Meme-ness

Meme to my friend, Scaratch.
Feel free to roll with this.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship? Oh, yes.
02) What was your dream growing up? To be happy and independent.
03) What talent do you wish you had? Money management
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be? Cup of tea, please.
05) Favorite vegetable? Don't really have a favourite. But can't think of any I dislike, either.
06) What was the last book you read? Bernard Cornwell's 'Heretic'.
07) What zodiac sign are you? Cancer
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where. Tattoo of a panther, inside of R. forearm.
09) Worst Habit? Smoking
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? Certainly
11) What is your favorite sport? Jumping (to conclusions) and Running (my mouth off). Watching is usually boring but participating is beyond my ability, M.E. -wise. That said, I would enjoy watching a kendo or fencing competition occasionally.
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude? Cautiously optimistic tempered by a healthy dose of pessimism.
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? Tell increasingly rude jokes.
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you? Had my eyes opened about 'certain people'. (This was also one of the best things in the long run).
15) Tell me one weird fact about you. On my right foot, my second toe is longer than my big toe. (Hence the number of times I've broken it).
16) Do you have any pets? One dog, Lucie. Thinking about getting another at the moment.
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly? I'd put the kettle on.
18) What was your first impression of me? Interestingly open and certainly artistic
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? Scary. Oh Yes. Scary.
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? I'd like my hair to grow 'down' rather than 'out'. I wanted long, straight hair when I was young but ended up looking like Leo Sayer, dammit :(
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Depends on the plan.
22) What color eyes do you have? Blue/grey
23) Ever been arrested? No, but I've had someone call the police because they feared for their safety and subsequently been escorted away. I'm not really a naturally violent person, but I have a nasty line in verbal weaponry that might lead someone to think I was.
24) Bottle or can soda? Neither. Not keen on fizzy drinks.
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? Revamp this PC then tuck the rest away for the kids.
26) What's your favorite place to hang out at? At home with my wife.
27) Do you believe in ghosts? I believe there is a phenomenon that is interpreted as such, but there is certainly a scientific explanation. (Even if that explanation is that they are the manifested spirits of dead people!).
28) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Sit at the local cafe with a coffee, reading and/or people-watching.
29) Do you swear a lot? Depends on the company but a bit I suppose. (Mostly in an ironic way, though).
30) Biggest pet peeve? She keeps pooing in the garden. Sorry, couldn't resist;)Actually,Greed/selfishness
31) In one word, how would you describe yourself? Sleepy.
32) Do you believe in / appreciate romance? Yes, but the real life kind, not that Disney/Mills & Boon rubbish.
33) Favorite and least favorite food? Yum: curry; Bum: liver and/or bananas
34) Do you believe in God? If you mean the Christian god as described in The Bible, I fervently hope he doesn't exist. To me, religion is a direct manifestation of mans fear of death.
35) Will you re-post this so I can fill it out and do the same for you? 'Suppose so.

Writer's Block: Step right up!

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Ringmaster.
In the style of Jack Dee.

Nice

Priorities

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/peter-stanford-david-cameron-disability-and-the-nasty-party-769136.html

Cameron has announced that he will be working vigorously to reduce the £1.5b lost through disability benefits fraud.

Figures actually indicate that only 9% of this figure is fraud while the remainder is mis-management and straight forward mistakes on the part of the benefits office.

Compare this with the £15b lost through tax evasion.

Which would you target?

In Mini-Thatcher's  Camaron's defence, I suppose disabled people don't regularly contribute large sums to political parties, do they? 
 

"£1.5 billion is enough to pay for something like 40,000 nurses in the NHS," Mr Cameron said during a PM Direct question and answer session.

So, we'll ultimately see a massive increase in hospital staff as a result of this, will we? Yeah, right.

The idea being proposed is to set up private companies whose sole job (and source of profit) will be to rifle through the personal details benefit recipients and report 'cheats'. 
Can anyone NOT see where this idea falls down?

Shami Chakrabarti, director of pressure group Liberty, said it was right to tackle fraud but told BBC Radio 4's PM programme: "What we must not do is to create the benefit equivalent of parking attendants who are wanting to find people guilty, wanting to find people suspicious, because that's the way they get paid."

Obviously, the Conservatives are beginning to show their Thatcherite tendencies again.

(Quotes taken from http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/infocus/2010/08/10/cameron_crackdown_on_benefit_cheats)

Writer's Block: Don't judge a book by its title

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The Conservative Party Manifesto.

"Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics"