I’m a Pundit

So the fan proclaimed King of Pop Michael Jackson has finally kicked the bucket.  Michael Jackson died of a cardiac arrest and there has been speculation of a painkiller overdose. Michael’s prescription addiction has in part been confirmed before by those around Michael’s life, and has been proclaimed one of the largest celebrity drug addictions in history.  While many jokes have been made, Michael Jackson has had a huge affect on worldwide pop music.

Jermaine, Michael’s brother, spoke to the press about his death.  in it he requested privacy from the media.  He also hopes the media will focus on the positive aspects of the singers illustrious career, not the child abuse, sex scandals, plastic surgery and overall weirdness.

Meanwhile people have cruelly pointed out how Michael Jackson’s last album ironically was called ‘Invincible’, this was nothing however to the first three tracks on it. These would be ‘Unbreakable’, ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘Invincible’ for those who don’t follow the singers music.

I have to admit though, despite MJ’s flaws I have often drunkenly danced to his music, and do respect that while he may be a little gone in the head Michael Jackson has had a huge positive effect on the music that is heard around the world to this day. With some immensely famous tracks under his belt it is not surprising that the singer really is one of the world’s most famous singers and performers.

written by Oli \\ tags: Death, Michael Jackson, Obituary, Pop, Singer

A survey recently undertaken showed that less than 50% of Brits actually knew where their heart was located, this shocking news places us among the most ignorant of nations, leaving us on a par with countries such as Africa, Uzbekistan and America.

What worried me most however was the actual diagram the University students who compiled this survey produced,

I saw this diagram and instantly began to despair.  While it is well known that university students tend to be a little bit docile, with minds coddled by drugs and alcohol, it is interesting to see they can use a diagram that places the heart upon a central line in the body.

Either the huamn body had evolved to keep the heart right in the middle of the horizontal axis, or the people performing this survey don’t actually know where the human heart is either, leaving you with a pin the tail on the donkey style questionnaire created by people who have never seen a donkey, and are infact a little bit spastic.

written by Oli \\ tags: Education, England, UK

North Korea has yet again begun to push the boundaries of nuclear testing as they launched an underground nuclear test with less than an hours warning to the rest of the world.  Their consistant tests of these weapons against all UN laws has sparked contraversy over the fact that maybe the American war against WMD’s would be better spent in these locations rather than say, those with no evidence of Weapons of Mass Distruction.

This is worrying though, as North Korea does not seem to have any qualms about their irresponsible use of nuclear power, especially in its military capacity.  Many people have now begun to question whether or not North Korea is infact a threat.  This is in my eyes particularly relevant considering how few people were concerned about the threat posed by other, low risk, countries.

For the meantime however there is little we can do other than watch and wait, although the real risk is an all out war developing between Japan and China versus North Korea.  This could cause real tension in the region where the two countries have often been held with a steady wary gaze from their neighbours. Both these world powers have expressed concern over the testing so close to their borders though, they have also warned the North Korean government with possible military action.

written by Oli \\ tags: Government, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, WMD

As some of you may be aware I was planning to head off to America for a while.  It all seemed to be going swimmingly up until I got through to customs at Detroit Airport.

Now let me back track a little bit first, I quit my job, moved out of my house and all that because I couldn’t keep a job going while I ws over in America and I couldn’t  afford to pay for a house while I was gone.  This didn’t really help me significantly, even though i have around £10,000 ready to spend, since apparently jacking in your house and job is a sure sign of an immigrant.  for this reason they took my bags and my passpot then threw me on to the next plane out of America with nothing but a bag of juice and a slim jim, slim jims are disguisting by the way (think pepperani mixed wtih hay), but after nearly a day without any proper food I wolfed it down!

This entire debacle has however fucked things up majorly for me, this has left me with veryfew options, I am however persuing them withdue haste.  Apparently it seems I got unlucky when I was talking to some people later on, American customs runs on a quota system, and with it being at the end of the month, and me being a traveller on the visa waiver program, I was easy pickings.  That and Detroit is apparently well known for its arsehole interigation crews at customs.

