The Cat, the middle aged woman and the wheeliebin... not a lot of compassion around

It's been a while since I have had the urge to write up my blog but today a story that's all over the news prompts me to do so!

This is the story of the Cat, the middle aged woman and the wheeliebin. I saw this story develop yesterday and go 'viral', as they say these days, within hours of it coming to my attention on Facebook when one of my friends posted a link to it yesterday morning. Within hours, it was all over the place.

By lunchtime even SKY News were mentioning the story... and last night, most TV and radio media news outlets were carrying it. Here's a video from ITN news that shows what all the hullabaloo is about:



I am pretty sure the first reaction most of us have when seeing this video is one of shock and anger at the wickedness we see on the CCTV footage. I think it's understandable to be angry at the woman. It's also shocking to see a seemingly normal middle aged lady act in this way... to act so cruelly... to show such lack of compassion for a "living breathing creature", as the cat owner herself described it this morning on a phone in on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The thing is... and what prompts me to write today... is that there seems to me to be a lot of lack of compassion ALL around this story!

For starters, and for the sake of those of you who may think I am making some sort of apology for this woman's action... the woman of course, shows NO compassion at all for 'a living breathing creature'... and clearly that is very wrong!

But people's reactions to her action also seem to me to be very lacking in any compassion. I can understand people being angry... but some comments I've heard and read are quite vitriolic... even violent! One friend, who shall remain nameless, told me... and I quote:

"I'd kill that Bitch... I would hunt her down trust me! Why would someone want to do that???? I'd shove her in the bin and hide the bin and fix the lid so she couldn't get out! Oh she'd suffer... trust me!"

This made me laugh... and in this instance I know this particular lady could not hurt a fly... she's too nice (though she may think she's a bitch lol) but it does exemplify the very strong comments being made by many people today.

The other side of the coin are the people who are actually congratulating the woman for wanting to get rid of 'another effing cat'! I've seen some horrible comments made by people who actually think all cats are vermin and should be cruelly eliminated... in all sorts of uncolourful ways! Certainly not much compassion there!! Personally, I think these people are a bit sick. I cannot understand why or how it is that a sane, balanced human being can have such feelings towards a cat... or any 'living, breathing creature' for that matter!

But coming back to the yet unidentified middle aged woman... I can't help feeling a certain compassion for her today. Many I know, will be happy at the suffering this woman must be going through right now. Imagine... She must surely have seen herself on the news by now... so must her family have done! They must already be aware and will possibly have confronted her about it... they are in fear, wondering what to do.. wondering what is going to happen to her? She may be some guy's wife (God help him! lol), a mother, a daughter, a sister??

My point is, while what this woman did to the cat is clearly very wrong... I think we should have compassion for her. What makes a person do such a thing? Cruelty, yes... but why? To my mind... this woman has a problem... she's not 'right in the head' as we might say... bloody mental others might say! Either way, treating her with our anger... I don't think shows much compassion. I know she didn't show much compassion for the cat... but surely if that is wrong, so is not showing another human being some compassion!

I hope they identify this woman soon and that she gets the help she needs. A person who has such little compassion for another 'living, breathing creature' clearly needs help and our compassion... not our anger and punishment... in my humble view! :)

Update:

Since I wrote this earlier, it's now being reported that the woman has been found and the RSCPA are set to interview woman who dumped cat in wheelie bin

In my Inbox today... Did you hear the one about the Bristol Zoo Car Park Attendant?

In my inbox today... the apparently true story and 'bit of a wheeze'... concerning a Car Park Attendant at Bristol Zoo.

An email currently circulating, tells the story as follows:

Outside Bristol Zoo, there is a car park for 150 cars and 8 coaches. It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 and coaches £5. This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years. Then one day... he just didn't turn up for work!

"Oh well", said Bristol Zoo Management, "we'd better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant..."

"Err no", said the Council, "that car park is your responsibility"...

"Err no", said Bristol Zoo Management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council... wasn't he?"

"Err NO!"

Sitting in his villa in Spain, is a bloke who had been taking the car park fees, estimated at £400 per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years!!

Assuming 7 days week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million... Fanbloodytastic!!

Nice story huh? Would that it were true! Unfortunately... it isn't!

According to snopes.com, this tale is "purely the stuff of fiction rather than fact".

The Bristol Zoo says it has never experienced any confusion over parking attendants, and that it has several attendants and more than one car park, none open to coaches. Moreover, in response to Snopes.com inquiries about the tale, a Bristol Zoo representative said:

We have had numerous similar enquiries lately but I can assure you that this rumour is not true.

