WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[hartley353]

The ones laughing all the way to the bank will be George Soros, Mark Cuban, Warren Buffet, and Li Ka Shing,with quite a long queue behind them. I read an article by an American financier many years ago who attempted to explain how the stock market works, it was incredibly complex and very open to corruption,at the end of the explanation he summed it up by saying. For every one who makes a dollar some one somewhere loses a dollar. when the populace of the USA were encouraged to put their savings and college funds into the Market Many lost all, and the rest were financially damaged for the rest of their lives

[Tizer]

Kev's post on the energy thread caught my attention today and I wanted to bring it to more people's attention if possible...
http://www.oneguyfrombarlick.co.uk/view ... 589#p33587

Also catching my attention were the comments above about the stock market. It's time we admitted that as far as the stock market and the so-called financial services industry is concerned, the Emperor is definitely without clothes. We've been well and truly conned, and for centuries too. It's just a scheme for making money for those who run it. It operates a bit like wave power and tidal power generators - you make it (energy or money) whether water's going up or down. They don't want a stable market or stable companies, you can't make energy from a wave power generator if the sea's flat, so you prefer to have instability. In fact the moneymakers are cleverer than the tidal power folk because the moneymakers create and control the waves too.

[Stanley]

Dead right Tiz. They tell us a money market like the stock exchange is essential and blind us with science to prove it. Same argument at the moment about bonuses, bankers and banks will migrate. Goebbels once said that the 'big lie' was the most efficient one!

On a separate subject, the moderators are pedalling hard at the moment banning spam posters. Not as bad as it was a while ago but there is a constant trickle of bogus registrations and posts. Our street cleaners are working well and it's good if all members know that this is happening.

Hugo Chavez has lost his fight against cancer. Love him or hate him the poor of Argentina idolised him and any man who describes high Catholic officials as 'devils in vestments' can't be all bad!

Just heard an interesting statistic that highlights the effect inflation can have on poorer families. 750,000 households in UK spend more than 25% of their weekly disposable income on running a car. One would think that these are mainly families who have to run a car to get to work and any statistic of general inflation means nothing to them. Add the higher inflation on other essential services and purchases and it's a gloomy picture.

[David Whipp]

Someone (LCC?) has painted white lines around the potholes on Rainhall Road for the second year running. But only the holes towards the top of the road have been marked out.

The county council are telling me that all the urgent potholes in Barnoldswick have been dealt with... I'm surprised that the massive hole near the chippy isn't considered urgent. Folk living nearby must be fed up of all the traffic to the industrial area bouncing over it.

[PanBiker]

Walked down the Cornmill yesterday and noticed that the utility company that opened up the setts with a trench have backfilled and finished of with tarmac!

I assume this will only be a temporary measure and the setts will be put back?

[hartley353]

Sound words by tizer. During the mid nineties I was sitting in a bar in Salford when a well dressed gentleman came in,he took the bar stool next to me and struck up a conversation. It seems he had missed his train and had an hour to pass till the next one, 45 minutes passed quickly and we covered many subjects, till he noticed my paper was folded at the markets page,he enquired if I dabbled ,and asked if he could offer me a tip. The company he pointed out was a Bio Tech business and worth a punt. The shares were at £3.37 and i bought some 39 days later I sold at £25.70, the stock then went on to max at over £28.00,before crashing into obscurity. It would be nice to meet this gentleman again and treat him to a good dinner. But the big question is how did he know and how rich is he now.

[Tardis]

Yesterday:

Rolls Royce on £1.5 billion profit paid no UK corporation tax & actually received over £200 million in capital allowances and grants

[Tardis]

Walked down the Cornmill yesterday and noticed that the utility company that opened up the setts with a trench have backfilled and finished of with tarmac!

I assume this will only be a temporary measure and the setts will be put back?

These were out on Sunday when we walked by. Must be a slilled job putting the setts back

[Big Kev]

the fresh beetroot I got today, with a sweet potato, a turnip and a courgette from Pumpkins in Albert Rd. I hope it does well. I'll be roasting these with some onions and fresh tomatoes for tea.

[Tardis]

Last night's West Craven Area Committee of Pendle, with regard to the new school:

To formalize the agreement for the site of the West Craven Sports
Centre Sports Hall, to allow the construction of the new accesses for
the proposed primary school and more clearly to define the County
Council’s existing rights of vehicle and pedestrian access over the
Council’s land

Finding it odd that different divisions of public office are fighting over where a bureaurcratic line is drawn over publically owned land, and of course these are public servants being paid for out of the public purse.

[Tardis]

& today I got this email from the NHS:

will get involved in NHS Sustainability Day on 28 March and one of the ways to do this is through planting "2 trees at 2pm" as part of the NHS Forest.

Your Trust might not know about the NHS Forest - in which case this would be a great time to tell them! Or they may already be planning to take part - in which case could you encourage staff and patients from the kidney unit to join in the occasion?

These are the places signed up so far:

Leicestershire Partnership Trust
University Hospital, Coventry
Yorkshire Ambulance Service
Cambridge University Hospital
The Whittington Hospital
Kent and Medway
Barts London
Airedale Hospital
Doncaster, Rotherham and South Humber MHT
Central Lancashire Trust
Oxford University Hospital
Llanberis GP surgery
Liverpool Women’s Hospital
Sussex Partnership Trust
Buckinghamshire Healthcare
NHS Sustainable Development Unit
York University
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust
Royal United hospital Bath
If your Trust is on the list but you are not sure who would be the link person in the Trust, please contact Sarah Dandy

http://www.nhssustainabilityday.co.uk/

http://nhsforest.org/

I note, none from Lancashire

[Stanley]

Have a look at this LINK and then wonder what kids won't do to get instant 'fame'.

