Week commencing 01.11.04

Bush is back
World leaders have congratulated US President George W Bush on the clear-cut election victory that will give him a second term in office. But many – including key allies – have warned that the US faces major challenges in the Middle East.

Mr Bush won about 51% of the vote and at least 274 electoral college votes to beat John Kerry in Tuesday’s poll. Mr Kerry admitted defeat when it became clear that he would not win the key state of Ohio. Mr Bush praised his opponent and said he was “proud to lead such an amazing country”.

Noooooooooooooooo!

This will be the first time that a president has won an election with the most votes since 1997-8

Subtitled
Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino has announced his next project will be a kung-fu film shot in Mandarin. He will also shoot a second version of the film, dubbed with a deliberately out-of-synch English soundtrack.

If I wanted to watch an out if sync performance I would by a pirated DVD or watch ‘Top of the pops’

Casino
Labour faces a possible rebellion from backbench MPs as the Commons debates the government’s Gambling Bill for the first time on Monday. Some members are angry at plans to remove casino restrictions and allow slot machines with unlimited prizes.

Opposition MPs also oppose the bill, fearing a rise in problem gambling. “What the government is proposing to do is introduce a kind of casino never before seen in this country,” Tory spokesman John Whittingdale said. The Conservative MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Their proposals open the door to a very large number coming into the hearts of our towns and cities.”

I am not sure how I feel about this. In Australia I have seen casinos bring in jobs and entertainment to the local people, aswell as bringing in tourists, mainly from Japan and China. However there is also a huge gamblers support structure, funded by the casinos, for those who are addicted and are trying to quit. Is prevention better than a cure, or is it a small price to pay for jobs and billions of pounds worth of investment into the communities.

Post box
Half of all main post offices could be closed or sold off under plans being considered by Royal Mail. The state of the 560 Crown post offices, run directly by Royal Mail, will be investigated this month by the Trade and Industry Select Committee.

As many as 270 of them could be shut down or offered to local consortiums under reforms being discussed with unions and consumer groups. Unions opposed to any major sell-off have accused bosses of asset stripping.

This is truly sad. The post office is considered to be the centre of a lot of communities., especially or the old. However I guess that is the price we pay for the progress of email.

Lucky towns
Two towns in Essex have been named as the luckiest places in Britain for lottery jackpot wins. Figures from National Lottery operator Camelot put Ilford at the top of the lucky list as the proportion of jackpot winners to players is one in 8,300.

People in the town have won more than £57.5m in major prizes, 13 millionaires have been created and 28 jackpot-winning tickets were sold there. Romford has seen 23 new millionaires and 35 jackpot-winning tickets sold.

There has been one top prize in the town per 10,650 players. Enfield in London was third, Perth was fourth, Northampton was fifth, Doncaster was sixth, Tunbridge Wells was seventh, Watford was eighth with Medway ninth and Bradford tenth in the list.

So you stand more chance of winning if you live in these town, I would say that by living there you are already a loser! White stilettos, short white skirts, Ford XR3is and fights outside ‘The Brewery’ in Romford, no thanks, I think I will stick to London. Mind you, I guess if you win the lottery living in these areas you need all the help you can get.

~ by jeditopcat on 8 November, 2008.