This World Is Boldly Going Nowhere

Campaigning for success!

Cherie has put together a wee lil presentation covering the PCS campaign to save jobs in the local area. I don’t like the music as much for this version as much as previous ones… But the whole thing was “project managed” by a certain individual who shall remain nameless.

You can take a mooch at the vid by clicking the preview image below. You’ll need to install the PhotoDex Presenter plugin (if you haven’t already) before the video will play.  Its about 47MB in size, so please be patient!

BOOM!

That’s what I imagine a supernova would sound like if you could actually hear one. Which is pretty hard in the vacuum of space. Seeing them, however, is not hard at all.

NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory has detected the youngest supernova ever recorded. According to calculations, it took place as little as 140 years ago, replacing the previous “youngest” supernova - Cassiopeia A - which is thought to have taken place around 1680.

Supernova remnant G1.9+0.3.

And for those people out there worried about the destructive power of humankind, during the Cold War, the Russians developed a design for a nuclear weapon that could have provided a maximum explosive yield of around 100 megatons - the most powerful weapon ever designed by humans. A supernova by comparison produces an explosive yield of around 10 octillion (10²⁸) megatons - thats 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons of TNT.

Like I said: BOOM!

EDS - A HP Company

Seems that Texas-based IT giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS) is to be bought out by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in a $13.9bn cash deal.

Hewlett-Packard announced Tuesday it is buying Electronic Data Systems for about $13.9 billion in cash, as it aims to step up competition for the computer services business with rival IBM.

They are buying the IT company for $25 a share - a narrow 4% over their closing value the day previously. Still, the merger of the two concerns will create on giant conglomerate with around 210,000 staff providing services in over 80 countries across the globe… The gap between the major companies narrows as IBM find their position as market leader assailed…

I wonder what the other IT companies think about that?

The future of filling up at the petrol station

Do please excuse the “American” theme on the prices, and the references to “Gas” - you know it’s going to be the same over here…

The daily news

Homeowners must save more or be forced to sell their houses to fund care in their old age, Gordo has said today. Great - more popularity winning policies from the man that brought us road pricing, fuel duty increases, stealth airline taxes, unequal devolution and the abolition of the 10p/£ tax bracket.

It should come as no surprise then, that rebels against Brown within the Liebour party have said that he won’t be leading them into the next general election. Not really a great surprise - the man is less popular than a virulent strain of paedophillic cancer at the moment, and that’s not likely to get better any time soon!

More than 10 million people are to have their personal politics, everyday disputes and business lives checked by new so-called “tension monitoring” committees. This is the brainchild of Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, who is a gormless, grinning bitch. Under the proposals, local authorities will have the power to obtain personal information from people at interviews to check whether there is any kind of “tension” or whether there are “tension hotspots” in the community. In addition, via Wonko, it seems that the guidance that the Department for Communities and Local Government are putting out also contains measures to censor the press. Grrr.

Gordo and Darling - alias “Bodger” and “Badger” are geniuses. We know this because the Liebour party tells us they are. They are such geniuses that they gave billions of pounds of our tax money to prop up the failing Northern Rock. That money now seems to be in serious shite, despite the promises of the bank, as its arrears have doubled in just over three months. Yet more of our wonderful money that could have been put to so much better use elsewhere, pissed up the wall by these incompetent arseholes.

Finally, Gordon Brown and Cherie Blair have put their differences behind them and made up. Awww! (Click pic for story)

Motivation: Part 2

Apologies

Should anyone have noticed (which I doubt) that this site was unavailable for a chunk of yesterday evening, and again this morning, I can only apologise.

At just after 18:00 yesterday, my wireless router (incidentally, my internet gateway) decided to die. Not quite sure what happened to it, but it was that hot when I found out I physically couldn’t touch it. It has since been consigned to Silicon Heaven, and I wish its electronic soul well.

Network access has now been restored thanks to a snazzy new Belkin router with funky little blue lights. Looks kinda cute.

Sad I know.

Which sci-fi character are you?

