tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38176783237117438622024-03-27T15:06:45.941+00:00Roy's BleetMy Take on Stuff: Not quite a Blog ... too much to Tweet.Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-27778397909787683552023-04-20T16:05:00.009+01:002023-11-20T11:30:44.714+00:00IS THE BANK OF ENGLAND A ONE TRICK PONY?<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtctGbec3FeC5BCufVScqTc-5Img25AlyWQR1U5o-2KciMvQ7f1d3RsG07fnTsfZ5wKyfE0HBBX888SIO7ZlkFaOFhooQDjZJZmZteO8brZUHMiL2NEHIHgK9mgWXDu0Tt6cY1nPl8yIsCHD-0iTi5u0elaVAa_pqtnkLYKcUr5KIjXWH79UAwgYdh/s864/Bank-of-England.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="864" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtctGbec3FeC5BCufVScqTc-5Img25AlyWQR1U5o-2KciMvQ7f1d3RsG07fnTsfZ5wKyfE0HBBX888SIO7ZlkFaOFhooQDjZJZmZteO8brZUHMiL2NEHIHgK9mgWXDu0Tt6cY1nPl8yIsCHD-0iTi5u0elaVAa_pqtnkLYKcUr5KIjXWH79UAwgYdh/w204-h163/Bank-of-England.jpg" width="204" /></a></b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Can someone explain how increasing interest rates helps to tackle
inflation?</i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Google search tells me: “<span class="hgkelc"><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Higher interest rates make it more
expensive for people to borrow money and encourage people to save”</span></b></span><span class="hgkelc"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, but </span></span>how can you save more if your mortgage goes up and
the price of goods and services is running away at an alarming rate?<span class="hgkelc"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="hgkelc"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Bank of England’s website tells me: “</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">If, people on the whole, spend less on
goods and services, prices will tend to rise more slowly. That lowers the rate
of inflation”</b>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To me as a layman, this makes no sense - if demand is
reduced due to people having less disposable income, companies - who also have
their own borrowing costs - will surely increase the price of their products to
maintain their income stream. How can we stimulate the manufacturing,
agricultural and retail economies if people are being deterred from consuming
more?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Apart from borrowing costs, the current energy crisis is
pushing up business production costs, which again are passed on to the
consumer. A prime example - as borne out by a staggering rise in food inflation
– might be dairy, where farmers are seeing their overheads to run their milking
machines going through the roof.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The way that the Bank of England responds to all of this
needs a serious overhaul, but they only seem to have one item in the tool box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are not normal times, and outmoded
fixes simply won’t work.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We all know that the root cause of this crisis was sparked
by a war leading to a massive shift in the energy market. And then Liz Truss
and Kwasi Kwarteng sunk the economy and the pound with their over-zealous
‘reforms’. I don’t even blame them - I blame the dinosaurs running our economic
institutions to protect the interests of the elite.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At my most cynical, I’m sure there were machinations behind
the scenes to deliberately make Truss and Kwarteng the fall guys to justify
bleeding us dry in order to pay for the cost of Covid. The government had
always previously cried poor to properly fund the NHS and, actually, pretty
much everything else - so where was the money going to come from to regenerate
the coffers?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cue you and me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They needed to capitalize on a demand that, unlike food and
luxuries where people could tighten their belts, was essential to the populace -
fuel and energy. I don’t have the answer as to how this feeds back to the
government but, in my view, inflation will never come down while we’re being held
to ransom by oil and energy producers and the politicians who are in their
pockets.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Feel free to enlighten me or contribute in 'Comments' below. <br /></p>
<p></p>Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-6038097456364998052021-12-11T16:15:00.016+00:002021-12-13T17:52:51.721+00:00The Day Human Rights Died ... in Plain Sight<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgH3FBjXlmnPvPryii-2tL0pVJ0727TwQ9Ch4r1_03RHF1MbTbpDJ7fBL7pVqBziVsWgWtBEcQJErDDrloLfkrpWzEoKjyjaudfD2p4Xc0HPs8NnhnQq6NJMIGCJeNCX08S_1JwnQzuDOLrPikerK5NBAbBWFCHyAaqHrPnMAD7cMJjzIXf0mCefgr3=s506" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="433" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgH3FBjXlmnPvPryii-2tL0pVJ0727TwQ9Ch4r1_03RHF1MbTbpDJ7fBL7pVqBziVsWgWtBEcQJErDDrloLfkrpWzEoKjyjaudfD2p4Xc0HPs8NnhnQq6NJMIGCJeNCX08S_1JwnQzuDOLrPikerK5NBAbBWFCHyAaqHrPnMAD7cMJjzIXf0mCefgr3=s320" width="274" /></a></div><br />I'd hoped never to find myself writing this - and there's lots more to the back story that doesn't need to be revisited - but the injustice meted out to Julian Assange on 10 December 2021 is so clearly politically motivated that we need to amplify the considerable noise we're already making in calling for his release. If we don't, a dangerous precedent will have been set to silence anyone who seeks to hold our governments to account.<br /><p></p><p>Yesterday, the UK's High Court upheld the US's appeal to extradite Assange, effectively surrendering him to the very country whose misdeeds he exposed - the latest ruling in a series of travesties that suggest our legal system has bowed to the relentless pressure the US applied right from the off to get its man. Had it been anyone else, would the government have spent millions surrounding the Ecuadorian embassy solely on the strength of dubious Swedish allegations? The overkill had all the marks of bigger fish to fry. <br /></p><p>We only need look at the players in Assange's legal journey to start asking questions about dirty deals, complicity, nepotism and compromise:</p><p><b>Keir STARMER</b> - a human rights lawyer no less, and a colleague in the same chambers as Assange's defence team, was head of the Crown Prosecution Service at the time they implored Sweden not to get "cold feet" in pursuing Assange. Now Labour leader, politics was seemingly already at play - was he protecting Tony Blair, who dragged us into the very conflicts that led to Wikileaks publishing the 'Collateral Murder' video?<br /></p><p><b>Chief Magistrate Lady Emma Louise ARBUTHNOT</b> - initially presided over the extradition proceedings until a conflict of interest arose due to her husband's association with British military and intelligence services and further compromised by her son being employed by an anti-data leak company.<br /></p><p><b>District Judge Vanessa BARAITSER</b> - appointed as Arbuthnot's subordinate, and still overseen by her, she rose from obscurity and was soon considered to be taking her orders from above, given her barely disguised bias and hostility towards Assange, often appearing to be reading from pre-prepared statements. The proceedings under her tenure were fraught with obstacles, both physical and communicative, being placed in the way of those seeking to report on developments. More than once she seemed to be in the prosecution's pockets. In the event, she was dismissive of the actual legal basis of the US's indictments, focusing instead on Assange's mental health, thus opening the way for the US to get around this final hurdle by offering assurances about the conditions under which he would be held. It's worth noting that, despite acknowledging the detrimental effect of incarceration on Assange's mental state, she denied his release and sent him straight back to Belmarsh - the UK's supermax facility.<br /></p><p><b>Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett</b> - one of the two High Court appeal judges who yesterday overturned the January decision not to extradite Assange, he has for 40 years been a friend of Sir Alan Duncan who, in 2018 while Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, described Assange as a "miserable little worm" and didn't hide his glee when Assange was eventually expelled, some say illegally, from the Ecuadorian embassy. Intriguingly, in August this year he and Robert Buckland QC advised the Queen in appointing Vanessa Baraitser as a Circuit Judge - reward for a 'job well done'?<br /></p><p>Of course, these are only a few factors in Assange's persecution. The US has been involved in all sorts of deals behind the scenes, including granting Ecuador an IMF loan in exchange for withdrawing his asylum, but this is about the transparent abuse of power over a legal system that used to set the standard for the rest of the world.</p><p>Yesterday's ruling was an affront on human rights, demonstrating that the US is trying to dampen scrutiny way beyond its domestic reach.<br /></p><p>And all this on International Human Rights Day, upheld by Amnesty International and only days after US Secretary Antony Blinken announced, "<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><i>Media freedom plays an indispensable role in informing the public, holding governments accountable, and telling stories that otherwise would not be told. The U.S. will continue to stand up for the brave and necessary work of journalists around the world.</i>"</span></p><p><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">There are other players in this saga too, both political and institutional - here's my extended Hall of Shame:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvJjoptB4Z8wJZ-wj2QfYkWWC_n_ZRxk6jelI4N3R03WPdJoHZRftHw-m5WsfwspgJ7OndVeciLbLJn6wFa96moyQGi9Uzd545m2B9n-DDLKRExZvSlUtiwZMPJ4OlKi67oWYlYGOCr88cUveqfFrgjLoqWiXnBe8UI7n-kBwA7skq-Hk7RSpuqG9D=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvJjoptB4Z8wJZ-wj2QfYkWWC_n_ZRxk6jelI4N3R03WPdJoHZRftHw-m5WsfwspgJ7OndVeciLbLJn6wFa96moyQGi9Uzd545m2B9n-DDLKRExZvSlUtiwZMPJ4OlKi67oWYlYGOCr88cUveqfFrgjLoqWiXnBe8UI7n-kBwA7skq-Hk7RSpuqG9D=w516-h388" width="516" /></a></div><br /><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><br /></span><p></p><p><br /></p>Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-69566943858150312452020-11-30T16:12:00.014+00:002020-12-12T12:11:32.198+00:00HP Pavilion Laptop Review - Noisy Fan and Indifferent Support<p>In March 2018 we bought what would be our third HP Pavilion laptop from Currys PC World, despite the fact that the previous one, purchased only three years prior, was already developing hard drive problems.</p><p>Within only a few weeks it started making a significant whirring noise, which at first we couldn't decide was coming from the hard drive or the fan. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH3r9gCMP7U" target="_blank">Here</a>'s the sound, for your delectation:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LH3r9gCMP7U" width="320" youtube-src-id="LH3r9gCMP7U"></iframe></div><p></p><p></p><p>We took it back to Currys PC World who told us it was too late to exchange and that it would have to go back to the manufacturer for over a week (if we were lucky). My wife's a writer and, as she'd already begun her next novel and also needed to keep engaged with her significant social media base, couldn't afford to be without what was essentially the means to earn her livelihood.