Yes it's from the Labour Party so take it with the pinch of salt that any such active opposing view deserves, but still worth a re-blog
Before and after - the new NHS structure.
Oh yes much easier to follow.
Ah The Darkness a game I played (and still do) repeatedly despite the lack of trophies or alternative endings just to enjoy the story; now it has a sequel and the first question is "Does it match up to the original?" not really. My first part will review this as a game in its own right; the second as a sequel.
To recap Jackie Estacado is an orphan raised within the structure of an Italian Mob family who in the first games is a hitman sent out on a job that goes wrong. The situation awakens a malevolent entity within him called the Darkness that gives him special powers. People die and Jackie uses this power to get his revenge and become head of the family before realising that the Darkness is starting to control him rather than the other way around. He vows to suppress it and manages to do so for two years. That's where the sequel begins.
Because I liked it and because it took some detective work to find it (I'm sure it's buried in the credits somewhere though) for those who want to know the music playing in the café scene with Jenny starts with Black Betty by The Ram Jams with the dancing music being I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos.
I found this entry from Liberal Conspiracy interesting to read concerning the recent budget; doubly interesting is the way that 'Pasty-gate' is slowly eclipsing the 'Granny tax'. It's a sad thing to say that this current coalition may fall due to sticking 20% on a Greggs Pasty then 'acquiring' £5m from pensioners.
The Chancellor states that this and other measures were being introduced to close down loopholes in tax law; I can relate. It may sound silly but the law and programming code are very similar - you're trying to set up explicit instructions that sometimes lead to unexpected results. In both cases you try to find the errant instruction and alter it to get the result you expected and wanted.
In fact despite both being possibly a mass of interwoven and tangled instructions the law should be the easier to 'debug' as in order to make an exception the unexpected result has to point out exactly why they don't have to follow the rules. However sometimes it's worth while to step back and then slowly step-through the instructions and assumptions that make up the code/law. Let's try that with VAT.
Okay I want all my readers to read this carefully and think through all the implications then ignore everything and drive like a maniac to your nearest petrol station and fill your tank to the very brink; then do the same for any jerry-cans you've got and hey you got a bath - strap it to your roof and fill that too.
The Esso station on Vale Road this morning was full and starting to queue; the Total was surprisingly quiet. I've just been informed that the Habberley Service Station has just run out; though seeing as there is currently no strike I'd expect more to be on its way soon.
Annoyingly these things always seem to happen when I genuinely need to get some petrol. At the beginning of the week I had [wobbles hand] just enough to get me through to the weekend; however with all the joyous queuing I thought I'd play safe and might as well top it up. I'm just amazed that I managed to beat the panic by a whole two days.
It has been noted by a colleague that if everyone does panic buy now should a strike actually occur the majority won't notice because they won't need any fuel. Does that mean that this was a cunning plan on the part of the government?
Is everyone looking forward to the big Italian Food Market being held in the Civic Centre carpark in Stourport on Saturday?
What do you mean what Italian Food Market? There's been at least three bright yellow signs up in Stourport one at the old Lloyds building as you leave town; one at the Lion Hill end of York Street as you enter; and one right next to the bus-stop in High Street; not to mention the A4 flyers up in shop windows.
Sure it doesn't feature on Wyre Forest's own events calendar; nor the Shuttle's version. However at least the Shuttle mentioned it yesterday and it made page 5 of the print version. Yeah I mean so what if the thing most people are likely to both a) want to attend and b) be able to attend gets only a three line paragraph amongst the Cabaret review, Co-op advertising and back-slapping at least it's there.
Kudos to the Stourport Town site as it's been up there for at least two weeks; minor faulting to the Civic Centre as they still haven't listed exactly what time it starts and finishes (9am-4pm according to the Shuttle).
I'm expecting to take a wander down there, but if I hadn't happened to have a long clear space in front of me as I drove down Lion Hill I wouldn't even have known about it.
[Update - At least they've informed the most important online news service]
For those not paying attention the price of stamps is going up as of the end of April. A first class stamp currently 46p is moving to 60p (a 30% increase) and second class from 36p to 50p (a 39% increase). How can they do this?
Price increases can occur for a variety of reasons the first being the simple 'law' of supply and demand - let's call it the auction effect. A retailer or auctioneer offers a product at a price they think it will sell at. If there is a great demand for it they increase the price; if no-one wants it they lower it.This applies all the way down the chain - if more people want the raw material the price goes up which in turn increases the price of the finished item. If the workers demand more money to keep up with inflation the price of the product needs to increase to maintain the companies profits.
However a second cause for increase is exclusivity. It's possible for demand to drop but for the price to increase because there are people who are prepared to pay that amount for the product. A company can drop the amount of product it makes for whatever reason and thus have to raise prices to maintain profit. The tie-in to exclusivity is monopoly which in turn relates back to supply and demand.
If only one company makes the product and a large number of people want it they can choose not to manufacture a large number of them and charge a premium; or they can continue at the same production rate and still charge a premium..
How does the Royal Mail fit in here? Well demand for their product/service is dropping so the price should also drop; however they have a monopoly so to maintain profits they increase the price instead. As this is likely to decrease demand even more they'll be heading into the exclusivity zone whereby sending a letter using them will be its own status symbol "I'm so wealthy I can afford to send letters using the Royal Mail".
This, however, stands against its currently government-owned status. The government shouldn't be funding a service that is only available to those who can afford it. Rather than demand a lowering of prices I see a full privatisation in a manner similar to the mash-up of energy providers/network maintainer or train/rail.
The flaw in that is that it changes nothing. There are already alternative services out there. Unless they're allowed to set up their own mailboxes the Royal Mail will still have domination over collection. Perhaps the government could force them to accept and re-distribute the competition's mail in the same way British Telecom had to open up their network; but I can see the competition's mail being 'accidentally' delayed in favour of Royal Mail's own.