A version of this story also appeared in the Bristol Evening Post back in 2007 but it was as part of a feature on urban myths published to coincide with April Fool's Day, not as a reporting of a real-life event.

Sad... I'd like it to have been true!

Bristol Zoo

Bristol Zoo Gardens is a 12 acre site in Clifton that is run by the The Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society Ltd.

Awarded ‘Zoo of the Year 2004’ by the Good Britain Guide, Bristol Zoo Gardens has a continuous reputation for excellence, innovation, and dedication to conservation. It’s the fifth oldest zoo in the world and the oldest outside of a capital city, and a long established major tourist attraction in Bristol.

There's no such thing as bad publicity! I bet though... that the carpark attendants at Bristol Zoo these days... are absolutely fed up of being asked... if they work for the Council, the Zoo... or themselves!!

A little "hand of hope"... an amazing story or a hoax?

I am grateful to Sancho, blogging at Tilting at Windmills, who posted this amazing story following a moving email a reader of his blog sent him.

The email, with the subject line "Hand of Hope" read as follows:

Please read before viewing picture - it's worth it!

A picture began circulating in November. It should be ‘The Picture of the Year,’ or perhaps, ‘Picture of the Decade.’ It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it.

The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner.

The baby was diagnosed with Spina Bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville , he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr.Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.

The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, 'Hand of Hope.' The text explaining the picture begins, 'The tiny hand of 21-week- old foetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life.'

Little Samuel's mother said they 'wept for days' when they saw the picture. She said: ‘The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person.’ Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful.

Now see the actual picture - and how awesome and completely incredible it is.... pass it on. The world needs to see this one!

This is the picture:



An amazing story or a hoax?

Some readers of 'Tilting at Windmills' took exception when one of them, showing prudence, checked this story out.

Frankly, when I first read it, my instinct was to do the same. Call me a cynic if you like. The fact is, there are far too many hoax emails constantly going around and arriving in my inbox on a regular basis. All you have to do is check out places like Urban Legends or Hoax-Slayer to verify what I am saying is the reality... and that hoaxing emails abound!

This one however, is true... but it has to be said, the email does exagerate a touch!

According to About.com's Urban Legends' Analysis, the amazing photo (above) was taken by Michael Clancy and originally published in USA Today and The Tennessean on September 7, 1999, is authentic. It began circulating via email within weeks of its first appearance in newspapers.

The accompanying text is basically accurate, as well. The photo was taken during a surgery performed by Dr. Joseph Bruner and Dr. Noel Tulipan at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville on August 19, 1999 to treat a 21-week-old foetus for spina bifida. The operation was a success, and three months later a healthy Samuel Alexander Armas was delivered by C-section.

Doubts have been raised about the assertion that the foetus actually reached out of the opening in the womb to grasp the surgeon's finger, inasmuch as there are at least three different accounts of precisely what happened at that moment, two of them from eyewitnesses:

This amazing photo, taken by Michael Clancy and originally published in USA Today and The Tennessean on September 7, 1999, is authentic. It began circulating via email within weeks of its first appearance in newspapers.

The accompanying text is basically accurate, as well. The photo was taken during a surgery performed by Dr. Joseph Bruner and Dr. Noel Tulipan at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville on August 19, 1999 to treat a 21-week-old foetus for spina bifida. The operation was a success, and three months later a healthy Samuel Alexander Armas was delivered by C-section.

Doubts have been raised about the assertion that the foetus actually reached out of the opening in the womb to grasp the surgeon's finger, inasmuch as there are at least three different accounts of precisely what happened at that moment, two of them from eyewitnesses:

• Email text (above): "During the surgery on little Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed, hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger."



• Photographer Michael Clancy: "Samuel came out from under anesthesia too soon and thrust his clenched fist out of the surgical opening to his mother's womb. In my opinion, Samuel was in pain. Dr. Joseph Bruner reached over and gently lifted Samuel's hand, and Samuel reacted by squeezing the doctor's finger."



• Surgeon Joseph Bruner: "Depending on your political point of view, this is either Samuel Armas reaching out of the uterus and touching the finger of a fellow human, or it's me pulling his hand out of the uterus ... which is what I did."

Urban Legends analysis summarises:

"Perhaps it all boils down to semantics. Dr. Bruner has stated elsewhere that Samuel's hand "appeared" in the uterine opening before he reached out and lifted it, lending credence to photographer Clancy's version of events. In any case, although it appears the email does exaggerate when it says the foetus "reached ... through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger," something akin to that really did happen.

