My blog will be updated daily, so make sure you come back! If you would like to add or reply to a comment on one of the articles below just send me your comment and, if it's reasonably decent and not libellous or anything like that, I'll add it to the article (don't forget to include the date and title of the article).
21.10.12
Con-fectionery
SNEAKY chocolate giant Cadbury has shrunk its famous Dairy Milk bar — but not the price. Its weight dropped from 49g to 45g when it was re-designed from a rectangular shape to an oblong — but the cost stayed at 59p.
Cadbury blamed rising fuel and commodity costs.
But Angus Kennedy, of chocolate industry mag Kennedy’s Confectionery, said: “Shaving a portion off, for the same price, can leave a bad taste. Consumers want honesty and don’t want to be treated like idiots.”
Richard Lloyd, head of consumer group Which?, said: “Shrinking products are little more than hidden price rises.”
Cadbury said the eight per cent reduction — which also applies to Caramel and Fruit & Nut bars — meant it could hold prices at current levels. A spokesman said: “That’s important in these difficult times. We still believe our chocolate represents excellent value.”
vicious.sid: Well, you learn something new every day. No, I already knew that Cadbury's and their ilk are out to make as much money as they can with scant regard to their customers. What I've learnt is that there is a difference between a rectangle and an oblong!
21.10.12
Gaga blasts South African duo over her vile video death
Lady Gaga has furiously lashed out at a South African rap act for featuring a likeness of the pop star being shot by rebels and mauled by a lion in their shocking new video. The gruesome Die Antwoord clip for single Fatty Boom Boom stars a man dressed in Gaga’s legendary meat dress who’s taking a sightseeing trip around a run-down South African town.
The minibus Gaga’s double is riding in is suddenly accosted by gun-wielding masked men, forcing the singer to sprint for her life as she’s sprayed with bullets.
Later on, the character is seen feigning pregnancy and delivering a prawn from her genitalia.
Then she gets chased and mauled by a lion on the street.
Having watched the vile vide, the real Lady Gaga has reacted in fury to it.
vicious.sid: Well, well, well - the shocker has been shocked! Well done, Die Antwoord! It's funny how the ones who dish it out the most are the ones who can take it the least.
21.10.12
Fans’ fury as cost of watching footie stars rises five times faster than inflation
THE COST of watching a football match has soared by more than FIVE times the rate of inflation in the past 12 months, a shocking survey has found. The average cost of the cheapest adult ticket in the top four divisions has rocketed by 11.7 per cent from £19.01 to £21.24 - when the current inflation rate stands at just 2.2 per cent.
Supporters groups now fear the hikes in prices may "alienate" fans from our national sport with the most expensive match day ticket found at Arsenal costing a hefty £126 for just 90 minutes' action.
High wages for players such as Manchester United star Wayne Rooney who earns £220,000-a-week is also thought to have contributed to the price of a seat.
Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, said: "We want football to be available to all income levels. Certainly at some clubs that is not the case.
"I hear all the time of long-term supporters who have given up season tickets because they resent paying the money they are asked to pay. There is a danger that supporters feel alienated.
"Fans are facing the same economic difficulties as everyone else. Supporters ask why they should pay increased ticket prices when all that happens with that money is more wages for players."
vicious.sid: That's not bad considering the ridiculous wages have risen about 100,000%! Everything about football is pure greed now. It used to cost me one pound twenty to watch Palace in the 70s. Them were t'days.
21.10.12
'Evil dad kept mum prisoner for three days and tortured her. I didn’t even know if she was alive...when she got out I didn’t recognise her'
X FACTOR sensation Jahmene Douglas last night told of the “living hell” that he endured as a child and which robbed him of a brother. Jahmene, his two brothers and sister lived in fear of their father, were forced into refuges and even changed their names to try to evade the control freak’s evil clutches.
Unemployed Eustace Douglas was eventually jailed for a horrific BLOWTORCH attack on Jahmene’s long-suffering mum Mandy — but that did not end the ordeal.
The talented soul singer revealed how his brother took his own life after the pressure of living in a climate of fear became too much.
Speaking out about their hell for the first time, shy Jahmene told The Sun: “Every day I thought, ‘I’m going to die today’.
“It was just torture. It would turn my stomach every time I saw my father. I was living in fear.
“He would flip over anything — you didn’t lie, you didn’t swear, you didn’t put a foot out of place.
“But he’d always find something. Then you’d never know what he would do. There was a spectrum of things: Hitting you with a belt or a spatula, beating or strangling you.
“Once, because I bit my nails, he put a knife under my nail until it started bleeding. Another time he stopped me from eating for two days. I was about seven or eight.”
Things came to an awful head in 2002 after Jahmene’s mum, Mandy Wood, got a job at the Post Office.
