How Sez Sees It

Oh dear, here I am going to get in trouble with the Scientologists.  Oh well, I am not concerned. I want to qualify this blog (not that I should have to) by saying that I am atheist.  I have no belief in any spiritual or otherwise being that created this, that or the other.  I KNOW in myself that science has all the answers and just because we have not discovered them all that does not automatically make science wrong and religion right.  It just means we need to keep on looking and that is why I love science.  On the other hand I have a deal of respect for someone who has a faith of some kind.  That is their choice, their belief and if it works for them, then great.  I don't have to agree with it, but I am not going to persecute an individual for their belief.  I have friends who are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc.  That is fine, because they do not ram their beliefs down my throat and I do not do the same to them.  (The same app...

Today Parliament has a vote on whether or not there should be a referendum about staying in Europe.  This is set to be 'CallMeDave's' biggest challenge yet.  Many of his party want to vote for a referendum, but with Labour and the Lib Dems to vote against it 'CallMeDave' will be happy.  Why is this the case?  Because say what you like about the Tories, the front bench knows that we do need to be a part of Europe.  We need to stand alongside the other European countries and be proud of this.  We are still one of the stronger nations in the EU, even if it doesn't feel like it at times and we need them too.  We need the economic support of something much bigger.  We need the agreements on human rights, education and health.  We need to be a part of this to show that we are front runners in a Europe that can work.  Also we know that as a tiny island nation we run the risk of being cut off without the protection of the Union.  'CallMeD...

It should be obvious to anyone reading this that Gaddafi has been killed by rebels in Libya. If you do not know this then you have been living under a rock for the last 24 hours and need to get out more and take notice of what is going on around you. Yesterday rebels in Gaddafi's home town of Sirte captured the ex-Libyan leader and professional nut job when he was hiding in a storm drain (sound familiar?).  He was dragged through the streets before being formally executed by the people with a gun shot to the head.  For a truly people led rebellion perhaps this sort of street justice was required for the people to feel it had been worth it.  Perhaps if he had been dragged off to the Hague to face a war tribunal then the people who led this revolution would have felt somewhat cheated.  As bloody and terrible as his end may seem to the Western World, this was justice carried out in a way that seemed somehow to fit with the rebellion and the way Gaddafi ruled. We hav...

The news today has been a little thin for my liking and I am still waiting to hear Foxy's address at Parliament.  I thought I would comment on what a let down 2015 will be then. Yesterday it was announced that physists had 'broken' physics by inventing a way of making things hover.  This is a genius break through and means we are one step closer to that hover board I always wanted.  Why have I always wanted one though?  Simples.  Back to the Future. When I was a kid that was the future as far as I was concerned.  Being born in the mid-eighties I grew up watching those films and loved every one of them.  The first and last films primarily dealt with things from the past, 1955 and 1885.  In the second film though, Marty and Doc go into the future, 2015.  Now back in the mid-eighties/early ninties this was a long way off and anything seemed possible.  The inventions could have been anything. What came to pass though?  Well w...

Sorry, had a busy day yesterday so could not comment. Inflation according to the Consumer Price Index (SPI) is up at 5.2% for September as compared to 4.5% for the month before.   This is a higher level than even September 2008 when the economic crisis hit.   The CPI was set in 1997 and there has never yet been a higher level than then, but this current level is still a subject for concern. Similarly the Retail Price Index (RPI) is also up from 5.2% to 5.6%.   This is the highest since June 1991!   If this doesn’t mean much to you the CPI is an indication of prices of everyday items people like you and I buy in the supermarket and the RPI is an indication of mortgages, etc. Gideon’s plans are obviously not working as the inflation shows a lack of confidence by consumers.   This is still not helped by the high prices set by foreign oil and gas companies.   Trouble is we are reliant on them as 20 years ago we had our own supplies in the North Sea…these go...

Made this by sheer chance and it is so delicious that I had to share my recipe with you.  So here it is folks, my chocolate orange coconut ice (veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery bad for you...)  Prep time is about 20 mins + hardening time. What you will need: 1 bar of ordinary cooking chocolate (whatever your fav is, either white, dark or milk) 340g dessicated coconut 340g icing sugar (not royal icing sugar...it doesn't work!) 397g condensed milk Orange essence flavouring Food colouring (whatever colour you want to use) Put all the icing sugar, coconut and condensed milk in a bowl.  Mix together using your hands as this is very sticky and tough and will break a metal spoon, whisk or electric mixer.  Add a touch of orange essence (as much as you fancy).  Once mixed line a 7 inch square cake tin with greaseproof paper and put half the mixture in the cake tin.  Add the food colouring to the other half and layer this on top of the white layer in the cake...

I have decided that I shall do a more light hearted blog for a Friday.  It may turn darker, let's see how it goes. BB users are defecting to Apple.  The timing of the new iPhone 4s and the new iOS 5 couldn't have come at a better time for Apple.  It just so happens to have coincided with the failures of RIM's systems for the BlackBerry.  Are Apple the luckiest company?  Or is Steve Jobs looking down on them from the iCloud in the sky...? Live WWII weapons put outgoing flights and train services at Gatwick on a 15 minute delay.  The fact that they had been there for years is funny in itself.  I think the passengers were probably more annoyed there was a delay than the safety issue.  I had a 15 minute delay at Palma the other week...that was because of a dispute in the control tower at Bournemouth... Oliver Letwin has been seen dumping paperwork in a public bin.  I bet he thought it would be alright to do this as who would go through a pu...

