Mismanaged & Substandard (M&S to you)

My Christmas was perfectly ruined due to the mismanagement and substandard (M&S) performance of that well known 'high street' store. Gifts sent by me got broken en-route due to substandard packing and, when the replacement finally arrived, were in a grotty box and not the seasonal packing promised. Secondly, a similar package sent to me on the 17th Dec 2012 was, according to the agent Fedex, supposed to have been delivered on seven spearate occasions on seven diffent days! As a house-husband and retiree, I spend a significant amount of time home alone with the odd interlude when I get to have a natter with passing neighbours, the postman et al so clearly, from my doorstep I would have notice seven ...kin big trucks trying to deliver! Equally, had they done so they would have to stick to 'standard operating procedures' and left a note. NUFFIN! The newarks (anagram) at M&S together with the professional toss-pots at the Benidorm branch of Fedex neeed a kick up the fundamental orifice before I ever attempt to use their so-called service again. Bah Humbug!

I really wish I had said this............the thoughts of most and the wishes of the majority! http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=084_1348151389

It's such a beautiful world, so why are the Islamic fundamentailsts trying to ruin everything?

Here's a man with his 'finger-on-the pulse' of the Afghan debacle. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles says failure to come up with plan for country's future dishonours the courage of the dead, injured and serving members of the Armed Forces

. "We are betraying them because we - the diplomats, the politicians, the civil servants - have failed to accompany a perfectly sensible military tactical campaign with a serious political strategy." Sir Sherard said the failure by those on both sides of the Atlantic to develop a lasting peace process meant there was a real danger that fragile gains made would quickly be lost when British and US forces leave inn 2014. He added: "What we are doing, essentially, is cultivating an allotment in a jungle, and the question is what happens when the gardeners leave?" Sir Sherard said that while Al Qaeda had been "virtually eliminiated" in Afghanistan, politicians had failed to put in place the resources needed to "finish the job". While praising the job done by British troops, he added: "We're in danger of betraying their legacy, betraying their courage, unless the politicians, the diplomats, do their job, which is to broker a serious solution inside Afghanistan and involving all the countries of the region."

Rate Fixing

While we are distracted by the peripheral lunacies of the Olympics, the core problem of the economy and the mayhem that continues to be created by the financial services sector persists. Was the Bank of England, via Deputy Governor Paul Tucker and Barclays` Diamond, complicit in the LIBOR rate-fixing fiddle? Is there a tape-recording of phone-conversations between the two men? Liborgate? A Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry will look into the issue but Milipede the Younger raves on about the need for an “independent inquiry” that would, of course, cost millions and kick the findings into the long grass for months if not for years. Diamond himself is “sorry” but, pleading “don`t blame me” before the Treasury Select Committee, walks into the sunset clutching an obscene payoff for his “success”. Nice little earner init?

"Isimeli , known as 'Bale' to his friends, is facing deportation from the UK after serving 13 years with the British Armed Forces. Bale is a foreign and commonwealth soldier from Fiji who was recruited by the MOD when he was 18. He has served in 5 operational tours including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. His wife Kim is British and they have two young children a boy of 3 and a girl of 6; both British. Bale voluntarily discharged from the Armed Forces on June 15th 2012 in order to provide stability for his family. He applied for British Citizenship in March while still a serving soldier. This was advised to him by MOD personnel because he had served 13 years and had a British wife and children. This was refused on 28/06/2012 by UKBA, Bale sent an 'appeal for review' but recieved a letter from UKBA on 14/07/2012 stating he had until 9th August 2012 to leave the country. Under changes made to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1973 (ROA) in 2010 disciplinary offences dealt with at the Commanding Officer's discretion can now be equated to a criminal conviction. Bale was fined in 2011 by his Commanding Officer for fighting with another soldier who instigated the fight. There was no police involvement, no trial, no defence and nor was it impartial. Bale did not know he was being charged with a criminal conviction. He believed this was an 'in-house' disciplinary offence only. He has no criminal record, this offence is only on his military record. There was no court martial. He has now appealed the conviction. Under the changes made to ROA in 2010 Bale is now defined as a criminal by the Home Office and of not good character to become a British citizen or apply for indefinite leave to remain. This is devastating for him and his family. It is a breach of Article 6 of the Human Rights Act (1998) and Armed Forces Covenant (2011). It is also inherently racist because the changes made will have no impact on his British Armed Forces colleagues because these military offences are not held on a criminal record. This change only has implications to immigration Law and Policy. The family believe the law and policy is discriminative. The Home Office has been using this 'Law' to deport Foreign and Commonwealth soldiers who have been medically discharged as well. This is a disgrace and immoral!" Please show your support for Bale and his family by contacting your MP, their lives, obviously,

are in turmoil. Bale has been told he has until the 9th August 2012 to leave the Country.