CherryPie suggested I do this… I’m Kosh, apparently…

Newsround

It’s been a while since I posted anything on the current news and goings on, so here we are with a quick update on some of the stories making the headlines at the moment:

“Badger” Darling has given Liebour rebels “categoric assurance” that he will help those worst hit by the abolition of the 10p/£ tax bracket. Funny how Darling is catching all the shit for this, but it was introduced in Gordo’s budget. I can’t help wondering if “Bodger” Gordo doesn’t like Darling too much: he seems to have handed him a political death sentence.

The “liberalisation” of the UK postal services has produced “no significant benefits” for either households or small business, a new report has concluded. Well shit. I never saw that pearl of wisdom coming. Funny how the article doesn’t make any mention of the European Union, whose laws it was which forced Royal Mail to start competing with private companies anyway… But then I guess considering that the BBC is funded by government sanctioned charges and dodgy loans of public money from the EU, its not so much of a surprise that the Beeb wouldn’t want to criticise the EU.

A gunman has been shot dead in a police siege in west-London. Good. More weapon-wielding criminal scum should be given this kind of treatment. Its cheap and effective, and it keeps the streets oh-so-clean.

Nicolas Sarkozy has withdrawn his backing of Tony Bliar to become the first president of the European Union. Good. Everyone should withdraw support for this vile traitor. He buggered everyone in this country with a fish-fork and if he becomes president of the EU, he will do it again. Not only that, I don’t like the idea of him picking his old Liebour party mates whose political careers here are over for cushy jobs in Brussels.

A spokesman for Downing Street has said that no decision has been made on whether to allow councils to introduce “bin taxes”. Yet another example of “bottler Brown” shitting in his pants before having to make a decision. The man isn’t fit to lead a circus procession. And while I’m on the subject, the recent election route that Gordo’s crew of misfits suffered in the local council and London mayoral elections should have told him that people are sick to the fucking back teeth of all his taxes and fuckups. Fuck the fucking fuck off Gordo, and take your filthy fucking brood of shit-spewing devil-spawn with you!

A young Polish hospital worker was killed after she left her house and ended up in a “wild west shootout” between a group of teenagers. Those responsible should be flogged through the streets and brutally guillotined before a baying crowd. That should teach the rest of the fuckers not to pull shit like this. The streets in this country really need cleaning up, and harsh methods are the only way of getting the job done.

Finally, keen photographers have captured some stunning images of an electrical storm as it passes over a plume of smoke and ash erupting from a volcano in Chile.

Minesweeper - the movie

Ironman

Went to the cinema to see Ironman today. Damn but that film rocks: full of brilliant specials, a sarcastic AI, shit loads of explosions, hot chicks and snappy one-liners.

In short, billionaire weapons designer, industrialist, engineer and playboy Tony Stark is captured by terrorists while demonstrating a new weapon to troops in Afghanistan. Forced to work for a local warlord, he realises how his weapons have been used to cause a great deal of destruction and resolves to put things right when he escapes. And he escapes by designing the Ironman suit…

The suit undergoes several enhancements and very amusing tests (look out for the robot assistants in the lab - just like Scutters from Red Dwarf!), as an unlikely enemy is revealed and the stage is set for a big-mech showdown!

For those that don’t like to stick around after the credits have started rolling, I’d suggest you make an exception in this case: there is about 40 seconds worth of extra footage after the credits have finished which indicate a sequel is in the works!

Generic local election update

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!

Liebour have lost. And not just lost by a bit, they have lost in spectactular fashion - the worst defeat in about 40 years. I guess that’s what you get for having a featureless butt-fuck like Broon in charge of the party.

The results for the London Mayoral elections are expected later this evening, but apparently bookmakers are already paying out on bets place on Boris Johnson to win… Expect further updates as the news comes in…

Update: Boris has won the London election - this is the end of the devious “Red Ken”, and possibly of Gordo too. The worst election defeat for Liebour in 40 years, and even his own party can’t stand him - the scent of death is heavy on you Gordo, and the vultures are circling.

The Apprentice

I know that a large part of the show is set up, but for sheer entertainment value, you can’t beat a good cringe at all the Alan Sugar wannabe’s wandering around.

