OCTOBER 2003
Around the world people are either dying from starvation or from obesity. This is to a large degree due to the way food is produced. Contemporary agriculture is not sustainable; it is not working now, nor will it work in the future. Food production is not geared towards feeding the human population, but toward making huge profits for a small group of individuals.
If you go to the supermarket you will see cheap food on the shelves; affordable meat, out-of-season fruit and vegetables, milk that cost less than mineral water. We think we are getting real bargains, but in reality we are paying a high price. There are hidden costs; we pay with our health; with our children's future; with other people's lives.
The intensive use of antibiotics in all modern livestock rearing is creating superbugs that are resistant to all medicines. Animal feed consists of the cheapest possible substances; animal, agricultural and industrial waste without any regard for the animals or the people who will eventually eat them. Genetically modified food, whether plants or animals, are only of interest to the big companies because it maximizes profit; there is no concern with the long term result.
Government tests are now geared toward not proving whether something is safe, but seeing if it is not unsafe. This might look like the same thing, but there is a big difference.
So should we then all go for organically grown food? This is an option if you can afford it. But unfortuately the control freaks in the Soil Association have seen to it that the obstacles to be licenced as an organic farm are so many that few farmers can afford to go for it. As a result most of the organic food in this country is imported, and sold in supermarkets at greatly inflated prices. And still, it should not be impossible. One can feed a family on the produce of a couple of acres without too much work, and I'm not talking about going vegitarian either; a hundred acre farm should be able to feed 50 families on wholesome, nourishing food, and the farmer would make a great deal more profit than he does at the moment. Under the present system a 100 acre farm is seen as not viable; in fact one need more than a 1,000 acres to be able to make any kind of money.
The newest "solution" to the looming pension crisis was revealed at the recent Conference of the People's Party. The Chancellor will give everyone willing (and able) to work until they're 70 a lump sum of £30,000.- This looks generous until you start doing the sums. If you work for an extra 5 years you will continue paying tax and National Insurance; the Government saves almost £30,000 by not paying you a pension during these years, and as the average life expectancy is 69 years for men and 71 for women they probably don't have to fork out anyway, especially if you get laid off at 69, in which case you won't get paid.
They also made a big song-and-dance number about getting people out of the poverty trap, though it was not clear who they were actually talking about. Surely not the family which popped up on the telly recently. The wife had never worked and the husband stopped years ago, when they had five children between them; the have gone on to have three more. Their family income reads as follows.
Income support: £13,700.-
Child benefit: £4,700.-
Carer's allowence for child with asthma: 5,500.-
plus disability living allowance: £5,000.-
Disability allowance for another asthmatic child: £5,000.-
Disability allowance for a third asthmatic child:£3,700.-
Incapacity benefit for the husband as he got depressed when his father died
years ago: £4,400.-
All in all a grand total of £37,000.-
The family budget includes £170.- a week for cigarettes which presumably explains why so many of the children suffers from asthma.
Somehow I have the feeling they are not all that eager to get out of the poverty trap.
The family of a Kentucky girl bitten by a shark is suing the local council for failing to erect signs warning that the ocean may contain predators.
At a time when gun crime, murder, sex offences, drugs and yobbery seems to be spiralling out of control it is good to see that the local police force is on the ball. The other day no fewer than three officers swooped on the house of of a Wakefield resident, and as the fearless guardians of law and order commanded him to open the bonnet of his car parked in the garage, they found incontrovertibable evidence of his despicable crime. He had failed to put water in his windscreen washer. Showing zero tolerance to the lawbreaker they issued him with a £60.- fixed penalty and two points on this driving licence.
So if you have been burgled or your house is under attack from yobs, as most of us know from experience that the police seldom bother to turn up, I suggest you tell the coppers that you think that your neighbour's windscreen looks a bit grimy. That should bring them down on your neighbourhood in droves.
Jonathon Russell went into the Missouri factory where he worked, pulled out a gun, shot three workmates and then killed himself. His mother now wants cash off his firm's compensation scheme because her son died while at work.
A skeleton was recently found in the store room of the New York lodge of the International Order of Oddfellows. The "Grand Noble" of the order stated that it (the skeleton) was used during initiation rites. One can see why they are called the Oddfellows.
"Out of every 100 men,
10 should not be here,
80 are nothing but targets,
9 are the real fighters,
and we are lucky to have them,
for they the battle make."
"Ah, but the ONE,
ONE of them is a WARRIOR,
and he will bring the others back."
Heraclitus 500 BC
All horse owners must obtain (and pay for) a passport of each horse they own by the 31st of December or face a fine of of up to £5,000.- or a month in jail. The purpose is to ensure that horses throughout the EU treated with certain veterinary medicines do not enter the food chain. But according to daughter Aki, DEFRA has not yet bothered to inform the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons what these medicines are, nor are medicines presently used on horses, banned on cattle or sheep, which presumably do enter the food chain. The vets are awaiting the word from up high with bated breaths.
As expected, the Lords have sent the "Hunting with Dogs" bill back to the Commons, with quite a few uncomplimentary comments. Back to the drawing boards, chaps.
Word has it that the Chancellor has been made aware of the fact that some people are actually making some money without being taxed when they sell their house. As the rules now stand you don't have to pay Capital Gains Tax on your main property when you sell it, as long as you buy a new house. So in theory you can sell your house which you bought for £150,000.- 10 years ago for let's say £300,000.- and buy a small apartment for £200,000.- and pocket the difference, though you still have to pay Stamp Duty on your new property. But under new rules now in the pipelines the tax man would want 40% of the value gain of your old house. So now you will have to pay 60,000.- in Capital Gains Tax, £8,000,- in Stamp Duty on your new house plus all the usual expenses of moving. Trading down to a smaller house you will just about make it it, but we can all now forget about trading up to a bigger one or buying a similar priced property; we wont't be able to afford it. You can also forget about supplementing your meager pension by trading down; we are all well and truly being stitched up.
Latest update:
The Dear Leader has just given his word that the rumour is all wrong, which
just about gurantee that it will become reality in the near future.
Daughter Aki has started to learn about the reality of life in the UK. She has just taken a few odd jobs as a locum after graduation as she is busy training up a team of horses for carriage driving competiton. As a result she works about 10 hours a week and get around £750.- a month which pays her bills and keep her out of the income tax bracket. One of her friends, however, has got a job as a vet working full-time at close to £20,000.- a year. She spends 12 hours a day at the surgery, every third night she is on call, and after taxes has less money left to spend than Aki.
Incredibly, after years of frustration, the Swinemoor Youth Project, has finally come to fruition. Last week we finished building a soccer pitch, a basketball pitch and a grafitti wall for the local kids. All three are already being enthusiastically used, but the trustees are have sleepless nights. So far we have got refusals of cover from 15 insurance companies; but hopefully there might still be someone out there who doesn't panic at the mere mentioning of kids.
The local Resident's Association has also finally moved into premises that we rent off the Council, but we're not out of the woods yet. The day after we moved in, the Health and Safety Executive paid a visit and declared that the wiring was unacceptable. The Council, as landlord, is responsible, but refuses to pay for re-wireing, and several electricians that we have asked, have estimated the job to cost at least £2,000.- which we haven't got.
So the Conservatives have got rid of another leader. I wonder if it will do them much good. Their main problem is that they have been completely out-maneuvered by the People's Party, which now has parked their tanks firmly to the Right of Centre. As the Liberals occupy the Left of Centre the only place for the Conservatives is the extreme Right which is BNP territory. I'm afraid this will all end in tears.