And the Bride wore a PORSCHE.....

Diamonds maybe a girl's best friend but one savvy lass in England decided that she would rather have a PORSCHE....one she built herself from an old VW....

Where are girls like this stateside??? She sounds like a real catch.

A bride's welded bliss: How she built Porsche from wrecked VW for her big day
By Sadie Whitelocks - UK MAIL
15th September 2011

For Megan Ashton, it was her childhood dream to arrive at her wedding in a classic Porsche.
Now the 26-year-old has done exactly that – not by hiring one, as any bride might, but by building her own from a clapped-out Volkswagen Beetle.

She spent six years painstakingly transforming the 40-year-old VW into a Porsche 356, the company’s first production model.

The Royal Navy engineering officer paid £200 for the wreck before stripping it down to the chassis and meticulously rebuilding it virtually from scratch, donning blue overalls, getting covered in grime and grease, and spending £4,000 in the process.

The stunning vehicle now features a white leather interior with a mahogany finish, has a 356 body shell, and includes an authentic steering wheel and speedometer. It also boasts an impressive top speed of more than 100mph – and is valued at £25,000.

The proud owner was driven in it by her father to her wedding to Rob Ashton, also 26, a captain in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

After the ceremony at Sandhurst military academy in Surrey, her new husband took the wheel to drive them to their reception.

‘I loved every minute of it and it was such a special moment to be able to pull up on my wedding day in it,’ said the new Mrs Ashton, from Amesbury, near Salisbury in Wiltshire. ‘It was a close-run thing getting the car finished in the end, but after six years it was well worth it.

‘There were times when I didn’t think we’d get it done in time as it was such a huge project, but it meant so much. I dreamed of driving the car but got carried away buying my wedding dress, which meant it was quite difficult to fit in.’

The 356 was created by Ferdinand Porsche, son of the company founder who had designed the Volkswagen Beetle.

It was manufactured between 1948 and 1956 and shared many parts with the Beetle to save money – making the two cars easier for Mrs Ashton to fuse together.

She bought the battered 1969 VW when she was a student, then stripped it down to the bare chassis before fitting larger cylinders and pistons to the engine, increasing it from 1285cc to 1776cc.

Only the chassis, which had to be shortened, wheels and engine remain of the original car, which was also given a new registration plate.

Mrs Ashton, whose father Viv Beal, 54, runs a garage in Barnstaple, Devon, said: ‘I know people might think it is quite unusual for a girl to be interested in cars but I have always grown up surrounded by it.

‘My Mum and Dad have been buying various parts for the car for birthday and Christmas presents for the past six years – so I am looking forward to getting some girly treats now.’

Her father added: ‘We’re all into classic cars and it was a very proud day for all of us. Megan’s Porsche replica is her pride and joy.

Next time use a manila folder Minister....

This shows that Politicians acting stupidly is not an American phenomenon....It appears that it is just as prevalent on both sides of the pond.

Next time, don't be such an idjit and use a opaque envelope or a manila folder....unless you WANT TO tell the whole world what you're planning.....

Minister's blunder with memo outside No.10 reveals UK Government 'welcomes' Afghan president stepping down By Ian Drury
UK MAIL - 31st August 2011

Gaffe: Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell leaves Number 10 without covering up his confidential briefing notes

A Cabinet minister risked a diplomatic row yesterday by accidentally revealing a secret Government memo welcoming the departure of Afghanistan's president.
Andrew Mitchell was photographed clutching a confidential briefing paper saying Hamid Karzai's decision to step down would improve the country's prospects 'very significantly'.

In a humiliating blunder the International Development Secretary inadvertently displayed the file, marked 'Protect – Policy', as he left a meeting at No 10.
His gaffe threatens to heighten tensions between Britain and the Afghan government. The relationship is rocky because of Mr Karzai's repeated failure to do more to stamp out corruption in his regime.