This week saw the departure of Kevin Shaw, who miserably failed to do even the slightest thing right on the task: design, produce and market a new set of cards for a made-up event.

The idea their team ran with, a card to make people think about green issues, was total shite. The idea is flawed in its basic concept: trees have to be cut down to make the paper that goes into the card, the envelope and the stamp, and then the card has to be driven half way across the country in a big diesel truck. Perhaps not the best way of reminding someone about the environment, eh?

Also, I had to laugh at his style of pitching. Well, it was less “pitching” and more “preaching” which was ironic, because when he was bigging himself up in one of the interview sections off to the side of the program, he was saying he had a Porhche and now he wants a Ferrari. Again, not the sort of cars you would see someone who was concerned about the environment driving around in… Fucking retard.

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday! Indeed two birthdays, for my blog is celebrating its first birthday, as I celebrate my (Censored-Ed) birthday.

Spam

Spam. It’s a curse of the digital age. I have suffered terribly with spam here. Thankfully thinks like the Akismet plugin do help. However, while Akismet will stop spam being published, it doesn’t stop it worming its evil way into your database… Thankfully I have found a plugin which will do this! Hurrah for me!

And indeed, hurrah for the people who wrote it!

Naughty Guido!

Well, well, well!

It seems that Guido Fawkes has been a naughty boy. Again.

he waspish Westminster blogger “Guido Fawkes”, who is devoted to making life uncomfortable for political trough-guzzlers, joins his historical namesake in finding himself at the sharp end of the legal system.

Lobbyists, aides and parliamentarians from all sides of the Houses – particularly those with something to hide – will be delighted to learn that the famously thirsty troublemaker, real name Paul Staines, was up before the beak at Tower Bridge Magistrates Court last Thursday.

He admitted driving while under the influence and without insurance after being stopped by the Plod in the small hours of 17 April, driving his wife’s Volkswagen fast and swerving across lanes in south London. He was breathalysed and found to be almost twice the legal limit. Asked by District Judge Timothy Stone whether he had an alcohol problem, Staines said: “Possibly.”

Sentencing is on 15 May. It is his fourth alcohol-related offence and second drink-driving reprimand – he was banned for 12 months in 2002 – requiring the judge to consider a jail sentence.

Oh dear… There goes the moral high ground.

Ronnie O’Sullivan - genius

My readers may know that I enjoy a good game of snooker. I have been watching the latest 888.com world championship with keen interest, and not just because of Michaela Tabb!

Ronnie O’Sullivan concluded his second round match against Mark Williams with a tremendous 147 break - the ninth of his professional career.  By making this, he has broken the world record for the number of competitive maximum breaks, which he jointly shared with Steven Hendry.

He made the break in a little under nine minutes, and concluded it to a standing ovation from players, officials and of course the audience - play was even stopped on the second table when it became clear that Ronnie was about to complete this feat.

He stands to get around £120,000 for the highest break, assuming that no other player makes a 147 maximum in the competition. In the interview afterwards Ronnie said: “I might buy myself a Bentley convertible… just for the summer… just to float about in…”

Fair play lad - you deserve it! If I was him I’d have the trophy engraved too…

“My name is O’Sullivan, king of kings. Gaze on my works ye mighty and dispair!“

Nice airbags

I have been very lax in my duties… I did promise that I would give my readers the full set of airbags that were demonstrated to the world by Theo back in February. I didn’t do it on time, but never fear because I have not let you down: here they are!

How English are you?

Happy St. George’s Day!

… Click for a larger version …

Fuck. Just…. fuck!

A father-of-four has been left with a criminal record for overfilling his wheelie bin by four inches.Gareth Corkhill, 26, of Whitehaven, Cumbria, received a £110 fixed penalty notice after Copeland Council staff photographed his raised bin lid.When he refused to pay he was taken to court where magistrates added a further £115 to the fixed penalty.

What the goddamn hell? Don’t the local councils get enough money from residents? If they didn’t spend it all on themselves, useless fucking “city region” projects and nice cars then maybe, just maybe, we could have some decent local public services? Fucking greedy little cunts. The fucking lot of them should be taken away and gassed.

