A Real Word Of Warning - Socialism!

I cannot lay claim to the story below. I only wish I could. I have to say though that this is one of the best descriptions (if that is the right word) of what Socialism does to both the individual and the community.

It may seem simplistic to some but I do think it hits the nail squarely on the head.

As far as I am aware this story is from an anonymous author but if it is known who penned it I would gladly give them the credit they richly deserve.

So here goes:

An economics professor at a college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. The class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on your plan. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A”.... (substitute grades for money - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that. These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, then the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for.
That is the beginning of the end of any nation.

So think on folks!

It's Tom and Jerry

You just couldn't make it up could you.

The Labour Party now in the hands of this pair:

Hard left it is then!

Dogs In Swimming Pools

Really. This is happening at Heckington in Lincolnshire. Providing a period of time when dog owners can go swimming in the pool with their dogs. Why?

A few questions come to my mind:

• Do they drain the water and refill the pool before admitting the general public again?
• What do they do if a dog goes to the toilet while in the pool?
• Main concern: Is it good for the dogs to be in a pool that is treated with chlorine.

I have done a bit of research and this is what I have found which seems to be the general opinion. This from an American vet where, apparently, pool owners appear to encourage their dogs in:

One question that tends to come up is whether chlorine is safe for dogs to ingest. Overall, the amount of chlorine in a pool is not likely to be harmful to dogs if they’re simply swimming. The main concern is that dogs will also ingest large amounts of pool water while they’re swimming. This can lead to salt poisoning or an electrolyte imbalance similar to drinking ocean water, and may cause vomiting or loose stools. To prevent this, keep plenty of fresh water available while your pets are swimming. The fresh water will be more appealing to the dogs than the pool water. Additionally, chlorine and other commonly used pool chemicals can irritate the eyes or skin of some dogs.

Given that. If I was still a dog owner I would not wish for my dog to go swimming in a swimming pool! I hope this rather silly idea does not take off in a big way!

Big Failure Regarding Refugee Situation

I expect there are many mistakes or failures that could be pointed out about the present refugee situation but there is one that to me is such a glaringly obvious failure that I am totally surprised that it has not been rectified or should I say it was not something that was put into place earlier.

That big failure? Germany making statements to the world media that it would take 800,000 refugees and/or asylum seekers this year but it has made no attempt to ensure that those people that fall within the category can actually get to Germany to register and take up the offer!

Where are the ships and the planes that should have been immediately despatched to the Mediterranean area to collect those wishing to go? They are not there. Germany, as well as every other country in Europe are more than aware of the problems that were already being caused by people crossing the Mediterranean Sea prior to the announcement by Chancellor Merkel. The announcement, in my view, has made matters worse which was something even a blind man should have been able to see but Germany was obviously oblivious to the outcome of the announcement.

Now that other European countries are also making announcements about their intentions to take in refugees there really needs to be a transport system put into place that allows for their humanitarian gestures to become reality.

To expect countries such as Greece, Italy and Hungary to be inundated with refugees and asylum seekers and then to organise their onward movement, something that will have to be done if the refugees and asylum seekers are going to make it to the destinations they are looking at, is ridiculous and needs sorting out yesterday!!!!

A pan-European emergency transport system for these people? Will it happen? I will leave it to you, the reader, to decide but without it there is going to be no improvement in the situation for either the people or the countries that are being hugely affected.

BBC Funding

Much has been said recently, and indeed over the past years, about funding the BBC. The Licence Fee, should it have to be paid etc. etc.?

While all of that has been going on the BBC has actually been missing out on millions of pounds. How you may ask? I will tell you.

On nearly every chat show on the BBC and on every chat show on the radio, what is the most talked about item? I will tell you.

The most talked about item is some band or artiste or some author who has a new album or a new book or a new film or a new play or West End Musical about to be released or opening that they want to sell. They just parade themselves for free across the BBC getting publicity, reaching into our homes and being seen and heard by millions. The One Show is the biggest culprit by far in my view.

Why does the BBC not sell them the air time that allows them to tell us all about their wares? They could do that and make millions over the years couldn't they?

At least the ITV network is honest about its advertising and the people that use it actually contribute towards it!

I was actually going to make this article a bit jokey but the more I type the more I cannot understand why this happens. So this has turned into a bit of a rant.