<br /></p><p>We decided to put up with the noise for the time being, which subesquently became much louder and even more distracting for writing. There followed a hugely frustrating period of trying to find contact numbers for the right people, having conversations about 'fit for purpose' regarding our consumer rights and a complete failure on HP's part to escalate our concerns.</p><p>HP Twitter 'Support' (and I use the term loosely) referred us to their regional team, who got in touch to say they didn't provide email support and to call the technical helpdesk or chat support. When I went back to the Twitter team to say that path had got us nowhere, I was told they'd take it up with the regional office again, who should respond within 4 days. When they didn't, there was more back and forth with numerous cut'n'paste repsonses and three more lots of four days waiting, with no contact.</p><p>At this point I insisted on talking to someone in Customer Relations but was instead contacted by the technical team, who told me I couldn't talk to CR because they were already aware and had delegated back to them to make the call - only to repeat that we would be without a laptop during repair. Back to the Twitter team who said they couldn't override the decision and to continue to 'work with' our local support team.</p><p>I then received a call from the UK and Ireland office, who emailed me for more info and said they looked forward to a reply, which I sent (copying <span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Dion Weisler, HP's CEO)</span> - only to receive a message that the mailbox was unmonitored! Unsurprisingly, nothing from the CEO either. Over four months had passed at this point.<br /></p><p>Both my wife and I were by then so incensed with the lack of ownership of the problem that we began venting our dissatisfaction on open Twitter and taking to forums, where we discovered that many people were experiencing the same issue - just Google 'HP fan noise' and it's now a widely recognised design fault, which HP have always denied. We've since exacted some revenge by warning people off buying HP Pavilions. You know what they say: "If someone has a good experience, they might tell a few people - but if they have a bad one, they'll tell <i>everyone</i>". </p><p>Eventually we just bit the bullet until I decided to take a peek inside the laptop for myself, where I discovered it was the vibration against the mounting of the fan that caused the noise - which would stop when you held the working fan in your hand. No attempt to buffer it with rubber or padded tape resolved it.</p><p>So there we are. Apart from never buying an HP product again (and we've also had printers), all we can hope for is that we might inflict some pain back on HP by discouraging others from buying their laptops.</p><p>AVOID!</p><p></p><p><i>Update 11 Dec '20: HP got in touch from their France HQ but, while I got lots of 'Thanks for feedback', 'We'll learn from this' and 'there was clearly miscommunication in the early stages' they did or said nothing by way of amends. In fact they batted the blame back on Currys PC World for not fulfilling their obligations by looking at the laptop instore, which contradicted another part of the conversation where they said it was still on one year warranty to the 3rd party retailer at the time, and also explains why Currys may not have wanted to invalidate that warranty by opening it up. HP did apologise though, even acknowledging we were 'loyal' customers, completely missing the point that they've alienated us.</i><br /></p><p><br /></p>Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-84130908531017995092019-08-15T16:47:00.001+01:002019-08-16T12:57:29.758+01:00Your 'Man on the Ground' in London<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4S2eg2V3n1a2-kEVPawPm-gbtIKNiMDyLFWFkmp0Er-fjEgkvYXnWvYDBUf5tdOCapy4jQUTeOTdnJvdInxZTK3C-5o7mcSojYEgNzB_UxiK-wJV-dY1FVuproP893X5vquWSHtC7dE/s1600/Business+and+Logo+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="862" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4S2eg2V3n1a2-kEVPawPm-gbtIKNiMDyLFWFkmp0Er-fjEgkvYXnWvYDBUf5tdOCapy4jQUTeOTdnJvdInxZTK3C-5o7mcSojYEgNzB_UxiK-wJV-dY1FVuproP893X5vquWSHtC7dE/s320/Business+and+Logo+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Q: What do you do if you have important business to conduct in London and can't be
there in person?<br />
<br />
Q: Who could you trust to represent you without
compromising confidentiality?<br />
<br />
A: Me<br />
<br />
Let me be your stand-in. Visit <a href="http://yourlondonproxy.co.uk/" target="_blank">Your London Proxy</a>.Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-37467510477190573822018-09-20T21:48:00.000+01:002020-07-09T12:15:47.325+01:00Will YOU Be Silenced?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUggtMhNH6wGyUV7oTh14ro9MtnDNJsXM1dA1NMDQYSRSX_nCsuEHCq7qzZPL2H6GEJWwuFC8rtLP4XIvWEhHDXe1UqXnCPh7F1q6gy_mU0HpsXzprPSYQ5DyThKg3HDW81SiKb7nLCW0/s1600/Silence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="640" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUggtMhNH6wGyUV7oTh14ro9MtnDNJsXM1dA1NMDQYSRSX_nCsuEHCq7qzZPL2H6GEJWwuFC8rtLP4XIvWEhHDXe1UqXnCPh7F1q6gy_mU0HpsXzprPSYQ5DyThKg3HDW81SiKb7nLCW0/s200/Silence.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A lot has
been written about Julian Assange, so I’m not going into his back story - we've got Google for that.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Suffice it to say, he's either loved or loathed. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But the thing I
feel passionately about - and which should unite people on all sides of the
debates, political, legal or otherwise - is that he’s being deprived of liberties
the rest of us are free to enjoy every day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We live in
an age where social media is fast overtaking main stream media ('MSM') as the ‘Go To’ place to get
a sense of the world. It not only connects us to friends and family, wherever
they may be, but also gives us a voice to express our thoughts on matters we
feel strongly about - and even influence the outcomes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And being
electronic, the Powers That Be can silence anyone almost at the flick of a
switch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Which is
exactly what they’ve done to Julian - a prominent spokesperson in these turbulent times.
Whether you agree with his views or not, he provides an important balance to help shape your own opinions while we're all trying to distinguish between what is or isn't fake news.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And, if it
can happen to him - and you don’t speak up to defend what should be everyone’s
right to be heard - then we’ll all sleepwalk into an Orwellian nightmare. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaSUdGrgW9CCOW_CH51jtGuxGjyjmmqHL94oY0Xc7T17sfaS-iWD9oL-EDtiDQ7pV-RSQunwon7daXL8zywWzBwAeRp4NF7QTPjXGgAMvcsOj6GThMeA9A5z-5GcuXppUqJsNdKLUgs4/s1600/Assange+Placard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="507" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaSUdGrgW9CCOW_CH51jtGuxGjyjmmqHL94oY0Xc7T17sfaS-iWD9oL-EDtiDQ7pV-RSQunwon7daXL8zywWzBwAeRp4NF7QTPjXGgAMvcsOj6GThMeA9A5z-5GcuXppUqJsNdKLUgs4/s200/Assange+Placard.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This should
matter to you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Will YOU be
silenced?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-30772479974049902122018-07-31T19:02:00.002+01:002018-11-12T19:57:16.809+00:00Mortgage Prisoners - Let Battle Commence!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZnPoSF0RxJ8vmXRdeCPg5EzlQUNYUmb-g0JrdhPVnZSdSagjxFUKBCXegTaSyxt5XmPZWQ2_6-kdcbZNMEF8kmojetgf9TVpTZIQty1rmp_Vf74qsyD_QqT3zpngQYcmskC_-8XxyrI/s1600/Mortgage+Prisoners+combo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="820" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZnPoSF0RxJ8vmXRdeCPg5EzlQUNYUmb-g0JrdhPVnZSdSagjxFUKBCXegTaSyxt5XmPZWQ2_6-kdcbZNMEF8kmojetgf9TVpTZIQty1rmp_Vf74qsyD_QqT3zpngQYcmskC_-8XxyrI/s320/Mortgage+Prisoners+combo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The banks were saying "You can't afford to pay less"!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
THIS WAS WRITTEN 31 JULY 2018, before Panorama exposed the Cerburus scandal - but ANYONE who feels they were unfairly put on SVR and denied a better rate should put pressure on the banks and regulators.<br />
<br />
* * * *<br />
<br />
So, after dragging their heels for years, with the <a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/" target="_blank">FCA</a> (the cornerstone of 'Fairness' purportedly) having proved themselves utterly toothless, the banks are finally going to be writing to mortgage borrowers stuck on high interest rates (typically SVR) before the end of the year to offer them a better deal ... still in no hurry, then ...<br />
<br />
I've previously blogged <a href="http://roysbleet.blogspot.com/2013/06/treating-customers-fairly-subjective-is.html" target="_blank">here</a> (with links to earlier posts) about their appalling exploitation of borrowers who were already struggling and more recently I've contributed to the Facebook group '<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/324163371301670/?ref=bookmarks" target="_blank">Mortgage Prisoners UK</a>' - people trapped in unfair deals for any number of reasons.<br />
<br />
There are all sorts of excuses the banks have used to try to justify applying higher rates but, given that FCA was usually way behind the ball or at best woolly in its guidance, they got away with it by hiding behind the biggest smokescreen of all - that they couldn't disclose the reasons for their lending decisions because they were "commercially sensitive" - which gave borrowers seeking to complain to the Ombudsman (<a href="http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/" target="_blank">FOS</a>) no grounds to contest. In the meantime they continued to conveniently misinterpret, ignore or straight out disregard the spirit of the guidance provided and the plight of those they knew they had over a barrel.<br />
<br />
Well at last, and largely due to <a href="https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/" target="_blank">Money Saving Expert</a>'s relentless efforts to raise the profile of this issue, we have some sort of tenet admission by the industry that things need to change, but the battle's not even half won. Many of those in the Facebook group - possibly the majority - had their Northern Rock loans taken over by the likes of Landmark / Whistletree, who are likely to slip through the net again because they were companies formed specifically to take over NRAM's loan book, are unregulated and failed to offer new products. Can you imagine having been a Northern Rock borrower and having the decision about who your new provider would be taken away from you, therefore leaving you exposed to being held to ransom?<br />
<br />
And that's still not where it ends - people were put on SVR for many
other reasons, including arrears resulting from a change in income.
