KENDRIVE

REVISED SCHEDULE

I now have SIX blogs on the Internet and I am beginning find them a struggle to manage on a regular daily basis.

They are taking too much of my time away from other interests, so I have decided to cut down the frequency of posts.

My two personal favourites are http://poemsandprose.blog.co.uk/ and http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/ and they will continue on 5 days of the week, Monday to Friday.

The others will appear less frequently, as I find interesting things to add.

There will be no posts on any of the blogs at weekends.

I am extremely grateful to the small group of loyal followers who have added brilliant, witty and relevant comments over the past few years.

Please continue to do so.

Time is precious for us all and my re-scheduling may help you as well as me.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Colin (kendrive)

On Wednesday Gordon Brown launched a last-ditch political fightback with plans for free care for the neediest old people in one of the shortest Queen's Speeches in recent political history.

The address set out a series of populist bills designed to draw the battles lines between the parties ahead of a General Election expected next May.

It contained just 13 bills and two draft bills and, at just under seven minutes long, was the shortest speech at the State Opening of Parliament for 12 years.

(Daily Telegraph & Mail Online)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228892/Queens-Speech-Browns-ditch-fightback-unveils-plans-free-social-care.html#ixzz0XIW0FBTc

AFTER the sign, that is!

"I told them I was ill"
(Spike Milligan's epitaph)

DEEP IN THE HEART OF . . . SCOTLAND

When did you last see the stars at night? Nowadays it is difficult anywhere in the United Kingdom to get away from the glare of city lights.

However, Galloway Forest Park in Scotland has become the first area outside of America to be named one of the world.

The forest has become the first Dark Sky Park in the UK and the fourth in the world, with the other three in the US.

The award, presented by the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), recognises the quality of the night sky in the area, where light pollution is minimal.

There are few buildings within the park’s perimeter and pitch-black sky at night makes it easy to see distant galaxies such as the Milky Way and Andromeda.

Martin Morgan-Taylor, UK board member for the IDA, said: “Its location is ideally situated for access from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and northern England, meaning that many people, including children, may have access to a quality night sky, both now and in generations to come.

“Such skies are rapidly disappearing and less than 10 per cent of people in the UK can now see the Milky Way from where they live.”

The other three Dark Sky Parks are at the Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah, the Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania and the Geauga Park in Ohio.

Galloway Forest Park was established in 1947, covers 300 square miles (185,329 acres) and is the largest of its kind in Britain.

Forestry Commission Scotland submitted an application for dark sky status six weeks ago, and the IDA decided it merited the award at its annual general meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, over the weekend.

(From an article in the Daily Telegraph)

So, if you want to see stars - go to Scotland.

Do I get the 30% discount?

I am returning to 'The Digital Camera Photographer Of The Year 2009 Contest' with this magnificent photograph of a dragonfly approaching a flowerhead.

It must have been taken with a very fast shutter speed, although the wings are still slightly blurred.

Category: Planet Earth. "Elegance" by Tiberio Taverni, Italy

IS THE END IN SIGHT FOR FIXED-LINE PHONES?

In the US, one in five homes is without a landline as more people cut the cord during the recession.

Research conducted for the European Commission at the end of 2007 suggested 15% of UK households had mobile phone access but were without a fixed phone line into their home, 2% up from 2006.

But that's still a small proportion compared with the Czech Republic (63%) and Finland (61%), which is home to the world's biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia.

For many young people, the idea of a landline phone is already anachronistic, says Ben Highmore, a lecturer in old and new technology at University of Sussex. They would not be without their mobile phones, which give them instant communication and a host of additional services, including email,text messaging and the internet.

However, a lot of older people have a strong, psychological attachment to landline phones. They can also be wary of modern technology.

"Having a landline is about having a commitment to place as much as anything," says Mr Highmore, himself speaking from a landline phone.

"Mobile phones are about mobility in a much deeper sense than just convenience. It's about not being rooted in the same way as a landline, which gives a feeling of stability."

Of course, many people think that their phone bills will be much higher if they go exclusively mobile - but that is not necessarily so. Just choose the right package for your needs.

A more serious consideration is the reliability of mobile networks in your area. However, coverage and quality are constantly improving.

(BBC and other sources)

AND DO YOU CARE WHO KNOWS?

EVERY PHONE CALL, TEXT MESSAGE, EMAIL AND WEBSITE VISITED WILL BE STORED FOR A YEAR FOR MONITORING BY THE STATE.

All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer's personal communications, showing who they are contacting, when, where and which websites they are visiting.

Despite widespread opposition over Britain's growing surveillance society, 653 public bodies will be given access to the confidential information, including police, local councils, the Financial Services Authority, the Ambulance Service, fire authorities and even prison governors.

They will not require the permission of a judge or a magistrate to access the information, but simply the authorisation of a senior police officer or the equivalent of a deputy head of department at a local authority.

Ministers had originally wanted to store the information on a massive Government-run database, but chose not to because of privacy concerns.

However the Government announced yesterday it was pressing ahead with privately-held "Big Brother" databases which opposition leaders said amount to "state-spying" and a form of "covert surveillance" on the public.

It is doing so despite its own consultation showing there is little public support for the plans.

(From an article in the Daily Telegraph)

Baby boy gives two-finger salute to the world... from inside the WOMB

If Owen Skeffington grows up to show a lack of respect for authority, his parents can hardly complain that he didn't warn them.

A scan taken at 27 weeks clearly shows the infant raising two fingers to the camera.

