various posters, blogs, media reports, interviewees (is that a word?) often quote about how in todays world, everyone is out for themselves, "do it to them before they do it to you" etc...
so yesterday when i was making myself a brew and i could hear the two road workmen outside in the freezing cold digging holes,i opened the door and shouted to ask if they wanted a mug of tea, they almost ripped my hand off! whys he offering us a brew? was the look i got... no reason, im making myself one anyways, and yer outside freezing all day... why not offer?
today i moved some canteen tables that i had stored for a couple of months, into the van, the sprogs works were gunna throw them into a skip (after smashing them up of course) so i rescued them, surely somewhere, someone could use them? i drove the van up to a nearby farmers garden centre.... and gave them away! "you charge a few quid on them tho?" .... errr no - totally free to a good home
again i was looked at as if id had no head (prettier than the actual mush ive got id bet) they couldnt believe it.
not everyone is out to make money off the back of others its the "motorway traffic jam" scenario: if everyone let just one car enter from the slip road, there wouldnt be a traffic jam for any of us!
how many times have you been sat in traffic for 20-30 minutes and then the road clears and there was nothing at all holding everyone up? the point is, people assume that everyone is out for themselves, rarely do people believe in "what goes around comes around" when in fact most people the opposite is true, if we all did one thing to help someone everyday, then wed all get help back when we need it ourselves. it doesnt have to be anything extra special.. it might be giving someone your car park ticket as it still has 3 hoursto run on it, so they dont have to pay, or holding a door open for an elderly person and waiting for them to go through it, you get the drift...
so how have you helped someone out today?
Denz on 11.30.08 @ 12:24 AM CST [link]
Friday, November 28th
Colds and flu
since working in a huge frozen food warehouse, over 10 years ago, ive been lucky enough to avoid any real heavy flu or colds. since driving at 530am every morning this week (ie so i was tired), the sniffles at school have kindly been passed onto me.
i thought it was just me gettin old and ive felt groggy for a couple of days, but normally i can plod on and work through it. until that is this morning! banging headache, swollen glands, sore neck, nose dripping like a tap, unable to breath via one side of my swede and a little bit of a cough which hurts my chest.
just me i thought... apparently this is not the case! in the past two hours... no fewer than 27 (yes twenty seven) of my friends (i do have some ya know!) have been struggling with flu or heavy colds for the past week!
the flu i reckon, is mother natures way of making people take a time out. groggy at first is a warning, but push the working or going out hours any further, and its a full blown "out of action" issue ive obviously pushed the up early long days hours, so now i have no choice but to stop everything and sleep. i dont use drugs if they can be avoided, so its another hot lemon, bed, chicken soup, then more bed, maybe stretch to the settee if im fit enough, its a horrible thing to catch, but its a timely reminder for me that the human body can only take so much, before it needs a break.
have a wonderful friday!
Denz on 11.28.08 @ 07:41 AM CST [link]
Thursday, November 27th
Woolworths enters administration
Disappointing news from the high street this. Mainly because I use both their website and my local branch, the staff have always been good fun when ive been there, and its a great place to just wonder around and pick up odd bits of stuff. they are still trading and there are no problems ordering via their website to report, of course i will post as soon as there is any information.
Woolworths information reveals that the company have big borrowing debt, and a combination of banks wanting money paid back "sooner rather than later" and the false perception that not many people shop there, are adding to the problems.
a bigger problem exists i think.
after the big bank bail out, it was revealed by the bank of england chairman that banks were "only two weeks away from total collapse" at a commons select committee meeting this week, the chairman changed his message, saying the bank bail out was "to get banks lending to each other again" and to "stimulate the banking markets" but this was shown to be spin and soundbite when mandelson, the business secretary (whom i cannot stand) told the media this morning...
"... We have intervened in the banking crisis not to crush markets but to rescue them" Full article here
a couple of weeks after a huge financial giveaway, the real extent of banking problems are revealed. the same applies to the retail sector:
less than a week after the emergency budget to "stimulate" the sector and try to get people spending again, 2 high street reputable names (MFI and Woolworths) go into administration with huge debts. which companies are next?
hopefully none, but somehow i think more will disappear from our high streets...
Denz on 11.27.08 @ 06:46 AM CST [link]
Wednesday, November 26th
Rubbish
a survey has been done (how much did that cost?) to ask if people would be in favour of a "pay as you throw" scheme, where recycling could earn you rewards. the result of which shows that a big majority, would favour being paid for recycling.
im wondering should i run a survey to gauge if anyone would be in favour of "rewarding people" for...
* walking * returning empties to the bar * ignoring street mime acts * carrying your own shopping home * not yodelling in public
ludicrous i know, but asking people if they would like to get money for doing what they already do, is equally daft!
if they are serious about reducing waste, then focus policies and penalties on those who PRODUCE the packaging. then develop a scheme to be able to reuse most of the packaging we already have. stop fretting about upsetting big business, and change the way we operate. some will say that extra costs will be passed on to the customer, which of course is correct, but if those in charge hadnt allowed competition to be dominated by a big 3 or 4 companies, then everyone would have more choice and it wouldnt be as big a factor would it!
