McLibel: Human Rights Victory Anniversary 

“The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg declared that the notorious and long running McLibel case was in breach of the right to a fair trial and right to freedom of expression, thereby voiding any solace that McNasty may have enjoyed from the trial. The Court ruled that UK laws had failed to protect the public’s right to criticise massive corporations whose business practices can affect people’s lives, health and the environment. Meanwhile after spending £10 million to suppress free speech, McDonalds find that the most widely distributed protest leaflet ever, continues to be distributed worldwide… Mainly by a group in Nottingham! To celebrate the McLibel Human Rights Victory Anniversary, activists in Nottingham took to the streets in a small demo on Thursday at a McDonalds restaurant.”

source: indymedia

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Babs x

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/03/04/18372467.php

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Babs x

The best kinds of queues actually happen to be the longest; and not because it is helpful to your blood pressure or health with all those stress hormones being pumped around your body as you realise that you paid for just enough parking for that ‘quick’ trip to the post office and you are now guaranteed to have been targeted by a power-hungry parking warden who obviously has an underhanded deal with the post office people who are getting a cut of the 75 pounds parking fine!  Nevertheless, a long queue is the only way to make friends out of the stony-faced British because in a queue, its your queue buddies and you against the world. 

Everyone joins the queue with a very un-British optimism, ‘better to join this queue before it gets too long, besides it won’t be that long to wait’.  Soon, when you look behind ahead to see that the queue is actually not moving, you move to stage 2.  A slight crinkle of the brow and glancing anxiously at your watch.  Pretty quickly the early stages are bypassed as you realise that you are never going to get back the next 40 minutes of your life.  You progress to shifting your weight from leg to leg to make sure you don’t end up with deep vein thrombosis, (it’s happened – to a friend of a friend of a friend), you roll your eyes and tap your foot impatiently.  Your neighbour turns to you and you exchange a frustrated glance; you glance to your other neighbour and all of a sudden people are united by their shared desire to inflict bodily harm on the idiot behind the counter.  Soon people are receiving calls from family members worried about their whereabouts and having to share all available tic-tacs or chewing gum to keep blood-sugar levels up.  The queue creeps forward and the thinly disguised niceness is superseded by the primeval survival of the fittest instinct.  Any sign of weakness is exploited and a look of scorn reserved those who give up short of the goal to get back to their car to avoid a fine. 

When at long-last you finally get to the head of the queue, you are rewarded with an extra-special dose of English customer service, just to their special way of saying, ‘thanks for choosing us, you’re a valued customer’; incompetent spotty teenagers who can’t work out how to open the cash register and thickening middle age women who are specifically employed due to their amazing skill of making you simultaneously feel stupid and like you are the biggest inconvenience since MI5 and their report on the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq!  But customer service is a whole new blog!

Happy queuing!

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babs

Never one to shy away from authentic British experiences, my trusty house-mate and I decided that winter was officially over and it was time for us to get back out into the real world of fresh air and sunshine.  We chose a walk from our great ‘Pub Walks in the Chilterns’ book and planned to roll out of bed before midday on a Saturday, (I actually got up around 5.30am but that’s a whole different story!).  After phaffing around for far too long, we eventually made it to the pub carpark for the start of our trek.  Things started out well – the weather was great, the sun was shining, the birds were tweeting and we were feeling confident in our superior rambling abilities. 

Pride comes before a fall, apparently,  because before long we were passing the guidebook backwards and forwards between us and trying to convince ourselves that we were actually on the correct path!  We ended up taking the biggest wrong detour in the history of ramblers anonynmous uk. 

Picture 2 be-draggled girls struggling down water-logged trails and  heaving themselves over rickety stiles, laden down with about 500 extra pounds of accumlated  mud-weight.  Picture these self-same girls trying to get themselves back to civilisation and, most importantly, finding the 2 pubs that are listed on the trail.  Imagine our relief when we struggled up a steepm, boggy field to discover farm buildings! Nothing more to do but to cross the farm and follow the drive to the road and ask follow the road back to the pub. Unfortunately in our excitement we forgot to test where we were walking before heading to the gate, queue shrill shrieks as we sank up to our knees in muddy slop!  Stretching before us was acres of cow poo-laced mud and wading was the only option!  We adopted a ridulous hopping motion with arms flailing  as we tried to make it to the gate without getting totally covered in the foul mess.  Not very successfully we finally made it past the gate and discovereda rather bemused farmer who kindly directed us through even more ankle-deep mud and past a very angry dog to the first of our pub stops. 

