My Little Cleaver

Am I the only person who increasingly finds that modern envelopes do not have enough glue on them? Or the glue has been diluted? In any case, no amount of spittle will seal the envelope. So some kind of tape is required to do the job.

What kind of cost-cutting madness is this? Is this a prelude to a whole range of products that, in the name of economy, no longer meet requirements? Shorter staircases…lets save wood and jump the last couple of steps. Floorboards too thin to support a person’s weight. Lukewarm freezers…. Sound systems you can barely hear, even at maximum volume.. Perhaps solar clocks….

There is an advertising catch phrase I’ve heard on the TV that goes, ‘It does what it says on the tin’. It has entered the vernacular here in the UK. It seems to imply that nowadays just doing what it is supposed to deems a product miraculous!

Hear ye, manufacturers! Its not much to ask…

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I live in the old English university town of Cambridge. Along the river Cam, are some of the most beautiful old buildings in Europe. A trip I never tire of is a punt ride down this river, from which vantage point, the buildings are perhaps best admired. Far from the traffic, the lapping of water against the side of the boat as one drifts past the colleges that have stood there for so long has a deeply calming effect.

This is indeed a venerable ’seat of learning’. Great men and women have studied, researched and taught here for centuries. Many students have gone on to become world leaders or captains of industry. The feeling of proximity to the ‘corridors of power’ is tangible.

Yet on a trip to town on Monday, it was all to easy to forget this side of Cambridge. Read more »

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Last night I listened to my 57 yr old brother, and my 17 yr old daughter, bemoaning the armies of hoody wearing youths who prowl our urban landscape, terrorising the innocent. They even referred to them as ‘hoodies’.

This has to be the last word in senseless, prejudiced generalisation. The hoody is a very practical, affordable, modern garment. Large numbers of teenage boys wear them. Some of these boys find themselves going through an antisocial phase. Duh! Teenage boys have found it hard to stomach society ever since there’s been a society. Does this mean that anyone who wears a hoody should be treated as a dangerous criminal? Most of these ‘disaffected youth’ also wear trousers, have teeth, and sleep with their eyes closed. Are these characteristics we should view with more suspicion? Read more »

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Come what may, some time next year we are going to be asked to elect a new government. It is not an exciting prospect. 

Turnout in general elections went from 78.8% in 1974, to 59.4% in 2001. If from the total number of voters who did turn out you subtracted all the politicians, their staff and party delegates; all the media flunkeys who make a living reporting and commenting on the whole charade; and all the corporate cronies with vested interests in the outcome, how many ‘ordinary citizens’ would remain? Read more »

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Asked in May to review expenses by Downing Street, Sir Thomas Legg, a former civil servant, has applied new limits to categories like gardening (£1,000 a year) and cleaning (£2,000 a year). Both Gordon Brown, and Nick Clegg have made public their intentions to pay back money claimed for these activities.

Every household in the country would like the services of a cleaner and a gardener. Most of us either pay for these out of our pockets, or do without and do the work ourselves. Yet taxpayers are expected to fork out so Gordon Brown and company can keep the heirlooms dusted and their herbacious borders looking trim? In their second homes? Read more »

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Here is a sorry tale of modern day ineptitude.

My twin sons in New York bought their younger brother in England a birthday present. In good faith they mailed it to him at our home address. A considerable amount of time passed, after which we received a letter from Parcelforce Worldwide, informing us that HM Revenue & Customs had raised(?) a VAT charge of £18.44 on my son’s parcel. To this Parcelforce had added a Clearance Fee of £8. Delivery of the parcel was subject(?) to payment of charges totalling £26.44.

And so, a 14 year old boy must save up most of his pocket money for 3 weeks in order to receive his birthday present? Read more »

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I was browsing comments after watching this moving video clip. Most were full of praise and wonder. One stood out in opposition. The writer claimed global warming was a hoax, suggested the speech and video were part of a sinister political exercise, and most disturbingly, claimed the USA was ‘the most generous nation in the world’.

Quite how he thought that dubious fact countered what the young girl had said is beyond me. But it highlights a flaw in so many of our good intentions. We are confusing donating with sharing. They are not the same. Read more »

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So Madonna has told David Letterman and his audience that she doesnt like being called ‘Madge’. She said to Letterman: “You know, that’s one of the reasons I left England, so I don’t have to hear the word ‘Madge’ any more….” Read more »

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A long time ago, someone for the first time drew a line in the sand and indicated that everything their side of the line was theirs. And thus was the first border created. So began the long human history of border disputes, fights and wars.

From determining which part of the vegetable patch was whose, the use of borders grew to define first villages, then cities, and eventually countries and empires. However, one fundamental objection remained unanswered.

How can anyone claim exclusive ownership of even a grain of sand? Read more »

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In these times of easy travel, there is an unstoppable tide of ‘migrants’ heading for our materially blessed lands. They come from parts of the world with a daily diet of poverty, despair, violence and death. They are attempting to do what the bravest of us would do in their place. Against overwhelming odds, they want to escape a terrible life, to create a good one. They are our brothers and sisters.

Yet in every developed country, armies of angry, frightened citizens focus on protecting themselves rather than helping those in need.

The French authorities have undertaken to close down the ‘jungle’ of makeshift shelters and tents affording temporary homes for migrants around Calais. Where do they expect them to go? All this guarantees is that their miserable lives will be made even more difficult.

It fits in with a pattern of persecution of the less fortunate by governments everywhere. If you vote and pay taxes you must be protected from those that dont.

Heres a personal message to ALL world leaders. There is only one GOD, and you are not it. ALL God’s creatures are equally entitled and deserving of your respect and care. As long as you are protecting the ‘greedy bastards’, you are one of them. A greedy bastard, that is.

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