Denz on 11.26.08 @ 06:42 AM CST [link]
Tuesday, November 25th
Pre budget report - how does it help me?
* gas and electric - OFGEM will review energy pricing (which is what they are supposed to be doing - the latest review will report back on december 1st 2008) - no change for me * 2.5% VAT cut (from 17.5% to 15% - the lowest allowed under EU rules) - food, council tax, etc, are not affected by VAT - Fuel and home energy prices not included in the VAT cut - why did labour give away the power to lower VAT? under the old EU rules, we could have lowered VAT to 5%, why was it allowed to be changed to a minimum of 15%? - Unless i buy items like kettles, cars, fridges, etc, this doesnt save me any money, no change for me * £60 early payout to pensioners - no change for me * car tax increases limited to £30, maximum increase for yearly car tax rates the rest of us, held to a maximum of £5 (for 12 months) - we already have to pay an extra £5 every year - no change for me
tax "freezes" are not helping my household - the freezes are a freeze on increases that would normally have come, it just puts the increases on hold for a while
now the paying back: * 0.5% increase in national insurance - unclear wether all of us will pay this * £5 increase in car tax - will pay this * cigarette duty increase - will pay this * fuel duty left the same - will pay this
obviously there are more ins and outs to this, yet to be revealed or discovered, but on the whole, its not that good for my household. they could have restructured the way bills are calculated or supply issues as regards home energy, etc. they could have regulated the way banks and energy companies raise revenue via the way they charge for goods or services, etc, these are things that are limiting people's ability to go out and spend, they chose not to. saving money on buying an £8000 car or a few coppers on a £10 kettle, is not much help if people are struggling to make ends meet!
i hope you have got more from this budget than we have
Denz on 11.25.08 @ 07:49 AM CST [link]
Monday, November 24th
pre budget report - what to expect?
almost certainly, the details that the BBC reported over the weekend, will be in the budget, which they had leaked to them (but the BBC refuse to reveal their sources)
for me one lady on todays news summed the whole economic problem up perfectly: "im a single mum with 4 children, i want to see more help for me to pay my mortgage and gas and electric bills!"
now wouldnt it have made more sense, to have changed policy after warnings of what could happen, BEFORE the policy came in? just look at gas and electricity prices.
- minimum amount of gas storage was dropped to 5% of the country's needs by this government - of course the gas companies closed down some of the gas terminals, reducing the capacity in the system to 5% of our needs. a policy as small as this, has caused much higher prices in our gas bills - we buy our gas in the summer (when its cheaper) but have nowhere to store it now, as we used to. over the past few years, we have been selling our gas to countries like france, who have the old "minimum storage of 20% of the country needs" in place. they buy our gas at a low price in summer and then sell it back to us in winter for a much higher price! now who do you think pays for this?
of course its us, the customer who pays the increase
- when the norwegian gas pipeline opened and started supplying us with gas, the "shortage of supply - causing higher prices" argument disappeared over night. the problem was, prices stayed high because the UK had nowhere to store its gas, so it was sold to france for a low price. the gas was that plentiful, that norway actually paid the UK to take the gas! 6.5p per therm, was paid to the UK government.
did they build more gas terminals? nope did they increase storage capacity? nope
the money raised from the payments norway gave to the UK for taking the gas, could have paid for every person over 65 to have a free winter period on their gas bills and still turned in a profit for the government. did they pass this onto the customer? nope so where did the money go?
- finally, one of the big bug bears of many people who i know, is when a household falls behind with their gas bill and gets into arrears. believe it or not, many households now have arrears bills for hundreds of pounds (the average is said to be around £320 for those in arrears) the government are directly responsible for this! pre 1997, gas meters had to be read once every three months. after 1997, the government decided that a gas meter need only be read once every two years!
as gas prices rise, those paying based on an average over the year, are paying 1,2 sometimes 3 months, at a lower rate than the actual price, so when the meter is read again,they find themselves with a chunk of arrears to pay off!
something as simple as your gas bill, can be helped easily without having to borrow vast billions of money and increases in tax later on down the line. i would simply say to the lady, if you want to reduce or be able to pay your gas bill, why dont you look at how the government's policies have effected you.
the new "slogan" being trawled out is "the price of gas and electric is linked to the price of oil!" utter twoddle! the price of oil has fallen to less than it was 5-6 years ago, petrol prices remain high as does the price of gas.
come on then cleverdick - what would you change?
