Casino's

My apologies for lack of postings, life has a way of teaching each one of us our priorities, and mine over the last few weeks have not been about blogging.

However one is, shall we say back in the saddle, so with no further ado, let us begin.

I have refrained from commenting in the past about the proposed super casino's, not out of apathy or dis-interest, but my mother was involved in a small way in BCAGE (Blackpool Coalition Against Gambling Expansion) and I considered it to be a slight hindrance to have a family member involved in something I wished to blog about. Plus I preferred to see how the government could cock up this plan, just as badly as many of the other quick fixes they appear to be extremely fond of. As we already know there have been more pressing things going on in the bloggosphere.

On the whole, I am not against gambling, I have visited casino's in the past and may do so in the future. I tend to restrict my gambling to the Grand National, the Pools and the lottery, I don't do horse racing or dogs, nor do I do one armed bandits.

Tessa Jowell has staked her reputation on bringing in a Super Casino, which seems innocuous enough, until one actually looks and ponders the reasons. Supposedly the one Super Casino should have gone to Blackpool, but was instead given to Manchester.

Having resided in both places I feel that my comments do have some small amount of merit.

Manchester has to all intents and purposes re-invented itself, it has with the help of massive amounts of public and private money, reclaimed land and buildings. It has redefined Manchester City Centre has made it appear more cosmopolitan. The city centre has changed almost beyond recognition, with new high rises, street cafes, new restaurants and shops in abundance being built. It is now seen as the second city of the UK ahead of Birmingham, who it has to be said have not taken it lying down and are beginning their own revamp and renewal. So Manchester has a lot going for it, it already has a few casino's, which on the whole are well utilised and visited, mainly by the biggest nation of gamblers the Chinese. One could argue that as it has the largest group of Chinese outside of London, then Manchester is already ready with the biggest collective group of gamblers.

Blackpool has lost its way over the years, it now does not know what it is anymore, in days gone by the annual wakes weeks were a boon with thousands of mill workers from Oldham, Blackburn, Wigan, Burnley and other Northern towns, travelling to the coast on their annual pilgrimage to get some sea and sand. These annual holidays made Blackpool and other northern resorts. As the years passed the wakes weeks came to die out aided with the advent of packaged holidays,cheaper travel, and cheaper flights meant it was affordable for the working man to travel to benidorm and the Costa Del sol, where you were guaranteed the sun, something that Blackpool could not boast. The hotels and guest houses remained and fought for a reducing number of clients. Until today, the majority of these clients are now day trippers, who come for a day out. The mainstay of the hotels and guest houses today are the "Stag and Hen" do's, which has helped to drive away the families, from what once was Britain's premier family resort. Stagnation, lack of investment have all taken a toll on Blackpool. There have been some recent changes, some modernisation, the new gateway to Blackpool has actually begun to improve the area. However lacking any serious industry, all that Blackpool appears to offer is masses of under used hotels/guest houses Blackpool's main employer is the local Civil Service, with some of the largest departments based in or around the Fylde Coast. The Land Registry, Stocks and Bonds, Disability Living Allowance and War Pensions to name a few.

I wish to know why the government have tied in with these regeneration plans for both areas, the idea of a Super Casino. How can building a large casino help to regenerate an area. Once the initial building work has finished and those construction workers have moved on to their next build. How many jobs will a casino create? a couple of hundred. Hazel Blears on Question Time last night stated that it would create over 100 jobs. Not a lot of jobs to go around for the unemployed are being created with a casino then! Plus having lived in both areas, I cannot believe that unless you are extremely good looking, you are going to get one of the good jobs. The majority of service jobs created will be on the service side, cleaners, kitchen staff, car parking attendants. Not exactly well paid areas of work. The Croupiers and bar staff will all be good looking people, to help attract the clientele.

Notwithstanding all these proposals, one has only to listen to the people of Atlantic City or Las Vegas, to be able to follow and understand that casino's help no one. They attract Prostitution, racketeering, money laundering, drugs, crime and the most unsavoury of characters all drawn to the money like moths to a candle.

Sure relax the gambling laws, allow slightly larger regional casino's or allow the casino's already in the towns to expand and offer larger prizes. But to imagine that one Super casino will bring any benefit to whatever area it is in, is surely a very misguided one!

Boozing at home.....

Why is it that all and sundry seems to feel they they have some innate right to comment on our lifestyles?

Personally I like the odd pint or two with the lads on a Friday night, nothing to heavy, a chance to put the world to rights, have a moan, even discuss politics and occasionally women! etc etc.

Now the Royal College of Physicians have commented on the fact that we as a nation are supposedly drinking too much at home.

