Sunday 28th February 2010

Hurrah! it has stopped raining. We even had a short spell of sunshine around lunch time, but it did not last for long before the rain came again.

Siezed the opportunity to get out and enjoy some exercise and some fresh air, a walk around the coast at South Shields.

Plenty of signs that we have had lots of rain, the walkway alongside Littlehave Beach is flooded.

OK for the gulls I suppose, but not much good for walking.

The view across the river mouth to Tynemouth Priory is just the same as ever of course.

 

Given the rain in the afternoon, cuaght up on a bit of TV by watching a program we had recorded about Immigrants taking jobs from British "workers". A depressing watch. They gave twelve Brits the chance to do work usually taken by Immigrants. Four could not even be bothered to turn up for work. Of the rest only three made a half decent shot at doing a days work. Pathetic.

Election Posters

Saturday 27th February 2010

State Education

Yeah, OK a bit serious for the weekend but...

This series of videos are American, but still relevant to the situation in State Schools here in the UK (in my opinion).

If you cannot be bothered to watch the videos, I can summarise it for you. Despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars, education has not improved, because the increased spending has simply been absorbed by the system in higher salaries, instead of being used to improve the quality of teaching.  


Because my children (and perhaps yours too) have passed the point of school based education you may think the appalling state of education in this country is not relevant to you. But, (again in my opinion) it is. It is costing us lots and lots of money to produce poorly educated people at school leaving age. A poorly educated population cannot compete in international markets, which is bad for all of us. It is simply not right that children should be condemed to an inferior education.

Election Posters

Friday 26th February 2010

What a day, pouring with rain non stop.

At least there is the Grey Horse to look forward to this evening!

Staffordshire NHS Scandal

 You may not agree with it, but this is a thought provoking article on why the NHS cannot be fixed no matter how much money we throw at it, or how many Enquiries (public or otherwise) we have.

Some amusing mr Bean videos.

Election Posters

Thursday 25th February 2010

A dismal day weatherwise, dull. damp and cold.

Did some more work at Martin's allotment.

Finished digging to the point where we agreed we would expect to cultivate this year, which I would say means we have dug over about two thirds of the total.

Began to sort wood to seperate out the "good" stuff, and to burn some of the rubbish, with the additional intention of burning off the weed cover in the uncultivated part.

When I arrived I disturbed some little animal which has taken up residence under one of the black plastic covers we have been using to suppress the weeds. It moved too quickly to get a good view, but it was quite small (say four to five centimetres long) and a sort of reddish brown colour. Some kind of mouse or vole I would expect. Not a mole because I think they are grey?

Plenty of evidence (ie droppings) that the rabbits have been out and about again, so getting some netting or wire mesh before any planting is done seems like a good idea.

Forgot to take camera, so no progress shots, sorry...

Swine Flu

Why did we order 132 million doses of Swine Flu  vaccine. The total population is less than 70 million. Expecting a sudden influx of Asylum Seekers from Calais were we?

Litter.

A dubious accolade for Coca Cola, it is the most littered brand, according to a recent survey by an organisation called "Litter Heroes".

In fairness, Litter Heroes do acknowledge it is the person who drops the litter who is to blame, not the manufacturer or seller of the product.

This does not stop them urging us to write to Coca Cola, Macdonalds etc etc, which I think is a little unfair. As far as I know, neither organisation actually employ people to throw empty Cola tins, or fast food containers in the street or countryside.

If you feel moved to follow the lead proposed by Litter Heros, and actually clear some of it up, then beware, you may get your hands smacked by your local council.

Election Posters

Wednesday 24th February 2010

Weather forecast is wrong again, forecast rain and snow all day, reality, rain until 11:00, then dull but fine.

But too late, our Wednesday walking day is cancelled.




The simplicity of the system is breathtaking.

More Posters:

and just to show, if we do not have enough scroungers of our own, we can import some more.

Tuesday 23rd February 2010

Unfortunately, despite the beautiful day outside, I am confined to the house today. Last night in the space of a few hours, I developed a throat infection and have lost my voice, as well as having difficulty swallowing. I am not usually such a sickly individual with minor ailments, I think I have visited too many hospitals lately!

So I am whiling away my time on the Internet, whilst the boss has gone out with "the ladies who lunch".

Found this thought provoking little animation:

Not sure I totally agree with it all, but it certainly strikes a chord.

Also found this and this which I think gives a perfectly easy to understand explanation of why tax and spend Government, and Government "stimulus"  (no matter which  Party are doing it) will only make things worse.

Some more posters:

Another example of how they have lost the plot.

Monday 22nd February 2010

It has snowed overnight, but only a dusting. By nine o'clock, the sun had warmed the place up enough to melt what little snow there was.

I had a call from Martin, he is creeping ahead in the digging of the Allotment, so after doing a few odd jobs I go there and do enough to catch him up!

As you can see from the photographs, we are neck and neck, and there is only about three more rows to go before the righthand side is as advanced as the lefthand side. Weather permitting I should go in the lead (again) tomorrow.

It is too early to plant anything yet, but there is already evidence (ie a half eaten parsnip, presumably filched from someone else's plot), that the rabbits are active. So an early job, before planting anything will be to put up some wire mesh to keep them out.

The fact that the sun is shining, and has some warmth in it, encourages me to do a few outdoor jobs after lunch. For example, check the tyre pressures on the campervan and on the car. Followed by washing the car, probably a waste of time that since there is still a lot of salt on the roads and it will be just as dirty in a day or two.

I find the appearance of a warm sunny day is deceptive, by the time I finish the car my fingers are numb, so I have to retreat into the house for a coffee.

Stolen from  NotaSheep :-



How the Tax System works.

 

"Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

 

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.


The fifth would pay £1


The sixth would pay £3


The seventh would pay £7


The eighth would pay £12


The ninth would pay £18


The tenth man (the richest) would pay £59


So, that's what they decided to do.


The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by £20.'


Drinks for the ten now cost just £80.


The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the £20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'


They realized that £20 divided by six is £3.33. But if they subtracted that from everyone's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.


And so: -


The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).


The sixth now paid £2 instead of £3 (33%savings).


The seventh now pay £5 instead of £7 (28%savings).


The eighth now paid £9 instead of £12 (25% savings).


The ninth now paid £14 instead of £18 (22% savings).


The tenth now paid £49 instead of £59 (16% savings).


Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.


'I only got a pound out of the £20,' declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got £10!'


'Yes, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a pound, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I did'


'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get £10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks'


'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor'


The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.


The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill.

 And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works.

 The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up any more. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier and weather is nicer. "

A couple of posters for a laugh...

And sorry, could not resist these:









And the antibullying charity is made to  disappear, OK, so you can tell from the name of the blog that the writer is hardly likely to be a labour supporter, but never the less it is clear that Mrs Pratt is unlikely to become a Labour Lord. So, is this a real charity or not, and have the Government  contributed any of OUR money to it, before falling out with them.