Sorry, don't believe he did...

It does strike me as odd the court decision on the spy found locked in a bag in that Scotland yard are convinced he locked himself in it and died.
Mail.

Police today admitted that they are unable to explain the death of an MI6 spy whose body was found locked in a holdall bag.
Gareth Williams' mysterious death has been the subject of fierce speculation since he was found dead in his Central London flat three years ago.
Following a year-long investigation by Scotland Yard, officers today announced that they believe his death was accidental and that no one else was involved, although they concluded that it is impossible to reach a definite verdict on the case.
The finding contravenes the verdict of a coroner who last year ruled that Mr Williams had 'probably' been killed by someone else.
Scotland Yard detectives said that since it was possible for the codebreaker to climb in to the bag and lock it unaided, it is not necessary to posit any outside involvement.

Now other than the possibility that the guy was absolutely way out bonkers and had some sort of locking himself in a case fetish, it does rather strike me that climbing into a bag and locking yourself in it is a rather stupid way to kill yourself, even a yoga expert struggled with the task, nor can anyone explain why he did in in a bath.
Admittedly it is (sort of) possible for someone to do something as daft, which doesn't quite rule out the possibility of misadventure, but in this case the simplest solution (because he could) does rather strike me as a rather tenuous set of conclusions to come too, especially as the police found 15 sets of other peoples DNA in the flat whom they've been unable to identify.
There is of course the possibility of suicide and a bit of an attempt to wind up the investigators, but those who knew the guy didn't think he was suicidal either.
I guess we'll never know, but I'm with those who suspect foul play, even if it looks like something no competent murderer would do either come to that.

People will believe anything...

Sometime this month the Mayan long count calender reaches the end of its long count. Some people believe this presages the end of the world as we know it and have stocked up on various canned and dried goods to outright purchase of survival centres. It's not particularly bothering me, people are entitled to believe what they want so long as they don't try to force their views on me (Yes government I'm looking at you here) nor expect me to pay for their foibles.
Telegraph.

Fears that the end of the world is nigh have spread across the world with only days until the end of the Mayan calendar, with doomsday-mongers predicting a cataclysmic end to the history of Earth.
Ahead of December 21, which marks the conclusion of the 5,125-year "Long Count" Mayan calendar, panic buying of candles and essentials has been reported in China and Russia, along with an explosion in sales of survival shelters in America. In France believers were preparing to converge on a mountain where they believe aliens will rescue them.
The precise manner of Armageddon remains vague, ranging from a catastrophic celestial collision between Earth and the mythical planet Nibiru, also known as Planet X, a disastrous crash with a comet, or the annihilation of civilisation by a giant solar storm.

Thing is there's always someone predicting the end of the world, the Jehovah's Witnesses had a handle on millennialism for decades before going very quiet about their history and the various spurious claims made by the leadership which somehow or other never came to pass and were wiped from the official record. Almost every religion has its end of the world 'myth' it's frequently used to keep its followers in line and not questioning why the priests need all those people to sacrifice or other odd bits of dogma which worked ok in the 7th century but clearly have no place today.
The internet itself has added to the panic as well as a couple of Hollywood films, it's very easy to reinforce your fears simply by googling, still that's freedom of choice for you, it allows you the freedom to be an idiot...
Thing is, what most of these people don't seem to get is the odd thing about calenders...
When you reach the end of one, you start another after December 31st comes January 1st. We should be celebrating a happy new long cycle calender...

Mayans themselves reject any notion that the world will end. Pedro Celestino Yac Noj, a Mayan sage, burned seeds and fruits to mark the end of the old calender at a ceremony in Cuba. He said: "The 21st is for giving thanks and gratitude and the 22nd welcomes the new cycle, a new dawn."

Says it all really.

They can have ours

One of the weirder aspects of the Scottish Nationalist Parties attempts to remove itself from the UK has been its insistence on handing over its independence to the EU. Still it must have been a bit disappointing to them to learn that if they do gain independence they'll have to apply to join the EU, rather than still be an accepted member.
Express.

