Sidewalk Solutions

I don’t think there was ever a time when people who worked for Governments were truly Public Servants as many like to call themselves. On the other hand, people who prefer to do real work in the Private Sector have become the new Private Servants of Governments who have wasted zillions on any scheme that will improve their chances of retaining power. As the Socialists and Progressives have demonstrated – you can soak the Private Sector workers much harder and for longer than the unionised battalions of politically-created jobs  that Private Sector workers alone have to sustain.

You see, Private Sector workers are the easy low-hanging fruit, and there are more of them, at least up till now. The great unorganised Private Sector masses pay their taxes because they are lied to by politicians who spin prudence and instead give them a future financial hell. Continue Reading »

Governments are under pressure to force supermarkets to increase the price of alcohol and to stop using booze as a loss leader to attract customers into their stores.

Now far be it for me to protect the innocent – but beware politicians with a cause who say that increasing cash flow to them will solve anything. I am old enough (oh yes I am) to remember the days before supermarkets,  where drunks could be seen staggering around the local pub. Yes believe it or not their were people with drink problems before there were supermarkets.

So now 50 years later we are such an advanced society, not yet a big society, that we need Government to sort out our alcohol problem.  Those who believe that increasing the price of alcohol will stop the drunk from drinking – please say Aye!  Well I am afraid the No’s have it.

So what can we do to try and reduce alcohol abuse. Well I am no expert in this, although I have to admit that I like a bargain of almost any kind and low cost beer is hard to resist, even for a Scot. But maybe we should first try and improve the education of our children and those adults who cannot help themselves in their abuse of the demon drink.

How about putting a penny on every can and making these funds payable directly to a suitable, yes appropriate charity or charities. Let them who know the most about this problem be give the funds directly – yes the supermarkets will pay the charities direct, one penny for every can they sell.

The supermarkets and breweries would also have to give access and appropriate space (an even more precious asset for supermarkets) to certified charities in their stores. The charities will then be able to hand out leaflets and provide educational materials to their booze customers.

Money would be available to educate children on the need to treat alcohol carefully. My guess is that given 10 years of a penny a can can, the general population will be more aware of the dangers of over-consumption.

My other guess is that it will not reduce much the problem of alcohol abuse – but compared with giving the money to Government – at least we would have well-funded charities fighting the good fight, rather than politicians wasting pennies.

At last a referee gives Wayne Rooney a yellow card for swearing. We watch him on the TV every week as he gets away with insulting players and referees, hacking at players when he thinks he is going to loose the ball.

Well it took an insignificant match and a lower level South African referee – Jeff Selogilwe – to take Rooney Tunes to task. Jeff also warned Rooney Tunes as to his future behaviour.

Despite the vast amount of money he spends on media training and minders – the Rooney Tunes has been found out when he goes back to a level where it’s about football rather than “personalities”.

Well done Jeff – you struck a blow for the well-behaved sportsman – Rooney Tunes does not deserve to be a mentor (like) or a leader (like) of young people (like). He needs someone like Jeff to teach him how to behave (like) at no cost.

There’s nothing like a bruterstar being taken down a peg by a nice guy.

Who thinks Rooney Tunes will learn from this? Answers to Rooney Tunes c/o Liverpool (like).  Rooney Tunes never listened to the great Fergie or Capello, will he listen to the even greater Jeff Selogilwe – will Fergie or Capello listen?

One small step for man, one giant step for common sense.

Milo is nearly 3 years old and has now taught us how to live with a Beagle!