The memo, held in a see-through folder, also revealed concerns of Afghanistan being 'destabilised' if the international community continued to suspend aid money.
Mr Mitchell was snapped leaving Downing Street following a meeting of the National Security Council in which ministers discussed the war against the Taliban.

The timing of the slip-up is especially sensitive because it comes as Britain prepares to start pulling many of its 9,000 combat troops out of Afghanistan.

The briefing papers commented on Mr Karzai's plan to step down when his second term ends in 2014 – the same year Nato hands over security responsibilities to the Afghan government.

Mr Karzai was controversially re-elected in 2009 following an election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-rigging.

He has now been forced to say he would abide by the country's constitution and not seek a third term amid claims he was plotting a rule change so he could remain in power or anoint a relative.

He has infuriated the West and is unpopular among fellow Afghans. He has also been criticised for giving power to family and tribal members.

Mr Mitchell's secret papers said Karzai's decision improved Afghanistan's political prospects 'very significantly', adding: 'We should welcome Karzai's announcement in private and in public.'

A Government spokesman said the papers were of a routine nature and had no 'significant sensitivity'

The Solemn Tribute by the Village of Wooten Bassett to British Military who made the ultimate sacrifice - Soon to be no more.

My affinity for the British people and all that Britain represents is understandable as they are the one true ally we have in the world. I have served alongside Britain's military and they are a good lot. The President has demonstrated he doesn't see it that way but our disagreement is based on his warped view of what is right and my knowledge that he is dead wrong.

The special relationship we share with the British goes beyond politics and all things current. We are a nation borne from the original 13 colonies which were British and our greatest minds were educated in the British tradition. We share military and folklore, we are cut from the same cloth. I feel that the people of Britain will always be there for us as we will always do our part to assist our neighbors "across the pond".

Here is a story that details how the citizens of one small British town decided to do their part to recognize the sacrifice made by their military and how due to changes mainly driven by cost cutting, they will no longer be able to pay their solemn tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Ending Wootton Bassett repatriation procession is a cynical attempt to conceal the price of Britain's misguided wars
By Gerald Seymour- UK MAIL

6th August 2011

Nothing had quite prepared me — certainly not the occasional clips on TV news broadcasts — for the raw emotion and pain on the High Street in Wootton Bassett when a repatriation procession in honour of dead British soldiers goes through the town.

The experience of watching the hearse with the flag-draped coffin come up the hill and then crawl to a stop in front of the bereaved families and friends, and in front of the solemnly lowered standards of the organisations for veteran servicemen, is gut-wrenching.

The civilian population of Wootton Bassett has taken over, reclaimed these young men who are brought into the town on their way to an Oxford mortuary

It is also, for most of us, our only moment when we can touch, feel, experience something of the distant and faraway wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I have seen military men being mourned before. During the scorching summer of 1967, I witnessed the soldiers of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders — the battalion commanded by the charismatic Colonel Colin ‘Mad Mitch’ Mitchell — make their farewells to their colleagues killed in Aden and buried in the Silent Valley cemetery.

As a reporter for ITN’s News At Ten, I covered the final withdrawal of British forces from that God-forsaken colony, much of it under sustained attack from local gunmen. A formal ceremony, with pipes and an officer’s address and a padre’s prayers and impeccable parade ground drills, was on show.

It was a demonstration of the military’s respect for their own. Not a wet eye, and not a choke in a voice.

In the Lower Falls of Belfast, in the early days of the Army’s war with the Provisional IRA, after a sniper had killed an infantryman the soldiers would react with a bloody-minded defiance.

With a camera crew, I was there to watch an intensely moving few minutes staged by the Green Jackets in that blood-soaked time at the end of 1971 when Army casualties soared.

Under leaden skies, the main street outside the barracks was blocked off. The traffic of this principal artery into the city of Belfast log-jammed and a coffin was brought and laid on hurdles on the central white line.

There are so many people who have never heard a shot fired in anger but feel obliged to stand in solidarity with the mourners

Prayers were said, a hymn was sung. Only when the hearse had left for nearby Aldergrove airport was the traffic in that vehemently Republican area allowed to flow again.