Such quibbles don't lessen the impact of the photograph itself, which Dr. Bruner has described as "powerful" and Michael Clancy calls "miraculous." It should come as no surprise that both the image and Samuel Armas' success story have figured prominently in the abortion debate ever since."

So... there you have it... this amazing story is true... and it did happen. I hope you were as moved by it as I was!

Update on Samuel Armas

Here's an update on little Samuel, written by Charles W. Colson on BreakPoint Commentary in January 2000.

Samuel, the baby in the photograph, was born healthy and active five weeks after his operation.

Today, instead of looking forward to life as a paraplegic, he enjoys the prospect of running and playing like other kids.

You can read more here.

The last available update on young Samuel was posted on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, around 2003... and at that time, he was coming along: Samuel Armas.

I wonder how he is today? He should be nine years old now? I do hope he's growing up healthily and well!

Gibraltar... or Fraggle Rock the home of tea swilling crumpet eating money laundering pirate monkeys since the cavepeople

Did you know that Gibraltar was a large rock inhabited by cavepeople until 1704... since when it has been "lorded over by the British"?

Did you know that it is universally accepted that Gibraltar must never fall to the Spanish "because the monkeys WILL leave"?

Apparently, Oscar Wilde once said... "lets not pretend that Gibraltar is anything more than a rock"... and no he didn't invent the term 'Fraggle Rock' for it... and having said that, neither do I have any idea who did!

How well do you know Gibraltar's history? I bet you didn't know that in the 1700s Gibraltar was captured by evil fascist money laundering pirates who spoke Gibberish and were sent by the evil General Franco... or that the day was saved by James Bond who used his secret agent British skills to trick the pirates into jumping off the top of the rock like lemmings!

Are you aware that since 1704, when the British took over Gibraltar, Gibraltarians have been British and drink tea and eat crumpets with the rest of them? Well that is a fact. As is the fact that it was agreed it would be British forever under the Treaty of Utrecht and the Spanish have been trying to break that ever since. That IS mostly definitely... a fact!

Now... this may be true too. The people of Gibraltar are possibly the most confused people in existence, or who have ever existed.

A typical family group can be seen in this picture above.

They all speak Gibberish - in fact, they invented the language. They scorn the Slops, otherwise erroneously named (but not in my view) the Spanish, and the Giris, i.e. anyone else not from Gibraltar.

Fraggle Rock (as it should be more properly known) and it´s hangers on also expect everything for nothing, having been cocooned from birth from the outside world, and spoilt rotten by their mothers. Whatever you do when visiting Fraggle Rock, for God's sake don't try to chat up any Fraggle women. Fraggle men will immediately try to kill you, as they view all women in Fraggle Rock as a rare commodity available to only them.... and I have to say, what's wrong with that?

Uncyclopedia

All these gems and many other morsels of great import... can be found in Gibraltar - Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia... a spoof website of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,. Perhaps it has to be said, whilst Wikipedia is a great and very informative site, sometimes it does take itself a little too seriously. Then again... perhaps as it should be.

Gibraltar - Uncyclopedia is hilariously funny and well worth a visit... and I congratulate whoever has created or contributed to this very funny satirical compendium of useless and totally untrue... well actually nearly totally untrue bits and pieces of information about Gibraltar. I much enjoyed the visit!

Wikipedia - The REAL free encyclopedia

A more truer (well pretty much) version and possibly more accurate information page on Gibraltar can be found at Gibraltar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'Auntie Beeb' has lost all sense of decorum!

Sheeesh! Is nothing sacred anymore?

On BBC1 just now... in between the ending of Traffic Cops and the 10 o'clock news, the duty presenter said:

"Now... on BBC2... a couple of reasons to join Graham Norton... Katie Price!"

Funny maybe... I do have a sense of humour... and I don't mind a bit of... well ok, maybe even a lot of political incorrectness... I do enough of it myself... but.... come on... do we want it from presenters on the BBC? Where's all the decorum gone at 'Auntie Beeb'? Oh... which reminds me... wasn't it the BBC who censored Carol Thatcher for remarking about 'golliwogs'!!

In any case... I'm afraid... Jordan just doesn't do it for me. I like my 'couple of things' to come with another thing... a brain up top! Oh... and as I understand it... they're false anyway aren't they? What do I know about such things!


Read more about Jordan (Katie Price) @ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cafe Grumpy... a little corner of Gibraltar in the 'Big Apple'

My old friend John Cortes, the 'man at the helm' at GONHS (Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society) wrote to me recently giving me the 'heads up' on an interesting story... about a little corner of Gibraltar in the 'Big Apple'... New York!

