ID Theft & Other Things

Hi,

Bob here...

There are so many things happening in the news lately, I'm finding it difficult not to write more than once a week. Froggy would probably tell me to let it slide, because he believes that no one will take a blind bit of notice what I say anyhow. I'd like to think that you are all very caring people, proving to me that he can be wrong once in a while.

As I was pottering around my garden the other day, trimming some of the shrubs and generally tidying up here and there, a strange and yet interesting thought suddenly occurred to me. Every now and again, the world's astronomers and scientists frequently speak about the prospect of visiting one of the planets in our solar system, where, so we are told, they would attempt to terraform the land for possible habitation in the future. Through trials carried out here on Earth, they believe that such an undertaking could be successful. However, I feel that I must ask the following pertinent question: why do they think that they have the right to go to another world, terraform it so that the planet could sustain human life, when in our present day society, we have proven to be quite incapable of looking after the very planet we all currently live on? I would say this, don't start thinking about spending billions in order to get to other worlds, until you can put your own house in order first!

Lately in the news, something that won't go away, like a dose of the pox, is this plan to introduce ID cards for everyone who lives in the UK. In an article I read yesterday, Froggy would say at this point that you shouldn't believe everything you read ;), and I'm sure he's right, a government official explained that ID cards were the best way of ensuring that people are exactly who they say they are. Jeez! Now how's that for a thicko statement? For me, once all the crooks learn how to forge these cards, and they surely will, make no mistake about it, no one's ID is going to be safe. When there are hackers capable of breaking into the most secure institutions in the world, why should our gov think that their super sophisticated system will be any more secure than any of these high profile institutions were?

The gov also tells us that ID cards will combat terrorism and promote national security. You know what? These people should be writing comedy for television. Would ID cards have prevented those shocking attacks on London? Damned right they wouldn't! An ID card will hopefully be a means of identifying a person. It won't tell the authorities what kind of person they are. A card's biometric data will only be read should the card actually be checked, and from what I recall of the London incident, if these men had actually had ID cards, these cards would not have told the police, nor anyone else for that matter, that these men were possible terrorists. So, how the hell does an ID card combat terrorism for goodness sake? If you think I'm wrong, then please convince me?

This leads me on to the shocking subject of ID theft itself. I'm sorry to have to say this, but everyone in society today is responsible for a lot of ID theft. We throw tons of rubbish away in our dustbins every day, items that readily identify who the hell we are. As insignificant as these items may seem to us at the time, we should never just discard them with our household rubbish. Burn it! Shred it! Don't simply toss it in your bin. There are people out there in the real world, not the one you seem to live in, who feel right at home getting stuck in up to their armpits in your smelly bins. Why? Because they know that it's really worthwhile for them to do it. Your bin is their pathway to riches, via your bank, building society and credit card accounts.

I know that lots of you probably never bother to watch your television much, and would rather be throwing back a few pints at your local, but recently, a television programme showed us that when we get rid of our old PCs, we never make sure that any private material like those bank, building society account and credit card details, along with all of your passwords and usernames, have actually been removed first. There are scumbags in Nigeria who are ready, willing and more than able to relieve your accounts of its hard won savings. How come? Well, when you trotted your old PC along to your local recycling depot in an attempt to show that you're going green, Nigeria is the country where your old PC suddenly found itself a brand new home. This golden opportunity offers unscrupulous Nigerians a completely open door to all your money, courtesy of your personal data stored on your old hard drive. Now, if you can't remove this data yourself, and deleting it does nothing but give the impression that it no longer exists, then download a prog from the internet that will do the job for you. Failing this, you could simply remove the hard drive before your old PC goes off to the recycling depot.

One of the most shocking things I learnt recently about ID theft, was in connection with India's booming Call Centre trade. Here, there are even more of those scumbags I've just talked to you about, thieves just itching to pass your bank, building society and credit card details, on to anyone willing to part with great wads of ready cash. Believe me, this is a very lucrative source of ready money to these people. It's a wonder they aren't on the stock exchange... As I see it, it's high time that all Call Centres were brought back into the UK. And yes, there is no doubt that ID theft would still occur here, but in the UK we are in a better position to have it stamped out by our police forces, than to have it occur half way round the world where our laws mean absolutely nothing at all to these people.

Time for me to be getting inside, it's starting to get a little chilly now.

So, I'll see you all in the garden next time, bye!
Bob (For Froggy)

This Gullible Britain

Hi,

Bob here... Has he gone yet?