IF Scotland were to gain independence it would have to apply again for EU membership, a European Commission spokesman said. EC spokesman Olivier Baiily and President Jose Manuel Barroso have said that any potential new member would have to request accession from outside the EU.
Today, EC spokesman Olivier Bailly told BBC Radio Scotland that there are two steps.
"There is a secession process under international law, and the request for accession to EU member state under EU treaties.
"In the mean time, of course, this new treaty is not part of the EU since it has to make a request for accession."
But SNP government minister, Keith Brown denied that an independent Scotland would have to apply for entry.
Mr Brown said: "It's simply our position, as it always has been, that Scotland will accede to the EU simply because we take on the same obligations and treaties that we currently have.

Well, first off, Scotland as such doesn't have any obligations or treaties with the EU, those are the remit of the UK government in Westminster, I suspect Mr Brown must know this, though it makes a good soundbite. Should Scotland however leave the UK, then it is not part of the EU, whereas the UK would be (more's the pity)
Still, there is a solution, a fairly simple one at that. Were Scotland to take possession of the UK's treaty of Rome, then they would remain in the EU and the rest of us would have to approve a Westminster governments attempts to take us back into the EU vis a referendum.
They get all the benefits of being in the EU, we get all the benefits of not having to pay for the EU.
Win, win.

Note, this article should be seen as entirely tongue in cheek...

Fly on the wall

Back in the days when things were far more simpler and people were trusted to play safe with all sorts of dangerous machines and chemicals there was a simple solution to killing flies, it was known as fly spray. It worked pretty well with a small spray capable of taking out the entire room of flies whilst creating a bit of a stink and if you weren't careful killing the goldfish. Much easier than a swatter and far more aesthetic than fly paper, it even worked pretty well on wasps and other insects.
Then along came health and safety and the number of things we were trusted to do for ourselves came under increasing state legislation until everything became so safe (and expensive) as to be almost to the point of being useless. (Look up the great DDT scandal if you want a prime example) Today we have weedkillers that only work after almost a week and not as I remember being able to see the results after a couple of hours tops with plants almost going deformed before your eyes.
We also come to the nub of my problem, we've had superfly buzzing around the house for a couple of days now, bugger is fast and quite resilient to current chemical toxins, means I can't get close to swat the little sod and a whole tin of today's useless flyspray has failed to even faze the bastard, I honestly think I'd have done better throwing the tin at it rather than waste my time trying to spray it.
I'm halfway tempted to buy one of those uv bug zappers just to see if like Frankenstein's monster it is resilient to large doses of electricity too.
Anyone know of a fly spray that actually works pretty much instantly any more without seeming to kill them by kindness? I know Raid works after a fashion, but I seem to remember spraying a fly and watching it go into paroxysms almost immediately not half an hour later.
Any ways I'm off hunting with a rolled up newspaper and hoping for a bit more luck.
Normal blogging will resume tomorrow.

Update morning of the 6th of August. Bastard thing is still alive, gone to work and left Lady QM to deal with the little git.
Update morning of the 7th of August. Superfly is no more, despite surviving everything I and Lady QM could throw at him/her (literally at times) it was unable to survive being digested by the dog.
I love my dog.

Taking the mickey

Some people will sue at the drop of a hat over injury or insult, real or imagined. Sometimes though it's very much self inflicted when it comes to facing mockery.

Daily Mail.

Muslim PC sues after workmates 'laughed at his beard'
A Muslim police officer claims he was forced out of his job by colleagues who made fun of his beard and called him a 'f***ing Paki'.
PC Javid Iqbal, 38, said white officers openly discussed in front of him how they were ' better' than their ethnic-minority colleagues.
The married father of two also claims officers pulled faces at each other if told they had to go out on patrol with him and forced him to walk home from a job instead of picking him up.

Mr Iqbal, who was born and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, told the Daily Mail: 'My beard is an important part of my identity which helps other Muslims relate to me.

