Owner: oscar's soapbox URL:http://www.oscarssoapbox.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:25:35 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: disgruntled, grumpy, fourty-something. thoughts and observations on life, the universe, and everything. Site statistics:Click here
WORTH 2007-03-08 12:34:00 I have a real problem with advertisements for products being sold off cheap or given away in a package deal using the word "WORTH" to make us feel that we are getting a good deal. Who is to decide what something is worth? As far as I am concerned, something is only worth what I am prepared to pay for it. Something worth Thirty Pounds to one person might only be worth Ten Quid to me. The local
30% LESS 2007-03-06 20:33:00 30% less sugar, 30% less salt, 30% less carbohydrate, 30% less fat, 30% less than what? 30% less than a gerbil? 30% less than last week? 30% less crisps in the packet? When do we get to see the magical words 30% less "E" additives or better still, 30% extra for 30% less? Never in a month of Sundays, that's when. Go away and con someone else you useless bastards. How about 30%
THE VIRGIN MEDIA - BSKYB DEBACLE 2007-03-05 19:31:00 I am really not surprised to hear that Virgin and Sky have had a falling out over TV rights. Rupert Murdoch has always been about monopolising whatever market he has had his fingers in, whereas Richard Branson has always been about breaking monopolies and providing his customers with a quality service and value for money, and I speak as a customer of Virgin Mobile which I can't speak of
SPREADING THE WORD. 2007-03-11 01:44:00 I like my Saturday morning lay-in and the familiar sounds that go with it; the milkman doing his rounds, the postman at the letterbox, and the general hubbub of the town coming to life as people go to work. The sounds gradually settle into the general hum of life going on outside as I slowly drift off back to sleep, a sleep rudely shattered some half an hour later by someone battering on the
GLIMMERMAN 2007-03-16 01:56:00 Glimmerman Steven Seagal has taken to the stage and is currently touring the UK with his band THUNDERBOX. I said at the time of seeing the first poster for the show at our local theatre that anybody buying a ticket would be very disappointed. Lets be honest, anybody who can name their band after an English slang term for a sit-down toilet has got to be taking the piss, so it came as no surprise
VEHICLE EXCISE DUTY - A FAIRER WAY? 2007-03-20 20:41:00 Gordon Brown's alleged plans to tax 4x4's and gas-guzzling cars off the road are a complete travesty. It is apparently only going to affect some 225,000 motorists so what precisely is the Government expecting to gain from this ridiculous plan? Added to this is the photograph on page4 of The Times(20/03/2007) showing a woman holding a placard saying "no 4x4's on the school run". The amount of such vehicles on the school run is minimal in comparison to the amount of vehicles that are actually on school runs in the first instance, and Gordon Brown is the idiot who made it cheaper for families to own a second vehicle with which to do the school run by reducing the excise duty on smaller cars. It is these vehicles that clog up our roads on a twice daily basis, polluting the atmosphere and bringing our town centres to a standstill at a time when people are trying to get to work. It is a pleasure to drive during school holidays when the school runners are off the road and the normal daily
POST-BUDGET THOUGHTS 2007-03-24 19:43:00 It has been a few days since my last entry and the Budget has been and gone, giving me time to collate some thoughts on what has come to pass. The owners of gas-guzzler vehicles were taxed to the hilt as expected and used as scapegoats for all that is wrong with our environment, whilst Blue Chip oil companies who are responsible for the fact that we are all still using their products to run our vehicles have received a two percent cut in Corporation Tax... that seems fair to me. NOT! Oil companies are predominantly responsible for preventing new fuel-saving technology from ever reaching the market place. They have spent many years buying up Patents and designs to prevent technology that would have weakened their stranglehold on the market place from getting further than the drawing board. NASA sent men to the Moon using fuel cell technology forty years ago, yet we still cannot transplant that technology into a modern motor vehicle because of supposed astronomic production costs. I am o
