Bob's Bulletin: Issue 1, November 27, 2011

BOB’S BULLETIN. Number 1.

*The Travelers Return *Loss of Britain’s Harbor Seals

*The Rich get much Richer *“Sorry” is…sorry!

*Strikes and the minimum wage in Britain.

* UK retailers whine “the weather is too good!”

In order to keep my hand in and in fear of being forgotten like yesterday’s news, I have decided to attempt to publish a hub every week or ten days which will contain bits and pieces; thoughts and feelings, which may be of interest to some of the people I have “met” over the last 2 1/2 years. It may be excerpts and my take on them from the news or anything at all that grabs my attention and you might not hear about elsewhere. For example….

Nov 20 ‘11. After Basildon council spent 10 millions pounds and weeks of work by police, fire officers and bailiffs, etc., finally ejecting the poor souls on the traveler’s site which I - and half the world’s journos - wrote about, some twenty caravans have used various means to sneak back onto the site where they were welcomed by those who could not be legally cast forth.

Now what? Will the idiots that be spend another fool’s fortune to remove them again, or will they pretend to have not seen it?

As the nation (UK) is consumed with greater woes that whether a few gypsies should be allowed to live on a dump no one wanted, they may get away with it…hallelujah!

Mystery of dead seals: The UK has - or had - the largest amounts of Harbor Seals in Europe. Their population has fallen by a staggering 84% in the last 10 years. Thousands of dead seals had been turning up with circular gashes from the head - in a spiral pattern - to their tails. It wasn’t difficult to conclude the awful wounds had been caused by large ship’s propellers - but why so many?

Now experts believe the huge bow screws for turning container ships and ferries, etc., in many harbors, have a pitch sound close to the mating call of the female seal…and the mainly male casualties had been rushing headlong into the deadly screws…for a deadly screw! The slaughter continues as scientists are wondering just how to address the problem before Harbor Seals are no more in British waters.

The Rich get much Richer! No wonder half the world’s nations have demonstrations objecting to capitalist greed.

Twenty years ago, the CEO’s and other top brass of the Fortune 500 companies in the UK received a relatively modest remuneration of 10 times the average wage. In 2011, the disparity is nearly 80 times average wage! They are killing the goose that laid the golden egg, and the sooner the better.

“I’m Sorry!“ Do the letters and sound of a word determine its effect, or is it the meaning itself? People tell me that to succeed in life, you need a zippy, memorable name. Like Chris Rock, for example, the US comedian. Evidently “Bob” is the anathema to success. It is my name and perhaps this is why success has mainly eluded me.

But what I really wanted to speak about are words in English that end in “-orry.” There’s only three of them that occur to me, and they should all be abolished from the language.

Yes, “Lorry” is the slimy English word for the more manly Truck. “Worry” is what we all waste too much time doing. And “Sorry,” that is the worst of all. It allows politicians, bankers and other assorted scum to lie, cheat and steal and expect a “Sorry” to those they have hurt and offended to buy them immediate forgiveness.

Don’t do it in the first place then you won’t need to trot out this hypocritical, meaningless “sorry.”

England Poised for Strikes. As we wait for the government and the teacher’s union to reach an agreement before this Wednesday deadline, we need to reflect of the horror which was the condition of British working classes before the advent of unions.

Britain had slavery just a couple of hundred years ago and babies were “sold” to the owners of coal mines, etc., for their working life. They could even have iron rings fastened around their necks in the case of disobedience. Up till some time later, young boys were indentured to chimney sweeps because their tiny frames were the only ones to fit up chimneys. Ill health from the soot soon lead to early death. It took until 1999 before a minimum wage was introduced in the UK!!! Before that, employers could and did take advantage of women, minors and foreigners, paying them whatever they could get away with.

Britain’s labor force has only just escaped the middle ages, thanks to the unions. Think of this when you are inconveniences by strikes.

Be it this way or that way, the British will complain about it! Now the retailers here are complaining that the weather this year so far has been “too mild” causing the dearth in profits. I suppose this means they can’t sell the piles of Chinese cold weather coats, etc., they have on the racks. It will probably freeze here over Christmas so they will be happy? Don’t hold the line; then they will be whingeing that the cold has kept the shoppers indoors…probably because they didn’t buy any overpriced coats!

One thing we can rely on this year is that the government and councils has ensured we have a mountain of sand and salt to treat the roads for winter 2011. Of course, being prepared like this will ensure it stays mild!

Diogenes w/e November 27/11