When the Governement announced it was to crack down on housing benefit and the figure of £400 maximun for a 3 bedroomed house I naturally thought that was per month and thoght that was draconian but when I realised that was per week or approx £1734 pcm I couldnot believe it. Who in their right mind would pay that much rent for a 3 bedroom house here in Sittingbourne where rents are high the average is £800 pcm. So why is that idiot Boris Johnson complaining about? If someone can pay over £20,000 a year on rent they must have some job I would have thought with living costs etc you would have to be on over £50,000 and by deffintion there job must be highly skilled, if they were made redundant you would expect them to find a job relatively quickly maybe even moving to a different part of the country.
So who are these long time unemployed who live in such expensive houses? If someone live on state benefit or as like to call Charitable handouts they should be moved to areas where the living expenses are cheaper. I here that some of the reasons for not moving them is that they have family in the area, well they must be rich relations, the children at a nice school well there are nice schools in the sticks, they need medical treatment are we to believe they can only get this in well of area's?
Why don't people realise that sucking of the state is costing us to much money and the real poor will not be hurt by this cap on housing benefit.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thomas Jefferson
This was sent by Curt Shearer
Think how this applies today
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe . Thomas Jefferson
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson (Wish the last government had read this)
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson (To right we have 4 types of Parliament, County Councils, District Councils, Parish Council plus all the Quangos and we must not forget the corrupt European Union)
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
He said that in 1802 and it has taken over 200 years for us to listen
>
>
Think how this applies today
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe . Thomas Jefferson
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson (Wish the last government had read this)
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson (To right we have 4 types of Parliament, County Councils, District Councils, Parish Council plus all the Quangos and we must not forget the corrupt European Union)
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
He said that in 1802 and it has taken over 200 years for us to listen
>
>
Friday, October 29, 2010
Minimum Wage
A complaint was made about a small businessman not paying the minimum wage to his workers, so a Government official visited him to investigate the accusation
The Government official asked: "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them."
The Small businessman replied: "Well, there's my worker who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him above the minimum wage plus give him free room and board
"Then there's the mentally challenged worker. He works about 18 hours a day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about £10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a pack of beers every Saturday night so he can cope with life.
He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.
The Government official asks: "That's the person I want to talk to...the mentally challenged one.
Small businessman : "That would be me."
The Government official asked: "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them."
The Small businessman replied: "Well, there's my worker who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him above the minimum wage plus give him free room and board
"Then there's the mentally challenged worker. He works about 18 hours a day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about £10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a pack of beers every Saturday night so he can cope with life.
He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.
The Government official asks: "That's the person I want to talk to...the mentally challenged one.
Small businessman : "That would be me."
Thursday, October 28, 2010
BANANAS Super Food
Banana Facts-amazing
I am going to eat a banana in one minute. What an amazing fruit?
A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression "going bananas" is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Read on:
Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!
This is interesting..
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.
Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.
Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.
But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness
Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin.. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness.. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.
Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance.. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"
PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS
PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe....polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit !!!
I am going to eat a banana in one minute. What an amazing fruit?
A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression "going bananas" is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Read on:
Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!
This is interesting..
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.
Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.
Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.
But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness
Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin.. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness.. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.
Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance.. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"
PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS
PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe....polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit !!!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Richard says Martin you can not Spell
Thought you would interested in my latest bout with Richard Bailey on Face Book
This time it is about the Royals
Richard Bailey They are a phenomenally wealthy, publicly funded, work-shy, in-bred, unelected, public institution.
God bless 'em, I say!
II expect you would like to see a President and guess where he would come from Yes one of the Political Parties most probably with money educated at a Public School and Unniversity Good God am I seeing a pattern here
Richard does stir up a debate Great Stuff
This time it is about the Royals
Richard Bailey They are a phenomenally wealthy, publicly funded, work-shy, in-bred, unelected, public institution.
God bless 'em, I say!
Martin Clarke Lets have an elected President then you will see the expenses
Richard Bailey That's the spirit, Martin. If you can't make an actual argument just rely on cliches!
Martin Clarke They are a phenomenally wealthy, publicly funded, work-shy, in-bred, unelected, public institution NOW THAT IS A CLICHE a very tired one at that
Richard Bailey I know what to buy you for Christmas, Martin: a dictionary!
'work-shy' is an interpretation of their work patterns (admittedly using a certain colloquialism gut effect). Everything else I wrote is just FACT.
They can't be cliched because the...y are not frequently trotted out in place of an argument. And they are TRUE.
On the hand, implying that a US-style president is the only alternative to the monarchy is misleading. The Irish model (figurehead, without constitutional powers) if the most popular form I'm waste of.
That it will be more expensive is just guesswork. How could you possible know? What we do know is that the Irish President costs a tiny fraction compared to the Queen (not to mention her hangers-on).
And the pop about envy is so weak that it doesn't deserve a reply.
Therefore= cliche!See more
Martin Clarke I appolloggise for my bad speling unlike you I didnot have a Public School education or went to university and I am so grateful that I know some one of your such high intterlect and apprciate you ciorrecting me so I can keep learning otherwise I will have no future it seems Jane Austin could not spell and had bad grammar just think how famous she could have become if she had. As you you know I come from Kent and once worked on a farm so I expect my diction is incorrect as well. Thankyou
II expect you would like to see a President and guess where he would come from Yes one of the Political Parties most probably with money educated at a Public School and Unniversity Good God am I seeing a pattern here
Richard does stir up a debate Great Stuff
At last an MP who speaks for the people
Date: 22nd October 2010
Release: Immediate
Subject: Local MP leads rebellion against European budget increase
Local MP, Gordon Henderson would like to see the Government unilaterally reduce the United Kingdom’s contribution to the EU budget for 2011 by the average percentage cut imposed on Whitehall departments.
Mr Henderson also insisted that if the European Commission and Parliament are not happy with the Government’s decision and kick up a fuss, then the Government should hold an immediate referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the EU and let the British People decide our future once and for all.