Suddenly they were a higher risk, so they were put on a higher rate at
the next anniversary of their loan - despite the guidance saying that
affordability checks shouldn't be applied to existing loans. And, when
they were back in the black, banks like Santander KEPT them on the
higher rate for an additional year, to prove they could afford to go
back to a lower one! <br />
<br />
This is in my view the biggest scandal since PPI mis-selling ... and it's gonna run and run a while yet because nothing has been done to address retrospective complaints made to FOS, who are refusing to re-open those cases because they were ruled on at the time. Well, if PPI claims could be backdated, and we're receiving clear signals from this most recent announcement that the banks are trying to address their impropriety, affected borrowers should be reimbursed for the difference between what they were asked to pay and any cheaper options that should have been made available to them at the time.<br />
<br />
I urge any mortgage prisoners to make as much noise as you can to be compensated for the financial and emotional stress you've been subjected to as a result of this issue.<br />
<br />
Thanks also to news organisations who have picked up on this - several of whom who have representatives posting on the Facebook page seeking personal stories to feature in articles. Get yours heard!<br />
<br />
<i>Please feel free to comment below - comments are moderated prior to being posted.</i>Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-78949194934067167882018-07-03T23:48:00.004+01:002021-09-20T15:08:03.366+01:00The War on DieselWe own a diesel car - we were encouraged to do so by
Government-sponsored incentives like road tax concessions and cheaper
fuel at the time, along with being rewarded by the warm fuzzy glow we
felt for doing our bit to achieve the lower carbon emission levels
Gordon Brown was so keen to meet at the time.<br />
<br />
I'm sure a
few politicians might also have benefited from being given the nod in
their gentleman's club to invest in this sector of the motoring industry
before these measures came into force.<br />
<br />
Then we started
hearing about 'particulates' and 'nitrogen oxides' and now we're being
treated like the lepers of the road, with Sadiq Khan (London's Mayor)
seeking to penalise us further by extending the Ultra Low Emmission zone (ULEZ)
to the North and South Circular (A205) roads - in my view, a completely
unworkable scheme that would see me paying over £10 just to drive the mile or so from
my home in Putney to Putney High Street, which is just the other side of
the A205 but in the same borough.<br />
<br />
So now we have a
perfectly functional, low mileage and fuel-efficient vehicle (we still
burn way less fossil fuel than petrol*) that is being rendered worthless -
with no apology or compensation from the Government for their reckless
misguidance.<br />
* <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>maybe that's the problem for the Government - declining tax revenue from volume vs petrol</i></span> <br />
<br />
So, where do we head from here? Back
to petrol, and the original issues with emissions, or maybe line a few
more pockets of the Old Boy Network now promoting electric? Which brings
me to these:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPVgSohcCtYHQ9BmMeMqymT7ZNLoO9VROkRPOUG6sryT6u1xf2G5P6Wt7Q8R7ZoGL9STXFA_2rY4sHJdAi-7uEjVjUuo6nPY7QEdrLx3_HJZt5Na_9yZ-iNX9e4dA6-yfvQZg9wZ_XBo/s1600/elec+charge+1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="1600" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPVgSohcCtYHQ9BmMeMqymT7ZNLoO9VROkRPOUG6sryT6u1xf2G5P6Wt7Q8R7ZoGL9STXFA_2rY4sHJdAi-7uEjVjUuo6nPY7QEdrLx3_HJZt5Na_9yZ-iNX9e4dA6-yfvQZg9wZ_XBo/s200/elec+charge+1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjXhAUTbmKDRxwR3lxijJ0g3G0mB_aQFfyULpHBDH4ZSf6K0liF4cX0VcHEhmI5N5bybSKSoiAbeD4njzTXnRU6qWte4bMIu5E5wD-CXJIFWL3_qMcAJke84s-xX7ovSAPpS0DRHhMtQ/s1600/elec+charge+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1600" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjXhAUTbmKDRxwR3lxijJ0g3G0mB_aQFfyULpHBDH4ZSf6K0liF4cX0VcHEhmI5N5bybSKSoiAbeD4njzTXnRU6qWte4bMIu5E5wD-CXJIFWL3_qMcAJke84s-xX7ovSAPpS0DRHhMtQ/s200/elec+charge+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
A
visual pollutant hitting our streets in droves, I hate them. They have
"Folly" written all over them. However, as they profess to deliver 100%
renewable energy, I don't loathe them quite as much as the concept of
charging your car from your home electricity supply - I simply don't
understand how it makes it OK to increase our reliance on fossil fuels -
which apparently were dwindling long before this fiasco - simply by
burning them before delivering the resultant power to your car by way of
a cable in place of the liquid form you used to store in your tank.<br />
<br />
And,
lastly, I despair at the environmental damage of seeing our car
consigned to the scrap heap before its anticipated lifespan. I see
enough still useful but outdated consumer products being chucked into
skips and municipal dumps, with no thought of who they might be useful
to (the poor? charities?), without seeing whole vehicles taking up
landfill.Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-48970012550649119392017-04-03T12:26:00.001+01:002017-04-03T12:33:26.176+01:00Why do Press Reviewers seem to ignore Indie Writers?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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The world of book publishing has been changing for some time. The recession saw
the big name houses less willing to take a punt on new authors and instead choosing
to stick mainly with established names or prostituting themselves with an onslaught
of celebrity bios.<br />
<br />
No wonder so many writers went down the indie route. With the advent of Amazon
Kindle and 'Print on Demand' tools, they've been able to access a vast audience
without having to relinquish a substantial slice of their income to either the publishers
themselves or the increasingly irrelevant agents the industry still insists on using
as go-betweens.<br />
<br />
But the downside of DIY publishing is that the market has become flooded with
mediocrity, making it more difficult for real talent to rise to the surface. Quality
is being stifled by the sheer weight of titles a potential buyer has to trawl through,
often leading to disappointment in the choices they make.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmT5xs7rjiIqmcUFEyheRWxJMezi1Nm5b1vhGMuz9o9KJJ88lx6VZfH1QMIweEfBFHZ09hsvrPEa_PFZ-GL38gXRUakMnbnOqDI55lAqmJwNR2ljS92Wq25DUcvqM5xVI5m7ftm1sUGHQ/s1600/Mummy+Misfit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmT5xs7rjiIqmcUFEyheRWxJMezi1Nm5b1vhGMuz9o9KJJ88lx6VZfH1QMIweEfBFHZ09hsvrPEa_PFZ-GL38gXRUakMnbnOqDI55lAqmJwNR2ljS92Wq25DUcvqM5xVI5m7ftm1sUGHQ/s320/Mummy+Misfit.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
A case in point: British chicklit author Amanda Egan's books all carry 4.5 -
5*star ratings/reviews in Amazon's bookstore - and have often featured in Top 50
filters and even #1 in certain categories - but can sometimes also languish in mid-division
amidst a tide of free or have-a-go wannabe titles. This is primarily due to Amazon's
woefully inadequate classification system, where amateur erotica sits incongruously
next to legitimate romance novels. Amazon don't even have anything as straightforward
as a 'chicklit' category when writers upload their books - surely one of the biggest
markets out there with heavily promoted women's writers like Jill Mansell, Marian
Keyes and Sophie Kinsella.<br />
<br />
So to some extent it's understandable that many romance/romcom indies slip under
the radar of newspaper and magazine book reviewers - for a while eBooks appeared
in their automatically generated Top 20 lists, but these were dropped when they
became distorted by freebie downloads and other manipulated promotions.<br />
<br />
But I can't help but sense a certain snobbery against writers who don't rise
up through the conventional publishing channels - perhaps because only the author
and the outlet benefit financially - and readers ares therefore having their choices
largely dictated to by media reviewers who perhaps ignore or are not even aware
of a wealth of indie talent out there.<br />
<br />
Dare I speculate that they, or their employers, are in the publishers' pockets?