* id change the law on minimum gas storage capacity for the UK, up to between 20%-25% of our needs should be held in reserve, in the long term this would increased to 30% - 35% of the country's needs. * id change the law on who owns the storage facilities, so they are state owned, and force private gas companies to lease them off the taxpayer. * short term - storage, id build terminals and lease them back to the gas companies, combine this with the new change in reserve capacity law, so they both come into effect at the same time.
billing: * with immeadiate effect, all pre pay meters would have their standing charges removed. prepay pay in advance for their gas,this would also help lower income households and pensioners. * with immeadiate effect, gas meters must be read at least once every three months, by the gas company. there would be a 6 months to a year grace period, to train staff etc, after that, any instance of a meter not being read in the 3 months since its last reading, would have 14 days to read the meter or incur a £30 penalty upon the gas company - to be taken off the gas bill only (no penalty would become due should the gas company be able to prove that they were unable to gain access to premises) * gas prices would be the same for ALL customers. price per therm would be clearly stated to all customers via bills or statements. * simplified billing - essential for people to understand exactly what it is they are paying for
gas supply fails: * return to priority for a household who have children under 5 years of age, maximum wait for resupply (unless a major gas main fault) to return to 4 hours. if no children are in the household, then return of supply must be made within 6 hours (during the day) during the evenings 8 hours would be allowed.
wouldnt it have made more sense not to change the way we bought and paid for our gas, and the way it was supplied, before households started struggling to pay their bills?
* friend is totally messed around all day sunday by british gas! * im told im not working extra hours next week, so i make plans, then 24 hours later i am working extra and have to change the plans * asda shelf con trick on bottles of sherry - skinny bottles with same labels as fatter bottles, placed directly next to each other on shelf, with skinny bottles sale ticket for a fiver displayed and fatter bottles price has mysteriously vanished toway down the shelf - everyone picks up fatter bottle with same label, only to find they have paid £6.70 instead of the £5 advertised! * how many 0-0 scores this weekend? me thinks foreigners dont like the cold here! * secret santa is drawn! * 6 loads of washin washed and dried today * after shopping all day saturday, then a lie in on sunday getting up at dinnertime - the weekend is turning into a half day off! * im up at 530am tomoz then graftin most of the day..... when will i get time to fit the new alternator?
hope you get something good out of the budget tomorrow gang!
Denz on 11.24.08 @ 12:52 AM CST [link]
Sunday, November 23rd
Pre budget report
Tomorrow (monday) the government release its "pre budget report" - since 1997, its been a mini budget - used for changing taxes etc. Tomorrows "statement" will be in effect another budget for the UK, but it will be one of the most important budgets in 15 or so years!
all the signs are (and the indications leaked to the BBC) show an increase in borrowing to "stimulate" the economy and get it moving and spending vast sums of money - the problems are that tax rises must follow a year or two down the line. opposition parties propose cutting taxation without extra borrowing, by changing various ways existing money is spent.
the government tell us "we have to act and do something" and point to the opposition parties "not doing anything to help you the people" which is utter nonsense. they are proposing doing things for people and small businesses, but in a different way. so why are the government so keen to borrow more money?
as it stands, we are told by the chancellor that the best way to stimulate the economy, would be to lower prices to get people spending again. when the banks had their debts covered to the tune of hundreds of billions of pounds, i argued that instead of giving money directly to the bank, they should have given the money (which was equivilent to £8000 per voter in the UK) directly to the people. the reason was that no matter what the people do with their £8000, the banks would end up receiving it! * save it - bank account balances would fill up * spend it in shops - banks would pocket the extra takings from the companies * spend it on arrears - banks would receive the money and the banks outgoings would be reduced (at the same time as giving mortgage holders some respite if they were in arrears) * invest it in isas, pension funds etc - again the banks would see increased revenue.
at the time of the bank bail out, gordon brown and his ministers leaked and told every media source, that the bail out was to "get banks lending to each other again" and people began to question how the government were going to force them to start lending again
of course we now know, my solution (and others like it) could never have been used because the bail out "to get banks lending to each other again" was nothing but spin and fabrication. if gordon brown hadnt bailed them out to the tune of billions of taxpayers money, the entire banking system would have collapsed! - not my words, but the facts from the bank of england! the bank bailout was to save the actual system from collapse and not (as gordon brown and his ministers led us to believe) a proposed stimulus to get things moving again.
with gordon brown's spin in mind, back to tomorrows budget statement: Gordon brown and alistair darling knew that the banking system was in a far worse condition than the public were being told. so i apply the same scenario to it!
rumblings over the last two weeks are that the UK is heading for "deflation" which would lead us into an economic depression not seen since the 1930's. it looks to me as if gordon brown is spinning us all again and the government are not telling us how bad things really are!
painting a picture that if we dont borrow more money and stimulate retail sales we will be in a deep recession, whilst telling everybody that the opposition parties would do nothing to help the people, is disgraceful!
gordon brown has no choice but to borrow money and cut VAT. he has no room for manouvre, his hands are tied as he knows that normal changes in the way we have seen in the past wont be enough to save the UK from depression! he knows that we are not facing a recession, we are facing a depression, whereby the pound could well collapse, and severe hardship for the people.
if this happens, gordon brown and his party will be kicked out of power and his party, as we know it, could be destroyed! he has nothing to lose by increasing borrowing, so he is painting the picture that "the government are borrowing to help people!" he knows its worse than he is telling us, restructuring existing spending plans, without borrowing, will not prevent severe hardship for us all!
