Run that by me again...

Let's see if I've got this straight.
We (taxpayers) own nearly all of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

They made £4000000000 loss last year.
They are paying out over £1000000000 in bonuses.
These bonuses are to retain their "talented staff" who would otherwise leave.
Am I missing something here. Let's do that again.

They made £4000000000 loss last year.
They are paying out over £1000000000 in bonuses.
These bonuses are to retain their "talented staff" who would otherwise leave.
Nope. Still not got it.
Run that by me again...

A Chorus for Corus

"Ring of Iron"

I know of no other songs about Middlesbrough and its surrounding steelworks

Chorus:
It's all around the town, all around the town
It's all around the town, this hard ring of iron.

There's smoke up in the sky; Smoke up in the sky
There's smoke that's black and chimney stacks; As far as the eye can see

There's shipyards to the north; Chemicals to the south
Factories, stills and rolling mills; Right down to the river's mouth.

So it's out of town I'm bound; Out of town I'm bound
It's out of town I'm bound; And I'll break this ring of iron.

Join the BNP!

Great news; anyone can join the BNP. So let's do it. Every fair-minded black and asian citizen in the UK should now be filling in their application forms. The BNP is no size. Decent non-racists could completely flood it very easily. Then change it. Change it for good.
Then disband it.

Happy New Year/Lent/Easter and Two Birthdays

Goodness. February. Late February.
Where did December go? And January?
I blinked and missed wishing you all (assuming that it isn't JUST me who reads this) a merry Christmas, Happy New Year, [insert jovial adjective] Hanukah, Happy Birthday to two, Pig out Pancake Tuesday, Don't Eat Meat Ash Wednesday and probably quite a few more.
Anyway.
I'm back.

Animal Farm

At the end of Animal Farm the animals are fearfully looking through the window unable to distinguish between the pigs and the men. The people of Redcar and the workers at Corus must be thinking the same. As Brown, Darling and Mandelson sit idly by a 170-year tradition of steelmaking on Teesside is about to die. In 1980, Thatcher and her minions did exactly the same as the Consett steelworks were obliterated by a harsh world economy. A price worth paying? Just rip the heart out of a northern town. Thatcher or Brown? You couldn't get a fag paper between them. But there is a difference. Thatcher was a hard-line marketeer. She couldn't give a toss about the North, making steel, people, traditions or history. And now it turns out that our beloved PM, the conviction politician, is no better.
We might have known.
Orwell; genius.

The Luck of the Irish

Thierry Henry's "hand of God" was observed by nearly 6,000,000,000 people on Earth and more than half of the satellites we have in orbit. The referee, however, missed it. Not to worry. Ireland miss the World Cup, France get to go. It's only a game. Anyway, if the dozy Irish forwards had put away their chances it would have been 4-1 easily.

But good luck follows bad. It all evens out. Well, yes.

John and Edward have been kicked out of X-Factor. God be praised. Gone. History. Toast.

The interesting question posed by Danni Minogue (upon whom all judgement fell last night) was: Is this a singing competition? Others pretended not to understand her question but she was quite right. Is X-Factor about the talent or the entertainment? John and Edward were certainly entertaining but they couldn't sing to save their lives.

Now they can't even sing "Come on Ireland" at the aptly named Croke Park.

Bummer.

Getting it Wrong (3)

I've just read that Josie Lawrence is going to leave Eastenders. I am shocked! I didn't even know she was in Eastenders. When did that happen? Was that about the time when the richly talented Miss Lawrence disappeared from my radar. Must have been. Let's hope she resurfaces soon in something worthy of the gifts she has been given. I've always been a fan and finding out that she has been in a tawdry soap was quite disappointing.
Come on Josie. You are so much better than that trash.