Now there’s a lot of rubbish things about living in England but country pubs are not one of them!  Within minutes of sitting outside and wondering how the hell we’d get to the bar in the state we were in, the bar maid was out there taking our order and giving us directions back to the pub where we’d parked the car – blissful!

The next challenge was to return to the car – ‘just down the road’,we thought – not so! 45 minutes later we were still willing our legs to drag our crap-caked feet up yet another hill, delirious with the lack of food and caffiene, we eventually staggered into the Dog and Duck, missing kitchen opening hours by 30 minutes.  Nevertheless, we settled for a few good drinks and some peanuts, happy just to sit in the warmth and soak up the atmosphere of another great country pub. 

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Babs x

“It’s a little different between our country and Great Britain.  Prince Harry, the third in line to the royal throne; he is going to Iraq.  He is going to be in a tank unit to try and stabilize Basra.  On the other hand, the Bush twins are getting tanked, and they are going to reinvade Margaritaville.”

Holla (JC)

So I cannot say I was entirely surprised by what I experienced when returning from lunch today.  I was content, having stuffed myself with a plethora of Thai dishes, a rare joy that I occasionally experience here in the Sooner state.  I stopped at the red-light on the intersection of Meridian and Northwest Expressway intending to make a left turn from Meridian into NW Expressway.   I glanced to my left and noticed a humongous gas-guzzling SUV also waiting for the light to turn green. I looked at the lady driving it; typical Okie,  with the bad hair-do and all.  Now to clarify, I have travelled this route numerous times, so I know every nook and corner on this route.  So, I knew that on this left turn there were two lanes turning left.   Unfortunately I forgot to account for the moron on my left.  While turning, I noticed her ENCROACHING on to my lane.  Being the ever defensive driver, a skill honed by the 8 years I have driven in this nuthole, I stepped on my brakes and let the bitch cut into my lane.  At this point, like all the other times, my road-rage surfaced, but I tried to swallow the bile of anger that had crept into my mouth.  Acid reflux is something that you inherit au gratis, here in Oklahoma.  I seriously contemplated throwing the Thai iced tea on to the hood of the SUV but decided against it, only because I could not justify throwing away the condensed milk filled cup of pleasure which could save my life if I’m ever stricken with hypoglycemia.  So, I resorted to a barrage of foul language, as usual, and gritted my teeth controlling my anger.  Then, I saw her bumper sticker.  

The pangs of guilt filled my listless soul.  How could I be so selfish?  I couldn’t taste the sweetness which permeated in my mouth a few minutes ago.  The Thai iced tea had lost its taste.  My tongue felt like a ton of concrete, weighed-down by my uncouth words.  I felt fortunate to be healthy and of sound mind and body.  I felt for the SUV driver.  Nothing she did was her fault, and I could not bring myself to even remotely suggest that it was.  I knew she rode the short bus to school.  I could not imagine living the life of a retard and there are so many here in Oklahoma.  All with the same sticker on the back of their cars.

I SUPPORT PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH.

Holla (JC Stone)

The server is taking a huge number of hits so you may have to try a few times. 

http://www.antonellabarbapix.com/

Or you could try this alternate link where most of the same photos are posted.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/11047890.html

And there are still people who hate American Idol???? 

Holla (JC) 

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A beaver has been spotted in New York City for the first time in more than 200 years…….

Well, I’ve heard the rumors about women who move to New York growing parts of the male anatomy, but this is ridiculous.  Men of NYC, I feel your pain.

Let the feeding frenzy begin!!

Holla (JC)

Apparently British men are the quietest when doing the horizontal tango

They also rate GIVING a head job as a big turn on rather than a chore

Additionally they rate one of the highest in the world for foreplay.

And we complain about a few hours watching the footie?

tata for now

babs xxx