QUESTIONS FOR THE M.O.D. ABOUT THE SERVICEMEN CURRENTLY IN IRANIAN CUSTODY 2007-03-27 02:00:00 How did these servicemen allow themselves to be detained in the first instance?Were they totally unaware of what was happening around them?How can you miss the presence of five hostile patrol boats in your area?Why were these servicemen inadequately armed to defend themselves if they were only carrying sidearms as reported?HMS Cornwall must have been aware of the Iranian patrol boats in the area and surely must have been tracking their positions. Why did HMS Cornwall fail to respond to the threat as soon as it became apparent and at least provide some air cover until further assistance was possible?Were these servicemen in radio contact with HMS Cornwall and did HMS Cornwall alert them to possibility of Iranian interference?Was the dhow that was being searched for smuggled vehicles planted by Iranian security forces to enable this chain of events to take place, and were British forces reacting to a tip-off when the dhow was boarded?Iran is currently subject to UN resolution with regard
EASTERN PROMISE(S) 2007-03-30 17:07:00 I've had a few days to think since publishing my last posting and have reached a few conclusions with regards to the blatant kidnapping of British servicemen by Iran. Knowingly crossing an international boundary without permission with an armed force constitutes an act of war and that is exactly what the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have done.If British forces crossed into Iranian territory one has to assume that the airspace over Iranian water was also violated by the Lynx helicopter from HMS Cornwall (F99). If that is the case why was it not shot down by the Iranian gunboats that were supposedly protecting their own territory.The dhow that was involved in the incident has to have been a "plant" by the Iranians. It was moored close enough to the border in shallow water where HMS Cornwall couldn't get to it and the Iranian gunboats could. It was made suspicious enough for the commanding officer of HMS Cornwall to instigate a search of the vessel and as soon as the servicemen boarded t
WASTED MONEY AND NATIONAL PRIDE 2007-04-16 19:48:00 I was somewhat astounded to see a policeman drive past me today in a brand spanking new 07 reg BMW X5. Police forces across the country are regularly complaining that budget constraints prevent them from doing their jobs and providing necessary resources yet Sussex Police have managed to add yet another luxury vehicle to their ever expanding fleet of luxury Sports saloons/estates and SUV's. An X5 is not a cheap vehicle in standard road trim and I shudder to think how much public money has been wasted on purchasing this bazza'd up Bavarian Land Rover rip-off. I suspect that it isn't the only X5 to have been added to the Sussex Police fleet either. I can understand that Sussex Police will have a need for a certain amount of off-road vehicles but they are already in possession of Land Rover Defenders for that kind of work. A BMW X5 is a symbol of how much money you've got to waste on a vehicle to go posing around the town, and Sussex Police don't have any money to waste.I think it is
FICTIONAL REALITY 2007-04-26 23:16:00 I read an article recently on Yahoo News that has been lurking in the back of my mind ever since. The article was written about a group of scientists that had been researching the possibilities of making an Invisibility Cloak as per Harry Potter. The bottom line was that said scientists had taken the fictional prop penned by JK Rowling and made it a reality. As I read the article it was passing through my mind that well paid research scientists must have something better to do than try and bring a literary device off the page and into the real world. However, further reading revealed all. One day it could be used in a military capacity to hide military hardware on a battlefield.I have to wonder whether any of the scientists involved in this project were part of the team that proved it was possible to teleport atoms from one side of a laboratory to the other, in much the same way that Gene Roddenberry had people teleported from the star ship Enterprise to the surface of whatever planet
New Post Coming Soon. 2007-05-06 04:15:00 Watch this space. Lots of new post coming very soon. Had a break for a few days to concentrate on a few things domestic.Keep the Faith...Oscar. Read more:New Post
, Coming Soon
MILKING IT. 2007-05-09 12:50:00 There are some things that we need and the people that make these things know it. they also know how to charge for these things, knowing that we pay up or suffer. Razors are a good example. Disposables are cheap enough but so are the results. Good quality replacement blades however, cost an arm and a leg. These things are turned out in the millions at next to no cost, yet the retail price defies description. It's called Profiteering and we put up with it, and the biggest profiteers of all are Central Government, particularly when it comes to Duty on cigarettes, fuel, and alcohol. Anyhow, this particular gripe has been pulled out of the hat after a trip into town to purchase some sunscreen. There has been a big thing of late about the need to cover up in the sun and to regularly apply sunscreen because of the rapid rise in reported cases of skin cancer, mostly due to over exposure to the sun. Various scare tactics have been used by companies that would like us to buy their products, bu
