The tea's off, ladies... No more free cuppas!

The tea's off, ladies: Potty bureaucracy at the WI means the end of free cuppas for members

By EMILY HILL
Last updated at 1:48 AM on 13th March 2011

There has never been such a brew-ha-ha at the Women’s Institute. 

For 20 years the thirsty ladies in village halls have received free parcels of Yorkshire Tea. 

But now the complimentary cuppas, enjoyed by members in more than 6,000 branches, are to be stopped because of charity law red tape. 

Trouble brewing: Free cups of Yorkshire Tea have come to an end for Women's Institutes because of charity law red tape

The decision has caused outrage among the 96-year-old organisation’s 200,000 members – who shook off their once-genteel image with stunts such as the nude calendar that inspired the 2003 film Calendar Girls. 

A Facebook group has been launched called ‘Reinstate our Yorkshire Tea’, on which members complain that they were not consulted by the top brass about the decision. 

The Facebook page also carries accusations that discussions about the tea on the WI’s own website have been ‘censored’. 

Problems started when the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) decided that to protect the WI ‘brand’ Yorkshire Tea needed a contract to supply the organisation with free tea. 

But the tea’s makers, Taylor’s of Harrogate, decided the contract wasn’t for them and have now dispatched the last goody boxes. 

Save our tea: WI members have set up a Facebook group called 'Reinstate our Yorkshire Tea'

A Yorkshire Tea spokesman explained: ‘It was a case of “we need a contractual relationship”. This wasn’t for us. There were lots of elements to it. We started conversations and we didn’t get that far. 

‘It’s been difficult for everyone. We have had super letters of support and thanks from ordinary members. They’re a very vocal bunch and we hope they’ll carry on drinking Yorkshire Tea for years to come.’ 

The WI blamed the situation on ‘constraints and obligations on the NFWI Board as charity trustees under current charity law’. 

A spokesman added: ‘While members are free to accept gifts in kind, no public acknowledgement for the commercial company is allowed in return unless there is an agreed contractual relationship clearly stipulating the terms of engagement.’ 

The decision could provoke a backlash as fierce as the occasion when members slowclapped and heckled Tony Blair at a 10,000-strong WI conference. 

On Facebook, Shirley Markham of Farmborough WI writes: ‘Please NFWI have another think! Our long association with Yorkshire Tea has done nothing but good to many causes and people, why change it if it works?’ 

Claire Fox, director of the Institute of Ideas, said: ‘How ironic. We have a Government that promises to get rid of red tape and nurture charities yet somehow, the ever-more elaborate, trumped-up regulations imposed on charity trustees means a genuinely altruistic act by business is scuppered. 

'If the Big Society means anything, surely it’s butting out of informal arrangements. 

‘Mr Cameron promises to roll back the state to free up People Power.  Maybe he could start with rolling back charity law.’ 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365744/The-teas-ladies-Potty-bureaucracy-WI-means-end-free-cuppas-members.html#ixzz1GSCV2xps

Pink Panther hugging bare-breasted blonde on sale for £19 million.

'Pink Panther' sculpture to sell for up to £19 million

Jeff Koons' porcelain sculpture of a pink panther hugging a bare-breasted blonde is coming to a New York City auction. It's estimated to bring $20 million to $30 million (£19m).

There were three editions made of the work; the one up for auction is the artist's proof Photo: REX

6:50PM GMT 11 Mar 2011

21 Comments

Sotheby's is selling "Pink Panther" on May 10. There were three editions made of the work; the one up for auction is the artist's proof.

One was sold at Christie's in 1999 for $1.8 million, reportedly to the newsprint magnate Peter Brant. The others are in the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Sotheby's didn't identify the seller of the artist's proof. But The New York Times says it's the publisher Benedikt Taschen.

Koons' "Balloon Flower Magenta" sold for $25.7 million in 2008 at Christie's. It set a record for the artist.

It's thigh time.... the seat of advertising on a park bench-New Zealand

Beware of the park bench this summer

A New Zealand ad firm has come up with the ultimate summer advertising - imprinting messages on the back of people's thighs.