Cuts in the education maintenance allowance (EMA) are being blamed for students quitting college or not going at all after GCSEs.  The idea of the EMA was to allow students to pay for travel to college and buy books, etc.  It was an incentive to learn and would help the poorest people.  I remember when I was at college talking to people on the EMA and they told me they would not be able to go to college without it.  It was a lifeline to them. 20 NHS trusts have been named as 'vulnerable' by the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley.  This includes Winchester and Eastleigh, which are my local trusts.  This is a scary prospect that they face cuts.  The NHS is something that we should be putting more into, not letting it fail.  Use the #SaveTheNHS on Twitter to make this heard. Unemployment is at its highest level for 17 years!  It currently stands at 2.57 million.  Gideon needs to get the economy on track to create jobs for these people....

Foxy has been tagging social trips on to official trips to meet Werritty, all paid for by the tax payer.  So we have been paying for them to have a little working holiday. Sri Lankan officials claim that Werritty offered to sell them arms when on a trip with Foxy.  Werritty also started several companies to match Foxy's job.  One was UK Health Ltd when Foxy was Shadow Health Secretary and the other was Security Futures when Foxy took on defence.  'CallmeDave' won't want Foxy to be on the back bench though as he is very right wing and has a lot of influence.  This would be too dangerous for the Tories in the coalition. The Lords are voting on the NHS reforms today.  If you want to keep this institution as it is then sign this: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/message-to-lords In other news the NOTW hacker, Glenn Mulcaire, wants the victims to stop suing him as he feels persecuted.  Not a nice feeling, is it Glenn?

Foxy has been tagging social trips on to the end of official trips to meet his friend Werritty.  Because they are tagged on to the end of official trips he has been able to claim for them from tax payers' money, which means we have been paying for him to have a holiday with his bezzie.  On top of that Sri Lankan officials caims Werritty offered to sell them arms when on a trip with Foxy.  Werritty also started a string of businesses including UK Health Ltd when Foxy was Shadow Health Secretary and then Security Futures when Foxy took on defence.  So there was no attempt to cash in there... 'CallmeDave' won't want Foxy on the back bench as he is a right winger with lots of influence.  He would be too dangerous and would cause too many problems.  Still...wonder who burgled Foxy's Den? Today the House of Lords will vote on the NHS bill the governement want to push through.  This is basically a way of splitting up and privatising large areas of the N...

I am going to try and comment on at least one thing a day. So Liam Fox (hereby known as Foxy) has answered his question in the Commons.  I have to admit that he did seem to sincerely apologise for the parts he knew to be wrong behaviour, but in true Tory style he covered up for BBF Adam Werritty and turned some things around by saying he was 'not dependent on any transactional behaviour' for his imcome.  Then what does the man live on?  Thin air?  The whole thing stinks, but I fear Foxy will get away with this one as there is a lot of other stuff going on that the press are interested in...mostly how ugly the X-Factor contestants are...that should keep David 'CallmeDave' Cameron happy. Good news everyone (or rather not...) we get to keep the Olympic Stadium.  Yes, that is right, you and I will still own that building in East London.  The reason seems to be that Tottenham Hotspur were jealous that West Ham were going to buy the thing so they put in ...

The Conservative Party conference was barely over when a source of major embarrassment for the PM jumped out of the woodwork.  One day the press were praising Cameron for his speach about putting children in care with parents of another ethnicity when being adopted, the next Dr Liam Fox was in the news for what looks to be corruption. Fox is accused (by the press at least) of having business dealings with his former flat mate and best friend, Adam Werritty.  Werritty is believed to have travelled with Dr Fox on his trips abroad to "advise" on security deals, etc.  Werritty was never employed as an official advisor and yet he had business cards made up to claim that he was.  The whole thing stinks and is of course a major embarrassment for the Conservatives.  This could not have come at a worse time as all eyes were on the party anyway due to the conference.  However, Cameron may be hoping that this will go away. At the moment there is terrible trouble...

So Gideon (George Osborne) has announced his plans for small businesses at the Tory Conference.  The whole thing just reaks of the sort of trouble we had with sub prime. Basically the tax payer (you and I) will pay bonds that will help small businesses financially.  They will then use this to secure with the banks.  Now the one big problem is that the majority of small businesses fail in the first six months and they only borrow to start up the business (in the majority of cases) so if they fail they will take the money with them. This will get us out of recession...apparently.

Last night Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were aquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher after serving four years in an Italian prison.  If they are truly innocent then a case of injustice has been ended and they are free to live their lives. There is one question that seems to have been lost in all the media hype surrounding Knox in particular.  That is, if they didn't kill Meredith then who did?  The victim here should not be forgotten and the authorities now need to find out who really was responsible.  Rudy Guede is serving 16 years for the sexual abuse and murder of Meredith, but his sentence was cut as he testified against Knox and Sollecito.  A young woman lost her life and her family are left without closure of a successful conviction.  Who did kill her and will prosecutors follow up Knox and Sollecito as promised?  Right now though I am not thinking of the two released.  They will be able to get back some semblance of normality a...