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Half of UK not saving enough for retirement, says study
This is from The Guardian today:
Only 51% of British workers are saving adequately for old age, according to the latest annual Scottish Widows pension report
So after ripping us off for the last many years and with people like me seeing my yearly statements getting smaller and smaller is it any surprise that we have given up on saving for retirement.
When the government (the last one admittedly) use the pension’s as their personal treasure chest why should we top is up for them again, after all in 10 – 15 years New New Labour will be back in place doing the same thing again.
I am glad that 51% of people are not taken in by the con that is “your pension pot”, it is not yours the pension companies will take their “management” regardless of how they are managing the pot and the government will take what they want when they want it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jun/07/half-uk-not-saving-retirement
Command tunnels at Dover reopen
Something for the weekend I feel.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/dunkirk-at-dover-castle/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9505000/9505731.stm
My ‘five guarantees’ on future of NHS
So our glorious leader has pledged:
The NHS will remain a universal service
Changes will improve “efficient and integrated care” not hinder it
Hospital waiting times will be “kept low”
NHS spending will be increased, not reduced
The NHS will not be sold off and competition will benefit patients
Looking at the pledges they do not fill me with confidence nothing quantifiable.
What is a universal service?
Food delivery is a universal service but not run by the state.
What does
“kept low” mean?
“not reduced” add 10 pence a year and you have kept that one.
And this one is fantastic.
The NHS will not be sold off, I am not too sure that anyone was worried about that bit it is the second part that people worry about competition will benefit patients.
This is the crux of the matter and to be honest there is a case to be made that the NHS should not be concerning itself with routine things all the time, if you had a local company that would run a single simple medical procedure e.g. ingrowing tow nails then the local hospital would not need to concern itself the ingrowing tow nails company should be able to specialise is a simple task and relieve that pressure from the local NHS trust.
Once all of the silly little things have been removed from the lumbering NHS organisation it would get on with the big things that smaller outfits would find too costly or specialist to do.
So yes I believe that the work in the NHS can successfully split between private & public, slim the delivery of the NHS down and let the private sector take over the routine things and let the private sector do it’s economies of scale bit and leave the NHS in a leaner and more specialist organisation rather than a lumbering monolith that is is today.
I do hope that our glorious leader remembers the lesions of recent history with pledges, he needs to deliver or he will have the same slump of support as Mr Clegg.
American Tit of the day
From his son: You don’t want to see your dad dressing up in a wedding dress, waving at you on the bus.
Poor sod.
Tit of the day
Of all the things to name your boat it is Titanic II, I am glad the Gods of karmic justice had the time to sink the boat.
Impossible questions
It looks like the OCR exam body and then AQA exam board have got together to write impossible questions to go on exams this year.
How can this be allowed to happen, does anyone check the papers?
Then again the education my children have is almost useless to why should the standards of the papers be any different?
Angelika Dries-Jenkins
This poor lady has been bludgeoned to death after someone broke into her home went into her kitchen and got her heavy marble pestle and mortar, when they had killed her they then stole her car possibly the point of the robbery.
I do hope that the catch the scum and that they are imprisons for the remainder of their miserable life and I hope that anyone who knows who has done this will go to the police and hand them in and show that actions like this will not be seen as acceptable.
RIP Angelika Dries-Jenkins and my hart felt thoughts go out to the rest of her family.
Deficit reduction plans are ‘the rock’
It is nice to see a position who is not flip flopping like bit of cheap plastic on the end of someones feet and who will be discarded just as easily at the end of a session.
However the chancellor could do well to remember that the best rock is the one that will become the mill stone and you may not want that mill stone around your neck.
Cost of running a car jumps 20%
Drivers are paying at least 20 per cent more to run their cars than they were a year ago.
Only 20% I wish that was the case but is is way more than that for me, it is my fault I guess after all I am one of the people who go to work. My commute is just over an hour either way and I travel 40 miles each way. My petrol costs are just over £100 per week up from £50 per week a year ago, sadly my wages have not gone up in line with the fuel and tax on fuel.
There will come a time when it is not sustainable and I will need to quit, I am not there just yet but I am not too far away from it and then what, they I will be a drain on the economy rather that someone how contributes.
What fuc*ing choice do I have?
What fuc*ing choice do I have 
Extremist websites to be blocked
Extremist websites to be blocked under new plans to tackle radicalisation
And just how decides what extremist is? Just a thought.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2000144/Extremist-websites-blocked-new-plans-tackle-radicalisation.html#ixzz1Oa1MeUSF