- or that they perhaps find it easier just to read the books that land on their
desks because the publishers have the distribution means and resources to get them
there?<br />
<br />
I hope that's not the case - and I concede that E L James may be a rare exception
- but it's become my mission to raise the indie profile. It begins here.<br />
<br />
[PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS]Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-35066049937299690022017-01-30T19:11:00.001+00:002018-07-02T18:22:10.869+01:00Discuss, Debate - but Please don’t Hate<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">They say
there is more that unites us than divides us.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Let’s start
with the fact that we’re all human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
alone should be enough of a leveller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
start life with no pre-conceptions of others, and are shaped by our environment,
influences and experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us
are flawed in some way or another and we should therefore be more tolerant of anyone
else’s personal shortcomings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But when it
comes to opinions it’s evident we’re becoming increasingly marginalised.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">What’s
wrong with someone having a different point of view?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It allows us to consider both sides of an
argument in our quest to reach a balanced understanding of important issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But many of us are too quick to accept
anything presented as fact without verifying its validity through reliable and
unbiased sources - making us vulnerable to <a href="http://roysbleet.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/fake-news-gimme-some-truth.html" target="_blank">fake news</a> sites or groups with a
narrow, militant agenda.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiPnl9qdQCMD6r2jbg9W2qRGkIbqxiIeB4TbiCU4bgUBZEHPcJ6yWvA8THMLUVACMlFWvwdrY2awKK68ROVZZ1pvgEWl9lqSJSXqPgRcvp_f8F6Fn2T5IVPfauhhSjlE9wdsTamuWrzuU/s1600/womens+march.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiPnl9qdQCMD6r2jbg9W2qRGkIbqxiIeB4TbiCU4bgUBZEHPcJ6yWvA8THMLUVACMlFWvwdrY2awKK68ROVZZ1pvgEWl9lqSJSXqPgRcvp_f8F6Fn2T5IVPfauhhSjlE9wdsTamuWrzuU/s320/womens+march.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">About the
only thing that prevented the 2017 <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/womens-march-washington-latest-donald-trump-president-500000-crisis-a7539761.html" target="_blank">Women’s March</a> descending into total farce
- because the individual agendas were so jumbled there were actually areas of moral
contradiction - was that they were united by a common cause, albeit that the banner
of oppression they were rallying under was incongruous with the freedom of
speech and right to demonstrate they were clearly being allowed to exercise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Debate is
healthy but it’s getting personal now and we need to be hyper careful when we
find ourselves disagreeing with family, friends or anyone else whose views we usually
value on other matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We should listen
with open minds and in a spirit of love and respect or we’ll be playing into
the hands of those who are out to divide, corrupt or even destroy us at the core
level of human interaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No cause is
worth alienating those with whom we share blood or a mutual bond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By all means try to bring them around to
understanding your point of view, but don’t reject them for not adopting
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will never agree with anyone
about everything, so accept that they are as entitled to their opinion on some
matters as you are yours.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We often
discover that some of the convictions we held in our youth weren’t fully formed
and we’ve gone on to take a completely different stance on issues we used to
be ignorant or blinkered about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So recognise our own susceptibility to misguidance before allowing ourselves to become consumed by the arrogance of certainty that everyone should think as we do at any time - time can make a fool of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead, turn that negativity around and enjoy the warm fuzzies that
come with tolerance, compassion and understanding.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">None of us
know it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need each other because
we all have different knowledge, skills and strengths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can create a better society by drawing on diversity
to find some middle ground in the interests of serving the greater good. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our leaders should be guardians and effective
administrators, working together, not career politicians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Giving way a little, whether at a government
or personal level, needn’t be seen as compromise because everyone pays the same
price to move forward instead of fracturing into ever more specific belief
systems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t need to get
political.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are stronger united than
divided.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Accept it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Embrace it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Be it.</span></div>
Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-35146770865517024402017-01-12T10:30:00.001+00:002017-01-30T18:17:46.279+00:00Fake News - "Gimme Some Truth"<span data-offset-key="88smc-0-0"><span data-text="true">Recently I've become increasingly concerned that so many of my normally rational and intelligent social media contacts can be sucked in by websites and Facebook pages that post pictures or videos taken out of context to serve some other dodgy agenda. I encourage them to always check the facts with credible news sources before promulgating false information - but what happens when even those agencies succumb to corruption? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-offset-key="88smc-0-0"><span data-text="true">Just "Gimme Some Truth", as Lennon (not to be confused with the Russian Communist leader with a similar sounding name) sang:</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span data-offset-key="88smc-0-0"><span data-text="true">VIDEO: </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aDDJeM5R4PM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aDDJeM5R4PM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-60894209640290483712016-05-28T23:15:00.000+01:002017-12-14T16:20:56.125+00:00What have I just seen / heard? - Holly Herndon<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SV5SYjIw1a1VMNF8-3LdlfO7jRrhIAjL5eR7ZHeH67b9CSLP9M7AyCuvaY-dVj5OyDyhozz_wFZ4aa9m270phaJNhvYuVb0jlE5SMo2ZPyJteAxKGDy5d_aoCGrKLjEA6L7jw4YyNN0/s1600/Holly+Herndon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SV5SYjIw1a1VMNF8-3LdlfO7jRrhIAjL5eR7ZHeH67b9CSLP9M7AyCuvaY-dVj5OyDyhozz_wFZ4aa9m270phaJNhvYuVb0jlE5SMo2ZPyJteAxKGDy5d_aoCGrKLjEA6L7jw4YyNN0/s320/Holly+Herndon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image from artist's Facebook page</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
60 year old bloke (me) and my 20 y.o. son at the Roundhouse, awaiting Radiohead ... a shared passion.<br />
<br />
Will there be a support? Who cares? Just killing time before the Masters come on.<br />
<br />
Enter Holly Herndon.<br />
<br />
The crowd stands perplexed as not much happens for some time except for a cacophony of set-up noises. And then all audial hell breaks loose. Chest-thumping beats and sound production second to none ... but what was the sound?<br />
<br />
A tsunami of electronica and loops, that's for sure, interspersed with squeals akin to a crow/kookaburra hybrid. And a relentless base rhythm that disappointingly works itself pretty much through the entire set.<br />
<br />
Can you dance to it? Perhaps in an altered state - and my own expertise in this area is an uncoordinated and embarrassing flailing of limbs - but I'm not convinced the Kung-Fu, head-banging antics of the androgynous Colin ("Gender is Over") Self match this musical outfit's aspirations toward the avant-garde. You're gonna need more than a mouth-held pulsing LED light to cut it. And Mat Dryhurst? He has an endearing smile and a talent for moving a cursor around a digital landscape.<br />
<br />
From the first minute, my son and I continued to exchange bemused looks to see if either of us were getting it. Me, wondering if he related to my suggestions of influences from the ethereal (Enya) to the experimental (Laurie Anderson), and him ... well, in truth, begging me to bludgeon his face in so he didn't have to listen to any more. This from a guy whose eclectic musical tastes are often beyond even my own broad frames of reference.<br />
<br />
I remain agnostic as I try to assimilate the assault on my senses - all I'm prepared to commit to at this stage is that I feel I have been daringly challenged. I just need to decide if it was in a good or bad way.Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-11051520167576713252016-01-11T08:16:00.000+00:002016-01-11T09:07:14.322+00:00Ashes to Ashes - Funk to Funky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4HfKsMN0Um5TgwsMOC29jmGSeYaL2g0WZi4Y-Bz510fpD1EEmgcFoDgnMvytlUADawsaaM3805IBrV28ffKByGoNwmh01pak3se45BcbLl7riqZry5OUYwqDrPLqeT-MsY2EvTGuP3E/s1600/Bowie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4HfKsMN0Um5TgwsMOC29jmGSeYaL2g0WZi4Y-Bz510fpD1EEmgcFoDgnMvytlUADawsaaM3805IBrV28ffKByGoNwmh01pak3se45BcbLl7riqZry5OUYwqDrPLqeT-MsY2EvTGuP3E/s1600/Bowie.jpg" /></a></div>
It was Bowie who led me on the path to my eclectic taste in music, having grown up with standard verse/chorus/bridge songs. Yes, he did enough of those too but my mind did a flip on hearing the hypnotic opening strains of 'Five Years' on the Ziggy album. My first thoughts were "This guy can't sing and doesn't even put all of the notes in the right order" and then BAM - lying on the floor with my portable record player, a speaker set on each side of my head - the magic began to flow. *Ashes to ashes, Funk to funky* ... and Station to Station, my friend. May your next stop be Heaven. R.I.PRoy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-43997708346338917242015-07-24T13:45:00.004+01:002019-03-19T11:39:29.401+00:00What gets my Goat? (Work in Progress ...)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Everyone has their own pet hates, so I thought I'd start listing mine here for posterity - I'll keep adding them as they occur but, for a start, these make me GGRRRR!:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW39RHA-dRiirlMEN3yBglr4yVjX-YIIbsZWm7RbivWH22vI8oeTJ6ECYMqLC1Zu2tLq8m74wYIpcS0haZEgXQY2qbn2a9lKZ5HziRtlZNfApjTnHvZ7gZpXUICnn59wyg5417Ggat7aY/s1600/Estate+Agent+board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW39RHA-dRiirlMEN3yBglr4yVjX-YIIbsZWm7RbivWH22vI8oeTJ6ECYMqLC1Zu2tLq8m74wYIpcS0haZEgXQY2qbn2a9lKZ5HziRtlZNfApjTnHvZ7gZpXUICnn59wyg5417Ggat7aY/s320/Estate+Agent+board.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<b>Real Estate Agents sign boards that damage property or aren't properly removed:</b><br />
<br />
What blatant disregard for their clients' properties when the monkeys they employ to put up their signs go about nailing boards onto fencing or, even worse, into the mortar of brick walls? You can't see it in the pic, but this particular example was on a main supporting post and there was a sufficient gap to have used plastic cables. Don't even get me started on bricks ... how best to de-stabilise a wall? - give it a few good whacks with a hammer!<br />
<b> </b><br />
Walk up any high street and look at the frontage of shops - property boards are normally placed above the shop signage. Now look at how many bits of timber have been left up there, often just painted over with the re-vamp, despite the fact that the agents' signs have long been removed?<br />
<br />
So, not only vandals but visual polluters ...<br />
