Sunday, December 31, 2006
The hanging of Saddam Hussein.
Yesterday in Baghdad saw the hanging of Saddam Hussein. The full story was available in my newspaper and I just wonder how bad mans' inhumanity to man has become. Searching on the intenet reveals a mobile phone video of the actual hanging that shows just how vulgar this piece of history was.
I think the hanging was wrong, Saddam was 69 years of age and the chances of him coming out of custody and re-offending were zero. He did not physically kill the 148 Shia at Dujail in 1982 but was held responsible. Other men did the actual killing in the same way that other men have done the killing of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq following the orders of George W Bush and Tony Blair. We will not see these 2 democratically elected leaders hanging from the gallows.
What nasty and unnecessary way to end 2006, a dramatic failure of justice that cannot be undone.
Yesterday in Baghdad saw the hanging of Saddam Hussein. The full story was available in my newspaper and I just wonder how bad mans' inhumanity to man has become. Searching on the intenet reveals a mobile phone video of the actual hanging that shows just how vulgar this piece of history was.
I think the hanging was wrong, Saddam was 69 years of age and the chances of him coming out of custody and re-offending were zero. He did not physically kill the 148 Shia at Dujail in 1982 but was held responsible. Other men did the actual killing in the same way that other men have done the killing of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq following the orders of George W Bush and Tony Blair. We will not see these 2 democratically elected leaders hanging from the gallows.
What nasty and unnecessary way to end 2006, a dramatic failure of justice that cannot be undone.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Blank Post
Today is blank post echo day
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
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my blank post
Today is blank post echo day
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
echo
my blank post
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Oh Yasmin ! You write with such passion.
Yesterday in her column Yasmin Alibhai-Brown wrote...
I was on the 207 bus on Thursday, sitting next to a fat man with a hairy face and cracked lips with The Sun in his hand. Turning the pages, he muttered: "Just effing tarts on the game." Then his eyes rested happily on the breasts of the naked Page 3 model, a treat his paper offers him daily. I said nothing, but seethed. He looked like a chap who would need to buy sex, even in these times when it is offered up for free by young women game for casual sex.
- "even in these times when it is offered up for free by young women game for casual sex." WOW Yasmin, you certainly have brightened up my day! The thoughts you give impressionable male readers are wonderful. We can gloat at the lifestyle choices of these young girls and fantasize just how easy and available they are.
The rest of Yasmin's column makes sense and she has some very good points gained from professional research. I agree with her column and the conclusions she has reached in the part men play in the sex trade marketplace. Well done Yasmin, you have written an informative column that concerns the tragic deaths of 5 young girls yet still have room for a little light relief in this sorry scenario.
Yesterday in her column Yasmin Alibhai-Brown wrote...
I was on the 207 bus on Thursday, sitting next to a fat man with a hairy face and cracked lips with The Sun in his hand. Turning the pages, he muttered: "Just effing tarts on the game." Then his eyes rested happily on the breasts of the naked Page 3 model, a treat his paper offers him daily. I said nothing, but seethed. He looked like a chap who would need to buy sex, even in these times when it is offered up for free by young women game for casual sex.
- "even in these times when it is offered up for free by young women game for casual sex." WOW Yasmin, you certainly have brightened up my day! The thoughts you give impressionable male readers are wonderful. We can gloat at the lifestyle choices of these young girls and fantasize just how easy and available they are.
The rest of Yasmin's column makes sense and she has some very good points gained from professional research. I agree with her column and the conclusions she has reached in the part men play in the sex trade marketplace. Well done Yasmin, you have written an informative column that concerns the tragic deaths of 5 young girls yet still have room for a little light relief in this sorry scenario.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
"It's what I do".
What a surprise to go back to work and read my daily newspaper on my rest break and to read this very amusing story ...
The Bishop of Southwark is facing a battle to keep his job after he was apparently found in a tired and emotional state in the back of a stranger's car after a Christmas party.
The bishop reportedly staggered home from a function at the Irish embassy on Tuesday night, climbed into the back of a stranger's Mercedes, and started throwing an infant's toys out of the vehicle.
The Mercedes' alarm went off outside the Suchard bar near Southwark Cathedral. Nicola Sumpter, who owns the car, said: "My boyfriend and his pal raced outside and were stunned to see a grey-haired man in the back seat. He was throwing my one-year-old son's toys everywhere.
"He wouldn't get out so they could pull him away. He couldn't stand up straight and fell over, banging his head."Asked to explain himself, he is claimed to have said: "I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's what I do." He sat and then lay on the pavement for several minutes while an onlooker dialled 999, but the bishop declined medical attention and an ambulance was cancelled. Then he got up and staggered away. The next day his office called the police to report the loss of property, which was reported in some newspapers as a mugging.
Ms Sumpter said she found a bag with the bishop's possessions in the car.
Oh, this really makes me laugh. What a hoot that party must have been at the Irish Embassy! It goes to show that underneath all the
robes and title, this bloke is just as human as the rest of us. Let's party with the Bishop for it is the season of goodwill and one that is
not only celebrated by worshipping Christians.