Denz on 11.23.08 @ 12:08 PM CST [link]
Wednesday, November 19th
Wii shortages.... again?
Christmas 2007, Wii consoles were in short supply in the UK.
Mainland europe however, had lots of stock, an ingenious idea was hatched, instead of paying out transport costs to move stocks from europe to the UK, press releases were put out saying Wii consoles were suffering from a supply shortage.
yet again it appears that christmas 2008 will see the same issue?
* tesco - out of stock, no availability from supplier * woolworths - out of stock * toys r us - lowest package price increased by £10 and a limit to only 2 consoles per customer * amazon - instock but lowest priced packaged increased by £10 * other stockists, such as currys, pc world, keeping prices high, with pc world even charging £4.95 for delivery!
its not looking good, so i would advise ordering before we hit december, or you will hit supply problems and/or face ordering one from europe, and pay for transport costs!
Denz on 11.19.08 @ 12:22 AM CST [link]
Monday, November 17th
Price rise in supermarket beans!
im no fan of the daily mirror, but credit where credit is due, they lead with the headline on monday, with a story that comes as no surprise to penny pinchers
the price of supermarket own brand beans has gone up by more than 50% in the past month!
people who work in the "bean world" are baffled and cannot explain this price rise, the supermarket concerned state that its down to packaging costs!
its just the latest in a long line of supermarket own brand products thats rising in price. the theory that supermarkets save us all money is a complete fallacy! supermarkets are marketing showrooms, who dont give a jot about the recession and how people are struggling to get by, they are sales machines.
the supermarket own brand prices are more often than not just a few pence below the named brand we all know, but cost the supermarket considerably less to produce and put on their shelves, which equals bigger profits for the company. - they swamp the named brand in a particular area, with their own brand alternative at less than half the price of the established named brand - they then reduce the amount of named brand product on the shelf, so it runs out and you have to pick up the supermarkets own brand or go without. - often the named brand product disappears altogether or is moved to a lower shelf whilst the price of the own brand creeps up to just below the named brand
its a marketing con trick!
on baked beans for example, the supermarket's claims to be "saving customers money" has no credibility whatsoever. raising the price of a tin of beans from 66p to 84p and lowering the shelf position of the product, for two months, then reducing the price back down to 63p and advertising it as an exclusive offer, is not on. its not just beans, its on major product lines, if milk is so cheap now that there is a price war on it, saving the customer a penny, why has the supermarkets own cheese gone up by over a pound during the same time? why "save" your customer 5p on a litre of fuel, if they spend over £50 in your store, at a time when petrol prices should be falling in line with actual costs (which they are not) - at a time when inflation is dropping as people hold onto more of their money, yet productsinstore continue to rise in price?
dont take my word for it, try this simple experiment:
pick out 5 or 6 products and keep your eye on them every week you visit the supermarket, youll be surprised at how the price moves around!
Denz on 11.17.08 @ 12:09 AM CST [link]
Sunday, November 16th
experts!
hate them... cannot stand the total piffle they spout...
i have a simple approach to them: if a person proclaims themselves to be an expert in any non life threatening subject - they invariably are not! it doesnt work all the time, but it serves well at protecting me from "spin"
just read a crackin article about an estate agent in glasgow, having a one day sale, with many houses and flats at "upto 40% off" the woman estate agent says...
"there are plenty of people with the money to buy out there, despite prices falling across the UK, here in scotland prices continue to rise!" - the "expert" has spoken?
facts - the very next article stated "house prices in scotland report a sharp fall!" - headline article on the list down the side of the article states "UK housing market in free fall" - how many did she sell? she wouldnt say i think she may be trying to talk up her business and trying desperately to sell something before her failing business model goes under and she has to get a proper job!
on a similar theme: self promotion and the expert antiques roadshow have had their first 1 million pound evaluation. - they tell us of the record viewing figures they are getting - its a story being run by the BBC on news 24, bbc website, regular BBC channels and bulletins, even BBC radio (every hour)
yet they cant tell us what the thing is, as its a top secret until the show is broadcast! you think they are trying to "sell" their program?
Denz on 11.16.08 @ 12:09 AM CST [link]
Saturday, November 15th
wondering...
* why dont john cleese and andrew sachs do a new series - based on basil fawlty in old age and he still hires manuel? imagin the non pc gags they could have
* why do the makers of the x-factor show not produce the results of the phone vote for us all to see and scrutinise? big controversy over laura leaving the show last week, seeing as many of the genuine complaints reported being unable to get through on the phone number they provided... yet tonights show the judges state that not enough people voted... hmmm
* why has the whole "children in need" occasion become BBC's children in need?