Many years ago I handed in my Press cards and became a full-time writer: setting myself the goal of trying to be a witness of my country’s sentiments and moods, to feel its pulse and reflect it.

With an idea for a new book about our soldiers who die in Afghanistan jostling in my mind, I was drawn to that small Wiltshire town on a repatriation day.

Compared with those ceremonies I’d seen in Aden and Belfast, Wootton Bassett is so different. The civilian population has taken over, reclaimed these young men who are brought into the town on their way to an Oxford mortuary.

It’s not the soldiers in uniform who stand on the pavements, erect and unblinking as they salute in pressed fatigues and polished boots, who are in the forefront.

Instead, dominant among the silent watchers are the men and women of humble housing estates, of the British Legion clubs, the shop staff and the bank workers who line the High Street four or five deep — or the grey-haired and grizzled bikers in their leather jackets.

There are so many people who have never heard a shot fired in anger but feel obliged to stand in solidarity with the mourners, and so many who know next to nothing of Basra and Al Amarah and the communities of Helmand province, but would feel a sense of shame if they missed a fallen soldier coming through.

The military are there, but are sidelined. Dignitaries are absent, and not missed.

My most poignant memory of Wootton Bassett is the sound of the heart-breaking weeping of a mother beside the hearse, breaking the quiet all around her . . . and so many people that day blinked away tears.

However, not for much longer will the crowds, quiet in respect, be on the High Street.

By next month, the nearby base into which the bodies are flown — RAF Lyneham — will be winding down for closure, and all further fatalities will be taken to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The hearses, then, will avoid Wootton Bassett and will divert instead from Brize and around the outskirts of the town of Carterton, and have a shorter run to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where post-mortems are performed for local coroners.

Don’t hold your breath and expect ministers and MoD civil servants to facilitate the recreation of the Wootton Bassett mood at Carterton.

Families I’ve spoken to, and the NCOs who escort them, have told me of the comfort the bereaved take from the solidarity of the crowds on the pavements. The support is tangible but not welcome at the top echelon.

Senior officers will be happy to get rid of the Wootton Bassett business.

They believe the stop in the town, not more than one minute, to be ‘mawkish’, ‘sentimental’, no doubt similar to the ‘emotional incontinence’ with which a columnist described the reaction to Diana’s death, and — above all — they fear it is leeching away the nation’s tolerance of these overseas adventures.

Also they don’t like the nation being reminded of what many lining the route call ‘these bloody bombs’, or these ‘bastard things’ that take so many of the lives, and maim so many more.

The roadside explosives that wrought havoc in Iraq, and those buried and hidden beside tracks and in compound walls through Helmand in Afghanistan, are a new weapon in warfare, terrifying to troops and creating nightmarish tensions.

They have stripped away the superiority of the training of Nato troops and their equipment. The bombs have tilted the balance between the resources of western forces and a peasant militia, perhaps to the level where such wars are unwinnable.

Three out of every four repatriations have been the result of deaths from so-called Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

In addition, there are hospital wards and rehabilitation units crammed with the cruelly injured amputees, struck down by IEDs. Alongside them are the hidden time-bomb victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The Help For Heroes campaign is a truly wonderful expression of the public’s generosity — but as valuable and with little of the glamour is a charity called Combat Stress, dedicated to helping the young men who have patrolled in Basra or Helmand and are left devastated by the tensions created by the hidden bombs, nerves stretched to breaking point.

Many of the PTSD symptoms of acute depression, alcohol-dependency and violence will surface when the soldier is back home. The IEDs have left a devastating legacy in our society, and it will be with us for many years.

I’ve been at Wootton Bassett when the bodies of Ammunition Technical Officers — the bomb disposal people — have come through the High Street. Some have been killed when, exhausted from the number of jobs heaped on them, they have made one fatal mistake while defusing a device.

Others have been targeted by Taliban snipers who know that a bomb disposal man will always try to make safe a bomb, and will linger there and expose himself, not simply blow the wretched thing up.