Purely from a fiscal point, if I purchase a drink in a Pub, be it beer or wines/spirits, it is understood that I pay more than the said drink is actually worth, I pay a higher price for the comfort of drinking in the pub. If I wished for cheap ale, I could and can go to the local Tesco, Morrisons et al.

Now as we age and head into our dotage, the local pub is less and less our "type of place" too many youngsters, too much loud music etc etc. Just as in our 40's we realise that clubbing is silly and make way for the youngsters coming through, as we get older our intake levels drop, we grow up and cease to be clubbers. The occasional forays to the dance floors begin to take place at weddings and birthdays.

However just because we are older and less inclined to go to the local, does not mean we dislike drink, we can still have a drink at home, but the Royal College of Physicians have called for drink prices to be increased, to stop the older elements of society "drinking to much"!

My parents ran pub's both managed and tenanted, when they left the pub trade, that didn't mean they gave up drinking, for years my dad brewed his own wine, and a very potent brew it was! Who needed beer when three glasses of his home made wine could put you on your back! They never drank to excess, just a few drinks whilst watching what passes for entertainment on the TV.

This as we get older is getting to be, if it was ever anything else, the norm. We have paid our taxes, our dues, contributed to the fabric of society, we do not go out and get bladdered, steaming or pished as a fart. We do not call on ambulances, we cause no fights, we do not urinate in the street, we do not go round effing and blinding it at the top of our voices. We remain safe in our homes, drinking and relaxing, in front of the tele or playing cards, even scrabble.

So why this insistence from those who always presume they know better, to once again try to foist their values upon us. If they are short of friends, have boring lives, that is their fault, they failed to mix, failed to have any personality. Because the oh so righteous do gooders who infest our country are really just a lot of aging sad sack bastards who do not know when to keep their collective gob's shut!

If our elderly and pensioners want to drink at home, what the fucking hell makes it your business. During their working lives they had to put up with all your stupid petty rules and regulations, they jumped through your stupid hoops, they paid for the NHS, they paid for your schooling, they were lied to but paid anyway for the EU.

Now they have retired, they Do Not have to put up with you! You have not earned the right to comment on their lives, they are above you, you have nothing to teach them, and even more so, you talk of nothing that they need to know! Other than perhaps giving another reason for the (robbing bastard) chancellor to raise more taxes, by upping the prices in the supermarkets and off licences, to pay for an illegal war!

If my mum wants to drink a bottle of vodka over two years, two months, two weeks, or even two days, who's fucking business is it? After years of paying into a system, which repeatedly shafted her for more and more of her hard earned money. Has she not earned the right to do whatever the bloody hell she wants?

So to all you Physicians who profess to know so much, get off your fucking high horses, get out get a hobby, or even try and get a life. But leave me and mine alone, if nothing else all the do gooders have proved, is once they are let loose on anything they, as politicians ( who have no room to talk Re: Boozing) do, fuck it all up. It ain't broke, it don't need fixing..... now piss off and die!!

First they came for the smokers
Then they came for the obese
Next they started on pensioners
Then they came for the motorists
Now they're after those who drink.

WHY ARE POLITICIANS ARE ALWAYS EXEMPT. They get huge, tax free salaries, perks & pensions, can smoke and drink at work, can claim up to £131,000. expenses! They also have fantastic gilt edged pensions!!

AND NO MENTION OF THE £1.5 MILLION BOOZE MOUNTAIN CONSUMED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS BY MPS!

The House of Lords...

I suppose that unlike some, I do love and rejoice in the history of the UK. As much as I dislike the "class system", as shown by the royalty. I do not agree that they are in any way better than my local street sweeper or lolly pop lady, or even more worthy than a nurse, a dentist or even a mere blogger!

Aah but they do provide us with a tangible link to our past, they are a pageant, a glimpse of what once was. They in all their robes and finery are a spectacle as only we English can do so well. One that many other countries envy, they respect our history and pay money to come and see it.

I too adore our pageantry and castles, the history of these lands, being able to trace our linage back more than 200 years, our hero's, their actions on our behalf, link them to this future, always visible, even if rarely ever acknowledged.

The United Kingdom has a wide and vivid history that stretches back through all our troubles, it shows the way we as a nation moved forwards, even when we moved forward in an unjust way, we changed and adapted. We learned to make mistakes but not be afraid to correct those mistakes. How we and the self belief that we had in ourselves as a nation, have made our mark on the world. We exported our sense of fairplay, our sense of justice, our belief in the rights of the common man. Think how worse would the world be without this nation having been here?

