"Ministers yesterday admitted they are powerless to stop any rise ordered by Ipsa, and party leaders may have to shame their MPs to turn down any inflation–busting pay increase." Francis Maude speaking on Sky News: "It’s not in my control, it’s in the control of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. It isn’t even in the […]
Are there parallels between Thatcher and Cameron?
by Marrick on April 8, 2013
“Thatcher is dead, long live Thatcherism” is the toast in a thousand London clubs as hard faced bankers get all dewy-eyed and sentimental about the late Tory leader and the most divisive Prime Minister of the second half of the twentieth century. In common with her acolytes, Cameron and Osborne, Thatcher was quick to give […]
Burger this
by Marrick on September 20, 2012
Leeway Trading Estate in Newport is one of those forgotten pieces of industrial detritus that litter the South Wales coastal plain like souvenirs from a previous economic era. It harks back to the days when someone could earn enough in a forty hour week to keep a family without supplementary benefits, a second income, a […]
Health and safety: the thin line between us and them
by Marrick on September 17, 2012
The “Wingnuts” have almost universally applauded the scrapping of regular health and safety inspections for all but the most high-risk businesses. From April 2013, only businesses operating in "higher risk" areas such as construction, or those which have experienced a recent health and safety incident or have a track record of poor performance, will be […]
Samoa extend the lives of their citizens
by Marrick on December 30, 2011
In an amazing scientific experiment, Samoa’s government has extended the lives of their citizens, made 0.273972602739726% of their population a whole year younger and given a large section of their population a day’s pay for absolutely nothing. Now this is what I call government action. By the simple expedient of moving the international dateline a […]
How to create an unbreakable password
by Marrick on June 15, 2009
Jay sat in my living room sipping his cooling cup of tea. Had we passed in the street I would probably not recognised the tall, almost gangly, bespectacled figure, his loose blue cotton shirt flapping around him like the sails of an improbable yacht, mast thin legs striding in that peculiarly purposeful way that spoke […]
Neo-Corporatism: Early Signs
by Marrick on April 25, 2005
Digital Rights Management is more than just a software device to maintain the copyright of published material. It is a reflection of a new philosophy that will ultimately lead to a society in which consumers own nothing, where the nightmare of the dispossessed comes true and corporate bodies own everything. The logical extension of this […]
Service level aggravation
by Marrick on January 10, 2005
"I being of sound mind…" Last Will and Testament? No, this is a service level contract. The training department has decided that they want to become a semi-autonomous organisation within the company and as such have sought to renegotiate their inter-departmental agreements. This caught the I.T department on the hop, Jiffy our I.T. Manager quickly […]
Bangers and Smash
by Marrick on January 5, 2005
There are many ways to send a perfectly good car to an early grave, the most obvious is to give it to a company rep. Less apparent, but lots more fun is to take it to Llandre Airfield on the third Sunday of the month and enter it into a contest with the bargain basement […]
Mervyn the Wizard
by Marrick on February 4, 1998
Many years ago, when I was about fifteen years of age, I was holidaying in a small West Wales village called Rhosilli. Situated some twenty miles south-west of Swansea, on the tip of the Gower Peninsula, Rhosilli is said to be a place of magic and fable. Overlooking the village is a small mountain, on […]