39 days and 39 nights
Yes, there are 39 days and 39 nights to go before Spring arrives. I wonder if I should have written this post yesterday? Nay, I always write these on a Sunday. That reminds me of the news this week, which was about horse meat; yet again. I think it’s time the authorities got the bit between their teeth and reined in this problem before the whole nation gets the galloping trots…
Back door politics and nightmares
Do you remember when Rupert Murdock was in the news? He apparently visited Downing Street and influenced Prime Ministers; dropping in through the back door of Number 10. One resident you might remember was one Margaret Thatcher until she was stabbed in the back by her own party. Lance Armstrong thought he could do what he wanted, because he was at the top of his profession too. Jimmy Savile was too famous to fail as well. How the mighty have fallen!
Can the Black Country afford culture?
I went into Walsall a couple of weeks ago, before those protests by the EDL. There was a lot of charity shops around by the market. There was a pawn broker too and I’m told there are pay-day loan parasites too. Young people are struggling to find work and so can the art gallery afford to spend a quarter of a million trying to attract the Turner prize?
Investments | Safe havens?
We hear a lot about so called ‘safe havens’ for investment funds. The United States was a ‘safe haven’ for many US investors and the UK has seemed a safe investment for many funds compared to Europe. It’s not just Government bonds that are seen as ‘safe havens’ by investment fund managers, but blue chip shares too.
Thrifty Thursday | Stay thrifty
I popped down to Aldi last night. The Super Six this week are cucumbers, beetroot (500g), new potatoes (750g), tomatoes, radish (200g) and avocados. They are all 39 pence. They have some special buys today, but I didn’t see anything very exciting. The petrol powered hedge trimmer might be worth it. For computer and electrical goods check out Comet, they seem to have a few good offers now.
The first Sunday ramble of September
I write about whatever is on my mind on a Sunday morning. In the news this week is the Paralympics, which according to David Cameron will change perceptions about disabled people and show what they can do. If that doesn’t get them back to work there is always the assessments by Atos Healthcare to give them a little incentive.
What can we waste money on now?
Things are looking up, there is some hope for the future. The weather seems better and the bloody Olympics is nearly finished! I’m sure that the powers that be will come up with something to waste the nations money on now all the usual summer jollies are over. I read somewhere that David Cameron wants to turn Britain into a tax haven. If we didn’t have tax havens there wouldn’t be a world economic crisis mate! Instead of squirrelling money away in secret Swiss bank accounts, try investing it in the country you were bloody born into.
Yet another Sunday ramble
Regular readers know that on a Sunday, I write about anything I feel like writing about and tend to just ramble on. This week the government has announced it will lend money to banks, so they can lend it to us. The interest rate the government is charging is less than 1%. It’s working, I had a letter from Barclay’s offering me a balance transfer for a fee of 2.9%. That’s a nice little earner; nice to see the greed culture at Barclay’s hasn’t left the building, along with Banker Bob. (more…)
Sunday Ramble | Education, what education?
This week proposed educational reform suggested by education secretary Michael Gove has been in the news. David Cameron knew nothing of these plans of course, not until Nick Clegg reminded him that he did. It seems Michael Gove and his public school educated supporters don’t like the GCSE and want a return to a GCE style examinations. It was of course the Conservatives who introduced comprehensive education and they have been moaning about it ever since. That arch-tory, Margaret Thatcher actually scrapped grammar schools in favour of comprehensives. Michael Gove went to a state school and then won a scholarship to an independent school; in case you were wondering… (more…)
Psychology | What makes a leader?
Education?
What makes a great leader? Education? The current British Prime Minister went to Eton and Oxford. They are certainly attention seekers. Some are narcissistic with psychopathic tendencies. Do natural leaders emerge in a group situation? What do famous leaders have in common? Churchill, Truman, Hitler, Gadhafi, Idi Amin, Thatcher; do they have anything in common with today’s leaders? Does democracy result in better leaders being chosen? (more…)
How can people save?
All governments print money and come up with new ways to tax people but in the past few years they have been printing even more than usual and calling it quantitative easing. The British government has also introduced new taxes on things like insurance and increased VAT. How can people save for anything when the government keeps devaluing our savings?
Image via Wikipedia
The pound in our pockets isn’t the same, the more money they pump into the economies the less we can buy with our money. They create inflation and that forces up commodity prices like oil, gas, housing and food. (more…)
Fixing the Global Economy!
Quantitative Easing
The Bank of England says it saved us from a double dip recession with quantitative easing, so why are things still stagnating? Have they really fixed anything or are they trying to inflate their way out of the problem of massive debts? We still appear to be suffering from higher prices, higher unemployment, higher energy and housing costs, crippling taxation and on top of that we have David Cameron running the country! (more…)
I agree with Warren Buffett…
Stop coddling the super-rich: Buffett
I agree with Warren Buffett and I agree with David Cameron; but that’s another story! Warren Buffet actually wants to see tax increases for the super-rich in the United States; he is rich and a patriot, putting his country first. I think the UK can learn something from this. How about tax increases for everyone earning over £100,000 a year; at least temporarily until the deficit is paid off. (more…)
Oiks and Toffs
The Black Country Forest by the railway...
Oiks and Toffs
If you don’t know what Oiks and Toffs are; I will explain. The Toffs are people like Cameron who went to Eton and of course Oxford and his mate Cleggy went to Cambridge. I probably qualify as an oik! I was one of those nasty rough lads from town, who spoke with a working class accent. I got my hands dirty at times too and actually did some work; I must be an oik. We oiks had our day though and we went a message to Cleggy in the elections. (more…)
My Exhibition
I wanted to have my exhibition here - it was handy for the supermarket
Victorian Art Gallery
If you have been following my Neodigital Art blogs, you will know that it is an art form based on photography and the finished images can be printed out for an exhibition or they can be uploaded to a server to be viewed online. When I thought about an exhibition, I thought about my local art gallery. It’s a traditional Victorian building and has the grandeur that the Victorians were so fond of creating. (more…)
The Dreamless Ones
It's not that time really - we are now on dreamless time...
The Dreamless Ones
One morning I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got in my pyjamas I’ll never know: Groucho Marx. 
Which do you think is the predator and which the prey, the man or the elephant with its great strength and huge brain. (more…)
Daylight Robbery!
It’s Daylight Robbery!
It's Daylight Robbery! They had to brick up their windows!
Tuesday, 08 March 2011
It’s Daylight Robbery!
You have heard the term ‘it’s daylight robbery’ but where does it come from? I will explain! You may remember the dreamless ones are stupid because they are genetically descended from Neanderthals and they keep altering the clocks trying to save ‘daylight’. Anyway, way back in 1696 the King of England introduced a window tax. This was a very fair tax. (more…)
