Tony Blair's got another problem to deal with......the cleaners! Yes, the House of Commons cleaning staff are being balloted on whether or not to go on strike over bad pay. The Union representative from the cleaning contractor says that because the Government had "screwed" the contractor, the 170-strong cleaning staff were also being screwed. They want an hourly increase from the £5 minimum wage to £6.70 in order to establish a wage packet that covers the inflated cost of living in London, "Europe's most expensive capitol".
Where do I start with this one? Once again, my opinion that Londoners are money hungry idiots is vindicated. I have no problem with the cleaners' requests, more with the fact that while giving themselves a 30% wage hike, they are happy to tread all over the little person. While I've never had a cleaning job, I have been that little person and let me tell you, it's those little, invisible people that you sneer at that makes your life more livable. The fact that it's gone as far as to warrant a strike ballot says more about the Government's fucked up attitude than it does about anything else.
A schoolkid from Kansas is being sued by his Spanish teacher for maliciously vomiting on him before an exam.Oh yes, malicious vomiting. The teacher says the incident was "outrageous". I'll tell you what's outrageous...actually, I think everyone can see exactly what's outrageous. Twat.
The US is still out to get Kofi Annan for not ratifying the Iraq invasion. Having failed to secure his resignation over some alleged dodgy dealings his son had with Swiss firm Cotecna during the oil-for-food years, it now appears that a search of Cotecna's archives has brought to earth a memo (first published in the New York Times) concerning a meeting between Annan and the firm's executives just a few weeks before the firm was granted a contract to oversee the oil-for-food programme. The UN and Cotecna claim to have no recollection of the meeting.
Was the ink dry? strange that it should be an issue at all considering the US's former attitude regarding the abuse of the oil-for-food programme.
American Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld is worried about the country's image, saying that the US lacked diplomatic skill, that the problems in Iraq were now problems that the Iraqi people themselves have to solve and that the Gitmo captives are being well treated and getting better food and treatment than they had before they were captured.
Thus says the man whose last stint as Secretary of Defense was during the Vietnam War.
And finally...as the third earthquake in four days rattles the US east coast, the panel is asking: Is God about to drop California into the sea, and will anyone care if he does?
