Armistice day-lest we forget

Poppy

FIFA have disallowed the England football team from wearing poppies this weekend.

As someone just mentioned in pmq's. On Xmas day in the Somme, both sides laid down their arms and played a game of football. Armistice/Remembrance day is a day to remember why we should never return to the dark days of war. A poppy is a symbol for peace-for all the world.

Autumn days

Causeway Bay 

Amusing today as I walked through Causeway Bay. It was blowy, and felt lovely and fresh.Looking at the throngs of people though, and it looked like a winter's day in London.Jackets were on and zipped right up, heads were , and the pace was much faster than usual.I even saw couples hugged close together against the elements.I felt like a Geordie in my t-shirt on a Christmas night out. The temperature?.....19c

I told you so?

CNN - Europe populist parties feed off crisis sense

Could Greece lead Europe to war?

C.Mercer 7.11.11

This is not a prediction, more of a worst case scenario. Some would say far-fetched, but modern history would say otherwise.

Greece will now hold elections around February. Who will the people vote for. Will they choose the most sensible option of a government that will follow the punitive austerity measures as needed to pay for the massive debt caused by decades of not paying any tax? Or will they choose a party who will water down the measures and possibly take it to bankruptcy? Or will even more radical groups emerge? Throughout modern European history those countries brought to their knees by financial mismanagement  have headed into extremism, left or right. A nation's wounded pride is a dangerous thing. As resentment and nationalism increase so does   the   chance of conflict. This happened with both Germany and Italy, and more recently with the former Yugoslavia. Greece borders the Balkans, and the relationship has never been easy. The Republic of Macedonia on Greece's northern border annoyed Greece from the start for stealing the name of the northern state of Macedonia in Greece. Then of course there is Turkey, a rise of nationalism can do no favours for that relationship.  The peoples of the former Yugoslavian states seem very nice today, but back in 1992 as I hitched through war-torn Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, I saw the hate that comes with war first hand. When a country has its back to the wall, it is those with the loudest voices (and biggest fists/guns) that tend to be heard. Athens has already been affected again and again with violence because of the anger of its people. How about Italy, also on the edge, maybe a much bigger edge? No, Italy would never be ruled by a charismatic leader who will do anything to retain power, would it?

It is worth remembering during these times why the European union was founded in the first place, to prevent war and encourage communication between all of the people throughout Europe who have always, constantly and for millennia done nothing but kill each other.

Universe

1 year ago

2 Little boys

Brothers-Jo and Jack

Human

Run

missing

Happy birthday little boy.

Happy birthday to my little angel,Jack Loreno. Happy 8th birthday little boy
And Happy birthday to his mother, my wife, may you find peace and happiness this year.

one year

2 weeks away from a whole year.The last night I went into Jack's bedroom,I kissed him goodnight,trying desperately to hold back my tears.I told him I love him,and I hope he will be a good boy for his mother

Then I went into Joseph's bedroom,Joseph already knew something very wrong was happening.I explained to Joseph that I would be away for a very long time and that it was his job to be the man of the family and be brave.I also told him that my leaving had nothing to do with him or his brother,and that adults sometimes argue. I kissed him and held him for so long,I couldn't hold my tears back.He also cried but the same as me he tried to hide it.I then went downstairs and completely broke down and sobbed-alone. The next morning as they went to school I tried desperately to be brave,but instead was short(in time not temper) with them. I once again broke down when they left.Later as I was leaving and my taxi had arrived,my wife,who had not spoken to me for a month,came and kissed me. One year.

How to get out of a prison term in Hong Kong.

How to get out of a prison term in Hong Kong. 1. Be a very rich banker 2. Have an expert invent a fictional mental illness.
"But he (the judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap)accepted a defense submission that Yan Shen suffers from "dependent personality disorder."
http://bit.ly/n0U0vY

Lasers

http://youtu.be/C4FCu0snv2o

Banker escapes jail for having gun. Hong Kong, where you can flout the law, if you are rich!

One rule for the rich-again! If this guy had been a dishwasher he would have got 5 years, if this is not corruption then I don't know what is. He was found at the airport with a gun and ammo! Ignorance is not a legal defence, and he must be a bloody stupid (b/w)anker not to know that guns are not allowed on planes. THIS IDIOT SHOULD BE IN JAIL.
Rthk-
Banker escapes jail for having gun
06-10-2011
A senior banker has escaped a prison sentence for possessing an unlicensed gun found in his luggage at Chek Lap Kok airport. Yan Shen, 43, was ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service and fined HK$50,000.

Mr Yan, who headed the North Asia institutional clients group of Deutsche Bank Asia, was arrested in May when a pistol and ammunition were discovered during a search of his baggage.

District Court Judge Yau said the case was a special one. Judge Yau said he did not accept the defendant's explanation that he was unaware it was illegal to possess firearms.

However, Judge Yau said he'd decided not to jail Mr Yan because he was suffering from a "dependent personality disorder," and a prison term might affect his treatment.

The charge of possessing firearms without a licence carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail and a HK$100,000 fine.  The gun was found in his luggage at the screening checkpoint in the departure immigration hall of Chek Lap Kok airport. 

iquote

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Steve Jobs (2005)

Robbed

I have just been well and truly fleeced.Bought a battery charger,which charges everything at WanChai computer centre yesterday for $235.went to the bank today and was surprised I had no money,I went home and found out I had been charged $2350! Went back to the shop and basically they told me to fuck off.twice I had asked them the price and both times they had said 235,I remember shit like that! In the cop shop now Sunday at 2:53pm via BlackBerry
But it is their word against mine-not a good day! Sunday at 2:54pm
Police basically won't do anything,but I got a case number and officially requested all their notes on the case so I can show the bank and consumer council. I now have the world's most expensive charger,anyone looking for a portable universal charger?
If the shop had made an honest mistake,then when I took the unused boxed product back 12 hours later, then they would have given me my money back,but no, these people are robbing bastard mutherfuckers.
The shop is on the first floor of Wanchai Computer Centre. If you know the layout,it is at the back right hand corner.It sells some laptops and accessories,there is a camera/phone shop opposite. If you don't know the layout it is called Manu Digi Creation Co. Shop number 114-115, 1st floor e-mail manudigi@hotmail.com.hk
Tel 34899822