Nuisance Telephone Calls


For the last couple of days we have been receiving nuisance calls to our landline. Always around the same time of day and when you answer the line is dead, sounding  like the pause you get before an automated message starts. But it never does.

So the initial nuisance is that having hauled yourself out of  your chair, away from your work or even worse, away from your meal,  it is all for nothing.

The additional irritation is that when you try to initiate a call back (1471 in the UK) to find out who called you receive the message

” You were called…..blah … blah…. blah. We do not have the callers number”

Why Not ? Isn’t it your telephone network ?Why is this allowed ?

Why is the caller allowed to disturb your peace, allowed to invade your privacy but you are not allowed to respond. The caller obviously wanted to speak to someone at your number so why are they being so secretive.

I think the rules should be changed. If you call someone then they have the right to know who you are.

South American Shenanigans


With the near future “deletion” of our Fleet Air capability, i.e. the scrapping of our aircraft carriers and the Harrier jump-jets it is hardly surprising that an element of sabre-rattling is commencing.

HMS Clyde was refused permission to stop in Rio. Clyde is the Royal Navy’s Falkland Islands protection ship and it is being suggested that turning her away from port in Rio de Janeiro is a sign that Brazil’s new left-wing government could be backing Argentine claims to the islands.

I hope the Cameron government is keeping an eye on these actions and hopefully may rescind some of the decisions recently made regarding our navy and the Fleet Air Arm.

Student Tosser Jailed


On 10 November, 2010 Edward Woollard, 18, from Hampshire, was among protesters who broke into the Tory party headquarters and emerged on the roof.  Yesterday he was sent to jail for two years and eight months after admitting at an earlier hearing to committing violent disorder.

So justice is seen to be done. Already there are cries of “not fair” as it is suggested that the court have made an example of him. That the sentence is too harsh.

Rubbish I say.

What if the fire extinguisher that he threw off the roof had actually hit someone. That person would have been severely injured or worse still they could have been killed. Would anyone have been calling the sentence unfair then ?  Of course not.

Woollard may well have shown the usual teenage lack of control and got caught up in the “heat of the moment” but that is no excuse. Whilst I have every sympathy for his family I have none for him.

I am all for peaceful demos but these guys went on the rampage damaging property. People ended up in hospital, traumatised. What part of their brains were turned off such that they could not distinguish Right from Wrong ?

Mr Woollard has been taught a lesson and a strong message is being sent to all would be rioters and its about time.

MP’s Expenses


So the axe is finally falling on the political piggies who have all had their noses in the trough.

MP Eric Illsley is under pressure to stand down after admitting he fraudulently claimed more than £14,000 in parliamentary expenses. And stand down he should.

Being an MP has proven to be a “nice little earner” for the many that have succumbed to the lure of easy loot. Well now the genie is out of the bottle and we the public have seen you for what you are.  We have seen the sorts of things that MPs have claimed for. Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.

So now it’s time to face the consequences and if that means that you go to jail or even lose you political career then so be it.

You won’t find me shedding any tears.

Thank You Pompey, Well Done Brighton


Brighton & Hove Albion - The Seagulls

3 – 1

Pompey’s season hit a low as they crashed out of the FA Cup after a 3-1 loss at Brighton.”

3 – 1

Brightons win at the weekend has given me oodles of gloating rights, surrounded as I am by Pompey supporters. Down here where I live in Hampshire there is only one thing a Pompey supporter hates slightly less than a Southampton supporter and that’s a Brighton supporter.

3 – 1

I can take the hate …… So excuse me while I gloat away …….

3 – 1



How To Make A Pantomime Out Of The Red Cross


“The Magical Adventures of Robin Hood”, currently being performed at the Glasgow Pavillion Theatre,  are in trouble with the International Red Cross organisation. Specifically, they have contravened the Geneva Convention.

Some jobs-worth has dobbed the producers in to the authorities.

What, you may ask, has got the Red Cross all hot under the collar ? Apparently its the use of the Red Cross symboll

redcross
The symbol of the International Red Cross

on the uniform of Nurse Poultice, a character in the pantomime.

The following is a quote from a Red Cross spokesperson

“We have no desire to be the villains of the pantomime or to appear heavy-handed, but… the emblem is a special sign of neutrality and protection, recognised by all sides during armed conflicts.

“Misuse of that emblem – even when done in an innocent and light-hearted manner – has to be addressed. Repeated and widespread misuse of the Red Cross emblem could dilute its neutrality and its ability to protect.”

