Windrush, Firerush, Bum's rush

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Mystery of Tony Blair's money solved
A little-known loophole in UK company law is being used by Tony Blair to keep his finances secret, the Guardian can disclose.

Blair would normally have to publish company accounts detailing the millions flowing into his various commercial ventures since he stepped down from office in 2007.

But he has set up a complicated artificial structure which avoids the normal rule. In effect, he is getting the benefits of running a British company without the drawbacks of unwelcome publicity.

Please tell me it's a joke. Please!

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Santa promotes obesity and drink-driving, claims health expert
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/1949863464_edd8555fab.jpg?v=0Traditional images of Santa Claus set a bad example and could promote obesity and drink-driving, a public health expert has warned.

Dr Nathan Grills from Monash University in Australia said the idea of a fat Father Christmas gorging on brandy and mince pies as he drove his sleigh around the world delivering presents was not the best way to promote a healthy and safe lifestyle among the young. Writing on bmj.com, Dr Grills said: "Santa only needs to affect health by 0.1 per cent to damage millions of lives."

What does that last sentence even mean? Affect health by 0.1%. Complete and utter gibberish. Why the fuck didn't someone at bmj.com throw this back at the the idiot doctor?

But wait a minute.

The piece goes on the suggest that Santa also might encourage drink-driving and sitting on his knee might spread swine-flu.
While Santa is now banned from smoking, images of him enjoying a pipe or cigar can still be found on Christmas cards. Father Christmas could also potentially promote drink-driving, argued Grills, referring to the tradition of leaving Santa Claus a brandy to wish him well on his travels. And in a further blow to one of the central symbols of Christmas, Dr Grills claimed Santa also had the potential to spread harmful diseases. "If Santa sneezes or coughs around 10 times a day, all the children who sit on his lap may end up with swine flu as well as their Christmas present," he said.
Even though the source of this article is Australian, I'm inclined to belive that it is a festive piss-take. I bloody hope so! If not then there are some sad fucks at Monash University with too much time on their hands. You can read the whole article at bmj.com but, unless you are a subscriber, you'll have to fork out £11.50 for that pleasure! Now that IS a piss-take. I can buy a fucking BOOK for that money!

Via An Englishman's Castle

Oooh, what a card!

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I see both Guido and Dizzy comment on John Bercow's 'Godless' Christmas card. I'm not sure what's wrong with 'Godless' cards. Most of the ones I've sent out and received have no reference to God, Jesus or any other religious symbol on them, but mostly snowmen, fat Santas, crackers and lot's of jokes. Dizzy is concerned not with the Godlessness but with what he sees as the narcissism of using a picture of yourself and your family.

Personally, I think it's a very sweet picture. Not narcissistic in the slightest. Unlike the Christmas card the Blairs sent out, and which Guido couldn't help referring to again, mentioning, in passing, ahem, that he had received one. Oooh, er, missus.

Brewery...Piss-up

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Copenhagen summit veering towards farce, warns Ed Miliband
http://www.citris-uc.org/files/cop_logo_1_r.jpgThe climate change summit in Copenhagen was in jeopardy tonight with the complex negotiations falling far behind schedule as the climate secretary, Ed Miliband, warned of a "farce". With just two days remaining, the inability to overcome disagreements about the shape of a deal to combat global warming led to hours of inaction today , while outside the negotiations police clashed with protesters who broke through a security cordon but failed in an attempt to storm the conference centre. "We have made no progress" said a source close to the talks. "What people don't realise is that we are now not really ready for the leaders. These talks are now 18 hours late." More than 115 world leaders arrive tomorrow and on Friday and had expected only to bargain over the final details in a prepared draft agreement but the earlier impasse could condemn the talks to failure.
It's not in danger of turning into a farce, it's been a farce from day one. Indeed it was always going to be a farce. Even if some deal is finally cobbled together it will have absolutely no effect on what countries actually do. China will do what it damn well pleases as will the USA. And why not? Who will stop them. Who will sanction them? The whole thing is complete nonsense.

And the idea that we need to get 115 world leaders together in some god-forsaken corner of Denmark for any reason whatsoever, let alone for this pathetic waste of time, is plain bonkers.

Save the planet? Jeez, these tossers can't even organise a conference.

"Vomitous eruptions of moral nullity"

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Chris Floyd: Miraculous Organ: Blair, Obama and the Narcissist's Defense
In recent days we have all witnessed two vomitous eruptions of moral nullity that would tax the powers of a Voltaire or a Vidal to do them proper justice; they quite o'er-crow the meager gifts of a hack like me. But I will sketch a few observations here nonetheless, if only to add one more small voice to those few who bear witness to the evils perpetrated by our unaccountable leaders.

We speak of course of Barack Obama's Nobel speech and Tony Blair's recent comments on the Iraq War.

Read the whole article

Lardarses for Jesus

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Christian Missionaries Are Doing God’s Work
Fat ChristiansI leaned over to one of my teammates. "Why are there so many fat, white people on the plane? We're going to Ethiopia. We're flying Ethiopian Airlines."

"They're missionaries," she responded, completely uninterested.

"What?" I gasped. It had never occurred to me. I was not pleased.

Everything became so obvious. The Texas drawls. The recitations of Bible verses. The prayers. The seasoned braggarts recounting their prior trips to the Horn of Africa. The newbies airing out their nerves. They couldn't wait to get to Africa to start saving souls for Jesus. I wasn't sure I could take a full day of travel with a cabin full of bombastic Texas Christian missionaries, giddy with evangelical fervor. I tried to force myself to sleep.
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