Hallowe'en trick or treating tonight

Just got back from going trick or treating with my two children. Wow! This year there were ten times as many kids out there. At one point, seemingly from nowhere, about twenty kids descended on this particularly house where a woman had opened the door, hall lights behind her shining out onto the first GMT night. She nearly lost control of the box of candies. Later, a few doors up a similar situation took place. Now there seemed to be more kids than before. The Pied Piper was out too. My daughter came back out of the gloom declaring, "He's run out of money!", referring to the man at the door, who had been doling out cash. Nobody gave a trick. I was hoping for a slug in a matchbox, but maybe that's being too literal and a bit mean.

I'm waiting to hear how well the supermarkets did this year. I also see that the Bishop of Ludlow is recommending that the Church takes back Hallowe'en. He may have the same problem as stable lads with bolted horses. The only way that's going to happen is if All Saints Day is made a holiday as in continental Europe and we have a proper celebration. As it is the commercial secularists have the upper hand at the moment. However, I'm not that concerned. Those who believe in the feast of All Saints, followed by All Souls' Day, will continue to celebrate as such. Maybe calling it All Hallows' Day might connect us with this word that is used often (the Lord's Prayer?) but never really understood. One meaning is "to venerate as being holy". All Hallows Eve is a perfect time for children, but it's a bit like Christmas Eve with no Christmas Day. I like both halves of a festival.

Flasher is bitten by victim's dog

This is a story that's got several bits in it. First it covers the topic of flashing. I can never understand why some men think a woman would be interested in seeing a penis in such circumstances. Maybe it's a way of offending all women and the first available is just a token to the outrage. It's another of these sexual deviations that are outside the normal scale of accepted sexual activity. Only the flashers think its OK, and even then there must be a few who have guilt trips afterwards.

In this case, the woman at the centre of the offense had her dog with her. A terrier. I'm not sure what type, but that doesn't matter. Most terriers are like little rockets. This dog is made of strong moral fibre and, knowing that no animal can sink to the levels of debased humanity, decided to take prompt action and bit the flasher on the arm. Now a dog wouldn't have thought of taking a chunk out of his todger - far too improper. But I bet a lot of humans thought of it.

So the police are looking for a guilty man with a very nasty dog bite. I hope the terrier gets a commendation and does not fall foul of any dog laws. And I hope this woman is getting over her shock alright. Sgt Dowling of North Cotswolds police said, "This was clearly an upsetting incident for the woman and her dog". The dog, I suspect, was more outraged that his owner was upset. Flashers should think twice before coming before a dog and its owner.

Fractional Banking and the Federal Reserve System Explained!

Just thought I'd post this again. Money does grow on trees - or bank branches - and is very easy to do. No wonder there was a run on the Northern Rock!



This one is a real treat too!

CNBC anchors mortified that Ron Paul was allowed air time

Ryanair flies off in a huff from Belfast City

I have mixed views on Ryanair. It's a bit like going to a restaurant and picking out the good bits in an indifferent meal. No doubt about it, Ryanair has given choice to the flying public and they give low fares and can make a profit. But sometimes, under the leadership of Michael O'Leary, Ryanair can treat its customers like a load of sheep going for a dipping. And that's just the customers. The way some airports are treated, well, it's more like be jilted at the church door or being stood up publicly at the high school prom. Nothing is done without a sense of "getting my way". So Ryanair has gone off in a huff. This time it is Belfast City Airport. What was their problem? Not getting the runway extended as per O'Leary's wants and desires.

The result of all this is a loss of jobs, more backstage (and no doubt front of house stuff too!) squabbling, and less competition. Rival Flybe is to start services to Bristol, East Midlands and Liverpool, but that leaves Stansted and Prestwick out. Routes move around like a tray of biscuits. But is it all necessary?

John Moore, from Northern Ireland's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the loss of Ryanair was a major blow. He said, "It's a loss of revenue to the airport and probably a fairly extensive loss of jobs. More importantly, to the service sector of the city of Belfast it's going to mean a big loss, especially at a time of economic recession." So more job losses. Typically, O'Leary suggests that if the runway extension goes ahead, Ryanair will be back. Basically, just get the planning inquiry over with.

It seems that this is a typical case of British corporate planning as we have it today. Surely there must be better ways of running things?

Harriet Harman in "ginger rodent" attack

Harriet Harman, or Harperson when she is being all equal, has just lammed in on the Liberal Democrats and Danny Alexander in particularly. I thought she was above all this. Didn't she push through some kind of equalities bill? Isn't it a diabolical crime to say nasty things about people in the workplace? I would have thought calling someone a "ginger rodent" is enough for at least six moths in the slammer. She could then do corrective training and come out a totally rehabilated person. I think the rozzers should pay her a visit. Not for the first time, mind you. She's got form, what with mobile phone driving.

At their very worst Labour can be a bunch of self-righteous shysters. This isn't that bad, but Harperson's the type that thinks she's above it all if she can say she has a track record in this, that and the other. Humbug, basically. Glad they didn't get in.

