Same again at the Castle this morn-cloudy, dull, dry and tepid, the bench is painted and varnished, the garden is finally fettled, the study is still empty and I am still knackered.
Apparently we old fart baby boomers are the cause of all ills in dear old Blighty, and many young people in Britain are set to be in a worse economic position than their parents.
Shiv Malik, author of Jilted Generation - a book which examines the prospects for the 80s generation onwards - looks at his peers and sees further evidence of the impact a financially tight future is having on young people.
James Morris, pollster with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and former speechwriter for Ed Miliband, says his research confirms Shiv's observation across generational lines.
Angus Hanton a baby boomer himself, reckons that there are some signs of sympathy among the baby boomer generation. He has founded a new think-tank called The Intergenerational Foundation to lobby for fairness between the generations.
He sees clear culpability on the part of his older peers.
"Let's take my own house [which] I bought 16 years ago for £160,000. It's in south-east London. It's now worth about £1.15m.
"So I've gained a million pound windfall to which I do not feel entitled, and that windfall, at the moment, is tax-free. Were I to sell [the house], there's no tax on that gain."
“It may appear very lucky for me, but the reality is when I sell, it will probably be to a younger person who'll be getting a mortgage and spending most of their working life paying off that windfall which went to me. I don't think that's fair."
So sell it and give the money away then, and let’s not forget the REAL reason for the state of the economy-greedy bankers, Piss Poor Government Policies, unrealistic valuations put on houses by Numpty estate agents, and the “I want it now” attitude of certain people who were given credit cards by institutions who knew that it was a risk but wanted the interest payments.
I do feel sorry for the “younger” generation but I am tired of the whinging and the endless “look at me I am a victim” mantra emanating from those who just want it all but don’t want to get orf their arses and spend fifty years working for it.
Boomers didn’t have it handed to them on a plate, we worked hard, saved hard and now that we are getting towards retirement “they” don’t want us to keep what we have earned.
Britain has spent more than £18 billion on the war in Afghanistan and significantly underestimated the cost of the campaign in Libya.
The five-year conflict in Helmand is officially estimated to have cost about £4 billion a year, according to Ministry of Defence figures published in a Commons defence committee report.
But the panel of MPs accused the MoD of hiding the true cost of the war by refusing to disclose millions of unseen expenses.
The report added that the bombing campaign in Libya is projected at £260 million if it lasts six months – significantly higher than forecasts made by George Osborne, the Chancellor, in March.
When the first attacks on Col Gaddafi’s forces commenced four months ago, the Chancellor claimed that the cost to Britain would be “in the order of tens of millions of pounds, not hundreds of millions”.
My fault because I am nearly sixty..........
An unnamed 60-year-old got himself into a spot of bother when he slid a milk bottle too far up his rear-end and couldn't remove it.
Distressed at the situation he immediately presented himself to a hospital in Zhuai, China, where he told staff what had happened.
He claims he was constipated and was attempting a rather unorthodox method of stimulating his bowel.
Wonder if it was silver or gold top?
The police chief of a small South Carolina town will ask a jury to decide if a woman broke the state's obscenity laws by driving a pickup truck with plastic testicles hanging from the back.
Bonneau Police Chief Franco Fuda ticketed Virginia Tice, 65, in early July at a local convenience store after spying the adornment dangling from her truck.
South Carolina law considers a bumper sticker, decal or device indecent when it describes, in an offensive way as determined by contemporary community standards, "sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body."
The offense carries a maximum fine of $445 but no jail time, Fuda said.
Lawmakers in some states have sought to ban the colourful plastic or rubber devices that go by brand names such as Bulls Balls and Truck Nutz.
Thousands of sweet-toothed students from around the world are travelling to Italy to take up a place at a university offering a course in ice cream making.
This year, around 12,000 enrolled to study at the Gelato University hoping to become schooled in the art of making real Italian ice cream.
The university is near Bologna at the headquarters of Carpigiani, the leading global manufacturer of ice cream making machines.
As well as practical courses, students attend technical lectures to learn traditional methods of making gelato. Marketing and management are also on the curriculum.
The courses cost around £700-a-week and students - who come from as far afield as Australia and Sierra Leone - stay in a local hotel.
Those who want to open their own ice cream parlours may have to invest heavily in their dreams, but the rewards can be huge.
As well as the satisfaction of making their own delicious sweet creations, a litre of ice cream costs little to make and can be sold for a tasty profit.
Cor...net.
Numpty Wojciech Lapinski took a short cut to dodge traffic on a family day trip - and ended up out of his depth.
Lapinski, 35 - from Gdansk, Poland - didn't realise the tunnel had been flooded by a broken sewer and came to a halt in his Toyota in three feet of water.
Fire-fighters and police rescued the driver and his 86-year-old mum Izabella from the stranded car.
But she said: "It did put a bit of a dampener on the day."
It is a tradition for Harrods to start their Christmas festivities early, but this year is the earliest in their entire history. At 8 am, 28th July, Harrods opened their Christmas range to the public.
Harrods stressed the need for the early launch, saying that there is an increasing demand from international shoppers for Christmas products.
“The peak for international shoppers begins at the start of July so we tried to cater to this early demand where possible," said a spokesman.
Part of the Christmas range includes exclusive ‘12 ice-creams of Christmas’ collection.
Flavours include Mince Pie, Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter, and the rather peculiar Brussels Sprout. The flavours were chosen after a survey about what foods makes people feel the most ‘Christmassy’.
| The ice-cream will be available to sample from this weekend. |
This years’ theme is ‘A Crystal Christmas inspired by Swarovski,’ so customers can expect a glittering exhibition.
There are over 250,000 decorations alone, and prices in the store range from £1.95 for a tree decoration, to £2,999 for a life-sized Santa Claus ornament.
And for the first time there will be an ice-rink on the roof.
Fuck off........its July for what’s his/her name's sake.....
That’s it: I’m orf to sketch a spaceship
And today’s thought: Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons." - Popular Mechanics, 1949
Angus
