Saturday, 31 December 2011

Monsters Inc Two

Finally as its the dawn of another New Year, I spotted another couple of those web stories that promote the stranger beliefs out there ....

'Loch Ness' Monster?
'Loch Ness' Monster?
 
the first was that the 'Loch Ness Monster'  had been spotted on Google Earth and can be seen by entering the co-ordinates Latitude 5712'52.13" N, Longitude 434'14.16" W.

North Korean Portends

I have been following events in North Korea with some interest .... after all the 'Demigods' that are the royal ruling family of the Communist, Democratic Republic of North Korea, are a rarity in the world.  

So after all the talk of 'portends' on the death of one heredity ruler and succession of another, it was with some glee that my attention was caught by news that the North Koreans have apparently recruited giants into their armed forces ....

One Big Korean
One Big Korean

Sadly all the speculation is that this isn't a fake, but is in fact the 7’ 8” tall North Korean basketball star Ri Myung Hun.

Hackers In Space

A rock band once entitled one of their albums "Italians From Outer Space" in a bit of a joke .... so when I saw in the news last August that hackers wanted to set up their own satellite system, I laughed, thinking it a joke.

Italians From Outer Space
Italians From Outer Space

But the laugh is on me, because in a sign of the times that we now live in, that's exactly what they are proposing to do.
 

Man and Machines

Modern Man has been around for about 50,000 years as homo-sapiens, and since then, as busy little beavers, we have been remaking the planet and all it contains to reflect our requirements.

Man's Impact - Africa
Man's Impact - Africa
 
The ultimate end product of which is likely to be a disaster for us, and all the other creatures sharing this Earth, although once we have gone, another evolutionary round will probably repopulate the planet eventually.

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

A Shot In The Dark

There are some faces that you see far too often .....

Chief Supt Kevin Mulligan - Heading Yet Another Murder Enquiry.
Chief Supt Kevin Mulligan - Heading Yet Another Murder Enquiry.

and this is one of them .... Yes its our old friend, Chief Supt Kevin Mulligan of that socialist voting paradise known as Salford. We last heard from him in June this year, when one of those not so 'rare' violent deaths that occurred so often in Salford was in the news. 

Friday, 23 December 2011

Rescuing Santa

When we introduced a Freedom of Information in the UK (a watered down version of the US model), who knew what it would throw up, well a list of the strangest request for information in 2011 has thrown up at least one request to Cheltenham Borough Council for them to explain:
  • What preparations has the council made for an emergency landing of Santa's sleigh this Christmas? 
  • Who would be responsible for rescuing Santa? 
  • Who would be responsible for rounding up the reindeer, and 
  • Who would have to tidy the crash site? 
With reports that in the US dozens of US congressmen have pledged to protect Christmas from attempts to undermine it, especially the the nativity scenes, maybe this isn't as daft a question as it may seem.

Cheltenham Borough Council - Plans To Rescue Santa
Cheltenham Borough Council - Plans To Rescue Santa

Some of the other strange items the councils were asked about are:
  • How does the council plan to help the brave soldiers of our infantry if and when Napoleon and his marauding hordes invade the district? (West Devon District Council)
  • What plans are in place to deal with an alien invasion? (Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service)
  • How many drawing pins are in the building and what percentage are currently stuck in a pin board? (Hampshire County Council)
  • How many *holes in privacy walls between toilet cubicles have been found in public lavatories and council buildings? (Cornwall Council) *aka 'Glory Holes' in Gay Communities.
 
Its a funny old world, with some no longer able to tell the difference between fact and fiction ....

 Happy Christmas Everyone!

Vaclav Havel - A Hero For Our Times

Our age in the West has stopped producing heroes, when banality and mediocrity are the benchmarks .... so this blog is open in its admiration of the few that are produced.

Vaclav Havel - A Rolling Stone President
Vaclav Havel - A Rolling Stone President

So its with sadness that we mark the passing away of Vaclav Havel - a hero for our times.
 

Demigod Kim Jong-il

Whenever any Demigod passes away there are strange portends and phenomena., And so its with no surprise that the reports from the mad house that is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea aka North Korea (why are states that call themselves 'Democratic' invariably not?), are claiming that the very heavens are in mourning for the departure of mini me tyrant Kim Jong-il.
  • State TV reported that ice cracked on the famous lake Chon "so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth".
    A snowstorm hit as Mr Kim died.
  • Following the storm's sudden end at dawn, a message was seen carved in to the rock - "Mount Paektu, holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong-il" - it glowed brightly and there until sunset .... its gone now if you thinking of going to see this phenomena.
  • On the same say, a Manchurian crane also apparently adopted a posture of grief at a statue of the late leader's father in the northern city of Hamhung.