This all came about because she was ranting on about people not voting for a coalition. She must have low grade O level general politics if she thinks that. People voted as they voted. The result may not be as they wanted, but we live with a party political system that offers only Government and Opposition. She's the latter. Everyone knows that the Tories couldn't make the numbers so a Coalition it is. Simple. Stop wingeing!

I believe she's got it!

So much for Professor Higgins. I bet elocution teachers are the next in line to protest. Now we hear that the British Library is asking the public to help it track how pronunciation is shifting in Britain. And the library thinks it is all OK to say what you like how you like. I'd say that was a kind of reverse snobbery led on by the need for these people to be politically correct at all times.

Joyce Grenfell had a marvellous turn as a schoolmistress keen on correcting the foibles of pronunciation in her classroom. Those at the British Library punting out this casual questionnaire seem to suggest it matters not if an aitch becomes a haitch. But I think it does. It either shows a lack of learning or a defiance of normality in spoken English. Generally, the English have preferred to speak as per their class background. The upper and more learned classes defined proper diction and the rest either followed or did not. This new approach suggests that there is no normality just a kind of wave action of change. Some words get the ripple approach, others a tsunami and change completely.

The song that memorably stands out is "Let's call the whole thing off" and that is a clever take on linguistic differences. Not all Americans say "tow-may-toe" as not all come from a background of rhotic English. However, "tow-may-toe" is in the overwhelming majority. In essence, I think there are standards of correctness in spoken English, but I would never correct anyone (other than for my children or in a classroom environment).



However, saying "mischeev-y-ous" is clearly wrong as the word isn't even spelt that way. One word that has been truly redefined in pronunciation terms is "ven-y-sun" for deer meat. I rather favour the "ven-zun" version, but no doubt we have been culled by a whole host of celebrity chefs. There's influence for you!

And one pronunciation, if that is the correct word for it, is describing the year we are in. Some say "twenty-ten" whilst others opt for the longer "two thousand and ten". David Cameron says both during PMQ's, depending on the way the question has been posed.

Oh, and if were commenting on such things, the new Downton Abbey series, from ITV, has the Earl of Granthumb as a key character. Surely some linguistic mistake? Mrs. Thatcher came from Granthumb but a 100 years ago the town was never referred as such by earls and others.

Congressman Pete Stark, the Great Debt Lover!

Congressman Pete Stark, from California, thinks the bigger a country's national debt the more the other less indebted nations will genuflect at its corrupt altar.

Can any one suggest a good reason why this moron was ever let loose on US politics?

Update: I've just taken a look at Wikipedia on Pete Stark. He's got no degree in economics. He's got one in general engineering. Still that didn't stop him tooling up in the banking industry. In 1963, Stark founded Security National Bank, a small bank in Walnut Creek. Within 10 years it grew to a $100 million company with branches across the East Bay. No wonder he likes debt! Other people's and the nation's, of course!

Bagsamoney Karsai in Kabul cash heist!

The leader of Afghanistan, that green-caped Karsai, has admitted to receiving bag loads of cash from that scruffy minicab driver lookalike who runs Iran. Karsai airily brushes aside questions that this method of receiving money is a bit iffy. He says it is perfectly in order as it's the way its done in this part of the world. The Americans have given this ballot-rigger sack loads too apparently. It's outrageous. Karsai struts around as some kind of elite yet when it suits him to get involved in cash smuggling he suggests this is an Afghan tradition. Complete and utter rubbish. Why not have a bank, a proper bank with a proper accounting system. If he poo-poos Western ones, let him use an Islamic one.

We've asked our soldiers to die so that this guy can do everything that democracy isn't suppose to do. It stinks. If I were advising the American high command, I'd suggest they took some of the bags and paid to have those poppy crops sprayed. We've got to end this nonsense right now.

Harry Enfield had a character in the 80's called Loadsamoney, who was a pretty awful character. Perhaps he could take on Bagsamoney and show this modern day Afghan counting house king up for what he really is.

To whom do we pay the deficit?

The government is pressing on with reducing the deficit and I have no qualms or quibbles with this. However, it would be nice to know where all the money is going. It seems that when one enters the counting houses of billionaires, no questions need be asked. A billion pounds off this quango and a billion pounds off that state department. Good, but where does all the dosh go? Who will be getting it? Transparency is thin on the ground at the moment.

Last week, Matthew Wright had as a panellist that gruff Mancunian Terry Christian. In a moment of "hang on a tick", Christian asked Wright about the deficit payments. Matthew had no clue other than waffle. Then a day or two later, Christian asked the same question. Wright appeared to have been given a brief of sorts, but the answer was pretty vague and vapid. None the wiser.

Robert Preston hasn't helped much either. He never talks about it, which is a pity, as the BBC could do us all a favour. We are still in this triangle of quantative easing, fractional reserve banking and deficit reduction. Nobody gives us any balance sheets, tells us who owes what to whoever, and the merry-go-round still pumps out the same rickety tune. "We're all in this together". Yeah, OK, but in what exactly?

If you Google "To whom do we owe the national debt" it appears that the search engine to beat all search engines gets chronic amnesia. I've seen a bit about a guy who is seeking a Freedom of Information answer and a couple of weird answers on Yahoo Groups.

Come on George Osborne! Let's have a fact sheet with the pithy points laid out. Surely we should know who Paul is before we rob Peter?

Rowan Williams dressed to please

This is a great picture of the Archbishop of Canterbury on a visit to Bangalore, India, where he met a diverse group of Christians. They all came together to greet him and heap praise on him. The photos taken of the event reveal a certain uneasiness in the archbishop's demeanour. I've always thought that Rowan Williams seems better placed as a theologian rather that as a preacher or travelling evangelist. Mostly his sermons are so highbrow as to be higher than those words chosen by Humpty Dumpty to mean what he wanted them to mean. Alice definitely represents the modern day Anglican, confused by the content but willing to accept that it has some kind of learned truthfulness about it all.

Wikileaks defends Iraq war leaks

Those who propagated the Iraq War as some kind of democracy-in-action episode are getting all upset about us knowing of a bunch of second-rate butchers now running Iraq. Saddam Hussein and his fawning henchmen were of the first-rate variety. However, if you are getting roughed up with acid, waterboarding or just the fisticuffs with a view to a lingering, angonising death, it amounts to sod all difference who the torturers are.

The Iraq War was started because Bush and Blair decided Saddam needed to be given a whipping and, hopefully, the noose. Once he'd been despatched the oil barons could get in, and Donald Rumsfeld, arch brown noser of the former Saddam regime (when handshaking with dictators was the norm) could get things moving for Cheney's Haliburton chums. The whole raison d'etre was an outrage.

Now Wikileaks has disclosed facts which Hillary Clinton has suggested will put lives at risk. Sounds like she means American lives only. Those Iraqis who are still being bumped off by degenerates masqerading as democrats are not included.

The war in Iraq caused many to feel that the waging of war in the 21st century was a bogus matter. Gone was the reason for defending the nation (as in WW2) and gone was the reason for defending an ally against an aggressor. This was pure regime change because of retaliation or falling out of favour. It was war for a very different reason.

Both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are a terrible mistake based on falsehoods. If it was all about democracy I'd be at least in favour of the reconstruction. But it isn't. Even the drug trade is better off than ten years ago. If we were that bothered we would have sprayed the poppy crops, controlled the arms trade and given the likes of those puppets currently in power in Baghdad and Kabul a one-sheet crib outlining Democracy for Dummies!

LibDem MP's wife in kittyknapping court case

The Daily Mirror has the headline "Lib Dem MP Christine Hemming accused of stealing a kitten from mother of husband's daughter" except, of course, she is not the MP, it is her husband John Hemming, up the road from me in Yardley. Christine Hemming is the sort of wronged wife of which TV movies are made. When magistrates asked her if she wanted to be called Mrs or Miss, she said: "I'm not quite sure at the moment." Mr Hemming still lives with his wife in Moseley, Birmingham, but yesterday described his domestic status as "unclear". He went on to say, "I'd just like the cat back. I've spent time looking for the kitten. Her brother, Twinkle, is pining for her." When Christine found out about the relationship bewtween her husband and the kitten's owner in 2005, she stood by her millionaire husband and said that the six-year affair was "about number 26". Christine, you sound like a media man's dream. Roll on the crown court case. High on drama, high on legal costs. That's the LibDem contribution to credit crisis management.

Cafe fan banned in case smell of bacon offends Muslims

Now this is a case of political correctness (or more truthfully political stupidity) causing offense all round. This time its the morons from Stockport Council, no doubt being watched by the Cheshire Cat, who have deemed the smell of bacon cooking in a cafe may offend passing Muslims. This council, by the way, is run by LibDems. Come on, get a life, there's a national crisis on!

This whole nonsense was caused by a guy called Graham Webb-Lee, who complained that his Muslim friends refused to visit him becase they ''can't stand the smell of bacon.'' He lives next to the cafe. However, he has apparently been complaining on and off to the council who seemed totally uninterested in his complaints until he got a load of Muslim friends and mentioned this to the council officials. Oh, boy, that changed their tune. They were round to the cafe owner, Turkish Muslim Cetin Akciecek, to read the riot act.

I suppose the next thing is Cetin being marched off for "retraining". The whole thing is outrageous and is just another reason why the Coalition needs to get rid of these morons when cutting council jobs.

British pilot killed in crocodile panic air crash

Here's another story about a disaster, a Brit and, this time an animal. The Daily Mail has the story (but others do too) about an escaped crocodile that caused a plane crash that killed a British co-pilot and 19 others on board. Apparently the croc wasn't a man-eating type but a smaller beast hidden in a big sports bag, from which the reptile escaped as the plane began its descent into Bandundu, in the Congo. Passengers panicked, rushed up to the front of the plane, which then became unsteady and nosedived to the ground. The croc survived, but was promptly attacked with a machete for causing the crash.