WTF?

Insignia

Seems that Vauxhall have given up with the Vectra. The workhorse of the Vauxhall fleet, and their equivalent of the ever-present Ford Mondeo is moving aside and making way for the new Insignia - which features a complete and total re-design, even down the badge on the front. Vauxhall have developed a few prototypes which are being tested on proving grounds, and they expect to launch the vehicle in October this year. There’s no word on price yet, but an entry level vehicle shouldn’t have a price tag too far removed from the Vectra.

It certainly looks an appealing vehicle from what I’ve seen so far, though I can’t help noticing some slight similarity between it and the Nissan Primera…

The Vauxhall Insignia

The Nissan Primera

Weekend roundup

And now onto a few of the smaller stories making the news over the weekend…

Firstly, a government health minister, Ann Keen, has axed the £5,000 housing allowance paid to help junior doctors with their property bills. Despite the fact that she and her husband (also an MP) are currently being investigated for syphoning off nearly £40,000 of taxpayer’s money to pay for their own mortgages. Yet another prime example of NuLiebour “do as I say, not as I do” doctrine. Is there anyone left in this party that isn’t corrupted to the core?

… … …

Fatty Prescott has opened up and revealed a dark secret to the world: he once had a terrible battle with bulimia. Must have been awful for him… Still, he looks like he’s bearing up well - no sign of terminal weight loss… You know, I can’t help thinking that this is just a pile of bullshit he made up to help sell his book…

… … …

The Russian newspaper that broke the story about Vladimir Putin having an affair with a former gymnast and stripper, who is also a member of the Russian cabinet, and 31 years Putin’s junior has been shut down. This comes shortly after Putin issued a statement saying that the claim was false. The editor of the paper in question has said that the article was well sourced, and that he stands by the paper’s claims. I give him about two months… There will be dose of polonium heading his way, I’m sure…

… … …

Gordon Brown is still coming under pressure over his handling of the scrapping of the 10p/£ tax bracket, which will see a lot of people’s take-home pay drop. Single people with no children earning less than £18,500 will be worst hit, with their annual take-home pay expected to drop by around £250 a year. The stress of dealing with critics, both of this policy and of his general leadership appears to be making Brown a bit ratty: The Daily Mail reports that he suffered from an “outburst” on the flight to America earlier in the week.

Sticking with Gordo for a bit longer, The Times says that he is “cornered” as the prospect of a rebellion among his MPs over the tax cut grows. While Alistair Darling has said he can’t rewrite the budget, this does have to be voted on by MPs, so emergency measures may be needed to reintroduce the 10p/£ tax bracket if the budget is not approved by The Commons.

Still with Gordo for a bit longer, The Milibeast has warned him that Liebour are now the “political underdog”. Well, no shit Sherlock! Liebour have been the underdog since before that twat Bliar left office. A lot of pigeons are now coming home to roost, and Brown is up to his neck in shit. I would be very surprised if he manages to last the full year.

… … …

Finally, the teacher who was suspended when her students found out that she appeared in a saucy advert has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Sarah Green, 25, stared in the video as a secretary being seduced by a builder, when she was a student struggling for cash. If anyone missed the video, I have kindly rummaged a copy out - enjoy!

Taking the police state a bit too far

It’s always more fun asking questions than answering them. And it’s almost never any fun when you’re answering questions about your personal life… Which is what the Office Of National Statistics will be doing shortly.

A 2000-question survey will be sent to 200,000 homes at random each year, and question each of the occupants - around 500,000 all together, at a cost of some £3.5M per year.

Snooping officials will want to know about previous sexual partners, contraception, and how long couples lived together before marriage.

The 2,000-question survey from the Office for National Statistics will raise major concerns about privacy – especially as the data will be logged with the respondents’ names and addresses.

Some of the questions seem remarkably insensitive. One asks: “Have you ever had a baby – even one who only lived for a short time?”

Interviewers are told starkly: “Exclude: Any stillborn; Include: Any who only lived for a short time.”

Civil servants claim the sensitive perso