Ifrogman ifrogman

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Greed Never Ends

There I was, enjoying the first meal of the day and positively looking forward to a spell in the garden, when suddenly, the news reader announced that British Gas had made profits this past year amounting to over five hundred percent. Leaping lizards, I nearly choked on the piece of fruit I was eating. Now don't get me wrong, but even I, as dumb a human as I am, realize that companies are entitled to make a "decent" profit at the end of the day. However, I feel that I must wholeheartedly draw the line, when British Gas sits back and takes it's customers for complete fools.

I'm not sure of the views shared by you people out there, but I've always thought that the energy watchdog Ofgem, a government body, was put into place to make sure that we all benefit from being charged fairly for the amount we spend on our energy consumption, rather than to idly sit by on their backsides and watch us all get well and truly ripped off every year.

It doesn't seem to matter that British Gas and all the others have been paying less for the wholesale price of both gas and electricity, because they quite obviously don't want us to reap the same rewards, something I've now come to expect from an industry where there is no true competition between them all. The one thing they do have in common with each other, it's their never-ending and all encompassing greed.

Another item of news that has been thrust at us over the breakfast table lately, it's the so-called credit crunch. Now, I don't know about you, but this time around, it's not general public's attitude to spending that has brought this crunch down on us, but rather the incredible greed, once again, of those who sought to profit at the expense of others.

Basically, and as I spoke of recently, this crunch is being led by the collapse in the American sub prime housing market, the one where greedy bankers and financiers sought to sell off mortgages at a quick easy profit. Yes, it's true to say that it hasn't quite hit us yet, but then, while our banks are able to write off their own enormous debts, no doubt because of their high profits margins in the past, then this crunch will filter through more slowly than when confronted by an almighty and resounding crash in the market. But don't forget, what the banks pay for now, we pay for it later on. Unfortunately, some of us will be affected a whole lot more than others, especially if you are lumbered with a hefty mortgage that you know you have no chance of paying. These people have my sympathy, but as Froggy would say, you really should look before you leap.

It's nice to see that the month of February has been relatively kind to us, and now that March is just around the corner, spring isn't that far away either. If the weather doesn't turn cold at night, then we could see the return of Froggy before long. Hooray!!! :D


Take care....

Bob (Still standing in for our friend, Froggy)

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Total Incompetence?

If it wasn't for the fact that I enjoy my life so much, I think I'd start to lose my marbles. And now, seeing the first of the year's flowers coming into bloom, it's something that gives me a great sense of a job having been well done. Unfortunately, quite unlike the rest of us mere mortals, I'm now absolutely sure that our government is wholly incapable of getting any job that it tackles done well. And as for achieving any sense of satisfaction, clearly it doesn't even begin to know the meaning of the word. Total incompetence? Now that's something they understand very well.

Today, I heard once again that our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are still having to deal with shoddy weapons and equipment in their fight against tyranny. Why is it that after we finished paying off our debt to the yanks, something we owed them for them helping us during WW2, we seem unable to provide our brave troops with sufficient weapons and equipment that actually work? I'll tell you this, if some tin pot country was suddenly seen to be beating its way to our own front door, where those MPs families, lives and possessions would immediately be under threat, they'd be tripping over themselves to arm as many of our young people as they could, and the cost wouldn't even be the slightest consideration.

The present situation is so different to this scenario, what with our troops being so far away and fighting in countries that we shouldn't even be in. Our government seems to have lost touch with reality and what's going on out there. I wouldn't mind betting that the enemy have no problem in getting weapons that work. I also bet that they don't go around saying to each other "we'd better not go out tonight, there's not enough night vision goggles for all of us." or, "don't shoot off too many rounds, chaps, or we may have to resort to throwing rocks at the next bod we meet." What's worse is the fact that the enemy may even be using weapons made in this country, or elsewhere in the EEC. It's certain that they don't appear to have any problem in arming themselves, so why should our armed forces be put under such tight-fisted miserly constraints? The government say that the troops have more than enough weaponry. Well, they would, wouldn't they? Oh, and have you noticed just how quick the government were to prop up the failing Northern Rock? Obviously, taking over a failing bank is seen as being a lot more urgent, than to help save the lives of a few more of our brave soldiers by equipping them correctly.

I recently received my bill from the water company I use, and I'm sure that it's something that many of you will share in common with me at this time of the year. As usual, and in keeping with all of these service providers, prices have risen once again. Fair enough, I hear some of you say, but do they really have to send a request from Wateraid, asking us to spare £2.00 a month to help those who somewhere in this world of ours, do not have fresh water as we do? Why is it that they think that we can afford to give yet more money away on top of this year's increases? Why not give this Wateraid some of the grossly high profits they make from us as their customers, instead of trying to make us feel guilty with their underhanded requests? I'd gladly use a little less water during the year, if it's in order to help the needy. After all, mister water company, you have a whole lot more money than I have... Now, don't start me going on about my pension again.

Despite that we've been having bright sunny days of late, the garden pond has been completely frozen over. Our friend, Froggy doesn't like it when it's too cold, so unless the weather warms up a bit, he'll prefer to stay hidden away for a little longer.

Bob (Still standing in for our friend, Froggy)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Wake up!!!

