Actions Speak Louder Than Words!

And I only asked him what his thoughts were on the Treasury's growth forecast for the coming year!

An Old Dog and New Tricks

I have just come across and scanned one of my favourite posters from yesteryear. As each year passes, I become more acutely aware of Rex's dilema!

 

Vauxhall - A Warning From History

The "exhaust emission light" lit up on the dashboard of car this morning. Out came the service manual, and sure enough I was referred to my local Vauxhall dealer which in my book is akin to being mugged. But if you are mugged you can use "reasonable force" against you assailant and report the matter to the police. With a Vauxhall dealer you just stand there whilst they fleece you for as much as they can, And it is legal!! 

I also fear that this will be the start of many faults. Once a car hits 60,000 miles I always seem to get a clutch of faults and problems - but this time may be the last because the way things are going the car is going to become an expensive luxury for the working man. I wonder if the ever increasing costs of motoring are a  conscious policy decision by the Con-Lib Coalition to drive the lower orders of the road so they will have more room to swan around. mmmm 

"They can be smoked all day without affecting the throat in the slightest"

^{At the same time as I came across the previous report I saw this advertisement. It is now obvious that if all tobacco companies "toasted" their tobacco there would be no throat irritations and coughs.}

 

^{Incidentally Viscount Castlerosse died at the age of 51 but at least he did not have a smokers cough!}

^{Valentine Edward Charles Browne, 6th Earl of Kenmare (29 May 1891 – 20 September 1943), styled Viscount Castlerosse from 1905 to 1941, was the Earl of Kenmare and the son of Valentine Browne, 5th Earl of Kenmare. He was a journalist for The Sunday Express.[1] He had no children.[2]}

A Miserable Hovel

I came across the following cutting the other day purely by accident. It is from The Sheffield Daily Telegraph dated 18th January 1864 and it is a verbatim account of a death in Cumberland as reported by the Carlise Journal.

 

It is a desperately sad account of a life and death. And it is a timely reminder of what can occur when people are left to fend for themselves. It is also rather macabre in a way. In 1860, a £100.00 would be the equivalent of roughly £60,000 today, and so at today's prices, Mr Weales annual income of £20 would be in the region of £12,000 per annum or to put it more succinctly on par with today's minimum wage.Not a great deal of money but enough to subsist on. Mr Wheales seemed to live or "exist" at poverty level which is strange given his income.  

Getting Facts Wrong

On Sheffield City Councils website there is the following information regarding the opening of Sheffield's City Road Crematorium in 1905

"City Road Crematorium opened on 5 April 1905 by the Lord Mayor, Joseph Jones and was the tenth crematorium to be built in the UK. The first cremation took place on 24 April 1905 and to date over 195,000 cremations have been carried out."

But in the Manchester Guardian the following day, this report appeared

If you read the article you would assume that Sir Charles Cameron was the Lord Mayor but he wasn't according to the Council. But neither was Joseph Jones. the Lord Mayor of Sheffield in April 1905.


The Lord Mayor who performed the ceremony was in fact Sir Joseph Jonas who was, during his business career, a major industrialist in the city and a generous benefactor to many causes. However his career and indeed his life ended in controversy that still leaves a nasty taste in the mouth today.

And just for trivia's sake, the following paragraph iss taken from the Cremation Society's webpage and refers to the UK's first official cremation. Sir Charles cameron appears to have been a leading proponent of cremation hence his speech at the opening ceremony

"Meanwhile, on 26th March, 1885 the first official cremation at Woking took place. Mrs. Pickersgill, a well-known figure in literary and scientific circles, was the first of three cremations that year. Mr. Charles William Carpenter was cremated on 19th October and in December the third cremation, even though the body of a fourteen stone woman, was again successfully performed in only 11/2 hours. In 1886 ten bodies were cremated."

Happy New Year

I received the following e-mail from the Deputy Prime Minister

Subject:       Happy New Year
From:       "Nick Clegg" <LIBDEMSFEDERAL@emarketing.etelligent.uk.com>
Date:       Wed, December 29, 2010 7:14 am
To:       chrishl@chrishobbs.com

Dear friend,

Well what a year! A white-knuckle election; a new coalition government; Liberals in
power for the first time in 70 years.

I've recorded a short message reflecting on the events of 2010 and looking forward
to what Liberal Democrats will deliver in Government in 2011. Click on the link
below to watch it:

http://www.etelligent.uk.com/etelligent/mp-getURL.asp?SOID=474&CC=LIBDEMSFEDERAL&CID=163319&CEMAIL=chrishl@chrishobbs.com&LID=3445&SEID=1637&T=0&FRM=2

Some people will continue to predict the worst for our Party - the same people who
have been underestimating the Liberal Democrats for as long as we have existed.

But we prove them wrong at every single turn. The next twelve months will be no
different, because we will continue to build the liberal, fairer, greener Britain
that we all believe in.

Happy New Year!

Nick Clegg
Liberal Democrat leader

I'm a bit puzzled about the mail because when I think of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrtic Party, happiness is probably the last emotion I feel :-((. I am also perturbed to note that they are continuing to build a "liberal, fairer, greener Britain that we all believe in". Since their return to power after 70 years, their actions seem to point towards a more repressive Britain where injustice and unfairness are the norm, and where ordinary, decent people are just lied to by their elected representatives.