Now I don't know about the truth of the other allegations, but if you're going to go about looking like this at most places of work then you deserve everything you get.

You should see his wife's beard.

I'm sorry Mr Iqbal, but really, religious reasons or not, with that beard you look like a bit of a tit and whilst it may have been cruel, you're the one who chose to grow the beard and stand out from the rest of your colleagues. People will often make fun of anyone who chooses to be different, most shrug it off as a bit of fun, but not so much when it comes down to the "religion of the perpetually offended"
Still I'm sure you'll get the money, which I figure in the end is far more important to you than simply getting on with the job.

Any publicity is good publicity?

I finally caught up with a tv series called "The Walking Dead" last night, it's showing on Channel 5 on Sundays and seems to be repeated this Friday, though owing to the wonderful Virgin it's available all week via their system along with various other BBC, ITV and Channel 4 shows. It's quite handy to me at times as the way my shifts work out my days off vary by a day owing to 4 on 4 off.
Still I did enjoy it though zombie films aren't really my cup of tea, still it came highly reccomended by friend who'd seen it previously on the FX channel (which I don't get).
Anyway I must admit to having a good laugh when I read about this in the BBC.

An advertising firm has apologised for placing a billboard for a TV show called The Walking Dead on the side of a funeral parlour.

The unintended, "unfortunate juxtaposition" caused raised eyebrows in Consett, County Durham.

The roadside advert for the Channel 5 post-apocalyptic drama has since been removed from the exterior wall of the Co-operative Funeralcare premises.

An alternative poster has been pasted in its place.

The Walking Dead follows the survivors of a zombie apocalypse

Ok, it was a bit insensitive placement, but damn me if it didn't make me smile.

Hat tip to Thomas Hobbes in the comments

Yes that will work

I'm not a good gardener, mostly because I'm lazy in not wishing to waste my time in that respect, but also because if there were such a thing as the opposite of green fingers I've pretty much got it locked. Still I appreciate the talent of my friends, family and neighbours who turn their gardens into horticultural wonderlands of colour and edibles.
There's a whole world of flower shows and vegetable competitions out there that I have no real interest in other than wandering through mostly thinking my, that's pretty, or my that's huge, I know there are certain criteria that have to be met too, though the rules are often obscure, I'm also told that jealousy runs rife in those communities whose idea of fun this is. I was brought up in a North East of England where prize leeks were grown and exhibited and learned a few of the tricks fierce rivals were prepared to go to to wreck a competitors chances, so this story doesn't surprise me at all.
Still I wouldn't have thought that the best way to deal with a worthy champion of the art would be to ask him not to bother anymore.

Telegraph.

It is the ultimate accolade for a keen vegetable grower – a 73-year-old has been told not enter his village gardening competition because he is too good.

David Stirzaker has been asked by the organisers of the North Cadbury and District Horticultural Society, in Somerset, not to exhibit his produce at its annual show, because his impressive record at the event is discouraging others from taking part.

Mr Stirzaker – who has won 12 cups at the show in just four years, for his prize-winning carrots, parsnips and tomatoes – has pledged to take the matter to the Royal Horticultural Society.

"This is my hobby and I have been supporting their show for four years. I find the request very insulting – it is a competition so I would have thought it is down to other growers to try harder if they want to beat me," he said.

"I want nothing more to do with the society. I won't be showing there again and I have told them that they can come and collect their trophies."

You can't really imagine it happening in Formula 1 or any sporting activity, champions are champions after all and I doubt that he's putting off others from entering, simply setting the standard of what it takes to win. I might be wrong, but this has all the hallmarks of a jealous rival nobbling their competitor because they are better.

Guess I'm not most

seems most of my fellow countrymen think it's possible to communicate with the dead...

Express.

MOST Britons think it is possible to communicate with the dead – and the person they would most like to talk to is Princess Diana.
Two-thirds of us believe in life after death, a third think there is a heaven and a fifth expect to be reincarnated.
These are the findings of a survey on modern attitudes towards spiritualism.

