Merry Winterval

Oh it’s that time again. There are stories in the press as to how Christmas (and by extension Christianity) is under attack from Political Correctness, local authorities and multiculturalism.

As usual this is 99.9999% hogwash.

It’s not even new hogwash as this old entry explains.

Financial fishing

I’m reminded of those “scam” warning emails that do the rounds. They are 99.999% of the time hoaxes. But it’s the motivation of people who pass them on. You can’t, in my mind, learn every single scam in the book. You have to learn general skills in awareness and reason to avoid scams, because for every scam you learn, there are 1000 different ways dishonest people (in conjunction with your own stupidity) can catch you out. Even if these scare stories are true, they are unlikely to help as fraudsters have probably moved on to a new trick by now, general life skils not awareness of specifics are in order.

I think financial awareness is a similar thing. It is just an application of the sort of skills you learn in science, english and maths. Science teaches you to view the world systematically and through that teaches reasoning skills, English teaches literacy and the ability to take in information and understand it, maths, well basic numeracy.

You know the addage of “give a man a fish… teach a man to fish”.I think getting the basics of literacy, numeracy and reasoning are “teach a man to fish” whereas teaching financial tips.

Another of those myths punctured

I remember watching one of those mildly entertaining, but cheap, clip shows about errors on TV.
One featured Dexy’s Midnight Runners on Top of the Pops, singing “Jackie Wilson says”. Behind them on huge video screen was a picture of… larger than life darts player Jocky Wilson. The implication being it was a mistake made by the production team.

Only it wasn’t, it was all a joke. Kevin Rowland, Dexy’s front man, had asked for that slide deliberately. Funny thing is he said that in an interview in 2002, and the clip show wasn’t that long ago I’m sure.

How urban myth lingers.

Oh and yeah, while we’re at it. Bob Holness did not play saxaphone on Baker Street.

News in Links

A couple of weeks back Professor David Nutt, an advisor on the subject of drugs, was in the media because some things he said contradicted the government’s position on the reclassification of cannabis.

Soon after Alan Johnson sacked Professor Nutt claiming that he had campaigned against government policy.

I thought there was something fishy about this, it didn’t seem to me like the statements were campaigning, even with the media leaping on them in the way they did. But with work and family I didn’t have time to look beyond the headlines. Turns out my feeling was right. Dr Evan Harris, (the Lib Dem MP for Oxford West) covers this in his blog, systematically taking apart the sacking and then Alan Johnson’s response to criticism.

I’m not sure whether the campaigning line, that Johnson is still sticking to is his own misunderstanding of the situation, or whether it is an interpretation that he keeps restating in the hope people believe it.

I think one of the funniest lines on this was spoken by Danielle Ward on the news quiz. The moral of the story being if you want people to go along with your ill-thought out policy, you need to pay them, or at least give them a peerage.

News in Links

A couple of weeks back Professor David Nutt, an advisor on the subject of drugs, was in the media because some things he said contradicted the government’s position on the reclassification of cannabis.

Soon after Alan Johnson sacked Professor Nutt claiming that he had campaigned against government policy.

I thought there was something fishy about this, it didn’t seem to me like the statements were campaigning, even with the media leaping on them in the way they did. But with work and family I didn’t have time to look beyond the headlines. Turns out my feeling was right. Dr Evan Harris, (the Lib Dem MP for Oxford West) covers this in his blog, systematically taking apart the sacking and then Alan Johnson’s response to criticism.

I’m not sure whether the campaigning line, that Johnson is still sticking to is his own misunderstanding of the situation, or whether it is an interpretation that he keeps restating in the hope people believe it.

I think one of the funniest lines on this was spoken by Danielle Ward on the news quiz. The moral of the story being if you want people to go along with your ill-thought out policy, you need to pay them, or at least give them a peerage.

Around the world

We are really enjoying the current BBC series of “Around the World in 80 days.” Not least for the bits we travelled ourselves.