[Tardis]

I filled in the paperwork for a medical study on Monday and last night I had the first MRI scan of the study

Seems that when the NHS is paid for non-urgent work, the system bends over backwards to get the stuff done.

Still waiting on my GP to admit that he didn't read my last consultant's letter (3 months ago)

[Stanley]

The convolutions in the Huhne case and the allegations about who knew the truth. A small glimpse into the inner workings of the Westminster Bubble. Can't help thinking about the decent honest MPs who must be absolutely furious at this latest blow to the reputation of politics. One thing is certain, it can't help appreciation of the Real World!

[Tardis]

If setting up a new business the first advice you receive is:

The top 10 ways to minimise your tax liability

[Tardis]

Sitting in Victoria's Tea rooms and asked whether the young lady that I was with was my daughter

When I said no, there were no further questions

[Stanley]

The latest abuse allegations in Scotland which has been relatively free from such problems but it appears the O'Brien scandal has unblocked some sort of a blockage in the system. Meanwhile in Rome the Convocation of cardinals starts meeting on Tuesday in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new pope. A shadow hanging over them is that some of them are tainted by association with similar allegations. One thing seems certain, whoever is chosen as the new pope will have to be squeaky clean! That may cut the field down a bit.
The man arrested after the 16 year old girl was killed with a single stab wound on the bus in Birmingham on the way to school has been sectioned. A tragedy, is this another case of lack of resources leading to errors in assessment and containment of dangerous people?
I wrote my article yesterday on Mongrels and this morning I had nice mail from my mate Bob telling me it was a good one. Nice start to the day!
I forgot to mention earlier in the week that my latest email to the CEOs of the Co-op Group and the Food Group seem to have worked. Ten packets of Condor were delivered at Barlick on Monday so I bought the lot and asked the ladies to re-order immediately to see if the stock programme responds. Now, I wonder whether they'll do anything about Coleman's dry mustard powder..... My bad habits need feeding!

[Thomo]

Tardis, I was asked that question whilst sheltering from the rain in the ex post office doorway with a young Woman friend many years younger than I. Before I could come out with a suitable answer she put her arm around me and said "No he's my lover and a damn good one too" suddenly I didn't mind the rain any more!!!

[Tardis]

The extraordinary generosity of some people

[Stanley]

The fitters installing the stovepipe on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. They have two stoves, one for black smoke and one for white which signals they have agreed. All papers are burned for secrecy. I wonder if they have a designated firebeater? Does he have a course of instruction before the convocation? Imagine the confusion if there was a cock-up!

[Tizer]

I hope that Ian (Panbiker) listened to this week's Radio 4 `Point of View' which was about Dame Mary Cartwright's role in developing the concept of chaos theory through her work on radio waves. Details of the talk are here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21713163 and the podcast can be downloaded from here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/pov
I was pleased to hear the success of a woman scientist being celebrated by the BBC in the same week that they had made a big fuss about a woman who had been a success in the arts without even mentioning all those women scientists, technologists and engineers who now have successful careers.

On a related topic, this morning's BH programme had a discussion on the day's newspapers in which a participant promoted one of my own pet rants - to have a fully functioning democracy you must educate your people to a level sufficient to allow them to make critical and meaningful judgments on the issues of the day. Another pointed out that the future of the UK lay in engineers, not in bankers. Another contribution was to quote the 19th Century politician Robert Lowe who said, after the 1867 reform Act: "We must educate our masters" and he also stressed the importance of the physical sciences as opposed to classical studies. Nothing much has changed - there are almost no scientists, technologists or engineers in the House of Commons, let alone in government.

[Thomo]

There is a great deal of truth in what you say there Tizer. We often watch University Challenge, the number of participants studying The Classics and the Arts, ancient and modern are greater than those who are studying the Sciences, Physics and Engineering, the former may be necessary, but the latter is essential in these times.

[hartley353]

Our universities are full of people seeking an easy degree,mostly from this country. Many fine engineers have left our top universities but most have come from foreign climes Iran and india has supplied us with fine students who have the capacity to become world leading engineers,and most have attained this standard. To be a good engineer you have to have good mathematics, we in this country seem unable to educate our children to this standard. From the press I have read many times that the students reaching universities are having to be taught the basics.The schools in this country are not educating our children, and rising exam passes are not indicative of better education but proof of a drop in standards.

[Thomo]

Another post that says it all. I once had scorn poured upon me by a direct entry Lieutenant (university to Naval schoolteacher) for suggesting that a lack of engineers was due to many youngsters not wanting to get their hands dirty. On the other side of that particular coin, I learned more about maths from a young Naval Engineer Officer than I ever did at school, and much quicker, he was brilliant and earned my undying respect. Engineering is a wonderful trade, and carries a great deal of job satisfaction, an apptitude for creativity is beneficial and not all people have this, but there are few things more rewarding than producing an object that is not only functional but has form and beauty, be it a turbine blade or a complete narrowboat.

[Nolic]

I have a son studying engineering at university currently achieving 2:1 or first class marks. He has been trying for months to obtain an internship with an engineering company anywhere in the North West during the forthcoming summer vacation. Only today he has submitted 2 more applications. He has reduced his sights from an aerospace placement. through general engineering and he is now scraping around for anywhere that has a hint of engineering in its processes.

How can we achieve top level engineers if our current manufacturing firms are not prepared to give young people the opportunity to gain first hand experience on which they can build? He is now thinking that his only option is to work in a pub again over the holidays and earn as much as he can to fund a masters degree. Nolic