VAT cut - its not to help the average person!

I think that the proposed cut in the VAT rate from 17.5% to 15% is a pointless exercise. Its not been clearly thought out and won't really help those at the lower end of the income scale anyway.

Will the high street really pass the VAT cut on????

Most high street retailers pick price points i.e. they pick prices that appeal to the public, at a price they think the public will be ready to pay i.e £9.99, £10, £15 etc etc - they don't think..... I'll sell this for £x plus VAT!

Do you really think that most retailers will sell a £9.99 product for £9.77 or a £25 product for £24.47 after the rate has been cut?

The answer is NO - most will stick to the price points that have already been identified as attractive to consumers.

If a retailer has identified that it can sell its product for £10 then they will keep the price at £10 and pocket the difference (23p). That might not seem like a lot for the average perosn - but actually it amounts to billions in the pockets of the businesses.

Retailers are more than capable of changing the total cost (inc VAT) as necessary i.e £5 off in order to have attractive price points.

Before you say that I'm being cynical - I thik that retailers have already shown that they are ready to exploit loopholes to keep as much money in their pockets as possible

http://images.vnunet.com/v6_static/oracle/pdf/fd/nov_vat_fdbrief.pdf

No I think the savvy retailer will simply pocket the difference in order to bump up its own profits!

The only way to truly test this is for someone to keep a track of all prices pre and post the cut - but no one is really goingto do this now are they!

Will it make a difference??????

The actuall impact in the retail price of a product will be just over 2%. When a retailer has a sale they would normally slash a minimum of 10%-25% of goods to get people through the doors. Just imagine how busy the January sales would be if the offer was 2% off everything???? Not very I would guess!

In these depressing times are you going to celebrate being to save 20p off a box of chocolates or £10 of a £500 plasma tv!!!

Why

Ultimately, I think it a sound bite - "look what we've done to help the public".

I guess you're going to ask what would I do - to be honest I don't know - but this is too little, poorly targeted and pointless!

What makes it worse to my mind is that none of the mainstream media (tv, newspapers) seemed to have picked up on this pointkess exercise!

Moral dilemma - what would you do??? (Philosophy 1 of 4)

It was world philosophy day last Thursday (20 Nov)... and to celebrate this the BBC decided to post four philospohocal questions which may have made your brain hurt - that is if you had one in the first place...

As I am running out of things to write about I am just gonna rip of the material via a cut and paste exercise and let you guys pnder on them... (I was gonna apologise for making your brains hurt - but I doubt if it will cause you guys much pain as its a rarely used organ for most of you...).

And before you bother asking - philosophically speaking - I think its perfectly okay for me (and me alone) to rip of other people's material (and atleast I give credit....

Anyway here is the first philosophical dilemma - let the world know what you think.......

Should we kill healthy people for their organs????

Suppose Bill is a healthy man without family or loved ones. Would it be
ok painlessly to kill him if his organs would save five people, one of whom
needs a heart, another a kidney, and so on? If not, why not?

Consider another case: you and six others are kidnapped, and the
kidnapper somehow persuades you that if you shoot dead one of the other
hostages, he will set the remaining five free, whereas if you do not, he will
shoot all six. (Either way, he'll release you.)

If in this case you should kill one to save five, why not in the
previous, organs case? If in this case too you have qualms, consider yet
another: you're in the cab of a runaway tram and see five people tied to the
track ahead. You have the option of sending the tram on to the track forking off
to the left, on which only one person is tied. Surely you should send the tram
left, killing one to save five.

But then why not kill Bill?

I'll publish the rest whenever I feel like it...

My new hobby…. (fighting back against the morons)…

Have you ever been annoyed by stupid e-mails and forwards saying rubbish like….

• forward this to a million people in a few days some random fool will send you some money…
• this kid is dying and xyz plc will give them money for a cure if you forward this e-mail…
• reply to this mail and you will get free cash…
• oh my god have you seen what these evil people are doing… forward to everyone you know to stop…
• beware of this ridiculous scam were people will steal you’re body parts…
• forward this to a million people in the next five seconds or your sad and miserable life will become even worse!!!!
• have you seen this impossible thing… it proves aliens exist….
• etc etc etc

Well I get tons of them for people who I would otherwise say are quite intelligent (although when I get these forwarded mails I sincerely doubt it!!!). To add to the ridiculous nature some of these are things that I have seen in circulation years ago…… and I’m sure you guys have to!

Well plenty of these mails are clearly fakes, spoofs etc… and as I said people who are normally quite sane end up sending me this rubbish…

Well I don’t want it and I’ve been trying to ignore it…. and no I don’t forward it on….