DDB Auckland came up with the campaign for Superette, an Auckland boutique chain, who wanted to promote a shorts sale.

"We put indented plates on bus stop, mall, and park benches, so that when people sat down, the message was imprinted on their thighs," the agency said.

"This meant that as well as having branded seats, a veritable army of free media was created, with thousands of imprints being created and lasting up to an hour."

Landlord visits house to collect rent and finds house missing....

Landlord visits house to collect rent, finds house has gone

A Malaysian landlord received a rather unpleasant surprise when he went to collect rent from some tenants and found his property had disappeared.

A Malaysian wooden house like this was swiped

All that remained of Zuria Ali's house, which he had inherited from his parents, were 24 concrete pillar holders, a smashed TV and pieces of broken wood.

The main structure of the house, including its walls, had disappeared, along with items like cutlery, cupboards, a dining table and a refrigerator, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported.

Police confirmed they have received a report of a 'missing' property.

'I had heard that my house had vanished and was curious to find out the truth,' Mr Ali said.

One neighbour told the news provider the dwelling had been missing since the beginning of last month.

'I thought the three were carrying out the dismantling work on instructions from the landlord. I did not suspect anything until he [Zuria] asked me about it,' he said.

Film director Guy Richie also recently found himself in a rather bizarre property crisis, after a group of squatters moved into his £6 million London mansion while it was being renovated.

At least 12 people are thought to have moved into the property and were planning on turning it into a school.  

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/857852-landlord-visits-house-to-collect-rent-finds-house-has-gone#ixzz1GOFC3JAH

A step forward-Giant shoe car hits the streets.

Giant shoe car - a step forward?

A footwear manufacturer in China has made an electric car out of a giant shoe.

It can carry two people up to 250 miles at speeds of up to 20mph on a single charge of the battery underneath the driver's seat.

The leather 'bodywork' is made in the same way as a normal shoe but on a bigger scale, using the hide of five bulls.

A Kang Shoe company spokesman said it took six months to design and build the car at a cost of around £4,000.

The company demonstrated its bizarre vehicle outside its headquarters in Wenzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang Province.

Workers queued up for the chance to drive the shoe car which is 10ft long and more than three feet high.

Company president Wang Zhengtao says it is designed as a promotional tool and he plans to make 40 for stores around the country.

Snow way !! It's back again....

Winter's back: Snowfall in Scotland as the Big Chill bites again... but in the south the flowers are springing into bloom

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:42 PM on 11th March 2011

A warmer-than-usual February had many hoping that spring was finally here, but winter has returned with a vengeance to parts of the UK.

As swathes of southern England enjoyed sunshine and temperatures in the double-digits, Northern Scotland was plunged back into winter with up to four inches of snow.

Residents in the Inverness area woke up this morning to a snow-covered landscape.

Northern Ireland has also been told to brace itself for a return of the Big Chill, and another four inches could fall in parts of Scotland today while the rest of Britain will be buffeted by continuing strong winds and rain.

Winter landscape: A man walks his dog along a snow-covered street in Culbokie, near Inverness, this morning

A sign of things to come: Snow fell in Scotland overnight and heavier falls are expected this week

Yesterday a man was crushed to death by a lorry after gale force winds toppled it on to a pedestrian crossing as winter made an unexpected return today.

A women was also injured by the overturned truck as people fled in panic as the HGV careered towards them in Leeds city centre.

And following the heavy wind yesterday, the Met Office issued another weather warning for heavy snow in the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland today with a risk of blizzard conditions.

West Yorkshire Police said a curtain-sided lorry overturned on Neville Street, Leeds, yesterday and confirmed that a man injured in the incident died from his injuries in hospital and a woman is still being treated for her injuries.

The force also said a person had been seriously injured in a separate accident on the A1 near Pontefract when a lorry blew over and four cars collided with each other.

High winds battered Yorkshire for much of yesterday, causing some minor structural damage to buildings and problems on the roads.

There were a number of weather-related incidents including a Mercedes sprinter van blowing over on the northbound carriageway of the A1 on Thursday afternoon, two miles south of Dishforth  The two occupants were uninjured.