<br />
<b>Half-arsed Pooper Scoopers:</b><br />
<br />
I don't know if it's just a London phenomena, but I often see dog poop bags littered in the strangest of places rather than placed in the designated bins. I can't understand how you can be socially conscious enough to pick up after your dog but cause another environmental eyesore by then leaving the bag and its contents lying in the gutter, wedged in shrubs, hanging off fences ... and even at the very base of the dog waste bin you've taken the bother to walk to.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTAMrz3k7kzUcsYjwlSiMq4QbVs0F-jcUaNGckaBKr7i9HXhx_wkLs96OV4k2-ZDYd3FMdck0LT-BVrUCjRL0fbk3MujdRtDiiuklL_gctkpG3RLnWvC02Nfi-mAXPe-TEMfDtG_X1v4/s1600/Doggiedoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTAMrz3k7kzUcsYjwlSiMq4QbVs0F-jcUaNGckaBKr7i9HXhx_wkLs96OV4k2-ZDYd3FMdck0LT-BVrUCjRL0fbk3MujdRtDiiuklL_gctkpG3RLnWvC02Nfi-mAXPe-TEMfDtG_X1v4/s400/Doggiedoo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Guys on noisy little scooters who think they're Hell's Angels:</b><br />
<br />
We've all heard them, boy racers getting off by revving up their little 50cc pathetic excuses for 'motorbikes' in underground car parks to amplify the sound or buzzing along with their annoying ring-ding-dings like agitated mosquitoes. As a motorcycle purist who's ridden 'real' bikes I may be a bit biased but, seriously, have some dignity instead of drawing attention to your impotence.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWgKl5inVCtBQhQztb3gnkd6dYQ1aWG8RRCskfYZnn-VLgsqm0PiIv5VNeR6igK3u5wfN_Jys3nPwfH__2x7Lny6w-jBkfdJk5lLEl0dCEUihacgwiftbaOHS8Y5BH9fR0eMGs-IBD0s/s1600/Scooter+Boy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWgKl5inVCtBQhQztb3gnkd6dYQ1aWG8RRCskfYZnn-VLgsqm0PiIv5VNeR6igK3u5wfN_Jys3nPwfH__2x7Lny6w-jBkfdJk5lLEl0dCEUihacgwiftbaOHS8Y5BH9fR0eMGs-IBD0s/s320/Scooter+Boy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>Groups of girls who shriek when greeting:</b><br />
<br />
'Nuff said ... we've all seen them (well, heard them first). Unfortunately it's not just a phenomena left at the school gates<b>.</b><br />
<br />
<b>COMING SOON:</b><br />
<br />
<b>- Sticky labels: </b>Particularly the highly adhesive ones that leave residue or obscure wording on CD covers.<br />
<br />
<b>- Car dealership stickers on rear windscreens: </b>Obscure your view, never attractive and you're a mug to give them free advertising long after you've bought the car.<br />
<br />
<b>- Speed bumps: </b>Manufacturers spend a fortune on developing a smoother ride and the local council put these monstrosities in to damage your suspension and wheel alignment.<b> </b>Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-14233002705015972802015-02-10T11:50:00.000+00:002015-03-30T12:49:55.661+01:00Shut Katie Hopkins Down<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6MEflRxvm6I6vnzD83mkMLpP19UctvmgN0b2jvnEbaEvcMGj75ujFJxhCgr3ZY1BXTaUT4FfRc9Qs_KDQ7W0GvAXyXtXksBjgiY5SYl3Fdo3p5JeoAqylPha2V9xPa0bWUkK2uF85po/s1600/katie+hopkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6MEflRxvm6I6vnzD83mkMLpP19UctvmgN0b2jvnEbaEvcMGj75ujFJxhCgr3ZY1BXTaUT4FfRc9Qs_KDQ7W0GvAXyXtXksBjgiY5SYl3Fdo3p5JeoAqylPha2V9xPa0bWUkK2uF85po/s1600/katie+hopkins.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
Enough is Enough.<br />
<br />
Katie Hopkins has had more than her fair share of the limelight and it's time to stop lining her pockets by giving her the media oxygen to spout her obscene views.<br />
<br />
She says she stands by everything she says and that she has "integrity", but there's a huge difference between speaking 'honestly' (suggesting she never takes a contrary view just to raise her profile) and insulting or hurting people. Regardless of your darkest private thoughts, some things are best not said, but she CHOOSES to disregard people's feelings.<br />
<br />
Yesterday's appearance on Loose Women was the final straw and provided a perfect example of her twisted logic. <br />
<br />
Not only did she fail to apologise to Coleen Nolan and her family for the cruel trolling of Coleen's sister Linda, by making hurtful references to her appearance when she was battling breast cancer, but she felt this was justified because she was defending Linda's CBB nemesis Jim Davidson.<br />
<br />
So it's OK to wade in and say unspeakable things about someone on the one hand while claiming virtuous qualities like loyalty on the other.<br />
<br />
Except Jim apologised and Katie won't.<br />
<br />
We need to make it clear to TV producers and newspaper editors that we see through this controversy magnet and implore them to stop giving her a platform - everyone might have a right to free speech, but this doesn't make our media any less culpable for magnifying the views of a sociopath to attract their own audiences.<br />
<br />
SHUT HER DOWN<br />
<br />
#ShutHopkinsDown<br />
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<i> </i><b>* UPDATE BELOW* - *UPDATE BELOW* - *UPDATE BELOW*</b><i><br /></i></div>
<br />
<i>Unsurprisingly, I was attacked on Twitter almost immediately after publishing this for not upholding the principles - indeed, not understanding the concept - of the free speech I claim to embrace. It's usually defined as: "<span class="_Tgc">The right to speak without censorship or restraint by the government" but this has also been expanded by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech" target="_blank">Offense Principle</a>.</span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span class="_Tgc">My opinion (to which I am entitled!) is that there is no reason to sink to personal insults or to abandon civility, decency and respect when expressing a view. The Free Speech lobby want it 'no holds barred' but, I'm sorry, this paves the way for people to go up to a child with a learning difficulty and call them a retard without fear of retribution - or allows hate preachers to publicly poison people's minds or incite murder. We all want to live in a society like that, right?? </span></i><br />
<br />
<i>Someone pointed out that there are bigger problems in the world like ISIS - my point exactly. People like Katie are at the very root of driving a wedge in society through lack of tolerance and inflaming hate.<span class="_Tgc"> </span></i>Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-36436497428653096172015-01-23T10:34:00.005+00:002015-01-23T17:38:49.093+00:00(Not) Box Clever<i><b>A lesson in how to do business inefficiently ...</b></i><br />
<br />
This morning Mr Courier delivered this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Y-t903T5VkuACss66SNLH-aJndTWUopYU2DtA7Yy5l9aW0CDO62TAVzSOxCuwG9ZMbTOFsK9cZW7eOVos_WNSXkuKndzH4szhT1gqmuguggzbZTg1Bivm53Dd5jJU6NHiHSXOQdY6dY/s1600/Tesco1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Y-t903T5VkuACss66SNLH-aJndTWUopYU2DtA7Yy5l9aW0CDO62TAVzSOxCuwG9ZMbTOFsK9cZW7eOVos_WNSXkuKndzH4szhT1gqmuguggzbZTg1Bivm53Dd5jJU6NHiHSXOQdY6dY/s1600/Tesco1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Even the cat was 'excited'</div>
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(Helped to demonstrate size perspective, anyhow)</div>
<br />
We were expecting a couple of deliveries for exchanged Christmas presents (boots for my son in a smaller size, a dress for my wife - also smaller, happily!), but why was this so light? Opening the box initially revealed nothing except seemingly a lot of giant bubble wrap:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfJZwh30NY5zWzU8M4y_MSYrv2oJTOjICALpIbNGZyP31VYGnfR1EgA-F2NgtvsXvmsAgrkTRxIMJowwdJAbKTP6VnE_qfZ4nt9EXdr-Z62haUITnBElIFR-M5vSnhyphenhyphen74CeZnFxa2tBU/s1600/Tesco2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfJZwh30NY5zWzU8M4y_MSYrv2oJTOjICALpIbNGZyP31VYGnfR1EgA-F2NgtvsXvmsAgrkTRxIMJowwdJAbKTP6VnE_qfZ4nt9EXdr-Z62haUITnBElIFR-M5vSnhyphenhyphen74CeZnFxa2tBU/s1600/Tesco2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />
But what lay beneath?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgdauG0CJYkOHpGZMm03qoXA9HtHhk7_rckc8AsY0pHALa0zn8JAEJef2M8mzeKuBK5VUdsj4iUwxQf8SFfDfgvrB8Ef4Wi6TF8MXoGiFW4LXXvPq-ewYKwJGawhqrv-p8kvxh-yJd-E/s1600/Tesco3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgdauG0CJYkOHpGZMm03qoXA9HtHhk7_rckc8AsY0pHALa0zn8JAEJef2M8mzeKuBK5VUdsj4iUwxQf8SFfDfgvrB8Ef4Wi6TF8MXoGiFW4LXXvPq-ewYKwJGawhqrv-p8kvxh-yJd-E/s1600/Tesco3.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Wait ... all <i>that</i> to send <i>this</i>?:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50VDa7TNpDGnA1AdUCLP8S7UbhjykLryAxsEgeMYxSc3x7aaGpRsl8mNvFtRoAJHM9S2nXJS7yhtkVaEAdrXXU7Lv0ASvz6fNCAPqJqpAGPFveH0zgPzWRU_jhIYKJr5Lte2wyCoSAh4/s1600/Tesco4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50VDa7TNpDGnA1AdUCLP8S7UbhjykLryAxsEgeMYxSc3x7aaGpRsl8mNvFtRoAJHM9S2nXJS7yhtkVaEAdrXXU7Lv0ASvz6fNCAPqJqpAGPFveH0zgPzWRU_jhIYKJr5Lte2wyCoSAh4/s1600/Tesco4.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
It was a pack of decorations from Tesco to replace ones that had been sent incorrectly in the first place. The first lot had arrived with two similar sized products, but in the same sized box - which already had us angered at the time by the environmental wastage (Amazon are also guilty of this).<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
<br />
So, let's also look at the transaction from an economical perspective and you might get some clues as to why Tesco's profits and market share have been on the slide ...<br />
<br />
- The item itself cost £7.99, to help you calculate the likely profit margin.<br />
<br />
- The postage we paid on the original item was part of a £3.95 minimum (albeit sent with two other items), so this would have been incurred by Tesco themselves for the re-despatch.<br />
<br />
- In the event, the goods that arrived were the same as the first lot. The problem was in the product description, so they've incurred the additional postage cost as a result of someone's original input error.<br />
<br />
- Not only have their resource costs doubled as a result of having to re-process this item, but they also had to pay the person in the call centre who arranged for the second despatch and someone else will presumably have to go in and alter the product description - if they can even bother to try to prevent an expensive recurrence.<br />
<br />
- They could clearly have saved on packaging costs (but it's the waste and impact on the planet's resources that upsets us the most).<br />
<br />
- They told us to keep the item sent to us in error, which is possibly enough on its own to go into negative profit on this transaction. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * *</div>
<br />
Now, we could go back to them and repeat the whole fiasco over again but we can make do with the items we've been sent - and we'd rather save another tree from being sacrificed as a result of corporate incompetency.<br />
<br />
I'm posting links to this on Twitter, Facebook and to Tesco themselves - possibly BBC Watchdog - and would urge you to take similar action the next time a delivery contains more air than substance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlpGeAjCF92NklM6kybQ9NYUKYjDs-3bRBSGQfY-CbLoE8dThR0owbP6V7C7Q4KLhU3tdgyi3mGQ5CX3-i5GtDlqZ3Gmr_1NzQKlvH248xLUXpDxAxjDemGcurM7koZ97PlZqSiU8Ies/s1600/Fred+box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlpGeAjCF92NklM6kybQ9NYUKYjDs-3bRBSGQfY-CbLoE8dThR0owbP6V7C7Q4KLhU3tdgyi3mGQ5CX3-i5GtDlqZ3Gmr_1NzQKlvH248xLUXpDxAxjDemGcurM7koZ97PlZqSiU8Ies/s1600/Fred+box.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_1384456073"></span><span id="goog_1384456074"></span></div>
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But at least the cat's happy!</div>
Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-87936137162733303012015-01-14T11:33:00.000+00:002015-01-14T12:21:06.018+00:00Good People UniteInteresting to see <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/whoismuhammad?source=feed_text&story_id=10152507530817751"><span class="_58cl">#</span><span class="_58cm">WhoIsMuhammad</span></a>
trending on Twitter - a man who would smile if mocked (so presumably
would have done so at the Charlie Hebdo cartoons), promoted respect for
women and education and purportedly tolerated people of all races and
creeds - to the extent that, when asked why he stood at the passing of a
coffin for a Jew, he replied "Was he not a human being?". Regardless
of where you think he stands in terms of salvation, these look like the
marks of a good Teacher at the very least - why don't the extreme Islamists get this?