Don’t you imbeciles realise that these are fake just from the context (who in their right mind is going to give money away)! We live in the world of the internet (and you must be on it to read your e-mail), So pick your search engine of choice (Google, Yahoo, MSN etc etc) and look up the damn subject. And guess what you’ll find…. its all a crock of $h1t. (Their are good sites like snopes, urban myths and hoax slayer which research this crap and tell you exactly how stupid it is).

Well I woke up one day and thought enough is enough… its time to fight back against all you idiots out there…

Ideally I would like to remove the senders of these e-mails from the human gene pool with carefully placed baseball bat to the brain… but while the bleeding heart liberals are in charge its down to the next weapon in the arsenal…….

ITS TIME FOR NAME AND SHAME

Everytime I get one of these useless pieces of mail in my inbox… I look it up… then I reply to the person who sent me the offending piece of crap… but not just them, I include everyone they sent it to, and everyone in the e-mail chain… I explain how stupid the mail is and hope simple it is to spend ten seconds of their useless lives researching this stuff so they don’t waste my lives.

And guess what miraculously I don’t get any of these mails anymore… either people have seen the error of their ways (which I doubt as you’re all morons) or more likely they don’t want a barrage of e-mail abuse from me with all their nearest and dearest cc’d.

I would advise anyone who gets one of these mails to spend five minutes looking it up before blindly forwarding it… and to top it all of do a “reply all” to humiliate the sender into sending these again.

Things to do in Libya

Here is the first of my soon to be legendary lists.

Well the there are a number of things for people to do while Libya - but the first thing to do is remember that the sanctions have only recently been lifted - so its not quite a Morocco or Tunisia. And alcohol is illegal (which is fine for me as I'm a Muslim) - so theirs no bars, pubs etc. But there is still enough to keep people entertained.

Resident (expat) or Tourist - Whether you're a tourist or a an expat staying here will be important - as tourists probably won't be interested in the societies etc - I'll list items of interest to ex-pats with (E) and those to tourists with (T).

Some more things to note before venturing out...

Libya is still a fairly conservative Muslim country so you should dress appropriately. Avoid criticising the regime, cultures, values etc (i guess this applies to any country in the world that we visit as we are guests and should be respectful to our hosts).

Okay now lets get going with the list..... I'll try and update this as and when I discover new things....(ps its likely to be Tripoli centric as that is where I am based - but I will try and make notes of other things as I discover them).

1) Beaches (E & T)

Libya has a phenomenal amount of coastline on the Mediterranean coast (the just check it out on a map). So needless to say there are some nice beaches. I haven't been to many so will tell you more at a later time.

2) The Souk (E & T)

The Souk in the old city is fantastic for shopping - there are shops selling virtually everything from modern new appliances,to the more traditional rustic things and gold. Its a good experience to wander around. And unlike other countries you don't get constantly harassed to go into shops and buy things (and even when you go in you don't get the hard sell).

3) The Hash (mainly Expats - but I'm sure tourists could attend to)

And no its not what you think. Its basically an eccentric, worldwide running club (but I tend to walk and use it to chillout and socialise). Its good fun and theirs no pressure to be fit - its just for fun - checkout the global home page http://www.gthhh.com/ 

As well as Tripoli Desert Rats Hash House Harriers, their is also a hash based at Benghazi. On a side note they are a world wide group so you'd be more than welcome to check them out in any country!

4) The Caledonian Society (E)

As the name suggests its a Scottish society - but you don't have to be Scottish to be a member or attend events. As with the hash its an excuse for people to get together and socialise. Great fun with a great bunch of ex-pats from various companies and countries.

5) The Royal Society of St George (E)

Again as the name suggest its an English society but all are welcome to be members and attend events - great fun and just an excuse to meet people and socialise.

6) The Archeological Society (E and T)

Another society - as well as meeting people - it provides you with the opportunity to get out and about and see some of the more of the city. And before you write it off as some fuddy duudy event, its actually a good opportunity to get out and about and see more of the country which you may not normally get a chance to see.

Well that's all for now. I'll try and some links to the above and if I find anything new I'll let you know.

As the famous bunny kept saying... that's all for now folks.......

Lists

I'm running out of things to blog about... and then I read somewhere lists are a good thins so be prepared for a number of lists...... the fist few lists I can think of are:

• websites I like;
• things to do in Libya;
• books I like...

no doubt I'll discover more as I go along......................

so get ready....

and let me know if there is anything in particular you'd like to see and I'll consider it (actually I'll pretend to dismiss it then claim it was my own idea a few months later - but that's tough on you)....

End of my first month in Libya

My first month in Libya is coming to an end - and its been very eventful so far.