Why? Why do these men take such fearful risks to defuse the devices? Why do so many hazard their lives in dismantling IEDs?

Only by standing in the crowds at Wootton Bassett can you begin to appreciate the extent of their commitment, their sacrifice. They treat these lethal pieces of electronic engineering as if they were potential evidence in a criminal prosecution. They act, almost, like the scenes-of-crime teams in a British city.

They are defusing the bombs so that the working parts can be flown back to laboratories in Britain and the U.S. where state-of-the-art science can examine them. Which bombs are made by which engineers at which work bench is basic to the investigation: every engineer leaves a trace of his work in manufacture and assembly.

They’ll look for the origin of the parts — where the circuits, fuses, wires, computer chips came from and where they were shipped to. And they’ll hunt for the engineer’s DNA: was the air-conditioning not functioning in his workshop, did a bead of sweat drip on to the circuit board’s plastic surround? Did he prick his finger and leave a microscopic speck of blood inside the bomb package?

The Americans alone have spent $20 billion on the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organisation, a U.S. Defence Department body established to help overcome these infernal weapons.

It’s an incredible sum, but it points up the devastating power and influence on the battlefield of the roadside bomb. In this cat-and-mouse game there would be few American or British scientists, or soldiers, confident of supremacy.

Top of the target list are the bomb-makers. If identified by the laboratories and located by intelligence they will suffer ‘interdiction’, the sanitised phrase for extra-judicial assassination.

The difficulty — not inconsiderable — is that the bombs are mostly made in Iran and smuggled into Iraq or Afghanistan.

A British bomb disposal expert, who has defused scores of sophisticated devices, gave me a word picture of his typical enemy.

‘An Iranian engineer in his mid-30s, he would have a family — wife and children — has an electronics degree from a Tehran university, and perhaps another from one in Europe.

'His religion would be a major motivation along with a fervent patriotism. He believes his intellect is a gift from God, is an egotist and a perfectionist, something of a genius.’

A genius intent on carnage and whose bloody handiwork can be seen week by week in the tragic procession of bodies through Wootton Bassett.

An hour or so before a repatriation, the bay at Swindon bus station for the 55 or 55A services to the Wiltshire market town begins to fill. There are men from the last National Service intakes and widows whose late husbands were long in the military. A few have dressed smartly for the occasion, most are in their everyday clothes, but men wear miniature medals and often have a faded beret with a polished cap badge.

They are utterly decent people and I came to feel privileged to know them a little. Friendships will have been formed since Wootton Bassett began, but the greetings are subdued and there’s no laughter.

When dropped off by the bus, they wander down the High Street to find a place to stand — near the book shop or the bakery or the bank or close to the Cross Keys pub. There is a man from the West Midlands who has missed only one — when his road was deep under snow. There is a veteran who flies in from Northern Ireland each time.

They have become a Band of Brothers. But I sense that most find it hard to link this sleepy little town with the precision work done in a workshop in Iran, with the foot- soldiers bringing the crates of ready-to-use bombs towards Basra or Al Qurnah or along desolate mountain trails skirting military outposts in Herat province.

Only when the bell in the tower of St Bartholomew and All Saints in the town tolls is the link forged.

It is so difficult for us who have never seen the combat, first hand, in Iraq and Afghanistan, but have only stood and watched and been a witness in Wootton Bassett, to comprehend the new warfare of the roadside bombs, and assimilate the cost we have asked our servicemen to pay.

When the hearse and its escort pulls away, the town is left with a great numbed sadness, and a sense of a fogged confusion . . . and soon repatriations will shift to RAF Brize Norton, and the High Street here will see no more of these gatherings.

It is wishful thinking to hope that Government will intervene and offer mourning families more of an occasion on the new route from Brize Norton.

They’ll draw the least possible attention to the price paid for involvement in the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Myself, I don’t want politicians or the Ministry anywhere near the cortege once it leaves an RAF base. Wootton Bassett grew from a small and unlikely beginning and developed a unique character.

