The Euro is Coming!!!!

As of midnight tonight I am reliably informed that all Pay and Display parking meters in Kent will only accept Euro's. This is a trial ordered by Westminster and will last for 12 hours until midday. Apparantly it is to get us all used to the pound being replaced by the Euro. Change will be given in Euro/cents. Don't forget the date. The trial finishes at 1200hrs.

Bus Passes

From next wednesday (April 1st although its no joke) bus passes, so loudly shouted as available for travel across the whole country, will not be valid on any service where 51% of the seats CAN be booked in advance. This effectively rules out loads of national express routes. Governments comment is that ' bus passes were only intended for local use'. My point being, little or no publicity has been given to the implications of this new legislation.

G20

Next week London will host the band of folk called G20. Should we encourage or discourage the inevitable protesters who will strive to get their voice heard by the delegates? Or should we let the great and good get on with their deliberations?

Brown a 'Plonker' ?

I see some folk have 'had a go' because I called a certain Prime minister a 'Plonker'. Well lets look at the facts, 2 million + unemployed, the pound trading at about 1 euro, Banks going to the wall, and those who saved hard for their old age getting returns on their savings of less than 1%.(less tax). Sorry, but that equates to a 'Plonker' in my view. (please bear in mind I do have a political aspect to my life). If Mr Brown had not been chancellor for all those years I might well have been a little less harsh, but not so. (oh yes , I forgot to mention 'our troops' being killed in Iraq)

TDC rises in the tables.

Nice to see that when Labour lost control of TDC we were 345ish in the 'I want to be a good Council' table. We are now in the top 50ish. Good going I think.

Enforced holiday

Hello all,

Now got the old desk top back on the road, and ready for the fray.

Firstly thanks to Michael, Don, and Tony Beachcomber for their help.

Secondly no thanks to Microsoft or the firm I bought the bloo** computer from. Hey Ho, Thats life.

Now I see we have the highest unemployment since 1997, the lowest returns on our savings since who knows when (why does that not apply to mortgages?) AND a prime minister who is a plonker. (no change there then).

Met a good friend of mine at PC world today, great to chat about old times, but more revealing to us was that , although we are on different sides of the political divide, we agreed that the area is going forward in the right way.

Dodgy Convictions

Last month I posted about Eddie Gilfoyle who had been convicted of murder and was appealing against his conviction, on the ground that the evidence had been 'tampered with or withheld'. Today I read that Jeremy Bamber is in a similar situation, I am convinced that The Death Penalty is something we can be proud that our Country did away with.

jobs, jobs, jobs, oh, sorry No Jobs

Months ago I blogged under the heading 'Labour isn't Working' In todays Observer I see that labour may be working (at spinning and smeering) but for those unfortunate enough to have no job there are 60 0f them for each vacant post in the south east. Its all very well having free bus passes and reduced charges for the old, young and disabled (and I would support those things in a society that could sustain them) , but its the working people that pay for these 'add ons' and if people are not working they cannot be funded . And that is why Thanet Council and Kent County Council are trying their hardest to attract investors and employers to Thanet. ( apologies to those of you who are not politically minded, but as a conservative and local councillor I am, and its my site.)

Pricing of alcohol

I see the Government's Chief Medical Officer recomends that the price of alcoholic drink should be regulated by taxation.

Forgive me if I am mistaken , but I thought duty was already taken on booze. What we are really talking about is an increase in the price for the purpose of plugging a hole in the governments budget. I suspect that the news of the CMO's idea has been leaked now to 'soften' us up for an inevitable price hike in the budget.

Though I could be wrong and it is really a lifeline for the ferry industry, making the good old 'Booze Cruise' a popular day out again.

site for anyone who gets 'non posted' at cllr nottingham's site

ok go for it . if cllr nottingham does not publish your comment, i will if its legal.

Euro Cash Casino

I see our beloved Business Secretary has managed to secure a great deal from the European Commission. (unfortunately its for him not us). £468,000 over three years! Well done that man. Especially in view of his comments about those Bankers who got huge bonuses for doing a bad job.

No wonder the labour party want us to trade the pound for the euro.

Broadstairs Crime

Crime, and the perception of crime is the being dealt with by a partnership between Thanet District Council, Broadstairs Town Council, and the Police.

Part of this task is being performed by the University of Kent. As a Broadstairs and St Peters District Councillor I am involved in this process and have a direct input into the University's work.

Whilst I can get round the streets of my ward, I will not be knocking on every door,(there will be enough of politicians 'bothering' residents in the lead up to the Euro and County Elections in June), so if anyone has views, please let me know, Its your chance to influence the future course of public safety in Broadstairs and St Peters.

computers and non computers

Help!!!!!!!!

Desk top has died, any ideas of local 'fixers' to mend it. ? (sorry no dodgy stuff on the hard drive)

Farming

Those of you who know me will be aware that my third job is that of a smallholder.

Last night on TV it was made apparant why the EU and our government are killing the UK's agricultural industry.

As from next year all sheep born will have to have an electronic tag inserted as opposed to an ear tag. The 'modern tag' costs £1.55p. the old ear tag 22p. As approx 8% of new lambs die, that is a serious amount of money wasted.

Result, we all have to buy New Zealand Lamb with the consequential air miles.

Me , I've gone over to rare breed pigs, better on the bar b q and less paper work/ electronics .

(and better for a sunday roast)

THE THANET BUDGET

Lots of news on the blog sites about how the District Council's Budget will affect us all. I think it may help to put the matter into perspective:-

If you live in an 'average' band 'D' house it will cost an extra £7..80p a year. Any other rise comes from KCC, the Fire Authority, The Police Authority,and ,if applicable, your very own parish council or Charter trustees.

When you look at it like that I would contend that its a good budget.

Vanishing Bloggers

I am sad to see that a couple of our long established bloggers are 'mothballing' their keyboards for the time being. I may not have agreed with either of them all the time, but their views were always worth a read.

I hope they will be back soon.

Ps the picture is called 'Vanishing Giants'

The Death Penalty

The Eddie Gilfoyle case demonstrates why we should not return the death penalty to our legal system. If this man is proved innocent how would we have 'compensated' him for the taking of his life?

Sevenoaks Election Labour Loses!!

B****Y H**L

What have the people of that area done.? They have only gone from left wing to ultra right wing!!

I have no particular love of the Labour Party, ( To the few who do not know I left them a few years ago) but They do need to get their house in order if the are losing one of their traditional seats to the BNP.

Me, I would prefer to see Labour on the up rather than the BNP. I find their views abhorrent.

Packaging

The big debate this morning on Radio Kent was about packaging, 'Is there two much packaging on food?'

An interesting debate, but one that I am unsure which side I am on.

Do I want tomatoes that someone else has squeezed and sneezed over, or do I want them pre-washed and packed? Are potatoes better washed (so I do not pay for the mud) or are they better and easier to carry in a plastic bag?

As a final thought, why cant I have a plastic carrier bag. After food use it makes an excellant dog bag.

Cricket NOT

What the hell is going on in Antigua?

I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend of cricket after the heated debates of Thursday and friday. Now I am set for a weekend of being a human punchbag by my grandchildren.

I always thought cricket was the sport of gentlemen, now football is looking almost attractive!!!