Rabbit Thought of the Day

I have just had a nice lunch, consisting of fresh fruit, while sat in the church yard next to our London office in Blackfriars. Watched intently by the local wildlife, the usual feral pigeon and another church yard favourite the grey squirrel. I know the grey squirrel is classed as a pest but it still nice to sit and watch them scamper about looking for food or trying to knick your lunch from the bench you are sitting on.

Still it was pleasant to get away from the desk and the numerous email and phone calls that plague us during the day.

The Governments of the world are trying to help the financial situation around the world in a co-ordinated move the central banks of Britain and the US have reduced the interest rates by 0.5%. Only time will tell if the banks pass this rate on to us. If they want to start borrowing again then I suppose they must. I have very little understanding of the money markets I have trouble balancing my own bank account at the end of the month god knows what I would be like if I had to look after the fiancés of a whole country< I suppose the population would be living on beans on toast for the last few days of every month, lol.

A Darlington taxi driver says he is prepared to go to jail rather than accept a 160-year-old law banning him from leaving his cab to spend a penny.

David Finnegan was threatened with disciplinary action by council staff after he used a public toilet while parked up at a town centre rank.

He was told he breached an 1847 law introduced for horse-drawn carriages.

Darlington Council said it had since reviewed the situation and decided to handle the matter informally. Mr Finnegan, 62, who has been a cabbie for more than 20 years, said he was confronted by a council enforcement officer after he left his cab to walk 9ft to a public toilet in Darlington town centre.

He said: "This is ridiculous. It all has to do with horses and carts.

"According to this law I can never, ever leave my vehicle. "I have had a week of mental and physical torture after all this, I'm not joking. "I was even told I could be made to sit in my cab if it was left unattended outside my house at any time of day or night."

The law in question is the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, which states "If the driver of any hackney carriage leave it in any street or at any place of public resort or entertainment, whether it be hired or not, without some one proper to take care of it, any constable may drive away such hackney carriage and deposit it."

In a statement, Darlington Council said: "When considering enforcement action, we assess each case on its merits and have regard to the quality of evidence and whether it is in the public interest to pursue the matter."In this case, taking this into account, we have decided to deal with this matter informally."

Science has now proven what all but the dumbest among us already knew -- Coca-Cola is not effective as birth control -- but research now shows that it's not as bad as you probably think.

At Harvard University's annual Ig Nobel Awards -- a satirical honor for the latest in outrageous research -- this year's kudos went to medical researchers at Boston University who published a study that proves Coke actually kills sperm on contact.

Diet Coke is an even more effective spermicide, according to the work of Gynecology Professor Deborah Anderson and her team, who published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Not that it's my job to play school nurse, but let us get one thing straight: Anderson and her colleagues were just putting an old Urban Legend to the test -- and they were doing it as a joke. You wouldn't want to drink or douche with the soft drink in place of, say, using a condom.

"We're thrilled to win an Ig Nobel, because the study was somewhat of a parody in the first place," Anderson said.

To underscore this information, the Ig Nobel committee also honored a group of Taiwanese doctors that proved the soft drink doesn't work as a contraceptive, even if it does kill sperm.

JUBA, Khartoum (Reuters) - More than 35 young women wearing tight trousers have been arrested for "disturbing the peace" in south Sudan, police said on Tuesday.

Officers said the arrests in Juba, capital of the semi-autonomous region, were part of a crackdown on youth gangs that have sprung up recently and have a reputation for drinking, fighting and public nudity.

The women were arrested on Sunday night, but released without charge on Monday after appearing in court.

"They were wearing trousers that were too tight, disturbing the peace," said Deputy Police Commissioner of Juba County Raiman Lege.

South Sudan is generally seen as much more liberal than the largely Muslim north, with which it fought a two-decade war that was ended by a 2005 peace deal.

Many Juba citizens reacted angrily to the arrests. "We saw about 30 girls in two trucks piled up like animals. One girl was just picked up and thrown into the truck," civil servant Nok Duany told Reuters.

Southern Sudan Gender Minister Mary Kiden was also angry and told Reuters that eight young women had escaped arrest by hiding in her office.

HARARE (Reuters) - A Zimbabwean soccer player drowned in a crocodile infested river during a ritual to cleanse his team of bad spirits before a match, a state newspaper said on Tuesday. The Chronicle quoted unnamed sources as saying about 16 players from second division side Midland Portland Cement were told to swim in the Zambezi river in the resort town of Victoria Falls ahead of a soccer match on Sunday.

"The technical team told every player to get into the river so that they could be cleansed of bad spirits," it said.

The paper quoted local police commander Peter Rodzi as saying that after the swim, the other players had noticed that one of the team was missing. "The area where the team was swimming is prohibited as the current is strong. The river is also infested with crocodiles and hippos," said Rodzi. Belief in the power of spirits is widespread in Zimbabwe and many African countries.

I know we couldn’t laugh or make light of this tragic event, but perhaps it would improve the performance of the England players if they realised that they might have to swim with crocodiles if they play well.

After a very pleasant trip I have finally made to the office, the train journey was okay, but full of school kids on a day trip into London, who I must say were very well mannered, who says all the youth of today are rowdy and uncouth.

I Walked from Fenchurch to Blackfriars after all it is very nice day, not too cold and the sun as put in an appearance. The trip was made much better by finally having an MP3 that works, and I did spend the better part of last weekend loading it with all my favourite music. Which reminds there were a few CD’s that I couldn’t find, I best have word with Caz to see if she knows where they may be, she’s the one who normally uses the CD’s.

When I was on my way back home from my early morning bike, I happened to see Caz walking down the road; she was on her way to her friends to get a lift into school. Neil, her friend since she first started school at the age of 5, passed his driving test in the summer and so takes 3 others to school.  

A little off track there, anyway Caz was walking down the road, so I said good morning, nothing. I shouted good morning and waved my arms, still nothing. I then notice that she was plugged to her Ipod and not even looking in my direction. Bloody kids, just wait till I get home, I’ll give her some grief, lol!

I’m ready for the off, I have been out cycling about 13 miles this morning, returned home showered dressed and had a little breakfast. But am not catching the train until after nine this morning an not in any rush and just want to take it easy. I managed to avoid the first meeting this morning as that concerns mechanical things and am an electrical engineer.  

It’s a beautiful day out again this morning but a little chilly, I sure it will warm up though; it’s supposed to be like this for the next couple of days. It’s our wedding anniversary in a couple of days (11 Oct) and it was a beautiful and warm sunny day then. Am taking Rosemary out for a meal, but she doesn’t know yet!