Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2010-11-05 09:22:06 - Graham Ellis
A series of snippets / thoughts ... on such a variety of subjects that they can't be equated to any one type of sweet selection!
Votes for prisoners The press is full of public outrage at the potential of prisoners being given the vote, and the convenient excuse of "Europe" is being used to pass off the unpopularity to someone other than our legislature. But when you think of it, it's illogical to exclude just this one group when everyone else, no matter how informed or uninformed gets a vote; a vote in an election based on the fact that one of the candidates is a pretty young lady has just the same weight as a vote that's been thought through, and is cast based on the quality of the policies of the candidate, and the likelihood of him/her doing a good job for the area to be represented.
£3.50 subsidy per journey for buses. Wiltshire Council's proposed local transport plan says that they will subsidise bus services up to £3.50 per passenger journey (with the exception of a lower figure for journeys within an urban area). It says the will encourage thr DfT to subsidise train services, not that they will do so themselves. At a meeting on the subject the other night, the council confirmed their policy ... and the group of people around the table that they work for (predominantly from places that do NOT have stations) agreed that a fair, more level playing field would be one that allows subsidy of public transport based on "pence per mile", irrespective of mode. As it stands, the council is happy to pay 3.50 for a journey from Broughton Gifford to Melksham (2 miles, 1.75 per mile), but would not pay 1.00 for a journey from Melksham to Swindon (25 miles, 0.04 per mile).
"Only 2 Children at a time" says the sign outside the new sweet shop in Melksham, and I'm picturing one very sad and lonely child, standing outside on the pavement waiting for a second child to show up to make the two-some that's required for entry.
Why should prices be different for the less well off? If I go into Tesco, I can choose to buy 7 up at 1.59 a bottle, R Whites lemonade at 0.79, Sunsip at 0.36, or Tesco value at 0.18. But I won't be offered a discount because I'm off work sick, nor charged more because I'm luck enough to be employed and earning enough to have to pay income tax. So why should there be special prices for things like university places and public transport fares? If the tax system's going to level things out, shouldn't it do so completely rather than reducing the prices for those who are less well off - I'm not suggesting making their life harder, just giving them responsibility for their own spend - restoring their self esteem and letting them make the choice based on true value.
Have your five fruit and veg each day. Cider is made from apples, is it not? How much cider do I need to drink to count as one of my five?
Buses like Bread Vans? One of our contacts in the public transport campaigning arena (we'll just call him "David") is always banging on about how much better First are than the other operators in the area; he describes them as being non-unionised operators of glorified bread vans. And it's certainly true that their smaller buses are less comfortable - but at least they provide a service. The other day, I saw a glorified bread van operating the evening service from Devizes to Bath ... guess what - it was a glorified bread van in First's colours. Me thinks that David doth protest too much, and he should be careful before he throws stones - for he lives in a greenhouse
The paper tells me that the Post Office is struggling because of a drop in the letter traffic. Perhaps that's connected with the drop in service that's been provided over time with less deliveries, postal strikes and threats thereof ... people have simply moved away to cheaper and more reliable alternatives.
Trust the salesman?We have two things on order at the moment that we're excitedly waiting for delivery on. The first was indicated to be with us (and we paid for) early last month ... but it's failed to turn up and failed to turn up. A Skype conversation on Saturday to the company ("we're open 7 days a week for sales and service") told they would touch on Monday as it appeared that they were really only open to take more money that day ... Monday afternoon came, I called, to be told that Helen wasn't in until Tuesday but she would call me on that day, but when I called at 4 O'Clock on Tuesday having not heard back, I was told she had left for the day. The salesman told me they would arrange a refund ... should I believe the salesman?
Agreeably impressed. We've got a delegate leaving at the Crack O'Dawn tomorrow [now today]... and I was thinking it would be an extra early start for me. But I had overlooked how excellent and helpful our whole team now is ... and I'll be coming in just to do the station run a little later.
Quiet the dog.Walking through Freddie's Wood the other day, I heard this chap shouting at his dog by name ... he was calling it "Quiet". And that struck me as a poor name for the dog, because it was barking noisily!