No matter how manytimes I have been told it wsa just luck however this does not remove the fact that it majorly fucked up my holiday, I have given up a lot for this trip and need to put some real effort in to getting some kind of payback on the high and mighty guys who so self righteously screwed me over.

written by Oli \\ tags: Deportation, Deported, detroit, US Customs

Another bullied child was found hanging in a closet recently, as a stark reminder that bullying can have dire consequences.  Jaheem Herrera was your average 11 year old boy, he did well at school and was fairly outgoing.  Unfortunately his mother and sister found him hanging by his belt in the closet.

The school itself is saying it does everything possible to combat bullying, but I have the feeling that the following procedure

“Students are even asked to sign a no-bullying pledge.  ”

Does sweet fuck all.

When I was younger I took a fair amount of abuse, this amounted to bullying, but I am actually glad of this now I lok back, it built my character, helped me learn to look after myself and I realised that bullies tend to target those who have something socially wrong with them in the first place.

It was when I realised this that I overcame any intimidation and pushing myself to develop all my personal as well as academic skills.  So in a way, the bullying helped me.

I think preventing any form of bullying or name calling could infact harm more children than it help, it would stop them learning from each other what is strange or abnormal, and could lead to one hell of a lot of personality disorders in the future.

Now obviously this is a blanket statement, name calling up to the point that a child hangs himself is very, very wrong, maybe the bully them-self should be charged with a crime to balance off their personality.  I think it is important however to find the fine dividing line where the victim shied away from self improvement and turned to self mutilation.

written by Oli \\ tags: Bullying, School, Suicide

Near a decade has passed since the Embargo was passed on Cuba, and just recently Obama has removed this restriction.  Can I say here, Brilliant,The best way to remove communism is to flaunt the prowess of democracy, let the trading commence, let the people learn that Deomacracy is better. Maybe there will be a mini revolution, maybe cuba will slide in to democracy.  Either way I believe that all countries should be as interconnected as possible, let the world join together, and while not be in a happy marriage, let it be a place where anyone can go and explore where they want! 

written by Oli \\ tags: Cuba

With a trip to America planned there has not been much time for me to read the paper recently.  One thing that has garnered my attention however is the latest string of Pirate attacks that are suddenly being publicized.  Now Modern day pirate attacks are no new thing, and the publicity can only help towards ending this.  What worries me however is how soft we are being to the pirates.Currently these people are sailing the seas, killing innocent people and stealing their boats, ships and cargo.  Currently if they get talk all that happens is their weapons and ammunition are conficated and tehy are given provision, yes thats right we give the pirates goods, and send them home.  Is there just me that sees something wrong with this?I very much doubt that I was not the only one who cheered when I heard that three of the somalian pirates had been shot dead while holding an American prisoner hostage, these guys go out as bandits and pillage the ships, they get what they deserve.What interests me is why they get given aid, not punishment, would a bank robber be let go if he was caught stealing millions, because these pirates steal millions.   Further more would a bank robber be taken to the nearest fast food joint and given a burger? Hell No!If these pirates are intent on continuing their piracy I think our navies should go out their and show with true force what happens to people who mess with our ships, blow em out of the water!And for all the people who say it i because they were fishermen who had all their fish stolen, this has been going on for decades, I think even in that region after nearly 30 years people can get their heads around a different profession.  

written by Oli \\ tags: Pirates

The environmentalists have been petitioning for mandatory water meters for some time, the water companies are of course backing this claiming that England uses ‘too much’ water.

This is of course something that riles me just a little bit.

Do food companies complain about people eating too much and charge them more, do games companies blame buyers for not having enough stock? Or course not, therefore it makes me wonder why the water companies who are asking why Britons use too much unmetered water are not asking themselves why they do not build more reservoirs to increase our available water supply.