* still on children in need: asda took credit for raising 2 million quid... didnt their customers raise this? same with other big company who "raised" funds..... mostly its the public who dish out their hard earned cash, is it not?
* instead of "3 for 2" and BOGOF (buy one get one free) offers.. why dont they just lower prices?
more wonderings later.....
Denz on 11.15.08 @ 11:43 PM CST [link]
Friday, November 14th
Children in need!
you may think im a grump... but really im not! i like children in need, even tho i think its a sorry state of affairs if we need to raise millions each year to "buy UK children cot blankets" in this day and age.
i have given money this year (as i do every year - i only give to kids charities) but please, for the love of god, sort stuff out about the actual occasion!
* if you are gunna collect money for CIN at the traffic lights... at least put something on your bucket about who you are and why your collecting! and DONT hold the traffic up more than it already is! * sort out the BBC program itself...
- tess daley? fern cotton? are you sponsored to find the most talentless crap available? one presented one of the most successful kids tv shows in recent years, and managed to lower the viewing figures so far it was dropped from the schedules.. and the other took over presenting top of the pops and took it off air for good! hardly a ringing endorsement! - media studies students LISTEN UP! learn please, to turn the audience microphones down.... its no good watching a program where the sound of the artist or the person talking is drowned out by incessant gimp screams from the audience! TURN THEM DOWN FFS! (this could be applied to all programs really, but even more so on the BBC) - applause for nothing - Pack the feck in please! "we cross over to burt bloggs who will tell us whats coming up!" burt bloggs then announces whats happening next and back to the studio..... to rapturous applause for 3 minutes whilst the presenter attempts to shout louder than the audience volume, and you miss most of what they say. - the whole thing looks unrehearsed, stagnant silences as one or two people on the stage witter on aimlessly until its time for the next link, seasoned actors and stage professionals are made to look like robots, get it sorted BBC will yas - heres a crazy idea, when its time to move to someone with a microphone... turn it on BEFORE they start talking.. always a good idea to be able to hear what someone is saying!
the best one is for last....
stop the constant self promotion! children in need started at 7pm.. by 7.20pm they had talked for 10 minutes about strictly come dancing special, and interviewed two of the dancers from it. "name dropped" dr who 7 times promoted eastenders 4 times and had an ex eastenders actress singing and promoting her own christmas panto.
its tedious!
children in need used to be a fast flowing funtastic night of song and laffs... now its getting to be predictable, stale and robotic.
sort it out fer fecks sake!
Denz on 11.14.08 @ 08:09 PM CST [link]
Wednesday, November 12th
Charging orders against your home!
under no circumstances, should you allow a charging order request in a county court to go unchallenged!
the business trying to impose it on your house, will tell you anything to try and get it through unopposed, once its in place, they will not hesitate to enforce it fully, with the worse case scenario that they will attempt to force you to sell your house!
I fought one in the court today, on behalf of someone i know, who has been messed about by a national high street bank, reknown in the UK for its business. after denying access to paying in details for 11 months, saying it would be brought before a court for 11 months, last year they served notice they were applying for a charging order, and the papers were served through the automated court set up in northampton.
the bank's solicitors did not reply to the court within the two week timescale, after i requested it be moved to a local court. they then sent notification that a hearing would commence in january this year, they received the notification on christmas eve! it went to court, via form filling, with a full explanation of what had gone on,how they had sent debt collectors out, denied access to vital paying in details (which is an offence) and misled the court regarding court costs and reasons for a part admission.
NOTE: partial admission was made, rather than counter claim for automated charges for hundreds of pounds, and the costs this would involve, a partial admittance for an amount that was minus all the admin charges and court costs was given
the bank agreed to this new total, the charges and court costs were wiped off - still the bank tried to intimidate them, by stating that if unopposed then no court costs would be sought - but gave a fantasy figure of thousands of pounds that would be claimed, if the charging order was opposed.
i opposed the charging order.
the judge read the defence and decided that a temporary judgement was given and that costs would not be awarded. the judge ordered the case to be reviewed 6 months on.
today was the review. on arrival i met with the solicitor representing the bank, who came armed with instructions from them. he was very amiable and polite as we chatted, and was surprised that i would be challenging the request for a charging order! one thing he did give away, was that he would not look directly at me as he explained that the charging order was simply a way for his client to secure the debt as otherwise the defendant had no legal requirement to pay it off should they sell their house. understandably, my friend was very worried.
when we all went in to meet with the judge, luckily he had re read through the case notes and previously submitted information. the bank's solicitor opened by stating... and i quote:
"my client has instructed me to ask that the court allow a charging order to be applied on the property, and demand payment forthwith (in full) immeadiately. if the defendant cannot pay this amount then i have been instructed to actively seek sale of the asset to recover the debt in full!"
hows that for a slimey rat! after months of saying it was just a formality, after telling us outside the court that it would never be actioned its just for security, their solicitor walked into the review and stated that they wanted the house sold to get the banks money!