I stated my job;

I've moved into my new apartment - which is fairly luxurious (pictures coming soon);

I've met lots of new people - all of whom have been friendly and helpful (both locals and ex-pats);

I've discovered the city of Tripoli (well some parts of it...actually a very small part of it... where I live (near Regatta), where I work (near Qadisiya Square), and the Souk where I was taken for a tour by a colleague.

I've been able to pray at the mosque more often as this is a Muslim country and there are mosques everywhere and its not a problem popping out of work for five/ten minutes to pray at the mosque (in the UK I never had a problem being allowed to pray at work etc - its just in Libya its easier to get to the mosque). Its also easier knowing that everything I cam eat is halal.

I've found a few groups/societies/events to keep me occupied - the hash (no its not what you think its a running event), the Caledonian society, the Royal society and the Archeological society.

And now I'm heading back to London - earlier than expected as my visa got messed up. Next month will be my first Eid in Libya.... so it should be interesting.....

The move to Libya

I've talked a little about my move Libya - but not many people know why I moved etc.

Well I work in Finance within an international integrated oil and gas exploration and production company. I was based in London for the last two years in a corporate role. But after speaking to a number of colleagues it was clear that gaining international or operational experience (or both) would be a big advantage.

So I spent the last year "pimping myself like a hoe" with anyone who would listen (so much so that my colleagues joked that I spent more time socialising the working - but hey guess what it worked ha).

Oh yeah and the money offered on an international assignment isn't to bad (yes I am a greedy, materialistic s.o.b). It wasn't a sure think that I'd get the role as I didn't have the experience to get the role. But then my current role came up - and all my schmoozing paid off (I was actually offered two jobs - one in Libya and one in Aberdeen - now Aberdeen isn't a bad place - but Libya seemed a bit more exotic at the time).

And I've always wanted to get out and explore the world - I didn't really get out and about for various reasons - and this would give me an opportunity to get out and explore.....

I visited Libya, had a look around and liked the place - it seemed clean and safe, and while it wasn't London - it had everything that I thought I might need (I'm a simple soul with no major diva type demands - but I reserve the right to moan and complain even at the best of times - after I am British).

So I decided to take the money and run...... and here I am. On the 18th October I landed in Tripoli.

I think I've annoyed everyone back home that I talk to - the weather in good old blight is wet and grey - and I keep telling them its always hot and sunny.

So the aim is to get out there make friends, smile at people and be me. One important thing is going to be getting out and meeting people. There appears to be quite a few societies and activities that have been set up for ex-pats in Libya by the ex-pats.

I'll try and keep a list of events listed here for reference in case anyone is interested.

Well that's all for now folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like I owe America an apology.....

It looks like I owe America and Americans an apology! That's 310 million people (actually its the 62,million of the 119 million who voted).

While Obama was my favoured candidate for the US presidency, and the person I thought would was best for the role, I doubted whether Americans would be free of prejudice enough, brave enough and ultimately clever enough to elect him.

I never thought that white Americans would elect a black man, I thought that the politics of fear would take over the hearts of an electorate unable to peer through the fog of lies and misinformation that was being spewn out by the media and certain sections of the campaign.

Well it takes a big man to admit he's wrong and apologise - but I'm a short-arse midgit so I won't!

But I will congratulate Obama for his victory and the American people for entering a brave new era.

I also gained a new respect for McCain (who I don't actually think would have been a bad president - its just the Republican party politics and Sarah palin that made me uneasy).

I already respected McCain for standing up to his own supporters when they were calling Obama a terrorist and evil during one of his speeches. He said that while he did not agree with Obama's politics he wasn't an bad person.

McCain said - "He's a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about."

and

"I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States."

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/11/mccain-booed-calling-obama-decent-person/

But when I read McCain's speech conceding victory - I was actually moved - it was very gracious and powerful. I actually hope there can be room for McCain in some capacity or role.

The text of the speech can be found here: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hmJfimrZW3jBur_BmaFtqj7mfFgQD948JFJG5

Obama's victory seems to have opened up some hope in world that was in turmoil only hours before. Anyway lets hope we wake up tomorrow to a better world

:)

Comin soon...............

...........something interesting......honest

When I'm at work, on the bus, out and about, on the toilet - well anywhere that is not near my laptop, millions of ideas that would improve the lives of you the reader flood my brain - unfortunately with so many great ideas colliding with each other - the predictable happens and they obliterate each other before I can enrich your lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a deep loss is truly sad for you - but never fear - as we speak I am trying my utmost to ensure that I am able to entertain and enrich your lives with joy, pleasure and knowledge, the likes of which you have never witnessed.............

In the meantime you sorry lot are just going to have to put up with some wild ramblings....

...oh yeah and soon I'll be putting some pics up of my new home - so watch this space.............