Month: February 2015

“Your Captain’s Irish” and some Cool Pics

The first part of the title refers to a chant allegedly perpetrated by Scottish fans at the cricket world cup. It is perfectly true that England’s current ODI captain is Irish. It is also hypocritical for such a chant to come from Scotland fans whose team is captained by Preston Mommsen (hardly a 22 carat Caledonian name!). Finally I do not consider birthplace to be all that important – what matters is that people give 100% out on the pitch. This team (and note it has proper balance – it is not just 11 players) is made up exclusively of players I have seen playing for England, and its members have one either thing in common which I shall reveal after I have shared some pictures. Here is our team:

Andrew Strauss (Captain)
Robin Smith
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Allan Lamb
Nasser Nussain (Vice Captain)
Matthew Prior (Wicketkeeper)
Philippe-Henri Edmonds (SLA)
Andrew Caddick (RFM)
Alan Mullally (LF)
Devon Malcolm (RF)

The only slightly questionable selection is Robin Smith as opener, a position he never actually filled, but given his relish for fast bowling he would probably have fared well there. There is no all-rounder because Basil D’Oliveira had retired from international cricket before I was born and Tony Greig not long after. Now for some pics…

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These were growing beside Hardwick Road!
These were growing beside Hardwick Road!

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Detail from above the door of Custom House
Detail from above the door of Custom House
Close detail of immediately above to door of Custom House.
Close detail of immediately above to door of Custom House.

The answer to what that team all of have in common is all were born outside England:

Strauss, Smith, Trott, Pietersen, Lamb and Prior were all born in South Africa, Hussain in India, Caddick in New Zealand, Mullally in Australia, Malcolm in Jamaica and Edmonds in Zambia (he is also half Belgian, hence the first name Philippe-Henri).

Tories Only tell you what to Spend if you’re Poor

Another excellent post from Jayne Linney…

jaynel62's avatarjaynelinney

Mark Harper the Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions was on Radio4 Today this morning, talking about Cameron’s promise to protect pensions; in his discussion he stated “we can’t tell people how to spend their money“!

Where then does this leave the vow from IDS that he is “testing prepaid cards, onto which we will make benefit payments, so that the money they receive is spent on the needs of the family”? ‘Given the total contrast between Ministers statements, who can we believe, Harper’s – we trust the public or Ids – the poorest must be told where to shop and what to buy’?

Maybe the Tories believe that only people who have retired can manage a budget? Or is it, much more likely in my opinion, the pensioner promise is more about the Conservatives feeling worried they might lose their traditional voting base, by means testing the additional support such as…

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KLASS and the Cricket World Cup

A week today is the date of the next meeting of the Kings Lynn Asperger Support Society. We will be meeting at the Lattice House on Chapel Street from 6PM. Our April meeting will be a week later than usual, on the second Monday of the month, because April 6th is Easter Monday. We will be moving to our summer venue of the quayside near the Lower Purfleet, which gives us the back up option should the weather decline to co-operate of ducking into Marriott’s Warehouse (what – British weather decline to co-operate – surely not!). I have produced an information sheet using Word, which I have then turned into a JPG for online usage (already shared with my twitter followers)…

KLASS

This is the JPG
This is the JPG
This is the original photo of the Lattice House used in the document.
This is the original photo of the Lattice House used in the document.
This is the original photo of Marriott's used in the document.
This is the original photo of Marriott’s used in the document.

The Cricket World Cup is still in full swing. Recently we have witnessed India thrashing South Africa, Sri Lanka just sneaking home courtesy of a magnificent innings from Mahela jayawardene against Afghanistan who continue to do the associate nations and themselves proud and England finally demonstrating that they have not completely forgotten how to play the game they invented. On that last however, a victory over a Scotland team whose bowling had about as much venom as an earthworm is nothing to be shouting about. I for one would not be prepared to put money (even had I such a commodity) on England getting the better of Afghanistan and Bangladesh as they need to to progress. In many ways actually, falling at the first hurdle would be better for England than a reprise of 1996 where they reached the quarter finals having beaten the non test playing nations in their group and not looked remotely like beating any test playing opposition and were then thoroughly humiliated by Sri Lanka in the quarter final. An elimination at the first stage cannot be window dressed so it would mean reality having be looked squarely in the eye.  A few final pics…

Guist post office (approx 5 miles from Fakenham), viewed through the window of an X29 bus
Guist post office (approx 5 miles from Fakenham), viewed through the window of an X29 bus

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A bit of a barney going on here!
A bit of a barney going on here!

