Ark's Ark » UK News http://www.arksark.org/blog Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming, Current Affairs, and Random Stuff! Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:10:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Gordon Brown and the Bully Hotlinehttp://www.arksark.org/blog/2730/gordon-brown-and-the-bully-hotline/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/2730/gordon-brown-and-the-bully-hotline/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:36:43 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=2730 I’ve experienced both school and workplace bullying, and I have no time for people who behave in such a way. I’ve even called a supportline or two in the past. So don’t take what follows as in any way diminishing the anguish that bullying can cause.

I have two points to make on the current scandal, which involves Christine Pratt, the head of the National Bullying Helpline, going public with claims that staff at Number 10 had called her support [...]

Gordon Brown and the Bully Hotline is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/2730/gordon-brown-and-the-bully-hotline/feed/ 0 Anti-poverty company ends poverty. For its CEO.http://www.arksark.org/blog/1072/anti-poverty-company-ends-poverty-for-its-ceo/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/1072/anti-poverty-company-ends-poverty-for-its-ceo/#comments Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:50:40 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=1072 As a pinko socialist commie I don’t think anyone is worth this much, but it is especially irritating in a government owned company.

The “extraordinary” £1m-a-year salary for the head of a government-owned company set up to combat developing world poverty has been attacked by MPs.

The salary of CDC Group chief executive Richard Laing rose from £383,000 in 2003 to £970,000 in 2007, the Commons Public Accounts committee found.

But the Department for International Development, its 100% shareholder, was [...]

Anti-poverty company ends poverty. For its CEO. is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/1072/anti-poverty-company-ends-poverty-for-its-ceo/feed/ 0 Did MMOs cause John Darwin to fake his own death?http://www.arksark.org/blog/237/did-mmos-cause-john-darwin-to-fake-his-own-death/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/237/did-mmos-cause-john-darwin-to-fake-his-own-death/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:18:37 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=237 And the answer to the title question is “No. Probably not”. But MMOs have been drawn into the elaborate web of not very good lies that are the adventures of John Darwin. If you’re not familiar with the John Darwin saga, it is truly a gift that keeps giving. It is a sad example of what happens when two rather stupid people start thinking that they’re a great deal cleverer than they actually are.

Last year I posted about [...]

Did MMOs cause John Darwin to fake his own death? is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/237/did-mmos-cause-john-darwin-to-fake-his-own-death/feed/ 0 In which I finally become free of Magdalen Close.http://www.arksark.org/blog/189/in-which-i-finally-become-free-of-magdalen-close/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/189/in-which-i-finally-become-free-of-magdalen-close/#comments Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:49:27 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/2008/01/14/in-which-i-finally-become-free-of-magdalen-close/ I just handed back the keys to my old flat to the council. After a week of cleaning up the detritus of 5 years of not being terribly tidy, I am overjoyed to see the back of it.

In the time I lived there I had to cope with crack-dealers and prostitutes using my stairwell as a meeting point, and constant screaming and yelling outside my flat. There were mysterious fires, including arson attempts on the chap who lived in [...]

In which I finally become free of Magdalen Close. is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/189/in-which-i-finally-become-free-of-magdalen-close/feed/ 0 John Darwin fought the Google, and the Google won.http://www.arksark.org/blog/168/john-darwin-fought-the-google-and-the-google-won/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/168/john-darwin-fought-the-google-and-the-google-won/#comments Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:38:57 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/2007/12/09/john-darwin-fought-the-google-and-the-google-won/ John Darwin has to be one of the most stupid people ever to attempt to fake his own death. Indeed, the fact he’s still alive is the only thing precluding his receiving a Darwin award for lifetime achievement.

In 2002, after trouble with debt, his canoe was found empty, floating in the sea off Hartlepool. He was declared dead by a coroner in 2003, and his wife received his life-insurance payout. £25,000 and the paying off of their £130,000 mortgage.

[...]

John Darwin fought the Google, and the Google won. is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/168/john-darwin-fought-the-google-and-the-google-won/feed/ 1 David Abrahams and his Manchurian plot to destroy New Labour.http://www.arksark.org/blog/152/david-abrahams-and-his-manchurian-plot-to-destroy-new-labour/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/152/david-abrahams-and-his-manchurian-plot-to-destroy-new-labour/#comments Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:36:10 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/2007/12/01/david-abrahams-and-his-manchurian-plot-to-destroy-new-labour/ The David Abrahams illegal donation scandal ( and I do not apologise for calling it that. Proxy donating IS illegal, as anyone but a small child or a Labour fundraiser would know.) seems to have quietened down a little for now, as various investigations begin into it. The Prime Minister’s own enquiry is likely to be a whitewash, but the Metropolitan Police enquiry is somewhat more hopeful.

Harriet Harman has managed, somehow, to keep her job. Hereafter known as the [...]

David Abrahams and his Manchurian plot to destroy New Labour. is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/152/david-abrahams-and-his-manchurian-plot-to-destroy-new-labour/feed/ 1 Janet Dunn remembers Abrahams’ “gift”.http://www.arksark.org/blog/147/janet-dunn-remembers-abrahams-gift/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/147/janet-dunn-remembers-abrahams-gift/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:26:08 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/2007/11/28/janet-dunn-remembers-abrahams-gift/ Janet Dunn, who yesterday claimed to know nothing about having been used as an intermediary for one of David Abrahams’ Labour Party donations, has had a flash of insight, and now remembers the event. I suppose she doesn’t consider it “disgusting” any more, either.

I know I’m always forgetting about having £25,000 put into my bank account, and then passing it along. You can’t be expected to recall such minor financial details. Luckily, she kept records, and checked her bank [...]

Janet Dunn remembers Abrahams’ “gift”. is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/147/janet-dunn-remembers-abrahams-gift/feed/ 0 David Abrahams – Serial liarhttp://www.arksark.org/blog/145/david-abrahams-serial-liar/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/145/david-abrahams-serial-liar/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:42:59 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/2007/11/28/david-abrahams-serial-liar/ David Abrahams, alias David Martin was unknown to me at the beginning of this week, and yet it appears that he has been a busy little bee indeed. At least where deception is concerned. A bee of lies.

It turns out that when David Abrahams was trying to become Labour MP for Richmond in 1992, he made a point of introducing the selection committee to his wife and son.

A divorcee, Anthea Bailey, told a local newspaper she and her [...]

David Abrahams – Serial liar is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/145/david-abrahams-serial-liar/feed/ 0 David Abrahams admits to knowingly breaking the law.http://www.arksark.org/blog/144/david-abrahams-admits-to-knowingly-breaking-the-law/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/144/david-abrahams-admits-to-knowingly-breaking-the-law/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:50:57 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/2007/11/26/david-abrahams-admits-to-knowingly-breaking-the-law/ Labour general secretary Peter Watt has resigned following the revelation that a property developer made donations to the party via two colleagues. David Abrahams, who gave more than £400,000 through associates, said Mr Watt’s resignation was “sad”.

Mr Watt told a meeting of officers of Labour’s National Executive Committee he had known about the arrangement.

Under the law, those making donations on behalf of others must give details of who is providing the money.

Mr Abrahams and [...]

David Abrahams admits to knowingly breaking the law. is a post from: Ark's Ark

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