THE UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD

Who do the folks in the US Senate think they are demanding that the elected politicians of another country appear before them and justify their decisions and actions.

I may or may not agree with the release of Abdulbaset Al Magrahi that is another matter but I sure as heck do not agree that the good ole US of A can demand the attendence of whoever they wish to give evidence to them.

How would they react if they were instructed to attend hearings in the UK to justify the repatriation of the Russian spy Anna Chapman who was married to a British citizen and spent some time here.  They would attend immediately and give evidence?  I think not.

THE WORLD DOES NOT BEGIN AND END IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY MAY THINK IT DOES.

SHOP STOCK

Why is it shops never seem to have in stock what you want. I have been looking for a particular TV bracket. I can get all colours, all sizes, all makes EXCEPT the one I want. Ended up ordering on line.

A couple of weeks back we went out to look at wallpaper. Where there used to be aisles of the stuff we could only find a couple of shelves full AND not in the colours or patterns we wanted.

I want to extend my home wireless network. Local shops only offered routers. Another trip to tinternet!

AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE I HATE SHOPPING.

FOOTBALLERS WAGES

It is reported that an English premier league football team has just signed a "star" player on wages of £20,000 a WEEK! How obscene is that?

I know that footballers have a short working life but come on this really is taking the mickey. They are being paid, in a week, more than the average YEARLY wage in the UK.

LET'S PAY A FAIR DAYS WAGE FOR A FAIR DAYS WORK

BRITAINS GOT TALENT - FOR LITIGATION

A woman who went for an audition for 'Britain's Got Talent' is suing for £2.5m after claiming that she was humiliated on the talent show.  She is looking for £300,000 for injured feelings, £1.25m for loss of earnings and another £1m in compensation.

Apparantly she is claiming that her performance suffered as a result of a medical condition that affects her ability to hear her own singing voice.

If she couldn't hear herself sing then how did could she possibly know that she had talent (or not)?

Once again I question the British legal system that allows time in its schedule to entertain such a claim.  The plain truth is that she wasn't selected and was told, albeit quite bluntly, the reasons why.  She can disagree if she likes but the TV programme has been running long enough for her to understand that the judges are there to entertain as much as the hopefuls themselves. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0XtNVGm__8&feature=related

Not everyone gets to come first - are we going to see the losing side in the cup final or in the six nations suing for injured feelings, loss of earnings and compensation - I think not.

The sad thing is, if you search youtube for the woman and listen to some of her other songs she IS a bit better than that performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0E4KCfiuN8&feature=related

LADY, DEAL WITH YOUR DISAPPOINMENT AND MOVE ON

THE LAW AND ANIMALS

Heard a story today about a guy who got fined £1500 for drowning a grey squirrel.  Grey squirrels are classed as pests and are not a protected species.  Apparently because he didn't poison it or blow its brains out shooting it he did it in an inhumane way and the animal suffered.  Correct me if I am wrong but the other methods of killing it cause just as much suffering don't they!!

And....what about the fine.  There are people who have been found guilty in our law courts of breaking into other folks houses, carrying out unprovoked assaults and loads of driving offence that don't get fined that much.

ITS ABOUT TIME THE COURTS MADE THE SENTENCE FIT THE CRIME

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

It's July and there are another 5 months to go till the fat guy in the red suit climbs down our chimneys and gets soot all over his white beard.

FIVE MONTHS - and I have just seen my first advert for Christmas.  For goodness sake, time is flying fast enough without marketing types speeding it up even more.  Christmas advertised in summer, summer holidays advertised in winter and easter eggs all the year round!

THERE SHOULD BE A BAN ON ADVERTISING ANY EVENTS UNTIL THE MONTH BEFORE.

SUPERMARKETS - ANOTHER THING

Not one moan about supermarkets but two.  Why is it that folk who I presume are normally nice become ill mannered, ill natured and rude when they go shopping.  I mean, I know it isn't fun but if they drove their cars the way they drive their trolleys the death rate on the roads would be sky high.