Now I have no clue about small planes crashing around the world, but I guess that we will never know unless there is a Brit on board. Given that this story included an animal content, it was bound to reach at least the offices of the Daily Mail. Am I being too cynical today? I'm told by non-British friends that the news in the UK is seen abroad as "Anglo-centric". I wonder if this was the only plane to go down in the Congo recently?

Dutch ferry hit by freighter near Amsterdam

Today I've noticed a similarity in reports about disasters. It seems the first aspect is the nature of the accident, then a check on whether any Brits are involved, then a rush to check facts and discard speculative comments. An accident has happened on a canal in the Netherlands that joins the Rhine. A foot ferry was hit by freighter and the ferrymaster is thought to be missing. Maybe it's just one of those things. But I get a sense that, with rolling news, these items are filtered through to find the "Brit angle". Amsterdam is very popular with British tourists all year round, so it is perfectly possible that a British person may have been on the ferry. But in this case it seems not.

I suspect the story will fade from the screens of British TV when the interest angle subsides. But how many foot ferries around the world get hit each day that we never hear of? Just a thought.

Not so bad, really - Osborne cuts back prudently!

From the BBC website -

Chancellor George Osborne has announced the government's four-year Spending Review to Parliament, revealing some of the deepest cuts in public spending in decades.

The key announcements:

• About 490,000 public sector jobs likely to be lost
• Average 19% four-year cut in departmental budgets
• Structural deficit to be eliminated by 2015
• £7bn in additional welfare budget cuts
• Police funding cut by 4% a year
• Retirement age to rise from 65 to 66 by 2020
• NHS budget protected; £2bn extra for social care
• Schools budget to rise every year until 2015
• £30bn capital spending on transport
• Permanent bank levy

Not so bad. From a selfish point of view I've still got a bus pass, or will do when I get it. However, I'm still not sure what nearly 500,000 redundant state workers ae going to do apart from visit the Job Centres. Some will get jobs in the private sector, but then some private sector jobs will go. For a while it will be lots of people trying to get on very small merry-go-rounds. But it would have been a hell of a lot worse with Tarnished Labour!

Twitter is over capacity!

Just tried twitting or tweeting but got this response. Must be an Anglo-French cyber rush with the Brits all trying to get their tenpence worth in before Osborne speaks and the French all trying to post their comments on what to do with Sarkozy!

George Osborne's cutting plans today

Today is the day. George Osborne is about to tell us what's in store for us by way of hardships and hefty cuts. I'm getting all doubtful about what is best. All I know is that we've been playing with monopoly money for too long. Something has to give. The only problem is who gives more and who gives less. Being all in it together implies the tax avoiders are going to cough up as much as the soon-to-be redundant state workers.

I wouldn't mind if we all had an equal shot at trying to reduce the deficit but just as in wartime, when some were active backsliders, we must be on our guard for those who think this debt crisis is nothing to do with them. We'll see in just over an hour!

Cat woman fined £250 for bin dumping cruelty

A woman filmed dumping a cat in a wheelie bin has been fined £250 after admitting a cruelty offence. The RSPCA charged Mary Bale after CCTV cameras showed her throwing four-year-old Lola into a bin outside her owners' home in Coventry. The thing I don't get is that she can't bring herself to explain why she did it. Even if she said she just had a moment of madness that would do. But she has apparently just clammed up. She pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a cat but a charge of not providing the cat with a suitable environment was dropped. Whatever for? Surely a wheelie bin is not a suitable environment for a cat? Or does the legal establishment think otherwise?

It only goes to show that this world is made up of all sorts of people. Human nature can get a bit skewed at times. Her lawyer says she has received hate mail, abusive telephone messages and death threats. Isn't it strange how one moronic moment causes seemingly rational people to excite themselves and resort to base level violence and vitriol? Two wrongs don't make a right and that's why we should be on the look out for the actions of retaliators as much as perpetrators.

Passports pass the pricey point!

Today David Cameron announced the spending reveiw of defence. It was all about keeping us safe for the best price. How best to defeat the enemy and all that. Sounded OK as far as it went. But I get a sneaking feeling that in this modern age of terrorist warfare, where the odd bearded wonder is the actual problem, not a whole army of well disciplined foes, that it is the "man on the Clapham omnibus" that gets to pay for it all. And in more ways than one.

Only yesterday I was thinking again of renewing my passport. Can't go anywhere foreign without one, not these days. So much for the single market of the great European experiment. I would like to pop over to France but have to fork out £77.50 for the privilege. Now, OK, that boils down to £7.75 each year for a ten-year passport, but it's the reasons behind why the Passport Office is in charge of such inflation-busting price rises that gets me.

I saw this on Wikipedia and immediately thought that both the terrorists and the mandarins have a hand in weedling cash out of the citizen. If there were no terrorists it is perfectly plausible to think that the cost of renewing a passport would be no more that £25. But there is a whacking great premium because of Osama and his gang, fraudsters and official inefficiency. My last passport was issued in the USA by the Washington Embassy. I now see that in similar circumstances today I would be stiffed for £124!