After the move to Brize Norton, perhaps something new will be forged with its own mood and singular identity — the people dubbed as ‘ordinary’ will surely make it happen. But it will never be able to match the proud dignity of this town where spontaneity, not ceremony, has always ruled.

A man broke the silence at one repatriation. While family and friends loaded the hearse roof with red roses, he shouted, ‘Well done, lad, well done’.

Another man took the cue and called out, ‘Good boy, good boy’. Tears flowed free.

Whatever the future route, however much Government might wish to keep hidden the sorry toll of its foreign adventures, there are — thank God — so many good people who will make sure the families know that the sacrifice of a loved one in that awful dust and dirt of a faraway place will not be forgotten.


Gerald Seymour’s latest novel A Deniable Death is published by Hodder at £12.99.

GOODWOOD celebrates 50 years of Britain’s most iconic sportcar, the Jaguar E-Type

One things I can avow is that I am all about all things automotive, especially classic and vintage cars....I LOVE to watch movies from the past simply to see the cars that are in the background in movies like Bullitt or Blue Hawaii...the cars you see the normal people driving in the background are all the ones we want now...

I have always liked the Jag e-type as it is an iconic car from the 60s....the design and style of this beauty inspired the design of man other car that followed.

I became aware of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and their annual Goodwood Revival after seeing some info about it on Cable....it is a totally British gathering with people coming for a weekend of Vintage Racing, Cars, Warbirds and all things British....I would like to attend one year and get to spend a weekend taking in the sights and sounds of this unique festival of speed....Brilliant !!!


GOODWOOD LAUNCHES ITS 2011 MOTOR SPORT SEASON
http://www.goodwood.co.uk/

Festival of Speed and Revival founder Lord March was joined by a host of famous faces at Goodwood House on Thursday 17 March to announce exciting plans for the 2011 Goodwood motor sport season.

Lord March ran though the highlights of what to look forward to at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed (1-3 July), Moving Motor Show (30 June) and Revival (16-18 September), supported by a host of motor sport stars, including Formula One drivers Mika Hakkinen, Jochen Mass, Desiré Wilson and Bruno Senna, motorcycle competitors Guy Martin, James Haydon and Paul Smart, rally stars Andreas Mikkleson, Jimmy McRae and Russell Brooks, and circuit racer legends Paul Radisich, Richard Attwood and Anthony Reid. In addition, golfer Sir Nick Faldo, TV chef James Martin, comedian Ross Noble and model Yasmin le Bon with her daughter Amber on hand.

The theme for the 2011 Festival of Speed is ‘Racing Revolutions – Quantum leaps that shaped motor sport,’ and the essence of this theme was much in evidence at the Goodwood launch, from the 1909 ‘Blitzen Benz’ with an influential aerodynamic design to help it become the fastest car in the world with record of 228.1 km/h in 1911, to the 1981 McLaren-Honda MP4/1 that pioneering the use of carbon fibre materials in F1 racing. The Festival theme will run right through many of this year’s Festival attractions, with racing innovations evident throughout, including developments to engine, aerodynamics, chassis construction, and much more.

The Festival remains the World’s only motor sport event outside of the Formula One championship to attract the current F1 teams and drivers, and Lord March declared that he is confident that Goodwood will feature a record nine of the current 2011 teams this year, including the reigning F1 World Championship team Red Bull, along with a number of the season’s top drivers.

Other forms of modern motor sport will also be represented at Goodwood with many of the current WRC and IRC rally teams in action on the Forest Rally Stage, with the new WRC Mini Countryman making its British debut at the launch. Skoda marks 110 years of motor sport involvement this year and is the new partner for the popular Forest Rally Stage, with Works driver Andreas Mikkelsen very much in evidence. Expect to see wild American rally star Ken Block in action in the 2011 Ford Fiesta WRC at the Festival too. Many of the works World Superbike teams are also expected at the Festival, plus a number of leading riders, including British stars James Toseland, Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea.

