Thursday 18 December 2014

Saturday 4 October 2014

Chance and Coincidence [and some random notes]

Minecraft is being bought by Microsoft?

Friday, September 19 is Huntrodds' Day - A beautiful explanation of chance and co-incidence.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04gyqtg 
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250 years of the Gothic ...most think the genre was started by Horace Walpole but in fact it was Ann Radcliffe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Radcliffe
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Syrian Kurdish refugees fleeing IS 'grateful' to US for air strikes by Paul Wood
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29337266
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Michael Mosley - Should we eat meat? [Horizon BBC 2 - 18 August 2014]
Unfortunately no longer available on iPlayer. 

The Finance Minister of Italy,  Pier Carlo Padoan says that [7 years on] Italy is back in recession.  There is 40% youth unemployment.  They will pursue a policy of encouraging inflation?


Lord Rothschild says that there is a risk of assets being over valued Stating the bleedin' obvious?


Lambing live is on Ewe Tube!






Rip Off Grocers [ROGered again!]

The Moth - story telling collective.

Inside Science
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/inscience 
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FEM

The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis sounds like a book I might not read.  Just too chilling! 

Badger Cull
Wales has increased testing and they have reduced TB by 50% in a short time.  Why do we continue to shoot badgers in England, it is a nonsense!  Policies MUST be evidence based and this one clearly isn't.

Where are all the wasps this year? [mentioned on BBC Radio 4 September 2014]

MPs' Pay
Wages have declined since the Crash by a tenth except MPs' wages.  Thieves!

The Post Office's Horizon computer system made mistakes.  No really? A result around 150 sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted and some ended up in prison.  This was without doubt "callous and inhumane".  Computer systems are NOT infallible, as they are designed by people.  Duh!  I found this story deeply saddening as my Dad used to work behind the counter.

House prices still rising stupidly.  Look, Osborne, if it looks like a housing bubble, it's a housing bubble, idiot!  This will mean more debt and so we'll all be poorer in future.


Ball's Austerity

There was a piece on Radio 4 reporting on the Labour Party Conference this year.  Apparently Ball's Austerity is "different" from Osborne's Austerity.  Osborne said under Ball's plan the National Debt would rise and rise.  I'm sorry but isn't that exactly what it has been doing under Osborne?  Why isn't the BBC and the media challenging these barefaced lies?  In case you wanted to know the broad figures for the Gross National Debt, here they are:
FY 2015*£1.36 trillion
FY 2014£1.26 trillion
FY 2013£1.19 trillion
FY 2012£1.10 trillion
FY 2011£0.91 trillion
FY 2010£0.76 trillion
FY 2009£0.62 trillion
FY 2008£0.53 trillion     
 *The forecast is estimated by The Treasury

So under Osborne the Gross National Debt has pretty well DOUBLED!
















































































































































































































Monday 15 September 2014

Heard on Aunty Beeb [in no particular order]

Petro Poroshenko - President of Ukraine
Interview by Steve Sackur
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04j9m1r/hardtalk-petro-poroshenko-president-of-ukraine  
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Sapiens - A brief history of mankind
The BBC have not left much time to listen to this!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04g8s9y  
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The Philosopher's Arms
Philosophy is such fun!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lyb82/episodes/player  
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China's Island Factory
This is just extraordinary.  Whilst the World is focused on 'Islamic State', this is happening largely unreported. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_8701/index.html  
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Piss problems
My grandmother used to go on about this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04g8kc9 
[Link opens in new window] 

Media and the Middle East
A fascinating and balanced look at Israel, etc.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04gnhnv
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Virgin vs Google

I have not been here for a while because apparently my email address is no longer compatible with my Google account.  WTF? No explanation just 'change it'.  So, I try to log onto an old email account at mail.com and they have manged to fuck it up.  Oh joy!  Then I try my Yahoo ID and they've fucked that up as well.  But to be fair they did [after a few days and emails] manage to recover it for me.  But what a rigmarole!  So now I use a Yahoo email to log onto my Google account.  More bloody passwords to remember!

Since I last scribbled here, a few things have happened!

Gaza
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said this.  Chief Rabbi: Israel would not survive without weapons [Link opens in new window]

Annie K. Lamont @Radio4
Dundee history - 'Postal War Memorial Shrine' - listen to the 1921 letter written by Annie K Lamont.  A letter from a telegraph clerk to the 21st Century.  Astonishing letter from WW1 [Link opens in new window]

Wow!  How do they do that @Radio4
Searched Google.  Had to use another search engine to find it.  Useless!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0383jgn [Link opens in new window] 

Vicky Pryce
So we have a convicted liar advising the Government on the Economy.  From the little I have read ...she is another economist who hasn't a clue what is going on!  Economists should all be forced to read "The Grip of Death" by Michael Rowbotham [1999]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicky_Pryce [Link opens in new window] 

Funding for Lending
This stupid policy was stopped as it was Funding for Bonuses, if any bank took part at all.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18460302  [Link opens in new window]

Household Debt
This reached a record £1.4 trillion earlier this year.  Do the Government still not get it? Too much debt caused the crash in the first place!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26286278 [Link opens in new window]
 



 

Saturday 24 May 2014

Just some thoughts

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England said on house prices recently, "...if they are turning into something unsustainable..." he would act to curb mortgage lending.  The Bank of England Financial Policy Committee said they are noticing "...higher loan to income mortgage ratios..." They may have to act to curb mortgage lending. Did they not notice what happened leading up to the Credit Crunch which precipitated the Great Recession?

The Office for National Statistics has said that house price inflation [March figures] is now 8% and 16% in London.  There has also been an unexpected rise in inflation to 1.8%. This, as no action has been taken by the Bank of England, is considered sustainable?  Are they complete morons?  Still I did warn about the Trojan Horse that is Carney before his appointment!

I could wrong but I think I heard that the figures are now 9% and 18% in London.  It's a housing bubble, I mean come on!

"Demand for housing is all about the price of credit."  Merryn Somerset-Webb, FT, Moneyweek.  Forget supply and demand for houses being the supply of houses.  It is not!

Mark Twain on land "Folks will always want it and they ain't making it anymore!"

"Who owns Britain" by Kevin Cahill 

Simon Evans goes to Market - Episode 1 Land
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0435p0k 

"The Price of Inequality" by Joseph Stiglitz - I should probably read this book!

As the Bank of England have now confirmed that Positive Money's research on money and banking is correct.  Go visit the following to arm your self with some actually facts!  http://positivemoney.org
 

Monday 27 January 2014

Casting Call Pro

Apparently after four years of nothing this HTML code might lead to something.  I have a small digital studio and I write music.  www.myspace.com/krysvsmusic
Casting Call Pro