Interesting Facts

The Chilcot report into the Iraq war cost £10,375,000.00. It consists of 12-volumes containing 2.6 million words. (The inquiry was launched on 30 July 2009, to cover the period of 2001 to the end of July 2009.  Over 100 witnesses were called. The findings of the report were that British military action was not the last resort, that policy on Iraq was made on the basis of flawed intelligence that was never challenged, and that the overall severity of the threat posed by Iraq, particularly the existence of weapons of mass destruction, was grossly overstated, and presented with a certainty that was not justified.) The whole report can be downloaded here: http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/

At least £122 billion worth of property in England and Wales is owned by companies registered offshore. (The problem is that some of the world's most notorious criminals are buying Britain's luxury homes to launder crooked cash, and at the same time pushing up the price of property. Especially in the area of London. It all came to light in July 2015, when it emerged that the ownership of 221b Baker Street, home to the fictional super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes, was linked to a brutal former secret police chief accused of murder and money-laundering. What would Mrs Hudson say?) British Houses Source

According to the Economist the mysteriously popular music video “ Gangnam Style ” is  the most watched music clip of all time. ( PSY, the South Korean pop star who released the song in July 2012,  recently surpassed two billion views on YouTube.   At 4:12 minutes long, that equates to more than 140 million man-hours, or a cumulative 16,000 years of human life spent watching a strange Korean man prancing around.  The Economist worked out what else could have been achieved in this time:- It took 50 million man-hours to complete the “supercarrier”  USS Gerald Ford, so  3 such ships could have been constructed. We could have built more than 4 Great Pyramids of Giza. Created another Wikipedia. Built 6 Burj Khalifas (the world’s tallest building in Dubai). Maybe it's best not to add up how much time we spend on the net.) Thanks to  +april sis .

On the day the Royal Mail is privatised I think it's timely to remind everyone that even the great white shark Margaret Thatcher refused to flog off the Royal Mail. (Her reason was she wasn't prepared to privatise the Queen's head. In a YouGov poll in July 2013, two-thirds of British adults opposed the privatisation of the Royal Mail. Nice to know that the Tories are listening to the common people.) !Update - Three months on from privatisation, shares are trading around 561p, 70% higher than the original price of 330p.  (I'm still glad I didn't buy any.)

26th July 2013 - Today is International Lumberjack Day.

19th July 2013 is National Feel Good Day in the UK. It's a day you're meant to compliment each other, so may I say how well you are looking.