Behave Yourselves While I’m Gone…

THINGS ARE GOING to be a bit low and slow around here for the next two weeks ’cause SusiQ and I are off on some well deserved vacation time.

By the time you read this we will have made it to Tuscany, Italy and will hopefully be enjoying the delights of Chianti, Gelato, Pasta and such.

I may or may not get the time to drop by the site over the break, but if not – don’t take it personally

Behave yourselves while I’m gone and I’ll catch you all on the flip side.

Probably Fatter….

Hopefully more relaxed…

And certainly completely chilled out after two weeks in the tuscan countryside.

Remembering The First Real Steps Towards Peace In Northern Ireland

IT’S HARD TO believe this sometimes, but it’s been 13 years to the day since Peace was declared in Northern Ireland.

Not that the declaration lasted for long before being ripped apart by more violence, but it was the first real step towards a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

A step that began in 1994, on the 31st August at 11:00 when the IRA issued a statement claiming a “complete cessation of military operations” from midnight on the 31st and that they were willing to enter into inclusive talks on the political future of the Province.

This was the first real step towards the peace and prosperity now in evidence in Northern Ireland, the first step on a long road of problems and negotiations for all concerned parties which nevertheless resulted in the end game we have today. 

To take this momentus date in context however I have reprinted a summary I found over at the BBC news website commerating the occasion: Read more

Even Sniffer Dogs Aren’t Safe From Airport Security…

I’M SURE YOU HAVE seen sniffer dogs at work in Airports, right? Those madly excitable dogs going through all the luggage, sniffing out the drugs and the bad guys. It takes years to train these dogs, and certain breeds are better than others for the task.

See that photo on the left there? That’s a Belgian Malinois dog; a perfect breed for a sniffer dog. In fact, an elite Mexican Drug Squad have been using just such a breed for years in their crusade against the drug dealers and trafficers. Or rather, ‘had been using’ is probably more appropriate becaused Rex IV, a highly trained Belgian Malinois sheepdog with a string of drug hauls behind him, who was checked on to a flight from Mexico City this week with seven other police dogs bound for an operation in the northern state of Sinaloa, has been kidnapped.

Or is that dognapped?

Anyway – the thing that caught my attention about this story is that the bad guys simply dressed up in a uniform that made them look ‘official’, walked up to the counter in Airport Security and quite calmly explained that poor old Rex was not feeling very well and that they needed to replace him (a highly trained, decorated and adult Belgian Malinois) with another dog. Well, not quite a dog really… Read more

Don’t Work Too Hard, Nobody Notices Anyway…

Many thanks to Gozer for sending this one on to me!

The Diceman Would Be Proud…

A NUMBER of years ago (far to many to admit!) I read a book by Luke Rhinehart called “The Diceman” which is probably best described as a darkly comic and violent piece of fiction that charts the progression of a psychiatrist who decides to abdicate from any moral or ethical responsibility by using a set of dice to make every key decision in his life. Decisions that range from the mundane (which food to eat for lunch) to the sublime (have an affair or not?) to the downright outrageous (murder someone or not?).

Well – at least I hope it’s fiction.

Anyway it’s a great read when you are a teenager and resonates with the need to just throw caution to the wind every now and then and engage in a little anarchy. Still, the central theme of leaving all decisions up to the throw of dice always fascinated me. I’ve certainly based some decisions myself on similar principles, but never – not in a million years – would I use this approach to make any serious or life altering decisions. And indeed I hadn’t thought of this book for at least two decades. Until a few days ago.

Until I met a taxi driver from Iraq who got me thinking about the randomness of things all over again… Read more

We’re Not From Around Here… Apparently!

BRITISH SCIENTISTS are reporting that the odds of life starting on Earth rather than inside a comet are one trillion trillion (10 to the power of 24) to one against. In other words folks, we’re not from around here!

Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according to a new paper by Cardiff University scientists. This concept is referred to as “Panspermia“.

The 2005 Deep Impact mission to Comet Tempel 1 discovered a mixture of organic and clay particles inside the comet. One theory for the origins of life proposes that clay particles acted as a catalyst, converting simple organic molecules into more complex structures. The 2004 Stardust Mission to Comet Wild 2 found a range of complex hydrocarbon molecules – potential building blocks for life. Read more

A Momentary Lapse In Concentration…

Here’s a little humour to get you through yet another wet Monday!

WIFE: What would you do if I died? Would you get married again?
HUSBAND: Definitely not!

WIFE: Why not – don’t you like being married?
HUSBAND: Of course I do.
WIFE: Then why wouldn’t you remarry?
HUSBAND: Okay, I’d get married again.
WIFE: You would? (with a hurtful look on her face).
HUSBAND: (makes audible groan).

WIFE: Would you live in our house?
HUSBAND: Sure, it’s a great house.
WIFE: Would you sleep with her in our bed?
HUSBAND: Where else would we sleep?
WIFE: Would you let her drive my car?
HUSBAND: Probably, it is almost new
WIFE: Would you replace my pictures with hers?
HUSBAND: That would seem like the proper thing to do.

WIFE: Would she use my golf clubs?
HUSBAND: No, she’s left-handed.
WIFE: – - silence – -
HUSBAND: Fuck!!

Many thanks to MaryMac for sending this on to me.