This isn't my first post on this topic and it is unlikely to be the last. I rarely read any national newspapers but for whatever reason I found myself scanning Saturday's edition of The Sun (OK, I agree, it is not a real newspaper but many think it is) anyway, they were making a 'big deal' over the fact that some wanna be famous tart was slagging off another of the same genre for having a tummy tuck on the NHS that cost £5,000. Pot calling kettle black as she herself had been the recipient of a boob job at a cost of £4,800... yes, you guessed it, on the NHS.
In these stringent times why the hell are taxpayers having to pay the bill for cosmetic surgery for sluts that wanna be famous? If the government is serious about reducing the bill to the taxpayers, well there is a suitable target. If they want cosmetic surgery then make them pay. If they haven't got the cash then there are plenty of loan companies out there, and maybe that could help see some of our banks turn a quick profit.
Monday, 26 August 2013
Friday, 2 August 2013
Bike magazine - Multistrada v Caponord
Got the magazine at my newsagents this morning simply because I wanted to read the head to head of the Ducati Multistrada Granturisimo and the Aprilia Caponord 1200 with Travel Pack. Great stuff, except on page 50 it states the Coponord’s fuel tank is 4 litres bigger than the Multistrada’s and then on page 57 it states that the Strada has a 20 litre tank and the Capo has 17.5 litres.
And fuel consumption – what is it with those guys? They say that over 110 miles the Caponord used an extra 4 litre of fuel. But what does that equate to? Simple maths means that if the Strada does 40mpg then the Capo is doing just over 30mpg, but they don't share the figures they achieved with us. Otherwise, I just love the way they got two different viewpoints down in print on one test.
Interweb says:
1. the Strada does have 20 litres but the Capo has 24 (and is 4 litres bigger).
2. Roland Brown got nearly 50mpg from the Caponord with Travel Pack when he road tested it (so if Bike's comment and Roland's figures are both true then the Strada was doing 84mpg).
They are promising us a whole new magazine from the next edition. Well I for one am hoping the new mag is more accurate than the ‘old’ outgoing version and gives us the whole story and avoids following the BBC’s attempts to sensationalise everything. As it stands it's just not worthy of a subscription and I will stick to buying the odd one now and then (usually 3 copies a year).
And fuel consumption – what is it with those guys? They say that over 110 miles the Caponord used an extra 4 litre of fuel. But what does that equate to? Simple maths means that if the Strada does 40mpg then the Capo is doing just over 30mpg, but they don't share the figures they achieved with us. Otherwise, I just love the way they got two different viewpoints down in print on one test.
Interweb says:
1. the Strada does have 20 litres but the Capo has 24 (and is 4 litres bigger).
2. Roland Brown got nearly 50mpg from the Caponord with Travel Pack when he road tested it (so if Bike's comment and Roland's figures are both true then the Strada was doing 84mpg).
They are promising us a whole new magazine from the next edition. Well I for one am hoping the new mag is more accurate than the ‘old’ outgoing version and gives us the whole story and avoids following the BBC’s attempts to sensationalise everything. As it stands it's just not worthy of a subscription and I will stick to buying the odd one now and then (usually 3 copies a year).
Honda XL700VA-A Transalp - update 2
I am continuing the process of modifying my Transalp to suit my needs. Not happy with the appearance of the Honda handlebars (which were shedding their paint in some areas) I decided to replace them with Renthal alloy bars. As everything was being stripped off anyway I replaced the heated grips (which were too thin for my liking) with some Roxter heated grips bought off eBay from a trader in Birmingham. While at it I removed the hideous and rather monstrous handguards and replaced those with universal protectors (again from eBay) that mean clipping a branch or wing mirror will no longer result in the brake or clutch levers being interfered with.
So new bars, grips and handguards - simple enough to fit, surely? Well not quite. The throttle tube had been messed about with by a previous owner so out came the Dremel and that was tidied up. Then I found that Honda mould pins that locate into holes on the bars so that the switchgear doesn't move. Again the Dremel sorted that out - removal maintained the integrity of the new bars in a way that drilling holes would not have done. Bar weights were removed from the old bars but would not go into the new ones, but to some extent their necessity were negated by the fitting of the handguards - so for now I'm running without them and it seems OK. Final addition to the bars was a protective case for my mobile phone. It should allow me to use the mobile when I'm riding but as I don't want distracting while riding I just use it as a safe way of recharging. It would be nice to be able to use the mobile's photo/video recording capabilities but I have run out of room on the bars and have no way of mounting it in a suitable position, but I'm not bothered.
