Kevin Barry's blog

Wow, I thought, what is wrong with cheques? It seems that the Banking fraternity are not happy dealing with messy little bits of paper. In future, we must pay by credit card. Have you got a card Sir? Yes, I replied thru gritted teeth, I have credit cards. Are they Debit or Credit cards Sir? They are Visa Debit cards I growled, Sorry Sir, he said triumphantly, we only take Credit cards! Strangely, I did not explode with rank and file anger language, I was quite calm when I asked if I could take him thru our last hour together. At long last we had agreed terms and conditions on my house and car insurance. A lot of time had been spent explaining why certain offers on TV and in the Newspapers, were not suitable for my needs. Obviously they were slightly more expensive, but peace of mind were more important, don't you think? I wanted to ask why were the cheap offers made, if they were not good value? But only being a part time, semi-qualified Grumpy Old Man, I thought I would save that for another day. My mind was trying to work out this latest stab in the

I was reminded of those programmes on TV where big spenders are advised how to stop
being silly and get into the real world. The expert explains the basic rules. The opened mouthed ones look on with horror - "What do you mean we should be more careful with our income - we have oodles and oodles coming in every month - so where is the problem?"
Your problem, he says, is your control. - This is what I suggest.... Rules are discussed and targets set. Later when the adviser returns things are not much better, some slight improvements have been made, but common sense is still missing. Now instead of acting like The Official Receiver and taking charge of the whole situation, the adviser wags finger and says he will return in a few months........As I understand things, Runnymede Council are at the stage of engaging an Adviser (as a temp at £60,000) to see if their problems.
can be solved. A good idea if the problem is solved, but may I suggest, that what is required is a root and branch investigation into where Runnymede Council are going

What a sad state of affairs we have arrived at when the question under discussion is about cheating. Should the goal that was scored, thanks to Thierry Henry's hand ball, be allowed to stand? In other words, is it OK now to cheat and get away with it? Well ,say the authorities, it is not as simple as that. As the match officials did not see any infringement, they cannot change what happened. What, even if the TV pictures show that Henry - quite clearly and deliberately - prevents the ball from going into touch with his hand? Well, as the officials did not see a problem at the time, the result will stand....This farce brings to my mind an exchange between a young man and another which is encapsulated in the limerick of Ronald Knox which was on the lines of -
There was a young man who said "God Must find it exceedingly odd, To think that the tree
Should continue to be, When there's no one about in the quad."

By system, I mean "a way of doing things" - At the moment we are under the banner of democracy - which since 1215, Runnymede and all that, we have believed that the top man would listen to the people, not be a dictator, but order things as per the wishes of the majority.(Well sort of) Today we have arrived at the point where, our top man, we have discovered, is not fit for purpose. In the real world, idiot top man would be found another place before he can do too much damage. Our political history tells us that it is very difficult to rid ourselves of a wrong 'un,once they have been given the nod by HRH. We need to change things so that we (the voter) is given a say, via a referendum, or similar. Such changes must be made in Parliament, which is a turkeys voting for Christmas operation, so the chances of expenses-mad politicians giving themselves the sack, are slim. The writing on the wall calls for change. Intelligent and wise politicians will see that the attitude of "Up Yours" from today's incumbents will lead voters to look to

Last night on BBC TV, the oxygen of publicity was fully focused on bully boy Nick Griffin, the Leader of BNP. Here, was the show that Mark Thompson, was asked to defend his decision to allow such publicity, for this far right upstart. Without the usual supporting cast of heavies to create an atmosphere of fear, we all quickly realised that this Leader, had been persuaded that his role for the night, was to be the joker! Not realising that this mad ploy would only make matters worse, the silly man started to giggle, laugh and clap at every opportunity. Serious questions from very annoyed people were treated with joke answers. This golden opportunity to get converts was completely turned on its head. This display of childish nonsense, revealed the man for what he is, a shallow vacuous empty vessel without a sound idea in his head. So what of the BBC and Mark Thompson - were they right to put this man on show to the nation? Yes, Yes and Yes again. Thank you BBC - Who will be next in the hot seat?