Catch a grip BBC. You are being taken for a ride!

A52/A158 They Are Our Arteries - East Lindsey Coast

It is normal perhaps for coastal areas to have poor roads leading to them, unless of course they are close to a motorway network such as Blackpool but that is an exception. On this coast we do not have the benefits of motorways, or even for that matter dual-carriageways. We rely on the "A" roads to bring in the business. Are the "A" roads we rely on a help or a hindrance in that regard?

My view is that they are a hindrance.

Every summer, every busy weekend, every Bank Holiday and throughout the main holiday season this coast is let down by the two main roads leading to it.

For instance. Last Saturday I travelled up to Lincoln at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The traffic heading west, away from the coast was running smoothly but travelling in the opposite direction the traffic was horrendous. Slow moving traffic and stationary traffic for miles. The worst section was that section heading into Horncastle. The traffic was backed up and stationary all the way to the Caistor turn-off, several miles in length. The reports on the radio told me that Wragby was just as bad but as I turned off the A158 on the Bardney road I will have to take their word for it.  Radio Lincolnshire were also reporting the "normal problems" on the A52 as well.

This issue has been known about for decades and very little has been done about it. A bypass was provided for Burgh-Le-Marsh some 8 years ago. Whilst roads have been improved in the west of the county, with a lot more to come, specifically to deal with bottlenecks and known problems, little has been done in our area. It is not good enough.

Sad to say that there is little that is going to be done in the foreseeable future as there is no mention of our area in the Lincolnshire 4th Local Transport Plan 2013/14 - 2022/23 a link to which I have attached at the bottom of this article. In brief the projects that will be/are being implemented over the next 10 years are:

• Lincoln Eastern Bypass
• Grantham Southern Relief Road
• Spalding Western Relief Road

The Transport Strategies for individual towns are:

• Boston Transport Strategy
• Grantham Transport Strategy
• Lincoln Transport Strategy
• Gainsborough Transport Strategy.

What does that mean for this area? Simply that there are no plans whatsoever in this area for the next 8 years and if there is a 5th Local Transport Plan and this area was lucky enough (sic) to be considered then it could be 10 years after that before anything is done and then there is no guarantee!

When I have raised this issue previously I have been told that the problem we have is that our issues are seasonal and therefore not as high a priority as other areas! With that in mind it is difficult to see any hope for the improvements we desperately need is there?

It was also pointed out that we would be getting a Western Relief Road for Skegness which will link the A52 and the A158. This would relieve the congestion is Skegness Town Centre. Perhaps it would but at what cost? The A158 is already nose to tail for miles out of Skegness at busy times so pushing the traffic from the A52 to the A158 is only going to make things worse in that area! Indeed with Roman Bank (A52) heading north being an absolute nightmare already, it makes even less sense. Without a road running north from the A158 towards Ingoldmells and beyond, extending the relief road, there will be little if any improvement to the overall traffic congestion.

I think folks that we are the forgotten area when it comes to road infrastructure. A decent road from Boston to the coast and a decent road from Lincoln to the coast would open up the whole of East Lindsey as well as the coast. Decent roads would encourage more inward investment, creating businesses and jobs for this area.

In addition it would make the journey far more pleasant for the hundreds of thousands of people that come to the coast for a break. That would surely encourage more to come? Given that one of the priorities of the County Council is to double the worth of tourism to the county, then surely money spent on making the primary tourist area in the county more accessible should be viewed as a priority? I live in hope rather than expectation!

As I referred to in the title of this piece. The A52/A158 are our arteries. We all know what happens when arteries become blocked don't we?

Skegness Lidl Reopening Date

I have been amazed by the amount of interest that there has been in my article from earlier in the year entitled Skegness Lidl Closing For Refurbishment which has become the third most viewed article on my blog.

The article can be viewed here:

 http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/skegness-lidl-closing-for-refurbishment.html

The interest prompted me to contact Lidl to enquire as to how the new store is coming along and when it will be reopening. The answer I have been given is that the store will reopen for business in the brand new and much enlarged store on 10th December this year. There was a caveat to this statement which was that this information is correct at the time of sending and could be subject to change.

I for one will be very pleased to see the store back in business. If I get any other information I will post it on here.

Regards.