Such was the hilarity at Royal Preston Hospital that the sonographer asked permission of his parents, Owen senior and Kelly, to put the picture on the wall.

The couple, from Ashton, Preston, who also have three-year-old twins girls, Niamh and Erin, said they couldn't decide whether baby Owen was being rude to them or simply showing how many sisters he has.

According to popular legend, the rude V-sign was a gesture of defiance first used by English and Welsh archers during the 100 Years War against France.

The French apparently threatened to cut off the arrow-shooting fingers of the longbow men, so the archers would wave these two fingers to show they could still shoot.

(From an article in Mail Online)

In the space of 20 weeks, the world’s biggest photo contest, Digital Camera magazine’s Photographer of the Year, received a massive 101,000 online entries from 126 countries.

The overall £10,000 prize winner will be announced at the exhibition of winning and commended entries, taking place at Mall Galleries, London.

The exhibition will be open to the public from the 9th – 13th December.

Te editor of the Daily Telegraph has made his own shortlist fromm the "This is Britain" category and I shall be posting some of them here over the next few days.

Fuel Girls - Al Overdrive, UK

Unfortunately, this is how many people abroad see the young people of the United Kingdom.

(Times Online)

(Times Online)

(The Times)

Seen in Sandwich, Kent

(The Times)

A man in Saudi Arabia is to be beheaded and crucified after he raped five children and left one of them, a three-year-old boy, to die in the desert.

An appeal court in the capital Riyadh approved the death sentence handed down in June by judges in the northwestern oasis city of Hail where the convicted 22-year-old man carried out his crimes.

The rapist - who was not named - was arrested several weeks ago as he tried to seize another boy after offering him a ride home from school.

The seven-year-old - who escaped unharmed - helped identify the culprit.

The man’s victims were aged between three and seven. He was said to have lured them into his car as they left school at midday and then drove them to remote desert locations to rape them.

An investigation was launched after a 25-year-old father reported that his three-year-old son was missing and that he suspected the kidnapper to be a male driver of a white four-wheel drive vehicle.

The infant was later found under a scorching sun in the desert where he had died of thirst.

A panel of three judges in Hail sentenced the rapist to death for “abhorrent” crimes which they said had terrorised the community.

Crucifixion in the conservative desert Kingdom means tying the convict’s body to wooden beams to be displayed to the public after he is decapitated by a professional swordsman.

Saudi Arabia has executed 56 people this year under laws that allow the death penalty for rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.

In extreme cases, the convict is executed and his body crucified in public.

(Mail Online)

Have you ever seen a 'Moonbow'?

A moonbow (also known as a lunar rainbow,lunar bow or white rainbow) is a rainbow produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon rather than from direct sunlight.

Moonbows are relatively faint, due to the smaller amount of light reflected from the surface of the Moon. They are always in the opposite part of the sky from the moon.

It is difficult for the human eye to discern colors in a moonbow because the light is usually too faint to excite the cone color receptors in human eyes. As a result, they often appear to be white. However, the colors in a moonbow do appear in long exposure photographs.

Here is a magnificent one captured at Victoria Falls, Zambia.

However, you don't have to travel that far to see a moonbow and we had our own here in the UK last weekend, at Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Not so brilliant as the one in Zambia, but still quite impressive.

Photographer Chris Walker captured the picture as he was driving through a storm around 7pm last Sunday.

He said: 'I noticed something odd in the sky as I was driving home.
'A near full Moon was behind me and the wind was blowing a gale and rain was being driven from clouds on the horizon.

'The Moon was so bright that when I arrived home it was obvious that the object in the sky was a rainbow illuminated by moonlight.

Mr Walker only needed a 30-second exposure on his Lumix digital camera to reveal the full range of colours.

'The moonlight was so bright I could see red in the rainbow with my unaided eye,' he said.

(Based on an article in the Daily Mail)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1224937/Rainbow-dark-Bright-Moon-creates-stunning-arc-night.html#ixzz0VpJqiEOg

Do any of you older readers remember the "Top of the Tower" revolving restaurant on the 34th floor of the Post Office (Now BT) Tower in London?

It opened in 1966 and was operated by Butlin's.

Here it is in its heyday:

Perhaps you have eaten there.

Unfortunately it has been closed to the public for 30 years, amid security fears after an IRA bomb exploded in the lavatories.

However, the good news is that it may soon reopen.

BT has recently begun searching for celebrity chefs to oversee the new restaurant and Heston Blumenthal, Jamie Oliver and Gary Rhodes are among those reported as being approached.

Last Saturday the tower hosted a gigantic firework display, launched from the skyscraper’s roof at 581ft above ground, marking the 1,000-day countdown to the London Olympics.

(From an article in the Daily Mail)

UNFORTUNATE HEADLINES FROM ACROSS THE WORLD

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says

Surprise! Surprise!
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Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Now that's taking things a bit far!
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Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over

What a guy!
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Miners Refuse to Work after Death

Good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-so's!
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Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

See if that works any better than a fair trial!
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War Dims Hope for Peace

I can see  it might have that effect!
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If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile

Ya think?!
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Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures

Who would have thought that!
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Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide

They may be on to something!
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Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges

You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?
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Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge

He probably IS the battery charge!
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New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group

Weren't they fat enough?!
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Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft

That's what he gets for eating those beans!
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Kids Make Nutritious Snacks

Do they taste like chicken?
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Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half

Chainsaw Massacre all over again!
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Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

Boy, aren't they tall!
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