Well I don’t think that anyone predicted this…

General election 2010: poll of polls | Politics | guardian.co.uk.

In the US it’s the banks, in the UK the super markets are too big to fail. 1/7th of all retail sales are Tesco’s.

• The UK economy = about 24 Tescos
• US economy = about 156 Tescos
• Total UK government spending = about 11 Tescos
• Total UK government debt = about 13 Tescos

BBC News – The Tesco – a new unit of measurement

O’Leary said: “Theres no legislation designed that says any airline getting a fare of €30 should be reimbursing passengers many thousands of euros for hotel accommodation. Its absurd. I dont have a problem with everything being grounded for a day or two but there should have been a much faster response by the governments and transport ministers and by the regulators. This is one of these issues we want addressed – why exactly are the airlines expected to be reimbursing peoples hotels, meals and everything else when the governments are the ones who made a balls of this?”

Fury as Ryanair refuses to pay stranded passengers costs | Business | The Guardian

I’ll save you from my O’Leary rant (two Ryanair flights were enough to ensure that I’ll never travel with them again) but…

I can answer this; yes there is a law. You need to pay.

The worst argument is that he doesn’t have to pay because the ticket was cheap. Ever hear of insurance Mr O’Leary?

Clue: it’s an option when you buy a ticket! It’s so important that you select by default.

I’m scared of heights; something that I developed in my 20s and has got worse since.

It’s now at the point that watching this is difficult.

Jumping From Space on Vimeo.

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“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.”

British Airways Flight 9 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Many years ago I heard a radio show about the flight and how people reacted to knowing that were about to die…

“Ma. In trouble. Plane going down. Will do best for boys. We love you. Sorry. Pa XXX” scrawled on the cover of his ticket wallet.

“Here are just a few of the facts that sometimes get lost on the way to an easy story, or a glib stump speech: only 13 per cent of single parents are under 25 years old, the average age being 36. Fifty-two per cent live below the breadline and 26 per cent in “non-decent” housing. Single-parent families are more likely than couple families to have a member with a disability, which gives some idea of the strains that cause family break up. In spite of all the obstacles, 56.3 per cent of lone parents are in paid employment.”

The single mother’s manifesto | J.K. Rowling – Times Online.

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its a shame that we all do.

Brasilia celebrates 50 years

BBC News

“Douglas Adams is not alive to see the closest thing to his Hitchhiker's Guide that humankind has yet devised.”

Apple’s iPad: The Mothership Prepares for Launch – TIME.