Cafe Grumpy, with two branches in New York City and soon to be three, is run by Caroline Bell and her husband Chris. Caroline has firm Gibraltar roots as she is the daughter of Gibraltarian Lucille Cortes and Nick Bell, who worked at the Gibraltar Branch of Barclays Bank in the 1970s.

Cafe Grumpy has a coffee shop in Manhattan and another in Brooklyn and will soon be opening a third New York venue... and they all sound like the perfect place... for a 'grumpy old Gibo' and coffee lover like me!

Cafe Grumpy has just been voted as "the best cup of coffee in New York" by a 'Readers's Choice' poll in the distinguished Eat Out Awards 2009 - Best restaurants and bars in NYC - Time Out New York!

Gibraltarians who visit New York should not fail to call at a branch of Cafe Grumpy for the best coffee in NYC... and no doubt a warm welcome! To find all their current locations click here.

Coffee and Gibraltar connections in the US of A

The connections between Gibraltar, coffee and our cousins across the pond do not end there.

I am subscribed to Google email alerts for 'keywords' I am interested in... and naturally one of them is 'Gibraltar'. Recently, I started to receive 'alerts' about posts and websites talking about 'The Gibraltar'. I was also seeing them coming up on my Twitter tweets... with many people mentioning they had just enjoyed a 'Gibraltar' or similar!

Intrigued, I of course had to have a look... and was amused to find that this relates to Cafe Grumpy... indirectly I understand (though my 'informed sources' could be wrong) and an interesting new fad in trendy 'Stateside' cafes... over a particular cup of coffee that has become highly sought after and known as 'A Gibraltar'

Here's a write up about it.. in Espresso News and Reviews @ TheShot.coffeeratings.com. They're not very complimentary... calling it "The Gibraltar: Fool’s Cappuccino"... indeed, they would like to 'defrock' it! Oh dear! lol

According to Espresso News and Reviews, 'The Gibraltar' originated in San Francisco (where they are based... what a surprise) and has since spread to Los Angeles (Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea), New York (Cafe Grumpy naturally) and now London (Climpson & Sons).

Anyhow... not wishing to embroil myself in this particular debate, (which sounds to me a bit 'up their asses' anyway), but in order to explain a little more to you about 'The Gibraltar', I thought you might be interested to read what else Espresso News and Reviews have to say and why they wish to 'defrock' a cup of coffee:

"The purpose of this post is to demystify, debunk, and, well, defrock the Gibraltar before the misconceptions behind this invasive species are allowed to propagate any further."

ha ha... Serious stuff!

So what is the Gibraltar? Espresso News and Reviews explains:

"Technically speaking, it’s the registered name for a line of glassware tumblers from Ohio-based Libbey Inc.

So what does any of this have to do with coffee? Prior to opening Blue Bottle Coffee Co.’s first SF café in Hayes Valley in January 2005, owner James Freeman experimented and tuned variables for his café by making cappuccinos in 4.5-oz versions of these cheap restaurant supply glasses. He offered these practice runs to his staff and to employees of the Dark Garden corset shop down the street.

Word of mouth spread, and these test beverages needed a name. Steve Ford, then a barista and roasting colleague of James at Blue Bottle (and now head roaster at Ritual Coffee Roasters), apparently found inspiration from the packaging for these glasses.

Thus the Gibraltar was born out of a combination of happenstance and an inside joke. Except now the joke has gone global."

It has indeed... as has their snotty, 'up their ass' tone!

I wonder what Caroline Bell might have to say about this?? I am very much hoping she has not been tainted by this sort of inane 'faddy' twatishness that seems to surround the Cafe glitterati in some corners of the US... after all, she is of Llanita blood... and in my experience we are far more down to earth... and 'feet firmly planted' than that... well usually we are! Here's hoping!

Having said that.. and being a coffee lover as I said... I would love to try a cup of 'A Gibraltar'... see what all the fuss is about. I'm going to have to see if I can organise a trip sometime... maybe even to Caroline's Cafe Grumpy in NYC!

I take my hat off to... Private Leon 'Willy' Wilson... the luckiest soldier in the Brtish Army

I just had to add this one to my series of posts were 'I take my hat off...' to people who have distinguished themselves in some way... at least in my humble opinion!!

This is the amazing story of Private Leon 'Willy' Wilson... who just has to be THE luckiest soldier in the British Army!

