Saturday 29 October 2011

Pay increases

The news that the average pay increase for top executives has been 49% this year is deeply worrying.
The deputy Prime Minister says it is a slap in the face - I have to hope that is an understatement.
It is a total outrage and the real problem with these things is there will never be a rebalancing 49% cut.

Sunday 23 October 2011

Gaddafi

A man is beaten up by a mob and shot.  Should we be concerned ? Should we only be bothered if we like the person ? or do some people deserve to be shot and given a taste of their own medicine ?

I am not keen on the death penalty,  but I accept there are strong arguments for executing some people.
But death at the hands of a mob ? It's not a good way to start a new regime.

If it had been an action order by Gaddafi, it would rightly been seen as a crime, so do we wish to replace Gaddafi with something better or something much the same or worse?   It is strange to hear news report talk about people having waited 40 years for liberation form his rule, as if no-one had ever supported him. I suspect that at many times he had more popular support than our own Prime Minister.

Of course only a cynic would suggest this is about oil - which is why British Oil Companies are already trying to get lucrative contracts in place.

who do you think you are

Comedian Jeremy Hardy is well known to fans of Radio 4 programmes like the news quiz and I'm sorry I haven't a clue - but as he says, he not quite famous enough to be asked to do those ancestor research programmes like who do you think you are.

Instead he has embarked on his own research to trace his ancestors.

It is an amusing book, as one would hope.  Interestingly, like I suspect most people, it seems his ancestors are on the whole, ordinary people in his case, from surrey and hampshire,  so although he has a longing for something a bit more exotic and follows the trials of family legends about lost lands, decent from Sir Christopher Wren and mysterious deaths in police custody -  to find out what happens - read the book!  I like the bit where he get excited as having discovered the grave of Sarah Bell, only for his partner to point out that it is the grave of Sarah Bee.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Library Books

How to be smart with your money - Duncan Bannatyne  isbn 978-1-4091-1713-1

A very good book about financial management of household budgets. It's not about cutting out coupons or price comparisons or saving a tenner.  It's about the fundamentals of finance and your relationship with money.

It's very jargon free and offers advice on how to decide whether you need to buy stuff, savings, good and bad borrowing etc.