Some 58 per cent of Britons believe their dead loved ones are “with them in spirit” – while 40 per cent believe in guardian angels.

A fifth claim to have seen a ghost or felt the presence of a spirit and 53 per cent believe that psychics are able to communicate with the dead.

Diana was the most popular choice of famous person to contact, with Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe in second and third place.

However, the most common ghost sighting is of a relative or friend, the survey of 3,000 adults revealed.

The poll, by Dr Penny Sartori, was conducted to mark the release of Hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood. The film is about a man who can talk to the dead.

That certainly explains the plethora of tv programs both fictional and purporting to be factual that pass for entertainment on various satellite/cable tv channels, though what it says about the thought processes of the UK public leaves me somewhat bemused. I cannot imagine for one second why a dead person would still want to interact with the living nor indeed why the deceased Princess Di would want to talk to a lot of nosey voyeurs. Personally I believe that wishful thinking as well as a desire on the part of the public to seek meaning beyond death has a lot to do with it. As well as a certain pandering to the bereaved and incredulous on the part of spiritualists and their cohorts (Yes I'm looking at you Derek Acorah) I'm sure some of you out there could regale me with tales of meeting recently or even long lost relatives, but frankly although I'd be polite, I wouldn't believe you, a part of me stubbornly holds it to be wishful thinking as well as an unconscious desire of people to scare the shit out of themselves.
Still it's up to you lot what you believe, I'm not going to gainsay you and your beliefs, they're simply not mine and I doubt you'd convince me otherwise, I've yet to see any proof, never mind scientifically proven proof, bit like global warming really. It's not a discussion I have at home either, both the female members here fully believe the dead can speak and my views go down as well as a pork pie at a mosque. So I'm afraid you lot get it in the neck and put up with my minority heresy. I'm not saying that nothing happens to you after you die (though it's possible) I'm just saying that I don't believe the dead hang around to chat/haunt, they move on perhaps, or don't interact. Either way I believe people delude themselves into thinking that the dead are still around, mostly it's harmless, sometimes it's commercial, but really it strikes me as people being people, therefore odd. I'm just odd in different ways...

Cashing in on fear

Energy bills are rising, mostly because the energy minister is an enviroloon who still believes in global warming climate change whatever the hell they're calling it this week. So energy providers are being hit by carbon taxes to subsidise useless green power in the shape of bird choppers and solar panels. And because these methods are subsidised by all us tax payers, people are checking out to see if they can get a hold of them.

Express.

CANNY home owners are avoiding huge rises in energy bills by turning to solar power.

With British Gas and npower respectively increasing their tariffs by seven per cent and 5.1 per cent, leading solar panel installer HomeSun said hits on its website have risen by 72 per cent.

The number of people registering with the firm to see if they qualify for free panels has tripled.

HomeSun is set to install and maintain 100,000 units for free under a scheme where customers keep all the power they need and the installer receives fees from energy suppliers, known as Feed-in Tariffs.

HomeSun estimates its panels can cut energy bills by up to 40 per cent.

Chief executive Daniel Green said: “Even on the shortest day of the year, with bleak overcast skies, solar panels will generate enough energy to light your Christmas tree.”

They really are talking total bollocks, most solar panels don't work when covered in snow for one thing, don't work at night, need regular cleaning (despite claims from the companies selling them) and lose efficiency over the years. Most household use more power than a set of Christmas tree lights too, the average set running at about less than an amp, or 40 watts depending on if they are filament lamps or more often these days low powered LED's. Assuming you get more power in the summer, I still can't see families saving that much, so I reckon it's some kind of con and saving 40% likely to be on a cloudless day on the summer solstice. I might be wrong though, I'm sure that someone will put me right if I am. So quick calculation time, I reckon on about 1500 KWh/ year and a payback of about 8%, not the 40% claim, might be more, might be less depending on how many panels are fitted.

