i can tell the greedy capitalists who run the show never changed anything after the last recession but kept the same rules that ensured the next recession would arrive the same as it has done every decade or so.
As many people are still suffering from the fallout of the 2008 crash, the 2018 one could knock so many people onto their backs before they even get a chance to clamber back onto their feet.
Things need to change as Capitalism just isn't working but all the time the Capitalists are running the show, Capitalism is what we will have and the recessions that wreck so many lives that come with it.
FTSE 250 index down 1.11%
FTSE 100 down 0.63%
Germany’s Dax down 1.68%
France’s Cac down 1.64%
Italy’s FTSE MIB down 1.44%
Spain’s Ibex down 1.81%
Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.37%.
Sterling down 1%
It is no longer 'if' but 'when' he explained saying it was a bad day all round for global markets before another serious looking man said global meltdowns doesn't work like this, they tend to go 'woosh' and we have been 'wooshed' a few times so we would know a 'woosh' when it happens.
I have no idea what the hell they were talking about or what would woosh or how to tell even if it went woosh but from what i can tell the greedy capitalists who run the show never changed anything after the last recession but kept the same rules that ensured the next recession would arrive the same as it has done every decade or so.
As many people are still suffering from the fallout of the 2008 crash, the 2018 one could knock so many people onto their backs before they even get a chance to clamber back onto their feet.
Things need to change as Capitalism just isn't working but all the time the Capitalists are running the show, Capitalism is what we will have and the recessions that wreck so many lives that come with it.
Do It For Old England Pats
It has always intrigued me that the colonists did all they could to escape England but when they turned up in the United States, they named a state New England and called the cities after places in England so in New England and Old England there is a Boston, Worcester, Bridgeport, Manchester, Cambridge, Warwick, Greenwich, Waltham, Bristol, Plymouth, Taunton, Weymouth, Stratford, Barnstable, Enfield, Norwich, Braintree, Shrewsbury, Chelsea, Coventry, Glastonbury, Dartmouth, Chelmsford, Andover, Derry, Bangor, Falmouth, Dover, Rochester, Cheshire, Windsor, Tewksbury, Gloucester, Northampton, Mansfield, Westport, Wakefield, Reading, Newport and Burlington.
One of the States in New England is New Hampshire and in there is a city named Portsmouth and by a strange coincidence i hail from the original Portsmouth in Hampshire, England.
The New England flag has the English flag in the corner of it's flag and the New England Patriots play in blue as do Portsmouth FC and the New England Emblem is a version of John Bull called 'Brother Jonathon'.
The reason why New England is being mentioned is because they are playing in the Superbowl this weekend against the Philadelphia Eagles and as New England is almost a carbon copy of Old England, us original Englander's will be wanting the duplicate England to win.
Well, most of England as Derry is in Northern Ireland, Newport and Bangor are in Wales and Westport is in County Mayo in Ireland and i'm almost certain they won't be cheering for England old or new but then geography was obviously never a strong point for our Bible carrying counterparts.
Unfortunately we won't get to hear the unofficial England anthem of 'Three Lions' being sung to complete the scene as the New England don't have Lions on their Shirts and prefer a man wearing a tri-corner hat and 'Three Cornered Hat on a Shirt' hasn't got quite the same ring to it.
Anyway Pats, do it for England, St. George and the Queen although we won't be watching as it's on at stupid o'clock and to us it is just a load of large men jumping on each other every 30 seconds while throwing a rugby ball about.
One of the States in New England is New Hampshire and in there is a city named Portsmouth and by a strange coincidence i hail from the original Portsmouth in Hampshire, England.
The New England flag has the English flag in the corner of it's flag and the New England Patriots play in blue as do Portsmouth FC and the New England Emblem is a version of John Bull called 'Brother Jonathon'.
The reason why New England is being mentioned is because they are playing in the Superbowl this weekend against the Philadelphia Eagles and as New England is almost a carbon copy of Old England, us original Englander's will be wanting the duplicate England to win.
Well, most of England as Derry is in Northern Ireland, Newport and Bangor are in Wales and Westport is in County Mayo in Ireland and i'm almost certain they won't be cheering for England old or new but then geography was obviously never a strong point for our Bible carrying counterparts.
Unfortunately we won't get to hear the unofficial England anthem of 'Three Lions' being sung to complete the scene as the New England don't have Lions on their Shirts and prefer a man wearing a tri-corner hat and 'Three Cornered Hat on a Shirt' hasn't got quite the same ring to it.
Anyway Pats, do it for England, St. George and the Queen although we won't be watching as it's on at stupid o'clock and to us it is just a load of large men jumping on each other every 30 seconds while throwing a rugby ball about.
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