Add a comment July 2nd, 2008 by ThunderDragon
MPs have been playing games rather than participating in serious policy discussions.
But, as familiar as this may sound, the MPs in question are those of the Parliament of Bhutan, and it is actually computer games that they have been playing.
National Assembly Speaker Nima Tshering said laptops were turning out to be a “big distraction” during sessions.
“I have seen many of our lawmakers playing computer games when others are debating serious issues,” Mr Tshering said…
“I have no problem if the lawmakers carry their laptops and use it for data they might need during debates. But I have a major problem if they play games and look uninterested in the proceedings.” (BBC)
And so laptops have been banned.
It’s interesting that a brand new democracy and parliament like Bhutan is already far ahead of our parliament with the use of modern technology. Even if they have now taken what is effectively a step backwards.
1 Comment June 12th, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Well, lost luggage isn’t exactly a new thing at airports, especially if they’re Terminal 5, but this is taking it several steps further…
Vietnamese authorities say they are mystified as to who owns a Boeing 727 which has been abandoned at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport.
The plane was flown in from Siem Reap in neighbouring Cambodia in late 2007 and has been unclaimed ever since. (BBC)
What a thing to lose! Sometimes I can’t find my keys, but how on earth do you lose a big planelike that?!
1 Comment April 10th, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Labour still want 50% of school-leavers to go to university.
Labour will keep its target of sending half of all school-leavers to university despite figures showing that participation in higher education is falling, ministers have insisted. (The Telegraph)
Because not to keep this ridiculous target would be tantamount to common sense, and they couldn’t have that!
2 Comments April 3rd, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Possible impossibilities?
Teleportation and forcefields could become scientific realities within decades, and time travel will also be possible in the future, according to one of the world’s leading physicists.
Professor Michio Kaku of City University in New York has studied a range of scientific “impossibilities” and concluded that most will almost certainly be achieved as our knowledge expands…
Teleportation, telepathy, forcefields and invisibility are Class 1 impossibilities, meaning they are likely to be realisable within a few decades or at most a century. (The Telegraph)
Beam me up Scotty!
2 Comments April 3rd, 2008 by ThunderDragon
What’s in a politicians name? More than one might think, on occasion:
Pro-Life: “Marvin Richardson, a strawberry farmer from Idaho, has changed his name to Pro-Life and is running for governor. He tried this stunt in 2006, but Pro-Life was then just a middle name, and officials left it off the ballot on the grounds of it being a slogan; now it’s his only name, and they can’t stop him campaigning for murder charges to be levelled against women who have abortions and the doctors who perform them.”
Mr Haddock: “In 2002, Austin Mitchell, Labour MP for Great Grimsby, temporarily changed his name to Austin Haddock in order to persuade more people to eat the fish that provide a livelihood for so many of his constituents.”
Harry Potter: “[I]n 2003 a 32-year-old who had made several unsuccessful attempts to become governor of Sverdlovsk, Russia, changed his name to Harry Ivanovich Potter before he had another go.”
But politicians aren’t the only ones who change their name, and not always just to make a political point, but also to raise money for a good cause:
[F]or St Patrick’s day, a couple of weeks ago, more than 1,100 Paddys congregated in London’s Trafalgar Square. Many had been sponsored to change their names by deed poll for the day, and all proceeds went to Great Ormond Street hospital.
Names are important, but many of these are just taking it way too far.
Add a comment March 27th, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Gordon Brown did what he was told.
He got lost.
Now, if only he’d do what we tell him to do and fuck off.
2 Comments March 26th, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Is wearing and having pride in the Union Flag “
a sin“? No. Though radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammad thinks it is a bad thing for Muslims to do, saying:
Amir Khan is not a good example for Muslims. He wears shorts with the Union Jack. That is a sin…
He should not be wearing the flag because sovereignty is for God. His only allegiance should be to the Prophet Mohammed.
The ideal situation would be to have a Muslim team not registered to any state so he can represent the Islamic community.
Oh, come on. Having Union Flag boxing shorts is not sinful in any way. It is, however, tacky.
And British Muslims are British people who just happen to be Muslim. They’re still British, no matter what.
Add a comment March 13th, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Plastic fraud at a record high:
Fraud on credit and debit cards rose by a quarter last year to reach a record high despite the introduction of the “chip and pin” security system.
The cost of fraud on cards issued in Britain totalled £535.2 million during 2007, with losses rising for the first time since 2004, according to the payments body Apacs…
[There was] a six per cent increase in card fraud losses in Britain, which was largely driven by fraudsters using stolen details to make purchases over the telephone or internet, or by mail order. (The Telegraph)
Proof that any security system created by man can be broken by man.
Add a comment March 11th, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Recycle or
go to Hell, the Vatican says.
Do not pass Go, do not collect £200; straight to Hell.
Well, if my choice is between being forced to recycle and going to Hell, well, I guess my choice is made for me.
See you in Hell*.
3 Comments March 10th, 2008 by ThunderDragon
Bars in the US state Minnesota have found a brilliant way to circumvent a new smoking ban:
The law grants an exception from the ban to performers in theatrical productions. So the bars have become theatres, and their customers, actors.
Now some bars print bills listing the “cast” of bartenders, and ashtrays become “props”. Drinkers don costumes and attempt strange accents.
“They’re playing themselves before 1 October - you know, before there was a smoking ban… We call the production, Before the Ban!” (BBC)
Absolutely magnificent. Unfortunately, not something that we can emulate over here, sicne our legislature went completely totalitarian on us and banned even performers in theatrical productions from smoking in an “enclosed space”.