We have no reasons and precious little understanding of how or why the things that we do actually work, but work they do! We trust them to work, and for every jobsworth we have, we also have many that do the right thing, because it is the right thing to do.

As my case in point I give you the House of Lords, surely one of the strangest anachronism that exists, the idea that a set of the landed gentry, should have any concept of how to keep the common man free, on the face of it seems farcical. But that is what they do, Yes, I accept they occasionally make mistakes, who doesn't, but on the whole they do nothing but good. They are our safeguard, our first line of defence against the stupidity and ineptitude of the House of Commons. They are a balance, a check on the government. They cannot change the laws, they cannot change legislation, they can only recommend, and by doing so, buy us, the common people time to see the errors that the elected politicians have missed or misread. It gives us a chance to ask questions, a chance to say "hang on that is plain fucking stupid" or more basically, There is NO FUCKING WAY your doing that!!!

I am all for modernisation if something needs changing then by all means change it, but not just sake of being modern, of needing to be "Up to Date", of being "with it". Change for changes sake does nothing and usually cock's everything up.

The House of Lords actually works, so why reform? Is it that they do just what they are supposed to do? That they follow the purpose of their being so well, that they frustrate governments wishes? That they are a safeguard, that they do point out government follies? Why do the politicians hate the house of lords? bloody hell after years of questionable service by some bloody incompetent politicians are they and have they not been elevated to the House of Lords?

Yes by all means reduce the hereditary peers, as has been done, but to go for a totally elected house is foolishness.

Let the status quo remain, long live the House of Lords!

This IS NOT Child fucking friendly

Well I often wondered how long it would take the NuLabour thieves to realise what a potential cash cow they would be creating with the proposed ID Cards.

Not withstanding the actual set up costs, which is rumoured to be in the billions, and the price which we the supposed free people of the UK, have been informed will have to pay for the privilege of owning one? Only about £93.00, which is the governments assessment, and as we all know, they assess like they fuck. Which is to say they last about thirty seconds and brag about shagging all night, so in reality the cost is going to be sky high!

I often wondered about how would they or could they force us to carry them. I understood that people on benefits would have to provide them as a matter of course, otherwise no benefits, I mean I am no Einstein but I knew that would be the first use. Then I assume the next would be the NHS, no ID no treatment. But couldn't see how they would get the rest of the population to use them. well according to the Daily Mail they (NuLabour) have said that banks and other companies will have access to the information for a fee!

Now as Longrider said a while ago, "Let me make this clear; my identity is just that, mine. It is not yours, it is not the state’s, it is mine and mine alone. It is up to me to decide who will be privy to information about that identity." Well said that man, I couldn't agree more! I too am not for sale, my Identity is mine, so hands off you fuckwits!!

So if I understand this correctly the government of fuckwits are going to make me pay for something I don't want,I don't fucking really need, that will be fucking useless, they are then going to feel free to allow all and fucking sundry access to my fucking data!! THEY CAN GET TO FUCK... No No No... My old maxim comes to play, "You want to Fuck Me? then kiss me!, You don't kiss me you don't get to fuck me!!!"

Sorry tony and gordo, this little fat bastard (lfb= Little Fat Bastard) is now going to buy plenty of razor wire, unlike DK who prefers death by insect which for you bunch of nefarious humpty backed bastards is way to fucking easy, and no-were near painful enough!!

I have decided that razor wire wrapped snugly around your balls (if you have any left) and spiralled up you tiny little nulabour cocks, you are then to be forced to anally roger each other till either you both fucking get one working brain between you or Millibrand's balls finally drop!,or you both come!! Which must be attested by Hazel Blears using the gargle reflex to ascertain that sperm is present in the afore mentioned ravaged assholes, she talks so much shit, so the taste shouldn't bother her in the slightest!
Plus the smell is something her supporters have been used to for years.

You will then be passed to DK for his pleasure, after which I hope you rot and fucking DIE!!!!! Fucking CUNTS!!!

Police over the top??

Well, we know how strong the women in Sheffield are now, it takes three Police officers to subdue one scrawny 20 year old woman.

Toni Comer was arrested after commiting criminal damage to a car outside a NightClub in Sheffield.

What surprises me after watching the footage, is the officers defence that she got her hands free and went for his genitals!

Having watched it I am struck by the fact that he hits her 5 times, but only after he has back up from two other officers, one of whom appears to be holding the young womans legs. Not forgetting that all of the Officers tower over the scrawny built woman!

Another thing is why not let us listen to the sound, the CCTV obviously has sound as the dog can be head barking. What was said, and at what point did the woman try to attack the officers genitals.