They charge down aisles without any thought for fellow human beings, they leave their trolleys at odd angles while they make their selections, they hold ten minute conversations with their mates while everyone tries to edge past and they barge through spaces not big enough for a trolley on their way to their next purchase.

I think there should be a supermarket code like a highway code.  Let's have one way travelling, no parking and speed limits.  Careless trolleying gets you banned from the supermarket for a month and colliding with another trolley gets a life ban. 

I THINK SUPERMARKETS WOULD BE GREAT IF THIS WERE INTRODUCED....I'D BE THE ONLY ONE LEFT IN THE PLACE!!

SUPERMARKET TROLLEYS

Why is shopping made more complicated by supermarket trolleys?

First you need a pound coin to un hitch one. How come I never have a pound when I need one and no-one else wants my pocket of change in exchange for their coin?

Then when you do manage to get a trolley it either has a mind of it's own and none of the wheels goes in the same direction or it has a squeak that would waken the dead!

NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY INVENTED ON LINE SHOPPING

THE NORTHERN IRELAND PROBLEM

How can a country as beautiful  as Northern Ireland, with a people so friendly and nice, tear itself apart with the recent shows of "sectarian" violence.  So, a group of people want to march down a road playing music and celebrating their beliefs and religion, dressed in peculiar costumes...well let them get on with it.  The sooner they pass through the sooner the world can move on and forget they were there.

I can't understand what drives them to march in the first place but if that's what rings there bell then crack on.  What we don't need is for the "other side" to confront them, throw abuse, stones and petrol bombs.   Causing damage to their own streets and property and injuring the police and others.

It was pleasing, if unusual, to see a republican member of parliament criticise the rioters after this weekend's performance.  He said that the problems came from a small minority of youths and the communities should stand up to them.  I don't often find myself congratulating politicians but credit where credit is due - Well said sir!

Don't the good folk of the province not realise what there behaviour does to their reputation in the rest of the world.  Just when the "troubles" seemed to be in the background this bunch of idiots (both sides) stir it all up again.

IF THEY MUST MARCH THEN WHY RISE THEIR BAIT - JUST IGNORE THEM. 
AS MY AULD MAMMY USED TO TELL ME - STICKS AND STONES CAN BREAK MY BONES BUT NAMES WILL NEVER HURT ME.

POLICE AND THE PRESS

We have all been watching the manhunt that went on in the north east of England which sadly ended in the suspect taking his own life.  Now the press are baying for blood and looking for someone to blame.   Can't blame the criminal who shot and killed his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend or shot and injured his ex or approached a police car and shot the single unarmed occupant in cold blood leaving him critically injured.  Nope can't blame him...he's dead so what do the great British Press do.....criticise the police.

There is no doubt that mistakes will have been made and hopefully they will be learned from but the police should be praised for the way in which they kept the public updated and found the resources to swamp the area to ensure public safety.  They found him and they tried to negotiate his surrender...unsuccessfully.  Their presence and professionalism kept risk to the public to the minimum.  The murderer threatened to shoot police officeres who carried on their duties to find him despite the personal risk to themselves.  They should be congratulated not castigated for their actions. 

It took them a week to find the fugitive..hang on, the man was hiding, he didn't want to be found and he didn't stay in one place.  Where do these jokers in the press get off.  Who investigates their tactics before during and after incidents.  They publish "in the public interest"...rubbish....they publish to make money, and as a press man once told me...never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

WELL DONE TO NORTHUMBRIA POLICE AND THERE COLLEAGUES FROM OTHER ENGLISH FORCES - THE OUTCOME MAY NOT HAVE BEEN WHAT YOU WANTED BUT TODAYS HEADLINES ARE TOMORROWS CHIP PAPERS!

POT HOLES

We have so many potholes in the roads it would take up to 230 years to fill them all.  It appears that the roads were great when they were made but with the wet and cold weather, the digging up and replacing by the utilities, cable TV et al, they have deteriorated to their current appalling state.

Local councils blame government, government blame councils - it is everyone elses fault except theirs.

No-one checks the state of the road after the third parties have all dug it up and repaired it - why not?  The council are quick to come and inspect any work I have done to my house (and charge me for it).  They are thinking of charging utilities and everyone else for permission to dig....guess who would end up paying for it (Yep the consumer because to cover these costs the utility bills will rise).