An HGV was also blown over on the southbound carriageway just south of the Boroughbridge junction, police said.

And elsewhere a tree was blown over onto a train at Knaresborough station, leaving two passengers with minor injuries, while a large tree collapsing in Ripon caused damage to nearby parked vehicles.

Blown over: High winds caused this lorry to overturn on a main road in Leeds, killing a pedestrian, as the gales continued to batter the north of the country

Major disruption: The lorry had been on Neville Street in the centre of Leeds when the incident occurred

Metal, plastic and other debris were reported on the A1 near Dishforth and a van also lost part of its roof on the A1. And a fence was blown over in the village of Drax near Selby, allowing sheep to escape from a field.

The weather has also caused problems in Scotland, where an elderly motorist died and another person was injured as a result of a four vehicle pile-up on a notorious stretch of the A9 in Highland Perthshire.

A 70-year-old man had to be cut free from his vehicle and received treatment at the scene but he died as a result of his injuries a short time later.

A spokesman for Tayside Police confirmed there had been one fatality and that at least one other person required medical assistance at the crash scene at Calvine.

More problems: The winds affected roads in other areas, including the A1 where a lorry was blown over at the Boroughbridge junction

The return of the snow follows a sunny start to March for much of the country and a milder than usual February.

Dave Britton, a Met Office spokesman, said: ‘It’s going to be very windy and there will be some snow in Scotland, Cumbria and Northumbria.

‘We have got a band of rain coming in today and it will turn to snow this evening for parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern England. On hills there’s the potential for 5 to 10cm (2 to 4ins) by Saturday evening, while parts of Scotland could get up to 30cm (12ins) by then.’

He said weather warnings were in place for Scotland over the next couple of days and for England today.

The snow showers will be accompanied by strong winds in England, with gusts up to 30mph. While the rest of Britain will escape the snow, it will be a dull and occasionally rainy weekend.

Signs of spring: While the windy weather continues, daffodils were blossoming in St James' Park in London, suggesting that winter is on the way out

The west will see most of the wet weather on Saturday, while eastern parts will get the rain on Sunday. 

But Monday is expected to be mostly dry with some sunshine.

The long-term forecast is for mostly settled weather in England over the next month, with less rain than normal for March and early April, although there could be some bitterly cold nights.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are likely to be more unsettled, the Met Office said. Britain was buffeted by gale force winds yesterday, with gusts of 65 to 75mph.

Despite the snow flurries, wildlife experts say the seasons are back on schedule after an early upset.

The coldest December in 100 years delayed the start of the earliest spring flowers, such as snowdrops and crocuses, by two or three weeks. But daffodils are now bursting into life on time.

Mr Britton said: ‘Although December was cold, February was relatively mild. This winter was not as cold as last winter.’

Windy walkers: One person was caught in a sandstorm on Tynemouth beach caused by the high winds, while walking their dog

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365087/Winter-weathers-Snowfall-Scotland-Big-Chill-bites-again.html#ixzz1GIdm245f

On the pull: Crufts dog with an eye for the ladies...

On the pull: The Crufts dog with an eye for the ladies (who don't mind a bit of dribble)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:41 PM on 11th March 2011

Thousands of dogs and their owners have turned out for the first day of the annual Crufts dog show, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary.

Around 28,000 dogs are set to compete in various categories during the four-day show, held at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.

Dogs which helped save lives in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake and the 7/7 London bombings are among those competing for the prestigious Friends for Life award.

Enlarge 

Looking for attention: A Dogue de Bordeaux keeps a keen eye out for da lady dogs at Crufts in Birmingham. Is that bib an atttempt to catch the enormous amount of saliva he produces?

Limelight: Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly filmed a segment for their ITV1 show Push the Button in the main arena

Television presenters Ant and Dec - Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly - briefly stole the limelight from the animals as they filmed a segment for their ITV1 show Push the Button in the main arena.

The 'secret challenge' involved members of two competing families testing their dog handling skills in a timed agility exercise.