Well the catch is of course  is this, the company offering the free solar panels gaining a 41.3p per Kw incentive. They will be using your roof to take a government grant off you. This is the equivalent of taking your chicken lunch off you and throwing you the wish bone to chew on. most people so inclined to go for solar power will wish they had installed them yourself.
Yes they'll get small savings off their electricity bills, but will lose out on the thousands of pounds government grant, the grant that's coming out of the taxpayers pocket.
So is it worth it? Only for as long as the government can screw us with carbon taxes, even then you'll get a minimum return on your investment if you buy them yourself.

Arrivals and expectations

It's been an exciting time for me over the last 10 days and quite eventful. We set off for Devon on a beautiful Friday morning, blue skies if a bit cold for our long trip and we had no problems with traffic, even passing Stonehenge en route on the A303. Wasn't until we approached Barnstaple over Exmoor that sleet and snow started, even then it was more of a nuisance and didn't settle at all.
For the next couple of days we played tourist, visiting a village called Clovelly which allows no cars in it and is built on a fairly steep cobbled street from a clifftop to the harbour.

Quite a beautiful place even if was freezing cold and a very nippy breeze blowing the sub zero temperatures even lower. We were also becoming aware of what was happening in the rest of the country snow wise, as you can see above we were in the one part of the country that didn't get any.
The following day we visited Boscastle in Cornwall where they had that dreadful flood a couple of years ago, again a really beautiful place, and the pottery there is well worth a visit, they even have a witchcraft museum.

On the Tuesday night, my good lady and I celebrated her 50th Birthday with a Chinese meal in Barnstaple, we'd just, finished when we got a call saying that my step daughters waters had broken, so we hurriedly paid up and went to the house expecting a long wait as it was her first. How wrong we were, we got there to find her in agony and something was clearly not right so we ended up doing a frantic drive to the hospital with a very gravid young lady whose contractions were coming at two minutes apart, complete with the father and the full maternity kit for the birth (including a big pink yoga ball) The drive seemed to take an age though it was only 20 mins top and yes I broke a few speed limits en route though not when cornering, there's something about a screaming young lady in the back of your car that can energise even a safe driver. We got there safely and daughter, father and my good lady vanished into the maternity wing leaving me stranded with the big pink yoga ball. Next thing was that several medical staff pelted past me running and looking very concerned, when you see medical staff rushing, you know there's a problem. Seems the baby was breach and an emergency caesarian was required, we'd got her there just in time as though she was full dilated, the baby hadn't started down the birth canal.
So on Tuesday the 30th at 10:30 pm my beautiful Granddaughter entered the world (7lbs 15oz), screaming but healthy, her mum totally out of it on morphine, but recovering nicely.

The next few days passed by with hospital visits and preparing the house for her homecoming and as they don't like you to stay too long in hospital, she came home on Friday, with her Mum, proud Dad and Grandparents. She then proceeded to keep everyone awake till the early hours as she got wind and howled the house down, still one very messy nappy later we got her settled. The new parents not being too sure of how babies actually "operate" but we all have to start somewhere.

We spent the next 2 days helping them to settle in before returning home, though she has been out and about being showed off to various other relatives.
Coming back was a wrench, you kind of get very used to toting a little baby around in your arms but the new parents need the space and have a steep learning curve ahead of them, though we'll be back at Christmas to share the day with them.
The trip back was odd, freezing fog but very little snow till we got back into Kent, but even then seems we missed the worst of it, though I suspect it will be back at some stage. I did hear about someone in Chatham reporting a snowman theft though, daft beggar put £2 coins in the eyes then decided it was a police matter as the whole snowman went missing, don't know what it says about the people here, but most anywhere else they'd have settled at nicking the coins, must have been a damned good snowman.

Sick? Well purrhaps

Some people have a strange idea on humour, some things that make me laugh out loud will have my partner struggling to raise a smile, still whilst I personally wouldn't do this, I did laugh, no doubt animal lovers everywhere will think I'm going to hell.

Express.

AN ANIMAL lover just home from the pub thought he’d had one too many large gins when a bright pink cat flew over his garden fence.