Most of the pot holes are being given a temporary patch, can't the powers that be not see that temporary is exactly that - the repairs don't last for ever.  One street near us has had four temporary repairs to one hole in the past six months - surely it is time to invest in the roads and lay permanent  road surfaces.

Come on you lot, the longer you put off sorting the things properly the more of a problem you are giving yourselves.

I DON'T CARE WHO IS AT FAULT, I JUST WANT IT SORTED SO I CAN DRIVE DOWN THE ROAD IN A STRAIGHT LINE INSTEAD OF HAVING TO DRIVE AROUND ALL THE POTHOLES.

EGGS BY THE KILO

The EU are about to decree that we will now have to sell eggs by weight rather than by number. So we will be asking for 2 kilos (remember pounds and ounces have already been banned) of eggs rather than a half dozen large.

Who thinks this all up and WHY? Does someone at the EU actually get paid to consider these really important issues of state?

LETS ASK THE EU TO SPEND SOME TIME ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS RATHER THAN THIS CHICKEN S**T

PAY AS YOU DRIVE

I see a new report out says that the only way to reduce congestion on English roads is to implement a pay as you go system.  It suggests that this is now "inevitable".  It says that there is presently no link between the £47bn raised in revenue in 2009 from road users and the amount put back into the road network.

I thought we already paid a pay as you go charge to create and maintain the highways - it's called road tax and fuel duty!

Maybe rather than looking at new ways of raising the cash to create, repair and maintain roads they should have a look at spending the money already raised by taxing motorists on what it was meant for.

They also suggest that that if road tolls were introduced then there would be a drop in fuel duty and road tax - somehow I don't see that happening.

CALL ME A CYNIC BUT IT SEEMS AS IF THE MOTORIST HAS ALWAYS BEEN, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE, AN EASY TARGET FOR RAISING REVENUE THROUGH TAX

TXT L4NGU4GE

We have all recieved text messages from friends and we all have sent replies.  How come I am getting more and more of these things in a language I don't understand.  Text becomes TXT, Tomorrow - 2morrow, Later - l8r

CU 2morrow b4 U R off 2 doc.  Ur m8 was here b4 we 8 but wouldnt say Y - AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH (That last bit's not textish, that's frustration!)

Apparently it saves time to use this new "language"  Saves time for who.  It might only take a couple of minutes to write war and peace in txt language but it takes three times as longer than reading the book to decipher it and understand it.

IF YOU MUST SEND ME A TEXT DO ME A FAVOUR AND MAKE IT IN A LANGUAGE I CAN UNDERSTAND!

THE SPENDING INJECTION

Mrs Moaning Old Git and her chums like nothing better than to meet up in town and "browse for bargains".

I cannot get her to understand that a bargain is only a bargain if you needed it in the first place!

How women find wandering in and out shops touching and ohhing and ahhing at clothes, shoes, handbags and other retail items I will never know.

I now reckon there must be "shopping gene" that only women have.

NO MATTER HOW MUCH I TRY I STILL ONLY SHOP BECAUSE I NEED TO - WOMEN SHOP BECAUSE THEY WANT TO

PORN - A HUMAN RIGHT?

So this guy gets a conviction for a serious sexual offence and is eventually let out off prison on license. One of the conditions of his license is he doesn't look at porn on the internet.

Now he is going to court saying his Human Rights have been violated. Apparently looking at internet porn is a basic human right.

What kind of country are we in to even countenance this as a claim we should give court time too? What a waste of the courts time. Too add injury to insult I'll wager a bet he is on legal aid!!

Why don't we just revoke his licence and put him back behind bars.

HE'S COMMITTED THE CRIME LET HIM DO HIS TIME - WITHOUT PORN

CHARITY NEEDS TO BEGIN AT HOME

Just seen that government departments have to draw up plans for a 40% budget decrease.
There are some exceptions, one of which is foreign aid.

Sorry guys but if the cash is tight I would prefer to make the foreign aid budget the FIRST casualty not a protected budget line.