Just like most of you out there, I'd appreciate the opportunity to be able to get on, uninterrupted of course, with life and living. Unfortunately, if the media has its way, I'm not going to be able to do it. I'm sure that you must have heard what the scientists are saying about global warming, along with the changes it will bring? Just in case you haven't, I'm going to spare you a little of my valuable time in providing you all with an explanation.

Actually, I shouldn't need to keep on repeating what Froggy has been telling us since he came onto the human scene. Never mind, I'll say it anyway. I'm sure that most of you will recall the searingly hot summer sunshine of 2003? Well, according to the scientists, it's going to be increasingly more like this every summer from now on, with the outlook for 2050 becoming much hotter. Great! some of you will be thinking. No more wet summers, but a lot more sunshine. If only it was as simple as this. You may, or may not recall that in 2003, thousands actually died from the heat. Now since 2050 is forecast to be much hotter, then it stands to reason that sadly, even more are sure to perish. On top of this, Britain will join the ranks of those countries that are plagued with malaria, because the conditions here will become ideal for the mosquitoes that carry this disease.

Personally, I believe that malaria will be the least of our worries, not that I'll be around in 2050. If our present summers seem to provide conditions that give us widespread droughts, can you possibly imagine what the summers of 2050 will give us? With global warming on a scale that affects the whole planet, I can visualise a period when the western world will become over populated and famine will be commonplace even here, a place of plenty for us all at the moment.

I don't want to sound like a harbinger of doom and gloom, but we do seem to be hell-bent on ignoring the signs and advice of those who have made an effort to study world climate changes, something that we really do have in our power to change for the better. If we continued to use our cars and other vehicles that pollute, insist on flying several times a year for holidays and the like, then the future world of doom and gloom will all too soon become a terrifying reality. We are all in need of a wake-up call.

Well, if the current weather conditions improve, we'll soon be hearing from Froggy again. Now, since he sees the world differently to the rest of us, perhaps he can give us the benefit of his knowledge on behalf of the animal kingdom? I certainly hope so.

Because I'm getting busier in the garden this month, I'm going to have to end on that note. See you all again next week, Bye all...

Bob (Standing in for our friend, Froggy)

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Just More Greedy

No matter where you look these days, you will always see, or probably hear something in the news concerning Global Warming. Well, with this clearly in mind, I witnessed a wonderful piece of news in the making, something that truly made me think about those men and women we put into parliament, people who are supposed to work on our behalf and for the good of society.

One such minister is Hilary Benn, the current Secretary of State for the Environment. In front of an audience of millions of television viewers, he was asked what I understood as being an extremely pertinent question on green house gasses. He was asked what he thought that we, the people who voted him into the Labour government, should be doing in order to help reduce our Carbon Emissions? Now, since he is quite obviously being paid a huge salary, he is the Secretary of State for the Environment after all and must at least know something about this subject, you'd naturally believe that he'd be able to offer us a satisfactory answer this question, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong!

His reply was a truly pathetic recommendation, in that we all replace our old light bulbs for the modern energy saving bulbs. Done it! Read the book! Seen the movie! I don't know about you lot out there, but honestly, changing a few bulbs is scarcely going to have a marked effect on Global Warming and Carbon Emissions, especially when we are all aware that the real culprits behind the current trends in GW, comes from the increasing number of flights that are taking to our skies, along with the increasing numbers of vehicles that are crowding our congested roads. Surely, if this is the best a head of state can come up with regarding what is a serious global concern, he should give his job to someone who not only knows the answer, but is willing to do something about it too. Why is it that we are overpaying ministers like Mr Benn, when any intelligent schoolboy could most likely do so much better than he can? As Froggy would say, we're all doomed!!

I see that Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, is out there blaming the unemployed for the shortage of housing in this country. She reckons that everyone who has a council house and is at the same time unemployed, should be asked to sign a statement saying that they are actively seeking work, or lose their home. It's time that someone quietly informed her, that everyone who is currently unemployed and actively seeking work, has to sign a document at their local dole office stating that they are doing just this, or else they simply lose their right to receive any benefits. Of course, if we are to believe Ms Flint, it is only those who live in Council housing that are likely to be unemployed. She really should get out and about more often....

Another piece of news to gladden one's heart, it's the little known fact that MPs act for the good of this country and its people. At least that's what I heard earlier this week. Sadly, this is simply not true. MPs act solely for the good of themselves. You only have to take a hard look back at the news that's been hitting the headlines recently. We discover that MPs, rightly or wrongly, have been found to be employing several members of their families to do their constituency work. Some of these people have actually worked for their money, but others apparently, haven't lifted a finger to do anything for what they were paid. What I found rather amusing, was that one MP's wife told us that if her position was given to someone else, there was no other job of work that she could possibly do. Can you imagine what an official at her local job centre would say to her, as she went to sign on, if she actually told them this? She'd be marched swiftly out of the office and told to get herself off up the road and stop wasting their time. Sadly, those who unfortunately find themselves as being unemployed, simply do not have the luxury to say that they, "cannot do anything else." when asked, what sort of work are you looking for?

Everything I have spoken about on this blog today proves a valid point. You don't need to be knowledgeable to become an MP... just more greedy than everyone else.


Now, unless Froggy comes back to us, I'll see you all again next week. Bye all....

Bob (Standing in for our friend, Froggy)

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