CABLE SHOPPING CHANNEL JARGONBUSTER 2007-05-17 17:50:00 If you really want one of these you need to get on the phone now because we don't have many left.Somebody please phone in and order one, we've got shed loads left in the warehouse!!I've actually got one of these shirts myself...I wouldn't be seen dead in this you Saps!These jumpers are really great. I'd buy one of these and wear it myself.This is the ugliest piece of clothing I've seen in ages.This is an absolutely stunning, stunning gold ring!My kid got a better looking ring than this out of a bubblegum machine last week.A wonderful Californian white wine, ideal with outdoor food at this time of year.OK to put on your chips or to clean the BBQ but don't drink it!The quality of this Bathroom Suite is absolutely perfect.What a load of old shite...!!This is an incredibly stylish piece of jewellery.This is what a tacky piece of Chav Bling looks like ...What an amazing use of color in these Bedding Sets. They will really bring the room to life.This will make your bedroom look like a
CUTTY SARK 2007-05-22 05:52:00 I was appalled yesterday (21/05/07) morning when I turned on Sky News to see the pictures of Cutty Sark ablaze in her dry dock at Greenwich, in London. I grew up in London and have been on board the ship several times, and she had been a regular part of my childhood as I crossed the River Thames between Woolwich and Greenwich. At that time Sir Francis Chichester's yacht Gypsy Moth IV was on display nearby. It is perhaps fortunate that it is no longer there, otherwise that might have burned as well.It is strange that with all the strife in the world that is broadcast on rolling news channels that the loss of Cutty Sark has hit me quite hard. Watching the ship burning on TV was quite an upsetting experience and it has left me feeling like a part of me has died. I hope the fire was an accident and not Arson as the police think it may have been. If somebody fired this piece of history I hope they are proud of what they have done. The picture on the front of today's TIMES (22/05/07) of t
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. 2007-05-30 05:08:00 Many years ago, a British comedian called Tony Hancock broadcast a sketch called The Blood Donor on a BBC Radio programme called Hancock's Half Hour. This coming Friday(1/6/2007) a Dutch television station, BNN, are going to broadcast a live show called The Big Donor. The trouble is that this show is anything but comedic in its content. It is very real and it is the latest creation from reality TV producers Endemol who brought us Big Brother, which is about to start its eighth series in the UK despite the controversy surrounding the recent celebrity edition of the show. The Big Donor is television at its very worst and BNN claim to be broadcasting it as tribute to station founder Bart de Graaf who died of kidney failure five years ago, and also to highlight the challenges of finding donor organs for transplant. A 37 year-old woman with a terminal illness is to choose a recipient for her kidneys from three patients awaiting transplant surgery, and her choice will be aided by the public
ALL CHANGE PLEASE... 2007-06-28 13:31:00 I'll be honest, I was sorry to see Blair leaving Downing Street yesterday (27th June 2007). In spite of some of the gaffes he made during his ten years in office I quite liked the guy. The people who regarded him as Bush's poodle should remember that there is a bit of the British Bulldog inside all of us here in Blighty. It is highly probable that Bush would have nuked Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan off the face of the planet if Blair hadn't been stood behind him holding the leash. There are some amongst us who probably think that is no bad thing and I would be lieing if I said I hadn't considered it an option on a couple of occasions but there is a right way to do things. That is not to say that the right things were done but then I don't believe in appeasement either. It is right that Blair should become the Middle East Peace Envoy. He is for my money probably the greatest Statesman that this country has seen since Winston Churchill and I hope that history eventually treats him kin
I'M STILL HERE...!!! 2007-07-24 10:21:00 Hi people. I'm not posting regularly at the moment due to lack of time. I have two family members in hospital suffering from different things (one quite serious) and other family to look after which is consuming every spare minute of the day. stay faithful and i'l be back soon. Thanks for reading.... Oscar.
