"I drink therefore I am"

On 8/6/11 I will have been tea total for a year, not a drop has passed my lips!
I have lost a lot of weight, saved a lot of money and  generally feel a lot healthier. All this sounds great but there is one big drawback my social life is non-existent, I don't see any of my old drinking buddies and basically go out on my own, except for the odd occasion when I go out with my wife when we can find a babysitter!
When I meet my old drinking buddies on the street they usually greet me with "how are you?" as if I'm ill then the conversation becomes very stilted and then we quickly go our own ways.
I'm not blaming them they invest a lot of time and effort into their drinking and don't want someone like me upsetting their equilibrium, but for gods sake I've known some of them for years and been through a lot with them.
It's a very strange situation but not one unheard of in the field of alcohol counselling, my counsellor, an existential psychotherapist no less!, calls it the Mitwelt dimension!!! I just call it being dumped!

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.” Confucius

Lakshmi Mittal - worth £17.5b - accused of employing slave labour and having horrendous health and safety conditions in his mines (91 miners have died), bribery, 'cash for influence' in the 'Mittal Affair' and environmental pollution.
Roman Abramovich - worth £10b - accused of blackmail, bribery, theft, loan fraud, share dillution and breaching anti-monopoly rules.
Leonard Blavatnik - worth £6.2b - accused of racial discrimination, 'Lyondell' scandal and links with Russian organised crime.
Gopi and Sri Hinduja - worth £6b - the 'Bofors Scandal', cash for passports affair and accused of supplying army vehicles to the Sudanese Government breaching arms export legislation.

Etc , etc, etc , etc........

All the above appear in the latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List and are all UK citizens, doesn't it make you proud to be British?

Tesco - latest special offers!

Nestle Truffle Eggs - 59p each or two for £1.20!
Market Value Smoked Mackerel £3.79kg - Normal Smoked Mackerel £3.79kg!

Limited offers get them while you can!

Proposals by the DCLG to cut socio-economic indicators

On the Department for Communities and Local Government website there is a consultation document outlining proposals to cease publication of a number of statistical data sets, they include:

* Housing and Planning Statistics and key facts
* Electronic Survey of Empty Homes
* Local Area Council Tax Dwellings
* Register of Licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).

* Commercial and industrial floor space and RV statistics

* Economic Deprivation Index

* Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI)

* Child Well-being Index

* Citizenship Survey (all parts)

There is also an implied threat to the next 'indices of deprivation'.

Isn't it funny that the majority of the data sets are in one way or another indicators of poverty and deprivation? Are the condems trying to do away with data and statistics that show the impact and outcomes of their policies in a bad light?

New financial threat on the horizon?

A business worth £735bn a year could be the next bubble waiting to burst according to an article in today's Guardian. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) allow investors to buy shares in a market without actually ever owning the product, pure speculation!
There will be some who argue that it creates wealth for the country, but were is this wealth and why isn't it being used to clear the deficit? This is nothing but naked greed and creates massive wealth for the individuals involved while at the same time playing roulette with food prices, our pensions and future livelihoods!

When is the Government going to rein these cowboys in? Stupid question they have too many vested interests!

Descriptive London street names

Bread Street
Fig Tree Court
Fish Street Hill
Haymarket
Gropecunt Lane!!!!

Gropecunt Lane ran south from Cheapside, with Popkirtle Lane (literally pop-girdle as in tear your clothes off) on one side and Bordhawe Lane (Bordhawe means brothel) on the other. The groping of cunts was apparently the lowest form of prostitution where aged hags would charge a pittance for a punter to put his hand up their skirts and grope them. The street is no longer there but it ran roughly north to south just to the east of present-day Queen Street between Cheapside and Queen Victoria Street.
No wonder the Victorians changed its name!

Thank god for Jesshops!!

Established in 1923 Jesshops Bakers have 3 shops in London, the one I frequent most is the one in trendy Exmouth Market. No paninis or Californian sourdough sandwiches that cost upwards of a fiver and no skinny lattes or expensive cups of orange pekoe, just crusty rolls, pasties and big mugs of tea at very low prices!
Yae cannae wack it!