Private Wilson, a Territorial Army soldier currently serving in Afghanistan, has survived a shot from a Taliban sniper which went through his combat helmet, straight through the forehead pad and out the other side!

Private Leon 'Willy' Wilson, aged 32 from Manchester, is currently deployed in Afghanistan on attachment to 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) [2 MERCIAN].

An hour after his miraculous escape, he had found another helmet and carried on fighting!

On 10 April 2009, the unit was involved in a fierce battle with Taliban insurgents in the village of Khowshhal Kalay, to the west of the capital of Helmand, Lashkar Gah.

Pte Wilson was on a roof with Afghan soldiers, as well as an artillery fire controller, and another officer directing the Apache helicopter gunships overhead.



Pte Wilson said:

"I got engaged by an enemy machine gun. Someone popped a smoke grenade to show the Apaches where we were. As the smoke billowed out the shot hit me in the head."

He had been hit in the head by a 7.62mm bullet, which passed in one side of his helmet, travelled around the armoured shell, and out the other side about four inches (10 centimetres) away, the impact of which threw him on his back.

Pte Wilson, who is normally a self-employed electrician, said:

"I was on the roof of a compound, sitting on an ammo box to fire the GPMG [General Purpose Machine Gun] over the wall. I took my finger off the trigger and the shot hit my helmet.

I was knocked clean off my position and landed on my back; I had my eyes shut. Private Wayne Withers was next to me - I asked him if I'd been shot. He was just staring at me in amazement and swearing, and he said 'yes'. The medic was looking queasy - I don't think anyone wanted to take my helmet off."

Pte Wilson was completely untouched by the bullet!

His commander Captain Rob Agnew dubbed him the 'luckiest private', adding:

"Willy's a good lad - and a good soldier."

Now isn't that absolutely amazing? Brilliant... and naturally, I take MY hat off to 'Lucky 'Willy' Wilson! Good luck to him and his fellow comrades in arms... I hope they all stay safe and well for the remainder of their deployment!

You can read more about Private Leon 'Willy' Wilson's story here:

Ministry of Defence | Defence News | Military Operations | TA soldier survives head shot from a Taliban sniper

MI5 gets the message on Scientific Advice... 40 years too late

I read today, with complete incredulity... that the British security service MI5 is recruiting a chief scientific adviser to ‘lead and co-ordinate’ its scientific work.

WHAT?? Does this mean that the British security services... in 2009... in the 21st century... hasn't had a 'chief scientific adviser'... for years already?? Unbelievable!!

But... there you have it... according to the Beeb's Science and Environment website... that's how things are with our spy catchers.

Despite being shown the way long ago by the likes of James Bond and 'Q' for over 40 years, (Q first appeared in 1962 in Dr No) our frontline defences on security have not had someone scientifically advising our spies... during all this time. Amazing!!

Ah well... better late than never I suppose one would say with typical British phlegm. I wonder what the cousins make of this??

Anyhow... apparently, the the job is being advertised on the MI5 website, with the successful applicant expected to use their expertise to thwart terror operations around the world! (You don't say!)

Candidates for the ‘unique and challenging’ role need to have ‘world-class scientific expertise and credibility’, ‘excellent strategic skills’, ‘outstanding influencing and communication skills’ as well as a successful track record of ‘managing critical projects and processes in a complex environment’.

The post will take up two or three days a week, the advert says. Hmmm... so only part time too! It gets better!

According to the Government's chief scientific adviser, Professor John Beddington, the new recruit will have to keep up with the latest scientific developments to ensure British intelligence stays one step ahead of the country's enemies.

If all this wasn't so serious... it would be laughable... well it IS laughable but... I'm still amazed... stunned!!

Here's something I strongly recommended to applicants... James Bond 007: Q Manual... and I would add to whoever is selected... the best of British luck to you mate... you're going to need it!!

Oh... I just had a brilliant thought! I do recall a very suitable candidate may have recently become available on the job market. I am led to believe this chap is apparently very good with poison (hmmm.. but not so good with computer literacy)! Perhaps our man at Westminster... the esteemed Guido Fawkes might like to offer a good letter of reference??

Read more on 'Q' and James Bond on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Search for more on 'Q' and James Bond at Amazon.co.uk

In my Inbox today... the amazing story of Irena Sendler

The email that arrived in my inbox today was titled with the subject "Amazing Story... must read!"

With a cynical sigh (as we do)... I read on.

"The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving..." the email went on, "it goes to those who want to push the agenda."

Intrigued... I read on... to find this really IS an amazing story!

This is the story of a lady called Irena Sendler. The email said:

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ' ulterior motive ' ... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German [sic - in fact she was Polish]).

Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids.) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.

Eventually of course, she was caught and the Nazis broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunite the family. Most, of course, had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize... She was not selected... as Al Gore won... for a slide show on Global Warming!

LET'S SEND THIS ONE AROUND THE WORLD!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS HER... May she rest in Peace.

Irena Sendler on Wikipedia

Irena Sendler (in Polish also: Irena Sendlerowa; de domo Krzyżanowska; February 15, 1910 – May 12, 2008) was a Polish Catholic social worker.

During World War II, she was a member of the Polish Underground and the Żegota resistance organization in Warsaw.

Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, providing false documents and sheltering them in individual or group children's homes outside the ghetto.

Her story was brought to light when students from Kansas found her story in a magazine and popularized it in a play, titled 'Life in a Jar'.

Life in a Jar

In 1999, Megan Stewart and her friends were inspired, by their high school history teacher Norman Conard in southeast Kansas, to investigate a small clipping on the life of an unsung hero, Irena Sendler.

When the students began their research, they found one website which mentioned her. Based on their findings, the students created a play, Life in a Jar (after her hiding place for documents).

After ten years, their play and the subsequent media attention had made her world famous. Read more...

Nobel nominee

In 2007, considerable publicity accompanied Sendler's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

While failed nominees for the award are not officially announced by the Nobel organization for 50 years, the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo reported in 2007 that Irena Sendler's nominator made public the nomination. Regardless of its legitimacy, talk of this nomination focused the spotlight on Sendler and her wartime contribution.

The 2007 award was presented to Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Read more...

Make sure Irena's amazing story goes around the world... share this (click 'SHARE' below) with your family and friends and ensure Irena receives the proper recognition and accolades she deserves!

I take my hat off to... the kid who painted giant phallus on parent's roof

Tonight... I'm taking my hat off to the teenager who painted a giant phallus on his parent's roof!

BBC - Newsbeat are reporting the story of this 18 year-old who secretly painted a 60ft drawing of a phallus on the roof of his parents' £1million mansion in Berkshire.

Apparently, it's been there for a year before his parents found out. They say he'll have to scrub it off when he gets back from travelling.

Is that funny or what! lol

Spanish Army reform to allow transgendered soldiers

Here's a story that will gladden the heart of every Gibraltarian... and which gives me a chance to show this picture (left) of some lovely sexy Spanish army girls.

In future... and in light of the following report, we may find it more difficult to make a distinction... as I do here. You may no longer be so sure of the actual gender of a Spanish soldier. I'm not even sure transgendered is the right way to describe this as the definition itself is still "in a state of flux"!

You see, according to my esteemed colleague Sancho, who this morning posted an interesting story over at Tilting at Windmills, a new reform in the Spanish Army may change its 'fighting' reputation forever... if indeed it ever had one... well apart from La Legion that is, whose motto is 'Los Novios de la Muerte' or 'The Grooms of Death'!

Apparently, the Spanish Government has just approved a reform that allows transsexuals or men without a penis to join the armed forces!

A Spanish government ministerial order overturns a medical restriction that has been in place for the past 20 years.

Sancho, in his post, wonders how Franco would have handled this? Well... with tweezers and rubber gloves, like any sensible man would, I should think! Moving on...

Understandably, Sancho reports that the associations of gays and transsexuals have welcomed the decision because they say, "no doubt correctly", that "the law was an indignity and violated the rights of the individual".

It appears that the situation reached a head (it's unclear whether this pun was intended) some months ago when a young transsexual of 29 years denounced the Armed Forces because it refused to allow him to enlist because he lacked the necessary male equipment.

When I pointed out this 'possible pun' in his story, Sancho replied:

"all puns are intended even if I didn't know it was a pun at the time!"

I'm happy to accept this... wise man our Sancho. I hope my readers show the same empathy towards my word splodgings!

Getting back to the story... in the Spanish army, transsexuals who in the past have kept their penis and testicles were able to enlist, whilst those who didn’t, couldn’t.

Sancho adds:

"Of course in days of old all they were interested in was that you could aim and shoot and nobody worried whether you were packing a piece or not.

