Pick a number

Do these politicians and government officials live on the same planet as me? Apparently inflation is at four-point-something percent and falling.  Really?  Then how come my standard weekly shop, which - boring person that I am - varies little from week to week, and which a year ago used to come in regularly at just under £40, now struggles not to exceed £50?  And whichever way you slice it, that's a increase of something like 20% or more.  Four-point-something - don't make me laugh!

Ha ha

It was autumn, and the American Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. 

Since he was a modern Indian Chief he had never been taught the old secrets, so when he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. 

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared. 

But also being a practical man, a few days later he 'phoned the National Weather Service (US equivalent of the Met Office) and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?" 

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed," the Meteorologist at the Weather Service responded. So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared. 

One week later he called the National Weather Service again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" 

"Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter." 

The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find. 

Two weeks later he called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?" 

"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever." 

"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked. 

The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting wood like crazy."

The wheel turns...

I'm old enough to remember when audio cassette recorders made their first appearance, and the music industry were up in arms because people could now borrow the latest hit record from a mate and make a copy of it for their own use (OK, reel to reel tape recorders had been around for some years, but they weren't commonplace).  Shock horror!!  Then it happened again with the advent of video recorders - you could now record a film off the telly and watch it again and again. The film industry couldn't see beyond the money they would be losing.  Of course in time both the music and film people saw that these innovations were in fact business opportunities and that there was the potential for them to make far more than they might lose by any so-called "piracy".  And now it's all happening again with the internet and its ability to "stream" content to users, and you'd think that people would have learned from the past - but no, apparently.  The vested interests are trying to get legislation passed in the US which would allow them to dictate just who is allowed to see what on the net - and its affects would be felt well beyond the States.  Plenty of opposition but also plenty of money behind those seeking such a law.  Let's hope common sense prevails.

Erratum

I said that John Barrowman (Captain Jack in Torchwood, among many other things) is American.  Well it seems that he isn't - he was born in Glasgow and despite having moved to America when he was a young lad, remains a Scot.  Happy to put the record straight.

Here we go again.

First it was Gary McKinnon (see post dated 4/9/08) and now our extradition treaty with the US comes under more scrutiny and criticism following a ruling that a young man who has never been to the States and who almost certainly has committed no offence in this country (and certainly has not been charged with one) can be extradited to face trial over there.  There has to be something wrong with an arrangement that produces such a result, surely?  Let's hope it is overturned on appeal.

Please Miss.....

I'm sure you know the old adage "those who can, do; those who can't, teach".  Bit unflattering but like many of these old sayings, there's more than a grain of truth in there.  A lot of teachers are where they are not out of any sense of vocation, but simply for want of anything better.  Not surprisingly, many such teachers tend to be not very good, and as they have no passion for the job, the children they teach are not inspired and don't learn much. The Education Secretary has plans to make it easier to get rid of such underperforming teachers, and despite the understandable opposition of the unions, this is clearly a right move.  The welfare of the child should be paramount, and kids only get one shot at school, so if that means more bad teachers find themselves out of a job, I'm sure most parents would go along with that.

Madame from Armentières??

I'm obviously behind the times, because apparently "fräulein" as a form of address for an unmarried woman in German has now more or less gone out of use, and it seems that "mademoiselle" in French may be going the same way.  As a mere man I don't quite understand this, although the thrust of most of the comments (from women) I have read are along the lines of "my marital status is nobody's business but mine".  Typically in English we seem to have gone for a compromise solution by introducing the new neutral title "Ms" for those who do not wish to declare themselves as "Miss" or "Mrs".  At least it solves the problem of how you address a reply to someone who has signed a letter simply "Jane Smith" or whatever.  Mrs and Miss by the way are both diminutives of the same word - mistress.

Yum, yum.

When the going gets tough, do we look for comfort food?  Greggs, who specialise in takeaway pies and pasties has apparently seen sales rise significantly towards the back-end of last year.  Is there a connection?

It's my life, damn it!

Happy or healthy - it seems you have to make a choice.  Over the last few years there have been a series of reports linking something or other to an increased risk of an illness or a reduction in life expectancy - and it's invariably something nice that you would not willingly give up.  Of course, you can take a lot of no notice, but the problem is that others do and it may - probably will - affect what you can buy.  Crisps have become like cardboard these days, as they've reduced and reduced the amount of fat in them.  I used to love my supermarket's cajun chicken ready meal because it was made with chicken breast with the skin on, but guess what - the skin has disappeared.  They also used to do a very tasty sweet chili pork noodle dish which is no longer to be found, and when I enquired about it I was told it had been taken off sale as it no longer complied with the store's "healthy eating" policy.  So - happy or healthy?  I know which I would choose - if only I were given the choice!

Och aye??

I've been down this road before, but the question of a referendum on Scottish Independence has raised its head once more, so once more I ask - why should the decision be restricted to the Scots (however you choose to define them)?  Surely it is a matter on which we are all entitled to have our say?  If you are seeking to break up the United Kingdom, that is a matter which affects all members of the UK and on which we should all have a vote.  The current Scottish approach smacks of nationalistic arrogance.