March 2003

My love affair with the music of the Aphex Twin continues, you can visit his Drukqs site www.drukqs.net You can buy stuff from the Aphex Twin at Warp Records I wouldn't go to www.drukqs.com if I were you as its a bit rude.

February 2003

Can anyone think of a good caption for this? email me

Another few months have gone by, I've put the Tetris game in the December Archive along with the first lot of Nokia photos. Also the web cam is there but its not working because I was too miserly to pay for the trial software that I set it up with and didn't want to download it onto this old computer which I'm gonna change soon.

I've been 'on the wagon' now since last Thursday (23rd Feb) so that's 10 days without a drop of alcolhol. To be honest I'm not finding it too much of a problem, the only thing I'm finding is that I don't feel fantastic like I thought I would. I'm sure that alcohol protects you against colds and viruses and right now feel a bit fluey and headachy like I'm coming down with something.

Also I'm a bit worried about the eco-warriors camped outside my front door. It appears that there is a rare colony of bacteria living in my gut. They ( the bacteria!) have been there for the past twenty years and have sort of evolved from the boring bacteria that usually live there. Their diet consists solely of Carling Black Label and Jamesons Irish whisky, nothing else. Well thay've had a great lifestyle for the past few years basking in my glory years of late night La Riojas and Friday nights, but at the moment they are struggling to survive as the last few milligrams of alcohol leave my body.

We are all a bit worried as it looks like the eco-warriors are about to pounce. They seem to be getting ready, donning balaclavas and arming themsleves with crates from Bargain Booze!, getting ready to force feed me Carling and Jamesons!, not too much at once you understand as they need the host (that's me) to stay alive and thereby perpetuating this bizarre symbiotic relationship that has developed. (or possibly mutualism!)

I'm thinking of running to the hills....................................................................................................................................................

I've specced up a new computer at Grapevine in Altrincham, its a small computer shop on Greenwood street and they hand build them, so its £1385 for a P4 3.04 Mhz, 1gig Ram, Wizzy video card, 9 USB ports, CD and DVD rewriter, not bad eh?

"There Should Be No War in Iraq Without More Jaw-Jaw" by Menzies Campbell

Under no circumstances in this high tech age should even the thought of going to war be tolerated. This is not the Dark Ages, we are a highly developed race and must be able to deal with threats like this in logical and humane manner.

I share the view of this Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman. for the following reasons:

1. Bush, President, lowest IQ of all US presidents does not have the mental capacity to understand the full consquences of war.

2. Blair, puppet, cannot cope with the failings in his own country and is looking towards glory on a worlwide scale to prop up his flagging popularity. I would advise him to put his house in order and suggest that he can not afford to take this coultry in to a war.

How would we all feel if bombs were dropped on London, on Manchester and tell me why it copuld not happen because I won't believe you. If you were an innocent guy living in Baghdad and the English were trying to kill your family would you not consider fighting back?...... makes you think doesn't it?

UK problems that Blair cannot deal with:

The Fire fighters strike - Quash it now. There is absolutely no justifiaction for 'working' three days a week with four days off for a second job, and to demand a 40% pay rise. Despite what is said they have a cushy life. Yes they are subject to some horrible sights but so are Police, Nurses, Doctors, not forgetting The Forces. The fact is they spend 70% of the time doing f**k all, 20 % of the time practising and taking cats down from trees,a nd 10% of the time attending 'real' events.

The economy - Blair doesnt know what to do apart from bury his head in international politcs. The pound is falling against the Euro because of the threat of war, making Eorpean imports expensive whilst the Dollar is falling against every other currency making Asian imports even cheaper as they sell in $US

The stock market is in freefall due to uncertainty and falling company profits.
Gold is at a six year high, always a sign that something worse is in the offing.

Interest Rates
have been slashed to stimulate the economy, this has done nothing for businesses but has made people feel richer leading to a boom in spending and house prices. (The knife edge)
Consumer Debt
is running at record levels which is very worrying as the slightest rise in interest rates will screw a lot of people.( the knife edge)
Insurance companies
are on the brink of having to offload billions of pounds worth of shares unless the FSA relax the rules on levels on equity investment. Believe me if they do have to sell, there will be a huge fall in equity prices over night!(The knife edge)
Tax and spend policies
Fat Idiot is taxing ordinary people to the hilt so he can spend the money on infrastructure. The problem is that very soon people are going to start to feel these higher taxes and stop spending. They will wait for prices to fall before spending and this will lead to Deflation . This has blighted the Japanese economy for the past 10 years. If this happens we are knackered, house prices will fall, consumer spending will fall and stock markets will tank.
(The knife edge)

We pay up to 50% of our income to the tax man, we work for ourselves from about the end of June.
When we invest this taxed money we are taxed up to 40% on the interest we make on it.
When we spend this money we pay up to 17 1/2 % on most of the goods we will buy.
If we are really clever we will invest in good shares or property. If we are good at it we will make a capital gain which we will have to pay tax on up to 40% This is on top of the stamp duty we had to pay when buying it.
When we die we will have to pay up to 40% of what's left to the tax man.

Good isn't it! ever feel you have been had?!

Never before has this country been in such a multi problem mess, We are teetering on the edge of a huge precipice and unless something drastic happens quickly we are fuck*d. A full blown traditional recession is looming 2003-2004, all we can hope is that we are still here at the end of 2004 to benefit from the upturn, assuming we have avoided deflation and being bombed/obliterated.

Transport
An utter disgrace! How can the government continue to penalise the humble car driver when it cannot get its public transport systems in order. The average speed on the M25 yesterday was 3.5 mph! because of 2 inches of snow.

Its impossible to get through Birmingham without at least a 30 minute traffic jam, any time of day.

It costs £5 to drive in to London, Ken (The newt) Livingstone has increased the waiting time at traffic lights leading to ultra high stress levels for the ordinary commuter.

London Underground,
The Tube, was built in Victorian Britain. It is held together by bits of wood and selloptape. There was a derailment at Chancery Lane, how safe do you feel?

The Rail Network
is a mess, I travelled to London with my daughter and stood/sat on the filthy floor all the way. It is outdates, outmoded and slow, never runs on time and is a poor substitue for the car.

Education
University students will have to pay over £3000 per year on top of living expenses to go to university Tony Blair you should be fuck**g ashamed!, Meanwhile you cannot even ensure that A level students get the right results.

I pay for private education for my daughters and it is not tax dedeuctable even tho' I am unbudoning th education system .

Health
I had a brain haemorrhage and spent 4 hours in A and E without seeing a doctor before being 'rushed' to intensive care!, joke!

I pay for private helth insurance because I would quite like to live longer and the payment is not tax deductable, even tho' I am unburdoning the state.

Blair - Get you own house in order and stop meddling in things you do not understand - we need a proper leader not a US Clone puppett.

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