News bites

The debate about the veil rages on with several politicians adding their own views. Some have strong views and are calling for sacking of people for not taking off the veil and others claiming that veils are putting women down making them symbols of subjugation. The key point within all of this si that there is a debate about the issue and all can comment. It is not just swept under the carpet.
Roman Abramovich is in a spot of bother. If rumours are true his wife Irina has hired lawyers to start divorce proceedings. Now seing that they have been married for over 15 years and they met when neither was rich she is not going to go down without a tough fight for his £10.8billion fortune. And all of this over a 23 year old model. Lets just hope she is worth it (rumours are that she is also very wealthy).

Un PC

Once in a while you come across something thats riding a very fine line between acceptability and non comformity like teh show little britain. This website saydist is one. Here there is a daily picture and all you have to do is add a caption. However the captions can be crude and some down right offensive but there are some good crackers...enjoy...

Issues

Two issues caught my attention this week:
Firstly North Korea decided to test a nuclear weapon which they claim went successfully. The whole world is crying out in outrage. How can the this happen the world powers are asking themselves? Lets firstly ask ourselves why is it a problem that North Korea has nuclear weapons? After all several other countries posses nuclear weapons yet still we don't cry out in shock and horror. Okay so the fact that millions of North Korean have been killed and tortured for speaking against the leader and million more live in dire poverty lends some credence to the discussion.
The UN is trying to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and its efforts have been mainly focused on Iran . One has to wonder though that even though you can never rely on what the politicians say, Iran has always denied it wanted nuclear weapons whereas North Korea has never denied it wanted weapons. So why was all eyes on Iran? I don't even think there is anything we can do about. I mean we cant just invade North Korea and hope it doesn't use its weapons?

The second is about the issue of the Muslim women and the Burka. The BBC has a graphic illustration of the different types of head gear worn by Muslim women here. It maybe worth reviewing this to get a broader picture of what the discussion is about. This discussion has boiled over for a couple of days now and there are many facets to it. On the one hand is the need to preserve religious integrity even if you are abroad. This is understandable as Britain is multicultural society where different faiths are encouraged. In other Muslim countries where the state is secular things are different and thus foreigners have to conform to laws and customs. This does not mean we can take this and argue that because we have to conform in other countries that Muslims should loose their religious integrity in Britain. On the other hand is the security risk issue which I don't see as an issue at all. There are rules that mean women should take off their veils if their identity becomes a issue. This can be done discreetly in a closed room with female attendants preserving the integrity of the woman/women in question. This also is ensures that our security at airports and ports is protected. So one has to ask what really is the issue is? Is it really about the veil/burqua or is it a wider state of panic where we have a knee jerk reaction to anything Islamic?

Your name

Ever wondered how popular you name was? Well no need to woner no longer. Our friends at Yournotme have kindly put together a website where you can check how popular you name is. Sorry only limited to the UK.

Tesco Moves into software

On the back of annoucing that it made £1billion profit in 6 months, Tesco the supermarket giant has set it eyses on Mircosoft and Symantec. Read about it here. One tends to wonder though that we all love to hate Microsoft because there is no serious alternative and it has a monopoly. However if as we know, every £1 in £8 is spent at Tescos do we really want to transfer from one monopoly to another?

More shootings in schools more tears for parents

Another day another shooting in a school in the US. Last month it was a school in Colorado and another in Wisconsin. Today it is an Amish school in Pennsylvania. The question everyone is asking is why? However I feel a broader question has to asked of 'how can we stop this happening again'? It would be quick to jump on the band wagon as say oh yeah it is because the US has easier access to weapons but that would be totally ignoring the fact that in the UK last week there were 4 fatal shootings, some in broad daylight and the UK has stricter access to guns.
Let us all sit back and look at the wider picture, look at how our society behaves to each other and what sort of mutual respect we give each other and perhaps then we can understand the environment our kids are growing up in before we can start explaining why these shootings take place.

Interest Rates Gamble

This Thursday the bank of England will sit down and decide the interest rates once again based on some factors which will be revealed in their meeting minutes delivered two weeks later. I never considered myself a gambling man but increasing I find myself like most commentators trying to predict the outcome and hedging bets. The interest rates not only affects millions of us homeowners but also people with large savings and pensions. For us homeowners our mortgages will increase with rate rises whilst the housing market still continues it robust surge in prices. For savers its a higher interest rate for savings with rate rises but only if the banks pass the savings on to its customers. First time buyers are reducing steadily as they cannot get on the housing ladder and those on already on the housing ladder are finding it difficult to move. More and more people are struggling with debt problems and the papers are predicting the up to 1 million could join them if there a rate hike. On the other hand the housing market is surging and inflation due to higher tuition fees and to a less extent (due to recent price cuts) the price of oil is also higher than expected. So there is pressure for the bank of England to increase rates.
So as we sit back and hedge our bets as to what decision the bank of England will make we will slowly realise that the odds are not really in our favor and hedging both ways is our only hope.