Hoping these positive messages might lead to the unity between religions
we've seen in France.<br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".k3.1:3:1:$comment10152507530817751_10152507563122751:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".k3.1:3:1:$comment10152507530817751_10152507563122751:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".k3.1:3:1:$comment10152507530817751_10152507563122751:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">The
mistake of the peaceful majority in the past was to remain silent - they're not doing so now and we should all promote peace - loudly!</span></span></span> Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-11275379203943343622014-09-28T14:06:00.003+01:002016-02-04T10:06:15.745+00:00The Old Boy Network seems Alive and Well<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzrNOCdMmimNJeUxF_aO6MlRIk7QR5zySuMYu71xWSfL1SpzlwQ6-yGkJ50QemeiYsmgk3-S2mDhMB0QttH9t2eAlDONfmdYmaSrbFlavIhW-ji6TpFmYgnIqS89WayREKGNj5DnWpiM/s1600/Greed+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzrNOCdMmimNJeUxF_aO6MlRIk7QR5zySuMYu71xWSfL1SpzlwQ6-yGkJ50QemeiYsmgk3-S2mDhMB0QttH9t2eAlDONfmdYmaSrbFlavIhW-ji6TpFmYgnIqS89WayREKGNj5DnWpiM/s1600/Greed+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I'm getting mightily tired of the massive fines being imposed on banks (most recently for <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f60230a-4562-11e4-9b71-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3Ec0e0Mae" target="_blank">forex manipulation</a>) not finding their way back to the people who were initially disadvantaged down the line.<br />
<br />
I thought the financial regulators were altruistically set up to protect investors and strike a fair deal for them when they were wronged.<br />
<br />
But instead it seems the banks continue with their dodgy practices and simply see these fines as a cost of doing business - I doubt that the fines represent more than a small fraction of the gains they actually make from malpractice.<br />
<br />
And I can't help noticing what a lucrative industry governance has become in its own right - and how many executives (probably the majority of them ex-bankers themselves) are now doing rather nicely in both the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304311204579507512375765276" target="_blank">States</a> and here in the <a href="http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/news/fca-chief-wheatley-sees-salary-rise-and-scoops-610k-pay/a761217" target="_blank">UK</a> (despite occasionally having to defer the icing on the cake through bonuses).<br />
<br />
In my most cynical moments, I'm convinced there's collusion between the City and its watchdogs*. While hoodwinking the man in the street by creating the impression that everyone's playing by the rules, it's a perfect ruse for the fat cats to carry on pretty much as they did before - same greed, brighter halo.<br />
<br />
They're not alone, of course - <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10224104/30-charity-chiefs-paid-more-than-100000.html" target="_blank">charity executives</a> are also capitalising on the plight of those further down the food chain and the likes of Tony Blair are doing alright by picking up on both sides of their meddling as well (I wrote about the latter <a href="http://roysbleet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/blair-faced-cheek.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<br />
I live in the hope that God ultimately won't help those who help themselves at other people's expense.<br />
<br />
<i><b>It's since been announced that the Government is allocating £100M from the LIBOR manipulation fines to military and emergency service charities. Charitable donations by stealth from borrowers and investors to people whose pensions have ironically been decimated by the banks' other dodgy dealings. Blood money?</b></i><br />
<br />
<i><b>* If more proof is needed, welcome Attorney General Eric Holder of the SEC to the above club - a classic <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-9-billion-witness-20141106" target="_blank">case</a> of "working" with bad banks like JPMorgan Chase.</b></i><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<b>UPDATE (4 Jan '16): Another one under Blair's wing - David Miliband pockets big bucks from <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/once-tony-blairs-foreign-minister-david-miliband-now-bags-600000-salary-from-refugee-charity/5499111" target="_blank">refugee misery</a>.</b><br />
Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-86426694399704436882014-08-05T01:11:00.001+01:002014-08-31T21:12:30.852+01:00Dear Cyclist - "It's Behind You!"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUodSM_XX-bRQTX7eiYPe6-TRYqNXnGvRLrgVJc8pY41owcxCGRnyWsKAl3J2uvff4VdCyhdQBuQWIFKqEKdGZSY3zWaXUjhWvdv1qxCw_JJyMI2LbzO0SbsHemtq9JO6YpORngthwoQ/s1600/cycle+rear+view.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUodSM_XX-bRQTX7eiYPe6-TRYqNXnGvRLrgVJc8pY41owcxCGRnyWsKAl3J2uvff4VdCyhdQBuQWIFKqEKdGZSY3zWaXUjhWvdv1qxCw_JJyMI2LbzO0SbsHemtq9JO6YpORngthwoQ/s1600/cycle+rear+view.jpg" /></a>This week a Heathrow car rental firm got itself into hot water for warning its hirers that London cyclists are a "hazard" and "it is always the motorist's fault".<br />
<br />
I'm not anti-cyclist, and we know that cars and bikes can exist in harmony in places like the Netherlands, but many London cyclists do seem to have a fairly blase attitude towards self-preservation.<br />
<br />
I attribute most of my defensive driving skills to the spacial awareness that years of cycling and motorcycling instilled in me and it frustrates me that motorists and cyclists alike are often guilty of not paying nearly as much attention to what's coming up behind them as what's on the road ahead.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to a glaring omission from most of the bicycles I see on London's roads - rear view mirrors.<br />
<br />
It's true that motorists often neglect to check their blind spots, but at least their vehicles are equipped with the means to monitor potential developments behind them, whereas too many times I've seen cyclists swerve around obstacles like parked cars without so much as cursory glance over their shoulders beforehand.<br />
<br />
Is it a vanity thing? Do they think that, having spent so much on racing lycra and bikes that have specifications far beyond their needs or capabilities, it simply wouldn't be cool to spoil the effect with mirrors that might be seen as a betrayal of their commitment to shave milliseconds off their performance because of the extra wind drag produced? This is commuting, guys, not the Olympics.<br />
<br />
I have a friend who raced at a professional level, so I sought his opinion before writing this in case I incurred the wrath of those who take their riding seriously and are tired of getting beaten up on because they get placed in the same bag as their amateur counterparts.<br />
<br />
His reply? "<i>I would say it comes simply down to people who don't have a clue how to be safe on bikes ... And there's a lot of them around!</i>"<br />
<br />
If you're too cool for school, there are mirror options that can be worn in-helmet or on your wrist etc. <br />
<br />
For my part, I was proud of my mirrors as a kid cycling in the somewhat less frantic environment of a sleepy Australian town - although in retrospect I'd probably have lost the handlebar tassels ...Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-8888439551980919802014-03-13T11:02:00.000+00:002014-03-15T16:28:30.637+00:00Good / Grief<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVRudx2brAIAXSyalq9VVmk6-UWbXfNr_3upUYVTIlWtLi_lwcg11YubpiN07s2LxaR31SXyz0cvZG7z6aifd2LK5wDuen_NzYaTiqZMlRT3gj7FyDqZNYrQ3QHqsNrZSuajoYZDDjck/s1600/isp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVRudx2brAIAXSyalq9VVmk6-UWbXfNr_3upUYVTIlWtLi_lwcg11YubpiN07s2LxaR31SXyz0cvZG7z6aifd2LK5wDuen_NzYaTiqZMlRT3gj7FyDqZNYrQ3QHqsNrZSuajoYZDDjck/s1600/isp.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Last night's episode of Channel 4's <a href="http://space.channel4.com/" target="_blank">'Astronauts: Living in Space'</a> reminded me of two of my earlier posts, <a href="http://roysbleet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/one-earth-why-are-we-squabbling-over-it.html" target="_blank">One Earth - Why are we Squabbling over it?</a> and <a href="http://roysbleet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/look-at-conflict-how-long-can-you-hold.html" target="_blank">A Look at Conflict: How Long can you hold a Grudge?</a><br />
<br />
Our world is a complete miracle, but one of contrasts - Hot. Cold. High. Low. Dry. Wet. Beautiful. Dangerous. And, at the building block level, Positive and Negative - the analogies we also use to describe our outlook.<br />
<br />
I naturally incline towards the positive - I don't like to think that it's a freaky coincidence that the moon, although much smaller and closer, happens to fit exactly the size of our giant sun during an eclipse. Or that it influences the Earth's tides so that our oceans and rivers cleanse themselves. I marvel at the sheer distances in the Universe ... it blows my mind that we talk in terms of millions of light years, when I can barely get my head around the sun's rays taking only 8 minutes to cover the nearly 100 million miles to get to us.<br />
<br />
Pondering stuff like this transcends the suffocating humdrum of daily life and puts a toe in the waters of spirituality - something beyond ourselves. Call it what you will - Consciousness. Faith. Awareness. One-ness. But I'd rather believe that there's a purpose to our existence than accept it as a happy accident. And, for me, that's worth preserving.<br />
<br />
So give me Love & Peace over Hate & War any day. Easy and sensible choice, right? Yet why is the world in political turmoil? Surely everyone would prefer to live in Utopian harmony?<br />
<br />
This is where the intangibles kick in - like emotion and sentiment. Because it's not about who's Right or Wrong - principles are only as valuable as the best orator. It's about whether the intent is Good or Evil.<br />
<br />
If you believe nothing else, know that these forces are real and as viable as anything physical. History points to the evidence. We're not just organisms - we have the capacity to grasp this concept of positive and negative and, in my view, are an integral part of the cosmic machinations of working it through. Science confirms that there's a constant dance going on between the two - for every action, a reaction. A state of flux. But if one were ever to prevail over the other, there would be a fundamental shift in the order of things. Maybe then the Unknown will manifest itself ... <br />
<br />
