Andy Ramblings

THE FINANCIAL CRISIS EXPLAINED IN SIMPLE TERMS:

· Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin.

· In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay later.

· She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

· Word gets around, and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood Into Heidi's bar.

· Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most-consumed beverages.

Her sales volume increases massively.

· A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit.

· He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral.

· At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS.

· These securities are then traded on markets worldwide.

· No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed.

· Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.

· One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager (subsequently, of course, fired due to his negativity) of the bank decides that slowly the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar.

· However they cannot pay back the debts.

· Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy. DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95%.

· PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80%.

· The suppliers of Heidi's bar, having granted her generous payment due dates and having invested in the securities are faced with a new situation.

· Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.

· The bank is saved by the government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties.

· The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the non-drinkers.


· Finally, an explanation we understand.

The DEC are organising a campaign for the victims of the Israeli attacks on Gaza. However, The BBC refuses to broadcast this as it may affect it's 'Impartiality'. WTF? has Olmart called the Director General of the BBC like he did George Bush to prevent a UN resolution?

By the looks of it, the BBC has been spoken to by Israeli supporters and have been brought shame on what is supposed to be a bastion of Truth, fairness and honest reporting. Israel says there is no disaster, that they 'only' killed Hamas supporters. I will leave Tony Benn to take on the rest. Watch the Video below. Shame on the BBC.

Israel, is on the wrong side of the fence this time round. All the empathy of the Haulocast has been used up. It can no longer be used as a tool to allow Israel to attack the people of Gaza. Oh, did I not tell you, Hamas were voted in, in an election that was sponsored by the US. Democracy Bush style!

Looking at the response by BBC's chief operating officer Caroline Thomson, it appears that, as the BBC was one of the only news organisations allowed access into Gaza during the conflict, it was allowed to with caveats, one being, I'm guessing, that it should not report, support, transmit any new reports about the 'disaster'. That it should not support or appear to support Hamas. The problem is, this is a Humanitarian crisis, not a politico propaganda one. Israel has lost the propaganda war.  It was far to obvious to be believable.

Here's the link  'Intelligence insulting' response for the head huncho of the BBC, Mark Thompson. He is imply that we are not smart enough, that the charities are not smart enough to make sure that the monies go to those who need it, Now, Just fuck off Mark. Resign to big lump of shit.

So says a big banner on a lot of new London buses.  This is a campaign the British Humanist Association .

The campaign, which is supported by the British Humanist Association and BHA Vice President Richard Dawkins, and in Scotland by the Humanist Society of Scotland, is a response to a series of evangelical Christian adverts running on buses in June 2008, which featured the URL of a website saying all non-Christians were going to hell. Comedy writer Ariane Sherine suggested the rational, positive slogan to reassure people who may have been scared by the evangelical adverts.

 

This campaign is, in my view important, as quoted. If religious nutters can go around and tell everyone who doesn't believe in their view of the world you don't have the right to be on this planet. quite frankly these people are part of the problem of why things like world  peace can never be achieved. Though they go around saying that the love their neighbour, wll they do, as long as your not, this that or the other, as long as you agree with them. So, here's one bus with Richard Dawkins.

If you want to see more images, you can click on the link below.

Yes, we got rid of him, rather he buggered of with the longest good bye. Rather boring 40 days, but we were happy to see the back of him. Who's he, I hear you ask? You mean you don't know? It was our lovely (puke) leader, Tony Blair. Now, we the voters of the UK didn't have the pleasure of kicking him out, he buggered of to Save the middle east!? Save the middle east? for crying out load, he made a bad situation worse than before. Not only has he not been very good at bringing peace to the middle east.

So why am I talking about this political loser? Well, some people in the EU, think he is just the man to take up a newly created job of 'President of the Europpean Union' Jesus! How bleedin' mad are they ? the least you can do, is sign a petiton to tell the Euro MP's saying that really shouldn't allow a person who believes that the voices in his head is God!

