The Lend-Lease Term comes to an end

BRITAIN will finally settle its Second World War loan debt to America and Canada tomorrow.
A £55million instalment completes the £4.8billion repaid since 1950. The loans of £2.8billion bankrolled the war effort and post-war reconstruction.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Ed Balls, said: “This week we honour in full our commitments to the US and Canada for the support they gave 60 years ago.”

Britain mortgaged it's soul and all it's gold to get North America into WWII to help defeat Nazi expansionism. We all owe them a huge debt and thankfully are free to not have to speak German or Japanese. JFK, a Democrat President of the USA, stood up to Kruschev and stopped Communist domination of the world. Will this generation of leftist politicians, celebrities and media stand up to the Islamic threat to world freedom? Or will they forever be apologists for their harsh treatment of women and non-believers, their barbaric treatment of dissenters and their fight to stop Democracy from gaining a foothold in the Middle East?

$350,000 retirement dream on the rocks

Reported in today's Herald

The retirement dream of former dairy industry heavyweight Graham Calvert is now high and dry after his 12.2m launch, worth at least $350,000, hit rocks and sank in the Hauraki Gulf between Waiheke Island and Motuihe.

'It took about 10 seconds, so you don't have time to be afraid," he said. "I would like to say the Coastguard performed marvellously. The whole team was good to me."

Oh Dear! Reason enough to wear your life jacket and to keep on paying the annual subscription to Coastguard. They are doing a fine job looking after all the boaties out on the water.

Instruction Manuals

I have finally come to the conclusion that instruction manuals come impregnated with a toxin that radiates from the printed page and enters ones brain through the eye. This is an amazingly potent chemical that induces sleep within minutes of starting to read the manual. In some of the hardier persons around, when sleep is not induced, it causes great confusion and ensures numerous attempts to turn back pages to re look at diagrams and seek out annotated functions. This of course increases ones exposure to the chemical and increases ones confusion.

It has become so severe over the years, maybe my aging brain is more susceptible to it, that I have taken to not exposing my brain to its noxious fumes at all and hence struggle on bravely to find out how things function without instruction.

YEAR IN REVIEW

Thanks to David Farrar at kiwiblog for this wonderful bit of humour at

http://www.jibjab.com/nuckin_futs

Christmas in Auckland

We had our traditional Xmas eve dinner, European style, with a couple of close friends and the outlaws. A good time was had by all and now the outlaws have gone home and we have settled into lazy Sunday morning mode.

Isn't Auckland wonderful once the lemmings have left for the Bach and the beach? It is sooo quiet and calm, no loud exhausts from the tiresome "boy racer" wannabee's and no loud music from the rental accomodation over the way. Not even a lawnmower.

Once the lemmings come back I'll be off to the beach where I'll have wide open spaces almost to myself, uncrowded cafes and restaurants and empty shops. Life is good.

UNITED NATIONS

"The UN General Assembly has approved a top-to-bottom renovation of its landmark Manhattan headquarters building that is expected to take seven years to complete at a cost of US$1.9 billion (NZ$2.8 billion)."

YOO-HOO

Now this is going to promote peace and help the starving masses, eradicate disease and save the planet.