Mr Henderson’s demand was made in a speech in the House of Commons, where Mr Henderson told fellow members that the EU Commission proposed to increase the EU budget next year by 5.8%, which in real money represents an increase of £6.2 billion pounds. The UK alone could expect to pay nearly £2 billion more in the coming year.
Mr Henderson expressed his concern that during an era of financial uncertainly and austerity, the British Government were expected to hand over to the European Union billions of pounds to waste on grandiose schemes such as the European External Action Service and the Institute of Gender Equality in Vilnius, Lithuania, and for which incidentally he said, the United Kingdom is being asked to cough up £800,000 next year.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury. Justine Greening MP said:
“In the wake of the worst financial crisis in living memory, there is no justification for an increase in the EU's annual budget of nearly 6%.
“We are already talking to our partners in Europe and in our group-the European Conservatives and Reformists. The Whip in charge of that group assures us that they will be voting against a rise in the European Parliament when it comes before them.”
Mr Henderson said, “I am delighted that the Government recognise the stupidity of the European Commission’s decision to increase its budget next year, however, I would like them to go one step further and actually reduce the amount British tax payers are expected to give Brussels.”
Mr Henderson was one of 34 Conservative MP’s who voted against the Government position.
....ends....
Note to the Editor: A full transcript of Gordon Henderson’s speech follows:
SPEEECH ON EU BUDGET
Mr Speaker, over the last few months we have spent a lot of our time debating one or other aspect of the financial crisis in which the country finds itself.
Britain has a huge deficit and the British public have collectively built up a mountain of personal debt. All in all we are in a real mess.
The Government has set out on a series of measures to reduce the National Debt and I know that many individuals, including people in my own constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey, are trying hard to cut their own indebtedness. These are tough times for us all.
And we are not alone; many other countries around the World, including many in Europe, face huge financial challenges and are struggling to balance their books without pushing their national economies into another recession.
So in this era of uncertainty and austerity, what does that organisation of probity and good governance, the European Commission do? It proposes to increase the EU budget next year by 5.8%, which in real money represents an increase of 6,102 thousand million pounds! That’s right; £6.2 billion pounds.
Mr Speaker, what planet do European Commissioners live on? I’ll tell you where: They live on the planet of self indulgence. They live in a cushioned climate of privilege in which the Brussels gravy train doesn’t stop long enough for them to see what is happening in the real world.
To be fair our own British Government at least recognises the stupidity of the European Commission, as the Economic Secretary to The Treasury wrote in her briefing notes: “...the Government is very concerned by the proposed increase in payment appropriations of 5.8%”. Very concerned? I would be absolutely lived!
So at least one out of three cheers for the Treasury for that statement, but sadly, Mr Speaker, I can’t bring myself to give them any more cheers, because my Honourable Friend lets herself down by going on to address the profligacy of the EU by saying that the Government will propose that the EU Budget remains at cash levels equivalent to the 2010 Budget.
I bet all those ministers who have been tasked with producing a twenty percent cut in their department budgets are a bit narked about that one. I am sure that in the present economic climate that they would be delighted to be given a zero growth budget.
Mr Speaker, like many other honourable and Rt. honourable members, I have been inundated with letters and emails complaining about the proposed cuts in benefits, increases in tuition fees and changes to public service pensions.
There is a great deal of disquiet out there and coming from a constituency which has some of the most deprived areas in the South East within its boundaries, I share some of that disquiet.
But I am happy to go into bat on behalf of the Coalition Government and argue the case for those cuts because I think that in their heart of hearts most of the people in my constituency understand that we have no choice but to push through those cuts if we are to reduce the mountain of debt we inherited from the previous Government.
But Mr Speaker, I would not be able to look my friends and neighbours in the eye if we drove through a programme of painful cuts in our public services, while at the same time bunging the European Union billions of pounds to waste on grandiose schemes such as the European External Action Service and the Institute of Gender Equality in Vilnius, Lithuania, and for which incidently, the United Kingdom is being asked to cough up £800,000 next year.
Mr Speaker, next year the European Commission proposes to spend over £7 billion pounds on administration. By my calculation the United Kingdom’s contribution to those administration costs will be around £1 billion. If Government departments and public bodies in this country are being asked to cut their administration costs, then it is surely right that the European Commission should be expected to do the same.
Now I know that my honourable friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury will say that the British Government will be pressing the EU to deliver greater value for money. But does anybody in this Chamber really believe that our friends across the English Channel in the European Commission will actually listen to them?
And when the Draft Budget is eventually presented to the European Parliament for debate later this year, do Treasury ministers really think that anything other than a small group of British MEP’s will take a blind bit of notice of their view?
I think not, which is why I would like to see the Government unilaterally reduce the United Kingdom’s contribution to the EU budget for 2011 by the average percentage cut imposed on Whitehall departments.
If European Commission and Parliament don’t like it and kick up a fuss, then we should hold an immediate referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the EU and let the British People decide our future once and for all. Perhaps we can hold it on the same day as the AV Referendum!
Mr Speaker, I support this amendment and would urge members on all sides of the House to do the same.
Release: Immediate
Subject: Local MP leads rebellion against European budget increase
Local MP, Gordon Henderson would like to see the Government unilaterally reduce the United Kingdom’s contribution to the EU budget for 2011 by the average percentage cut imposed on Whitehall departments.
Mr Henderson also insisted that if the European Commission and Parliament are not happy with the Government’s decision and kick up a fuss, then the Government should hold an immediate referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the EU and let the British People decide our future once and for all.
Mr Henderson’s demand was made in a speech in the House of Commons, where Mr Henderson told fellow members that the EU Commission proposed to increase the EU budget next year by 5.8%, which in real money represents an increase of £6.2 billion pounds. The UK alone could expect to pay nearly £2 billion more in the coming year.
