Samwise rides again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg1BqGReqqU

Slightly disturbing, but much better than I expected.

Sloppiness provided by Aunty …

Japan’s chief government spokesman has announced that unidentified flying objects (UFOs) exist.

Stop the presses !

Earlier, in response to a question from an opposition lawmaker, the Japanese government issued a statement saying it could not confirm any cases of UFOs.

Oh … hang on … set them rolling again ….

It is the sort of question politicians dread but, under Japanese rules, are unable to ignore.

A member of the opposition asked the government what its policy was to deal with UFOs.

The Japanese civil service swung into action.

In a statement it said that should a flying saucer be spotted in the country’s airspace, a fighter would be scrambled to attempt visual confirmation.

But it emphasised that the government was not aware of cases where a UFO from space had been discovered.

The document revealed that Japan has not yet planned what to do should aliens arrive here.

So … a complete non story then … but wait …

The government’s chief spokesman Nobutaka Machimura drew laughter from reporters when he admitted that this was a “stereotypical” response from the bureaucrats.

Perhaps with his tongue a little in his cheek he insisted that he believed UFOs did “definitely” exist.

Questioned about the existence of alien spaceships, Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda thought about it and then answered carefully.

He said he had “not yet confirmed” whether they existed.

The conspiracy theorists will note that the answer was not a “no”.

True … it is not a no, but it is not a yes either. The Japanese Prime Minister is trying not to look foolish by answering a question no one knows the answer to.

I think he does right.

It is one of the two questions I get asked all the time with regards to Astronomy.

Opinions regrading the existence of extra terrestrial intelligence are, along with the like of Atheism and Islam, merely belief. Personally, considering life on this planet is fairly abundant, it seems strange that we should care so much about lifeforms elsewhere, when we tend to show a fairly healthy contempt for all that is already here.

From Aunty …

A kennel worker who was attacked by a Rottweiler dog has had her left arm amputated, and may lose the other one.

The animal turned on Mandy Peynado and sank its teeth into her arms while she was exercising it at Knightwood Kennels in West Grimstead, near Salisbury.

Ms Peynado was airlifted to Salisbury District Hospital where she is said to be in a stable condition.

Kennel owner Judith Wykeham said she had not been told the abandoned dog may have had a troubled history.

Describing what happened, Ms Peynado’s sister, Claire Gourley, said: “She went into the kennels, the dog wanted to play and grabbed hold of her coat.

“She tugged away and he pulled her down and kept on biting and pulling her. He pulled her up and down the pen a few times and just kept biting her.

“To defend her throat, because that’s all she was worried about, she put her hands up and that’s why she’s lost one of her arms.”

The dog was later destroyed by Wiltshire Police, who revealed that surgeons were also fighting to save Ms Peynado’s other arm.

“Apparently there was a history with the owner who abandoned the dog and the police are investigating,” she said.

“We have heard that she’d been banned from keeping dogs for 10 years, but we didn’t know this, we weren’t told this.”

“Whenever we have concerns that a dog may be dangerous, we pass the information on as a matter of course,” he said.

“In the case of this dog, it did not show any aggression either at the time it was seized or when it was seen at the kennels by our dog wardens.”

White Zombie, Blackbeard, James Brown, Shirley Brown, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pink, Goldie, Simply Red, Deep Purple, Deep Blue, Blue, James White and the Blacks, Al Green, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Black Sheep, Black Eyed Peas, Black Dog, Blackalicious, Black Grape

The Animals, The Beatles, The Eagles, Flock of Seagulls, Donald Byrd, Wings, Snoop Doggy Dogg, The Black Dog, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, DJ Dangermouse, Kicks like a Mule, Dinosaur Jr., Cat Stevens, Felix da Housecat, Top Cat, Super Cat, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Eartha Kitt, Firefox & 4Tree, The Housemartins, Gil Scott Heron, 2 Bad Mice, Flying Lizards, Bugz in da Attic, Was a Bee, Bumblebee Unlimited, The Bees, Seahorses, Alien Ant Farm, Tom & Jerry, Pet Shop Boys, Hawkwind, Grant Lee Buffalo, Black Sheep, Lamb, Doves, Josie and the Pussycats, Torso Horse, Bow wow wow, Howlin’ Wolf, Seal

DJ Food, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Lemonheads, The Jam, Pearl Jam, Oran “Juice” Jones, Hot Chocolate, Cream, The Soup Dragons, Captain Beefheart, Coldcut, Babe Ruth, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Lightning Seeds, Krust, Pizzaman aka Norman Cook, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Lemon D, Cocoa Bros., Green Jelly, Smashing Pumpkins, Meat Puppets, The Specials, The Cure

Bentley Rhythm Ace, KRS One, 2 Bad Mice, Unique 3, 4hero, Jackson 5, Take six, Theme from The Magnificent Seven, 808 State, Tek 9, Ten records, Prince, Queen, Ben E. King

Ike Turner died yesterday.

It is kind of a touchy subject, as certain aspects of his personal life left much to be desired, however nearly any blog or news source will take great pleasure in filling you in on the details of that, and for no added cost add in their opinion too I’m sure, and although I cannot agree with Ike’s actions in those matters, I will leave it for every one else to discuss.

What I can say is that throughout his musical career he put out some of the most amazing recordings, and he has certainly been a big influence on many peoples music. If you are not familiar with his recorded works I recommend you check out some of the Ike & Tina stuff.

There is one story from Ike’s private life that cracked me up though I cannot remember where I heard it, apparently he was having a hard time sourcing some coke, I think it was, so he dresses up in a Police uniform, drives around until he sees some users and then stages a bust, confiscating the drugs for himself.

There may be no excusing Ike Turner’s actions, a reputation that will stick with him until long after his death, however as I say, if you are not familiar with his recorded works you really should look some of it up.

UPDATE : The San Diego County medical examiner’s office declared the cause of death to be cocaine toxicity with cardiovascular disease and pulmonary emphysema as “significant” factors.

Mister Splashy Pants is in danger and we need you to save him!

By all means save the endangered creatures, but for the love of whales … do not call them Mr. Splashy Pants, it demeans us both.

From Aunty …

Prof Dawkins, who has frequently spoken out against creationism and religious fundamentalism, replied: “I’m not one of those who wants to stop Christian traditions.

“This is historically a Christian country. I’m a cultural Christian in the same way many of my friends call themselves cultural Jews or cultural Muslims.

“So, yes, I like singing carols along with everybody else. I’m not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history.

“If there’s any threat these sorts of things, I think you will find it comes from rival religions and not from atheists.”

… and again …

The apparent trend for non-traditional plays has been welcomed by the National Secular Society’s director Keith Porteous Wood.

“This is a reflection of society: Seventy straight years of continuous decline in Church attendance,” he says.

“We should celebrate it. It shows a greater sensitivity to our more multicultural society, those of all faiths and none.”

Muslim thinker Manzoor Moghal accuses secularists of teaming up with practitioners of what he termed “political correctness” for the decline of the Nativity play.

“I can assure you Muslims do not take offence at Nativity plays,” says Mr Moghal, chairman of the Leicester-based Muslim Forum.

“Britain is a Christian country and the majority of people are Christians. We enjoy your festivities and we like to learn about them.

“This is a mistaken, misguided and misrepresentative policy: we should celebrate the freedom to celebrate our faith.”

UPDATE : Beau Bo D’Or probably sums up Prof.Dawkins sentiments best …

http://www.bbdo.co.uk/blog/archives/691

UPDATE : Curiously, these stories reminds me of a post of mine from last Christmas.

UPDATE : Another, more obvious one …