I don't mind doing our bit for the world but not at the expense of health care, education, defence and community safety at home.

SORRY THE PIGGY BANK IS EMPTY SO WE CAN'T DONATE TO NEEDY CASES AT THE MOMENT.

WAGES

We are in a time of recession and we need to reduce government spending. How come then there are heads of government quangos earning more than the Prime Minister?

It is being reported that the guy organising the London Olympics is on nearly £400,000 a year. How can that salary be justified.

If the government want to cut expense let it start in its own backyard.

I understand the argument about paying the going rate and paying peanuts to get monkeys.

AT WHAT POINT DOES THE MONEY BEING OFFERED BUY MORE THAN MONKEYS - A LOT LESS THAN £400,000 METHINKS!

TRAVELLERS SITES

A group of "travellers" descended on a piece of land close by a couple of weeks ago.  They declared their right to be there and the local authority supplied them with water and sewage facilities so that their human rights were not compromised.  The police and the local council said that there was not a lot that they could do.  The land owner applied for, and got, an eviction notice, but the travellers left before it was enforced.

I have no problem with the people chosing their way of life, but the mess that was left by these indivduals when they upped sticks and left was inexcusable.  There was a burnt out transit van, a derelict caravan, black bin liners full of waste food and garbage which the crows picked apart.  Soiled nappies and human excrement were left in the open. The grass was burnt and the fencing around the site was torn down and left in a dangerous condition.

If the "travellers" want to move from place to place then they should learn to be "good neighbours".  They don't pay council tax yet they expect councils to supply toilets, water, and, in some cases, electricity and to tidy up behind them when they leave.  Oh and by the way while the council supplied their services within two days of the travellers arrival, they have been gone a fortnight and the mess hasn't yet been cleaned up.

SURELY IT IS NOT A LOT TO ASK THAT THEY AT LEAST CLEAR UP BEHIND THEMSELVES AND LEAVE THE GROUND THE WAY THEY FOUND IT.

GET A JOB

"I would work if there was a job for me"  Well I have news for you, there is a job for you. It might not be what you want to do but there is a job.

Working means you have to get out of bed in the morning, go to a place of work, do something and not finish till 8 or 10 hours later. For that you get a pay packet at the end of each month.

There are jobs on farms, caravan sites, driving buses, working in hotels, bars, building sites etc etc.

There are so may jobs that we are allowing immigrant workers to snap them up and yet we complain that we can't get a job for all these foreign workers.  The truth is that Brits don't want to do the jobs that are available, while the immigrants will do anything to earn a living.  We could learn from them and their work ethic.

WE DO NOT HAVE UNEMPLOYED BRITONS, WE HAVE BRITONS WHO DO NOT WANT TO BE EMPLOYED

HAVING KIDS BACK HOME

If you have a residential address in the UK you are entitled to free National Health Service treatment.  If you go on holiday into Europe you carry a little card with you and any medical treament that you recieve when away from home you can get and the European hospital calim the costs back from the UK government....OK so far?

Well, apparently we have some Eastern European workers coming to the UK, and getting a residential address entitlung them to the free NHS treatment.  The wife/partner then gets pregnant and, wanting their child to be born in the land of their fathers, they head back to their own country to give birth.  Once delivered, the happy couple then present their UK NHS card and all the costs of the medical care are covered by the UK government.

WHERE A CHILD IS BORN IS THE FREE CHOICE OF THE PARENTS .......JUST DON'T ASK ME TO PICK UP THE COST

WHERE DOES TIME GO

When I started this blog all these years ago, I intended to update it every day.  Now it seems I can't even update it annually!

Every day Mrs Moaning Old Git and I have a competition when we are reading the paper to see who says "I don't believe this" first.  SO it is not as if there is not enough out there to keep a good old moaner busy.

Right I am going to fight time and see if I can put a few minutes aside to enter at least one moan a week.  If I am going to try and do that all I ask is that you drop by every so often and add to my rantings or even put in some of your own.

There is something Cathartic about getting things off your chest so feel free after all with the waiting lists for the NHS..........