Mr Henderson expressed his concern that during an era of financial uncertainly and austerity, the British Government were expected to hand over to the European Union billions of pounds to waste on grandiose schemes such as the European External Action Service and the Institute of Gender Equality in Vilnius, Lithuania, and for which incidentally he said, the United Kingdom is being asked to cough up £800,000 next year.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury. Justine Greening MP said:
“In the wake of the worst financial crisis in living memory, there is no justification for an increase in the EU's annual budget of nearly 6%.
“We are already talking to our partners in Europe and in our group-the European Conservatives and Reformists. The Whip in charge of that group assures us that they will be voting against a rise in the European Parliament when it comes before them.”
Mr Henderson said, “I am delighted that the Government recognise the stupidity of the European Commission’s decision to increase its budget next year, however, I would like them to go one step further and actually reduce the amount British tax payers are expected to give Brussels.”
Mr Henderson was one of 34 Conservative MP’s who voted against the Government position.
....ends....
Note to the Editor: A full transcript of Gordon Henderson’s speech follows:
SPEEECH ON EU BUDGET
Mr Speaker, over the last few months we have spent a lot of our time debating one or other aspect of the financial crisis in which the country finds itself.
Britain has a huge deficit and the British public have collectively built up a mountain of personal debt. All in all we are in a real mess.
The Government has set out on a series of measures to reduce the National Debt and I know that many individuals, including people in my own constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey, are trying hard to cut their own indebtedness. These are tough times for us all.
And we are not alone; many other countries around the World, including many in Europe, face huge financial challenges and are struggling to balance their books without pushing their national economies into another recession.
So in this era of uncertainty and austerity, what does that organisation of probity and good governance, the European Commission do? It proposes to increase the EU budget next year by 5.8%, which in real money represents an increase of 6,102 thousand million pounds! That’s right; £6.2 billion pounds.
Mr Speaker, what planet do European Commissioners live on? I’ll tell you where: They live on the planet of self indulgence. They live in a cushioned climate of privilege in which the Brussels gravy train doesn’t stop long enough for them to see what is happening in the real world.
To be fair our own British Government at least recognises the stupidity of the European Commission, as the Economic Secretary to The Treasury wrote in her briefing notes: “...the Government is very concerned by the proposed increase in payment appropriations of 5.8%”. Very concerned? I would be absolutely lived!
So at least one out of three cheers for the Treasury for that statement, but sadly, Mr Speaker, I can’t bring myself to give them any more cheers, because my Honourable Friend lets herself down by going on to address the profligacy of the EU by saying that the Government will propose that the EU Budget remains at cash levels equivalent to the 2010 Budget.
I bet all those ministers who have been tasked with producing a twenty percent cut in their department budgets are a bit narked about that one. I am sure that in the present economic climate that they would be delighted to be given a zero growth budget.
Mr Speaker, like many other honourable and Rt. honourable members, I have been inundated with letters and emails complaining about the proposed cuts in benefits, increases in tuition fees and changes to public service pensions.
There is a great deal of disquiet out there and coming from a constituency which has some of the most deprived areas in the South East within its boundaries, I share some of that disquiet.
But I am happy to go into bat on behalf of the Coalition Government and argue the case for those cuts because I think that in their heart of hearts most of the people in my constituency understand that we have no choice but to push through those cuts if we are to reduce the mountain of debt we inherited from the previous Government.
But Mr Speaker, I would not be able to look my friends and neighbours in the eye if we drove through a programme of painful cuts in our public services, while at the same time bunging the European Union billions of pounds to waste on grandiose schemes such as the European External Action Service and the Institute of Gender Equality in Vilnius, Lithuania, and for which incidently, the United Kingdom is being asked to cough up £800,000 next year.
Mr Speaker, next year the European Commission proposes to spend over £7 billion pounds on administration. By my calculation the United Kingdom’s contribution to those administration costs will be around £1 billion. If Government departments and public bodies in this country are being asked to cut their administration costs, then it is surely right that the European Commission should be expected to do the same.
Now I know that my honourable friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury will say that the British Government will be pressing the EU to deliver greater value for money. But does anybody in this Chamber really believe that our friends across the English Channel in the European Commission will actually listen to them?
And when the Draft Budget is eventually presented to the European Parliament for debate later this year, do Treasury ministers really think that anything other than a small group of British MEP’s will take a blind bit of notice of their view?
I think not, which is why I would like to see the Government unilaterally reduce the United Kingdom’s contribution to the EU budget for 2011 by the average percentage cut imposed on Whitehall departments.
If European Commission and Parliament don’t like it and kick up a fuss, then we should hold an immediate referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the EU and let the British People decide our future once and for all. Perhaps we can hold it on the same day as the AV Referendum!
Mr Speaker, I support this amendment and would urge members on all sides of the House to do the same.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Budget hurts thanks to Labour
The Budget Strikes
All of us were bracing ourselves for the budget, already our Judo Club has had to drop its prices to keep members, I have several flats which I rent two of which are occupied by unemployed people who receive housing benefit they may have to move out because they will not receive the full rent, mind you in some cases cutting back on their luxuries i.e. takeaways, Alcohol, Sky TV might do them a favour health wise.
Yet I accept that we all have to make sacrifices but several things have annoyed me :
1) The press reported that a women in a wheel chair harangued the PM about losing benefit but had anyone asked what her income was and what her disability was? She may be genuine but a lot are not
2) That degusting wasteful European Union areproposing a 5.9 per cent increase in its budget at a time when public services in this country are being slashed and a lot of that goes on Jollies for the bureaucrats
3) Foreign aid budget to cost every family £500 with 17 foreign aid fat cats are earning more than £90,000 plus all the corruption, on TV the other day we were told in the Sudan the aid is used to blackmail Christians into become Muslim i.e. to Christian villages change religion or starve, how many of these countries receiving aid are also buying war planes, tanks etc. Time has come to recognize that Charity starts at home and if we are support these countries we need to over see them even take over their government.