Self Proclaimed Demigod Kim Jong-il
Demigod Kim Jong-il

Now all this heavenly activity for the death of an aetheist heredity communist leader shouldn't come as a surprise, when you consider that according to his official biographers, his birth at Baekdu Mountain was 'foretold by a swallow, and heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow over the mountain, and a new star in the very heavens' ... so he was hardly going to pass away quietly either.

He now presumably joins his god like father Kim Il-sung in ruling the very heavens. The designated god heir and youngest son, Kim Jong-un, is already being called the "Great Successor" and they are now being told that the junior Kim is "a great person born of heaven on (sacred) Mount Paektu" ..... another fifty years of being ruled by a god must be daunting.

Entente Uncordiale

As its Christmas week I thought I would post a bit early, and the first item had to be the verbal assault of the UK by the 'Europeans' which shows exactly what a lie the European Union really is.
 
Tobin Tax
Tobin Tax

The reason for this was that we had the temerity to block an attempt by the French and Germans to cripple the UK economy, by imposing what's known as a Tobin tax (a tax on every city financial transaction) on the City of London.

Friday, 16 December 2011

Start Of The Arab Winter?

We at PC towers always wondered if the Arab Spring might turn, without any summer, into a long winter, and maybe, just maybe, we are seeing the first signs of things turning sour.
 
The Salafists Not Normally Democrats
The Salafists Are Democrats -
Who Believe In The Civil Society!!

In Egypt, the ultraconservative Islamists, known as Salafists, have emerged from the first stage of Egypt's parliamentary election as a powerful political force.
 

Justice or Vengeance?

I know I shouldn't be, but I can't help feeling sorry for ex Panama Strongman (and then friend of the US) General Manuel Noriega.
 
General Manuel Noriega While In US Prison
General Manuel Noriega US Prison
 
I mean, as Dictators go he was small fry, which doesn't of course lessen his crimes (drug running, murder, corruption and embezzlement are some of the charges), but in the scheme of these things he was more Presidenti Mustachio rather than Saddam Hussein.

Voter Fraud or Anti Immigrant?

Apparently in Texas and other US States, in an effort to combat possible electoral fraud, the electoral board have passed new rules where voters are required to show state identification at the polls when voting.

Electoral Fraud Comes In Many Guises
Electoral Fraud Comes In Many Guises

Seems sensible enough, but cue the Democrats complaints.
 

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Why Are Polar Bears Still Here?

I was watching David Attenborough's excellent "Frozen Planet" and a post programme discussion in which he said that if warming continued unabated the Polar bear would be extinct.
 
Polar Bear
Polar Bear

Now on the face of it that makes sense but there are a couple of nagging questions that always bug me about this.

Saturday, 10 December 2011

Where There's Muck There's Brass

There is a saying in the north of England "Where there's muck there's brass", meaning where there are dirty jobs to be done there is money to be made.
 
"All That Glitters" Isn't The Only Gold
"All That Glitters" Isn't The Only Gold 
 
Well there's nothing more mucky than dog poo, but even in that unlikely object there's apparently money to be made, well in Taiwan at least.

Friday, 9 December 2011

Biggest Bulgars

Bulgaria Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who is a casual football player for Bulgarian third division side Vitosha Bistritsa was named the country's 2011 player-of-the-year in an annual 'fans' poll.

Boyko Borisov and Dimitar Berbatov Bulgarias No1 and No2 Footballers
Boyko Borisov and Dimitar Berbatov
Bulgarias No1 and No2 Footballers.
 
He collected 44% of the votes in the fans' poll, placing him well ahead of Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United.
 

Internet Freedom In India

In a bad move for free speech and democracy in India, communications Minister Kapil Sibal has vowed to crack down on offensive Internet content ....

This Picture Upset The Indian Government
This Upset The Indian Government

..... they have decided that they will introduce guidelines to ensure that "blasphemous material" did not appear on Internet.
 
The reason for this sudden Chinese style censorship? Apparently 'doctored' photos of the Indian PM Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are on the Internet, and have angered the Indian government. They should be glad that they don't have satirical magazines such as the UK's Private Eye, or Frances 'Charlie Hebdo' .... this would look like tame stuff indeed.

British History, BBC Version

The BBC likes to set the social agenda in the UK ... it always takes a left leaning PC agenda on social issues, and without being asked or invited, generally acts as an extension of the Labour Parties polices.

Nothing illustrates this more than when it rewrites British history or myth, to fit its own agenda. e.g. TV adaptations of  the 'Merlin', 'King Arthur' or 'Robin Hood' stories, which now routinely feature African characters, despite their complete absence from the original stories. Even the "Black Knight" wasn't black in the stories I read.