From Wikipedia -

The cost of obtaining a standard passport over the years has increased greatly. While consumer prices in the UK have increased by 24% from early 1998 to 2009, the price of a passport renewal increased by 269%.
£77.50 - 3 September 2009 - an increase which the Government said was necessary due to a falling number of passport applicants, and also to pay for enhanced passport security measures. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said that people were paying for the price of introducing ID cards.
£72 - 4 October 2007 - due to an increase in the consular premium added by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
£66 - 5 October 2006 - for the introduction of the latest generation passport, anti-fraud measures and interviews for first-time applicants.
£51 - 1 December 2005 - to reflect the cost of implementing key anti-fraud measures.
£42 - 2 October 2003 - to pay for new anti-fraud measures.
£33 – 21 November 2002.
£30 – 14 January 2002.
£28 – 16 December 1999 - to fund a major overhaul of the Passport Agency following the summer crisis.
£21 – 26 March 1998.
£18 - November 1992.
The above fees apply for passports issued in the United Kingdom by the Identity and Passport Service. Passports issued outside the UK by the Passport Section of a British Consulate, Embassy, or High Commission currently cost £124.

If the spending on defence could get rid of Bin Laden and the spending on security could get rid of fraudsters, we might get our money's worth on passport production. Otherwise we will not get the value for money that David Cameron talks about. Just more shelling out for a poor return.

Woman found dead on fire in Bradford

A woman has been found on a fire behind a house in Bradford, according to this BBC report. Sounds terrible. But as usual the BBC gives us scant indication but ever so nudge-nudgingly suggests that it may be an honour killing of sorts. At least, that's what my vibes tell me. Maybe it's me jumping to conclusions. But the link with Pakistan suggests otherwise it seems.

I hope that the police solve this as soon as possible. One of the outrages in this country is the way some young women from the sub-continent are treated by family cabals of tribal elders all hell-bent on continuing shameful control freakery as if they are still huddled together in a faraway village. If anything needs publicising loud and clear it is the abomination of this practice of treating young women as some sort of sacrificial cleansing vehicle for the supposed shame of the male perpetrators of this cruelty and wickedness.

If there has been a crime committed here, then those guilty of such deeds should be held up for public awareness, so no other self-appointed "community" elder gets such ideas and that it is known what everyone thinks of their vile vanity.

List of axed quangos published

Quangos indeed! They sound rather odd and for most of them they were behavingly rather oddly too for most of their existence. They could be creatures that deserve a documentary to themselves. Rather like dingos, with commentary by Sir David Attenborough. We'd learn all about their habits and their peculiar social interaction. All from a standpoint that 192 of them were in the same evolutionary void as the dinosuars and the dodo.

I always thought that quangos were sort of sinecures plus. You didn't have to worry about too much and you needn't get too het up and bothered about much. Now they face the axe. 192 of them. My only concern is where the jobless quango workers will go. Some will be redeployed, but many will not.

Perhaps the government could tell us how many useful, properly funded jobs this country can afford both public and private. I bet the answer is way below the number that is needed to keep all and sundry happy.

All the Chile miners out - the future is rosy

Good news for Chile as the country's efforts to get 33 trapped miners out from the bowels of the earth have come to fruition. Chile has been in the spotlight, milking it for all their president can (and why not?!?), and we now wait to see how the true movie industry cashes in on the story.

Chile is famous for wines. Now it is famous for mines too. Perhaps this will become a tourist area. Whatever happens next it will certainly be remembered as a feat of human endeavour and fortitude.

Piers Morgan to leave 'Britain's Got Talent'

According to the New Statesman, ITV talent contest 'Britain's Got Talent' judge Piers Morgan will not be a judge on the next series of the show as he is keen on focusing on his new CNN chat show. I thought we all new that, but what I didn't know was that the frightful James Corden would be in the frame as a replacement. Morgan is good at being posh brash and giving it a silver lining. Corden is vulgar brash without any real talent other than to be vulgar and brash. I hope ITV are not going down this route.

Claire Rayner's last rant!

I've never intended to speak ill of the dead and hope I don't, but reasoned comment is fair I think. Claire Rayner died this week and we all know she was a humanist and a detractor of religious belief. That's OK. But it strikes me as very peculiar that so-called liberals can be such vituperatively spiteful souls. I saw from her recently updated Wikipedia entry that she said this as she neared her deathbed.

"I have no language with which to adequately describe Joseph Alois Ratzinger, AKA the Pope. In all my years as a campaigner I have never felt such animus against any individual as I do against this creature. His views are so disgusting, so repellent and so hugely disgusting to the rest of us, that the only thing to do is to get rid of him."

I had no desire to get rid of Claire Rayner whilst she was alive. Pity she got so bitter about her animus. The repellent thing is that liberals can be such illiberal folk with some very nasty things to say at times. A real pity, indeed!

Lord Browne and the student fees debate

Lord Browne has done his review. It's causing some ripples in the Coalition with a few LibDems getting the collywobbles. Ming Campbell is apparently decidely upset but I can't think why. Scotland is out of this loop. It's all about England and the tuition fees here.