4) Labour politicians who stand and condemn the cuts its because of them we are in this mess
5) Finally the Unions who screaming about Job Losses where they were when Immigrant Labour was taking British peoples jobs? 1.5 million foreigners have returned to take on Jobs while 5 million Brits are unemployed, unions start looking after the working man rather then getting involved in political strife
Martin Clarke Sittingbourne
All of us were bracing ourselves for the budget, already our Judo Club has had to drop its prices to keep members, I have several flats which I rent two of which are occupied by unemployed people who receive housing benefit they may have to move out because they will not receive the full rent, mind you in some cases cutting back on their luxuries i.e. takeaways, Alcohol, Sky TV might do them a favour health wise.
Yet I accept that we all have to make sacrifices but several things have annoyed me :
1) The press reported that a women in a wheel chair harangued the PM about losing benefit but had anyone asked what her income was and what her disability was? She may be genuine but a lot are not
2) That degusting wasteful European Union areproposing a 5.9 per cent increase in its budget at a time when public services in this country are being slashed and a lot of that goes on Jollies for the bureaucrats
3) Foreign aid budget to cost every family £500 with 17 foreign aid fat cats are earning more than £90,000 plus all the corruption, on TV the other day we were told in the Sudan the aid is used to blackmail Christians into become Muslim i.e. to Christian villages change religion or starve, how many of these countries receiving aid are also buying war planes, tanks etc. Time has come to recognize that Charity starts at home and if we are support these countries we need to over see them even take over their government.
4) Labour politicians who stand and condemn the cuts its because of them we are in this mess
5) Finally the Unions who screaming about Job Losses where they were when Immigrant Labour was taking British peoples jobs? 1.5 million foreigners have returned to take on Jobs while 5 million Brits are unemployed, unions start looking after the working man rather then getting involved in political strife
Martin Clarke Sittingbourne
Monday, October 18, 2010
My reply to Skipper
Martyn Skipper posted in HATED BY THE DAILY MAIL
Martyn Skipper 17 October 21:33
I'd like to invite all my gay, socialist, unemployed Polish friends to join... oh yes, and all my intelligent, democratic, free-thinking friends too!
My reply
do not have any Homosexual Friends, I do not have any socialist Friends, I do not know any unemployed Polish I do know many unemployed British People but I see they are not included in your list, obviously as someone who did not go to Uni and left school at 15 to take an apprenticeship I am not one of your intelligencer, I have yet to find out what democratic means as for free thinking that was abolished under Harriet Harman
So I expect I will have to reject your invitation as I do not fit any of the categories
Will continue to read the Daily Mail and the Sun the largest circulating newspapers or as some say the Peoples Newspapers will leave the small circulations newspapers like the Guardian and Independent to the Left wing Professional Nerds
Martyn Skipper 17 October 21:33
I'd like to invite all my gay, socialist, unemployed Polish friends to join... oh yes, and all my intelligent, democratic, free-thinking friends too!
My reply
do not have any Homosexual Friends, I do not have any socialist Friends, I do not know any unemployed Polish I do know many unemployed British People but I see they are not included in your list, obviously as someone who did not go to Uni and left school at 15 to take an apprenticeship I am not one of your intelligencer, I have yet to find out what democratic means as for free thinking that was abolished under Harriet Harman
So I expect I will have to reject your invitation as I do not fit any of the categories
Will continue to read the Daily Mail and the Sun the largest circulating newspapers or as some say the Peoples Newspapers will leave the small circulations newspapers like the Guardian and Independent to the Left wing Professional Nerds
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Middle Class Whingers
I am getting sick and tired to listening to the whinging of the so called middle class professionals First it was our children's university fees should be free we can afford to pay, Yet the same children have gap years and spend a good proportion of their time and money having fun and getting drunk. Next they demand Child allowance because £50,000 a year earnings is not enough. I can understand why anyone should get Child allowance why should the state pay you to have children, yes help those on low income but it should not be universal. The latest 3 professional beat up a man in a tube for fun and laughed afterwards and did they get prison oh no just 4 months suspends wonder what they would have got if they unemployed kids from a Council estate
Friday, October 08, 2010
New Immigration Laws
It's just a matter of choice!!!
Subject: New Immigration Laws
New Immigration Laws: PLEASE read to the bottom or you will miss the message
1 There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2. All ballots will be in this nation's language.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
3. All government business will be conducted in our language.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
4. Non-residents will NOT have the right to vote no matter how long they are here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
5. Non-citizens will NEVER be able to hold political office
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
6. Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, no food stamps,
no health care, or other government assistance programmes.
Any burden will be deported.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
7. Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount at least equal
to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
8. If foreigners come here and buy land... Options will be restricted.
Certain parcels including waterfront property are reserved for citizens
naturally born into this country.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
9.. Foreigners may have no protests; no demonstrations, no waving of a
foreign flag, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our prime minister
or his policies. These will lead to imprisonment and deportation.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
10. If you do come to this country illegally, you will be actively hunted &,
when caught, sent to jail until your deportation can be arranged.
All assets will be taken from you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Too strict?......
The above laws are the current immigration laws of the Muslim countries !
These sound fine to me, NOW, how can we get these laws to be British immigration laws??
Map Of My Country:
Let me make this perfectly clear!
THIS IS MY COUNTRY!
And, because I make
This statement
DOES NOT
Mean I'm against immigration!!!
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE,
IN MY COUNTRY!
Welcome!
To come through legally:
1. Get a sponsor!
2. Get a place to lay your head!
3. Get a job!
4. Live By OUR Rules!
5. Pay YOUR Taxes!
And
6. Learn the LANGUAGE like immigrants
Have in the past!!!
AND
7. Please don't demand that we hand over our lifetime
savings of welfare benefits to you.
