Monday 15th February 2010

 We seem to have a little spat going on between Gordon and Dave relating to dodgy donors.

On the Conservative side we have Lord Ashcroft, who it appears has managed to avoid paying any taxes in the UK. But at least there is (so far), no suggestion of him milking the old expenses as a member of the House of Lords.

In the Labour corner we have Lord Paul of Marylebone, who seems to have managed to pay no tax, AND to have some questionable expense claims.

So 15 love to "call me Dave", I think, but basically a pair of shysters.

Nice to see education standards continue to rise teenager gets a certificate for getting on (and off) a bus.

A few quotes from our leader, courtesy of  The Talking Clock:


"As a result of our overall prudence, debt as a proportion of GDP is set to fall below 40% to 39% next year, to 38% and then to 36.5%."

- Gordon Brown, November 1998

"I have one further announcement: Because of our prudence in the management of public finances, Government spending is well within the limits we set. Our prudence is for a purpose."


- Gordon Brown, November 1998

"As a result, our current budget this year is expected to be £5.5bn pounds in surplus, and what was prudently projected to be net borrowing of £1bn is now expected to be a debt repayment of £1.5bn."


- Gordon Brown, November 1998

"It is because we are cautious about the balance of risks in the economy that we have based public finance forecasts on deliberately more prudent assumptions than before. First, our public finances are planned on an estimate of 2.25% trend rate of growth, 0.25% lower than the assumption that we inherited."
 

- Gordon Brown, November 1998

"So, even after making most prudent assumptions and then taking into account the world downturn, we meet our first rule - to balance our current budget over the cycle."
 
- Gordon Brown, November 1998
 
"An estimated current surplus for the coming five years of £33bn pounds, a margin that shows that we are equipped to cope with further uncertainties. This £33bn contrasts with, under the last Government, a deficit of £149bn over the economic cycle, as national debt doubled. Our second rule, the sustainable investment rule, requires that, as we borrow for investment, debt is set at a prudent and stable level."


- Gordon Brown, November 1998

Now that the "Man Made Climate Change" bandwaggon seems about to crash:, from The Times:

However, new research, including work by British scientists, is casting doubt on such claims. Some even suggest the world may not be warming much at all.
“The temperature records cannot be relied on as indicators of global change,” said John Christy, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a former lead author on the IPCC.

The doubts of Christy and a number of other researchers focus on the thousands of weather stations around the world, which have been used to collect temperature data over the past 150 years.
These stations, they believe, have been seriously compromised by factors such as urbanisation, changes in land use and, in many cases, being moved from site to site.



See the complete article.

Does this mean we can expect to see so called "Green Taxes" scrapped?, no, I thought not.

Tuesday 17th November 2009

The weather is kind, so I go for a cycle ride.

I ring my brother-in-law (Phil), but he is busy fixing coving in one of his rooms, so it is a lone trip.

I have been examining the OS Map, and decide to explore a track running parallel to the A194M, which I was unaware of. I make my way there via a route which is described as the "Great North Forest Route" on the map, but I do not see many trees!, perhaps in 25 years time. Sure enough the track is there, it runs along the edge of the Washington Golf course, it is a "permissive footpath", and is barely passable on a bicycle, but I manage it. Then return home via a circular route which takes me from Springwell Village, to the old Bowes Railway. As is usual on the old Bowes Railway track, I encounter several dog walkers, they all keep their dogs under control to allow me to pass safely. This is a record, and I acknowledge each with a "Good Morning" and a "Thank you". A 15 mile spin in about two hours and it does not rain, great fun, and there are not too many complaints (from the boss) about my mud spattered state.

The evening news is amusing, our government telling the recently elected President Karzai of Afghanistan he must tackle corruption in his government, this, after the recent revelations of our MP's expenses, talk about the kettle calling the pot black.