luckily, i had a defence prepared and a five point plan of action to reason with the judge, for this to be stopped. even more luckily, the judge had read the previous case notes and had the foresight to see just what the bank was upto... he made the simple payment judgement final, with no future review, and used the common sense approach to not give an order for any court costs, as they would set the debtor back months in their payments. he denied the claim for a charging order, and insisted that times are hard for anyone in debt and creditors, it did not matter that the debt would take 106 years to pay off, it was unreasonable that the bank now came back to court to try and change an order to benefit themselves, not only over other creditors but also over the individual who sat before him.
he did state it was in the best interest of both parties to review circumstances in the future, and clear the debt off, which i thought was fair enough, as both parties wanted it cleared, but the court found that it was best to allow the debtor to pay it off in a time scale that was possible rather than selling a home to pay a debt which totalled less than most people would pay for a car.
common sense prevailed.
my message to you is simple - if you are facing a charging order request to a court, oppose it from day 1! keep to the facts, list all the details with back up copies if necessary and seek help from day one. a national bank will seek to enforce it once its in place and force you out of your home.
build yourself a defence against it, seek professional help and if in doubt ASK someone about it! dont let it drag on in silence and accept it unopposed, i guess todays win in court was more down to luck than planning, i didnt need the defence i had built, imagine the outcome if i had just gone along to observe without a defence and one was needed to stop the charging order!
example 1: have your say DEBATE:Is bias 'blocking British Obama'? SENT:08-Nov-2008 11:37 COMMENT:the only bias in british politics im concerned with, is the way the BBC are not holding the current government to account and reporting the facts, that the public wont find out until after they have gone! COMMENT STATUS:Rejected * after posting this, and people recommended it, it was removed a couple of hours later, on the grounds that it broke the BBC house rules house rules are - abusive wording, racist or sexist comments, naming individuals, personal attacks. please explain how this broke house rules BBC i asked - the BBC have failed to answer or reinstate the post!
example 2: biased reporting george osborne affair, was reported extensively on the BBC news channel, for 48 hours it was the lead story every hour, it was given 6 minutes of airtime, involving various comments from BBC staff reported as news. every half hour, the headline summary, it was again the lead story. after 1 day, osborne was cleared of any wrong doing by a political watchdog, who stated he had no case to answer and had not done anything wrong. for days after, osborne was all over the BBC news website, the osborne reference and questions posted by BBC commentators, out numbered mandelson stories by 7 to 1.
lord mandelson's role however was a little more intriguing! - he only visited the yacht (then changed to reveal he stayed on the yacht as a guest) - when he told us hed first met the russian billionaire, was then changed to some years earlier once the media questioned this - the european union had checked there was no conflict of interest and that nothing inappropriate had taken place, was then discovered that his own staff had checked his account of dealings and conversations out, and the european commission did not know he had stayed with the russian billionaire years earlier
the BBC then asked him in front of the cameras, which he refused to answer several times, despite this the BBC dropped the story.
the osborne affair is still posted on nick robinsons website blog today, from oct 21st, oct 22nd, oct 23rd, the head of BBC news has even had to release a statement about the bias reporting after newspapers attacked their reporting, the comments left by more than 1000 posters on that statement make interesting reading!
example 3: more biased reporting the glenrothes by-election - the BBC news and website reported that it was "a shock win for labour" and that the result "was totally unpredicted!"
yet not 3 days earlier, the BBC reported that upto 3 weeks earlier, the word was from people who worked inside the cabinet office, that labour would win it.
example 4: biased reporting again! "political pressure has persuaded the banks to pass on the full 1.5% interest rate cut!" utter tosh! the banks have only passed this on to a select band of mortgage holders and would be buyers, the vast majority will see no change in the interest rate they pay! the banks have given a little ground, mainly due to the newspapers and the campaigns they have all front paged about how they are ripping people off by not passing the cut on, which coincidently, all came out the same day as the cuts were passed onto some mortgage payers.
example 5: labour party connections to the BBC (thankyou to dirtydorothy for the list)
- Chairman Gavin Davies (later Labour adviser) - Chairman Sir Michael Lyons (previously Labour council chief) - Director General John Birt (later Labour adviser) - Director General Greg Dyke (previously Labour donor and candidate) - C.O.O Caroline Thomson (previously Roy Jenkin's aide) - Head of Political Research Bill Bush (later Labour spin doctor) - Deputy Head of Political Research Catherine Rimmer (later Labour spin doctor) - Director of Strategy Ed Richards (later Labour spin doctor) - Head of Corporate Planning James Purnell (now Labour Minister) - Head of Northern Ireland News Tom Kelly (later Labour spin doctor) - Scottish News Editor Tim Luckhurst (previously Labour spin doctor) - Political News Editor Joy Johnson (later Labour spin doctor) - Political Editor Andrew Marr (student Labour organiser) - Home News Editor Celia Barlow (now Labour MP) - Head of European Affairs Chris Bryant (now Labour MP) - Newsnight Producer Phil Woolas (now Labour Minister) - Foreign Correspondent Martin Sixsmith (later Labour spin doctor) - Current Affairs Reporter Ben Bradshaw (now Labour Minister) - Current Affairs Reporter Lance Price (later Labour spin doctor) - "Question Time" Editor Gill Penlington (previously Labour researcher)
so the next time you watch a BBC news report, just ask yourself, are they really independant and reporting the news, or are they spinning for the labour party???
