Cheap goods, badgers and bankers tricks

17 September 2012

At long last I have ordered a proof copy of Web of Hate.  It's arrival date is 1 November would you believe.  That's cos it has to come from the States.  Apparently I can get it all done here in the UK but I'm blowed if I can find out where on the Amazon site I can do that!  Right now I can get on a do more work of Photo Finish without feeling guilty of not completing the other one.  I managed to get 1600 words done yesterday but I need to go out today so I'm not sure what I'll be able to do today.

Have you ever watched Rip of Britain?  If not I would urge you to give it go.  Today's programme was all about banks and how they manage to rip us off.  Like Santander who have managed to lose £25k of one woman's money and won't refund it.  That's not an isolated event, they done it to others as well.  All banks were selling an interest protection product so as to protect businesses from interest hikes.  Instead the interest went down and it's left small family businesses on the verge of going bust.  Now they are saying that each one can buy themselves out of the deal - but a cost of £49k for one of them and over £200k to another.  Then they wonder why we don't trust them!

According to the News this morning the 99p chain are moving into the old Woolies site in the middle of town.  So now we will have two Poundland stores and a 99p store.  There are 13 charity shops in town too.  I like them cos I can get cheap books from them but other shops kick up about the number of them saying they lowering the tone of the town and have unfair advantage because they get reduced rent and council tax rates.  I can see their point.

And so a trial of culling badgers is to begin.  It's one UK animal I have never seen in the wild.  It may become even more rare if the cull goes ahead.  But I wonder ... do other countries have bovine TB?  If they do, do they have badgers?  If not, how do they deal with the TB?  The easiest way of dealing with bovine TB is surely to vaccinate the cattle.  Why aren't the farmers will to do so?  Could it possibly be that if they go down that route they would have to pay for the vaccination program?  It seems to me to of wanting a cure with least effort of their part! 

Today's photo then - I don't have any shots of badgers but I do have this ... 

European bison I snapped at the Highland Wildlife Park some years ago.

And today's funny ...    

A little boy came down to breakfast. Since he lived on a farm, his mother asked if he had done his chores.  "Not yet," said the little boy. His mother tells him he can't have any breakfast until he does his chores. Well, he's a little pissed, so he goes to feed the chickens, and he kicks a chicken. He goes to feed the cows, and he kicks a cow. He goes to feed the pigs, and he kicks a pig.
He goes back in for breakfast and his mother gives him a bowl of dry cereal. "How come I don't get any eggs and bacon? Why don't I have any milk in my cereal?" he asks.
"Well," his mother says, "I saw you kick a chicken, so you don't get any eggs. I saw you kick the pig, so you don't get any bacon, either. I also saw you kick the cow, so you aren't getting any milk this morning."
Just about then, his father comes down for breakfast, and he kicks the cat as he's walking into the kitchen. The little boy looks up at his mother with a smile, and says, "Are you going to tell him, or should I?"