A man absolutely hated his wifes cat and decided to get rid of him one day …
… by driving him 20 blocks from his home and leaving him at the park.
As he was getting home, the cat was walking up the driveway.
The next day he decided to drive the cat 40 blocks away. He put the beast out and headed home.
He kept taking the cat further and further and the cat would always beat him home. At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right until he reached what he thought was a safe distance from his home and left the cat there.
Hours later the man calls home to his wife: “Jen, is the cat there?”
“Yes“, the wife answers, “why do you ask?”
Frustrated, the man answered, “Put that cat on the phone, I’m lost and need directions!”
[With thanks to Magsx2’s Blog where I first saw this.]
Brits will be well aware that the Irish have been the source of many funny stories and ‘Irish’ humour is still a favourite with the English.
But this piece from Baseline Scenario is very troubling, and that’s putting it mildly.
The excellent article, as they all are from Baseline, is here.
I stole a small extract to underline the import of what BS are writing about.
However, let’s be clear: Europe’s headache remains large, and this should concern all of us – just look at Ireland to see how misunderstood and immediate the remaining dangers are. Ireland’s difficulties arose because of a massive property boom financed by cheap credit from Irish banks. Ireland’s three main banks built up loans and investments by 2008 that were three times the size of the national economy; these big banks (relative to the economy) pushed the frontier in terms of reckless lending. The banks got the upside, and then came the global crash in fall 2008: property prices fell more than 50 percent, construction and development stopped, and people stopped repaying loans. Today roughly one-third of the loans on the balance sheets of major banks are nonperforming or “under surveillance”; that’s an astonishing 100 percent of gross national product, in terms of potentially bad debts.
(That’s my italics, by the way.)
Anyway, do read it in full – it’s got important implications.
And then give yourself a proper laugh at the wonderful sense of humour that comes across from the Irish Sea ….
Lifeboat crews have made an unusual rescue off the coast of Anglesey – an 81-year-old man and a wheelie bin.
The man had gone out in a small inflatable dinghy to recover his neighbour’s bin which had swept out to sea in strong winds, in a high tide.
He was blown about a mile off Red Wharf Bay until Moelfre inshore lifeboat was launched to rescue him.
He was picked up suffering from mild hypothermia and taken to hospital in Bangor by ambulance. The crew said the man was not wearing a life jacket or waterproof clothing. His dinghy was also half full of water because of the sea conditions.
The Moelfre crew then went back out to tow in the dingy and wheelie bin, which was still half full of rubbish.
Moelfre lifeboat station spokesman Dave Massey said: “Everyone at the Moelfre lifeboat station wishes the gentleman a speedy recovery.
“The volunteer lifeboat crews at Moelfre have dealt with a wide variety of emergency calls over the years but I am sure that this is the first time we have been involved in towing in a wheelie bin.”
The Welsh coastline was hit by some of the highest tides of the year on [last] Friday.
“Would you please give your honest opinion about financially-sensible solutions to the food shortages in your country and the rest of the world?”
The headline above was the only question asked in a world-wide survey was conducted by the UN last month.
The survey was a huge failure because of the following:
In Eastern Europe they didn’t know what “honest” meant.
In Western Europe they didn’t know what “shortage” meant.
In Africa they didn’t know what “food” meant.
In China they didn’t know what “opinion” meant.
In the Middle East they didn’t know what “solution” meant.
In South America they didn’t know what “please” meant.
In the USA they didn’t know what “the rest of the world” meant.
In Britain they hung up as soon as they heard the Indian accent.
In Brussels (and in most other European capitals, come to that) they had no idea what “financially-sensible” was.
North Korea reported merely that by definition there could be no food shortage in their Communist paradise and that supplies of caviar, truffles and champagne were plentiful. They added that in any case “the rest of the world” could shove their food ….. (They called back later to ask that food aid conveys should nevertheless be continued ….)
The Cubans refused to answer, alleging it was “a capitalist plot”, and anyway under Castroan Communism there never had been, wasn’t and never could be any shortage of food – everything else, perhaps, but not food, as the people could always eat fish or grubs ……
The Scots replied that as long as they could get their Mars-bars dipped in batter there’d never be a food shortage.
PS For a serious comment on the world food situation check this out …. two pieces in the UK Guardian Newspaper here and here.
Sometimes I am deeply ashamed to be part of the so-called “developed” world. Is it beyond the wit of governments to put a stop to this?
The British Royal Air Force frequently train their air crews in and around the valleys of North Wales. Much of that area is designated a Tactical Training Area. One such route is known as The Loop. Here’s a description of that from the website Warplane.co.uk:
Machynlleth Loop
The most appropriate place to start with is the Machynlleth Loop which is usually referred to by aircrews as ‘The Loop’ although the USAF crews refer to it as ‘The Roundabout’. It is literally a roundabout of flowed valleys running counter-clockwise following the A470 north eastwards from Machynlleth in the south to Dinas Mawddwy then heading north west to join the A487 at the Cross Foxes Inn. From here it follows the A487 southwards through Corris to end back at Machynlleth. Ordnance Survey Explorer Map OL23 is recommended for anyone planning a visit.
It is arguably the busiest part of the UK low fly system and although the cold war days of up to 80 plus movements in a day are long gone it is still sometimes possible to see 30 plus aircraft in one day. The usual daily total is usually between 10 and 20 aircraft mainly made up of Hawks with the odd Tornado, Harrier or Hercules thrown in. It is certainly the place to go to practice your panning technique.
It takes about 3 minutes for a jet aircraft to do a circuit of the Loop and multiple passes by aircraft is not an uncommon sight, especially by Hawks. So whenever you see an aircraft it is worth checking to see if it looks like doing a circuit as you may be lucky enough to see it again in 3 minutes.
Do click on the link if only to view some of the fantastic flying photographs.
Anyway, a couple of British newspapers recently published a piece about an RAF Navigator holding up a sign inside the cockpit for the many amateur photographers who frequent this part of the country.
A RAF navigator gave plane-spotters a chuckle as he held up a sign reading ‘I’m with stupid’ with an arrow pointing to the pilot.
The pair were on a training mission in a £13million Tornado GR4 aircraft, capable of reaching 1,400mph, when the navigator pulled the prank as they jetted through a valley in Wales.
In the good old days, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were watching a John Wayne western together when Blair said:
“Look. I bet you £10 (Ed: or in today’s money, £10 billion) that John Wayne is going to ride his horse over that cliff!”
Brown said: “You’re on. I bet he isn’t …”
Then Big John did ride his horse over the cliff ……
Brown held out a wad of notes to Blair … “Fair enough, ” he said. “You were right again.”
Blair replied: “Well, you’d better keep the money; I was playing a trick on you; I’ve seen the film before.”
Brown replied: “So have I. I just didn’t think he’d make the same mistake twice ……”
PS Yes, why kick a man who is down (and out), but the supposedly-clever former British Chancellor and then hapless Prime Minister Gordon Brown has left Britain with a £170 billion debt burden that will – according to the new government coalition – take a decade of pain to put right.
And his party STILL has the gall to complain about the danger of “cuts”. You couldn’t make it up.They just don’t get it. There is NO WAY to avoid a GREAT DEAL of SELF-INFLICTED pain.
![[]](https://i0.wp.com/www.emmitsburg.net/humor/pictures/2004/Fw%20Fw%20I%20loved%20this%20one%21%21%21%5D.gif)
Learning from Dogs 