After a weeklong absence from the best website ever, Spinneyhead, I am back in the saddle and itching to talk about anything except Iraq. After perusing the New York Times this morning, I have found out that action groups and parents alike are starting to sue hospitals that circumsize their kids. Thank god I was born in Norway, as that is serious mutilation!
I am not sure what to make of the weeks media, but suffice to say, it is all crap!
As Germany and France speak out against war, Colin Powell demonstrates that some Americans do indeed understand irony.
“It’s almost as if people want to make a decision before the 27th”, he said, referring to next Monday when UN weapons inspectors will present their report on Iraq to the UN Security Council.
They keep claiming it’s not about the oil, but no-one believes them.
The Future Combat System is the plan for a networked battlefield with robots doing the killing. You can almost imagine Dubya accidentally booting it up instead of Command & Conquer and finding he’s actually invaded Portugal.
Of course, it never works out as planned, there’s always some poor footsoldier doing the hard work and getting shot at whilst the decisions are made far behind the lines.
We’ll bomb you, but don’t expect us to clean up afterwards.
How many times do they have to tell us that it’s not about the oil before we finally believe them?
I was beginning to worry that Kim Howells hadn’t said anything outrageous this week, so I’m relieved to see him trying to cut back the pernicious threat of live music in pubs. You tell them Kim. All that nodding along to the tune and listening to the strummer in the corner can seriously slow down people’s drinking and stop them getting bladdered and rowdy. And we don’t want that, do we?
Nowadays, even the drug dealers will jump on a bandwagon.
As Germany and France speak out against war, Colin Powell demonstrates that some Americans do indeed understand irony.
“It’s almost as if people want to make a decision before the 27th”, he said, referring to next Monday when UN weapons inspectors will present their report on Iraq to the UN Security Council.
Come friendly bombs and change our postcode, we are done being Slough’s neighbours now.
There was no-one on the flight line, so Harren and Karn gunned their trikes down the runway. The base was rousing to the imminent attack. They couldn�t hear the sirens over the engines, but caught flashes of movement as they sped past.
A group of mechanics ran across in front of them. The last two of the group saw the charging trikes and froze. They didn�t know whether to stay still or run. As they dithered, Harren and Karn went either side of them.
Ground and flight crews were gathering in small groups, arguing over what to do. Harren noticed the anti airs were still covered. In fact, he had hardly seen any troops since arriving on the island. There was a lip off the side of the runway, he caught air off it as he cut across to the hangars.
All of the crew was there, already doing pre-flight checks. Harren skidded his trike to a halt, Karn hopped off the back of his and let it roll away.
�How are we!� Harren shouted.
�We have a full anti ship load, for the trials later today.�
�Good. What about our�..�
�You have a three quarters fuel load sir. We can add more.� A groundcrew leader cut in.
�No time. Can you get us to the runway?�
�Yes sir!� The leader started shouting instructions and a tow tractor appeared from the back of the hangar.
Flight suits and equipment were laid out on a table, ready for the scheduled test that afternoon. The crew grabbed what they could and climbed aboard the wing before it started rolling. They changed into combat gear at their posts, shouting out system checks as they went.
A pair of Corkscrews zipped past as the wing neared the runway. The wash almost knocked the tractor driver from his seat. The remote talker was powered up by now. Harren switched to radio. �Control tower, this is wing one. Can you confirm clear runway on number one?�
�Hold wing one.� There was the hiss and popping of white noise. �This is Tower. I confirm clear runway. You have priority for take off.�
Karn waved at the tractor driver to continue. They rolled onto the runway, pointing out to sea. The Corkscrews had taken off and were banking toward the tall thin clouds. The tractor unhitched and sped off. Harren locked the brakes and began feeding on the power. The plane tucked under the force of the propellers. �Are you ready?�
�The war has finally started. Of course I am ready.�
Salon has gone over to a new method of funding, requiring you to cough up or view a Flashvertisement (for a Mercedes? At least now I know of one site that isn’t tracking my preferences) before you can continue. But the content’s still interesting. They have drafted six writers to brainstorm how things could get even worse for the US government.
I don’t know if flight crews are allowed to paint tiger teeth on the noses of their aircraft anymore, but tankers can put on cool eyewear (for training anyway).
There aren’t many SUVs in Antarctica, but the Americans are taking the first step toward solving that problem, by building a road all the way to the South Pole.
It’s about time a politician attacked the stupidity and selfishness of the school run, and with congestion charging looming, I guess it had to be Ken. Of course, he forgot to offer a positive alternative. Somebody should mention Safe Routes To School every time people start wailing.
Worked out my self assessment and finally figured out where I was going wrong. I no longer owe the inland revenue a silly amount- they now owe me 28 pounds. I feel so much better and a lot calmer.
The new High Power Microwave, destroys electronic equipment without doing physical damage.
Two different tales of cool technologies having problems in teh wider world. The Segway scooter is going to have trouble being adopted because many cities won’t allow it on the pavement. There are also worries that Americans are quite fat enough without another excuse to stop walking. Meanwhile Java, currently the world’s most popular programming language, got a boost when a judge ruled that the Java Virtual Machine should be included in all Microsoft’s .Net enabled products. But have Microsoft’s efforts to scupper the rival language (including, ingeniously, the creation of their own value added piece of Java code which only worked under Windows) scuppered the upstart’s chances in the long run?
I don’t work at the sharp end of the NHS, but I can well believe that some hospitals are dangerously unhealthy in themselves.
The inside of the freezer looks lovely. However, that’s lovely in a winter wonderland kind of a way, not a ‘what a lot of food we have’ way. So this week we are bin mostly eating the stuff from the freezer so we can defrost it. In a radical take on spring cleaning, Daz and I have decided the best solution is to move house. To the one directly opposite.