TOLGTM

Spotted on some government website or other by Bob E, who asks "Refurbish? At £60,000 a time?" : Don Foster has announced the ope...

Xmas Gearchange

This one's from the otherwise most excellent 4-CD set called "Merry Xmas", available from HMV for £8 (that works out at 10p p...

"Worcestershire farmer killed by his cattle"

Emailed in by Robert H from Worcester News : A WORCESTERSHIRE man died from injuries inflicted by his cattle, an inquest has heard. Colin Jo...

It's not just the cow attacks and giant sink holes we have to worry about...

... you're not even safe in your own four walls any more: 31 August 2012 : Couple tell of shock as car hits house wall 15 September 2012...

Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (284)

There's an article on Inside Housing explaining why and how the so-called 'housing shortage' would melt away if we introduced L...

They're softening us up for another taxpayer-funded bank bail out

From City AM: UK banks must raise tens of billions in extra capital . Sky News: UK's Banks 'Could Need Billions More Capital' BB...

Things you didn't know you didn't know

From the BBC : Germany's ruling coalition is calling for a ban on bestiality - or the practice of having sex with animals. The German pa...

Vote early, vote often, vote YPP

If you live in Croydon North , that is. I'm afraid we don't have a candidates in the by-elections in Middlesbrough and Rotherham.

"Stage stars blast 'madness' of cuts in arts funding at Evening Standard Theatre Awards"

Some pearls of wisdom from yesterday's Evening Standard (MBVNIF): [Stephen] Fry said: “Whatever your politics, you can’t believe that a...

"Families forced to trudge through Somme-like conditions..."

From The Daily Mail : For many children the daily trudge to school is bad enough, but spare a thought for these youngsters and their parents...

Fun Online Polls: The gay gene & Cut-price booze

Thanks to everybody who took part in last week's Fun Online Poll : Is there a gay gene? Probably yes - 41% Probably no - 59% So that p...

That'll teach them

From The Daily Mail : Almost half of Gibraltar’s famous monkeys could be shipped off the Rock as they are considered 'fearless' of h...

The Work Programme

From the Northern Echo The DWP did not dispute that £435m had been spent on the programme so far - which put the cost at £14,000 for each pe...

Like a cow attack but smaller

Spotted by بول, from Softpedia : When it comes to animal attacks, most people work on the assumption that the aggressor must necessarily be ...

Holy COW!

Via The Daily Mail .

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's CV

Summarised by Garth Turner . Via Nubbers at HPC .

[Thoroughly Tasteless] Reader's Letter Of The Day

I'm surprised that The Metro printed this one: Housemates who slam doors in the late hours. Should I moan or just give them a copy of A...

They own land! Give them, er, more land!

From the FT : The Treasury is poised to seize control of the sale of public land owned by Whitehall departments after losing patience with t...

Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (282, 283)

George Osborne stepped up to the plate last month : 282. This brings me onto the Treasury’s role in devising tax policy. Every time you walk...

Reader's Letter Of The Day (2)

From the FT : Sir, In “Learn from the Moguls: rent-seeking will destroy your empire” (November 21) John Kay did not need to refer to a fore...

Reader's Letter Of The Day

From The Metro ( 26 November 2012, page 14 ): Joe Alvarex said David Cameron's stand on the failure of the Church of England to approve ...

Cameron on welfare for the wealthy

From number10.gov.uk : On my first night as Prime Minister, I said we would build a more responsible society. Where we back those who work h...

Friday Night Gear Change

I've only just noticed that there's a gear change in "This Kiss" by Faith Hill. The song is in E but the chorus that start...

"DR Congo's M23 rebels reject call to leave Gatwick"

From the BBC : Rebels from the Democratic Republic of Congo have rejected a call by regional leaders to withdraw from the main West Sussex a...

We own land! Give us money!

From City AM : HOUSEBUILDERS and industry executives welcomed government plans yesterday to provide an extra £225m funding to help unblock a...

Polishing a turd

Bob E brings us an update on how the Blue & Red Wings of The Daily Mail party are competing to see who can be 'tougher on welfare sc...

"Gaza: Ceasefire between Hamas and Israel holds for over an hour"

From The Metro : At least three rockets were fired into Israel after the truce came into effect an hour ago, Israel said, but two were inter...

"Two more 'victims' come forward to accuse Elmo of grooming them for underage sex"

From The Daily Mail : Two more alleged victims have come forward claiming that Sesame Street's Elmo sexually abused them bringing the po...

