Good effort by the bloated fatcats of Lloyds Banking Group, who have sounded out their non-government shareholders about a salary increase for directors.
The City institutions they approached don’t appear to have been that keen on the idea. Which is probably nothing to what the taxpayer thinks about the proposal.
You greedy, useless, arrogant bankers. Having played a key role in wrecking the economy while getting paid millions, you now want more. Your highnesses have surely lost the plot, no?
Lloyds will soon be dealing with its HBOS acquisition and laying off 20,000 staff or thereabouts. Accepting a salary increase (let alone a big incentive package) against a backdrop of redundancies and branch closures would be the act of a true Lloyds banker – to coin some rhyming slang.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Masturbation is good for you…
Well, it might be if you’re a man over 50... according to a University of Nottingham survey extrapolated in the Independent.
That’s because it may protect against prostate cancer ‘because it helps remove toxins that have built up over a lifetime’.
The bad news, sorry, the ‘other’ news is that too much masturbation in your teens, 20s and 30s can increase the risk of prostate cancer. Lots of people out there are no doubt thinking: ‘Sod it. Bit late to find that out.’
Says the Indy: ‘The findings showed that those who had been most sexually active in their twenties – having sexual intercourse or masturbating more than 20 times a month – were more likely to have the cancer. Frequent masturbation, but not sexual intercourse, in the twenties and thirties was significantly linked with the later development of prostate cancer.’
(20 times a month...)
Polyxeni Dimitripolou, who led the study published in the British Journal of Urology International, said: ‘One theory is that during the early years the prostate gland is more susceptible to hormonal changes and is still developing. As men age and accumulate toxins from the diet or through their lungs , sexual activity may help release them. Studies have found toxins in the semen and the fluid produced in the prostate. As you age it is more important to flush them out.’
That’s because it may protect against prostate cancer ‘because it helps remove toxins that have built up over a lifetime’.
The bad news, sorry, the ‘other’ news is that too much masturbation in your teens, 20s and 30s can increase the risk of prostate cancer. Lots of people out there are no doubt thinking: ‘Sod it. Bit late to find that out.’
Says the Indy: ‘The findings showed that those who had been most sexually active in their twenties – having sexual intercourse or masturbating more than 20 times a month – were more likely to have the cancer. Frequent masturbation, but not sexual intercourse, in the twenties and thirties was significantly linked with the later development of prostate cancer.’
(20 times a month...)
Polyxeni Dimitripolou, who led the study published in the British Journal of Urology International, said: ‘One theory is that during the early years the prostate gland is more susceptible to hormonal changes and is still developing. As men age and accumulate toxins from the diet or through their lungs , sexual activity may help release them. Studies have found toxins in the semen and the fluid produced in the prostate. As you age it is more important to flush them out.’
Monday, 26 January 2009
There’s a raccoon up my tree
Imagine the surprise of Ena Webber from Christchurch, Dorset.
She thought she saw a cat in a tree in her back garden so, being a keen bird watcher, she crept up on the beastie intending to give it both barrels from her water pistol.
Imagine her surprise, then, when she realised it was a... raccoon.
She said: ‘At first I thought it was a cat; then I realised it was a raccoon. It was about 10 feet up the tree. The only time I'd ever seen raccoons before was in a zoo but I knew exactly what it was.
‘He didn't seem a bit bothered by my presence and looked as if he just wanted to go back to sleep.’
The RSPCA were called and put the animal in a cat box. He or she is now apparently being cared for by said organisation.
She thought she saw a cat in a tree in her back garden so, being a keen bird watcher, she crept up on the beastie intending to give it both barrels from her water pistol.
Imagine her surprise, then, when she realised it was a... raccoon.
She said: ‘At first I thought it was a cat; then I realised it was a raccoon. It was about 10 feet up the tree. The only time I'd ever seen raccoons before was in a zoo but I knew exactly what it was.
‘He didn't seem a bit bothered by my presence and looked as if he just wanted to go back to sleep.’
The RSPCA were called and put the animal in a cat box. He or she is now apparently being cared for by said organisation.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Mother trains three-year-old to smoke
No, it’s not April 1st.
Here we have another account of a half-wit moron who is being kept in generous fashion by the taxes of the workers - well, is being kept in cigarettes, anyway.
A single mother who allowed her three-year-old son to smoke cigarettes at home was freed by a judge today - for her children's sake.
Mother-of-three Kelly Marie Pocock, 24, was accused of letting the little boy smoke in his bedroom and around the house.
A court heard family friend was so concerned she used her mobile phone to film the youngster puffing away.
She handed the evidence to social services who alerted police. Pocock was arrested for child cruelty.
The single mother was yesterday given a 40-week jail sentence - but it was suspended for two years after a judge said her children had suffered enough.
Judge John Curron said of the case: 'This is one of the most extraordinary I have ever come across.'
(Really? Fancy that...)
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees said: 'The video demonstrates the boy placing a cigarette into his mouth, lighting it with a lighter and sucking.
'He was drawing smoke clearly into the lungs and seems to do it with some accomplishment.
'It doesn't cause him any discomfort. He is sat on a chair close to the mother, who is talking on the phone.
'It's clear that the boy, at the age of three, knows what to do with a lighter and cigarette.'
The judge told Pocock: 'This is an appalling situation and I don't see how you could have been unaware of the fact.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
When sentences and crimes don’t add up
Three men who filmed themselves gang-raping a 16-year-old girl before dousing her in caustic soda were today sentenced to between six and nine years in jail, reports The Guardian today.
Not very tough sentences, given that this gang has left her with scarring to 50 per cent of her body and unlikely ever to lead a normal life.
One of the accused, however, was not sentenced. That is because he, Stephen Bigby, was stabbed to death in a gang fight in Oxford Street before he could face trial.