What a surprise to go back to work and read my daily newspaper on my rest break and to read this very amusing story ...
The Bishop of Southwark is facing a battle to keep his job after he was apparently found in a tired and emotional state in the back of a stranger's car after a Christmas party.
The bishop reportedly staggered home from a function at the Irish embassy on Tuesday night, climbed into the back of a stranger's Mercedes, and started throwing an infant's toys out of the vehicle.
The Mercedes' alarm went off outside the Suchard bar near Southwark Cathedral. Nicola Sumpter, who owns the car, said: "My boyfriend and his pal raced outside and were stunned to see a grey-haired man in the back seat. He was throwing my one-year-old son's toys everywhere.
"He wouldn't get out so they could pull him away. He couldn't stand up straight and fell over, banging his head."Asked to explain himself, he is claimed to have said: "I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's what I do." He sat and then lay on the pavement for several minutes while an onlooker dialled 999, but the bishop declined medical attention and an ambulance was cancelled. Then he got up and staggered away. The next day his office called the police to report the loss of property, which was reported in some newspapers as a mugging.
Ms Sumpter said she found a bag with the bishop's possessions in the car.
Oh, this really makes me laugh. What a hoot that party must have been at the Irish Embassy! It goes to show that underneath all the
robes and title, this bloke is just as human as the rest of us. Let's party with the Bishop for it is the season of goodwill and one that is
not only celebrated by worshipping Christians.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
talk talk broadband
I decided to take advantage of the offer of the free broadband being provided by talk talk , the telephone and internet service that is part of the Carphone Warehouse . I signed up for their package on 5th July 2006 and was told that the free broadband access would go-live by the end of September 2006. There has been a lot of media attention about the ability of talk talk to connect customers to it's free broadband service with a backlog of orders that were not completed on time. I hoped that the initial problems would be resolved and that we would be connected by the end of September 2006 as promised. We were told that we could migrate from Orange Broadband to talk talk free broadband as easily and swiftly as we did with our voice telephone calls from BT. All we needed to do was to pass on a MAC code to talk talk for this to happen. Talk talk contacted us twice by post asking for a MAC code and I replied twice supplying a MAC code. The end of September 2006 came and went without any contact from talk talk about being connected to their free broadband service. The customer care telephone service of talk talk is legendary, calls held in a queue for a long time and eventually answered in India by staff who have trouble resolving issues. The answers they give contradict previous answers and statements that were given. I tried the website and submitted queries but the responses suggested there was a problem with our telephone line. Eventually we were told that it was not possible to migrate from Orange Broadband to talk talk broadband because our telephone exchange had been unbundled. We were assured that the only way to get talk talk broadband was to disconnect from Orange Broadband, tell talk talk that the line was clear and then they could put us in the queue to be connected. Had we not pushed talk talk and kept asking to change our internet connection then I think they would not have contacted us to offer connection as they obviously have trouble coping with the existing demand for their service. I was not happy that talk talk did not contact us first and explained what was wrong and to give us a go-live date. They have had their money and we entered into this contract in good faith only to be abandoned over our internet connection. The industry should be able to migrate customers from one internet service provider to another as simply as changing voice telephone calls or energy providers. I get the impression that the internet service providers are being difficult to keep their market share and in the case of talk talk to reduce costs by discouraging internet users from switching their provider.
We disconnected from Orange Broadband on 29th October 2006 and it was not until we returned from our holiday on 10th December 2006 that we were eventually able to use talk talk broadband. The broadband service must have been connected any day whilst we were away on holiday between 26th November and 9th December 2006. We received a letter whilst we were away stating the our broadband was connected on the 1st December 2006. That is a long time since we signed up for the deal on 5th July 2006 when we were promised connection by the end of September 2006. A 2 month delay in connecting to broadband is not good at all and any internet user considering changing internet service provider should bear this in mind. To be without any broadband connection for over 4 weeks is a discrace and should never happen in a civilised, industrial society in 2006.
Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch and there is generally a catch somewhere!
I decided to take advantage of the offer of the free broadband being provided by talk talk , the telephone and internet service that is part of the Carphone Warehouse . I signed up for their package on 5th July 2006 and was told that the free broadband access would go-live by the end of September 2006. There has been a lot of media attention about the ability of talk talk to connect customers to it's free broadband service with a backlog of orders that were not completed on time. I hoped that the initial problems would be resolved and that we would be connected by the end of September 2006 as promised. We were told that we could migrate from Orange Broadband to talk talk free broadband as easily and swiftly as we did with our voice telephone calls from BT. All we needed to do was to pass on a MAC code to talk talk for this to happen. Talk talk contacted us twice by post asking for a MAC code and I replied twice supplying a MAC code. The end of September 2006 came and went without any contact from talk talk about being connected to their free broadband service. The customer care telephone service of talk talk is legendary, calls held in a queue for a long time and eventually answered in India by staff who have trouble resolving issues. The answers they give contradict previous answers and statements that were given. I tried the website and submitted queries but the responses suggested there was a problem with our telephone line. Eventually we were told that it was not possible to migrate from Orange Broadband to talk talk broadband because our telephone exchange had been unbundled. We were assured that the only way to get talk talk broadband was to disconnect from Orange Broadband, tell talk talk that the line was clear and then they could put us in the queue to be connected. Had we not pushed talk talk and kept asking to change our internet connection then I think they would not have contacted us to offer connection as they obviously have trouble coping with the existing demand for their service. I was not happy that talk talk did not contact us first and explained what was wrong and to give us a go-live date. They have had their money and we entered into this contract in good faith only to be abandoned over our internet connection. The industry should be able to migrate customers from one internet service provider to another as simply as changing voice telephone calls or energy providers. I get the impression that the internet service providers are being difficult to keep their market share and in the case of talk talk to reduce costs by discouraging internet users from switching their provider.