Ive watched the campaigning with interest from outside the USA. This time more than ever, the election of an american president is pivotal to people around the world.
in politics, for so long now, we have not seen a genuine conviction politician, around the world the people have been crying out for one. a politician who agree with them or not, has the conviction to put forward a plan or a policy, backed up with facts and a strong political argument to win the day.
in 1997 britain elected tony blair as prime minister, many people were convinced he too had conviction. alas it turned out he did not, he had a huge majority in our elected house, a huge opportunity to shape the UK and change it, after years of being in opposition, to a large degree, he fell flat and chose to tinker with the way we were, rather than wipe away policies he told us all, were not working. at first he lived off the soundbites, after his 2nd election win with a huge majority, it became apparant to some that his "conviction" was mostly spin, britain looked to other nations ways of doing things to govern, instead of running the country the british way, from within, for the people who lived here, he adapted other country's policies, to fit britain.
people started to question his following of others policies, media spin and manipulation of figures and reports became clear as they replaced winning the argument to bring in policies. more and more blair followed others rather than lead with ideas himself and every british person became effected by policies introduced for other countries, that were tinkered with and enforced over us. after his 3rd term election with a reduced majority in our elected house, he didnt manage to last for the full term. we now have a prime minister imposed upon us, who has retracted from previous promises and i dont believe carries the majority of the people with him. reaction politics is the pro quo in the UK.
when i watched the news reports, that a senator of the usa visited germany and 200,000 people turned out to see him, this man has a power that money cannot buy, spin cannot create he has the power to convince people to change the future, and work for a better way of life. he could stand on a stage and say "rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb" he has the power to convince not just his electorate, but people all over the world.
he can show that armed forces are not a glorified police force, they exist to fight wars and protect. other countries around the world have a right to live and exist in a different way to the western world, and we in the west should be tolerant and accept this, not invade and shape them as the west believes they should be. "people working too long hours" is a strong argument, that at last should start to change. people of the west work too hard, families, children, the elderly, cast aside as we strive to work longer hours just to exist and feed big business with bigger profits, instead of having the time to be their for their families.
change the structures and rules that shape the way we live from day to day has to start somewhere, i wonder if obama's election victory will be the spark that lights the fuse, that starts a wave around the world, that it is people that matter, not record profits? i hope it is. its time that giving people opportunities, applies to all personal choices, including those that want to start a family and actually share in it as it grows, rather than simply having a child and then working every hour god sends just to get by.
i think you have may have started something america, obama has the skills and power to influence and change the way you live your lives, and im hoping he has the conviction to push through genuine changes for the better, which will then rebound around the world.
enjoy it.... because genuine change doesnt come along very often.. good luck!
Denz on 11.05.08 @ 07:15 AM CST [link]
time for a healthy counter table?
the wife, has been testing out the weightwatchers points program over the last two weeks or so. it contains a sliding points scale calculator (which i photocopied and laminated for her of course costing her nothing)
the basic idea is that each food stuff has a points base, setting the total calories per portion reveals a breakdown of points for other factors. each day, the individual has a points allowance.
ive long called for a healthy eating sliding scale calculator. for example: - eat a home made chesse and tomato pizza, when the points are added up for the content of fresh home made cheese, tomato puree and bread dough, youd be looking at around 6 points. - eat a processed supermarket cheap pizza, and add on those points as well as salt/sodium content thats been added, add on points for sugar/glucose added, etc and you will get a score of around 13-14 points.
the reason i want to see this, has been proved over the past two weeks of the wife's point count, in that, the low scoring healthy fruits and veggies, have been gazumped by the work's dinner, and the consuming even a basic cheese and tomato point which counts in double figures. she was almost totally unaware that even 2 small cheese processed pizzas pushed her point count for the day to close to maximum - yet it only had cheese and tomato on it, but the extra ingredients pushed the score up high.
lets have a health scale where the individual can count points as regards not just slimming but be able to use it to avoid processed unhealthy foods. i often wonder why the slimming approach isnt applied so that all of us can witness first hand what absolute muck we have in our food chain.
