Ain’t No Cure for the British Summertime Blues

British Summertime Blues

There’s been a gap since my last blog post because me and Mrs Aaaaargh have been on holiday in Spain.

Apart from the obvious, the weather, the big difference we found was the attitude. Considering Spain is supposed to be in a worse economic situation than us – the main sign we saw was that public toilets are closed down – the place is still much more laid back and friendly.

When we drove out into the country a bit and got lost the people we asked couldn’t have been more helpful, even trying mixtures of French and German which eventually worked. At petrol stations we didn’t feel like we were holding them up and other customers would offer help to.

You can sit in a cafe or bar for ages with just one drink and it’s no problem if you only want to use the toilet.

The problem is that you soon get used to their attitude and when you reach the UK you notice the difference. As we got to UK passport control (UK Border Agency these days) we queued for the first time in a week. Then when a couple of non-Europeans went to the front of the EU queue because they were confused, they were waved away with no actual help at all. The officials were even moaning. “What’s wrong with these people today?” one of them said to the other… the only thing she didn’t add was “bloody foreigners” but the attitude said it for her.

And once we got on the road we immediately noticed how aggresive driving is here. Of course we then had the obligatory traffic jam adding an hour to our journey which was only one and a quarter hours to start with.

[The only bright spot getting back was the service provided by the company who parked our car for us while we were away, Sky Airport Parking. I make a point of mentioning bad service but this is one occasion where I can mention exceptional service. They provide a Meet & Greet service where they meet you at the departure area, park your car for the duration, then bring it back for you when you arrive. It went without a hitch, was cheaper than others and simpler than the airport's own service our family used.]

The main point of this posting is that when people moan about the weather getting everyone down, that isn’t actually the problem. The attitudes and social customs we have are the problem which is probably why I’m feeling the British Summertime Blues more than most.

Economy Crash Investigation

Crash Investigation

There’s a programme on the National Geographic Channel called ‘Air Crash Investigation’.

They give an overview of a flight where the plane crashed, then follow the results of the official investigation to show in chronological order all the things that will have contributed – often this will go back to when the plane was made.

It’s usually a corner being cut in production like using cheap grade parts or a simple human error like forgetting to check something but the one thing in common is when the mistakes have been found, they are acted upon, remedied where possible and prevented from happening again… and where responsibility is found, prosecutions do follow.

I’ve seen the current economic problems called a ‘car crash’ but the reality is it’s an air crash and should be investigated with the same attention to detail as real air crash is… hopefully history will do this eventually but even the cursory glance it has had to date has found where some of the problems lie.

Unfortunately, finding the problems is only the first part of the process – what needs to be done and has failed to be done, is making sure the same mistakes are not made agian and that those responsible are held responsible.

It’s a bit tricky when they are investigating themselves though.

Politician, Sack Thyself

News International

What a surprise that the enquiry into News International and the Murdochs has taken a political direction.

Labour have taken the opportunity to do a bit of  magnate bashing (that could turn round and bite them at some point so it’s either a brave or a stupid move) and the Tory’s capitalist coloured glasses can’t see anything wrong because there’s only a dead body but no smoking gun.

So an enquiry into how the media, police and Government collude with each other turns into a political bunfight with no real outcome.

What we should have is enquiries like this without MP’s but with average members of the public asking the questions.

I know it’s a House of Commons enquiry but aren’t they meant to be representing us?

And there is a precedent for this kind of setup … it’s called a jury!

But doesn’t this just sum it up? From the Leveson enquiry website:
“Lord Justice Leveson acts in an independent judicial capacity as Chair of the Inquiry.  He will submit his final report to the Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Theresa May MP, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt ” ….. now where have I heard that name before?

The Last Post?

Last Post

Postal charges went up yet again recently from 46p to 60p for first class which is around 30% – way above inflation.