Jaguar Cars will celebrate two important anniversaries at the Festival, with a striking automotive ‘sculpture’ in front of Goodwood House to celebrate 50 years of Britain’s most iconic sportcar, the E-Type, as well as the 60th anniversary since Jaguar first won at the gruelling Le Mans 24 Hours race. A significant 1961 E-type was present at the Goodwood launch with model Yasmin le Bon and daughter Amber taking a keen interest in the car, along with the most powerful production Jaguar ever made, the new XKR-S which made its UK debut.

The Centenary of the famous Indy 500 is being marked by Goodwood with the biggest celebration of this great race outside of America. To date over 30 cars have been confirmed, all of which played a significant role at the Brickyard, including nine outright winning chassis, to be driven by drivers with a dozen wins between them. Many of the cars will be appearing at the Festival for the first time. The cars will all be displayed together, creating a mini Gasoline Alley within the F1 Paddock, with much of the unique pageantry of the Indy 500 being recreated at the Festival. A line-up of Indy 500 cars were present at Goodwood, including the 1914 Sunbeam ‘Indianapolis’, 1951 Steven-Offy ‘Jim Robbins Special’ and 1966 Lola-Ford T90 ‘Bowes Seal’.

Lord March announced that young persons’ attractions at the Festival will be reinvigorated with the Goodwood Action Sports (GAS) live action sports arena, featuring five different types of extreme two-wheeled sport, all performing on an integrated series of jumps and ramps. GAS will be supported by SEAT, with its own Club SEAT interactive area and young driver experience. The emphasis of GAS will be on world class athletes in various extreme two-wheeled disciplines. As well as watching the experts, there will be an opportunity for Festival visitors to try each sport for themselves in the activities field. The Junior FoS for younger Goodwood visitors will remain as a popular attraction as well.

The Goodwood Moving Motor Show will also be held again as a significant addition to the annual Festival of Speed, and will take place on Thursday 30 June 2011, supported by Auto Trader. New cars buyers will be able to enjoy an exclusive motor show preview day, where they will not only be able to see the very latest new car models on display, but in some cases also climb aboard and experience the vehicles first-hand, strictly at the invitation of the participating vehicle manufacturers. At least 23 car manufacturers have already confirmed their attendance at the 2011 Moving Motor Show.

Highlights at the 2011 Goodwood Revival (16-18 September) will set to include a Jaguar E-type-only race to mark 50 years of this important sportscar, plus a tribute to Juan Fangio, 100 years after his birth, and a daily track parade of British-built Ford vehicles to honour the century of Ford in Britain. The 75th anniversary of the Supermarine Spitfire will also be celebrated, with the greatest gathering of these evocative aircraft at Goodwood since the its active duty day as a Battle of Britain RAF Air Base in World War II.

Wootton Bassett given the 'Royal' prefix in honour of ceremonies for UK War Heroes - "We are not doing this for any plaudits, honours or awards."

Many of our military traditions stem from what we adopted from the British military as we became a nation over 235 years ago.....

101 years since the village of Tunbridge Wells got the nod from Edward VII, Wootton Bassett has been given the 'Royal' prefix in honour of its moving ceremonies remembering Britain's war dead.

The Queen granted the honour personally, marking the announcement that troops killed abroad will no longer be taken back to RAF Lyneham, just outside of the Wiltshire town.

Since 2007, over 150 repatriations from Afghanistan have arrived in Lyneham, with each one commemorated by the Wootton townsfolk.

Steve Bucknell, the town's mayor, said back then: "We are not doing this for any plaudits, honours or awards. We don't want anything to take the attention away from the guys who have paid the ultimate price."

I salute the good people of Royal Wootton Bassett and wish we would do something similar here as I feel that we should also honor our brave men & women when they are returned home after paying the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

To our Allies in Britain I say, Good Show.


