Archive for News
The plot coagulates and curdles slightly
Wednesday afternoon – got sacked. Wednesday evening – sought solace in alcohol. Thursday – talked it through with my boss (while trying not to puke or faint, see Wednesday evening). Went into a weird grieving phase while trying to come to terms with this unpleasant but unchangeable situation. Friday afternoon – got offered a job dong something else at the company.
What. The. Fuck?
Constructive dismissal
So it seems I’ve been sacked.
Except they’re not calling it that. The boss had a chat with me and suggested I wasn’t in the right company and perhaps I’d like to hand my notice in. I’m fairly certain I don’t have a choice though.
No on 8, too late?
Last year Californians voted in favour of changing their state constitution so that marriage is defined as a union between one man and one women.
It was previously defined as a union between two people, meaning the state recognised same-sex marriages. The amendment is called
Proposition 8.
Now the “Yes on 8″ guys have filed to forcibly divorce all same-sex couples married before the amendment was passed.
I am not American, and I don’t expect to ever marry a girl, but this shit should matter to all of us. The video below is beautiful and
heart-rending.
2009
What better way to start the new year than finding yourself at 0630 in the local cop shop, saucer-eyed and gurning, trying to explain that the police have requisitioned access to your building. Try even saying requisitioned with that many drugs inside you.
It turns out there was a fire. Until 0005 on 01.01.09, there was a launderette on the ground floor. Now there is just a big hole and a lot of soot.
It’s a great testament to Edwardian architecture that the rest of the building is still structurally sound, and fortunately the place was empty so no one was hurt.
But there is smoke damage, water damage and post hoc structural damage (where the fire brigade gained entry to each floor).
There is also no power – the meters are melted to a wall somewhere. It’s likely to stay that way for at least a week (a third of the days we have left in the UK) so I can’t see us letting the place anytime soon.
Happy new year!
Organ donation, a simple (final) solution
There’s been a lot of guff about organ donation in the news lately.
Opt in, opt out? Be more like Spain, or more like China? Pay donors or not?
I have a simple solution:
We already have a stratified system – people have either said ‘yes, I’d like to donate my organs after my death’, or they haven’t responded.
Those who are on the ‘yes, harvest me’ list should be eligible for transplants if they need them. Those who aren’t? No transplants for them.
Can’t say fairer than that.
Sigh
UK PM likely to ignore advisory council advice on reclassifying cannabis
A woman on the radio (Jacqui Smith?) keeps saying, “But there’s new evidence that it’s stronger, there’s new evidence.” Yes we know, that’s why the case has just been re-examined. Surely a panel of experts will have thought to take all new evidence into consideration?
And what’s this nonsense?
He [the prime minister's spokesman] said the PM stood by earlier remarks about the need to signal that cannabis use was illegal and unacceptable.
If the drug classification system exists simply to remind us arbitrary criminals what is legal, and what is acceptable (WTF? Why does my lifestyle need to be acceptable to the government?), then why bother with all those pesky categories?
Why not sift all actions into a big green GOOD category, and a big red BAD category? Much easier. It’ll save the police loads of paperwork, and it will mean that double parking is the same as setting fire to the Queen, so we can bring back hanging for all offences and free up prison space as well.