Today on the news it showed that TNT will be delivering letters themselves rather than via Royal Mail and their representative used the competiiton example to justify this.  After all, he said, if there was only one airline flights would be expensive.

This is probably true but what he failed to mention is what will happen outside densely populated areas when the private companies have skimmed off all the profitable business there, leaving Royal Mail with just unprofitable business.

There are some areas where competition is necessary like airlines, mobile phones or car dealers because these are consumer items.

But there are other areas where competition isn’t the answer and ends up benefitting only the businesses, not the consumer. I’m thinking of the national rail service, water, gas and electric which give the impression of competition but really don’t offer any (who chooses which rail company they use?).

The postal service is another of these but with the Government’s pursuit of privatisation at any cost, there really isn’t much hope for it’s long term future in a form we recognise.

Diamond Banking

Diamond Banking

Barclays shareholders meet today to decide if Bob Diamond should get his obscene bonus.

He probably will because the majority of shares are owned by other large financial institutions and they won’t want to rock their cosy boat.

The idea that small shareholders can have a major effect is a lie and I’d guess that as average people become more impoverished and start to sell off the ‘family silver’, or in this case the shares they were told would be a financial featherbed, those same financial institutions will snap them up cheaply.

Of course they can afford the time to weather the financial storm and won’t only see a return on their investment at some point but will also be shoring up their mutual self-serving interests.

One reason given on BBC Breakfast this morning for not being able to reduce bankers bonuses was that they have signed a contract which can’t be broken. Really?… we’ve heard of plenty of normal working class people who have contracts with companies but are still forced to take a wage cut or have their conditions changed just to keep their job.

The same employment laws cover everyone – it seems they only get used to the disadvantage of those who need them most… I’d call that Financial Discrimination!

POSH Boys

POSH Boys

Yesterday, in Parliament, MP Dennis Skinner said “When posh boys are in trouble, they sack the servants”.

For some reason the phrase ‘Posh Boys’ turned into ‘Wild Boys’ by Duran Duran in my head and when I looked up the lyrics they were pretty appropriate, so here they are with some slight amendments to bring them up to date:

“POSH Boys”

The POSH boys are calling
On their way back from the fire
In the economy’s surrender to
A dust cloud on the right
POSH boys fallen far from glory
Reckless and so hungered
In your poverty you trail
Because there’s murder by recession
In a sore afraid new world

They tried to break us,
Looks like they’ll try again

POSH boys never lose it
POSH boys simply chose this way
POSH boys never close your eyes
POSH boys always lie

You got sirens for a welcome
There’s bloodstain for your pain
And your telephone been monitored while
You’re dancing in the rain
POSH boys know that theirs is glory
Where is all you angels
Now the figureheads have fell
And you’re drowning in austerity cos of
Secrets they could tell

They tried to tame you
Looks like they’ll try again

POSH boys never lose it
POSH boys simply chose this way
POSH boys never close your eyes
POSH boys always lie

World Day for Animals in Laboratories

Saturday is World Day for Animals in Laboratories and there is a rally in support in Birmingham, details at http://www.wdail.org/

We often hear that experimentation on animals is necessary to make products safe for humans but what we don’t hear is that adverse reactions to prescribed drugs is the fourth biggest cause of premature death in the UK. Only cancer, heart disease and stroke claim more victims.

And even if testing drugs was an option, do we really need to inflict pain on animals just so we can have yet another fragrance of perfume, colour of hair, or even thicker eyelashes… are we really worth it?

If you want to see some of what goes on in laboratories have a look at these 2 Facebook pages but be warned, they’re not pretty:

Evolve! Campaigns – http://on.fb.me/I5Tah0
Stronger Penalties & Tougher Sentencing For Cruelty To Animals – UK – http://on.fb.me/JqDoyr

So, given that there is no justification for carrying on this abuse of living creatures, what is the point? Well, as usual it’s money. We can’t expect the big  cosmetic companies to admit we’ve got enough fragrances and colours already.

