Remember, remember, the fifth of November

Whilst Halloween is being prepared for, and maybe Guy Fawkes Night too, what better way to get used to the clock-rollback time than to sit back with a nice hot cup of tea and read the news. Well, that's what I'd be doing if I wasn't writing this right now.

So, on with the headlines.

Do you remember collecting those football/animal stickers as a kid and filling up your albums with them? Well times have changed. Now you get to collect pictures of your local bobbies. Just ask a passing policeman for his card and stick it in the book. One downside I see with this. Children are most likely to get loads of stickers for little time outlay if they go direct to accidents/burglary locations and ask the 20 policeman there...

For those of you who didn't read one of my previous posts about chinese censorship, then maybe this will be of interest. In preperation for the Olympics there the big bad censorship machine has rolled out it's newest weapon, namely the full net censorship clampdown. One wonders if that means that during the games only chinese winners will be named to the outside world...

When one thinks of what is necessary to show the public in order to become a politician I'm sure one of the first things on thew list will be honesty (whether or not they actually show this attribute after being voted is another matter). Well, in Mexico they must think things differently, as one politician even cheated at a running race in Berlin...

Want a new pet? Not just for Christmas? How about a pig? Too big you say? Not these ones. Yep, get your domestic pig in pint size now...

Everyone knows that census is an important thing. Filling in the forms help to let everyone know about the population of a country, so most people wouldn't bat an eyelid before filling in the form. But how would they feel, if they were forced to stay at home this day and await government representatives? Well, that's what the population of Peru ere forced to do. Maybe they will be forced to stay at home on election days, football wins, etc...

And finally the best way to stop speeding on the roads. Cameras? Police presence? Speed Bumps? How about an advert showing that speeding isn't big (in every sense of the word). Yes, in Australia this advert has been shown and apparently has had a very good response. Go on, have a look.

So another roundup done, getting the pumpkin ready for tomorrow and wrapping up warm round the fire (or is that TV nowadays?).

Spook you soon...

Chillies, Imperial Clocks and Hoovers

So, after visiting the Great British Cheese Festival (missed the beer one this year) and waddling out of there a good couple of pounds heavier, what better way to let everything settle down than with some good hot chillies.

Except of course if you happen to be a chef in Soho who's premises have just been surrounded by police in chemical warfare suits after a cloud of smoke was seen escaping from his building. Now there's something that'll tingle your taste buds...

And before you say, well that just proves that chillies are no good, scientists have managed to make an anaesthetic out of them too.

Now down to Australia. A visitor to a courtroom had a rather embarrassing time recently. His phone went off, and before he had managed to switch it off (after over 20 seconds) everyone had heard that he didn't use a normal ringtone, instead he had the sound of a woman moaning in satisfaction. Maybe that was after using her new mp3 player from my last entry...

And staying in the land down under, a burglar was apparently incriminated after leaving DNA on some rubber gloves he had used at the scene. What was worse for him was that this was no ordinary burglary, rather one involving a hoover as a pleasure aid. I don't think I'll go into more detail there (read the link if you want all the info).

Moving further north we come to China. Here officials have apparently admitted that the Three-Gorges-Dam project has been an environmental catastrophe, and will be worse still if something isn't done to help it right away. Nice to know governments can play around with their parts of the world without thinking about the future of the rest of us...

Now onto the United States. Yes, only here do politicians manage to take God to court. This case is actually to show how ridiculous some recent cases have been, but the fact that it He can be sued through the courts has to show something about the system that they use.

Down south one comes to Venezuela. Here president Chavez decided to put their clocks back 30 mins in order to show that the country is not dependent on the imperial country of the US. However, slight hickup. He actually got mixed up when giving the population the 5 days of warning, and told them to put the clocks forward by mistake. The adjustment has now been postponed til the end of the year, to allow everyone to make their arrangements.

Conspiracy theorists get out your tin hats. Turkey is to be thrown out of the EU? Not quite the news that everyone was expecting, but if you see the new face of the 2 Euro coin, maybe you'll also start believing.

And finally, ever wanted to know why men need to shave? Or why they really don't want to be left alone with the baby? Check this page out for the whole story.

So, back to the grinder, or rather, the kitchen. Guests again, so got to prepare all that cheese (gromit).

Eat up...