Wootton Bassett granted 'Royal' title to honour parades

Wootton Bassett is to be the first town in more than 100 years granted the title ''Royal'' in recognition of its parades for fallen soldiers, David Cameron has announced.

12:15PM GMT 16 Mar 2011 - UK Telegraph

The Prime Minister confirmed that troop repatriations would no longer happen via the Wiltshire town from September due to the closure of a nearby RAF base.

But he said the Queen had agreed to the tribute as ''an enduring symbol of the nation's admiration and our gratitude to the people of that town''.

''Their deeply moving and dignified demonstrations of respect and mourning have shown the deep bond between the public and our Armed Forces,'' Mr Cameron told the Commons.

The Prime Minister made the announcement after making his regular tribute at the start of question time to the most recent military casualty in Afghanistan.

"The town will become Royal Wootton Bassett later this year in a move I believe will be welcomed right across our country."

In a written ministerial statement, Defence Secretary Liam Fox confirmed that repatriation ceremonies for those killed in operational theatres will move from RAF Lyneham to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

"I would like to thank RAF Lyneham for their excellent work in supporting the important task of repatriation ceremonies," Dr Fox said.

"I am certain that RAF Brize Norton will maintain the standard of solemnity, dignity and respect to our service personnel killed on operations as shown by the personnel at RAF Lyneham.

"I would also like to record publicly my thanks to the people of Wootton Bassett who have chosen to pay their respects in a unique and special way.

Guide dog assists his human and K-9 friends in making sure they can get where they need to go....

Man's Best Friend not only takes care of his master's need for assistance but another K-9 as well....Here is a great story about why our lives are empty without the assistance of our 4-legged pals....

Glad to post a "feel good" story in the midst of all the otherwise crappy news.

Good Girl, Opal....you bring credit to all pups like you who take good care of others, both two and four legged.


Blind man keeps his old guide dog after it loses its sight... and then gets a new one who now leads them both around
UK Daily Mail
10th March 2011

After six years of loyal service, Graham Waspe was devastated when his guide dog Edward was left blind after developing cataracts.

But his devastation turned to joy when his replacement Opal turned out to be a real gem.

Mr Waspe's new dog is not just aiding his owner to carry out everyday tasks, but also helping Edward to get around.

Mr Waspe, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, received his new dog last November after Edward developed the inoperable problem which resulted in him needing both eyes removed.
And the two-year-old Opal has stepped in where Edward left off as they tour their old haunts together.

While Edward is well know across the schools and community groups of Suffolk, Opal is now building his own reputation as their owners give talks about the Guide Dogs charity, training for such special dogs and the incredible ways they help their owners.

Graham said: 'Opal's been great for both of us. I don't know what we'd do without her.'

And his wife Sandra, 58, said that despite the loss of his eyes, Edward still loved nothing more than to be around children, have his tummy tickled and receive lots of attention.

The eight-year-old has been retired for four months but the loss of his eyesight has shown no sign of slowing him down.

Sandra said: 'We were both devastated and cried buckets on the night they told us they were going to remove his first eye.

'Graham said then "do you think he will ever be happy again?" and then they said they would have to remove the second eye.'

She added: 'He is still very popular - just as much, if not more than before.

'People ask lots of questions about how he copes and he is probably more famous now because even more people stop to talk to him.'

Sandra said Opal had arrived shortly after Edward retired and the two dogs got along fine.

'Opal arrived far quicker than expected because, sadly, a couple of people in the Stowmarket area with fairly young guide dogs had died,' she said.

'We got Opal on November 12 and she started training with Graham on the 16th and they were qualified in early December.'

Mr Waspe has limited vision in only one of his eyes following two separate incidents earlier in his life and coped without a guide dog until 2004.

As well as carrying out their school visits to raise awareness, the Waspes also do vital fundraising and run a local group.

Last Flight of the Harriers

The Last flight of the UK Harrier....sad to see as they won the day in the Falklands. Not sure what to think as the Brits have had to cut back on thier Navy and for an Island nation, that can't be a good thing.....Good Luck Brits....I feel that the vestiges that made Britain a force to be reckoned with are slowly being surrendered to progress....or regress....or worse.

