Caution: Cigarette may explode

Pure genius hits again with an Indonesian man suing a cigarette manufacturer because one of their cigarettes exploded in his mouth causing the loss of six teeth.
Indonesian roulette or what!

The man said he would now be trying to give up smoking.  Maybe more exploding ciggies might help cut the 60% smoking rate.

The full story can be found on the BBC.

Groundhog Day 2: Policing & Justice in NI

You may or may not realise it but Tuesday, 2nd February 2010 is in fact Groundhog Day.

At least according to the ever accurate and academically sound Wikipedia.

We are in the last run of the talks at Hillsborough which is supposed to give us the finalisation of Devolution to Northern Ireland.  Gregory Campbell (DUP MLA and MP) is suggesting the possibility of a referendum to quantify public confidence in the process.  Gerry Adams thought the idea was 'cool' as it would involve the likes of the Garvaghy Road residents telling the DUP that they can go ahead and devolve P&J. Ooooh, saucer of milk?

I think the real issue underlying Groundhog Day at Hillsborough is electoral cover for DUP & Sinn Fein.  They can not be seen to be giving in to each other too soon.  Though i think the hardest discussions have already happened before Christmas.  A referendum would give them all the cover they need to progress.  However, one thing to keep in mind is the number of people who voted for the Agreement in the referendum in 1998 and slipped back to mow their gardens like horticultural ninjas when it came to actually voting for the parties.

We await with a bit more baited breath to see what happens on Groundhog Day.  

Though it would have been more poignant for the deal to have been 'done' on Holocaust Day, as a significant move for continued peace, than Groundhog Day, which sums up our politics here quite well.

Is that a burger or a cheese burger i see before me

I just read a BBC article a friend brought to my attention - and being a bit bored of the Hillsborough thing i thought i would share it with you.

A court in Holland found that McDonald's was wrong to sack an employee for giving a colleague a piece of cheese on a hamburger.

The poor waitress was fired after she sold a hamburger to a co-worker who then asked for cheese, which she then added. This obviously then made it a cheeseburger which makes it more expensive. McDonald's stated as much as the case was heard, saying that she failed to charge more for the obviously highly nutritious snack.

McDonald's was ordered to pay the former employee around £3,660. That was one expensive cheeseburger for Ronald McDonald

The BBC reports that the ruling came days after McDonald's reported an increase in net profits by 25% in the last three months of 2009.

I just thought that once again we have a wonderful example of a lack of genuine humanity and people's ever increasing inability to think outside a lead bound manual of what to do.

Policing & Justice: Three wheels on my wagon.

A song that could reflect our wonderful policing and justice negotiations!


Lets hope it doesn't go the way the song ends up!

the deadline approaches

Hillsborough Castle

Well today is the day.  Maybe.


Really what is going on?


Looks like at the moment the cavalry is riding in.  But here is the thing - i think the deal is already done and dusted.  What this current situation is is just to do with electioneering.


The problem is not getting the parties to agree - i think they do agree and have said publicly that they all want policing and justice to be devolved.


The issue is saving face and not being seen to back down from each other.  Hopefully the 'official' deal can be done today so we can worry about piddly things like affording our homes, electricity, food, education, employment and generally staying alive.