Not much sympathy for him, given that: 'The men had used their mobile phones to record the suffering of their victim... They could be heard laughing during the attack. Her attackers – possibly as many as 10 of them – had hoped the powerful corrosive would destroy forensic evidence.'
Politicians are fond of saying that society isn't working, but this really seems to prove that. Just what sort of upbringing have this men had to behave in this way? It is so far short of civilised behaviour it defies belief and the sentences meted out do not seem to mirror the crime committed.
Not very tough sentences, given that this gang has left her with scarring to 50 per cent of her body and unlikely ever to lead a normal life.
One of the accused, however, was not sentenced. That is because he, Stephen Bigby, was stabbed to death in a gang fight in Oxford Street before he could face trial.
Not much sympathy for him, given that: 'The men had used their mobile phones to record the suffering of their victim... They could be heard laughing during the attack. Her attackers – possibly as many as 10 of them – had hoped the powerful corrosive would destroy forensic evidence.'
Politicians are fond of saying that society isn't working, but this really seems to prove that. Just what sort of upbringing have this men had to behave in this way? It is so far short of civilised behaviour it defies belief and the sentences meted out do not seem to mirror the crime committed.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Spinster slain by slipping suitcases, shock
The Daily Mail today reports the case of Joan Cunnane, whose demise reads like some ghastly kind of Biblical retribution for an addiction to shopping. Perhaps Gordon Brown should take note.
Joan was a spinster who, says The Mail, ‘obsessively hoarded clothes’.
She died after a mountain of suitcases fell on her, burying her alive.
She had so much stuff she was left with only a 2ft-wide path to get around them, and her car and garage were packed with other goods.
The Mail adds: ‘After she was reported missing earlier this week, it took police searching her home two days to sift through her possessions.
Miss Cunnane was eventually found buried under a 3ft pile of cases in a back bedroom where she had apparently gone in search of a favourite item.
Yesterday, neighbours spoke of their shock at the macabre death of Miss Cunnane, a retired BT operator and devout Roman Catholic who attended church services every weekend.
Her closest friend, Roy Moran, 77, said: 'I think it just gave her pleasure to buy things - none of it was really essential. I once asked her how many scarves she had.
She said she thought about 300. I asked her why she needed that many. She said they were all different colours.
'She bought everything. It had been going on over 16 years from when she bought the property.'
Miss Cunnane had enjoyed Christmas dinner with Mr Moran, a retired hospital supplies worker, before returning to her £170,000 bungalow in Heaton Mersey, near Stockport.’
Why on earth do we need to know the value of her property, I wonder?
Joan was a spinster who, says The Mail, ‘obsessively hoarded clothes’.
She died after a mountain of suitcases fell on her, burying her alive.
She had so much stuff she was left with only a 2ft-wide path to get around them, and her car and garage were packed with other goods.
The Mail adds: ‘After she was reported missing earlier this week, it took police searching her home two days to sift through her possessions.
Miss Cunnane was eventually found buried under a 3ft pile of cases in a back bedroom where she had apparently gone in search of a favourite item.
Yesterday, neighbours spoke of their shock at the macabre death of Miss Cunnane, a retired BT operator and devout Roman Catholic who attended church services every weekend.
Her closest friend, Roy Moran, 77, said: 'I think it just gave her pleasure to buy things - none of it was really essential. I once asked her how many scarves she had.
She said she thought about 300. I asked her why she needed that many. She said they were all different colours.
'She bought everything. It had been going on over 16 years from when she bought the property.'
Miss Cunnane had enjoyed Christmas dinner with Mr Moran, a retired hospital supplies worker, before returning to her £170,000 bungalow in Heaton Mersey, near Stockport.’
Why on earth do we need to know the value of her property, I wonder?
Friday, 19 December 2008
Killer Iraqis face the drop
The BBC and others report that two Iraqis accused of killing two British soldiers (in cold blood) can be tried by Iraqi authorities despite a ‘real risk’ they could face the death penalty.
Am I missing something?
You murder someone in cold blood, while filming it, in a country with the death penalty... It’s not impossible you might end up at the wrong end of a rope.
The BBC relates that Faisal Al-Saadoon and Khalaf Mufdhi are accused of murdering Staff Sgt Simon Cullingworth and Sapper Luke Allsopp and that the High Court has ruled it is lawful for them to be transferred from British custody and tried by an Iraqi court.
Lord Justice Richards said: ‘In our view they could face the real risk of the death sentence if convicted. We are seriously troubled by that conclusion. We regard the issues in the case as difficult and important.’
Phil Shiner, the solicitor representing Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi, says allowing them to stand trial in Iraq would violate both the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1998 Human Rights Act.
Good effort, Phil - these two are obviously great respecters of human rights themselves. It is like suggesting that the war criminals tried at Nuremburg had their human rights violated. In fact, maybe they did. But did anyone care? No.
Am I missing something?
You murder someone in cold blood, while filming it, in a country with the death penalty... It’s not impossible you might end up at the wrong end of a rope.
The BBC relates that Faisal Al-Saadoon and Khalaf Mufdhi are accused of murdering Staff Sgt Simon Cullingworth and Sapper Luke Allsopp and that the High Court has ruled it is lawful for them to be transferred from British custody and tried by an Iraqi court.
Lord Justice Richards said: ‘In our view they could face the real risk of the death sentence if convicted. We are seriously troubled by that conclusion. We regard the issues in the case as difficult and important.’
Phil Shiner, the solicitor representing Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi, says allowing them to stand trial in Iraq would violate both the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1998 Human Rights Act.
Good effort, Phil - these two are obviously great respecters of human rights themselves. It is like suggesting that the war criminals tried at Nuremburg had their human rights violated. In fact, maybe they did. But did anyone care? No.
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