75ZT Community

... for the next round of fuel blockades

Not normally one given to taking part in radical high publicity events, if anybody knows of a campaign being run to address the price of fuel, I'll be in the vanguard.

My local evening paper has announced this evening that the price of diesel was at 151.9 pence per litre in and around the city today.

Soon, the only people who can afford to use transport will be MPs, bankers... oh, and the olympic bandwagon.

Nota bene, I use lower case 'O' in the word olympic advisedly as I genuinely do not believe that the orgy of commercialism, politics and double standards that have come to represent this forthcoming beanfeast has anything even remotely to do with the Olympic ideal.

Oooh - that's better. Two rants for the price of one.

I'm sorry but I don't agree with the blockades. All the last lot achieved was misery for me when I needed to get to work. The price rises have still happened.

Won't be a popular point of view, but then I'm not trying to win a popularity contest.

Caused me no end of inconvenience as well Duncan but at least, in those days, (we) were sufficiently motivated to organize something which did cause certain people to stop and think.

It seems to me that these days, it has become so patently obvious that successive governments have been able to screw the populace with impunity and no organized resistance, that businesses are jumping on the gravy train.

If we think it's bad now Paul wait until someone takes a pop at Iran's nuclear ambitions. Strange isn't it this time last year we were told the rises in oil/$barrel was due to the Arab Spring. Now that is prety much over (apart from Syria) but I haven't seen any significant falls.

On the last round of blockades that worked(ish) in September 2000 I was in New Cross. My wife needed fuel to visit me and politely joined a queue only for someone to push in front of her. Out she jumped and confronted the, er, gentlemen(?) who promptly sped off. Now wifey is a mere 5ft 1.

I don't think there'll be any blockades, too much government legislation nowadays plus we'll just take any rises as we now do.

Petrol in Suffolk is at £1.33. Diesel is £1.41.

Talking about screwing us. My Asthma went pear shaped recently, doctor put me on a lower dose preventer which didn't work. This preventer is cheaper and to cap it all they will only allow me one/prescription. So not only do I almost suffocate it costs me twice as much for the pleasure.

(Sorry off topic with this - rant over)

Gary

Now that nice Mr Osborne has said that he cannot put off the tax rise due later this year because motorists are cash cows to be milked until every last drop has been extracted.

Filled up with diesel yesterday at a supermarket at 138.9. In the media yesterday it was stating that the £1.50 a litre diesel had arrived at one of the motorway service areas - Paul, think the fuel outlets in your areas are getting the funds for a Summer cruise (hope it is on one of the Costa ships).

I will join in on the other rant, the olympics - one vast overblown comercial orgy where sponsors and VIPs are the most important with the athletes providing a side show. A few tickets thrown to those who have to pay for the majority of this, the taxpayer whilst bunches of tickets are provided to the corporates so that they can wine and dine people who may just watch a little of the actual athletics but prefer to carry on with the booze and nosh.

Londoners, who are having their taxes raised to pay for this will be inconvenienced due to the special road lanes for the great and mighty who cannot be delayed for one second.

At the end of it the new sporting facilities will be boarded up and eventually pulled down to provide more office accommodation.

And the winners of the Olmpic bid is Paris

Do not know why you are moaning Paul, take a look at some of the price hikes in this:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottdecarl ... rge-is-up/

There was something similar to that Forbes report on Citywire. They're dropping some of the prices to attract custom from people that have no concept of the value of money. If these people want something the cost is an irrelevance...

...20% on a Russian Sable coat! ...drat!

Sorry Paul, but I am going to take the classic British attitude of "bend over the Barrel and take it"

Works every time, at least for the Government anyway

I have spent many years being part of organisations that have "attempted" to help the ordinary man on the street, I have helped people with financial problems, helped try and bring down the regime of "charge what we like penalties" from the Banks. fought child slavery, racism, ageism etc etc etc......