So, click in the image and sign the petition.

Oh and to read more about it go to this site www.stopblair.eu.

So says the headline. This is Alcohol Concern's attempt to try and stop the problem with underage drinking.

Parents who give alcohol to children aged under 15 should be prosecuted, a charity has said.

The call comes in an Alcohol Concern report on the government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.

The study highlights figures that suggest a large increase in the amount of alcohol drunk by 11 to 13-year-olds.

Alcohol Concern also wants a 16% rise in alcohol taxes, a ban on brewers selling to retailers at a loss, and a crackdown on under-age alcohol sales.

'Stronger message'

The charity would include meal times at home in the ban on giving alcohol to young people.

Frank Soodeen, a campaigns officer for Alcohol Concern, said: "We are facing a new social reality where children seem to be adopting older behaviour at a younger age.

Source

What get's me is this? Why this obsession with sending people to jail for silly things, considering that drinking a glass of wine (or two) diluted with water for young children,

The problem with drink in the UK is that it's acceptable to get drunk, it's acceptable that you black out, it's acceptable that you throw your guts up, it's also quite acceptable to have a massive hangover the next day.
Personally, when I was growing up, you were shunned if you did any of the above, you were giggled at the next day, it was sort of a dis-honour so to speak to loose control of yourself.

So, that's the route of the problem, it's a cultural problem, it's an educational problem and where should you have the best education? yes, At home!

I've never been a fan of the red tops, the way in which they seem to be very happy to come up with claims that so and so went out with so and so and Oh it is such an important story that the 'Nation Needs To know'
What got me to write this entry, is the way in which they go around to sort of legitimise their methods, Yes, they will try and contact you, they will send you a car to collect you for a photo shoot.

The tactics they use, in particular a certain Nicholas Hellen to are downright despicable, they way he outed 'Abbey Lee'  the blogger behind Girl with a one-track mind One just has to look at the e-mail Nicholas Hellen set to Abbey. To quote some lines:

We have matched up the dates of films you have worked on - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Batman Begins and Lara Croft Tomb Raider - and it is clear that they correlate to your blog. We have obtained your birth certificate, and details about where you went to school and college.

We propose to publish the fact that you are 33 and live in [my address] -London, and that your mother, [her name], is a [her address] -based [her profession]. The article includes extracts from your book and blog, relevant to your career in the film industry. We also have a picture of you, taken outside your flat.

The fact that they have been getting hold of her birth certificate and I can assume, trying to contact her old school friends to get some 'quotes' about her when she was at school. It's the way the gutter press work and for me, another reason why we need better laws protecting the personal  privacy of everyone.
There was no way Abbey could have prevented the Sunday Times from publishing the story.
So, to Nicholas Hellen and the 'investigative/stalker journalist like you are not worth anything, you don't provide news, you don't even know what it is. You sit in your office, getting it off seeing who's life you can piss off now.

Anyway, that's my rant over for today.

So the BBC has an article on Tesco (UK's biggest retailer) that it was entering the software market, to compete with the likes of Symantec and Microsoft. Haaahhahah

Tesco is to launch a range of budget own-brand PC software, in a move that will pitch the grocery giant against the likes of Microsoft and Symantec.

Tesco said it would offer six packages, including office software, security systems and a photo editing tool.

Britain's biggest retailer said each title would cost less than £20, challenging what it described as the current "high" price of PC software.

Source

Now I would have taken that seriously if Tesco was also producing an Operating System then I would have had a second look.
I decided to have a look to see what they were selling. what software packages. I looked up Formjet Plc. They are a holding company for a group of companies.

Six trading units which currently make up the Formjet group are described in detail on a dedicated area of this site These are . . .