The report says, "After leaving university, graduates will only begin repaying when they reach annual earnings of over £21,000 a year, up from £15,000 under the current system. Even then, the payments will be small, for example at an income level of £25,000 a year the repayments will be £7 a week". So lowly paid graduates won't need to worry and even those on relatively modest incomes for these supposed high-flyers will be able to cope.

Anyone listening to Aaron Porter, the suave promoter of NUS thinking, would have the idea that all hell was about to be let loose on higher education. He seems able to afford posh suits. It's all a load of political hogwash. I bet this time next year the same amount of students will be taking up university places. The ones Aaron Porter needs to worry about are the dropouts. Not because they stop paying their union dues, but because it causes problems for everyone else.

Agony aunt Claire Rayner dies at 79

Claire Rayner has died at the age of 79 which as it happens was the same age my mother died. In my mind she came across as familiar to me as she was the spitting image of one of my father's cousins. Not only in size but her voice was very similar. However, her public persona was nothing like that of Cousin Margaret.

I well remember, in the days of TVam, Claire Rayner sitting on the sofa waiting for her turn to talk. It was in the days when Aids was a novel topic with various pundits taking sides and telling us of dire consequences if behaviour didn't change. Then Claire was asked about the subject of safe sex. It caused her to propel herself up from a rather comfy position to sit with one bottom cheek on the sofa. As she moved she said, "Listen, a lot of silly stuff is said about condoms!" and proceeded to pull one out of her hands, as if my magic, and begin demonstrating how to use the thing safely. Much to the consternation of the team that day, it seemed. I thought "Hold on a minute, I'm having my breakfast" and pondered whether I was more surpriseded by the talk of condoms at that hour or the sight of Claire sitting ungainly and precariously on the edge of a cheap TVam sofa, sideways to the camera. If the message merited a direct approach, nothing sat in her way - literally!

She was, she claimed, an ardent atheist. She did a lot of good and no doubt her rather interesting life, dealing with the subtleties and senses of the human condition, shaped her thoughts and beliefs. She's either now in sublime oblivion or tackling some kind of Elysian shock therapy. She told her relatives she wanted her last words to be, "Tell David Cameron that if he screws up my beloved NHS I'll come back and bloody haunt him." So maybe the latter is her preferred option.

Greece and Ireland - Two giant ponzi schemes

Here' a nice piece about the giant ponzi scheme in Greece. Greek politicians do not see the debt as being debt. They see it as income. So says Steven R. Earle in the Financial Post of Canada. "The problem with much of the opinion surrounding the Greek financial crisis is that few writers actually have any experience in Greece, in dealing with its politicians, its bankers, its systems, its cultural proclivities and its people," he says. He does, and his article makes very interesting reading. Eric Morecambe used to joke "How much does a Greek earn?" but I bet he'd be sobered in a second by such stuff.

And ponzi schemes are not just for the Greeks. The Irish have got a giant ponzi scheme going too. Rob Lyons writes in Spiked about how Ireland became a giant ponzi scheme. Well, if you can make money out of thin air, is it surprising that the wheels have come off these wagons.

New Shadow Cabinet - more like a walk-in closet!

Here's the line-up for the new shadow cabinet. I thought Shaun Woodward failed to make the grade, yet he's back on the front bench. He can't be that good, surely?

Leader of the Opposition: Ed Miliband
Deputy Leader and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development: Harriet Harman
Shadow Chancellor: Alan Johnson
Shadow Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities: Yvette Cooper
Shadow Home Secretary: Ed Balls
Chief Whip: Rosie Winterton
Shadow Education Secretary: Andy Burnham
Shadow Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary (with responsibility for political and constitutional reform): Sadiq Khan
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary: Douglas Alexander
Shadow Business Secretary: John Denham
Shadow Health Secretary: John Healey
Shadow Secretary Communities and Local Government Secretary: Caroline Flint
Shadow Defence Secretary: Jim Murphy
Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary: Meg Hillier
Shadow Commons Leader: Hilary Benn
Shadow Transport Secretary: Maria Eagle
Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary: Mary Creagh
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Angela Eagle
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary: Shaun Woodward
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland: Ann McKechin
Shadow Welsh Secretary: Peter Hain
Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary: Ivan Lewis
Shadow Lords Leader: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Shadow Olympics Minister: Tessa Jowell
Shadow Cabinet Office Minister: Liam Byrne
Lords Chief Whip: Lord Bassam of Brighton
Shadow Attorney-General: Baroness Scotland

And Jim Murphy's at defence. Ideal for spotting drones.

Teacher who spoke at Tory conference ‘suspended’ by Head

This story is admirably told on Archbishop Cranmer's blog. Read it and weep! Oh and he mentions that "the sponsors are the Church of England". I'd think that had very little relevance to the subject matter. Will Rowan Williams being saying anything today?