We have travelled across Europe, by taking the Eurostar and changing trains in Paris, although while Skinner and Mack headed south

We’ve also travelled from Moscow to Ulaan Bataar via the Trans Mongolian- on our Honeymoon no less! Our experience of the trans siberian from Moscow to Ulaan Bataar was closest to the crumby 4th train Julia Bradbury and Matt Baker took from Lake Baikal, it was Mongolian run train number 4. I remember sitting in the amazing Mongolian restaurant Louise Minchin sat in on the train back to Russia- it was on our train from Mongolia to Beijing. We were pretty glad they glossed over the Russia-Mongola border as the crossings was quite nervy even when we did have the correct papers! The first class compartment enjoyed by Bill Turnbull and Louise Minchin was almost a world away from the 4 birth standard class compartment we enjoyed for most of the journey.

In Mongolia we stayed in a ger camp, a hotel made round gers. Although the furniture an construction was authentic, it was in better condition than in regular gers. However we did meet nomads during our stay. Their ger had one luxury ours didn’t- satellite TV! There was no mobile signal in the valley of the ger camp- we had to climb the hill to one side. And from the top of that hill for miles around was- nothing! Nothing except the massive statue seen at the end of episode 3 which at the time was under construction.

A contrast with the original was the number of detours due to visa problems. For our own trip the visas were organised in advance by a tour operator. I wondered what happened for Michael Palin- were things more planned or less fraught then?

One thing the series has done has been to get us to get out our atlas out and plan future adventures. They may well be dreams, family, finance and the environment may derail them, but dreaming them is an enjoyable passtime.

A blast from above

Had to smile today. We were out in Shipley visiting a Will aid solicitor and popped into Asda. There was an announcement on the tannoy about the driver of a VW golf. Who as it turned out was parked in a parent and child space.

Well the tannoy announcer went ballistic about how selfish it was to use parent and child spaces if you don’t have babies or toddlers with you. It was a rightful rant. Only hope that the owner of the golf didn’t have a child in a removable baby seat, and that they had got what they truly deserved.

Travelling today? That’ll be £1002 please!

Yesterday a story broke about the first UK train fare of over £1000.

The lib dem candidate for my local parliamentary constituency, Nader Fekri has already commented on this. I find myself agreeing with Nader on many things, but I disagree on one point.

He says:

It is obvious that ridiculously high fares are encouraging people to abandon the trains in favour of their cars.

I disagree. I think people are abandoning the train and their cars in favour of staying at home and not spending money. The recession has made many people worse off, and many more aware of the limitations of their pockets. This is what is driving people away from the trains.

£1002 is a walk up first class fare. You can fly to the continent for £25, if you book in advance for economy class, and make great savings on the trains if you plan ahead too. Some people say it is ridiculous that you can get such cheap train fares by booking in advance, or by playing the system by split ticketing or other methods. I don’t agree, I think it’s a good thing that organised and savvy people are rewarded by the system. No-one is going to pay £1002 for a train ticket because no-one will journey from Newquay to Kyle of Lochalsh at the drop of a hat on a first class ticket.

People know that there are savings to be made. The ways of getting them are complex, but not unfathomable to the average man in the street.

That’s not to say there isn’t a problem. While I believe it’s fair that walk up fares are higher than those obtained with a little planning, I also think the levels of standard class walk-up fares are ridiculous. Yes it is right that someone can be rewarded for their nous with cheaper fares, but it is wrong that walk up fares are ridiculously high! So while it’s OK for people to make savings, walk up fares should still be reasonable.

Anyway, this story in conjunction with last night’s TV reminded me of when Sarah and I paid over £1000 on a train fare. Not just the news, but the programme before it too! Our train journey was not in the UK, however but a once in a lifetime experience travelling from Moscow to Beijing.

Brilliant spoof!

I must congratulate whoever mocked up this spoof of a loony anti-EU front page response to the Lisbon treaty being signed. Brilliant send up!

Um… hang on… I can see todays Express on someone’s desk across the way. It’s… real? Someone thinks this is a reasonable response?

Oh dear.

Behind the Headlines 6?

Yesterday I caught a front page headline “EU to ban all shop refunds”

It sounds like the usual swivel-eyed anti-EU rubbish that the tabloid press like to use to wind up their readership. But is it?

Anyone any idea what this was about?