I'm surprised they didn't blame "catastrophic sea level rises"

From the BBC : A South Pacific island, shown on marine charts and world maps as well as on Google Earth and Google Maps, does not exist, Aus...

Giant Sinkhole Of The Week

From the BBC, the Great Western Canal, Halberton, Devon .

Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (254 thru' 281)

It took a dozen Tory MPs to compile a cracking summary of at least eighteen completely false and misleading claims, which they helpfully sum...

"Killjoy Pope crushes Christmas nativity traditions"

From The Daily Mail : With just under 34 days until Christmas, the Pope has put a dampener on the festive period by rubbishing the idea that...

Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (253)

Merryn Somerset Web detonated the LVT bomb over at Moneyweek * again. Palgone: the problem here is that this mansion tax is setting an arbi...

QE & FLS: Rubbing our noses in it

From City AM : Under QE the Bank prints money to buy government debt, to push down interest rates. This is meant to stimulate the economy, b...

"Cows Flee California Seeking a Better Economic Climate"

Spotted by Chuckles in/at Real Clear Markets : It's not just millionaires and billionaires who are fleeing the economic madness in Cali...

"Woman killed in Basel bull attack"

Spotted by Witterings in The Local : The tragedy occurred at around 8am on a farm in Liestal, the canton’s capital, cantonal police said. T...

Fun Online Polls: Quantitative Easing & The Gay Gene

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows : If one govt department pays interest to another govt department, what is th...

Shaken, not stirred

Something else which I have (re)discovered recently is that mixing things by stirring them (i.e. in an open container with a spoon) is a mug...

Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (252)

I sometimes get the impression that the Home-Owner-Ist élite and their lackeys are getting a bit nervous about losing their lovely income-t...

Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (251)

The Sun Says : Axe, not tax The Tories will be playing with fire if they bump up council tax to keep Nick Clegg happy. Council tax is alread...

Was this supposed to be ironic?

From The Daily Mail : The heir to the magnificent Blenheim Palace and its 11,500-acre estate was disinherited by his father, the 11th Duke o...

"Sobering thought: British children susceptible to brainwashing"

From The Metro : They were tricked into telling researchers that alcohol promotions encouraged excessive drinking, pointing out it was '...

Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (250)

Two snippets emailed in by Bob E: From The Guardian David Gauke, the Treasury minister responsible for tax issues, told [Caroline] Lucas in ...

Corby by-election results

Our candidate Rohen got 39 votes . Ah well, we did our best and everybody's got to start somewhere.

"Gazza ceasefire collapses"

From The Daily Mail : Egypt's prime minister rushed to the aid of the troubled former England striker today in the midst of an Israeli o...

Daily Mail out by a factor of about four hundred, as per usual

From The Daily Mail : Now that's double trouble! Woman, 25, beats odds of 170,000 to one by giving birth to twins for the second time Ac...

Training Camp

Spotted by Chuckles at blameitonthevoices :

"Manganese Bronze taxi steering fault solution found"

From the BBC : A steering fault [is] affecting up to 400 taxis made by Coventry firm LTI, say administrators running the firm. The fault led...

"Trickle up economics"

From Robin Smith's blog :

Giant Sinkhole Of The Week

From The Daily Mail . If the cows don't get you, the collapsed mine shafts will.

This is the sort of crap spouted by idiots who have never heard of "Double Tax Treaties"

Arch Home-Owner-Ist and all round corporate shill Allister Heath : Writing in the Telegraph , Heath calls the current system of business tax...

Toyota announces 100 million recall of every car it has ever manufactured

From The Metro : Car giant Toyota has said it will once again recall every single vehicle it has ever manufactured in its 75 year history ov...

Ah, those feckless youngsters...

From The Daily Mail *: Tony and Pam Hughes, a newly married couple in their 30s don't intend to bother paying off their mortgage. And af...

Click and highlight to see what she does in her day job

From The Sun A RUSSIAN* woman is being hailed the world's hardest grandma after she fought a wolf with her bare hands. Aishat Maksudova,...

Self-awareness

From the Pirate Party UK Forum : Calabamat: Has anyone heard of the Young People's Party? They're running a candidate in the Corby ...

Life Imitates Art...

Link Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, 44, has been selling fish and chips from the back of a van in the sleepy English vill...

I didn't realise that this is what "universal" means...

When IDS first announced the idea of rolling lots of different little benefits into a "Universal Credit" with a "Single Unifi...

"Two men admit stealing £46 scrap and selling it as £500,000 Henry Moore sculpture"

From The Daily Mail : Two men have admitted stealing scrap worth just £46 and passing it off as a Henry Moore sculpture worth up to £500,000...