--Do you mind, I'm trying to get some sleep here, I'm not bloody deaf you know.--

Sorry my little green friend...

--That's okay, but try and keep things down a bit, so as I can get my shut-eye. Night Bob! Night everyone!...--

Right, now where was I? Oh yes, I'm Bob and this is my garden, which, I feel I must add here, I share with Froggy and all of his strange little friends. Anyway, since Froggy is beginning to slip into his period of hibernation, it's been left up to me to run Froggy's Blog for him in his absence. I'm going to do my best as this is going to be a whole lot harder than I expected, so here goes:

But first, did he ever tell you that he wasn't in the slightest bit politically minded, at least not until I began speaking to him about what it means to we humans? You know, I'm almost sorry that I ever brought the subject up really, Froggy's never let me forget it since.

I expect you're also wondering how come I spoke to him in the first place? I know, I know, speaking to frogs is one of the first signs of madness, but the reason why is simple, he actually spoke to me first, honest! I was shocked, I mean, who ever heard of a talking frog? Not me anyway, and certainly not before I've had a pint or three down me. But do you know something else, what he has to say makes a hell of a lot of sense. He understands a lot more than I do when the wool is being pulled over our eyes. I suppose that it's because Froggy is more in touch with the down to earth side of nature than most of us are. To be honest, I'm not about to argue with anything he has to say, besides, it's really not worth all the hassle.

As I was saying, I introduced him to human politics, but to be frank, politics scare the crap out of me. Well, you know as well as I do, politics is all about feathering your own nest, and doing it at the expense of everyone and anyone around you. I mean let's face it, when was the last time you heard of any promises being made by politicians, prior to being elected, actually being carried out once they get into office? Never, and that is a fact!!

What Froggy doesn't know about the things I'm about to tell you now, because, well I hadn't the heart to tell him. It's that in human society, it's only those who cheat, con and rob you left, right and centre that come out smelling of roses and have the most money tucked away under their mattresses. You only have to watch the telly, read other blogs, or look at the papers to understand just what I mean.

Let's face it, we British must surely be the most gullible people on Earth. Why you ask? Well, where else would you find people mug enough to think that they've won a huge lottery prize, when they know perfectly well that they didn't even enter the damn lottery in the first place? Surely you heard about the elderly woman who shelled out over thirty-thousand pounds from her hard won savings, after being told that this money was for admin costs, then sent it off to these crooks in the hope that she would receive her so called lottery win in return? What a shame that her friends weren't around to let her know that there's no such thing as a free lunch! Further, we discover that it was a group of shites from Spain who set up this con, and still run it. It was a TV prog that exposed this con, and even when they revealed who these scumbags were, and even though Spain is a member of the European community, the Spanish authorities did absolutely nothing to put these scumbags out of business and behind bars where they belong. Could it be that they are too busy taking one of their famous long siestas?

The same thing applies to this epidemic of cowboy firms that seem to have blossomed in this fair country of ours. They rip us off and run through our cash quicker than a dose of salts. They'll even help give you a lift to your bank just to make sure they get paid. Have you also noticed that most of them live in great big fancy houses that even the royal family wouldn't look out of place in? Once again, we learn that even when someone like trading standards are looking closely into the antics of these scumbag traders, just like the income tax people should be doing. But for me, they don't appear to be looking very hard, do they? And while they all sit on their backsides, more and more honest British people are losing money faster than the river Thames flows into the sea. If they really wanted to deal with the likes of these cowboys, then they should give the trading standards people a darn sight more power to their elbow, so they can put these gits behind bars where they belong.

Something new now, all you pensioners out there in Blog country, listen up! It has just been recently announced that we are to get an extra three pounds per week from next April, Well Whoopie Bloody Do!!! You know something, I'm going to try my best not to spend it all at once, but I can't make you any rash promises. Mind you, at the rate our gov is allowing all of these greedy selfish money-grabbing energy companies to put their prices up in leaps and bounds, I'll be lucky if I'll actually get to see any of it anyway :p

Now for something that's going to get a lot of you all fired up...

For all of you who have, or are fortunate enough to be earning Britain's average wage or higher, and let's face it, this is a hell of a lot of you, I need you to understand that it's not a pensioners fault for ending up poverty stricken, then having to get by each week on peanuts for a pension. We are constantly reminded that Britain is one of the world's wealthiest countries, yet it doesn't seem like it from where I'm standing. Let me open your eyes to a fact of life you've probably not been aware of. What do you suppose our society would be like if there were no shops to shop in?