She explained: “I got a job and he said I’d never get one. That’s what pushed him over the edge.”
It sparked a three-day ordeal of violence towards Mandy, which saw her imprisoned in her bedroom while her partner carried out the most unimaginable acts of torture.
vicious.sid: What an amazing young man. He could so easily have gone along the path of carrying on the abuse to people smaller and weaker than him like some do. It's just a shame it took so long to jail the lowlife. My wife's mother suffered with regular beatings and now everybody who knows him hates him, he will die a lonely old man and no one cares. He has lost his kids - if I lost my kids that would be enough to kill me. That's about the nearest we'll get to karma. And, just to show what true cowards these men are, the day he stopped was the day that his bullied son (another amazing man who is a lovely bloke) was old enough and the same size as him to stand up to him. That says it all. You can bet your life that Douglas is sucking up and being the comedian to all the men around him when any woman he meets will be in danger.
21.10.12
Rihanna gets back with ex? Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, then join ‘em
TWO soap stars have been blasted for joking about the brutal battering pop beauty Rihanna suffered at the hands of her ex. Hollyoaks actor Ashley Taylor Dawson, 30, and Corrie star Ryan Thomas, 28, face a dressing-down this week from their furious bosses.
Rihanna, 24, ended up in hospital after she was savagely attacked by rapper Chris Brown hours before the Grammys in 2009.
But Dawson — who plays bedhopping Darren Osborne — sparked fury when he cruelly tweeted: “I hear Rihanna is back with Chris Brown... well if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!!”
Thomas — who plays builder Jason Grimshaw — then sent the sick jibe to his 167,000 followers. Channel 4’s Hollyoaks and ITV1’s Corrie both feature anti-domestic violence messages — and campaigners urged them to take action last night. Teresa Parker, from Women’s Aid, said: “Jokes like this one trivialise a very serious issue.
“We have worked with Hollyoaks and Coronation Street to help develop domestic violence storylines and we hope they explain to the actors involved why domestic violence just isn’t funny.”
vicious.sid: Are these PC handwringers having a laugh? Of course it's funny! The whole situation is laughable, she was 'savagely' beaten by a man, she then sings words in a song about loving being hurt and beaten and now she's going back to the savage attacker. Hands up who thinks she'll get another beating eventually! If she had the dignity to refuse to go anywhere near the coward then she would get respect - but to go back for more? We all know the odds on the chances of these types of scumbags ever changing. They are woman-haters and that's that. So why should everyone else tread on eggshells when she's choosing to put herself in danger - nobody is making her. She is helping to put male attitudes to women back quite a few years!
21.10.12
Fergie: Rio has shamed me
FURIOUS Alex Ferguson accused Rio Ferdinand of embarrassing him after boycotting an anti- racism initiative. The England defender will be fined two weeks’ wages of £220,000 with his Manchester United future in doubt.
Fergie said: “He will be dealt with, no doubt about that. I’m disappointed with Rio for not wearing the T-shirt. It’s an embarrassment for me.”
Ferdinand was the only United player who refused to wear a Kick it Out warm-up top before yesterday’s 4-2 win against Stoke.
His protest was in direct defiance of Ferguson who had said on the eve of the game there would be no boycott.
The Old Trafford boss said: “I’m very disappointed because I said in the Press conference yesterday the players would be wearing it.
“We’re all wearing the badges and he goes and lets us down. But we’ll deal with it, don’t worry.”
vicious.sid: Bless him, he's not the brightest light on the christmas tree, is he?
21.10.12
MP’s £23k-a-year from taxpayer funded flat ...while YOU pay the rent at his 2nd home
A SHAMELESS MP rakes in £23,000 a YEAR by letting his taxpayer-funded London pad — while renting another home in the capital at public expense. Labour’s David Crausby charges £1,800 a month for the two-bed flat ten minutes walk from Parliament.
Official records show his mortgage was £395 after interest rates fell in 2009, meaning he makes £1,405 PROFIT if the rate is unchanged.
Yet Mr Crausby, 66, claims £1,823-a-month rent to live in London. He has demanded £33,000 in two years.
The Bolton North East MP, whose salary is £65,738, also paid £51,620 off his mortgage through the old MPs expenses system.
The Westminster flat cost him and wife Enid £285,000 in 2003 and is now worth around £600,000.
He used public cash to renovate, putting £25,000 on the mortgage in 2008 “to refurbish the kitchen, bathroom and toilet”.
vicious.sid: I don't think anything that anyone can say about our wonderful politicians could shock anybody any more. They're no better than the dirty little muggers on the street.