If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone,
Then
YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
When will BRITS STOP giving away
THEIR RIGHTS?
We've gone so far the other way...
Bent over backwards not to offend anyone.
But it seems no one cares about the
BRITISH CITIZEN
that's being offended!
WAKE UP BRITAIN
If you agree..... Pass this on.
If you don't agree.. Delete it!!
Subject: New Immigration Laws
New Immigration Laws: PLEASE read to the bottom or you will miss the message
1 There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2. All ballots will be in this nation's language.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
3. All government business will be conducted in our language.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
4. Non-residents will NOT have the right to vote no matter how long they are here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
5. Non-citizens will NEVER be able to hold political office
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
6. Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, no food stamps,
no health care, or other government assistance programmes.
Any burden will be deported.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
7. Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount at least equal
to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
8. If foreigners come here and buy land... Options will be restricted.
Certain parcels including waterfront property are reserved for citizens
naturally born into this country.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
9.. Foreigners may have no protests; no demonstrations, no waving of a
foreign flag, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our prime minister
or his policies. These will lead to imprisonment and deportation.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
10. If you do come to this country illegally, you will be actively hunted &,
when caught, sent to jail until your deportation can be arranged.
All assets will be taken from you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Too strict?......
The above laws are the current immigration laws of the Muslim countries !
These sound fine to me, NOW, how can we get these laws to be British immigration laws??
Map Of My Country:
Let me make this perfectly clear!
THIS IS MY COUNTRY!
And, because I make
This statement
DOES NOT
Mean I'm against immigration!!!
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE,
IN MY COUNTRY!
Welcome!
To come through legally:
1. Get a sponsor!
2. Get a place to lay your head!
3. Get a job!
4. Live By OUR Rules!
5. Pay YOUR Taxes!
And
6. Learn the LANGUAGE like immigrants
Have in the past!!!
AND
7. Please don't demand that we hand over our lifetime
savings of welfare benefits to you.
If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone,
Then
YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
When will BRITS STOP giving away
THEIR RIGHTS?
We've gone so far the other way...
Bent over backwards not to offend anyone.
But it seems no one cares about the
BRITISH CITIZEN
that's being offended!
WAKE UP BRITAIN
If you agree..... Pass this on.
If you don't agree.. Delete it!!
I answer Richard Bailey
Richard Bailey wrote an article on Facbook condeming MigrationWatch an organisation I support the attached letter explains why. I told Richard I would contatc MigrationWatch and here is their reply
Who is:
Sally Bercow, political commentator and wife of Commons speaker John Bercow MP aspiring Leftwing Labour Polatician
see article at bottom of page
Dear Martin
Thank you for writing to us. With regards to Sally Bercow's comments our full response is now on our website www.migrationwatch.com
I'm glad you are a supporter. Our focus is on immigration numbers. Our work is based on official statistics from such sources as the Home Office and the Office of National Statistics. With all statistics there is room for debate about what the numbers mean for the future which gives groups in favour of immigration room for spin. What is fact however is that net migration to the UK in 2009 was 196,000 people and as a result the UK is becoming a more congested and constrained place to live.
Unlike the huge pro-immigration lobby, primarily funded by the British taxpayer, we receive no funds from the government, nor from the lottery, and have no intention of seeking them. We intend to remain entirely independent but this means that we rely on public donations to support our work. We are the only rational body making an effective case against the massive levels of UK immigration. Our administrative costs are minimal and we do not use any part of donations to pay fund raisers. Every penny goes directly to the cause.
If you feel that this is an important issue and would like to continue helping you can send us a donation in the following ways:
You could call 01869 337007 and donate by credit card or send a cheque to MWUK, PO Box 765, Guildford, GU2 4XN. If you prefer internet banking our account number is 01442587, sort code 30-90-42. A standing order form can be found at:
http://www.migrationwatchuk.com/pdfs/Standing_order_Jun04.doc
Regards
Matthew Pollard
Executive Director
Migrationwatch UK
Article from the Times Oline
Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent says
Sally Bercow reveals past full of binge-drinking and one-night stands
John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, has been criticised by MPs after his wife gave an extraordinary interview to launch herself as a Labour politician.
Sally Bercow, 40, described her battle with drink and fondness for one-night stands in her twenties, and criticised David Cameron as a “merchant of spin”. MPs reacted with astonishment, pointing out that Mrs Bercow lives in Speaker’s House at taxpayers’ expense and questioning whether this compromised the Speaker’s independence. Mr Bercow was a Tory MP before becoming Speaker, but was elected with support of Labour MPs.
In the interview published today, Mrs Bercow said that she wanted to get rid of “skeletons” from her past before standing as a Labour councillor in Pimlico, central London, in a bid to become an MP at the next election. She said: “I was a big binge drinker in my twenties. I started drinking at Oxford, being a party girl, and it got out of control.
“I got a grip for a while, but in the mid-Nineties I was working in advertising and I would drink wine at lunch then go out and drink a bottle in the evening, most evenings really. I had no stop button.” Asked whether this was as excessive as she had implied, she added: “Well, OK. It was sometimes more like two bottles, except I promised John I wouldn’t say that. Have I mucked it up already?”
She became teetotal in 2000 after realising that she had put herself in danger. “I was an argumentative, stroppy drunk, picking arguments with my bosses over stupid things. Plus I’d lose my judgment and put myself in danger. I’d fall asleep on the Tube and end up in Epping or Heathrow. And I’d get into unlicensed minicabs in the early hours. All the things we’d tell our daughters not to do.”
Mrs Bercow also confessed to casual sexual encounters because of alcohol. “The weren’t romantic. They were more like flings. I wasn’t looking for love. But it’s true that I would end up sometimes at a bar and someone would send a drink over, and I’d think, ‘Why not?’ and we’d go home together. I liked the excitement of not knowing how a night was going to end. It was all very ladette — work hard, play hard.