Credit is due though to ethical companies like Lush who don’t sell products tested on animals and have allowed a protest against experimentation to take place in one of their shop windows, see HERE

One final thing to think about – if we are comfortable with animals being tortured, how long before it’s suggested that people could be experimented on… there are plenty of people around the world in abject poverty who would probably accept having drugs tested on them for a small amount of food (yes, I know it goes on) and with recession and austerity hitting the western world there could soon be more potential subjects closer to home.

Financial Suicide

Financial Suicide

Financial Suicide is taking on a new meaning.

It used to be someone who made a rash investment or a bad financial decision but the recession has meant that the term has become literal.

Suicide rates across Europe are climbing as people find they either can’t cope or are too ashamed to carry on, see HERE.

The most high profile was in Greece recently when Dimitris Christoulas, a retired pharmacist, shot himself publicly and left a note explaining why.

In America back in the 20′s it was the Wall Street bankers who were throwing themselves off buildings but their modern equivalents are happy to let the poor, the old and the desperate make all the sacrifices … not only with their lives of course but financially as well.

So far these sad individuals have only harmed themselves but I’m sure a time will come soon when someone decides to take some of those responsible with them…. and who would really blame them?

If they do though, you can bet your own life that security around politicians, bankers and other “important” people will be increased – and you know who’ll be paying for that!

Olympic Shames

The Fatherless Games

The motto for the London 2012 Olympic Games has been revealed as “Inspire a Generation”.

Inspire them to what?

The main message coming from the Games is that if you have the money and the power you can write your own rules.

- Zil lanes to give priority to Olympic traffic over everyone else.

- Advertising restrictions on local businesses who can’t even mention the event

-  Prestige Hospitality (if you can afford it)

- Suspension of civil liberties

- Removing the right to Freedom of Assembly

- An unelected Olympic Committee dictating to our Government

- Unethical sponsors  - BP,  Dow Chemicals,   McDonalds,  Proctor & Gamble,  Visa (a worse collection of examples of polluters, bad labour practice, animal cruelty, and financial irregularity it would be hard to find).

If these are the sort of things that should make us feel proud to be British, I’m no longer proud to be British.

Pleased to see that Fathers 4 Justice are showing the balls to ignore the restrictions on using the Olympic logo with their ‘Fatherless Games’ campaign though.

Insurance rip-off.

We took out home insurance a few months ago through Swinton, the insurance brokers,  as well as an additional cover that we were told would cover all household repairs.

We’d just had the boiler serviced so decided it would be an idea to have this cover as well, just in case anything went wrong with it, water pipes, gas pipes etc – after all they said it would cover all household problems.

The other day the expansion pipe from the boiler had water coming out and when I checked, the pressure was way up at full. We contacted a local plumber who showed me how to ease the pressure, then which feeds to turn off to see where the problem was.

He found out and suggested if we had cover we should go through them so I contacted Swinton Insurance who gave me a number for Axa who told me it was breakdown cover only and as long as we have hot water and heating it’s not covered.

Theres a surprise – an insurance company wriggling out on the small print.

I explained that the pressure was so high it could result in the boiler blowing up which would cost them a lot more than the part that was needed but of course they don’t care about our safety.

So, back to Swinton who said they don’t know the actual terms of what they sell as they only read a script and couldn’t get Axa to contact me because they don’t deal with them direct.

Is it any wonder people get pissed off with insurance companies and other big organisations like these.

They take your money then farm the work on to another company so you never really know who you’re dealing with. They are allowed to highlight the good points when they sell to you and hide the bad points in the  (non-understandable) small print.

It’s the same with the banking system – they sell you a loan, then before you know it, the loan has been sold on 3 times and you are dealing with a totally different company ….. and look where that got us.

As consumers, we should know who we are dealing with, terms need to be clearer and wouldn’t it be an idea if every contract had a central point of contact you could deal with direct?