tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post5740863533588328671..comments2023-11-03T11:32:01.540+00:00Comments on Thought Experiments : The Blog: Gone by June - Polly On BoardBryan Appleyardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-35723518829846260062009-05-13T12:02:00.000+00:002009-05-13T12:02:00.000+00:00As a true follower of Stephen Fry I'm at the Apple...As a <A HREF="http://twitter.com/rdrake98" REL="nofollow">true follower of Stephen Fry</A> I'm at the Apple Store Oxford Circus waiting to get my iPhone fixed. This comment being drafted on the juicy new Mac mini. As to the substance, thanks Michael, I will look into it. I was thinking about something like £200k per annum though. I know that's not the ascetic Thatcher style - but as Cameron and Richard Drakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10005416556432927671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-84255186311436316022009-05-13T08:58:00.000+00:002009-05-13T08:58:00.000+00:00And also, given Fry's rant, despite their distorti...And also, given Fry's rant, despite their distorting, sensationalist ways one useful service that journalists can (and occasionally do) perform is to keep our politicians relatively straight. This is important. The Telegraph has performed a very valuable public sevice this past week.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-30289938548798394212009-05-13T08:51:00.000+00:002009-05-13T08:51:00.000+00:00Richard, do look at this from Chris Dillow:
'It's...Richard, do look at this from Chris Dillow:<br /><br />'It's insufficiently appreciated just how well paid MPs are. Their annual salary is £64,766. According to the IFS, a single person on this income is in the top 3% of earners. If he has a partner earning £30,000 a year, this couple is also in the top 3% of household incomes.<br /><br />If a single MP claims £20,000 for waxing his drawbridge onMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-90047099543894532052009-05-13T07:26:00.000+00:002009-05-13T07:26:00.000+00:00I beg to strike a different note than the majority...I beg to strike a different note than the majority outrage, both self-righteous and self-reinforcing. As already mentioned by Spongebob, Stephen Fry's <A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8045869.stm" REL="nofollow">off-the-cuff comments</A> to Michael Crick yesterday are worth meditation. His key point being that many journalists are far worse than politicians in their Richard Drakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10005416556432927671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-46077101431288061792009-05-12T17:15:00.000+00:002009-05-12T17:15:00.000+00:00Absolute monarchy was a washout, so many crowns, f...Absolute monarchy was a washout, so many crowns, feudalism was top of the pops for a while until the descendants of Billy the konker overplayed their hands, all of those DeMobray's and De Mereley's to feed, parliamentary democracy is now at the tipping point, all of those Smiths and Blears to feed, off with their sodding heads, burn 'em at the stake, hang draw and quarter the gormless gits.<br />maltyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02936465848907794425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-68465751812911508222009-05-12T12:01:00.000+00:002009-05-12T12:01:00.000+00:00You are not Jerusalem; you are all of mighty China...You are not Jerusalem; you are all of mighty China. "The Way" is the Dao of Laozi.Susan B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-55438134036753885382009-05-12T11:20:00.000+00:002009-05-12T11:20:00.000+00:00Mars and Venus?
What worries me is none of them i...Mars and Venus?<br /><br />What worries me is none of them is "nice". Any party.<br /><br />I have lost what tattered shreds of faith I have in anybody's competence and integrity - estate agents one kind of expects a certain lack - but bankers, politicians.......OK I'm obviously naive but also very angry.Maxine Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06628509319992204770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-31436735607925877772009-05-12T10:39:00.000+00:002009-05-12T10:39:00.000+00:00About 4 years ago, I was inivited down to London t...About 4 years ago, I was inivited down to London to speak to a quango (that was part of the Department for Work and Pensions). The quango members were interested in hearing evidence from small businesses, hence my presence. I was given a first class Virgin rail ticket (costing soemthing like £350) and put up overnight in a London Radisson hotel. <br /><br />After addressing the comittee, we hadPipnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-38963798583298990072009-05-12T10:09:00.000+00:002009-05-12T10:09:00.000+00:00I wonder what Sarah Brown thinks about her husband...I wonder what Sarah Brown thinks about her husband's plight? She might be thought to have some influence and an opinion. No one ever mentions her.<br /><br />As for the rest of the whole sorry-ass situation, not one constituency association of any party has announced the deselection of the sitting MP - or not yet, anyway - so one has to conclude that party members are happy enough with the Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06074816573442173758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-4351308375120767082009-05-12T08:34:00.000+00:002009-05-12T08:34:00.000+00:00I didn't see Fry hissyfitting it up, but I can ima...I didn't see Fry hissyfitting it up, but I can imagine his point.<br /><br />The system was obviously rotten. The humans taking advantage of it are just humans. As Bryan puts it... we're Fallen.<br /><br />This expenses scandal does seem to have cured swine flu though, so some good has come of it.Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-70082020431651712882009-05-12T08:25:00.000+00:002009-05-12T08:25:00.000+00:00I prefer the Boney M version, Nick.
By the way, ...I prefer the Boney M version, Nick. <br /><br />By the way, did anybody see Stephen Fry's hissy fit on Newsnight, telling us we were all bourgeois hypocrites and that we've all fiddled our expenses at one time or another? Quite remarkable. I remember him bigging up Tony 'whiter than white' Blair in the late 90's. <br /><br />I may have overdone my mileage on one or two expense claims over the Spongebobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-90581092525360499252009-05-12T08:03:00.000+00:002009-05-12T08:03:00.000+00:00Does 'by June' include all of June, or is 31 May y...Does 'by June' include all of June, or is 31 May your last chance?Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-1600518152844461672009-05-12T07:37:00.000+00:002009-05-12T07:37:00.000+00:00“On December 16, 1916, having decided that Rasputi...“On December 16, 1916, having decided that Rasputin’s influence over the Tsaritsa had made him a far-too-dangerous threat to the empire, a group of nobles, led by Prince Felix Yusupov and the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich apparently lured Rasputin to the Yusupovs’ Moika Palace, where they served him cakes and red wine laced with a massive amount of cyanide. According to legend, Rasputin was Nick Cohennoreply@blogger.com