Argh!!!!!!!!!

There are aspects of the expenses claim decision from Sir Thomas Legg that are disputable (changing the rules retrospectively, arbitrarily lumping all forms of cleaning together under a single cap, failing to establish the degree of culpability between the claimants and the Fees Office, failing to establish why not all MPs were apparently advised the same.. I could go on..) - but any MP who can say - straight-faced -as reported in The Guardian

The only thing to do was go to the beach!  With Astra

Had the best time at the Bird in the Hand pub in Hayle.  Becky, the pub manager was really friendly and approachable and the food was excellent. Russell said the Liver and Onions was the best he'd had! - their web site is not so hot - not even an address or a phone number(!), but the food is good and the beers were great and the company even better - Hi Nick!! belated Happy Birthday..

Putin's latest pronouncement

Vladimir Putin signals plan to reclaim old job as Russian president

Russia PM says he and Dmitry Medvedev would take joint decision over roles, raising prospect of Putin era continuing

So.. according to The Guardian:

I had an internet moment today, looking up something lead to something else, which lead to something else which lead to this beautiful picture

Finally - but not until after invading their customers' privacy - BT have pulled out of Phorm. Worth half a cheer - unless it's supposed to push Phorm into administration so they can buy it cheaply.

Hope the European Court throws the book at both BT and the Government.

Phorm plunges as BT pulls ad system -

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We can't thank enough all of you who came to the party - but we can try :)
Thank you so very much for helping us celebrate so well :)
To those who couldn't make it - you missed a treat!
To those coming later in the year - we're looking forward to trying to reprise it with you :)
The last word(s) must surely be 'thanks Emma', 'rattler', and 'intelligent cauliflowers'.
Thank you All :)

According to The Guardian today [A drug report offering hope as well as outdated claims about Britain | World news | guardian.co.uk], the greatest influence on the amount of poppy grown in Afghanistan is - the proce of wheat....

So against this background a substantial fall in global opium and cocaine production is to be welcomed as it demonstra