21.10.12
Goalie attack moron served three year footie ban
THE moron who attacked ex-England goalie Chris Kirkland live on TV was banned from matches for three years when he was just 16. Leeds United yob Aaron Cawley, now 21, took part in a terrifying riot in 2007 which saw disabled opposition fans pelted with missiles.
On Friday night, millions of viewers saw him run on to the pitch and floor Sheffield Wednesday keeper Kirkland with a two-handed shove to the face.
He then slipped over before scurrying back into the crowd, smirking with fans as they celebrated their side’s equaliser.
vicious.sid: We all know he'll get a slap on the wrist. Unless he is dropped on like a ton of bricks, all that will happen is it will make him dead proud and it will bolster his image with his like-minded, not very intelligent mates. A ban from football won't make any difference, he's already breached it three times. They'll have to make an example of him - many thousands of pounds fine, taken directly out of his dole money (or from his wages if he has a jo . . . yeah, I know!) so he couldn't afford to travel anywhere to footie and something that would embarrass him and show him to be the prat he really is (oh yeah, human rights, sorry!). But we all know it won't happen. Sigh . . .
21.10.12
We may be out of EU by the end of this decade
THERE are those who say that at the next General Election Britain will face a crossroads in its relationship with the European Union. I believe they are wrong. We are at the crossroads already.
It is clear senior European politicians and Brussels’ bureaucratic class intend to push forward with the concept of ever closer union. They are undeterred by evidence of its failure or the opposition of their people.
vicious.sid: You can just imagine it: loads of MEPs around an enormous pile of Euros, frantically stuffing their pockets before the door closes, just like a game show!!!!!
21.10.12
After Olympic guards’ year of shame... Gongs 4 the Staff (And surprise, surprise ... party security was, er, non-existent)
SHAMED Olympics security firm G4S threw a boozy awards bash to celebrate its “success” — and The Sun breezed in unchallenged to gatecrash the do. Thousands of soldiers had to be drafted in to rescue the London 2012 Games after the company disastrously failed to recruit enough staff.
And — despite a year-long catalogue of this and other blunders — it is still claiming £57million from taxpayers.
300 bosses and workers were watched partying on YOUR cash as gongs were doled out for staff’s “achievements”.
There was no security at the thrash, which went on until 3.30am at Whittlebury Hall, Towcester, Northants.
Man at the helm of disastrous firm ... Nick Buckles Employees of the firm — which rakes in £759million a year from Government contracts — dived into a free bar.
And they scoffed smoked duck and prime fillet steak at the four-star venue where a room can set you back £650.
But other hotel guests were furious when they spotted the G4S logo on revellers’ name tags.
One said: “Isn’t it marvellous to see them having such a great time after they ballsed up the Olympics. Who’d have thought they’d be celebrating so soon.”
vicious.sid: If losing prisoners, messing up major events and cocking-up everything they do and STILL being paid millions and millions of pounds isn't a success, then what is?! If I did that, I would definitely celebrate it, wouldn't you? Now, where are my big brown envelopes . . ?
21.10.12
Compensation disaster as teacher hurt by pasta
SCHOOLS have paid £6.7million in health and safety compo to teachers and pupils — including one to a Miss hurt by PASTA. An investigation by The Sun has uncovered a series of bizarre claims costing taxpayers the equivalent of 304 new teachers’ annual salaries.
Among the handouts over five years was £515 given to a female teacher who tripped on a wire and spilled hot pasta she was cooking on her hands and wrists.
Nearly £20,000 went to a pupil who ran into a playground wall and £730 to a lad who hit himself with a tennis racket.
A teacher was also given £50,000 for slipping on some fruit. Another, from Forest Gate, East London, was handed £800 for being hurt by a football in the yard.
Robert Oxley, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Schools have a duty of care but some of these payouts are beyond ridiculous.” The compensation awards were revealed after Freedom of Information Act requests.
vicious.sid: I knew I should have been a teacher. I broke a fingernail the other day, I would have been hundreds of pounds better off. Sigh . . .
21.10.12
Cheryl can't sing Aloud: Star accused of miming during Stand Up To Cancer charity performance
Cheryl Cole was left humiliated on live TV last night when a technical glitch forced her to whisper her way through her hit Call My Name. The singer's mic appeared to fail at the start of her performance on Channel 4's Stand Up To Cancer - meaning the TV audience could just hear her voice faintly singing along to a musical backing track.
But some viewers have suggested Cheryl was actually miming to a pre-recorded vocal track that technicians forgot to switch on.
The stunning star bravely carried on until the glitch was fixed and her voice returned midway through the second chorus.
vicious.sid: It's obvious: Cheryl insisted on 'singing' live and the sound technician suddenly had a fit of conscience and flipped the switch before she could damage any more ears.