Last hurrah for the Harrier: Jump jets take to the skies for their final farewell

By Ian Drury - UK Daily Mail
Last updated at 12:52 PM on 16th December 2010

Flying in a spectacular diamond formation so tight it ­appears they are ­almost ­touching, 16 of Britain’s legendary jump jets soar through the wintry skies.

The occasion was billed as a celebration but, for many, the mood was as sombre as the gloomy weather.

On a freezing day heavy with ­emotion, the ­Harrier — the ­revolutionary aircraft that helped Britain defeat Argentina in the Falklands War in 1982 — took to the air for the last time.

The sense of loss — of both the iconic fighter planes, and of a cherished piece of British military and aviation history — was symbolised in a moving tradition called the ‘walk of honour’.

After landing the jets following their last flight, the pilots walked away from their craft without a single backward glance.

The Harrier jets have been axed after falling victim to a savage round of defence cuts. Their next stop, after being decommissioned next year, will be the scrapyard.

To mark their retirement after 41 years’ ­service, 16 Harriers were scheduled to take off from their base at RAF Cottesmore, Rutland, and perform a spectacular flypast of seven other RAF bases, the nearby towns of Stamford and Oakham, as well as Lincoln Cathedral.
Unfortunately, the weather spoiled the occasion. Conditions were so poor that the pilots, after forming a ­diamond formation, could not safely fly below the cloud cover.
Nevertheless, more than 2,000 people turned out at the airfield to bid farewell, while the Red Arrows performed a flypast in tribute.

Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell, the Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group, said: ‘The Harrier is a true icon and stands testament to the innovation and excellence of British design and engineering and the skill and courage of our airmen.

‘It has had a truly distinguished service with the RAF and the Royal Navy, from the South Atlantic to the skies over Afghanistan. It takes its place in history as one of ­aviation’s greats.’

Group Captain Gary Waterfall, the Joint ­Harrier Force commander, said: ‘This is an emotional day for all those who have been fortunate to be involved with one of the true icons of aviation, alongside Concorde and Spitfire.’

Considered one of the country’s greatest technological achievements, the British-built military jets were the first in the world to be able to take off and land vertically.

Introduced by the RAF in 1969, they were famed for their ability to hover above the ground, a distinctive ­feature which enabled them to fly in and out of areas close to a battlefield that conventional aircraft could not reach.

An RAF Harrier puts on a display at RAF Cottesmore, after a flypast passing over seven military bases, the town centres of Stamford and Oakham and Lincoln Cathedral before landing back at RAF Cottesmore

The 700mph Harriers played a crucial role in defending the nation’s interests, seeing action in every conflict from the Falklands — where they were known as the ‘Black Death’ by Argentine pilots, after shooting down 25 enemy aircraft without a single combat loss — to the two Gulf Wars and five years in Afghanistan.

The aircraft also flew combat ­missions in Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, providing close air support to troops on the ground.

But the 79-strong Harrier fleet was axed in the coalition Government’s strategic defence and security review, saving less than £1 billion. The decision sparked controversy, because scrapping the 130 RAF Tornados — which were retained — would have saved £7.4billion.

Commander Nigel ‘Sharkey’ Ward — dubbed Mr Sea Harrier after being decorated for ­flying the jets in the Falklands — said: ‘The ­connived withdrawal of the Harrier from ­service is an appalling miscarriage of justice, and of ­operational wisdom.

'The reprehensible actions of those who contrived this as “a logical ­operational decision” must be condemned as disloyal and against the direct interests of our national defence capability.’

Meanwhile, the Government announced yesterday that it is to scrap HMS Illustrious, its final aircraft carrier. She will be decommissioned in 2014 — joining her sister ship, HMS Ark Royal, which will be scrapped next year.

The helicopter and troop carrier HMS Ocean will be retained following a review, revealed Defence Secretary Liam Fox.