Is there any truth in what Alan Duncan (the Tory MP) said about the MP's Salaries?

"No one who's done anything in the outside world or is capable of doing such a thing will ever come into this place ever again the way we're going."

"Basically it has been nationalised. You have to live on rations and you are treated like shit."


This was the remarks Alan Duncan, Shadow Commons leader, made to film maker Heydon Prowse of Don't Panic magazine.


Now every Tom, Dick and Harry were quick to condemn him and people were asking him to resign. But seriously isn't there truth in his claim?

MP's are paid around £60,000 a year which looks like a big salary and could raise the question what is he complaining about. But what he is saying is any one who is capable of doing anything better outside would never join politics. Isn't it true? Do we want a bunch of average people who couldn't get any other better paid jobs to run our country?

Has anyone thought of the low self esteem these MPs will feel while dealing with the movers and shakers of the City?

Has anyone thought that this could make them more inclinied to become corrupt?

Has anyone thought about how these underpaid people will represent us in the UN, the EU etc where the people they deal there are Harward, Yale and Princeton grads?

We can take the moral high ground and say oh only those who want to serve the people/community should come to politics; but end of the day this is like any other job and if you want the best people you have to pay for it. Otherwise you will get what you pay for

Why Manchester Airport said 'No' to Ryan Air?

BBC reports that Ryan Air is planning to close their service from Manchester Airport. The reason being Ryan Air wants the airport to reduce the current £3 per passenger the Airport charges. A spokesman for Manchester Airport said it did not "believe that charges as low as £3 per passenger are unreasonable".

I had a look at this thinking why did Manchester say no to this. It seems about 60,000 people use Ryan Air in a year. So that means all Manchester Airport is making in a year from Ryan Air is £180,000. Then they would need to employ people to security check these additional 60,000 people. So it is obvious Manchester is not making a lot of money out of this deal and hence they told Ryan Air to fob off.

iPhone OS 3.0 Firmware Released - Update

My god the download is 230.1 MB. These are the guys who were complaining about the size of the large size of Windows software.

iPhone OS 3.0 Firmware Released

Whey!!!

I am downloading as I write this blog

Here is the updates as appeared on the splash screen of the software while downloading


iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update
This update contains over 100 new features, including the following:
• Cut, Copy & Paste with shake to undo
• Landscape keyboard in key applications
• Enhanced Messages application
- Send and receive photos, contacts, audio files, and location via MMS*
- Forward and delete single or multiple messages
• Added search feature in Mail, Calendar, Notes and iPod
• Spotlight search across iPhone
• Support for CalDAV and subscriptions in Calendar
• Improvements to Safari
- Performance
- HTML 5 support
- HTTP Streaming audio and video
- Auto-fill usernames and passwords
• New Voice Memos application
• Sync Notes with a Mac or PC via iTunes
• Internet Tethering over USB and Bluetooth*
• Browse and download movies, TV shows, and audiobooks from the iTunes Store**
• Stereo Bluetooth***
• Wi-Fi auto login
• Enhanced Stocks application
• More Parental Control options for Apps, Music, Movies and TV Shows
• iTunes account creation and login**
• YouTube account login and access to subscriptions, ratings and favorites**
• Shake to shuffle
• New languages, dictionaries, and keyboards
• Find my iPhone and Remote Wipe via MobileMe (subscription required)**
• Support for more Exchange policies
• Create and send Exchange meeting invitations
• Search mail on server (Exchange Server 2007 and supported IMAP servers)
• Search LDAP company directory
• VPN on demand and VPN proxy support
• Encrypted configuration profiles
• Encrypted iTunes backups
• 1,000 new developer APIs, including:
- In App Purchases
- Apple Push Notification Service
- Accessories support
- Peer to Peer Connectivity
- Embedded Maps
- iPod Library Access
• Bug fixes
Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3G S
* Compatible only with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S and requires support from your wireless provider.
** Not available in all regions or in all languages.
*** Compatible only with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S.
For feature descriptions and complete instructions, see the user guide for your iPhone at:

For more information about iPhone, go to:

To troubleshoot your iPhone, or to view additional support information go to:

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website

Can't live because of these bloody environmentalists

I went to Asda as usual the other day did my weekly shopping and went to the till to pay and person on the till says sorry we don't give those free bags any more... as it is not environment friendly and the government is going to fine us millions of pounds if we keep doing it (looks like the poor guy has been fed this BS by his manager that morning) instead you can buy these 'green' bags

I was livid.. and nearly shouted at the poor guy. I decided not to buy any of the 'green bags' and hence couldn't be bothered to shop again in another store, paid for the shopping.