Denz on 11.05.08 @ 12:16 AM CST [link]
Tuesday, November 4th
"sale" bargains?
sainsburys and asda (maybe others) advertising a sale price of 15 can boxes of lagers - 3 for £20! bargain? nope! - a few weeks back they were doing 3 boxes of cans for £20... but each box then contained 18 cans. which means when you buy 3 boxes now - you get 9 cans LESS. how is that a bargain?
next time you are in a supermarket - think about the "price war on milk" then wonder over to the cheese aisle and see how much the price of a block of cheese has increased! my local supermarket dropped 3p off a pint of milk, in their well advertised price war on milk, but added almost a £1 to the price of their cheese! (to be fair, they have reduced their increase on cheese, to just 70p more than it was at the start of their price war on milk) a bargain or not?
"5p off a litre of a fuel if you spend £50 or more at our store!" hardly a bargain, when you think last time the price of a barrel of oil was as low as it is now, the price of a litre of fuel was 12p lower than they charge now.
supermarkets are not even bothering to hide their rip offs now, they are blatant!
Denz on 11.04.08 @ 01:00 AM CST [link]
Sunday, November 2nd
UK traditions
i read a piece written by danny baker this week, about Beano boys have to say i cant stand him normally, but he hit the nail right on the head with this, so ill give him some credit!
which brings me nicely onto the erosion of UK traditions. all the occasions throughout the year that i was involved with, they are being destroyed! halloween funfairs? fireworks? - hard not to be cynical when these are designed to part you from your hard earned brass and have nowt to do with the occasion at all - duck apples, trick or treating, witches and gory horror dressing up, pendle hill and spooks, even mischief night, why have they stopped? bonfire night normally a night, now its the weekend before or the weekend after involves beer? bombarded with firework sales for two weeks at every supermarket and formally empty shop? yet more funfairs... most dont even have a bombfire! what happened to everyone in the area giving unwanted furniture to the kids to put on their bombfires? adults lighting the fire on november 5th, all the mums and dads bringing one box of fireworks and watching each others, sparklers for the lil uns, mums making treacle toffee, toffee apples, baked spuds cooked on the fire as it goes out....
and then we have the pinnacle of the year (for me and mine anyways) Christmas not just for the kids, its a time of the year to have a beer and laugh with friends and family, giving presents that neednt be huge, its about good food and company, carols, the nativity, etc, its about a series of events over two weeks, where we can all celebrate, ending with a fantastic party celebrating a new year!
many people i speak to, dont give a jot about christmas, its a huge marketing ploy to part us from our money (which is definately true), people hate having to drag themselves around to family dinners, they dont sing carols or visit church, moan at the snow and the cold, or are forced to work, etc.
our house is always decorated, we start with a real christmas tree (hunted down at a farm nearby) we have decorations, crackers with our meals wearing silly hats, no gifts opened until father christmas has been, plenty of drinks in for visitors, have carols playing around the house, etc. you dont see hindus giving up on duwali do you!
if us "miserable" brits doint uphold traditions - then todays sprogs wont pass those traditions onto their kids, and so it erodes even more. last year, brass was tight, so we all went out shopping on christmas eve with a £20 limit, and bought as much as we could for that amount, we picked up some cracking bargains and we had plenty to open christmas morning after father christmas had used his magic key, to deliver our pressies. we had a crackin feed, all kinds of meat, we had home made mince pies, carols playing, decent tele, friends visiting for drinks, we had a blast.
but one of the most important things, is thinking of others. for many christmas can be a sad and lonely time, why not surprise the old lady sitting in the nursing home window, that you pass every week? she might not have any family! check on your neighbours, speak to them, help them out with shopping or decorations, youll be surprised how a bit of courtesy goes along way to making christmas a happy time for them.
cmon britain.... you can do it!
Denz on 11.02.08 @ 02:37 PM CST [link]
BT internet service - very strange!
heres one for you to try and work out:
i have two BT lines for internet here - one is the original line (well call line A) and one is a test line (well call line B)
now for two months ive been using line B
over the last two weeks, a few of the websites i regularly visit, have been "hanging" or displaying a white screen (ive left them trying to connect for more than 20 minutes nothing worked) the sites are not small sites, they are national websites such as facebook, BBC, daily UK newspaper sites, etc. they have huge servers and lots of traffic.
ive run virus checks (clean results) cleared cache, cookies, reset connections manually, ive changed from pc to laptop to borrowed laptop, nothing has worked. for example - tonight more than 4 hours spent trying to connect to 2 websites which are used by people all over the world, i couldnt even log in.
what i know already - the websites are working normally - ive had tests run by the website admins plus i dont get the "page cannot be displayed" screen come up. - ive also had the sites working on line A and the sprogs own line, connection is instant when using these
very strange this, its as if the large websites i visit are blocked in some way on line B???
could this be "phishing?" it cant be a virus as using line A everything works fine (line A is a faulty line and ive been told not to use it) seems funny though, everytime BT say they have done some work on one of my lines, and state its working and nothing more can be done, this coincides with me not being able to log into sites that BT are aware that i use. line A did the exact same thing when BT "worked" on it and line B worked fine, so they said to use line B only - after BT worked on this line, once again the problems arise.