Could British troops lose it during the Olympics?

Could so many thousands of bored, disgruntled, underpaid, demotivated, full of grudge, envy and hate, Army, RAF Regiment and Royal Navy troops compressed in to East London actually result in a mutiny during the Olympic Games, something akin to the Invergordon Mutiny? If a charismatic enough British regimental colonel (remember Gadaffi), or even a lieutenant (remember Rawlings), or even a sergeant (remember Idi Amin) emerged, I can yet see a 'coup' in the UK, with the Houses of Paliament being siezed by between 20 up to 1000 fractious British troops, as in the film "V for Vendetta". I bet you that just like in Northern Ireland, troops with firearms in London have been issued with no more than 5 live rounds each! Or maybe like the Busbeed guards at Buckingham Palace, with just one round each! And that the Leytonstone Rapier batteries have only one live missile! Although I am reminded of the episode of Citizen Smith when Wolfy stormed parliament in a nicked Scimitar only to find it was the summer recess!

I don't like the Bible, it's too long, and too violent, brutal and hateful and misogynistic. But, if people are so insistent on finding guidance from a piece of fiction, can I suggest something more like 1984, Animal Farm or better yet the 'God Delusion, it's just that those books have more in common with reality than this 'Christ' person millions talk about. As for accepting this 'Christ' as your 'Lord', I think they should seek professional psychiatric help, if they feel the need to bow down and force themselves to devote their lives to a non existant entity and an ancient book of fairy tales. Something is deeply wrong with these people considering all the hatred and bigotry spread, look where it has got them

!!!!!!!

I'm an atheist - An Agnostic Atheist to be precises, I do not have any evidence that there is no god, but on the very real evidence I choose to believe that god does not exist. I can state right here and now that the only time I have a problem with Christianity (or any of the Abrahamic faiths) is when the religious try to enforce their own religious morality on my life. I have no interest in the destruction of your faith. Its great that you have it, be proud of it, but keep it out of my government, my school, my bedroom and my life.

*Baldrick: “What I want to know sir, is before there was a euro there
were lots of different types of money that different people used. And now there’s only one type of money that the foreign people use. And what I want to know is, how did we get from one state of affairs to the other state of affairs?”
*Blackadder:* “Baldrick. Do you mean, how did the euro start?”
*Baldrick:* “Yes, sir.”
*Blackadder:* “Well, you see Baldrick, back in the 1980s there were many different countries all running their own finances and using different types of money. On one side you had the major economies of France, Belgium, Holland and Germany; and on the other, the weaker nations of Spain, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. They got together and decided that it would be much easier for everyone if they could all use the same money, have one Central Bank, and belong to one large club where everyone would be happy. This meant that there could never be a situation whereby financial meltdown would lead to social unrest, wars and crises.”
*Baldrick:* “But this is sort of a crisis, isn’t it sir?”
*Blackadder:* “That’s right Baldrick. You see, there was only one slight
flaw with the plan.”
*Baldrick:* “What was that then, sir?”
*Blackadder:* “It was bollocks.”

After reading the headlines about the US soldier who shot Afghanistan
civilians, I couldn't help noticing an irony. There is all this clamour to try
this bloke quickly and execute him, never mind his having suffered a traumatic
brain injury.

Yet Major Hasan, who went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood while screaming Allah akbar, still hasn't stood trial, and they are still debating whether he was insane, even with the clear evidence regarding his motive: slay as many infidels as possible.

So we have a bloke in a war zone who cracks, and he must be executed immediately.

But this Muslim psychiatrist who was based in the US in a nice safe office all day,
murders 13, wounds 29 of his own guys, and they try to argue the poor lad
suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome, from listening to real soldiers who
had actual battle experience. Two and a half years later, they still haven't
tried the murderer.
Political or what!!!!!!!!