But the terrified creature turned out to be the all-too-real victim of a cruel joke. And the RSPCA is now hunting those responsible.

Vet Penny Gillespie, who is caring for the naturally white cat, nicknamed Pink, at a cattery in Marlborough, Wilts, said: “She is so bright she almost glows in the dark.

 

“Apparently, when the man who found her in Swindon told his wife she replied, ‘Don’t be daft, dear. Go to bed and sleep it off.’

“Pink is a lovely cat and I do not understand why somebody would be so cruel as to dye her and throw her over a fence.

“We do not know what the dye is but it is fortunate that it is not toxic because it could have been fatal. We’ve washed her once but it didn’t make much difference. It could take 18 months for the colour to grow out.”

Animal welfare officer Carl Hone said: “We are very keen to trace the person responsible for this sick prank. I would urge anyone with information to call the RSPCA.”

Now knowing cats as I do, giving one a dye job would be about as tricky as giving one a bath (barring a very unusual cat) So I don't suspect yobs, as doing the job would be far more trouble than it's worth, setting fire to it yes, dyeing it pink? No I think not. I suspect that there might be a very embarrassed owner out there looking for a very angry escaped cat who dare not claim back the animal as they'd end up being investigated by the RSPCA or animal stasi as they are oft known these days. Considering most dyes require you to leave yourself coated for 20 mins before removing (according to my good lady) there's either a loving trusted owner out there missing a pink pussy or a seriously clawed and slashed gang of amateur hairdressers.

It's the end of the world as we know it...........possibly

Well the clock is running and a deadline set for an Orange Dwarf Star to smash into the solar system.

But it's okay--we have about 1.5 million years... so even Gordon Brown might be able to save us by then (possibly not this is Labour we're talking about)

link.

A new set of star velocity data indicates that Gliese 710 has an 86 percent chance of ploughing into the Solar System within the next 1.5 million years.

The Solar System is surrounded by thousands of stars, but until recently it wasn't at all clear where they were all heading.

In 1997, however, astronomers published the Hipparcos Catalogue giving detailed position and velocity measurements of some 100,000 stars in our neighbourhood, all gathered by the European Space Agency's Hipparcos spacecraft. It's fair to say that the Hipparcos data has revolutionised our understanding of the 'hood.

In particular, this data allowed astronomers to work out which stars we'd been closer to in the past and which we will meet in the future. It turns out that 156 stars fall into this category and that the Sun has a close encounter with another star (meaning an approach within 1 parsec) every 2 million years or so.

In 2007, however, the Hipparcos data was revised and other measurements of star velocities have since become available. How do these numbers change the figures?

Today, Vadim Bobylev at the Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in St Petersburg gives us the answer. He's combined the Hipparcos data with several new databases and found an additional nine stars that have either had a close encounter with the Sun or are going to.

But he's also made a spectacular prediction. The original Hipparcos data showed that an orange dwarf star called Gliese 710 is heading our way and will arrive sometime within the next 1.5 million years.

Of course, trajectories are difficult to calculate when the data is poor so nobody has really been sure about what's going to happen.

What the new data has allowed Bobylev to do is calculate the probability of Gliese 710 smashing into the Solar System. What he's found is a shock.

He says there is 86 percent chance that Gliese 710 will plough through the Oort Cloud of frozen stuff that extends some 0.5 parsecs into space.

That may sound like a graze but it is likely to have serious consequences. Such an approach would send an almighty shower of comets into the Solar System which will force us to keep our heads down for a while. And a probability of 86 percent is about as close to certainty as this kind of data can get.

The good news is that Bobylev says the chances of Gliese 710 penetrating further into the Solar System, inside the Kuiper Belt, are much smaller, just 1 in a 1000. So that's all right, then.

Keep calm and carry on.

Yay comets. Hopefully by then, if humanity is still around, they'll have the technology to move them around then again I suspect that if we haven't reached that level of tech in a million and change years, it will indeed be because we are not around.

I plan to still be around to see this. I'm not sure how, but it will happen.