However I must admit that if a kilted force – the famous ladies or in this case the lads from hell - who traditionally wear nothing under their skirts, attacked then raised their hems to reveal nothing underneath, it might, just might, have the enemy running off faster than you’d imagine."

ha ha! Yes, I remember the scene in 'Carry on up the Khyber' I think it was! If you've never seen this very funny film, to my mind one of THE best of the Carry on series of films, let me describe it:

It's 1895. The British colonisation of India continues despite the threat posed by the Khasi of Kalabar and his loyal army of Burpers. Rebellion seems imminent when it is discovered that the feared 3rd Foot in Mouth Regiment (The Devils in Skirts) actually wear underwear under their kilts. When the Khasi receives proof of this he starts an uprising among Bungdit Din's Burpers against the British forces under Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond. However Captain Keene leads a small group of men deep into India in an attempt to stop the approaching massacre.... as for the rest, you just have to see the film!

As for the Spanish Army... and soldiers lacking the 'right equipment'... well, the mind boggles... hardly bears thinking about. I'll tell you this... I'll never be able to look at a Spanish Legionnaire in the same way again! Not that I've ever been brave enough to look 'em straight in the eye before... these guys DID or DO have a reputation for violence!

Anyhow... I did think the article was interesting and well observed... and I told Sancho as much in a comment on his blog post, which I'd like to share with you here:

While most armies around the world (certainly in European countries) have long ago accepted women in their ranks... and quite rightly so... women are still not part of 'frontline' troops. In other words, those who do the actual fighting, again probably for good reason. One would assume this is possibly because 'they don't have what it takes'.

I say this cautiously as I don't want my comment to appear chauvinistic or macho. It's not intended to be.

But the thought strikes me... will these soldiers have 'what it takes' to fight, to be aggressive, violent, do the 'getting down and dirty'. Will they really have what it takes to 'stick it in them' when it comes to hand to hand combat? hmmm

(no I'm not smirking as I write... I'm actually falling about laughing!)

I said to Sancho, that I liked his (perhaps unintended) pun when he talked of "the young transsexual who denounced the Armed Forces because it refused to allow him to enlist because he lacked the necessary male equipment". So I asked him, when he said "the situation reached a head"... surely, it can't have been his own huh?

As you read above, Sancho did reply to my question, as to whether he had intended the pun... and clarified it admirably! I suspect he'll have more difficulty with the second question I posed!

Anyway... as an afterthought... this is of course all good news for Gibraltar I think... if ever things 'come to a head' in this particular dispute! ;)

Oh and yes... before anyone says it... I know this post is a touch puerile... but... you gotta have a larf eh!

Sorry Felix! ;)

In my Inbox today... more questions than answers!

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they already know there is not enough money?

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Why does someone
believe you when you say there are four billion stars; but have to check when you say the paint is still wet?

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Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

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Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

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Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

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Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

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If people evolved from apes,
why are there still apes?

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Why is it that no matter what colour bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

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Is there ever a day that mattresses
are not on sale?

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Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

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Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

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Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

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How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

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When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, 'That really hurt, why don't you watch where you're going?'

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Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

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In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

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How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

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And my FAVORITE......

The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

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The power of prayer... or of a picture

In my Inbox today... a beautiful picture of man's best and most faithful friend... or in this case, the little boy's!


The dog's intensity and concentration shows more sincerity than one might see in many people! Ya just gotta' love him!

Of all the stupid junk we receive every day over the Internet... occasionally, we get something like this... which just has to be shared... right? :)

In my Inbox today... a video of an amazing music machine!

In my Inbox today... the amazing video of an incredible music machine which was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa.

Watch this:



Absolutely remarkable right? Amazingly, 97% of the machine's components apparently came from John Deere Industries, who make tractors and farm machinery and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft Iowa. Yes... farm equipment! (presumbably except for the bongos!)

The email says it took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration and tuning before filming this video but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort.

It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

Ahhh... but wait just a second....

Hoax Slayer, famous for "debunking email hoaxes and exposing Internet scams since 2003"... in fact... perhaps sadly, two years ago, exposed this "incredible Music Machine from the University of Iowa"... excellent and remarkable as it is... as a prank... yet another of the many internet hoaxes that go (and come) around daily!!!

In December 2006, Hoax Slayer said the video itself is certainly an incredible and inspiring piece of work. However, far from being a remarkable work of engineering, it is in fact a very clever piece of computer animation and does not depict a real machine made of farm equipment at all!!

The video features a piece of music called Pipe Dream, (if you liked the video you'll love this link) that was created by Wayne Lytle and Dave Crognale and their team at Animusic, a content creation company located in Austin, Texas in the USA.

The company has created a number of quite amazing 3D computer graphics music animation videos that are available via the company website. According to information on the Animusic website:

"Both the graphics and the music are entirely digitally synthesized. Virtual instruments are invented by building computer graphics models of objects that would appear to create the sound of the corresponding music synthesizer track. Graphical instruments range from being reminiscent of existing instruments to arbitrarily abstract."