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St Ann's House - directly opposite St Nicholas Chapel
St Ann’s House – directly opposite St Nicholas Chapel
Where 38 Degrees members will be meeting on Saturday for NHS related action.
Where 38 Degrees members will be meeting on Saturday for NHS related action.
The flag flying from the Guildhall on Saturday.
The flag flying from the Guildhall on Saturday.

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Mallard Drake
Mallard Drake
Similar size and shape to mallard drake but very different colouring.
Similar size and shape to mallard drake but very different colouring.

UKIP’s Scottish campaign launch didn’t go exactly to plan ….

Another “how not to” masterclass from the Union of Knaves, Idiots and Parasites!

Tom Pride's avatarPride's Purge

(not satire – it’s the UKIP!)

In which we get to hear sage political advice from a UKIP spin-doctor…..

UKIP’s general election campaign launch in Scotland didn’t go exactly to plan yesterday.

First of all a video link to Nigel Farage – who seems to have wisely decided to spend his party’s Scottish campaign down in England safely out of the reach of Scottish voters –  couldn’t take place due to technical difficulties.

And then one of the UKIP candidates said she didn’t know which constituency she was standing in.

“I don’t know where I’m standing, I think it could be Sutherland,” UKIP candidate Annie Murray happily admitted to the assembled media.

And finally, UKIP candidate Emily Santos – who will take on Alex Salmond in the high-profile Gordon constituency – gave a car-crash interview to the media.

When the tongue-tied candidate was completely unable to answer any questions, the panicking UKIP spin doctor accompanying her was heard to…

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If UKIP Really Want To Convince Us They’re Not Racists & Fools, This Is What They Should Do

This superb article is an absolute must read for all UKIP haters (and a should read for everyone)

Martin Odoni's avatarTheCritique Archives

by Martin Odoni

Given his decreasingly-effective campaign to prove that his party is not a collection of extremist nutcases, it is quite bizarre that Nigel Farage, the UK Independence Party’s most beer-swilling man-of-the-(excessively-rich-)people, has become a semi-regular commenter on Fox News Channel. When it comes to presenting outlandish, paranoid, right-wing accusations as substantive fact, the people running Fox News themselves have nothing to learn from anybody, and so becoming their ‘expert-voice’ on European immigration is perhaps not the most convincing way that Farage could demonstrate moderation.

Farage On FNC Farage On Fox News, a channel fittingly named after vermin.

Just the fact that Sean Hannity once described Farage as a “future Prime Minister” (perhaps half-jokingly, but no more than half) says little for the network’s connection to reality; the leader of a party with UKIP’s degree of supportive over-exposure in the media will have no prospect of being Prime Minister any time…

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Press Releases, Emails and Other Stuff

I did not have time to write a post yesterday as I had an evening engagement in Norwich (a public meeting about the situation in Greece, which was excellent). Thus, I have several things to share. This is the press release I sent off in the run up to our auction on Wednesday 28th (full catalogue available at www.the-saleroom.com, from which source we have already had over 40 bidders):

A JPG of the press release
A JPG of the press release

HISTORIC FOOTBALL MEMORABILIA SCORES BIG SUCCESS AT FAKENHAM AUCTION – multi-image

Today I sent out a bulk email regarding the auction. I assembled the document myself with two images and several blocks of text. The stamp image was done by my colleague Andrew. Enjoy this gallery…

Owing to the method of assembly it actually worked out easier to save the completed document as a JPG and copy and paste into the browser than to use it in its original form.
Owing to the method of assembly it actually worked out easier to save the completed document as a JPG and copy and paste into the browser than to use it in its original form.

Press Release

Going back to yesterday I resolved a query regarding lot 757 by producing these images:

I produced this montage for embedding in the body of the email just in case the recipient had a problem opening attachments.
I produced this montage for embedding in the body of the email just in case the recipient had a problem opening attachments.

?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????My final image regards a demonstration taking place in Norwich…

Maximus Demo FinalIf you are going to be in King’s Lynn on February 28th and you would like to campaign on behalf of the NHS there is an event organised b y 38 Degrees happening in the town centre that day. People will be meeting up outside Top Shop at 11AM. Even if you can only spare a few moments every little helps!

If you have enjoyed this check out my twitter account, aspitweets.

Statistics don’t LIE Politicians Twist them and the Media swallow the Spin

Please sign the petition mentioned in this post – the post itself is a devastating indictment of IDS.

jaynel62's avatarjaynelinney

Today I came across two articles, once again calling into question the behaviour of Politicians and Government Departments when using statistics; it is clear from these that  “Once again, DWP has shown itself to be a master in statistics manipulation and in the use of selective figures” this was on sanctions; and on pay and living costs “an act of statistical trickery to change the landscape of pay bargaining in the UK for the worse.”