Well I’ve got news for you Mr. Spokesperson. “Mis-Use” of the emblem is rife in the UK kiddy community. For the princely sum of £2.99 you can go to a well-known internet retailer and obtain a nurses uniform that quite blatantly displays a red cross on the cap. Will the International Red Cross be sending “cease & desist” notices to all 3 -5 year olds who dare to flaunt their edicts.

And then there is Barbie. The little madam has even been known to don a nurses uniform, once again displaying the eponymous red cross logo. These items are widely available and I haven’t even mentioned the adult market place.

Yet the International Red Cross choose to go after a pantomime in Glasgow. Popular as it maybe with Jim Davidson top of the bill, the damage it would have done to the image of the Red Cross was negligible.

Until, that is, narrow-minded jobs-worths decided to stir up some unnecessary aggravation.

Presumably it is the same narrow mind that is being applied by ordering that ….. “Christmas has been banned by the Red Cross from its 430 fund-raising shops. Staff have been ordered to take down decorations and to remove any other signs of the Christian festival because they could offend Moslems.”

It is time to take a long hard look at the way our society is slowly being ground down by this kind of thinking. Slowly but surely the fun is being squeezed out of Britain. Everything that makes us smile is being displaced by the politically correct brigade, turning us into a grey society.

Fly Seagulls Fly


Brighton & Hove Albion

Good luck for tomorrow in your match against Pompey.

I’m not a footy supporter but I always relish the chance to wind up the Pompey supporters that surround me.

Make me proud.

Go England Go


I’m not a cricket fan but way to go the England Cricket Team.

Congratulations to all involved. Let the party commence.

And I’d like to thank the team for giving me the ammunition to really wind up my Australian rellies. On my many trips down under they have never given me any peace about how crap we are on the international sports stage.

Well now its pay back time.

A BLOKE walks into a brothel and says, ”I’m a bit kinky, how much for total humiliation?”
”$60,” the madam replies.
”Wow, what do I get for that?” the bloke asks.
”A baggy green cap and an Australia cricket shirt,” she says.

Lifeboat Vandals – Come on let the police know who they are.


What kind of idiot sets out to vandalise a lifeboat. Something that they, remember they are on an island, may come to depend on.

I have replicated the police press release in its entirety.

Come on. Someone out there knows who did this. Let the police know.

Appeal renewed after criminal damage to Freshwater Lifeboat

Press Releases

Published: 06/01/2011

Police are renewing an appeal for information after criminal damage was reported to a lifeboat on the Isle of Wight.

Vandals targeted Freshwater Independent Lifeboat’s 16ft inflatable inshore boat sometime overnight between Monday evening (December 27, 2010) and 9am on Tuesday morning (December 28, 2010).

The lifeboat, which was stored in a steel pen on the apron in front of a boathouse at Freshwater Bay, was found to have 17 holes in the side.

This damage is believed to have been caused deliberately. Police Community Support Officer PCSO Mike Thornton of the West Wight Safer Neighbourhoods team said:  “This damage showed a complete lack of respect for members of our community who are dedicated to keeping us safe at sea. The vandals’ actions put the lives of the lifeboat crew at risk, and could have endangered someone else in need of a rescue.

“Several lines of enquiry continue to be pursued and I’m renewing an appeal for anyone with information to contact the police or Crimestoppers.

“We’re particularly keen to hear from people who were in or around Freshwater Bay last Monday night (December 27) or early Tuesday morning (December 28). The area is a popular place for fishermen and dog walkers.”

Please contact the West Wight Safer Neighbourhoods team at Yarmouth Police Station by phoning 101 or emailing westwight.snt@hampshire.pnn.police.uk

From outside Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, call the police on 0845 045 45 45.

Mini-Com users can call the police on 01962 875000.

Information can be given anonymously by calling the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

The Isle of Wight Community Safety Partnership has made a commitment to tackle anti-social behaviour reported by residents. For more information, go to http://www.saferwight.org.uk/antisocialbehaviour.aspx

For more information about the West Wight Safer Neighbourhoods team, go to http://www.hampshire.police.uk/Internet/localpolicing/isleofwight/west/2LWSNT6.htm

It’s Time To Stand Up And Be Counted


Just discovered that there will be a Census held March 27th, 2011. The official website is HERE

We are required by law to participate and apparently there will be 35,000 folks employed to make sure we do. There will even be officers out on the night of the Census to ensure anyone sleeping rough etc. is included !!!

We will be able to complete it online, for the very first time, which is a huge step forward.

Also we will be able to claim that we are English rather than British…Hooray !!!