ENDEAVOUR SHUTTLE - STS118 2007-08-08 18:48:00 Just watched the launch of Shuttle STS118 (Endeavour) live on NASA TV. I haven't watched a Shuttle launch on live TV for absolutely years and watching it on-line at NASA.gov was a great new experience. It is amazing to think that the Shuttle program has been in orbit now for some 26 years, and despite the various setbacks along the way it is hard to believe that the Sun is about to set on the Shuttle program. I watched the first Shuttle launch on Tv from behind my desk at school and watching this most recent launch raised the adrenalin level a few degrees. What an absolutely awesome ride! Eight minutes to Earth orbit and the ride of your life is worth paying for in my book. The pictures shot from the main tank camera showing Earth receding into the distance were fantastic and it reminded me of watching the film taken from the Saturn 5 launches of the Apollo program, pictures that will probably be seen again in the coming years when NASA gets the Orion project off the launchpad. It wi
YOUTH ON THE ROAD 2007-08-21 06:39:00 There have been rumblings recently about raising the age to hold a driving license in the UK to eighteen years. Whilst I personally consider this to be a good thing I don't believe it actually goes far enough. For many years now motorcyclists in this country have been restricted to the size of "horse" they can ride after passing a driving test, in a bid to reduce motorcycle related accidents with inexperienced riders who are riding bikes that are just way beyond their current level of control. If the D.O.T. want to really change the rules for people driving cars on new licenses then this is surely the way to go. It is ridiculous that a seventeen year old whippersnapper can pass a driving test in a car with a 1200cc engine and then go out and buy something with a 3000cc twin turbo V6 which is totally beyond their minimal driving experience. It is time that probationary drivers were restricted to the size of vehicle they can drive, just the same as a motorcyclist. I would also consider
THE LIBERAL -DEMOCRAT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT AMNESTY 2007-09-19 14:04:00 Once again we find ourselves in the Political Party conference season. This week finds the Liberal-Democrat Party on a charabanc trip to Brighton for their annual beano-by-the-sea, and I feel that it will be particularly memorable for producing one of the most ridiculous ideas I have heard in many years. Party spokesperson Nick Clegg has announced plans to allow illegal immigrants in Britain who have been here for ten years or more the opportunity to come clean and apply for citizenship. That of course is providing that they can prove that they have been in Britain for ten years, that they are fluent in the lingo, and that they have no criminal record!Anybody entering a country illegally is committing a crime and is entitled to a free membership of the "Illegal League" with immediate effect, and anyone who has managed to stay under the radar for ten years is going to have committed a lot of other crimes along the way. If they have a genuine reason for being in this country they would h
CHRISTMAS IS COMING... 2007-09-07 12:35:00 I have just been down to the local Co-Op to get some veggies for tonight's dinner. Nothing unusual there you might say to yourself, but here comes the punch. It is only the beginning of September and the kids have been back at school three days after the summer hols, and already the boxes of Christmas chocolate have hit the shelves. I don't want to be stared at by thousands of pictures of Father Christmas stacked up at the tills at this time of the year. We haven't had bonfire night yet, the conkers are still on the trees, summer is only just rolling to a close for chrissakes!! Christmas should be banned from shops until December 1st.
BAD TASTE FROM YAHOO UK 2007-09-06 08:38:00 I have just been onto Yahoo UK to look at their news pages and found something particularly crass and insensitive. The page covering the death of Luciano Pavarotti has an advert flashing away for a new film called "Run Fatboy, Run".Somebody either has no brains between their ears, or else they knew exactly what they were doing and they're taking the piss. Either way it is in pretty poor taste and someone should be sacked.Thoughtless, tactless, tasteless, crass. Anybody else want to add to the list?Bad call YAHOO dudes!
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