Against The Odds

Way back in January, Diamond Geezer asked his readers to list the companies that they thought would go into administration in 2009. He called it “The High Street Death List“.

Being a cynical bastard, of course I had to have a go – and chose Borders, the bookshop. I see bookshops (or at least the big chains) dying out in the same way that music stores have done, high-street bricks-and-mortar business premises always costing infinitely more than a warehouse in the arse-end of nowhere.

And lo, today Borders have announced that they’ve gone into administration.

I haven’t had the confirmation from DG yet, but it’s currently looking like my choice is the first to fall on the Death List.


Stick That, National Express

Fantastic news today that National Express are to lose their franchise on the East Anglia route three years earlier than expected.

I’ve written before about just how shit National Express are – and how shit they’ve been with their customers – with ‘under-the-table’ price rises on tickets and the like. (Which reminds me, I’ve got something to add on that score, but it can wait) So I think it’s great that their utter shitness has been recognised, and had something done about it.

Of course, this isn’t going to be a “with immediate effect” thing. The useless fuckbags still don’t lose it ’til 31st March 2011.  I wonder how many nasty little fare rises and shitty tactics they’ll put in place between now and then in order to maximise their income (and thus profit) before losing the contract?


Domestic

Yesterday, the news was full of the story about children being taught about domestic abuse in school from the age of five. And while I think the concept in general is OK, I do think it’s flawed – primarily because it shouldn’t just be about how violence against women is wrong. Domestic violence is wrong, regardless of who does what to whom. And that’s what should be taught.

Coupled with that, I think that the £13m that’s going on this project could be far better spent on resources for actually dealing with the problems that exist, rather than trying/hoping to prevent the same problems in the future.

And I have to wonder, what happens when a child’s had a lesson that week about domestic abuse, and comes home to a place where it’s situation normal? What happens if they say they’ve been taught it’s bad, without necessarily realising what danger they could be putting themselves in by asking?

Most importantly, how do children learn that domestic violence is A Bad Thing when it’s all they’ve seen, and all that their experience is based on?


Caught on your own spike

Following on from all the guff this week about Gordon Brown supposedly mis-spelling the name of Jamie Janes in a letter of condolence (and it really does take a special kind of sanity/logic to name your child with almost-matching first and surnames, doesn’t it?) and the Sun’s hate campaign about it, I just love this…

Yes, they mis-spelled it too

Yes, they mis-spelled it too

But of course it’s OK for the Sun to mis-spell it (as “Jones”, in case anyone cared) and not incur the wrath of – um – The Sun.

Hypocritical fuckers.


Stating the Obvious (Yet Again)

Monday’s verdict from the inquest into the death of three men in an RAF Puma helicopter was a perfect exercise in “No shit, sherlock”.

Apparently, “the pilot was attempting manoeuvres beyond his capabilities“.

Which is pretty obvious when you think about it. After all, the helicopter crashed.

The news coverage though was even better – and how they didn’t end up with a really rude answer, I don’t know.  It’s another of those situations where I’m glad I’m not involved in this kind of idiocy, because my response would’ve been rude, insensitive and many other things.

At one point the reporter asked “So was the helicopter flying too low?”. Of course it fucking was, it ended up flying into the ground.


BNP at the BBC

Despite all the protesting – and perhaps in spite of it – I don’t have an issue with the BNP’s Nick Griffin appearing tonight on the BBC’s Question Time. In fact, I think it’s quite amusing that the anti-fascist movement are the ones trying to stop someone they don’t like from being able to speak.

One of the taglines here on D4D is “I may not like what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. This is a perfect example of that. I don’t like the BNP’s policies, nor most of the people who represent them. I feel/felt the same about UKIP, which (in my opinion) was just a posher version of the BNP when you got right down to it.

But I do think that Nick Griffin should appear on things like Question Time. In fact I’d go so far as to say it’s essential he appears.

After all, if he’s silenced and/or censored, you don’t get to see what a vile knobsock the man is. If he’s allowed to speak, people can hear the BNP’s policies and realise what hate-filled shit it is (And let’s face it, the BNP really should be supported by the Daily Mail) and decide not to vote for them.  Yes, there’s the chance that some people will hear the vitriolic little pig-fucker and think he’s “Got the right idea” but there we go, that’s freedom of choice for you.

But let Nick Griffin speak out on behalf of his party – he’ll fuck things up for himself and his party far faster than any censorship can do it.


15 Laws, 11 Minutes

Even by my standards, this particular story of a driver in Switzerland who broke 15 laws in 11 minutes is pretty impressive.

The list included :

  • overtaking an unmarked police car in heavy rain at 100mph
  • speeding
  • driving on the hard shoulder
  • running a set of red lights
  • failing to stop for police.

And after all that, he also (unsurprisingly, I suppose) also failed a drugs test.

I suppose if you’re going to do it, you might as well it properly.