We disconnected from Orange Broadband on 29th October 2006 and it was not until we returned from our holiday on 10th December 2006 that we were eventually able to use talk talk broadband. The broadband service must have been connected any day whilst we were away on holiday between 26th November and 9th December 2006. We received a letter whilst we were away stating the our broadband was connected on the 1st December 2006. That is a long time since we signed up for the deal on 5th July 2006 when we were promised connection by the end of September 2006. A 2 month delay in connecting to broadband is not good at all and any internet user considering changing internet service provider should bear this in mind. To be without any broadband connection for over 4 weeks is a discrace and should never happen in a civilised, industrial society in 2006.
Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch and there is generally a catch somewhere!
The treatment of women around the world.
Some newspaper stories recently have made me smile. Women can dress very differently around the world and can cause quite a stir. Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali Australia's most senior Muslim cleric in a religious address to 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, was quoted as saying: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the back yard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem."
He added: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [Islamic headscarf], no problem would have occurred."
He makes a point here about freedoms, modesty and encouraging men which have some reality when you look at city centre night life here in the UK as an example.
Then we have the treatment and abuse of women in India were their rough and often violent treatment is taken as part of life. The UN Population Fund's 2005 report found that 70 per cent of Indian women believed wife-beating was justified under certain circumstances, including refusal to provide sex, or preparing dinner late.
Yorkshire men in the UK joke about saying to their wives if there is a delay with food serving - "Where's me dinner, woman?" - but this is done in a jokey fashion and not under the threat of violence or abuse. I wonder just how little value is put on the lives of Indian women when I read further down the page the tale of Tripla.
Tripla was born in the jungles of eastern India. But she died hundreds of miles from home, in the scrubby fields around Delhi, murdered by her husband because she refused to have sex with his brother.
She was born into a penniless family. So when a man came looking for a wife and offered £170 for her, her parents accepted.
They lived together as husband and wife for six months. Then Ajmer ordered her to sleep with his brother, who could not afford a wife.
When Tripla refused, Ajmer dragged her to a field near the village and beheaded her with a sickle.
Tripla's story was uncovered by Rishi Kant, a women's rights campaigner. When he told her parents in Jharkhand what had happened, her mother wept. "But what could we do?" she asked him. "We are facing so much poverty we had no choice but to sell her."
Sometimes people forget in the UK how other people have to live their lives and just moan about their daily lives and chores. Little do they know just how lucky they are - the grass on the other side may look greener but all is not green.
Some newspaper stories recently have made me smile. Women can dress very differently around the world and can cause quite a stir. Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali Australia's most senior Muslim cleric in a religious address to 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, was quoted as saying: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the back yard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem."
He added: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [Islamic headscarf], no problem would have occurred."
He makes a point here about freedoms, modesty and encouraging men which have some reality when you look at city centre night life here in the UK as an example.
Then we have the treatment and abuse of women in India were their rough and often violent treatment is taken as part of life. The UN Population Fund's 2005 report found that 70 per cent of Indian women believed wife-beating was justified under certain circumstances, including refusal to provide sex, or preparing dinner late.
Yorkshire men in the UK joke about saying to their wives if there is a delay with food serving - "Where's me dinner, woman?" - but this is done in a jokey fashion and not under the threat of violence or abuse. I wonder just how little value is put on the lives of Indian women when I read further down the page the tale of Tripla.
Tripla was born in the jungles of eastern India. But she died hundreds of miles from home, in the scrubby fields around Delhi, murdered by her husband because she refused to have sex with his brother.
She was born into a penniless family. So when a man came looking for a wife and offered £170 for her, her parents accepted.
They lived together as husband and wife for six months. Then Ajmer ordered her to sleep with his brother, who could not afford a wife.
When Tripla refused, Ajmer dragged her to a field near the village and beheaded her with a sickle.
Tripla's story was uncovered by Rishi Kant, a women's rights campaigner. When he told her parents in Jharkhand what had happened, her mother wept. "But what could we do?" she asked him. "We are facing so much poverty we had no choice but to sell her."
Sometimes people forget in the UK how other people have to live their lives and just moan about their daily lives and chores. Little do they know just how lucky they are - the grass on the other side may look greener but all is not green.
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