Alright for some

Now I don't really have a problem with people getting paid what they are worth, I'm aware that many are low paid and that some people get what seems to an ordinary guy like me extraordinary amounts of money, but that's the way the market works and some are just lucky and it doesn't stress me or get my blood pressure skyrocketing.
MP's however are a different kettle of fish as they have power (to some degree) over me and I pay their wages as does everyone that pays tax and so I expect high standards of behaviour, honesty and hard work, just like my employer does of me. What I get though is a bunch of crooks fiddling the system and handing over the duties I elected them to do to a foreign government, they even ignore the country I live in and seem determined never to mention it unless pressed and want to Balkanise it into bite size chunks to stop us being a threat to said foreign government (by leaving) who doesn't want to lose a nice cash cow.
So MP's are getting a pay rise.

BBC.

MPs will get a rise of nearly £1,000 in their basic salary from 1 April, taking their pay to £65,737 a year.

The 1.5% increase follows uproar at the MPs' expenses scandal and anger among public sector unions at pay freezes.
MPs used to vote on their pay but now recommendations by the Senior Salaries Review Body go through automatically.
The government says ministers will turn down the rise. One union said the rise did not "seem right" when "low paid" council workers' salaries were frozen.
The Local Government Association has said 1.4 million workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will get no rise as authorities try to protect front-line services and minimise job losses.
Downing Street said ministers would not take any rise, either in their basic MPs' pay or their additional ministerial salaries.
Cabinet ministers currently get an extra £79,754 per year, giving them a total salary of £144,520.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: "The prime minister is clear that we need to strengthen public confidence in the political system and reduce the cost of politics."

 Now I didn't get a pay rise last year, might not get one this year either so I look at those who are taking my taxes and wonder just what the hell it is they're playing at, same goes for local councils as well. Seems just about everyone's dipping their hands in my pockets yet giving me lower levels of service. The EU now legislate over huge swaths of competence in this country, our MP's just rubber stamp it, they aren't allowed to change it, so why bother reading it, they have civil servants for that. So doesn't seem like I'm getting value for money there either, they also claim expenses way past what seems logical or honest bending the rules or often enough breaking them to the point where the abuses seemed the norm rather than one offs by the odd rogue. All my costs will/have gone up this year, rent, council tax, fuel, food etc. And I'm part of a productive minority paying my way so to speak, yet I'm getting very little this year and I understand why, it's a recession, my companies struggling to survive, this year will be better we hope, but hope doesn't mean a pay rise.
Personally I don't think I get value for money from the government (all of it, national, local, even international) so I don't think they're worth a pay rise, no doubt they disagree but it's still my money (and yours probably) In fact I do believe because at national level they've delegated so much of our sovereignty and authority to the EU they should actually get a pay cut of about say 80% in line with EU regulation compared to actual work that they do.
A better way would be of course to tie MP's salaries to the national average with a decent well monitored and enforced expenses scheme including a room in a hostel for the night near Westminster. I think we'd soon see the national average wage rise.
I doubt they'd want performance related pay, a lot of them would end up owing money rather than receiving it.

More about → Alright for some

Well something good has come from an earthquake

The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile have been terrible human tragedies, but in true "The Office" style there's always a silver lining.

 Mail.

The Chilean earthquake has shortened the length of the day by making the Earth rotate faster, according to Nasa scientists.
But you might not have noticed, as it was only by about one-millionth of a second.
Richard Gross has revealed the disaster, which has killed at least 795 people, shortened the length of a day by about 1.26 microseconds. A microsecond is one millionth of a second.

 So make the most of it before the government or your employers tax you for the loss of earnings.

In other news seems the Equalities Quango decided that they should make some of their staff redundant and then rehire them.

BBC.

"Serious errors" were made in the way the UK equalities watchdog was set up - at a cost of nearly £39m - the Commons spending watchdog has said.

Three bodies were replaced by the new Equality and Human Rights Commission - seven staff members who took severance pay were rehired at a cost of £338,708.

The process was "patently flawed" and "major issues" remained, a report said.

The commission said it had been under "extreme pressure" when it was set up in 2007 and was making improvements.

It also said its interim boss - who has been paid £1,000 a day from May 2009 - was being brought onto the staff payroll on a salary of £150,000, as his contract had been extended until September.

In a highly critical report, the Commons public accounts committee echoed concerns first expressed by the National Audit Office last year.

Oh well, who cares it's not as if it's our money is it......................oh hang on.

More about → Well something good has come from an earthquake

So what would you like us to do about it?

It never ceases to amaze me at the sheer amount of people in the world that seem to blame this country for problems that we can't do anything about.
Take Jacob Zuma for example.

Times.

Zuma begins state visit with scathing attack on Britain's colonial past

As President Zuma, the South African President, began his three-day state visit to Britain today, his official welcome by the Queen was, depending on one’s point of view, either the best of British pomp and pageantry, or an anachronistic reminder of our colonial past (the ostrich feathers on the hat worn by the Master of the Horse being a bit of a giveaway there).

For the sake of international relations one would hope it was the former, for as Mr Zuma and his wife began their visit, the President had some scathing things to say about Britain’s past.

“When the British came to our country they said everything we did was barbaric, was wrong, inferior in whatever way,” he said.

“I don’t know why they are continuing thinking that their culture is more superior than others.

I don't recall my culture being a Boer culture, I don't remember my culture having the charming culture of "Necklacing" I do remember reading about the Zulu nation being warlike and conquering all their neighbours though. Playing the race card at an international level is usually a precursor to asking for sympathy money, getting us to pay for past grievances (or hush money as it's also known) Though mostly in this case it's a matter of trying to deflect criticism about having 3 wives (though only the MSM seems to give a shit about this)
Yes the British conquered the Zulu's, yes we imposed some of our culture on them, you'd think Mr Zuma would be grateful though as Zulu's didn't have elected presidents or control over all South Africa either. However it wasn't Britain behind the Apartheid state nor were we the architects of all the current troubles in Southern Africa either. Were we still in control I doubt you'd have all the tribal infighting, corruption and riots still happening in South Africa and Zimbabwe would still be the bread basket of the area as opposed to the basket case.
I don't think British culture is superior, but I'm damned if I can accept criticism from Jacob Zuma about what happened 150 years ago especially as it relates to today. He wants 3 wives fine, his culture allows it, he wants to criticise the British today over what happened before anyone now living was born, he can go to hell.

More about → So what would you like us to do about it?