Ed Balls and Twitter
You can read what you like into this story about Ed Balls handling of Twitter.
I would just ask one question. Would you like to see this politician in charge of the economy?
Nuts May Contain Nuts
A supermarket is in trouble for not saying a packet of monkey nuts contains nuts. It’s here in the Guardian.
Syria And Sarin Gas
following the attack on the Tokyo subway with sarin gas in 1995, I asked a friend, who is one of Cambridge’s most eminent chemists about how difficult it is to make sarin gas. He indicated that making the gas is not the problem, but stopping it killing those who make it, is a difficult one, as even a tiny leak is fatal.
For protection, he said, you need the best protection suits. And they are very difficult to obtain and extremely expensive.
So who is providing Syria with these suits? Or do they want to kill everybody, even their own soldiers?
But with Syria, who knows what they think?
Mid-Sized Shepherd’s Pies
I recently bought two small Le Creuset dishes that were on offer in John Lewis.
So I made some of my Shepherd’s Pie mixture and made a large individual pie in each.
Mid-Sized Shepherd’s Pies
I then cooked one and ate it as I often do, with lashings of tomato sauce.
Shepherd’s Pie With Tomato Sauce
i wonder if you could have a surprise pie party, as various pies can be made this way. So some would get fish, others meat of various sorts and you might even throw in a few veggie ones.
Holy Crap
This product got a plug on Have I Got News For You, tonight.
I thought it was a spoof, but if it is, the web site is a masterpiece of misleading information.
It is actually a gluten-free breakfast cereal. The product page is here and I only have one problem with it and that is that it contains cranberries, which are a no-no if you are on Warfarin.
My other problem might be putting on a lumberjack shirt and high heels to eat it.
Mark Steel On The US Gun Lobby
I found this thoughtful article by Mark Steel in the Independent.
His logic may be faultless, but he comes to a series of hilarious conclusions. This paragraph is typical.
Or it could be that there’s a rule that the capture of a dangerous criminal is only a victory for America if the criminal can be portrayed as not American. Because if you’re going to go on a killing spree in America, you should at least have the decency to be American. There must be some people saying: “It’s a disgrace. These Chechen lunatics are coming over here taking our lunatics’ jobs.”
On the other hand most people, who’ve read what he says agree with him.
The Duchess Wows Them In A £38 TopShop Dress
This is another story from the Standard. Here’s the intro.
The Duchess of Cambridge has got great legs and she’s not afraid to show
them. Nor is she afraid of a hefty spring breeze. This morning, attending a
tour of the studios at which the Harry Potter films were created, she wore a
thigh skimming polka-dot dress from high-street retailer Topshop.
One of the pictures on the site, shows Lady Verulam meeting the Duke and Duchess. I suspect, that her father in-law was the guy who gave me my first real job at Enfield Rolling Mills. As the company was my father’s biggest client, he just phoned up the Earl and asked if they had a suitable job for a sixteen-year-old. My father was a great believer in the old maxim, that if you don’t ask nicely, you don’t get!
It’s Not Just Cyclists Who Are In Danger
This article in the Standard tonight, says that the police and other government agencies are working together to deal with the problems of HGVs and the cyclists they hit. Here’s the introduction.
A crackdown on unsafe lorries and rogue drivers was launched in London today in a bid to halt the number of cyclists being killed and seriously injured.
Police began conducting “stop and search” patrols after the Government and Transport for London agreed that action was needed to halt the death toll.
But it’s not just cyclists, who are in danger from some of these trucks and their drivers.
As I walked back from the bus stop round the corner tonight, a skip lorry turned left in front of me and crossed my path very closely. The driver had taken the corner very much in a hurry, but at least he’d used his turn indicators, otherwise I might have not been able to ascertain his intentions.
I am always very careful at the junction, as since I have moved here, there have been a couple of serious accidents, one of which resulted in the death of a young girl.
Winston Churchill To Be On A Fiver
It is being reported that the new five pound note will feature Winston Churchill.
I always thought that to be on a British banknote, you needed to have a lot of unruly hair, so that the note was more difficult to forge.
Whatever he was known for, it wasn’t for being particularly hirsute!
Venezuela’s New Sports Minister
The Times carries a centre page spread of Venezuela’s new Sports Minister, who is an Olympic fencer, with her sports equipment placed strategically.
The photo is here, but I suspect it’ll be everywhere. This other page in Spanish doesn’t need translation.
Just imagine the fuss if one of our high-level female politicians did the same. But then the only top sports people, who have made government in recent years have been Christopher Chataway and Sebastian Coe.
The Anonymous Widower 