Even the most sentimental champions of the NHS recognise its dark side. Given that demographic changes mean millions more elderly people will rely on its services (and space), the NHS can only do one thing: ration.
If rationing is acceptable, though, scapegoating is not. Too much evidence points to the elderly being the scapegoats in the battle to save the NHS. Elderly patients are being denied the best cancer care. The figures are alarming: lack of treatment is contributing to 14,000 deaths a year among the over-75s. Men and women are dying prematurely each year because their diseases are diagnosed later and less likely to be operated on.
Nurses in hospitals plead to being too busy to look after their charges decently, and so elderly patients frequently suffer dehydration, malnutrition and a lack of hygiene.
This treatment is cruel and unfair: age comes to us all, and is not the result of lifestyle choices. There are plenty of conditions, though, that are the direct result of bad habits, poor diet, and the wrong choices. These conditions range from obesity and diabetes to smoking-related diseases. If a 20+ stone, 30-something woman goes into hospital with a bad diabetic attack, does she deserve to be at the front of the queue or the back? She has chosen to stuff her face with Mars bars and Coke, and is now suffering the consequences of her choice. She cannot claim ignorance of the dangers of her diet: the Government has carpet-bombed us with health advice, from schools to GP practices. Everyone who can watch the telly, let alone read the magazines, knows that a high-fat diet will affect you well-being, make you look bad and feel worse.
Does the blobby 30-something lay claim to NHS services and a hospital bed when this means thousands of others will have to do without?
The septuagenarian who develops breast cancer has done nothing wrong – except grow old. The NHS has to consider that there are deserving cases and undeserving ones. Age should not be a barrier to optimum care; but bad habits should be.

Even the most sentimental champions of the NHS recognise its dark side. Given that demographic changes mean millions more elderly people will rely on its services (and space), the NHS can only do one thing: ration.
If rationing is acceptable, though, scapegoating is not. Too much evidence points to the elderly being the scapegoats in the battle to save the NHS. Elderly patients are being denied the best cancer care. The figures are alarming: lack of treatment is contributing to 14,000 deaths a year among the over-75s. Men and women are dying prematurely each year because their diseases are diagnosed later and less likely to be operated on.
Nurses in hospitals plead to being too busy to look after their charges decently, and so elderly patients frequently suffer dehydration, malnutrition and a lack of hygiene.
This treatment is cruel and unfair: age comes to us all, and is not the result of lifestyle choices. There are plenty of conditions, though, that are the direct result of bad habits, poor diet, and the wrong choices. These conditions range from obesity and diabetes to smoking-related diseases. If a 20+ stone, 30-something woman goes into hospital with a bad diabetic attack, does she deserve to be at the front of the queue or the back? She has chosen to stuff her face with Mars bars and Coke, and is now suffering the consequences of her choice. She cannot claim ignorance of the dangers of her diet: the Government has carpet-bombed us with health advice, from schools to GP practices. Everyone who can watch the telly, let alone read the magazines, knows that a high-fat diet will affect you well-being, make you look bad and feel worse.
Does the obese 30-something lay claim to NHS services and a hospital bed when this means thousands of others will have to do without?
The septuagenarian who develops breast cancer has done nothing wrong – except grow old. The NHS has to consider that there are deserving cases and undeserving ones. Age should not be a barrier to optimum care; but bad habits should be.

Think about this
If all scientific knowledge was lost, we would, eventually, recoup our understanding and gather the same knowledge that we currently hold to be true.
If all religious scriptures were lost, religion would exist again, but it would never be exactly the same.

The difference of stories versus facts, I guess!

The trouble with this government..nobody has had any experience of anything....job or life. Hence they make daft judgements on how we and everybody ought to lead their lives.
I mean you wouldn't pick any of them in a job interview would you??

Q. Have you any experience?
A. No, none what so ever.
Q. What makes you think your qualified for the post?
A. I once worked for a previous guy in politics and all my friends at school said I should have a shot at it...as I would be good at it.
Q. So no previous employment in industry then?
A. Afraid not old boy.
Q. ...prehaps in commerce then??
A. didn't have the chance old boy...the careers officer at school said my type ought to be running the country..because that's what we do.
Q. O I see, surely you thought perhaps of serving your country..perhaps joining one of the service's...get out and see the world a bit..some experience and see how others live, see what's it all about?
A. But I might be shot at and even worse may happen and then who's going to run the country??
Q. O quite, good point....well you seem a perfectly qualified candidate to lead the Conservative party and the country. Just one last question...'You do shoot, don't you?'
A. 'O yes rather....that's one thing I'm quite good at'
Q.. What's the other??
A. Telling other people what to do.
Q. O yes, I can see your quite good at that.
A. O I think so too..
Q. Mind you Prime Minister, you do have a lot of experience.