Things is, so many people just won't get off their butt and do anything about it, they sit back and accept it, hell, the majority of Brits (That I know) wont get off their butts and do a decent days work and then complain about "foriegners taking the jobs" I honestly wonder why I bother sometimes, but I do it because I believe in a fair society, I just want to see the man / woman at ground level not getting screwed over so teh rich can enjoy another bowl of caviar while honest people go without:(

Seriously though, well I say seriously, but I mean, ignore my negativity, I am a member of FFUK or "Fair Fuel UK" and they are currently petitioning the Gov't again to reduce fuel duty. Visit their site if you want and help by sending your MP an Email / Letter to get involved in helping cut the Fuel Duty

The only people who get hurt by Fuel Blockades is teh "ordinary Man" because the greedy Fuel companies hack up their prices at such times, claiming "Fuel Shortages" as their excuse. They don't care, nor do the GOv't or that ultra rich man who owns the oil comapany / Fields.........

we seem to have had a succession of governments that don't work in the nation's (historically that was us) best interest. Each shift seems intent on giving up more of our interests without feeling obliged to recover the losses from the previous shift.

If the governments job was to deliver 20 boxes to 20 locations during the day, they would drive the van to the field full of undesireables nearby, sell the boxes, pocket the money and appear on the news at tea time to make a statement that the boxes have gone missing due to the previous lot having allowed undesireables to occupy a field, but, not to worry, they personally would put 50% toward replacing the boxes, they would also look into driving the undesireables from the field. Unfortunately this would require that the nation as a whole would have to suffer some hardships to fund the other 50% and to fund a survey to come up with figures to show the cost of allowing undesireables to occupy the field and also the methods available for their removal which may require "owing one" to the Americans and may or may not be allowed by the United Nations..etc..etc..tomorrow they will be delivering more boxes, or not.

There would follow a succession of reports and investigations into the the actual need for fields in the present economic climate or would it not be preferable to sell the fields off on the international market to the lowest bidder that offered the best support for the government currently in power.........

Have I completely lost it?

geesmith wrote:we seem to have had a succession of governments that don't work in the nation's (historically that was us) best interest. Each shift seems intent on giving up more of our interests without feeling obliged to recover the losses from the previous shift.

If the governments job was to deliver 20 boxes to 20 locations during the day, they would drive the van to the field full of undesireables nearby, sell the boxes, pocket the money and appear on the news at tea time to make a statement that the boxes have gone missing due to the previous lot having allowed undesireables to occupy a field, but, not to worry, they personally would put 50% toward replacing the boxes, they would also look into driving the undesireables from the field. Unfortunately this would require that the nation as a whole would have to suffer some hardships to fund the other 50% and to fund a survey to come up with figures to show the cost of allowing undesireables to occupy the field and also the methods available for their removal which may require "owing one" to the Americans and may or may not be allowed by the United Nations..etc..etc..tomorrow they will be delivering more boxes, or not.

There would follow a succession of reports and investigations into the the actual need for fields in the present economic climate or would it not be preferable to sell the fields off on the international market to the lowest bidder that offered the best support for the government currently in power.........

Have I completely lost it?

Sounds accurate, though you forgot to add into teh equation the 1 Box holding millions of peoples personal Data got lost in transit, possibly left in the Witherspoons pub or a Train

I have spent a goodly part of my working life (over now sadly - the 'working' bit that is) involved in the trade union movement and work-place management and mentoring. I've been responsible for union conference delegation and working parties on after-retirement settlement of staff on behalf of union committees. In my experience the grander the union official, the more senior the company boss, and the higher the pay grade, the more hypocritical and out-and-out-liers the bespoke-suited individuals are. They don't necessarily start out like that, well, not all of them. They learn from their political masters how to mysteriously grin whilst shaking your hand and muttering niceties and at the same time, without you even noticing, stab you in the back. I believe even Kier Hardy would have known this basic truth but been too nervous to invite state-sponsored disaster. The noble slave trade abolition movement began in this country. Unfortunately it did not extend to our own working people.

Slave trade - you cannot extend that to members of the RMU - look at the pay of train drivers plus the no strings attached bribe money for the Olympics, i.e. it does not include a no strike agreement.

No of course not, not my intention. Members of the RMU are very well rewarded for their efforts. Largely as a result of venal and avaricious union leaders together with the ability of the employer to pass on any losses to the captive client base who have no alternative but to pay (another definition of slavery? Or at least blackmail?). My reference to the slave trade was, of course, to draw attention to the way ordinary working people are held to ransom by others, some of whom are actively working against our interests, usually on the back of their (alleged) political affiliations - frequently bogus. I have never been in favour of striking, in any circumstances and especially in a public service.

the various .gov's definitely deal in pawnography. They don't seem to work for us as they should do, they just shove us along into the path of the next toll collector knight or bishop.