Mrs Dikshit condemns 'racist' remarks by New Zealand TV host

I thought New Zealand was full of politically correct trained persons now. A new broom had swept across the country and it was no longer to be seen as a backward looking former part of the Empire. They even produce most of the lamb now as halal. New Zealand definitely prided itself on being a big jewel in the modern world.

They missed out on one person, though! TVNZ breakfast show host Paul Henry, who has gone into a self-centered schoolboy type routine on an Indian woman's name. Sheila Dikshit's name sent him into some sort of kiwi cackle. The video here shows how dire his performance was.



But his real crime was not sniggering at the name. No, it was saying that Ms Dikshit's name was "appropriate because she's Indian". Now that's derogatory and, I think, racist. It's a put down. Not nice, Mr.Henry.

However, that said, I can never understand why a name transliterated should be given the worst possible spelling. If Sheila's name in English sounds more like "Dixit" why not spell it like that. Name's can be very distressing for the bearer. The late great Diana Dors had the real name of Fluck. She decided to change it, much to the annoyance of her father. Her reply was simple. "When I'm famous and my name goes up in lights, I don't want the bulb behind the "L" going out!".

Maybe Sheila Dikshit could fixit to be Ms Dixit?

Quantitative easing back for more cash!

Printing money is old hat. Quantitative easing is the new kid on the block. Actually a spotty teenager by now. The Monetary Policy Committee is chewing over whether to "pump more money" into the system. Who is being consulted on all this? Bernie Madoff in his jail cell?

I'd like to know, if this new QE idea gets the nod, which computer button gets pushed and from where does the "pumping" start? BP doesn't bother with empty wells so is the MPC any different?

Commenting on this Guardian article, Snix says -

"How much longer will this giant ponzi scheme go on for ? Who will decide to revert to the gold standard first? Those left holding worthless currencies will look so foolish. Better go and tend my garden."

Giant ponzi scheme indeed. It seems there's one rule for Bernie Madoff and another for the central bankers. But are they any different?

Crowning disaster for Cornish currency converters

Crown Currency Exchange, a business based in Hayle in Cornwall, processed hundreds of millions of pounds worth of foreign currency, as well as offering travellers' cheques and money transfers. It has now gone spectacularly bust blaming the lack of demand from the travelling public which is diminishing in numbers. Administrators warn that customers face a long wait for news about whether they will get any money back. They believe that £20m is owed, and only £3m is in the kitty. Discrepancies all round, it seems.

By main concern here is not that cash has gone into thinnish air, bad as that is, but that the firm said that they "were registered with the FSA". That meant diddly squat in real terms. The Financial Services Authority should be aware of the status of ALL those in the money-changing business. It seems it missed a trick here. Crown Currency Exchange was registered by the FSA but not regulated by it. There is no safety net from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Doesn't that strike you as a bit of a deception on those who now stand to lose their real money? It does me.

Your country needs you, says David Cameron

David Cameron today has given a rousing speech in Birmingham about the future and how we all tackle this debt problem.

The "beating, radical heart" of the government was shifting power away from the centre to ordinary people, allowing them more choice over services, greater transparency about state spending and greater ability to get involved in running and shaping local services in their communities, he said.

"We are the radicals now, breaking apart the old system with a massive transfer of power from the state to citizens, politicians to people, government to society," he told the conference. Cameron also warned banks that they must "repay the favour" from taxpayers who had bailed them out by restoring lending to British businesses. "There's another way we are getting behind business – by sorting out the banks," he said. "Taxpayers bailed you out. Now it's time for you to repay the favour and start lending to Britain's small businesses again."

I do hope he's got the bottle to deal with these money-changing leviathans. Business needs a government that will be capable of instilling confidence in society. No good having a Big Society if those making it up are all quivering at the knees. Sorting out the banks? Well let's get to grips with what these gamblers are doing whilst sitting at their computers all day, schizophrenically counting bonus bucks as they watch thin air money whizzing past their eyes.

Transparency, honesty and accountability. Maybe this is the chance for the Rev.Stephen Green, formerly of HSBC, to stand up now, as his country needs him, to purge banking of its Las Vegas promiscuity and return it to an honourable estate.

All In This Together - Part 2

Following on from my first posting in this theme, I came across this section on the BBC News website called "Money Worries". The top question is very pertinent indeed. Someone called Patrick Howard from Bristol asks this simple question, no doubt asked by many, many others. He asks this, "What I fail to understand is where exactly has all the money gone? Huge amounts of it must still be out there in the banks. It can't have vanished into thin air, can it? Please explain?" He gets this answer -

This is a great question and deserves a very long answer, but there isn't the space. However, in brief, money is not really 'money' at all nowadays; it is a "promise of value". When we use our credit cards at the shops, we don't actually hand over any money, we merely promise a transfer of value from our bank to the shop's bank (quite often the same bank). But what has happened over the most recent years, as banks have overstretched their lending capacity, other banks have decided that the "promise of value" (in the form of a debt i.e. mortgages) is not a good risk to take in the main because the "promise of value" could not be backed up by hard cash. Banks lend much more than the deposits held by depositors; it is a system called the fractional reserve banking system and means banks can gear up many times more than the deposits they hold. This works well when value is added to the system, but has failed miserably as institutions have found the "promise of value" in the debts has turned sour. So, the money has not actually gone anywhere - it was never there in the first place!

