What Do You Think Today?

[Avatar]

I don't know what you're referring to.

And no, not like that.

--A

[peter]

The Mail's headline yesterday ran "A GREAT DAY FOR JUSTICE", referring to the release from Guantanamo after 14 years of imprisonment without trial,of a UK national arrested in Afghanistan. It's an odd idea in what to me is a situation where the last thing to be found, in any nook or cranny is justice.

[Avatar]

Yeah, seems a bit oblivious really...

--A

[peter]

Had a chance occurrence at work one time where I pushed a large cage of goods over a floor strewn with giant bubble-wrap (like the ordinary stuff but about ten times bigger). The resultant popping was almost ecstatic in its therapeutic effect. Sure there's a business opportunity there! .

[peter]

Changes to the law relating to the sale of tobacco products mean that as of February next year the sale of packs of 10 cigarettes and 12.5g of tobacco will be outlawed in the UK. This, it is mooted, will save thousands of lives a year. How exactly is that? Many smokers use the purchase of a ten pack as a means of limiting their daily habit, and in their case it is likely that the freely available cigarette over and above the ten will oft-times be used - and before long ten will become twelve, and twelve fourteen etc, etc. I have some experience of this effect with alcoholics [different I know but....]. Any retailer knows that a drinker will drink whatever is in front of him, by and large, and the way to cut down your drinking is to buy less alcohol - not more!

The House of Lords have won the grudgeing respect of the left wing media by their [almost unprecidented in recent years] vote against the Government of the day in an area pertaining to public finance. The overturning of the proposed changes to working tax credits which critics say would have hit the poorest sections of the working public hardest, has been hailed as a vote for 'fair-play' in an otherwise unfair world. The measure, introduced some years ago in order to encourage people back to work into the low paid working sector from the dole has, as above, had almost the exact opposit effect from that which was intended. The cost to the exchequer has balooned from £4 billion to over £30 billion and much of that is spent in maintaining people in low weekly hours jobs who then claim maximum support to provide the bulk of their income. In the retail sector we have had an almost constant flow of people who will under no circumstances work over 12 or 16 hours per week, because if they do so the money they earn will be deducted from other state paid monies they recieve. That these monies should only be taken in case of true need does not occur to them, or impinge upon their csense of social justice if it does. Minimum work for maximum income is the order of the day - and if this effectively takes much needed bennefit frome more deserving cases, then so much the worse for them. There is no mechanism in place for the Dept. of Employment or Social Security to be informed if hours are turned down or deliberately kept below that which could effect state bennefits - and such information if proffered is deemed not significant to an individuals claim. In the light of these shortcomings, the government attempted to effect some changes to adress the issues - and were voted down by the upper house in making the attempt. It is unlikely that any of the peers voting have any experience of the way the system could be manipulated - or indeed any of the left-wing pundits who praised their actions. What is required to see the mechanics of how it works is a street-level view of its opperation - and that is something these people will never have.

[Iolanthe]

I used to buy 10s when I first started smoking, then again when I was trying to cut down!

[Avatar]

We've only relatively recently started selling 10 packs. Before that, you had to buy 20 or 30. (It's illegal to sell single cigarettes though...)

--A

[peter]

The wind blows,
A leaf falls.
Winter is coming.

[Dread Poet Jethro]

Winter is coming
The geese may be getting fat
But me? Not so much...

[peter]

[Avatar]

Forecast high in JHB today is 34°C. (94F)

--A

[peter]

A definite chill in the air last night; an almost, but not quite winters night.

edit; an hour or two later. Just learned of last nights horrific Paris attacks and my words above seem to take on a more 'chilling' significance. My resopnse in these minutes after learning of this latest atrocity is way more emotional than rational. My desire becomes almost immediately to exact revenge [I mean of course by our States, not personally] on the perpetrators of this outrage. Let us take the fight to these bastards and give them cause, in their dying moments of lucidity, to understand the consequences of this purile war they have unleashed on those who simply wish to be left alone to pursue their lives in peace. Of course this cannot be, but in my anger I feel almost unable to rein back my requirement for swift and bloody revenge to a more reasoned and sustainable approach. Thus are we all made monsters and the glory of the world does truly become less than it was.....

Thank heavens those whose job it is to decide how to respond to such provocations are cooler and beter people than me. Lets think today of the families and victims of these senseless, senseless acts of inhumanity.

[deer of the dawn]

I think this world is a very messed up place. :/

[Avatar]

Ah, the worlds is just fine. It's the people who are messed up. And the governments and the religions and the social systems.

--A

[peter]

Last week a Tory MP was lambasted by the press for having the gall to suggest that people receiving state benefits should not have 'Sky' TV but should content themselves with the numerous free to view channels which include all the major UK networks.

Well I agree wholeheartedly, but throw the ball firmly back into her court. The Chancellor has just performed the most egregious of U turns in the parties history in its failure to persue its much needed and necessary benefit reforms proposals, and until these are done people will continue to spend excess benefit monies on whatsoever 'luxuries' they choose. And while ever they are in receipt of this excess, a significant number will see no purpose in seeking out work that will pay so poorly that the lifestyle it will support will be significantly lower than the one they already enjoy in return for no work.

[Avatar]

Yeah, it's a fine line to walk...it should be enough to survive, but not so much that a salary isn't attractive.

--A

[peter]

Now we are bombing Syria, or rather IS held areas of Syria. For all my bluster elsewhere my heart is heavy at this development. Cameron says we must be in it for the long haul and no doubt he is correct - but I wish it were other.

[Avatar]

I wish it would actually make a difference. But it won't.

--A

[peter]

A 1000 word review of yesterdays headlines dissapears into the world of 'never-was' strapped to the back of a malcious gremlin that caused my screen to freeze, then all the text of my post to dissapear as though it never were. Thanks gremlin......Bastard!

Oh well, [resigned sigh] it wasn't much cop anyway.

[ussusimiel]

I think I've offered these tips before, peter, but for what it's worth:

• - anytime that you are preparing a post that involves a lot of thought (or more than 100 words) open a Word document (or a Notepad text document*) and copy (Ctrl A + Ctrl C) and paste (Ctrl V) it into that document.
  
  - as you are working on a post make sure to copy and paste the item regularly.
  
  - also copy and paste the final post, especially if you make corrections to it.
  
  - don't worry about the size of the text document that you create as text takes up very small amounts of memory. So just keep pasting in the new text without deleting the older version.**

I just use one document for copies of my KW posts, and open it and copy and paste into it whenever I'm putting a biggish post together.

I learned the hard way!

u.

* Your own device may already have a similar application on it already (maybe called 'Notes' or 'Writepad')

** I know that this goes against the grain of our more thrifty generation, but it isn't waste as we know it, as one high quality picture would probably take up as much space as a year's worth of your KW posts.