Must-Have Rugby Shirt

I want one of these.

Devine Justice 2

Well, he could hardly have expected to get off after virtually confessing live on Channel 4, now could he? From the BBC:

Ex-Labour MP Jim Devine has been jailed for 16 months for fraudulently claiming £8,385 in expenses.

Devine was last month found guilty of using false invoices for cleaning and printing work.

He's not as nice as he looks, you know. He made up stories about his former office manager, Marion Kinley, to justify firing her, and she was awarded £35,000 damages by a tribunal for unfair dismissal. He couldn't pay, and was declared bankrupt last month, so she never received a penny. Even during his trial (and presumably under oath) he claimed that she forged his signature to pay herself more than £5000, although his legal team now admit that this was false.

Sixteen months sounds about right - until you read this:

Devine's lawyer said he would probably serve eight months - but could get out in four with good behaviour.

I know I've said this before, but why was he sentenced to 16 months if he will automatically get out in 8? And why do the defence team think that it will be halved again? Sentencing in this case, as in all the other cases I read about, is a nonsense. Of course, there's the sympathy whinge:

In mitigation, Devine's lawyer said the fraud had been "entirely out of character" and prison would "bear heavily on him" as he suffers high blood pressure and has lost his reputation as well as his 30-year political career.

Good.

He's been sentenced to prison, which is the least we could hope for. And good riddance to a nasty, dishonest bully.

Rally Against Debt

It started as a Facebook spoof (I think), but it's growing. There's a Facebook page and a website.

A well mannered, polite rally for civilised people who don’t wish to see their hard earned money being spent on pointless government initiatives and instead would like government spending to actually fall and our national debt to be cut.

We don’t think that it’s fair for us to continue borrowing money to live a lifestyle that we simply can’t afford – burdening our children with unnecessary debt that they will have to pay back.

Any visits to Fortnum and Mason’s by protestors will only be to marvel at their selection of quality goods and perhaps make the occasional purchase.

Bonfires will be strictly forbidden: it’s out of season anyway

Trips to see Vodafone and other high street chains will result in congratulations to the company for providing jobs and growth in the UK.

Spread the word!

(It's the weekend of the International XT Rally, otherwise I'd be there.)

China Syndrome

I was alerted to this alarming compilation by Joe Public. It's a video put out by the authorities in China in an attempt to increase people's awareness of traffic hazards. In China, it went viral, and I can see why. It is utterly amazing. I mean, you watch it and ask yourself: what the hell are they doing? The driving is suicidal, and I don't mean that in the usual sense of 'reckless' - I mean they genuinely look as if they are trying to get themselves killed in the nastiest way possible. Hmm, there's a truck - I'll see if I can ride under it flat out - hah, he's steering out of the way, but if I go left ... yep, got 'im. Hey, there's a car approaching me head on - I'll see if I can turn in front of him and die - yep, here we go ...

It's like the Place de la Concorde without the discipline and courtesy. And the crazy thing is that the most vulnerable people - the riders of small bikes and trishaws - seem to be the most reckless.

Watch and be terrified.



Tip of the full-face to Joe.

TT Memories 3

Last instalment of Microdave's memories of the TT races (previous instalments here and here): IOM TT 1979 (continued). The last instalment - A few more from that trip: My father and Stanley Woods with one of his bikes was taken at Jurby airfield on the 7th June 1979.



Another shot of one of his Velocettes at Jurby.



An unknown Matchless seen at Jurby.



Mike Hailwood (no8) taken on the Cronk y Voddy straight doing (we think) about 180mph. This was taken on the 4th June 1979.



The Silk 700s is a rare beast, and was pictured at the Vintage Rally at Castletown on the 7th. This was a hand built derivative of the pre war Scott Squirell, which my father and grandfather both owned.



I hope these have been of some interest to you, and any comments are welcome. MD

Thanks to Microdave for sharing some interesting and personal material. Hope you all enjoyed it. R