“I want to run for Parliament as a Labour candidate so this has all got to come out and I’d rather tell it myself,” she told the London Evening Standard.
Mrs Bercow has been criticised recently for the way that she presented her qualifications on her CV, but she denied any intention to mislead. She also rebuffed criticism of her spending on a redecoration of Speaker’s House that she said was necessary because the dark red upset her autistic son, Oliver, 5, one of their three children.
She suggested that David Cameron was a fake. “He favours the interests of the few over the mainstream majority. I do think the Tory party is for the privileged few and what it stands for isn’t in the interests of most ordinary people.” She also said that Mr Cameron could send his children to private school because there was no “real commitment” to state education.
Mr Cameron did not support Mr Bercow’s candidacy but a spokesman refused to be drawn on the issue and said that the party was supportive of the office of Speaker. Mrs Bercow may not send her children to grammar schools in her husband’s Buckinghamshire constituency because she opposes selection.
She revealed that after dating Mr Bercow for six months “he dumped me for being too argumentative. But you have to remember that he was a right-wing headbanger at the time. He’s much more rounded and moderate now, and he’s rethought a lot.”
Asked how it might work if she was an MP while her husband was Speaker, she said: “He’d be so tough on me though. I’d never get a question when he was in the chair. I’d have to wait till the deputy speaker was in.”
Nadine Dorries, a Tory MP who opposed Mr Bercow’s selection as Speaker, said: “We desperately need to restore authority and respect to Parliament. What this interview has done is remove any painstaking progress Parliament has made and reduced the Speaker and his office to that of a laughing stock.
“How can we ask the people to trust us, when the man who holds us to account has such poor judgment that he allowed his wife to give such an appalling, self-obsessed interview?”
Who is:
Sally Bercow, political commentator and wife of Commons speaker John Bercow MP aspiring Leftwing Labour Polatician
see article at bottom of page
Dear Martin
Thank you for writing to us. With regards to Sally Bercow's comments our full response is now on our website www.migrationwatch.com
I'm glad you are a supporter. Our focus is on immigration numbers. Our work is based on official statistics from such sources as the Home Office and the Office of National Statistics. With all statistics there is room for debate about what the numbers mean for the future which gives groups in favour of immigration room for spin. What is fact however is that net migration to the UK in 2009 was 196,000 people and as a result the UK is becoming a more congested and constrained place to live.
Unlike the huge pro-immigration lobby, primarily funded by the British taxpayer, we receive no funds from the government, nor from the lottery, and have no intention of seeking them. We intend to remain entirely independent but this means that we rely on public donations to support our work. We are the only rational body making an effective case against the massive levels of UK immigration. Our administrative costs are minimal and we do not use any part of donations to pay fund raisers. Every penny goes directly to the cause.
If you feel that this is an important issue and would like to continue helping you can send us a donation in the following ways:
You could call 01869 337007 and donate by credit card or send a cheque to MWUK, PO Box 765, Guildford, GU2 4XN. If you prefer internet banking our account number is 01442587, sort code 30-90-42. A standing order form can be found at:
http://www.migrationwatchuk.com/pdfs/Standing_order_Jun04.doc
Regards
Matthew Pollard
Executive Director
Migrationwatch UK
Article from the Times Oline
Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent says
Sally Bercow reveals past full of binge-drinking and one-night stands
John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, has been criticised by MPs after his wife gave an extraordinary interview to launch herself as a Labour politician.
Sally Bercow, 40, described her battle with drink and fondness for one-night stands in her twenties, and criticised David Cameron as a “merchant of spin”. MPs reacted with astonishment, pointing out that Mrs Bercow lives in Speaker’s House at taxpayers’ expense and questioning whether this compromised the Speaker’s independence. Mr Bercow was a Tory MP before becoming Speaker, but was elected with support of Labour MPs.
In the interview published today, Mrs Bercow said that she wanted to get rid of “skeletons” from her past before standing as a Labour councillor in Pimlico, central London, in a bid to become an MP at the next election. She said: “I was a big binge drinker in my twenties. I started drinking at Oxford, being a party girl, and it got out of control.
“I got a grip for a while, but in the mid-Nineties I was working in advertising and I would drink wine at lunch then go out and drink a bottle in the evening, most evenings really. I had no stop button.” Asked whether this was as excessive as she had implied, she added: “Well, OK. It was sometimes more like two bottles, except I promised John I wouldn’t say that. Have I mucked it up already?”
She became teetotal in 2000 after realising that she had put herself in danger. “I was an argumentative, stroppy drunk, picking arguments with my bosses over stupid things. Plus I’d lose my judgment and put myself in danger. I’d fall asleep on the Tube and end up in Epping or Heathrow. And I’d get into unlicensed minicabs in the early hours. All the things we’d tell our daughters not to do.”
Mrs Bercow also confessed to casual sexual encounters because of alcohol. “The weren’t romantic. They were more like flings. I wasn’t looking for love. But it’s true that I would end up sometimes at a bar and someone would send a drink over, and I’d think, ‘Why not?’ and we’d go home together. I liked the excitement of not knowing how a night was going to end. It was all very ladette — work hard, play hard.
“I want to run for Parliament as a Labour candidate so this has all got to come out and I’d rather tell it myself,” she told the London Evening Standard.
Mrs Bercow has been criticised recently for the way that she presented her qualifications on her CV, but she denied any intention to mislead. She also rebuffed criticism of her spending on a redecoration of Speaker’s House that she said was necessary because the dark red upset her autistic son, Oliver, 5, one of their three children.
She suggested that David Cameron was a fake. “He favours the interests of the few over the mainstream majority. I do think the Tory party is for the privileged few and what it stands for isn’t in the interests of most ordinary people.” She also said that Mr Cameron could send his children to private school because there was no “real commitment” to state education.