The competitors each led a dog around an obstacle course which included a number of jumps, a tunnel and a seesaw.

The presenters, who back competing families in the programme, will not find out the results of the challenge until it is aired on Saturday evening.

Cheering his team on from the side of the arena, Ant joked: 'I am proper nervous, I am going to start running around (the course) myself.' 

Dec told the crowd he was impressed with the good behaviour of the dogs he had seen at the show, adding: 

'My girlfriend has got a dog, she's got a little dachshund. It's a cheeky little thing... very very disobedient.' 

Crufts, which is sponsored by furniture retailer dfs, will be screened on More4, with Clare Balding at the helm. The channel is extending its coverage of the event to two hours each night, from March 10-13. 

You looking at me? The Crufts annual dog show at the NEC, is celebrating its 120th year

A fully-updated version of the documentary Good Dog! Bad Dog! from Mentorn Media will air at the same time,  examining the issues and concerns surrounding dog welfare, responsible dog ownership and best practice in dog breeding.

The BBC pulled out of covering the event in 2009 following a documentary which alleged that dogs on show often suffer from genetic diseases following years of inbreeding.

Up, up and away! This one-eyed dog may not be pawfect but he's qualified to compete at Crufts despite his disability. Dudley the Blue Cross rescue mutt developed an infection before he was born and vets had to remove one eye

But Caroline Kisko, Secretary of the Kennel Club which organises the event, says Crufts is a celebration of the special relationship between man and dog.

'It offers people the opportunity to explore the issues surrounding how to buy, breed, train and care for a dog responsibly, so that everybody involved in dogs can help them to lead healthy, happy lives.'

As well as a one-eyed rescue dog called Dudley competing this year, the show also features the first deaf canine, Zippy. The dog is just 20 months old and was born deaf. His trainer Vicky says, 

'As Zippy can’t hear me, it is important that we have eye contact, so he can see the hand signals for the commands. Generally, I touch his nose first and then touch my nose to make sure he is looking at me before I give him the hand signal. Zippy is a clever dog and very quick to learn. He is a real inspiration.'

Paws for thought: A Pointer gazes into the distance as he dreams of some choice cuts in his food bowl later

Furry best wishes: A dog surrounded by good luck cards from well wishers...and some fluffy toys thrown in for good measure

Dog tired: English Setter 'Sparsett Hembury Explorer' looks like he's had enough already

You must be barking: A long line of Weimaraners stand poised for the scrutiny of judges in the parade ring

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365063/Crufts-The-dog-eye-ladies.html#ixzz1GIcaXVU0

British dentist suspended for obscene gestures to patients...

British Dentist Suspended for 

Farting and Belching on Job

Mar 9, 2011 – 2:14 PM

David MoyeContributor

Some dentists use laughing gas on the job, but one British dentist has been suspended for using the human kind instead.

Authorities at the British General Dental Council say they will removeMatthew Walton, 35, from the official Dentist's Register next month for a variety of offensive offenses, including farting and belching in front of patients and staff.

In addition, Walton has been accused of swearing and making "V-sign" hand gestures to patients and staff behind their backs.

Getty Images

British dentist Matthew Walton has had his license suspended for a variety of offenses, including passing gas and belching in front of his patients.

Walton had been employed at a dental practice in Whitchurch, Shropshire, but officials ruled that his conduct truly stunk and required immediate suspension of his registration "for the protection of the public."

The list of tacky transgressions includes:

• Breaking wind during appointments
• Telling a patient he had bad breath
• Making derogatory comments about unemployed patients
• Pushing a nervous teenage patient back into his chair, telling him, "You will sit and let me do it."

Walton admitted all the allegations about clinical matters, but denied some of the allegations of poor conduct. However, the committee said, "In the course of your evidence you did make further concessions regarding the [conduct] allegations."

The committee also concluded it had "taken into account the nature of your misconduct both towards patients and staff and your clinical failings" and also "your lack of insight and lack of remediation."

Unless Walton appeals the suspension, he will be forbidden from legally working as a dentist in the United Kingdom.