Author: Thomas

I am a founder member and currently secretary of the West Norfolk Autism Group and am autistic myself. I am a very keen photographer and almost every blog post I produce will feature some of my own photographs. I am an avidly keen cricket fan and often post about that sport.

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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Of Birds, Local Heritage and Rugby

I will start with the local heritage. I had the opportunity at my aunt’s house yesterday before the rugby started to photograph a modern replica cast iron piece that was made from the original…

Although there were other contenders, so remarkable was yesterday photograph wise this is the feature image.
Although there were other contenders, so remarkable was yesterday photograph wise this is the feature image.

In the first of the rugby matches, England eventually ran out comfortable winners, although Italy scored first through Sergio Parisse and kept things close for about the first hour (and would have been close still had they possessed a number 10 with a functioning boot – whatever other merits he possesses ex-Kiwi Kelly Haimona is a liability in this area) but England, just as Ireland had been last week were too strong for Italy in the end. The second game between Ireland and France was much less of a spectacle. Ireland managed to win, thereby ratcheting up the stakes for the game in two weeks time between Ireland and England. There was one very serious misdemeanour by a French player in that match, when he gave one of the Irish guys a vicious knee in the back. Somewhat surprisingly the referee only deemed this worthy of a yellow and ten minutes in the sin bin. Personally, given how badly the Irishman could be affected by the blow, I think it should have been red, end of the French offender’s participation in the match and indeed of this years Six Nations.

Although it was dark by the time the Rugby ended, I had been out and about earlier in the day and snagged some good pics – I also got one on my home…

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The front of King's Lynn Minster, beautifully lit up.
The front of King’s Lynn Minster, beautifully lit up.

Your sick notes aren’t good enough claim Ashton under Lyne Jobcentre

These stories will make your blood boil…

Charlotte Hughes's avatarThe poor side of life

Yesterday our demo was a very busy one. From the minute we arrived to the minute we left we were inundated with terrible stories and people desperate for help. Nothing really shocks us anymore but it’s becoming very clear to see that universal credit is destroying life’s for both working and non working people.
A man who wanted to remain nameless has been claiming universal credit but he got sick so he did the responsible thing, he went to his doctor and got a sick note. The doctor stated on his sick note his medical condition so he took it into the Jobcentre. He was told that this sick note wasn’t good enough and that he needed to get another one because it needed the words written on it.. “He’s got worse”. He went back to the doctor got another sick note but the doctor quite rightly said I can’t…

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Catalogue for February Auction now Live

After some hard work on the imaging front a full catalogue for the James and Sons auction on February 25th at Fakenham Racecourse is now ready for viewing on www.the-saleroom.com and a printed version will be available by Tuesday morning.

There was certainly a full range of items to be imaged today. The pick of the pre-lunch lost were these…

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338 338a ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? 754 ?????????? ??????????

Post lunch, the number of lots left was thankfully small, nut there was still some very interesting stuff to do…

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The Mart, Birds and Other Stuff

One of King’s Lynn’s greatest traditions, The Mart, kicks off this Saturday. I saw some of their advertising today, and I have to acknowledge that it is quite impressive, as is the fact that this is the 811th King’s Lynn Mart (the first of a series of annual fairs that closes with the Nottingham Goose Fair)…

Advertising for the Mart.
Advertising for the Mart.

I was at the river front at the right time to catch this image a fishing boat…

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There were plenty of opportunities to photograph sea birds, including when my main targets were actually other things (check out pic 1 in this series for an example)…??????????

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As usual I spotted various architectural features that I deemed camera worthy…

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The birds were their usual exuberant selves, starting with a mallard drake and ending with a large bird I could not quite identify (had the colouring of a swan but the neck was too short)…

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Before sharing my final images, I came across this today on CosmosUp, @cosmossup:

http://www.cosmosup.com/earths-inner-core-has-an-inner-core-of-its-own. I thought of a title for this idea: Russian Doll Earth!

One of this final selection of images is there because my twitter account is approaching the milestone of 1,700 followers…?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????