Mr Cameron did not support Mr Bercow’s candidacy but a spokesman refused to be drawn on the issue and said that the party was supportive of the office of Speaker. Mrs Bercow may not send her children to grammar schools in her husband’s Buckinghamshire constituency because she opposes selection.
She revealed that after dating Mr Bercow for six months “he dumped me for being too argumentative. But you have to remember that he was a right-wing headbanger at the time. He’s much more rounded and moderate now, and he’s rethought a lot.”
Asked how it might work if she was an MP while her husband was Speaker, she said: “He’d be so tough on me though. I’d never get a question when he was in the chair. I’d have to wait till the deputy speaker was in.”
Nadine Dorries, a Tory MP who opposed Mr Bercow’s selection as Speaker, said: “We desperately need to restore authority and respect to Parliament. What this interview has done is remove any painstaking progress Parliament has made and reduced the Speaker and his office to that of a laughing stock.
“How can we ask the people to trust us, when the man who holds us to account has such poor judgment that he allowed his wife to give such an appalling, self-obsessed interview?”
Monday, October 04, 2010
Pepare for change
Prepare For Change..THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL EMAIL!
Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come!
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. The same thing about downloading music from iTunes. Some want a hard copy CD. But quickly changed their minds when they discovered that they could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they're always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates simply self-destruction. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. The older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing all lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider.
In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7 "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again!
All we will have that can't be changed are memories!
Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come!
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. The same thing about downloading music from iTunes. Some want a hard copy CD. But quickly changed their minds when they discovered that they could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they're always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates simply self-destruction. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. The older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing all lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider.
In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7 "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again!
All we will have that can't be changed are memories!
Friday, October 01, 2010
PAKISTAN and did you know
PAKISTAN
Please take time to read this whole article. It was a real eye-opener for me. It is worth reading it. It certainly is food for thought.
By Patrice Lagacé - La Presse – Montréal
Before talking about the disaster in Pakistan , I would like to tell you about this marvelous “killing machine” called F-16. You know what a F-16 is, don’t you? Well, it’s one of the most popular fighter planes in the world.
They cost approximately $40 million each. And of course, during its lifetime, it will have cost one and half the purchase price for maintenance, repairs (and windshield washer – you wouldn’t believe the insane price of each can of windshield washer that these toys use).
So, coming back to the disaster in Pakistan . Terrible! If we weren’t talking about a muslim country, we could refer to the flooding as being of biblical proportions: 20,000,000 disaster victims. Just appalling.
Over the last two or three days we’ve been hearing voices accusing the West ( Canada and United States ) of a lack of generosity towards a very seriously afflicted Pakistan . People are being told off in Canada , France and Great-Britain. In yesterday’s La Presse, my colleague Marie-Claude Malboeuf mentioned that a humanitarian coalition had barely collected $200,000.00 for Pakistan whereas, during the same period of time, a phenomenal sum of $3,600,000.00 was collected for Haitians after the earthquake that devastated their country. The NGO (non-governmental organizations) are “stamping their feet”. They are getting impatient. They are clamoring of catastrophe and cholera. The most tragic thing is that they are probably right.
Internationally, the UNO has collected only 40% of the 460 million dollars needed for urgent aid. Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister of England has berated the international community for its stinginess: “The reaction of the international community is deplorable.”
But I’m extrapolating. I was talking about the F-16. Quite recently, a country acquired a brand new fleet of twenty or so of these fantastic killers in the air.
Which country was this now?
Yep, PAKISTAN .
Before going any further, I’m warning you: the writer of this article is a naïve journalist. A naïve journalist who admits it candidly and who wants to know: If Pakistan had $1,4 billion to acquire fighter planes from Lockheed very recently, why doesn’t Pakistan have $460 million to help its own “drenched” citizens?
I apologize to the Red Cross, to CARE, to Oxfam and other non-governmental organizations, but I, for one, will not give one red penny towards the humanitarian relief in Pakistan .
I will NOT give a penny to help Pakistan because Pakistan never had any problem buying military equipment or getting financial help to buy some.
I don’t mind helping Haiti , a small country that has nothing (except corrupted rulers). I don’t mind giving for help to Africa ; it’s the least I can do.
I will not give to Pakistan as I will not give to the New Orleans fishermen who have lost their source of income since the oil disaster caused by BP in the Gulf of Mexico .
Zachary Richard (a Cajun singer from New Orleans ) is going to produce, with the help of many Quebecois singers, a CD which profits will be given to the New Orleans fishermen. Then, they’re planning a charity concert. Concerts are very nice. Musical charity is very nice too. And I do sympathize with the New Orleans fishermen.
But here again, it’s your naïve journalist who is talking. I wonder why I should give one penny to the inhabitants of the richest country in the history of humanity, whose source of income was annihilated by a giga-multinational company with a market valuation of $120 billion US, and belonging to one of the most lucrative industries – energy – on this planet. It seems to me that the United States of America , that BP, that the energy industry have enough money to compensate the New Orleans fishermen and their families and the offspring of their families until 2060, at least.
But let’s come back to PAKISTAN . On July 19th, the New York Times published a condemning article on the tax system of Pakistan . A banana republic tax system, where the rich concocted a way to avoid paying taxes.
I’m not talking about not paying a little income tax… I’m talking about total tax evasion. I’m talking about a country where 10 million people should be paying taxes, but only 2.5 million do. And all of this is legal. The rich managed to come up with a plan which dispenses them from paying taxes. The New York Times mentioned that average – average! - worth (?) of Pakistani parliamentarians is $900,000. Nawaz Sharif, the Opposition leader, and a millionaire hasn’t, for his part, paid any income taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007. “This system favours elitists, (a system by elitists for elitists) says Riyaz Hussein Naqvi, Pakistani a retired public servant who worked as a tax collector for 38 years. It is a distorted system in which the poor pays for the rich.”
What The Times did not mention but which you probably already know – I know that you read the international news in dailies with great interest – is that Pakistan already has nuclear arms. In fact, it owns countless nuclear missiles.
