Yes, it’s that time of year again, our Maj has debated long and hard, the Gov has just picked names out of a hat and the rest of us watch with occasional joy and a lot of confusion.
There has always been debate regarding some of the recipients of “honours”, the one that will cause the most anger I think is-
Nick Macpherson, the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury and on an annual salary of £196,400, had been knighted while it was still too early to claim that the £500 billion banking bailout was a success. Sir Nick, 49, a close ally of the Prime Minister, was appointed in 2005 and was in charge of the Treasury at the height of the lending boom.
And also Alastair Clark, a former Bank of England expert in financial stability, who was brought out of retirement to help with Northern Rock. He is appointed CBE for “services to central banking”.
The full list is available on the above web site.
But there are good choices: my favourite is Elle Simmonds, who won gold in the pool, at the ripe old age of 13, was totally gob-smacked and cried with happiness.
The “Team GB” honours can be found here, all thoroughly well deserved.
And of course there are the “normal” people honoured for years of dedication and hard work.
The New Years Honours list is of course arcane, it is one of “our” quirks, it always starts arguments, and personally I think there are too many “flavours” of honours.
Perhaps there should be just one-a United Kingdom Medal, which would make all those on the list equal but when all is said and done, honouring those that deserve being honoured is a good and uplifting thing.
That’s enough of being nice, the year ends with a wimper: the firkin Government, bankers, dealers and hedge fund arses have dropped us in the brown runny stuff, because of their greed and inaction we are stuffed.
Jobs are disappearing faster than you can say recession and, millions of people are in fear of losing their income and homes. But as usual there is no apology from the “Powers that Be”, Gordon Brown-trousers and his flatmate Darling are conspicuous in their absence during the “festive” season.
The BBC is showing different versions of the terpsichorean cock-up, still being paid for with MY license fee
The Middle East is still trying to self-destruct, and they are going to drag out the year by adding a “leap second” to it.
But there is some good news-BBC NEWS and no, this isn’t an early April fools joke.
A passenger plane has successfully completed a two-hour test flight partly powered by vegetable oil.
Air New Zealand hailed the flight as a "milestone" in the development of sustainable fuels that could lower aeroplane emissions and cut costs.
One engine of the Boeing 747-400 was fueled by a 50-50 mixture of jatropha plant oil and standard A1 jet fuel.
A Virgin Atlantic test flight in February used fuel derived from a blend of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts.
They still make the same amount of noise but the smell is wonderful.
Scotland (or most of it) has done away with Hospital car parking charges, as has Wales, and about firkin time, unfortunately the brain cell of the English Government hasn’t manage to get itself up to speed and follow suit, get you finger out Gord this is one rip off you need to do away with.
Patients to rate GPs on website BBC NEWS, this idea is about as bad as “iwantgreatcare.org” that wonderful idea by Neil (crispy) Bacon, which is about as much use as a chocolate fire guard, the site will be open to abuse, and manipulation, it won’t improve treatment, it won’t make our experience of healthcare any better, it will however provide a platform for the dissatisfied and the spin doctors.
If you have a good GP, and want to comment, write them a letter of thanks, tell all your friends and family, word of mouth is a much better way of providing information about your primary healthcare provider, and a nice letters from patients will be happily received by the GPs.
There has always been debate regarding some of the recipients of “honours”, the one that will cause the most anger I think is-
Nick Macpherson, the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury and on an annual salary of £196,400, had been knighted while it was still too early to claim that the £500 billion banking bailout was a success. Sir Nick, 49, a close ally of the Prime Minister, was appointed in 2005 and was in charge of the Treasury at the height of the lending boom.
And also Alastair Clark, a former Bank of England expert in financial stability, who was brought out of retirement to help with Northern Rock. He is appointed CBE for “services to central banking”.
The full list is available on the above web site.
But there are good choices: my favourite is Elle Simmonds, who won gold in the pool, at the ripe old age of 13, was totally gob-smacked and cried with happiness.
The “Team GB” honours can be found here, all thoroughly well deserved.
And of course there are the “normal” people honoured for years of dedication and hard work.
The New Years Honours list is of course arcane, it is one of “our” quirks, it always starts arguments, and personally I think there are too many “flavours” of honours.
Perhaps there should be just one-a United Kingdom Medal, which would make all those on the list equal but when all is said and done, honouring those that deserve being honoured is a good and uplifting thing.
That’s enough of being nice, the year ends with a wimper: the firkin Government, bankers, dealers and hedge fund arses have dropped us in the brown runny stuff, because of their greed and inaction we are stuffed.
Jobs are disappearing faster than you can say recession and, millions of people are in fear of losing their income and homes. But as usual there is no apology from the “Powers that Be”, Gordon Brown-trousers and his flatmate Darling are conspicuous in their absence during the “festive” season.
The BBC is showing different versions of the terpsichorean cock-up, still being paid for with MY license fee
The Middle East is still trying to self-destruct, and they are going to drag out the year by adding a “leap second” to it.
But there is some good news-BBC NEWS and no, this isn’t an early April fools joke.
A passenger plane has successfully completed a two-hour test flight partly powered by vegetable oil.
Air New Zealand hailed the flight as a "milestone" in the development of sustainable fuels that could lower aeroplane emissions and cut costs.
One engine of the Boeing 747-400 was fueled by a 50-50 mixture of jatropha plant oil and standard A1 jet fuel.
A Virgin Atlantic test flight in February used fuel derived from a blend of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts.
They still make the same amount of noise but the smell is wonderful.
Scotland (or most of it) has done away with Hospital car parking charges, as has Wales, and about firkin time, unfortunately the brain cell of the English Government hasn’t manage to get itself up to speed and follow suit, get you finger out Gord this is one rip off you need to do away with.
Patients to rate GPs on website BBC NEWS, this idea is about as bad as “iwantgreatcare.org” that wonderful idea by Neil (crispy) Bacon, which is about as much use as a chocolate fire guard, the site will be open to abuse, and manipulation, it won’t improve treatment, it won’t make our experience of healthcare any better, it will however provide a platform for the dissatisfied and the spin doctors.
If you have a good GP, and want to comment, write them a letter of thanks, tell all your friends and family, word of mouth is a much better way of providing information about your primary healthcare provider, and a nice letters from patients will be happily received by the GPs.
I am now going to withdraw from the day and read the book-bad science, kindly sent to me by Rita Pal of NHS behind the headlines fame.
Angus