Never there in the first place. WOW! Perhaps George Osborne, instead of tinkling with the debt crisis, could get real and launch a root and branch clearout of the banking system. Money should be somewhere. Should be accounted for. But it is not. How many more Mr Howards are sitting wondering where the money has gone?

The BBC needs to deliver its public service remit by telling more about Fractional Reserve Banking. Its fractional all right. But there are no reserves to speak of and the word banking hardly counts.

Norman Wisdom dies aged 95

Like Sir Tim Rice I was a childhood fan of Norman Wisdom, but unlike Sir Tim I never met Norman. Those who did were very pleased to know that he was an engaging person. Probably that was why the people of Albania found he was just the tonic for getting over a dour regime's lifeless lifestyle.

The Albanian ambassador has spoken nice words about him -



Tributes have been paid in all British newspapers and in many all around the world. I suspect some who may not have heard of him yet will read about him today. If you never saw a film of his here are a couple to see in clips. The Fifties were somewhat dull so a character like Norman Pitkin, as Wisdom became, was very much light relief.

Norman Wisdom Dentist (A Stitch In Time)


Norman Wisdom - Trouble in Store - New Chief's office


Norman Wisdom Don't Laugh at Me

All In This Together - Part 1

David Cameron has said we are "all in this together" as the country battles the financial problems such as the mega deficit. It has been decided that richer types won't be getting child benefit from 2013. They don't need it and it will save £1 billion. I don't need the winter warmth allowance, so I'm happy to give that one up. But is everyone playing with the same bat? I suspect those in the "financial services" industry are not yet in a mindset to play nicely.

The bankers are still getting stick from the public. This is partly I suspect because they don't want reform that will expose some of their murkier transactions. Banking was once an honourable profession. It is now infected by the practices of spivs and charlatans. I know of a number of good people who have left modern banking because their consciences were sorely tested by what they were asked to do in order to get a sale.

If we are "all in this together" then those in the financial services need to be properly in with us. When it comes to pensions most of us believe we are dealing with honest brokers. However, this may not be the case. Most of us thought the Robert Maxwell days were gone. But we live today with pension deficits. Why? Because companies have not been paying into the funds. Shortfalls abound everywhere. The Post Office pension fund is a disaster masquerading as a genial leviathan. If ever the outfit is privatised it will be the taxpayer that gets this actuarial monster to deal with. And yet more liability will be heaped on us. The governance of pensions has been left in the hands of the incompetents and handwringers. Not only are the contractual elements of pension funds being flouted but those in power seem not to care. Let the coalition government shine a light on these pension deficits.

Transparency is hard to get in the pension world. BBC Panorama is exposing the collossal fees taken by private pension funds. Pension-selling companies are taking the equivalent of 80% of money paid into some pension plans out in fees and commissions, Panorama has found. In one HSBC pension plan, £120,000 paid in over 40 years would result in fees and commissions totalling £99,900. How much, HSBC? And this organisation used to be run by an Anglican priest. Surely he had some idea of this daylight robbery. HSBC just replied that its pension product is competitive. BUT THEY JUST DON'T GET IT. It is precisely this weasly way of working that has got the banks into such a dim light with the public. Shanghaid indeed! Perhaps when the reverend gent becomes a trade minister he can advise the prime minister on how to clean up this pension fiasco? He and Vince together, the Dynamic Duo. Angela Knight watch out!

Malcolm McLean is a pensions consultant. He says, according to the BBC, that the problem is a lack of transparency when the pension is sold and what seems like a small annual percentage charge grows each year in real terms as the fund gets bigger. "You suddenly find that after 30 or 40 years there's a terrific amount of money lost and I don't think many people actually understood that when perhaps they took out the pension," he said.

Lack of transparency, eh? Well, if we are "all in this together" let's have these pension providers being honest and open. By all means take properly earned fees. Nobody can run a business without a profit. But this is ridiculous. How much of this excessive skimming off the top goes into bonuses? Dig deeper Dave! We need answers.

The city has an expression for poorly performing funds. They're called dog funds. And I expect they come with all the crap as well!


Panorama site

Labour is "fortified" says Harriet Harman

The Labour Party has been invigorated by the election of its new leader, according to Harriet Harman. Fortified is the word she used. It will also be united. Sounds very cosy. But what will the policies be. Que sera, sera? If Dianne Abbott's view, as expressed on Question Time last night, is anything to go by, it will be all guided by some new blame game and its set of rules. Deny the past, see no problems, just talk about cuts as if there is a big set of scissors snapping at the clouds above.

If Labour has been fortified its been on weak beer supplied by those union bosses eager to be a part of the anti-coalition action. High dosage Phyllosan would be hard going on them. The Labour Party needs some kind of shock therapy to be really fortified. A woman's work is never done, eh, Harriet!