The Arthurian Age was very Multicultural
The Arthurian Age was very Multicultural according the BBC

Of course if you attempted to rewrite the myths of Africans, and put in white characters where none had existed before, then there would be an outcry, not least the from the BBC itself, so immigrants are left with their culture and traditions intact. Its only the British (sorry English) history, culture or myths that can be changed to fit the BBC's world view, because now that I think of it, William Wallace and Owen Glendower would never be rewritten either, as the Scots and Welsh are also minorities in the BBC world view as well.

Its frightening how so very little that the BBC does in support of its unelected agenda, is ever challenged anymore. Its almost as if the last thirty or forty years of left wing agenda being daily beamed out, has dulled the sensibilities of those who should be challenging the BBC.

Oh for a Mrs Mary Whitehouse to ride out like a modern day Don Quixote to tilt at the giant that is the BBC ... however the writings on the wall for the BBC, as its funding by both the taxpayer and non taxpayer via the 'TV Licence' is increasingly under threat.

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Ice Sculpture

While I was at Edinburgh Castle, I took this picture of the creation of the winter ice sculptures.
 
Ice Sculpture - Late Afternoon, Edinburgh Castle
Ice Sculpture - Late Afternoon, Edinburgh Castle

The winter has been so mild to-date that they are constantly creating more ..... Its rare that you capture moments like this, and I was so pleased with the effect, that I thought I would share it in a post of its own.

Edinburgh In Winter

Edinburgh in winter is a beautiful city ...... I took these pictures from the top of Edinburgh castle - sweeping out to the Firth of Forth ..... I created a panorama out of the three pictures (not a true one, but close enough), to give you a feel of the majesty of the view.

Edinburgh From The Top of Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh From The Top of Edinburgh Castle
 
It should be noted before you all rush to the castle, that most of the time, the clouds and or rain, prevent you seeing quite as much as I was lucky enough to capture on this visit ... just a warning LOL

Saturday, 3 December 2011

Mad Mullahs

I can never resist highlighting the pronouncements on women by Muslim clerics ..... 
 
Male Saudi Clerics Debate On Womens Issues
Saudi Clerics Debate On Women's Issues

.... they are often as mad as hatters, but because they are listened to by the men of Islam, they are also incredibly dangerous.

Friday, 2 December 2011

End of the World ... Not

Recently there have been many reports of the end of the world ... many have been wrong, but the banker for all these nutcases has been the Mayan Calendar cycles which many believed meant the universe, or at least our little bit of it was going to come to an end next year ....

Bolon Yokte' K'uh  - Mayan God Of War.
Bolon Yokte' K'uh  - Mayan God Of War. Due back next year.

.... maybe in 30 days ... but more likely at some point towards the end of 2012.

Backward Afghanistan

Our soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan, purportedly to bring some sort of civilisation to this benighted land. 
 
Afghan Women Have Few Rights - But Many Wrongs
Afghan Women Have Few Rights - But Many Wrongs

An Afghan woman is arrested by the police after being raped, she was charged with 'Adultery' and jailed.
 

Tiger Can't Change Stripes

When I was doing history studies, I was told that when there were one party states, the way to tell if they were Communist or Fascist was who owned the means of production - if it was the state, then they were Communists e.g. USSR and it it was in private hands, then it was Fascist like National Socialist Germany.

In the 1970's 100% of all the means of production in China was in state hands - now 80% is in private hands and its still a one party state ..... by this logic is China now a Fascist state? I ask because a story on the BBC states that the Chinese authorities are going to try and crack down on private police and 'black jails', where opponents to the regime are taken and tortured or even killed.

In a story that reminds one of Hitlers Germany, Chinese local government ministers and officials hire private thugs to dress as police, drive cars marked like the police, and then stop people who travel to Beijing to voice grievances about perceived injustices in their areas. In Beijing alone, there are estimated to be about 300,000 private security guards in the city. 
 
When a tourist was mistaken for a petitioner, and was kidnapped, tortured and killed in error, the officials responsible appear to have merely been reprimanded for the mistake of killing a tourist instead of a petitioner, not for kidnapping four people in the first place.

Tibetan Monks Leading Resistance
Tibetan Monks Leading Resistance

In Tibet, reports suggest that passive resistance in Tibet and Tibetan areas is spreading, with monks setting fire to themselves in increasing numbers ..... reports suggest that 11 monks and former monks have set themselves on fire so far this year, but all the incidents have all taken place in Tibetan areas of China proper.
 
Latest reports suggest that a monk in Tibet itself has just killed himself in this manner this week.