Quote of the day

"Evil. Tastes like nutella"

(Context: Weight Watchers points. Not what you were thinking of.

Morning all

Blogging has been light of late, but for the moment...

What did you think of the budget yesterday.

Did you enjoy the tax rises?

Yep, that's right. Tax rises for every single full time working person in the UK. And most of the part timers as well.

You see, it goes like this. Every year we have inflation, the gradual process of rising prices. Every year the government raises the amount you can earn before they tax you by a similar amount.

Except for labour. Who didn't increase it at all.

Tax by stealth...

Unexpected consequences

As you've probably worked out by now, I'm a believer in Equality. Which doesn't seem hugely popular out there in the real world.

Anyway, read this .

A massive extension of maternity leave across Europe was last night voted for by the Womens’ Rights Committee of the European Parliament to make it compulsory for employers to pay mothers for a minimum of 20 weeks on full pay.

Now, let's assume for the sake of argument that the average women will in her lifetime have 2.5 children. That she's probably going to have them between the ages of 20 and 40.

Yes, I know these numbers are both flawed - I'm picking them to keep things simple.

2.5 children * 20 weeks = 50 weeks... essentially a year. We assumed a time frame of 20 years - so for 1 in 20 years they are a cost, not an asset.

That is, they are 5% less effective over that time.

This "women's rights committee" will have done more to undermine equality and fairness with this proposed law then...then... I can't think of a good enough example.

People don't usually shoot themselves in the foot with anti-tank weapons.

Logic and Law - not so much

Once again politicians are doing silly things.

Have a look here, with a quick quote.

New powers to crack down on lap-dancing clubs

New powers to crack down on lap-dancing clubs will be given to local councils, the Home Office has said.

Currently residents can object to venues for licensing reasons only, such as crime and disorder, nuisance, public safety and protecting children.

LGA culture chairman Chris White said: "Parents' concerns about what their children might see during their walk home from school ....

But here's the thing - I didn't know where the local lap dancing club was till it was pointed out to me as I walked past with friends. In a city I've lived for years - that's discrete.

But children *do* walk past the local Anne Summers shop (which sells very adult toys) every single day.

If you want to do something, do it. Don't blame it on "protecting the children" - because it isn't.

On waking

We all know dreams disappear so fast on waking. Seconds, minutes at most.

Sometimes good - nightmares that fade away in daylight.

Sometimes bad - happy places that can never be.

Or tragic. A hauntingly beautiful song that slips away - the faster you try to write it down, record the two voices the quicker it dissolves away from you.

Leaving 2 lines of chorus that mean little and are nothing special, even to you.

We know where you come from;
We know why your here.

Believe me

I want you to believe me.

I want you to believe me when I tell you that here, in this bottle is miracle stuff. This stuff goes in your washing machine with a couple of clothes - say, a cloak.

You wash your cloak in water and this magic stuff. It tumbles round in the water, spins and soaks. Just like any other washing cycle.

But after all this - believe me - it will be more waterproof.

Sounds like madness, doesn't it.

Smells a little like PVA glue.

But that is where we are now. You can go down to the shops in most towns and buy a liter of stuff that sounds like witchcraft. Fifty years ago they'd laugh at you.

Three hundred years ago they'd burn you at the stake for such a claim.

That's where we are now - we can buy miracles.

Here.

We all have weaknesses

We all have weaknesses.

Some can't resist chocolate. Others can't save themselves from the cuteness of a kitten.

No, really - imagine it, sitting there, looking up at you...

I'm laying here on the bottom bunk, travel mate (probably) asleep - quite sweet really, even if she would kill me for saying that.

There's a few options here. I have hours of audio material on this netbook. There's a pair of good books in the bag. More then one hundred hours worth of sewing that needs to be done.

Instead I'm typing away on the blog (even if this will be posted late - probably when I get to civilisation)(yes, I mean, wifi) half watching a musical.

But there's one small difference.

I happen to keep this specific musical around because it's really easy. It's short, fairly sure to make me smile and sing along.

But I watched this with a friend the other month. We were singing along quite merrily...and she commented about the lyrics.

She pointed out exactly how filthy they were.

Now, I'm not going to give you an example, because this is a family blog. Well, it's intended to be readable by family members from work, anyway.

But all I want to do is sit here and sing along, trying not to laugh at the *terrible* double and triple meanings.

Certainly not going through the motions...