You better get on your knees and pray that the victor is Good, folks - it's gonna be a trippy ride. In the meantime, play nice and delight in our beautiful planet.Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-66353084912980329952013-07-05T15:43:00.000+01:002014-08-19T00:25:00.905+01:00Fred Nile - Extremist Preacher of LoveDon't get me wrong - Fred Nile upholds <i>some</i> values to which I subscribe, though mine tend to be in a more diluted form, but his idealism is in danger of blinding him to the will of the Egyptian people.<br />
<br />
By getting involved in their political affairs by standing for the Christian Democratic Party now that Morsi has been ousted, he's failing to recognise that the voters are tired of their leaders foisting their religious agenda onto the way the country is run.<br />
<br />
You cannot dispute the fact that Morsi was elected democratically. If his Government had just focused on bringing stability back into the economy instead of trying to manipulate the country towards Islamicism, the recent uprising might not have occurred.<br />
<br />
Egyptians do have a thirst for democracy - but a true democracy representing the interests of all its citizens, of all faiths. Politics and religion should never be mixed. As elected representatives, ministers should concentrate on social infrastructure and leave their beliefs at the door. Let law and religion slug out the moral issues.<br />
<br />
I posted something to this effect on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fred-Nile-Official-Christian-Democratic-Party/152695849378" target="_blank">Fred Nile - CDP Facebook page</a> yesterday, but it was removed. In what way is that kind of censorship any different to the dictatorial behaviour being challenged in Cairo, if your zealousness overrides the expression of a balanced view?<br />
<br />
There are preachers of hate, like the high profile clerics that feature so often here in the UK, but equally provocative are those extremist preachers of love who, with the same passion, drive wedges between the faiths - albeit that they are driven by their own honourable intentions.<br />
<br />
But promoting <i>democracy</i> under a <i>Christian</i> banner will not give the Egyptians anything different to what they had before - only a different flavour. The imposing of faith, or allusion towards it on a political stage, is not democratic and the terms are therefore mutually exclusive.<br />
<br />
This is one Nile that shouldn't be running in Egypt.Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-24064889715183028102013-06-18T11:36:00.000+01:002013-12-14T12:29:54.710+00:00Big Brother - beyond Orwell's worst nightmares<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><b>Original post: </b></i>18 June 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><b> </b></i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I usually like my posts to have a bit of a shelf life, but my 'Rage-o-Meter' hit red last night when C5's 'Big Brother' programme issued a contestant with a formal warning for 'inappropriate language' (I think they stopped just short of suggesting she was racist) because she stated a personal preference not to date black men.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">So, if I wouldn't go out with someone over 70 - would
that make me ageist? Or, being straight, date a gay man (if I wasn't already
married) - I'd be branded a homophobe? Or someone who didn't have blue eyes and
blonde hair? - Good Grief, they'd have me down as a Nazi!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The effect of such misinterpretation of the spirit of the law is that, rather than promote social harmony, it actually drives a wedge further through it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Channel 5 should retract.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><b>Update: </b></i>CBB 24 August 2013</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">...
and they've done it again. Warned a contestant for saying the 'N' word
in proper context while recounting a story widely reported in the press
- not directed at anyone or used in a malicious way. It was bleeped
out (rightly so), but then spoken and aired by the producers themselves
when issuing a formal warning. I'm sure higher powers are doing this
deliberately to gauge how well the public interpret what constitutes
offence and to stimulate debate ... either that or C5's legal advisers
are incompetent (IMHO) or, at best, hypocritical.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Feel free to share your views by commenting below: </span></div>
Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-56333365218782900282013-06-05T17:05:00.001+01:002018-05-08T18:21:44.489+01:00'Treating Customers Fairly' - Subjective is not EffectiveFrom my <a href="http://roysbleet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/when-does-free-banking-forever-mean-at.html" target="_blank">previous</a> posts, you'll know I'm no great fan of how Santander treat their clients. Now people approach me with their own tales of woe ...<br />
<br />
Here's one scenario<i> </i>(skip to next para if you don't want to bother with the details):<i> A couple were on low income at the previous anniversary of their mortgage contract but Santander still offered them a fixed 2 year term at a very reasonable 2.99%. They subsequently fell into some arrears, but had 50% equity in their home and were allowed to enter into an arrangement to repay these at £20 mth above their monthly repayment. However, at the next anniversary last October - having set a precedent under the same circumstances (borrowers were still on low income) and already aware that the family could only afford an extra £20 mth - Santander instead hit them with the Standard Variable Rate (see earlier <a href="http://roysbleet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/youre-not-quite-off-hook-yet-santander.html" target="_blank">post</a>) of 4.74%, increasing the repayment by over <b>£330 mth</b>. The base rate of 0.5% had not moved an iota during this time.</i><br />
<br />
I suppose it's like all aspects of life - once you're deemed to constitute a risk, they'll screw you even further. "Can't afford the electricity bill? We'll remove your tariff options and you can pre-pay on this key instead - at a higher cost per unit, of course". Except in this instance, Santander only focused on one part of the lending criteria - capacity to repay - and completely disregarded the other main determination of adequate security. With 50% equity, where was the risk that the debt would go toxic any time soon? They also called the anniversary "new lending" and, besides, they knew the clients were in no position to qualify for a loan elsewhere so they had them over a barrel.<br />
<br />
So, the likes of Santander exacerbate the plight of struggling borrowers by penalising them, while they and others in the industry keep reassuring us with soundbites like <i>"working with borrowers to help them overcome their situation"</i>, promising to <i>"explore all possible ways of preventing repossession of your home". </i>And the Council of Mortgage Lender's guidance is to <i>"continue to exercise forebearance where it is fair to do so for the borrower" </i>and that this <i>"does not translate into an immediate possession risk". </i><br />
<br />
The Financial Conduct Authority (previously "FSA") requires financial institutions to adhere to principles of "<a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/archive/fsa-tcf-culture.pdf" target="_blank">Treating Customers Fairly</a>" yet, when the above case was escalated to the Ombudsman, the reply proved beyond doubt that once again the regulators are utterly toothless. Santander were not required to disclose their reasons for applying the higher rate because their "lending criteria is commercially sensitive" - in other words, the industry has closed ranks as usual. And here was the real classic extract: <i>"A lender must be responsible in relation to the concessions it grants when dealing with consumers suffering with financial difficulties, ensuring the situation is not purely being deferred to a further time in future, ultimately making the situation worse"</i>. It would be funny if it wasn't so tragically ironic. Hello? Who is making the situation worse by upping the repayments by, in this instance, 60% (the arrears/loan ratio was barely a quarter of a percent)? And it took five months for the Ombudsman to reach their conclusions, by which time the couple could have had their home repossessed. Would any regular person in the street (the ones the FCA is there to protect) consider the above outcome to be "fair"? I appreciate it's a subjective term, but come on ... you can only stretch semantics so far.<br />
<br />
Another twist in the tail - at the previous lower repayment, the arrears represented three months payments and it went to litigation (a whisker away from repossession). But, at the higher repayment, the arrears represented only a little over a month. Same people, same arrears/loan ratio, but suddenly within the tolerance of Santander's Collections Department. Lies, damn lies & statistics.<br />
<br />
And the biggest irony of all? The banks got the economy in this mess in the first place and, having therefore been partly responsible for the borrowers being unable to find work in a depressed job market, inflict even more pain on them by coming back for a double-dip into their pockets.<br />
<br />
Homes will be lost, placing an even greater burden on a society already struggling to provide social housing and, stupidly, the banks seem oblivious to the fact that they're only shooting themselves in the foot by terminating loans they could have been acquiring interest on when they're finding it hard enough to get rid of the stuff.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpvMWzfre0dZDDwDyzsHEoeQcuDTImwvN7J2dIAHMZ-VNnun-jT6Dcnjkrb_phZJy_ErXJywVqu28R35EIqzsBQAbB6ASx_ncpS45BIpnkha55xfMAIHP6D0yIdfT3frbypZZ2vG0WY4/s1600/Santander+referee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpvMWzfre0dZDDwDyzsHEoeQcuDTImwvN7J2dIAHMZ-VNnun-jT6Dcnjkrb_phZJy_ErXJywVqu28R35EIqzsBQAbB6ASx_ncpS45BIpnkha55xfMAIHP6D0yIdfT3frbypZZ2vG0WY4/s1600/Santander+referee.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Treating Customers Fairly? Not likely, while our self-serving banks have no sense of social responsibility.Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-38295297673221391942013-05-01T20:53:00.000+01:002015-04-14T17:34:30.569+01:00Taking London Sightseeing to a Whole New Level<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWY4YxVeIRjH5hmVDOM0-c67xXgNFGlA-tuwYWmPBgsk8_aZK3DZWS0bfa9hH12b4Z9b8r5NuQ4Jl_lhyphenhyphenwKDt0WquCh2atWFUNa93TkRio_WjQZ1qmlrM9alo8O2lHJxv5L1Mu7vkS54/s1600/TLH1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWY4YxVeIRjH5hmVDOM0-c67xXgNFGlA-tuwYWmPBgsk8_aZK3DZWS0bfa9hH12b4Z9b8r5NuQ4Jl_lhyphenhyphenwKDt0WquCh2atWFUNa93TkRio_WjQZ1qmlrM9alo8O2lHJxv5L1Mu7vkS54/s200/TLH1.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I was
