David Cameron has said that the public have become frustrated with the status quo. It's about time. They've been playing the same three chords for over forty years now.

Today was a very enjoyable day.  In the morning, the kids seemed to actually enjoy the topics I got them to read about from the internet, this included a series of pictures from Yahoo! as well as (without the rude jokes,) one of my old blog posts.  And in addition to this, we watched the Lego movie, had some friends round and got the barbecue gas canister ready for our gas barbecue.  The kids got on well with Dylan who came over as well as Lynn and Steve (whom they have seen on many an occasion) and all in all, it was a great start to the bank holiday weekend which even the weather could not cause an issue with!

Vladimir Putin "I want you to move your border away from my troops"

Five day weather forecast for Ukraine . . .

Monday: 22 degrees Celsius with a slight chance for rain.

Tuesday: 26 degrees Celsius sunny with clear skies and light wind.

Wednesday: 27 degrees Celsius and sunny and partly cloudy.

Thursday: 30 degrees Celsius, clear skies, and sunny.

Friday: 10,000,000 degrees Kelvin. Bring sunscreen.

Russia wants to join Europe.

Whether we like it or not. 


When I have made this post, Europe is not a glowing green crater, and the Ukraine still exists.  At the moment, I am hoping that Ukraine is able to retain is territorial integrity, something that Russia had made a promise to respect when Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons.  I do hope that the people of Ukraine work to make their country a better place and not give into hatred.  At present, they live in a democracy...

I see the Kremlin ordered a fireworks display to celebrate Crimea joining Russia.

Either that or one of Putin's rivals tried to start his car.

Unsure if you're at an EDL demo or a UKIP conference? Simply check to see if the floor is littered with beer cans or Werther's Originals

There was an interesting story in the news today.  UKIP has been facing yet another race issue.  Not only did they use an Irish actor in one advert about people from the EU taking British jobs, but the leader has been accused of stating that no British worker can work as his secretary.  

Basically William Henwood seems to forget that Lenny Henry, like so many people who are not 100% white was born here, or if he is aware of this, that he should be treated in a different manner because of his skin colour.  If it is just about the issue that the parents of Lenny Henry were not born in the UK, then he might need to remember that the Royal family is one that has immigrant genes.  I take it that he will post that the heir to the throne should go to Greece if he posts a view on any subject as well as his father was born in Greece...

The Boathouse in Dedham

The end of the day is coming up.  And it has been a good day.  Yesterday, I was working in Colchester in the morning and in Ipswich later in the day.  On the drive home, I was listening to the Arsenal game and got to listen to the goal against us.  By the time I got home, I was not in the best of moods, but was able to watch the equalising goal.  The family, who were out, got home and were kind considering my stress and let me watch the rest of the game.  By the time it came to the penalties, I was a nervous wreck.  We were lucky to get back into the game but towards the end of the game, we would have deserved a win in extra time.

But, the family had decided that the day was mine.  My wife wanted to go to Walton or Mersea, but I was keen on a walk, and a trip on a boat.  The kids were not so keen, not surprisingly considering I had told them that my wife and I had almost got washed out to sea the last time we were there.  That was BC (before children) when we were there with a group.  My wife and I were in a boat with a friend and the trip downstream was easy, the trip by upstream was more 'interesting' and my wife confessed to me today that she had serious doubts if we were able to get back to the Boathouse.  But the children actually got to like it and my wife, who was nervous, before the boat trip loved it as well.  We went for a walk down the riverbank before eating at The Boathouse in Dedham.

Now, it was a lovely day, sunny and although the inside of the restaurant was booked, there were places to eat on the patio which is where we got to eat, overlooking the river.  The scene was amazing and relaxing.  There was live music, which was really good, and the food was worth the money.  When it came to the service, it was good, the one mistake that was made was ammended quickly.  This is a place that we have been to without children and is a place that we will come back to again, both with and without children.

Anyway, goodnight all. 

The Daily Mail has run a smear story about how Harriet Harman MP campaigned in the 1970s to have material such as pictures of underage girls in swimwear removed from the definition of 'child pornography'. Just as well she did, as the Daily Mail publishes these pictures.

For those who are unaware, the Daily Mail has decided that two current Labour MP's and one ex-Labour politican have links to paedophilia.

This of course from a paper that publishes pictures of girls, under the age of sixteen, in swimwear.  One example of this being famously when it slammed a comedy show as being unspeakably sick for a spoof about how the media are portraying paedophiles next to a picture of underage girls in bikini's.  Now the Daily Mail, a paper which supported facism before the second World War, still has to apologise for this.  And of course, it ran a story stating that a man who fought in the second World War hated Britian.  But, for some reason, it forgets to mention how Lord Rothermere supported the far right back then...

Those on the left have accused the Mail of running a smear campaign.  But based on the past, the Mail will not apologise, but instead will continue to throw mud as they know some will stick.

I'm getting beside myself with worry. If Scotland vote for independence Britain won't have a curling team at the next winter Olympics.

Interesting is what I could call the debate about Scotland leaving the union.

One discussion is if Scotland gets to keep the British Pound, that is an interesting one.  Scotland, if it leaves the union can ask to keep it, and the rest of the United Kingdom can always say no.  There is the argument that the Channel Islands as well as the Isle of Man are able to use the pound, but they are Crown Dependencies. They have power over internal politics, but not so when it comes to dealing with other nations as well as defence issues.

And of course that leads onto one of the other arguments.  Membership of the EU, as these Crown dependencies are not truly part of the EU.  Those who want to leave the union argue that Scotland is already part of the EU.  An argument that Spain, for understandable reasons, refuses to accept.  But, Scotland, outside the United Kingdom, would have to argue with all the other members of the EU that it should be automatically considered to be part of the EU. I doubt that these nations would all agree on this which could lead to an interesting situation on the border with regards to trade, and possibly even passports!  But the most fascinating result of this would be that a Europhillic Scotland could be out of the EU leaving behind Britain which would become even more Europhobic (when it comes to the percentage of the electorate) and which would want to leave!

Me, I want Scotland to remain as part of the United Kingdom, I think that we are better together and that we would both be weaker divided.  I hope that come the vote, we remain together.

Mark Zuckerberg's to do list: 1) Buy WhatsApp for $19bn 2) Turn it off so people use FB chat

Today has been a good day.  Not only did Arsenal win, but I got to have a lovely walk with the kids.  As those who follow this know, Wednesday was a great day.  Yesterday we entertained and this morning I was back at work.  I got back from work to find my wife flagging, so after lunch, I took the kids out for a walk to Gosbecks Archaeological park.  They loved it, though they were very tired when it came to watching The Voice today.  As I have said on many on occasion, times like this are precious, even more so when they enjoy it!