Malcolm Robinson

Flipping heck, if we loose this last one we might as well not bother getting up in the mornings! I noticed it is listed as a Scottish division/business on the letterheads we get?

That's one hell of a leap of faith Cyril………..accountable. All politicians say they are accountable at the ballot box which if everyone actually voted might have a grain of truth. It's almost exactly the same as running a business except, and there's the cruncher you will enjoy, if they want more money to spend they just vote through a tax rise! I have been to my council's meetings where the next year's rates charges were discussed and set and I have to say I found the process unbelievable. One year's increase was put through because the majority felt they should! It wasn't even aligned to costs! The public are not allowed to speak at these events but I do think we should be handing out rotten fruit to be used as we see fit! I ran my own business Cyril and I once had an argument with a councillor at a public meeting who wanted to double the rates so they could spend the money on 'feel good' projects. I asked him what did he think would happen if I decided I wanted to double my pay so I went in the next day and doubled the cost of everything I was selling. I am not even sure he understood the analogy but a lot of his compadres did and told him to shut up! This is the problem, spending other people's money is the easy bit and most councillors have never had to actually go out and make money for themselves, if they did they might value the stuff and where it comes from a bit more! I am not saying every councillor has to have been self-employed to be competent only that the vast majority seem to me to display a disconnect between the real world and how they manage the public purse. The perfect example is Westminster where our great and good leaders have never had anything approaching what most people would call a real job, how the hell can they make decisions which affect the vast majority of people in the country: there is absolutely no empathy or understanding we might as well have Martians ruling us!

Actually Keith, probably the parish council. Bus shelters and their upkeep were one of the devolved services that went through over a year ago. Unless there is a 'special expenses' on your parish rates demand then its definitely the parish council. If they refused to take them on the county still charge for them but call it special expenses. Now is it just me or does that smack of double taxation coz as far as I am concerned we paid NCC to oversee bus shelters, and a lot more which could be coming the Parish and Town council's way! Play grounds, allotments, etc. Last bit of factual info so everyone can draw their own conclusion, whilst NCC took the Government 'Shilling' (£3M PA) and didn't raise their rates charge for the last 3 years there is no such restriction on parish precepts (rates). In fact the parish councils can put up their charge by as much as they like! So we have NCC getting £3M for not raising charges and at the same time they devolve some of their services to the Parish councils who have to out up their charge to cover their increased costs! Slight of hand or smoke and mirrors or what! Interestingly last autumn NCC sent the usual scare story around (they have done it twice before) about devolving a huge amount of services and the cost for the West Bedlington Town Council would have been more than the total they currently collect in parish rates. Someone must have remembered there was an election coming up coz that little wheeze was scrapped but the cat was out of the bag, some of us saw the figures! Our council then promised a no increase this year even though they have increased the rates EVERY year since their inception, really as far as I could see for no good reason! Even that back fired when an increase was foisted onto them. I am starting to limber up now if any of the trolls want to come on and really debate this stuff!

Listen I wasn't electioneering honest, but I do think much more can and should be done.

Couldn't agree more tomtom and I am not electioneering! Looks to me like our 'local' council prefers to invest in its own bureaucracy rather than the image and wellbeing of the town. With more than half their income going on things like office and admin costs they are now taking on an extra clerk so that's going to push that percentage up even higher! So invest in unproductive staff would seem the order of the day. If we really have to have these little councils then someone needs to get a hold of ours and give it a dammed good shake!

I gave up Ex-Bed! I didn't think it was going to load.

Happy St George's Day.

Two medical students were walking along the street when they saw an old man Walking with his legs spread apart. He was stiff-legged and walking slowly. One student said to his friend: "I'm sure that poor old man has Peltry Syndrome. Those people walk just like that." The other student says: "No, I don't think so. The old man surely has Zovitzki Syndrome. He walks slowly and his legs are apart, just as we learned in class." Since they couldn't agree they decided to ask the old man. They approached him And one of the students said to him, "We're medical students and couldn't help But notice the way you walk, but we couldn't agree on the syndrome you might have. Could you tell us what it is?" The old man said, "I'll tell you, but first you tell me what you two fine medical students think." The first student said, "I think it's Peltry Syndrome." The old man said, "You thought - but you are wrong." The other student said, "I think you have Zovitzki Syndrome." The old man said, "You thought - but you are wrong." So they asked him, "Well, old timer, what do you have?" The old man said, "I thought it was GAS - but I was wrong, too!"

Need some volunteers people. Within the Heritage Project we have a large event planned for 25th May in Attlee Park. It's a Saturday on a Bank Holiday weekend. The event will run between 10.30am -3.30pm. We need some extra stewards. We have professionals coming but we need some volunteers too. Nothing too onerous and I will make sure you are fed and watered! If you can help out please get in touch. PM either way.

See link https://www.change.o...ns_dialog_false

Need some volunteers people. Within the Heritage Project we have a large event planned for 25th May in Attlee Park. It's a Saturday on a Bank Holiday weekend. The event will run between 10.30am -3.30pm. We need some extra stewards. We have professionals coming but we need some volunteers too. Nothing too onerous and I will make sure you are fed and watered! If you can help out please get in touch. PM either way.

Hope you have a good'un.

St John's Terrace?

Sorry Keith, its an age thing!

Thanks to Keith Dalton.

What's the MEDIUM showing you then Keith?????

The Gables?

A man calls home to his wife and says,"Honey, I have been asked to fly to Canada with my boss and several of his friends for fishing. We'll be gone for a long weekend. This is a good opportunity for me to get that promotion I've been wanting, so could you please pack enough clothes for a 3-day weekend? .... And also,would you get out my rod and tackle box from the attic? We're leaving at 4:30 pm from the office and I will swing by the house to pick my things up.. Oh! And please pack my new navy blue silk pajamas.." The wife thinks this sounds a bit odd, but,being the good wife, she does exactly what her husband asks. Following the long weekend, he comes home a little tired, but, otherwise, looking good.The wife welcomes him home and asks if he caught many fish. He says, 'Yes!Lots of Walleyes, some Bass, and a few Pike. He says, "But why didn't you pack my new blue silk pajamas like I asked you to do?" The wife replies, "I did. They're in your tackle box”. Never,Never, Never try to outsmart a woman!!!

I am off down to the Smoke with the Mrs.

And the Tesco disclaimer at the end of its trading statement: This document may contain forward-looking statements that may or may not prove accurate. For example, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins, market trends and our product pipeline are forward-looking statements. Phrases such as "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Tesco as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Tesco are qualified by this caution. Tesco does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Tesco's expectations. In other words take no notice of anything we say!

About halfway down the article: A £804m write-down in the UK property portfolio comes after a review in which Tesco identified more than 100 sites, bought mainly during the property boom more than five years ago, which the company no longer plans to develop. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22179255

Cyril, The problem is that if we are locked into that globalised business model the tide will only turn when either we sell our souls to be the cheapest in the labour market or the labour markets which took our jobs become uncompetitive as they mature.

Actually I can only see them going on to better things………..no that's wrong there's nowt better than watching 3 perfectly flighted balls being driven into the back of the Newcastle net and that's not even taking umbrage at the disallowed clear cut penalties. Looks to me like they have 12 players out on the pitch every week now, the manager shows more empathy with the team than any other manager and that's got to rub off on the players. Might have a problem with his politics but there nowt wrong with his style of football.

Everyone welcome AGM FoGP.

3 in Pete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0