Coppers these days eh, limp wristed nancy boys. Poor bugger will never live it down, unable to subdue a girly

A small Council Tax rant

I still find it amazing that there is supposedly no room in our jails for the criminal fraternity in the UK. Indeed over the past few months much has been said in the press about the Home Office being "Fit for Purpose", and the Home Offices reply, why to send out yet more guidelines for sentencing.

These guidelines have been adhered to by the Judges in a few notable cases, were it has been said by government spokesmen that the judges were making political statements, which with their roles as Judges, and their impartiality they are not supposed to do.

Which begs the question, if there is no room in our jails for criminals, how come a retired vicar can be jailed for not paying above inflation Council Tax increase?

Since I personally began paying what was then the Council Rates, back in the 90's then my annual bill for a family home in the lowest band was about £190.00. Then Maggie Thatcher had a brain wave, bring in the Poll Tax or Community Charge as it was properly called.

The problem was that council tax billed doubled, I went from paying £190.00 to just short of £400.00, now I cannot see for the life of me why it had to be set at that figure. Had they just said right everyone has to pay. Set the money at £100.00, no problem, but no they (The councils) had to be greedy, so everyone over 18 paid £190.00. Effectively doubling the money that the councils received, and in some homes quadrupling the amount. None of this money has ever been really accounted for.

That is what was so unfair, that a family with two kids over 18 still at home had their Poll Tax quadrupled, whilst a couple in an above average large house had their Poll Tax amount reduced. The better class and larger your house, the less you paid. Not with standing that parents became liable for their kids part of the bill, if they lived at home. So we had massive amounts of children leaving home at 18, kids who would have otherwise stayed at home and maybe gone to college etc.

We then had civil unrest, riots, people refusing to pay, which effectively forced the government of the day to do a U turn. The Poll Tax was no more, and they came up with the Council Tax which was virtually the old rating system, with loop holes closed.

Since then Council Tax has risen, albeit slowly at first until in the last 6 years it has doubled what it was in 2000. Each time it has gone up since 1997 (when Labour came to power) it has risen by more than the rate of inflation.

This begs the question, just what the buggery are they doing with my/our money? Where is it being hidden, what is it being used for?

In Blackpool, over the last 5 years the town hall has been revamped 3 times, each conversion more expensive than the last. From posh block paving of all the footpaths around the council offices, to the brand new front entrance and reception areas, each change makes no difference nor does it contribute to the people of Blackpool's standard of life, it just makes the spendthrift councillors want to spend more and more money revamping all their offices. Whilst the roads, transport and street cleansing just get steadily worse!

These increases are forcing more and more of our pensioners into becoming criminals, they are refusing to pay above inflation rises, and they are going to jail to make their case. Just as Alfred Ridley, the retired vicar has chosen to do! Well done Alfred!

I believe that if everyone wrote to their local councillor and local MP's and stated that this year will be the last year of council tax rises. That in future any increase will be kept under inflation or first the councillors will lose their honorariums, then senior staff salaries will be reduced, then senior staff will be sacked. Threaten them where it really hurts in their pocket! Maybe then they would think twice about non jobs, and jobs for the boys.

EU Flag to Fly over UK buildings???

Right, the Yanks, for all their worldwide experience of wars and how to lose them, have a way of portraying their history. Officially in US History books World War II started in 1941, that's when they decided to join in, and in their words it wasn't a proper war till they joined.

The Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957, we (the UK) were not signatories to this Treaty, cause just having beaten Germany, and being basically bankrupted by the debt to the USA , Land Lease, war loans etc, etc, to pay for the War, we were having a bit of trouble financially. Plus we were actually fed up of bailing the bastards in Europe out!

So anyway this year is the 50th Anniversary of the treaty of Rome, when the EU is going to celebrate the signing of the treaty and for keeping Europe peace free during the last 50 years??? Sorry I thought that was NATO, or have I missed something, Aah, I get it, I forgot this is much like the USA. The EU writes his own version of history, hoping that the normal and certainly unwilling public it dictates to, have little or no recollection.

Now the sneaky little bastards in power are trying to make it mandatory to fly the EU Flag alongside the Union Flag on public buildings. There is a problem with this, at the moment as it stands, the EU is not a country or a state, therefore to Fly the EU flag would be an outdoor advertisement, and as such require planning permission.