•   Panda Software (UK) distributes Panda Software antivirus and security products in the UK.
•   Ability Software International distributes a powerful suite of office products.
•   FileStream (UK) is involved in applications ranging from the backup of computer resources to highly sophistcated graphics solutions.
•   Software Dialog UK is a specialist security reseller to the corporate marketplace.
•   South Coast Distribution is an established supplier to the OEM market.
•   Ideal Innovations.co.uk is an online marketplace. It services the electronic trading requirements of the Formjet Group and third party vendors.

Read More

This poor gnome is in a bit of a pickle, by whom I here you ask? yep, it's in a pickle from the old bill its self. (The Police). Ok, it's not the gnome its self, it's the owner who is in trouble.
You see it's disturbing the neighbour(s) a bit, well one neighbour who happens to be a retired member of her majesties constabulary how happens to be trying to sell his house. No doubt to sun of his retirement in the sunny version of England, yep that's Costa del Crime? or is it Costa Brava or somewhere similar. Where there are more English that Spandiards.
Anyway, the owner, a certain Mr MacKillop.
The local bobbies decided that they should server notice to him at a very social hour of mid-night!
Why they couldn't have done it during they day, like tea time, when all good serving English person will be having their cuppa I don't know.

Mr MacKillop, 46, was woken in the night by two officers who warned him that the gnome was offensive to his neighbours.

The notice, under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997, also accuses Mr MacKillop of intimidating potential buyers of Mr McLean's £209,000 cottage.

Mr McLean has told officers that the garden gnome, which comes complete with police dog and solar light, was in an "annoying position".
Mr MacKillop denied having harassed house-hunters viewing his neighbour's property.

Mr MacKillop, a marine surveyor at Devonport Dockyard, said: "When you hear a knock at the door at quarter to midnight you don't expect to be served with that.

Source

All I can say, is there has been a wee bit of :

• A: Abuse of Police powers (Mid-night for some really baddy, not over a Gnome)
• B: I would like to see this going to a court!

There you go, No time to catch really thieves, just people with Solar powered lights that happen to be a Policeman and his doggie!

The UK doesn't have one of the best transplant systems, the system is primarily and opt in system. This basically means that you have to have your I would sign up to be added to the list, incidentally, you can do that here and if your based in the UK, I urge you to do so. There was one main problem with the system, ok there are many, but you work with what you have. The main problem was that if you, had joined up, but your next of kin or relatives said no, then that was it, you would not donate anything. This happened in 1 in 10 cases.

Chris Rudge, managing director of UK Transplant, said the wishes of approximately one in 10 possible donors were overturned by their families under the current system.

Source

From next week, the system will be changing, if you signed up, yes sign up here, your wishes will be respected.
Ok, I am totally aware that this is an emotive subject, but there are people here in the UK who are waiting for a life changing transplant, and believe me, I know it's life changing, I've had 3 kidney transplants, and believe me, I do think of the donor families and the loss that they have had for me to live on.
All I can say is this, if you do sign up, don't keep it to yourself, tell your family, tell your friends, and most of all tell your loved ones. It makes it so much easier for them, if they know that you wanted to donate.

Oh did I tell you? You can register to the UK transplant list here. They also allow your to amend you details.
As some slogan went, You don't need to go to heaven with all your organs, as they are sure to hell needed down here.
Ok that's it, that's my public announcement over. I don't need to advise you... Read More

Yep, have you every seen what it's like to see approx 55,000 fireworks going of in 5 seconds looks, let alone sounds like? Don't ask me... And also, why would someone be mad enough to let of that many in that short a time needs to be, either mad! or trying for a world record!

A man has attempted to set a new world record by launching more than 55,000 fireworks in just five seconds. Roy Lowry wanted to beat the existing record of 39,210 at the National Fireworks Championships in Plymouth.

So you want to see what it's like letting of 55,000 fireworks in 5 secs?
Well It's not an almighty bang, nope, it's 55,000 small ones going of at the same time!
You can see it all here thanks to the BBC. Make sure your sound isn't too high...