Of course that would not please the doomsayer environmentalists, who claim that our river levels will be down by 90% in 2050 (Ignoring the flood) but I think they should focus more on how the reservoirs collect during the rainy seasons and disperse during the dry.

All in all I am appalled that the water companies are not for instance, forced to fix more of their broken pipes, build more capacity and lower prices in line with profits. Instead they just continue to lynch us, the consumer, with proposed rate hikes and metering services.

written by Oli \\ tags: Drought, Floods, Waetr COmpanies, Water

I have been often dismayed to see the politicians of our country make continuous blunders in the name of public good. It’s not hard to see how they are putting this country into a deeper and deeper slide, crushing our economy and strangling any new business opportunities.

I live in the City of York, this city is one of the most historic cities in England, and therefore it is a shame to see our local councillors driving it into the ground.

Take for instance the latest fiasco with their new ‘Energy efficient’ head quarters. This was a building designed and budgeted for over £40 million. All for a building of which in size should not even have cost £10 million. This council headquarters scheme was done out of the public eye, and in a very strange order.

Infact it is interesting to point out that even though this never went ahead they spent £4 million on this project, this is before they even had anything more detailed than a quick draft of what the building could look like from the outside. Many York residents are starting to ask why for instance, several hundred thousand was spent on an interior designer before they even had planning permission.

Now, there have been complaints about the location of the headquarters (next door to one of York’s most historic pubs) although personally I don’t see this as a problem, York has a great mix of the modern and the ancientWhat worries me if first the fact that this budget was so high for a building that was so small, secondly that we spent 10% of that budget before the building had even had an architect look at it, thirdly that they didn’t keep residents involved with this, fourthly that the councillor in charge has a family history of swindling and fraud and finally that they are now saying the budget they had was not big enough!

Now however my mind casts down to more mundane problems, with unemployment on the rise, Businesses going bankrupt in quick succession and MP’s saying that companies should not give out pay rises in line with inflation (While voting above inflation pay rises for themselves) I am beginning to wonder exactly why the local council has just embarked upon a crusade against A-Boards.

For those of you who don’t know, A-Boards are these highly visible attention grabbing advertising boards. It is called an A board because it is made of two boards leaning against each other with a rod attaching them, which when unfolded makes the shape of an A.

Apparently however these A boards which you see all over England are suddenly illegal. The Council has pulled out some mundane law passed in the misty past of British law and has claimed that these things could create a dangerous obstruction to partially sighted or blind people.Personally I can think of far more dangerous obstructions blocking York streets, Bollards placed hap hazardly in the middle of paths, barriers on the sides of paths painted in a nice, blended, camouflaged gray colour and the numerous cobbled areas which are not highlighted with huge ‘Cobbles Here’ Signs. I personally think that if they ban A-boards for being a hazard they need to get rid of Women dragging small children about, push chairs, old ladies with trolley bags and, ironically, partially sighted and blind people with those dangerous sticks and a tendency to bump in to things.

Because all of these things are, lets face it, a lot harder to spot sometimes than a four foot high board covered in bright writing designed to catch attention.

written by Oli \\ tags: Politics, Rant

After putting up with government imbecility, badly performed cover ups, political correctness gone mad and the illegality of being British I have decided to leave the country. I have handed in my notice at my day job, will be becoming a full time freelance writer and will be hot footing it over to America for a bit before mozeying on across to Australia.Things have just got that little bit too much depressing in this country.  I really love York, I like living here, but the amount we are taxed is absolutely insane, barely anywhere else in the world comes close. Our government is run by imbeciles, and our local councils are made up of people with noting better to do in their free time, so cause more cockups than can be counted in a gay gangbang starring the population of china. So all in all I think it’s time for a change.  Anyone wishing to donate to my impending brokeness please paypal money to oli4uk@gmail.com,  I will keep you all updated!Oli 

written by Oli \\ tags: Personal, Quit my Job