Then I though he don't have any input in this decision so went to the customer service and made a complaint. Will see whether I get a response..

The thing I hate about this pseudo environmentalists are;


1: If ASDA or any other pseudo enviromentalists want to save the world, then pay out of your own pocket or own profit. It is very easy and fun to tax others and claim you are saving the world. Recently my employer introduced parking charges for staff saying they are going green and want to discourage car use. I have to drive 33 mile one way to work and this parking charge is not going to force me to stop driving the car and make me get up at 5 in the morning and take three buses and a train to go to work. So what is the outcome, I am worse off at the end of the month by another 30 pounds so my employer could say they are 'green'.

2: The alternative green bag ASDA is offering at a price is much more thicker than the free bags and hence will do more damage to the environment. What makes them think I will reuse it, it only cost 5 p and wouldn't the environment be worse off if I thow those away. Even if I resuse, those wouldn't last say more than a couple of trips to the supermarket any way so after that it is going to the bin anyway and it has ten times the plastic in it compared to the thin ones. So it is jsut another revenue making scheme on the pretext of being 'green' isn't it ASDA?

3. What makes you think I would pay for the 'green' bag and be a walking advertisement for you Asda. If you want me to do that you have to give the bags away.

4: Also dear ASDA telling the poor sods at the till about the million pound fines... if that was true why is the other supermarkets still giving bags for free.

I think nowadays you get away with murder if you say you are green. I am fed of people telling you how to live you own life. For god sake, the government is already taxing us enough without you big corporations taking over that as well and if you don't know the economy is going through a recession.

So goodbye ASDA... you just lost a customer and hopefully this blog will make you loose at least a couple more

Am I the only one who hates the way Robert Peston talks???

I am talking about Robert Peston the BBC's Business Editor; I find it extremely annoying the way he elongates words and the gaps between words which he tries to fill with the ahhmm...s and errr..s. Also I hate the way he talks, kind of with a smirk on the face as if he knows it all. He comes across as so unprepared and most probably he makes stuff up while he is talking and probably why he struggles to express himself. Wonder how he got a job in the BBC...

ah well .... that is out of my chest now

Heathrow Third Runway

I don't understand what all this fuss about the third runway is about. Surely everyone knows Heathrow is a crowded airport, we all been on planes just waiting to land or at least seen planes kind off queuing up in the sky from a distance. So if it helps to clear this congestion and of course the waste of fuel while waiting then why not build another runway?

Of course there will be more noise and trouble for a few, but then as Chanakya mentioned in his book on war strategy 'Kautalya Arthshastra', it is right to destroy an individual for the benefit of the society and a society for the benefit of the nation, they have to make some sacrifices. Of course this great nation would not have been what it is today if we kept saying no to every development and if it was not for the sacrifices made by many.

Of course, we need to take care of the environment, but aren't we overdoing it a bit at the moment? These are times when the government should crank up spending and if needed build 'roads to nowhere', as the Japanese did, just to keep the economy going and here we are opposing a venture which will provide 60,000 jobs during the construction phase itself and many more after that. We should also not forget how much business it will provide to the hundreds of companies which will be associating in the building of this new runway and the terminal.

We can't carry on gloating about the golden era we had and what a great nation we were, you just need to see the new terminal at the Dubai airport to understand how backward our airports and terminals are. We can't just ignore the development happening in India and China.

How long would we be able to fool the world by saying "Chinese Olympics will be the last of these type of games and our Olympics will be all about legacy", isn't the truth we can't compete with the Chinese and blindly hoping the world wouldn't notice. I have noticed similar sentiments when India successfully launched their moon mission 'Chandrayaan' and planted their flag on the moon, instead of talking about having our own moon mission we are trying to fool ourselves by saying "India should feed their hungry first before launching rockets to moon".

My point is if we oppose every development idea on the name of the environment there will come a time when we would be the ones who would have to feed the hungry and for that green fields and trees might not be enough.