thrilled and privileged this morning to be invited by <a href="http://www.thelondonhelicopter.com/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The London Helicopter</b></a> to take a flight over our beautiful city on the day that MD
Chris Mann and his welcoming team launched the UK’s first online helicopter sightseeing
service from Battersea and Redhill.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With
attractions like the London Eye and now The Shard vying to lure tourists with ever
more spectacular viewing platforms, the suggestion seems to be that the higher
up you go, the more breathtaking the experience becomes.</span> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, yes
and no ….<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidm7ahIg_UlZqESGZiXkqlBTmGnkZxShAdkbCVmJeTp5tKh5e3nuhvfriKpvwlw84BnJRYIjcSXQbS59Vcj9ruAOPUohOXJQjYE7QoMXiNZwg4FzXt6PTsKHv11_FtDo7EnDafj4InTac/s1600/TLH2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidm7ahIg_UlZqESGZiXkqlBTmGnkZxShAdkbCVmJeTp5tKh5e3nuhvfriKpvwlw84BnJRYIjcSXQbS59Vcj9ruAOPUohOXJQjYE7QoMXiNZwg4FzXt6PTsKHv11_FtDo7EnDafj4InTac/s200/TLH2.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Go too high
up over central London - as you do when you come in to land following one of Heathrow's flight
paths - and you may as well be flying over any other major city in the world,
except for the distinctive shape of the Thames snaking far below you like the
montage used for ‘Eastenders’.</span>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But at the
lower altitude of 1,000 feet, this new service achieves the Goldilocks Factor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s ‘just right’ - not so high that you lose
definition of the major landmarks and not so low that you’re obscured from
putting the City layout into perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s far more intimate and gives you a much wider scope, taking in as it
does Greenwich/Docklands to the East and Putney/Wetlands to the West.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JXUBqJXSw4SVRuni_r1Tf-aX8LUvbLWrPWMx3g7QbhvrEvXY1ihREnhH3mLqOHnOYvogURr4rgDHbLqfvL3AgCU3lxF07UWAHaV-JF7G0-J7LXK68GNVb4jVBUU1Czj7bt94Bw-enuI/s1600/TLH5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JXUBqJXSw4SVRuni_r1Tf-aX8LUvbLWrPWMx3g7QbhvrEvXY1ihREnhH3mLqOHnOYvogURr4rgDHbLqfvL3AgCU3lxF07UWAHaV-JF7G0-J7LXK68GNVb4jVBUU1Czj7bt94Bw-enuI/s200/TLH5.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That’s not to
belittle the fixed panoramic locations - as this service is meant to complement
what’s already on offer by providing tourists with another option to bring
London into line with the likes of New York, Las Vegas and Capetown - although I
have to confess to feeling a little smug as I flew over those people below with inferior vantage points to mine.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And it’s
not just for tourists …</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do you
think you know London?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I </i>did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m just about an authority on the sights when it comes to showing
overseas visitors around and would go so far as to say that I have a better
grasp of the roads and suburbs than I did of my native Brisbane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet I was amazed by just how close places are
in Greater London from the air - at one point I had three Premiership football
grounds in view, with the Wembley Arena and the Olympic stadium in the
distance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A glance up the river from the
Houses of Parliament and I could already see Canary Wharf looming large.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6navLquInKyac6HTmvH-Ik7R2S0YI5zU8LaLzbkpQjkS2oLk245g33O-YOtbZWKJd3s-CD28SP6Qiws_dhzL0qcjZYt1OplaYhs1HKcrEz59vwdqnrYpq1Z82GR2nbArsrapn8vEObKk/s1600/TLH3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6navLquInKyac6HTmvH-Ik7R2S0YI5zU8LaLzbkpQjkS2oLk245g33O-YOtbZWKJd3s-CD28SP6Qiws_dhzL0qcjZYt1OplaYhs1HKcrEz59vwdqnrYpq1Z82GR2nbArsrapn8vEObKk/s200/TLH3.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And if
you’ve never been up in a helicopter, as I hadn’t until today, take comfort
that it feels quite natural to take off and land in something that is
essentially a familiar car cabin environment that flies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite having bungee’d in the past, I once had
a bit of vertigo looking down from the London Eye but felt none of this in the
chopper - it somehow seems to cradle you by being suspended under the power
source rather than being thrust forward in a giant metal cylinder like in a plane.</span>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Loved it - a
‘must do’ for Londoners and tourists alike.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For more
information, visit <a href="http://www.thelondonhelicopter.com/" target="_blank">The London Helicopter</a> website or follow them on <a href="https://twitter.com/thelondonheli" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thelondonhelicopter?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</span>
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Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-41645453747421934562013-04-15T12:22:00.000+01:002013-04-17T09:32:59.080+01:00Tarred with the Same Brush (The Honest Victims of Austerity)Today marks the trial rollout of the cap on housing benefits across four London boroughs but, as with all new initiatives, not everyone's circumstances fall into neat pigeonholes.<br />
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Innocent and ordinarily hardworking people, who fell foul of the job cuts perpetuated by the economic mess our bankers got us into initially, will now fall victim to constraints on reasonable standards of living.<br />
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But this time a good portion of the blame should be lain at the feet of the town halls themselves, who were slow to identify cases where the existing system was being so blatantly exploited. Only look at the first boroughs to be targeted - Haringey, Enfield, Croydon and Bromley. While the Government has no doubt done its homework in respect of where it can effect the greatest savings on the public purse, they should at least also have made examples of the boroughs that failed to address the obscenity of people on benefits living in £1M+ properties in places like Ealing or Belgravia.<br />
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More and more people will see their living standards reduced through no fault of their own and, in my view, none will suffer more than the now middle-aged children of Thatcher's Britain who, having been encouraged into home ownership, are now seeing that dream being shattered because they fall into one of the two most affected unemployed groups: the over 50's, seemingly invisible to employers and recruiters alike, and - at the other end of the spectrum - school leavers who have been let down by a society that allowed it financial affairs to get so horrendously out of control.<br />
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And, at odds with the the FSA's new mandate of having to treat theirs customers fairly, banks continue to penalise their unemployed mortgage customers by only taking into account one of the two primary lending considerations - equity and capacity to repay (guess which one?) - when existing arrangements hit their renewal anniversary, opting instead to apply the standard variable rate ('SVR') to inflict even more pain on the embattled long term unemployed who have already seen mortgage relief reduced from interest on the first £200K down to the first £100K. Santander, are you listening?Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3817678323711743862.post-49263854207444282862013-02-20T19:53:00.002+00:002013-02-21T11:32:54.568+00:00Beefing Up the Price of MeatWhen the horse meat scandal first broke, my immediate thought was "If the price of meat goes up now, it would suggest that the supermarkets had been implicit all along and knew what they were buying", because the deception and profiteering would have been occurring further down the chain if they'd been paying normal market prices for their raw ingredients.<br />
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Well, prices <i>are</i> going up - and some of the explanations we're being offered don't sit well with me because, as with the finance industry, we're again being asked to stump up to meet the costs of ensuring that others will now act with the honesty and integrity we'd previously expected to take for granted (remember the Financial Services Authority's edict that banks should now adhere to the principle of 'Treating Customers Fairly'? ... duh!).<br />
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And, drawing further stark parallels with it's identically-acronymed (FSA) and equally ineffective financial watchdog counterpart, the toothless Food Standards Agency has abysmally failed to exercise even the most fundamental duty of care to the consumer. Surely one of its first functions should have been to, erm, monitor that food was up to a certain standard. Caught napping, it will probably now put out a radical new directive like "The description on food packaging should be accurately representative of its contents or else we may, in the unlikely event of actually holding anyone to account, fine them and pocket the proceeds so that we can continue to fund our valuable work".<br />
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So now the cost of DNA testing is being held up as one of the reasons we'll pay more for meat. Another, based on consumer behaviour in the immediate aftermath of Horse-Gate (a significant drop in processed food sales), is that market forces will come into play as a result of the increasing demand for fresh meat produce. I can see this, but again we're paying the penalty for a change in consumer behaviour brought about as a direct consequence of the actions of the unscrupulous.<br />
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Dr Pamela Robinson, a former Tesco executive and now a lecturer in international food chains, warns that it's inevitable that supermarkets will have to put up prices to guarantee quality.<br />
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So they didn't care before?Roy Robarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394724695262425208noreply@blogger.com1