So, if I recap all this…
Pakistan is an oligarchy (a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes) which exempts the rich from paying income tax. Pakistan has money to buy F-16’s. Pakistan has money to keep an atomic arsenal capable of destroying half the planet!
I am not that naïve after all… Pakistan has the means to help its own people.
Note from Pierre (the fellow who send this article around): If I remember well, on September 11th 2001, when the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed by terrorists, yes I do remember very well having seen live television coverage showing adults and children from Iran, Pakistan and other muslim countries, dancing in the streets and having a whale of a time because the United States had been touched right in the heart. They were elated because thousands of Americans were killed.
Well now that they’re in deep shit, they ask for our help!!! And what will they do to us in five years, in ten years?
NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
then there's the cricket !!!!!
Please take time to read this whole article. It was a real eye-opener for me. It is worth reading it. It certainly is food for thought.
By Patrice Lagacé - La Presse – Montréal
Before talking about the disaster in Pakistan , I would like to tell you about this marvelous “killing machine” called F-16. You know what a F-16 is, don’t you? Well, it’s one of the most popular fighter planes in the world.
They cost approximately $40 million each. And of course, during its lifetime, it will have cost one and half the purchase price for maintenance, repairs (and windshield washer – you wouldn’t believe the insane price of each can of windshield washer that these toys use).
So, coming back to the disaster in Pakistan . Terrible! If we weren’t talking about a muslim country, we could refer to the flooding as being of biblical proportions: 20,000,000 disaster victims. Just appalling.
Over the last two or three days we’ve been hearing voices accusing the West ( Canada and United States ) of a lack of generosity towards a very seriously afflicted Pakistan . People are being told off in Canada , France and Great-Britain. In yesterday’s La Presse, my colleague Marie-Claude Malboeuf mentioned that a humanitarian coalition had barely collected $200,000.00 for Pakistan whereas, during the same period of time, a phenomenal sum of $3,600,000.00 was collected for Haitians after the earthquake that devastated their country. The NGO (non-governmental organizations) are “stamping their feet”. They are getting impatient. They are clamoring of catastrophe and cholera. The most tragic thing is that they are probably right.
Internationally, the UNO has collected only 40% of the 460 million dollars needed for urgent aid. Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister of England has berated the international community for its stinginess: “The reaction of the international community is deplorable.”
But I’m extrapolating. I was talking about the F-16. Quite recently, a country acquired a brand new fleet of twenty or so of these fantastic killers in the air.
Which country was this now?
Yep, PAKISTAN .
Before going any further, I’m warning you: the writer of this article is a naïve journalist. A naïve journalist who admits it candidly and who wants to know: If Pakistan had $1,4 billion to acquire fighter planes from Lockheed very recently, why doesn’t Pakistan have $460 million to help its own “drenched” citizens?
I apologize to the Red Cross, to CARE, to Oxfam and other non-governmental organizations, but I, for one, will not give one red penny towards the humanitarian relief in Pakistan .
I will NOT give a penny to help Pakistan because Pakistan never had any problem buying military equipment or getting financial help to buy some.
I don’t mind helping Haiti , a small country that has nothing (except corrupted rulers). I don’t mind giving for help to Africa ; it’s the least I can do.
I will not give to Pakistan as I will not give to the New Orleans fishermen who have lost their source of income since the oil disaster caused by BP in the Gulf of Mexico .
Zachary Richard (a Cajun singer from New Orleans ) is going to produce, with the help of many Quebecois singers, a CD which profits will be given to the New Orleans fishermen. Then, they’re planning a charity concert. Concerts are very nice. Musical charity is very nice too. And I do sympathize with the New Orleans fishermen.
But here again, it’s your naïve journalist who is talking. I wonder why I should give one penny to the inhabitants of the richest country in the history of humanity, whose source of income was annihilated by a giga-multinational company with a market valuation of $120 billion US, and belonging to one of the most lucrative industries – energy – on this planet. It seems to me that the United States of America , that BP, that the energy industry have enough money to compensate the New Orleans fishermen and their families and the offspring of their families until 2060, at least.
But let’s come back to PAKISTAN . On July 19th, the New York Times published a condemning article on the tax system of Pakistan . A banana republic tax system, where the rich concocted a way to avoid paying taxes.
I’m not talking about not paying a little income tax… I’m talking about total tax evasion. I’m talking about a country where 10 million people should be paying taxes, but only 2.5 million do. And all of this is legal. The rich managed to come up with a plan which dispenses them from paying taxes. The New York Times mentioned that average – average! - worth (?) of Pakistani parliamentarians is $900,000. Nawaz Sharif, the Opposition leader, and a millionaire hasn’t, for his part, paid any income taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007. “This system favours elitists, (a system by elitists for elitists) says Riyaz Hussein Naqvi, Pakistani a retired public servant who worked as a tax collector for 38 years. It is a distorted system in which the poor pays for the rich.”
What The Times did not mention but which you probably already know – I know that you read the international news in dailies with great interest – is that Pakistan already has nuclear arms. In fact, it owns countless nuclear missiles.
So, if I recap all this…
Pakistan is an oligarchy (a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes) which exempts the rich from paying income tax. Pakistan has money to buy F-16’s. Pakistan has money to keep an atomic arsenal capable of destroying half the planet!
I am not that naïve after all… Pakistan has the means to help its own people.
Note from Pierre (the fellow who send this article around): If I remember well, on September 11th 2001, when the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed by terrorists, yes I do remember very well having seen live television coverage showing adults and children from Iran, Pakistan and other muslim countries, dancing in the streets and having a whale of a time because the United States had been touched right in the heart. They were elated because thousands of Americans were killed.
Well now that they’re in deep shit, they ask for our help!!! And what will they do to us in five years, in ten years?
NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
then there's the cricket !!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