Speaking about the bill currently passing through parliament, Mr. Neil Herron, Speakout Campaigner said "It seems strange to me that we have to fight to fly our National Flag and the flag of our Patron Saint even on just one day of the year, yet sneaking through Parliament is a Bill which will give the flag of a highly contentious political project equal status to the flag that 1.25million in two World Wars laid down their lives for, and our troops continue to do so in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“The British public is fed up to the back teeth of the continuous attempts to give extra credence to the EU and the all pervasive EU symbolism ... on passports, car registration plates, driving licences and now this outrageous attempt to give the EU Flag status equivalent to that of our own Union Flag. I for one will be deeply offended if this alien flag is flown over our Council or other buildings."

I second this statement we need the EU Flag as much as we need a chocolate fireguard, and lets be honest, the chocolate fireguard would be just as useful as the EU Flag, or the EU as a whole!

No Smoking in Church!!

On 1st of July, the No Smoking ban comes into effect, on that day you can no longer smoke in public buildings. To make sure you know you cannot smoke the Fuckwits that be have decreed that mandatory signs are placed all over public buildings. Now I reckon one of teflon tone's mates own one of these sign manufacturing companies, but that is as they say by the by.

In 100% of churches as far as I am aware, people don't smoke, call it respect, call it what you like, they just don't do it.

So why oh why do churches have to put up signs? (and failure to do so results in them being fined) sorry I just do not get it.

Apparently someone from the Department of Health was quoted in the tabloids as saying "Prominent signs will be required for each entrance. The design of the signs Can be flexible and designed to match surroundings!"

What the fuck are our Churches and Museums, Art Galleries etc going to look like with all the stupid "No Smoking" signs plastered all over them?

It's just more control freakery from the stupid fuckwit blair and his nazi henchmen!! All the signs should be grouped together and forced up every NuLabour politicians arsehole!

Nurses asked to take a Pay Cut!!

This is a subject I feel I can for want of a better word, pontificate upon, there see Friday and hasn't my eloquence surprised you, aren't you glad you logged in.

I try as much as I can not to dwell on the past, as I believe that as long as you feel you have learned lessons, taken those lessons on board then it is OK to move on.

My ex wife, is an Auxiliary Nurse, what you would call an ass wiper, or that is what they used to do, now they do much more.

For the past few years the Auxiliary Nurses duties have widened, they have taken on a more nursing role. Taking blood pressure, taking bloods, changing dressings and handing out medications etc, and yes all with training. The reason for them doing more nursing work, is because the actual nurses are tied to the ward desks, doing/completing paperwork, so that the trust can fulfill its obligations to the number crunchers and meet government targets, to ensure that the hospital gets it funding. The salary for these posts is around £12,000 per year, as against a qualified nurse, who's starting salary is usually around £16,- 18000.

Now the rights and wrongs of what Auxiliaries do or Nurses don't are neither here nor there, the point I wish to get over is that they provide a front line service, for not a lot in regards pay!

I am not surprised that the chancellor (robbing bastard) gordon brown has stated that Nurses pay should be kept to below inflation rates, what does surprise me is his total stupidity in expecting people to swallow this line. Every time it comes to people that do real jobs, that the country really needs, they want to cut salaries, pay less than inflation rises. Yet they have the audacity to ask that they themselves receive a whopping 66% pay rise, now if that is not hypocrisy then I don't know what is. He (Gordo) has asked the Nurses to accept a 2% pay rise, 1.5% in April and 1% in November, giving a total of 1.9%. Notwithstanding that the staggered payment mean the government saves about 200 million pounds.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said "she appreciated nurses would be "disappointed" by the staggered increases but said their rise would amount to 4.4% once annual progression increases were included." But its still way fucking short of the 66% they want for themselves!!Now let me explain a bit about these progression increases.

You start a job on the lowest point on a scale, for arguments sake 10,000, then over a period usually 5 years, you reach the top of the scale, 12,000, this is to recognise the increase in knowledge and experience that you have gained. It works the same in the silly service, as you gain more experience you move up an increment annually. This is a proven method and believe it or not it actually works, most Government and local government/councils/colleges etc use the concept.

Now Pat Hewitt is saying that the Increments are now apart of your rise, (this argument was last used by employers who told staff that as they were on 5.00 per hour, and the minimum wage was now 5.35 per hour, that was their annual cost of living increase.) What Pat Hewitt fails to realise is, that once you are on the top of your scale, you get no further increase/increment, so for those staff, who with all the job losses etc, are more likely to be at the top of scale, are actually getting a pay cut. As over inflation rate rises of Utility bills, council tax and cost of food etc have all increased by 4.4%.

I believe that if the Politicians are entitled to a 66% pay rise, then so should everybody! If a 2% pay rise is acceptable to Nursing staff then it is also acceptable for the Politicians! Plus don't forget only as a Politician do you get your salary plus £131,000 for expenses!!!