Some unknown prankster saw fit to create this email and fanciful tale to go along with the unusual video. No names no packdrill... but one can't help giving a sideways look at John Deere Industries and Bancroft of Iowa... a nice bit of advertising for them! :)

Even the university departments named in the message appear to be fictitious. There is no record of the 'Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory' or the 'Sharon Wick School of Engineering' at the University of Iowa... or anywhere else for that matter!

According to an article about the prank email, on Iowa's KCRG:

"The machine is supposedly a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering but if you search the campus high and low you’ll never find either of those buildings. They don’t exist."

Hoax Slayer rightfully concludes "there is no need to malign this fantastic animation by tacking on a foolish and totally fictitious cover story".

"Such clever work speaks for itself and needs no embellishment. Moreover, the real creators of the animation deserve credit for their genius."

If a friend forwards this email to you, now you can let them know the reality... and true origin of the remarkable 'farm machine music' video!! :)

Gibberish may derive from Llanito

Perhaps it comes as no surprise to many... but did you know that the term 'Gibberish' may have derived from the Llanito spoken in Gibraltar?

Well... Wikipedia thinks so!

Gibberish is a generic term in English. It means talking that sounds like speech, but has no actual meaning. This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text or gobbledygook. The common theme in gibberish statements is a lack of literal sense, which can also be described as a presence of nonsense.

A further definition of gibberish in Wiktionary, the free dictionary, says it is speech or writing that is unintelligible, incoherent or meaningless. (can often be seen here!)

A family of language games in English are sometimes referred to as "Gibberish". Comedian Sid Caesar was noted for what he called "double-talk", an ability to speak varieties of nonsense syllables that sounded as if he was speaking various foreign languages.

Origin of the term

According to Wikipedia, the term is first seen in English in the early 16th century. A common theory is that the word comes from the name of the famous 8th-century Islamic alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, whose name was Latinized as "Geber", thus the term "gibberish" arose as a reference to the incomprehensible technical jargon often used by Jabir and other alchemists who followed.

A second explanation, says Wikipedia, is from the British (sic) 'colony' (now of course, a British Overseas Territory) Gibraltar (from Arabic Gabal-Tariq, [Gibel Tarik] meaning Mountain of Tariq), whose residents frequently speak in Spanish and English during their conversations. Gibraltarians will often start a sentence in Spanish and switch to English halfway through, making it difficult for non-locals to follow.

Very true... we do!! :)

UPDATE: 21st February 2009 - 22:34

I have been contacted by Garrett Wesley Gibbons of Brigham Young University in the USA, who is currently blogging about a Gibraltar Documentary Film project he is in the process of putting together. Garrett has kindly informed me of a paper he wrote, entitled Did 'gibberish' originally describe the speech in Gibraltar (Yanito)? > An Alternative Etymology for Gibberish.

It's an interesting read... and my thanks to Garrett for sharing it!

Spiderman lives... but miracles are not that easy to come by

A large crowd gathered and many eyebrows were raised over the weekend outside Madrid's Atocha railway station, when a man was seen stuck to a wall, like Spiderman!

Some spoke of 'a miracle' while others just watched on, commenting in bemusement as the man appeared to lean against the wall with one hand, magically suspended above the pavement.



It was some time before all was revealed.

This was another stunt by 'installation artist' Johan Lorbeer, who had harnessed himself to a fake hand secured high off the ground to the wall. On this ocassion, the emergency services were not called, as has happened elsewhere, during this well known street artist's performances around the world.

Johan Lorbeer is a German street performer. He has become famous over the last few years because of his 'Still-Life' Performances, which take place in public areas.

His installations (which can be seen on his website) include 'Proletarian Mural' and 'Tarzan'. Several of these performances feature Lorbeer in an apparently impossible position such as a street cleaner standing horizontally out from a wall high above the street, or standing in mid-air 'leaning' against a wall with one hand, as in this instance in Madrid.

His work hasn't always amused or gone down too well. In Cairo in November 2008, an Egyptian passer-by said "the German is laughing at us", as he turned away with a derisive snort!

How he does it

Although this trick seems genuine, it is not magic. Lorbeer manages these positions by hiding his actual arm under his clothing and the 'arm' that is seen sticking to the wall is in fact a metal support bar.

I am indebted to Sancho, blogging over at Tilting at Windmills, for this interesting and amusing story. Oh and Sancho... blogging on Sunday (a holy day of obligation I know) is allowed! :)