How well we would get to know

Taking a wild guess, the instant reply would be Rubbish! To investigate still further as to the reason why the MP is held in such low esteem, would bring forth a whole range of reasons. The whole nation, it seems, is fed up with MP's and their expenses fiddles. We are all disgusted and demand that they are punished. The dozy worm voter has turned. After years of putting up with behaviour unbecoming, the cry is enough is enough, on your bike!
The problem is, how do you replace a bad servant with a good one? The system in place now is very silly. It is mainly based on a few top party people, without any consultation with the public, pick a candidate who says he/she is in agreement with the thoughts ideals policies etc,of the selection committee. A vote is taken by the members of the Committee and, as long as the person is thought to be "sound" the successful candidate, is advised that they have been adopted to fight the seat, at the next election. If the seat

This phrase uttered by a Labour politician in the eighties, came back to me when I heard the announcement that a high priority for the Tory Party, when/if they are given power in a few months time, will be to "sort out the work shy". This is their crude language to threaten and frighten those unfortunate people who are unable to work, and who are forced to accept charity. Certainly, it must be said, not all those on sick benefit, are genuine cases. They will all be tested and it is expected that £25m will be saved. No mention was made of the distress and worry this exercise will cause. What strange people these MP's are, for the past months we have been fed daily stories of their expenses. Members it seems tried to prevent their claims being published in full. These people who have mega salaries and expenses for a few hours work a week, who are pampered and subsidised in all directions, have now decided to target some of the poorest in the land. How brave they are!

The simple answer is Yes! In a few days time we will not be able to remember many of the details of why a mother and daughter spent the last minutes of their tormented lives on earth, in a blazing inferno that was their family car. Letters to the media, articles written and broadcast, ask the same questions - Why? What went wrong? Who is responsible? Fingers are pointed. Blame is allocated. 'They' did not do their duty. We all wring our hands and nod in agreement. They are guilty. If only the Police, MP's, Local Council, Social Services, Schools, The Churches, The Government, et al, did their job properly, then 'this' would not happen. It is known as the Blame Game, perfected in the Houses of Parliament to a professional standard. Questions: So why do we (The Public) copy the cretins and play their stupid game and become as guilty as they are? Why have we allowed the drunks, the yobs, the feral youth,the muggers, the criminals, the bullies, the noisy neighbours, etc, to ruin our lives?

...the only alternative we have (it seems) is to send for Dave 'Boy' Cameron and ask him to be our Prime Minister. How strange are the rules of this game called politics. We have not got a clue as to what type PM Dave will be, but because Gordon is v bad, that makes Dave the winner. No exams as to ability to run the country, or his thoughts on Europe or even declaring war. In fact, it is generally understood all promises made at election time are not to be taken too seriously - the object of the exercise is to get elected - when we get there, we can sort the problems. The real and tough problem for all those sent to parliament, as MP's, is to restore some honesty and dignity to the privilege of being an MP. It is hoped that all the new boys will be able to persuade the old guard, the reason that they are elected, is solely to work for their electors. I have never understood why it is that MP's who are constantly reminding us that their workload as an MP is very heavy, but they take extra jobs. That seedy situation needs media examination.

Today is called the Glorious 12th! So what glorious event are we celebrating that earns itself such a fine title? A victory in battle led by Nelson, or one of our great generals like Wellington? Well, no actually, the 'Glorious' tag is to hide the fact that on this day, pretend sane and intelligent people arm themselves with shotguns and commit bloody murder. I promise you I am not making this up. The target of the day is a bird called the Grouse. The Grouse is specially bred for this day, all its short life it has been fed and cared for so that it will be fit and able to fly towards the guns so that it can be shot to pieces. Yes, I know it is very cruel and it should not be allowed to happen, but theses people do not understand, what they are doing is wrong. To the hunters, these birds are the perfect target,slow and stupid. The hunters are known as Hooray Henry's - enough said.