Imagine trying to take a holiday where there were no flash hotels or guest houses to stay in? Picture our green and pleasant land with streets paved with garbage, rubbish and other filth, or a situation where there were no such things as garages to buy your fuel from? How would you feel if there were no restaurants to have a meal in, or towns and cities with no pubs and clubs to take a drink in? My guess is that you'd think Britain would be a pretty sorry place to live in.

What is this all about, I here you whine? It's simply this, hundreds of thousands of people slave their lives away working their fingers to the bone in places like those mentioned above. They receive pitifully low rewards, formerly known as almost zilch, but now called the minimum wage. Despite this, thousands, regardless of the law, still get much less than this for the hours they put in. This is all just so you can live the high life, swanning it here and there around the world when the fancy takes you. Have you ever given even a single thought for these proud people (read:slaves) who do almost everything to make our society what it is today? Bloody right you haven't!! Britain is, and always has been a class riddled society that couldn't possibly exist without these essential key workers, and neither could you! So the next time you meet one of these people, treat them with the respect they damn well deserve, and don't look down your long beak of a nose at them, like they were a piece of shite that you just picked up on the sole of your shoe.

Hey! You like what I'm writing? Well, I'm just getting warmed up, believe me... :)

Oh! By the way. I have a message for Mr and Mrs Berenhythe of Cirencester. Regarding your recent enquiry concerning our express Martian trip in September 2013. I am sorry to say that it'll cost you an extra thirty thousand each for window seats, okay? And Ms lamersett of Fife, no! It is not necessary for you to bring a packed lunch on this journey. I have to inform you that it's going to take a little longer to get there than it would do for one of our normal day trips.

I'm not sure what else I can tell you, but you know, I'm truly beginning to like it...


I'll see you all in the garden next time, bye!

Bob (For Froggy)

The Wild Garden

Hello one and all,

The year is quickening, and very soon, the darker months of winter will be upon us once again. Out here in the garden, all is still looking quite colourful despite the changing of the seasons. It is a time where those of you who have a wild garden, or have the desire to build one, should be working on it now in preparation for next year. It needs tidying and you'll need to plant new things for next year. As a frog, I know a whole lot about wild gardening and what you need to attract all manner of wild creatures onto your own little patch, including the frogs that up to now, are living close by and unseen.

My friend Bob tells me, that when many of you are in the process of moving into new homes, you frequently chop down the trees you find there, irrationally seeing them as some kind of a blight on the landscape. I ask you, what possible harm have these trees ever done, or likely to do to you? Believe it or not, they are your friends. For a start, the leaves of these trees take in all that filthy carbon dioxide you humans have the nasty habit of chucking everywhere, then as a reward, they release oxygen, which as all of you know, keeps you in the land of the living. So, leave those trees rightly where they are, unless of course, they represent a danger to your house or your family. But never cut them down just for the miserable sake of it.

Not only are the trees important to the overall structure of a wild garden, you must include the shrubs and flowers too. Plants like marigold, geranium, lobelia, heathers, lupin, spiraea, aubrieta, campanulas, buddleia, violas, fleabane, chrysanthemums and many more should form a part of the overall effect. The greater the variety of shrubs and flowers that you grow, the more varied the insect life, usually beneficial, you will encourage into your garden. Frogs, just like me, rely on many of these insects to keep us alive and thriving. At the same time, some creatures that will come into you garden will seem like a veritable curse, such as (cats in particular!) slugs and snails and the like. Yet, we frogs enjoy these latter slimy pests and will help you to dispose of them as fast as we can eat them. Others benefits that derive from having insects like hoverflies, especially if you grow your own vegetables, is that they attack the little monsters that see your produce as their own source of food.

If you haven't got a pond, then it's time to build one. This is quite easy, just dig a large hole around three metres by four, making sure that it's at least two thirds of a metre deep and leave a shelf on the outer edge deep enough to take marginal plants, flag iris, brooklime, monkey flower and the like. Don't forget to make sure that the sides of the pond are level. Now, making sure that your pond liner is bigger than the pond itself, first line it with sand or old carpet. This will stop the liner being punctured by stones and make the liner last a whole lot longer too. If your pond is out in the open sun, the light will encourage the growth of duck weed, and believe me, this is something you don't want in the garden. Try and set up your pond in the shade, although not too close to a tree. conceal the edges of your pond with grasses and sedges, slabs of rock, gravel and soil for that truly natural look. You'll be surprised just how quick it will look as though your pond had been there for years.

