Absolutely Average

In line with his plans (outlined in previous posts) Scouser has now started on his campaign for world domination (one blog at a time). The current method he is using is to destroy the (share value of blogs in his blogroll and then buying up all shares in said blog.

Walsall Woodstock is a charity event held every year. Recent events were in aid of the NSPCC. The idea and name were thought up by Ken Bakewell, the publican @ the Aldridge Tavern. Over the past few years this event has raised £1000s for charity and future events should raise a lot more.

The event has in the past been held as an outdoor venue over the spring bank holiday weekend (end of May). Usually there are at least 5 live bands, BBQ and other entertainment/charity stunts going on throughout the weekend.

This year there will be two Walsall Woodstock events. The first event is to be held at the Aldridge Tavern on Monday 29th May and is in aid of the Walsall Manor Hospital Neo-Natal Unit.

Confirmed bands include:

The will also be a disco supplied by Boogie Nytes Disco

Tickets on sale now priced £5 per adult, £2 per child (under 12). All proceeds donated to Walsall Manor Hospital Neo-Natal Unit. Doors open at 12 Noon.

Event sponsored by:

Hi all, Have just seen this site run by a retired schoolteacher & poet. She has now turned her hand to fiber art. She lives in San Antonio, Texas and is designing & making clothes, purses (that’s handbags in English money), greetings cards and even some doggie style apparel. Give her a look, you might see something you like.

1. Wine ‘can help treat gum disease’
2. Research increasingly indicates health benefits of beer could surpass wine
3. A little red wine may help to ward off cancer
4. Red Wine Wonder Compound May Also Improve Kidney Function
5. Wine ‘can protect women’s hearts’
6. Red wine could protect men against lung cancer
7. Red wine boosts good cholesterol
8. Red wine improves artery health in heart patients
9. Red Wine Molecule Shown to Extend Life
10. Guinness good for you - official
11. Beer Just as Beneficial as Red Wine, Research Shows
12. Whiskey May Have Anti-Cancer Benefit
13. It’s for medicinal purposes, honest

Can anybody see anything wrong with this story?

Why should we be concerned about the safety of a terrorist?

Did he worry about the safety of innocent people when he planned his terrorist activities? I don’t think so.

Sheikh Omar Mahmoud Othman abu Omar to give him his full name is reported to be Al Qaeda’s alleged chief recruiter in Europe and has been involved (although not directly as far as I can ascertain) with a number of terrorist incidents.

Some information found at The Terrorist Research Centre

• Videotapes of his sermons were found in the Hamburg apartment of the 9/11 operational leader Mohammed Atta.
• The Paris-based cell that plotted to blow up the US embassy in France in 2001 was headed by a follower of his.
• Richard Reid, the attempted shoe bomber, was also a follower.
• The cell that carried out the Madrid train attacks attempted to contact him in Belmarsh Prison before they blew themselves up in their apartment in Spain; this may be indicative of a prior relationship between the Sheikh and the cell.
• Abu Qatada was also convicted in absentia in Jordan for his role in the thwarted millennium attacks.

Another known terrorist Abu Hamza / Mustapha Kamil is believed to have recruited 4,000 British Muslims and sent them to Jihad training camps in Afghanistan over a period of years was allowed to incite Muslims to violence and to deliver sermons blessing the 9/11 terrorists before he was arrested at the behest of the US government.

Now before I have all the religious nuts have a go at me as a Muslim hater. I am nothing of the sort. I have a great many friends who are Muslims. The one thing they are not is terrorists, they are among the friendliest, honest and caring people I have ever met. I would trust these people with my life (and have done on numerous occaisions).

To address the other side of the coin, I am not a Muslim myself and am neither for or against Muslims. I am however very anti anti-Muslim, and also anti terrorist whatever religion (or other cause) they profess to kill in the name of, be they Christian, Seikh, Muslim, Taoist, Judaism, whatever.

To end this little rant, I would like to ask all of the do-gooders out ther to sit back and use their imagination for a moment: Imagine if you will a little girl, aged about 8, dressed in a summer dress, chatting to her friends on the school bus, all excited about going on the day trip to a petting zoo. Now imagine the scene as a car full of Ammonium Nitrate and petrol mixture crashes into the bus just below this little girl’s window and explodes, tearing the bus and the little girl to pieces….

imagine this little girl was YOUR daughter.

Now let’s hear you say that these terrorists are poor misunderstood souls and should be protected from governments who know how to punish them. Do the world a favour and deport these terrorists to somewhere where they will get the treatment they deserve.

What is this country coming to. The education system is going down the pan in a big way.

Many years ago I learned the 3 Rs (Reading, wRiting & aRithmatic) the same way my parents learned, the same way my wife learned, the same way… You get my drift. Well our -USELESS- beloved government decided that it wasn’t right so they screwed around with the it so much that they have -nearly- totally destroyed it.

The government are more concerned with making work for all of the over paid civil servants, so much so that their main duty to education is to generate league tables for every school in UK. Then they can pit schools against one another to encourage them to increase the grades of their pupils and achieve a more favourable entry in the tables.

Apparently A-level pass rates exceded 96% last year and (as the government & education authorities keep telling us) the exams aren’t getting any easier. I find this very hard to believe as I have a couple of friends who are involved in education and the stories they have to tell can be quite shocking.

Now you may call me a sceptic if you wish but wouldn’t it help schools in one LEA (local education authority) to improve their league table position if they made their exams ever so slightly easier than the next LEA, thus guaranteeing more pupils pass? What would happen if this idea had occured to each LEA in turn? Yes you guessed it, all exams ARE getting easier, year on year.

The upshot of this is that we are getting more students into university but because their education is sub standard they tend not to tackle the more difficult courses like maths, physics, chemistry.

Over the past few months I have been hearing on the news that many universities are to offer Mickey Mouse degrees in subjects like golf course management and aromatherapy to help out these unfortunates, while subjects like chemistry are being scrapped. WTF!!!

Even more disturbing is the introduction of 2 year honours degree. Now I’m no rocket scientist (as everybody knows I’m actually an Evil SuperVillain) but I’m fairly sure that trying to cram 3 years worth of education into 2 has got to devalue the specific degree (unless it’s a degree in golf course management or surf & beach management).

Adding to the problems for the students lucky enough to get into university, there is an ongoing pay dispute between universities and lecturers which may actually leave some students unable to graduate