This persistent misuse of data and the ensuing Spin’ fed to the media by the likes of IDS, is precisely what we have been saying this for the past 2 years; and it is the reason for our petition TO: KATHRYN HUDSON PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSIONER FOR STANDARDS to :

“Use the full Powers of the Commission and investigate Iain Duncan Smith Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for his regular use…

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UKIP candidate: “What happens when renewable energy runs out?” (not satire!)

This has to be read to believed!

Tom Pride's avatarPride's Purge

(not satire – it’s the UKIP!)

I’m not making this up, I promise you.

In a local debate about energy, Victoria Ayling, UKIP’s Grimsby candidate, said:

“What happens when renewable energy runs out?”

As a political satirist, I just LOVE the UKIP.

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Please feel free to comment. And share.

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The Coalition Government Colouring and Activity Book is now available for download as a PDF and in print:

book cover ebbokbook cover print

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Chelsea’s Shame and More From the Cricket World Cup

Racist Chelsea fans pushed a black man off a train not once but twice after their match against Paris St Germain. The culprits then followed this up with some vile racist chanting. Given the nature and seriousness of the offences and Chelsea fans’ long and dishonourable history of racism I think a severe example needs to be set. My suggestion would be that Chelsea be disqualified from this year’s European competition and banned from all supra-national competitions for a period of five years.

Before moving on to the second part of this post, here are some pictures from today…

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Bangladesh achieved a comfortable victory over Afghanistan in the cricket world cup, although Afghanistan bowled fairly well to restrict Bangladesh to 267 a disastrous start to their reply saw them tumble to 3-3 from which there was no recovery. I believe that for a competition to be genuinely global some ‘minnows’ must be present. The problem with the cricket world cup is that by diktat of television there is only one match per day because if matches were played in parallel there would be less advertising revenue as only one match each day can be televised in full. Personally, i think that the interests of cricket should outweigh those of the TV moguls and that matches should be played in parallel so as to concertina the competition.

The fact that Afghanistan managed to qualify for this world cup shows that rapid improvement is possible even in very difficult circumstances. Similarly impressive stories may be emerging from Nepal and Papua New Guinea in the not too distant future.

England, as has been the case in every world cup since 1992 when they reached the final, have been decidedly under-impressive so far, and if it is at their expense that one of the minnows gains a quarter-final place I for one will be unequivocally celebrating on behalf of the minnow!

A second selection of pictures to end…

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The Cricket World Cup (and Some Pictures from Kings Lynn)

The cricket world cup is well and truly under way. The night before last our time Ireland chased down a target of over 300 to beat the West Indies. Last night co-hosts New Zealand took on Scotland in Dunedin and a look at the scorecard would suggest a typical Dunedin cold, grey day with the ball nipping about all over the place. The truth was that after some excellent new ball bowling by Trent Boult and Tim Southee reduced Scotland to 12-4 the match was as good as over. Scotland rallied to reach 142. New Zealand then squandered seven wickets knocking off this very modest target (the dismissals were almost all down to bad batting rather than good bowling – but fortunately Geoffrey Boycott was not there to bear witness).

I have plenty of pictures to share with you, which I shall do in two tranches, starting with some from Sunday…

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The newly refurbished steps from the street to Boal Quay Car Park, done as part of the work of increasing the height of the flood defences.
The newly refurbished steps from the street to Boal Quay Car Park, done as part of the work of increasing the height of the flood defences.

Before sharing the pick of yesterday’s images, mention of my new work shoes, which after periods of wear indoors on Sunday and yesterday are going to get their first outing today (if this proves a mistake I can revert to the old work shoes that I still have for Thursday and Friday). The key day for when I have to be able to wear them without issue is a week tomorrow, when we have our next auction down at Fakenham Racecourse, and I will then be playing bridge in the evening without going home between the two events. At this moment I am not anticipating that there will be any problems because I have catered for all eventualities including buying a box of cushioned plasters in the event of a bad reaction from my heels. My mother spotted these shoes in Russell and Bromley while in London last week, for which I was very grateful as I had drawn a blank at Clarks. Now for some more images…

The flag fluttering from the Guilhall.
The flag fluttering from the Guilhall.

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One shot, three species - the smallest of which is only seen in this area at low tide when there is exposed mud.
One shot, three species – the smallest of which is only seen in this area at low tide when there is exposed mud.
They were there in great numbers - 28 in this shot post cropping.
They were there in great numbers – 28 in this shot post cropping.

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These birds are not regulars in Kings Lynn.
These birds are not regulars in Kings Lynn.

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