If you have a large enough area around your pond, and you find yourself with some liner left over, you could think about digging a shallow depression, lay the liner in it, pierce it with a garden fork and then cover it with soil. This will provide you with a moist area for plants that enjoy boggy conditions, hosta, purple loosestrife, grass of parnassus, water avens and many more besides.

For some weeks after you have put water into your pond, it may resemble snail soup. Have a little patience and with time it will become crystal clear. Of course, don't forget to put some pond weed in, but remove any nasty strips of lead weight that may come wrapped around the base of it, otherwise, this will poison the water. It will be better to tie your weed to a flattish stone with a piece of garden string. Pond weed can include hornwort and canadian pondweed. Don't forget things like water lilies, frogbit, water hyacinth and others. Also, place some old logs near your pond, so that frogs and other creatures have somewhere to hide during the winter months.

I'll be going into hibernation soon, but as luck would have it, Bob has agreed to talk to you until I return next spring. Remember, although the garden you have may be yours, you actually share it with hundreds of other creatures, including the birds. It's nice to share...

Take care,

Froggy

Enlightenment

Hi everyone,

Yes, believe it or not, even frogs like me can fall prey to the cruel touch of sadness from time to time. The nice man whose garden I live in, I'll call him Bob to protect his ID, has been explaining to me what it's like to live inside a house. Of course, such things wouldn't normally concern me, after all, I love the feeling that living out of doors and in the garden gives me. Ribbit!! Bob told me that the houses of humans is powered by sources of energy, something call gas and electrickery. Apparently, it's just another tax that you humans are forced to pay, if you want to be kept warm in wintertime, and, he tells me, this source of power also helps to run the trappings of an effluent society... tellys, radios, PCs, cookers, mowers (I know these things, and believe me they are scary, croak!!) and ligh... lightening... lighting. He mentioned lots more, but my tiny brain just couldn't take it all onboard.

Just like many of you out there, Bob has just received his latest gas and electricity bills, I assume that these are a means to secure payment for what he has used? a bit like pay up or we'll twist yer arm off, eh? Anyway, for the umpteenth time during the past year, his supplier has increased its prices zillions of times, making his bills virtually double over this period. Although I don't understand what he means, he said that it wasn't the price rises that hurt him the most, it was more the fact that he changed all of the light bulbs in his house, from sixty watt ordinary type bulbs, which he replaced with eleven watt low energy bulbs. Then you must add this to the saving on his heating, even when it was terribly cold! Needless to say, he considers that he didn't actually save anything, since the bills exceeded what they were prior to those increases. He just paid a darn sight more for a whole lot less. Considering that like everyone else, he was asked to make energy reductions by this government of yours in its bid to reduce carbon emissions, only the greedy energy suppliers themselves benefited out of the sacrifices he had made. How's that for a devious way of getting people to support fat cats (yuk!!) and big businesses while everyone, in turn, goes short?

By the way, I think that I should tell you something about Bob himself. I'll save him his blushes and tell you that he's in his sixties, which is quite old for humans, isn't it? Anyway, just like lots his age, he receives a pension. You know what? I cannot find a nicer human that anyone could ever want to meet. So, as I was saying, living on this trifling pension, where he needs a powerful magnifying glass just to see how much it really is, isn't exactly easy, especially as Bob also suffers from something that affects his limbs and is in pain twenty four seven. I know a bit about pain myself, what with those damned furballs that keep intruding into my garden. Never mind, as you can tell, life for him isn't exactly a bed of roses on a day to day basis. Still, I can assure you all that despite everything, he enjoys life and likes a damned good laugh...

I expect you're wondering where is all this information leading? It's simple: As I understand your society, Bob says that you humans are openly encouraged to swap your energy suppliers if you are not satisfied with the one you're with at present, right? Well, Bob wants to know the answer to the following question: Can any of you who have swapped your suppliers, honestly say that your savings (if any?) were precisely as the new company had promised? According to my tiny froggy brain, I very much doubt it!!

Let me make it simple for you, if you compare your present tariffs on gas and electricity for the period of one year, and place it beside any of those on offer on the internet (is this something I can catch flies with?), savings do exist. Yes indeed! But Bob assures me that these savings will only be a few pounds at the most. One thing is sure, it'll be a whole lot short of the hundreds of pounds they promise you'll make when they ask you to go with them, believe me. Of course, perhaps you are one of those who trusts these suppliers to help themselves to your bank account, paying your bills by direct debit? You are! Then you're a whole lot better off than Bob is. Even so, just like you, he has spent his entire working life paying the taxes you lot are burdened with, but to what end? Well my friends, I'll return on this nasty subject another time. Croak!!

Anyway, Bob says that the only ones to make any money in the energy game, are those who want to help you change your supplier, and the suppliers themselves. The way he sees everything, it's that you are all being pushed around from pillar to post in what is known as the postcode lottery and energy price monopoly. And another thing, the energy Ombudsman, according to Bob, is a total waste of taxpayers money. The only thing this man does is to protect the energy business profits with a rod of steel. Surely you didn't think that he's there for your benefit?

I hope that I haven't upset anyone with my titbits of information, but you know, Bob and just about everyone like him, is the backbone of this country of yours, and, well, you should be standing up for those who are getting on in age. After all, I wonder how you all think you will be living when you're his age? Nice fat pensions? Don't make me laugh! Do you imagine that you'll be fighting for what you think is yours by right? Or will you lay down and accept everything that's thrown at you, just like it probably is at this very moment?

I'm going to leave you with a small thought, cos even we frogs have our code of ethics. Apparently, I've heard that the human government is protected by its own constitutional bill of rights, and good for them too... ;) But why is it that you, the very people that this government is there to serve, doesn't?

Stay bright and stay safe my friends. I'll be seeing you...

Froggy

Bush: I have one in my garden...

Hi everyone,

From a frog's point of view like mine, there was quite a touch of excitement in the garden where I live, and it happened just a few days ago. One of those pesky cats that I swear have been sent to haunt and taunt my precious life, was high up in one of the enormous trees that is not more than spitting distance from my pond. Obviously, the cat must have been thinking that it had been well hidden from view as far as the local bird population was concerned. Well, it was in for one hell of a surprise, I can tell you. Before long, it was besieged by a flock of thundering great squawking magpies. Talk about noisy. While they enjoyed badgering this scrawny feline fur ball, they were kicking up so much fuss, that I could scarcely hear myself think. I guess that's life for you, there's nothing like a bit of excitement now and again to cheer up yer cockles. Oh! Here's a picture of one of the other furry critters that I share my patch with. Cute isn't he? He loves playing with his nuts...

My friend the Squirrel

Have you noticed how much the nights are beginning to shorten the days now, along with the fact that it rains far more than it usually does too? I still have plenty to eat, all thanks to the human whose garden I live in. As big as it is, his garden still has lots and lots of flowers brightening up every nook and cranny, and this means that food is still most plentiful. The pond is... Hang on a minute... A nice fat juicy-looking slug has just caught my eye... Wow, slurp!! Now that went down a real treat. Whoa, yuk!!! If there's something I truly can't stand, it's getting bits of grit along with my food. That sort of thing takes all the fun out of eating, and I can tell you, I do enjoy my food. As I was about to say, the pond is still looking very peaceful.

I thought that you may like to know that my human friend has been busy again. He simply enjoys chatting to other humans who stop by now and then, although from what I'm beginning to understand, their talk is usually about all things political. I guess that this is what human society is all about. Now, how boring is that? Well, never mind. Whatever turns you lot on is okay by me, honest!! If I heard him right, this time he said something about another human from across the great pond. Now this does sound pretty exciting to a frog like me. I always thought that my pond was the biggest there was, but what he describes fair takes my breath away, ribbit!!


Anyway, back to this other human. His name has something to do with bushes, at least that's what I thought he said. Apparently, he lives with his head buried in the sand... or, it's something like that. Sounds pretty uncomfortable if you ask me. You won't catch me doing it. Anyway, many have said that this bush has his head buried right up something else, but to be honest, and as a frog, that sounded physically impossible, and a trifle uncomfortable too. This bush believes that global warming doesn't exist and that it's just a figment of everyone's imagination. Perhaps it's because many of his friends are the ones who contribute to most of the pollutants that are causing all this global warming? Now, you can't blame him for standing up for his friends, now can you?

You know what? I've got lots of bushes in my garden, but to be frank, they don't appear to be contributing anything to this global warming at all, infact, I often lay under them and wait for flies to come whizzing by. Bushes attract flies you know. Ribbit!!

Stay happy and stay safe my friends. I'll be seeing you...

Froggy