Next up was the MRA Vario screen fitted earlier. Still not quite as happy with it as I was with the one on the Deauville, but getting there. It has spacers between the bodywork and the screen held in place by the mounting bolts - 5mm spacers at bottom, 10mm at the top. I've now got both on the top mounting bolts and just a thin plastic washer on the bottom ones. This makes the screen stand up just that little bit more and allows the spoiler to work just that bit better. I'll leave it like that for now but further modification is not out of the question.
The Tutoro (which apparently stands for Top up, Turn on, Ride off) automatic oiler is working well although the supplied oil line clips are having to be supplemented by good old insulation tape to keep the oil line where it needs to be. The little top-up bottle supplied looked really nice but bouncing around in the topbox soon resulted in it leaking as much oil as the system was delivering to the chain, so that went in the bin.
Next up, in no particular order...
* A change of tyres - still useable but the rear is squaring off
* An MoT which is due shortly
* Riding lamps
* A nice loud horn
* Handguards with build/designed in weather protection
So new bars, grips and handguards - simple enough to fit, surely? Well not quite. The throttle tube had been messed about with by a previous owner so out came the Dremel and that was tidied up. Then I found that Honda mould pins that locate into holes on the bars so that the switchgear doesn't move. Again the Dremel sorted that out - removal maintained the integrity of the new bars in a way that drilling holes would not have done. Bar weights were removed from the old bars but would not go into the new ones, but to some extent their necessity were negated by the fitting of the handguards - so for now I'm running without them and it seems OK. Final addition to the bars was a protective case for my mobile phone. It should allow me to use the mobile when I'm riding but as I don't want distracting while riding I just use it as a safe way of recharging. It would be nice to be able to use the mobile's photo/video recording capabilities but I have run out of room on the bars and have no way of mounting it in a suitable position, but I'm not bothered.
Next up was the MRA Vario screen fitted earlier. Still not quite as happy with it as I was with the one on the Deauville, but getting there. It has spacers between the bodywork and the screen held in place by the mounting bolts - 5mm spacers at bottom, 10mm at the top. I've now got both on the top mounting bolts and just a thin plastic washer on the bottom ones. This makes the screen stand up just that little bit more and allows the spoiler to work just that bit better. I'll leave it like that for now but further modification is not out of the question.
The Tutoro (which apparently stands for Top up, Turn on, Ride off) automatic oiler is working well although the supplied oil line clips are having to be supplemented by good old insulation tape to keep the oil line where it needs to be. The little top-up bottle supplied looked really nice but bouncing around in the topbox soon resulted in it leaking as much oil as the system was delivering to the chain, so that went in the bin.
Next up, in no particular order...
* A change of tyres - still useable but the rear is squaring off
* An MoT which is due shortly
* Riding lamps
* A nice loud horn
* Handguards with build/designed in weather protection
Real Justice
Ariel Castro held three female victims hostage for over a decade in his 'House of Horrors' in Cleveland. The case has been to court and sentencing was passed yesterday. He was sentenced to spend the rest of his days in Jail, behind bars PLUS 1000 years.
Now that is one serious sentence. The judge means to make sure that he never sees the outside of a jail again. Which leaves me wondering why don't we have such sentencing powers in the UK? American jails are not nice places to be, but here in the UK they are like 5 star hotels. Castro will find it tough but those convicted recently in the UK for Sexual exploitation of white girls are in for a cushty time of it. Where is British justice?
Now that is one serious sentence. The judge means to make sure that he never sees the outside of a jail again. Which leaves me wondering why don't we have such sentencing powers in the UK? American jails are not nice places to be, but here in the UK they are like 5 star hotels. Castro will find it tough but those convicted recently in the UK for Sexual exploitation of white girls are in for a cushty time of it. Where is British justice?
How attitudes change
Like many people I love to people watch. It is an activity that comes under the heading of 'judge a book by it's cover' as one instantly forms an (uninformed) opinion of those being watched. And I know that others are doing the same to me, which others me not a jot for the simple reason that I just don't care and in the main I keep the world at arms length and value those few people, friends and family, who I know, trust and love.
I grew up in a multicultural family long before anybody coined the word 'multicultural'. As a result I've rarely had an issue working with people who had a different coloured skin to mine, or who had behavioural or physical attributes that differ to my own. But recent events have resulted in me responding in ways that I would not normally. The 1st event was a questionnaire from the office of my MEP, among which was hidden the question 'Do you feel that immigration has been good for the UK' (with sliding scale response). The 2nd was the conviction of a mother and her partner for the starving and beating to death of her 4 year old son. The 3rd event is the conviction and sentencing of a number of men for sexual grooming and exploitation of young girls here in Derby and across the Midlands.
You might ask why these two events caused my change in attitude. Well the answer is simple. The last Census of England & Wales revealed that immigrants now comprise the majority of the population, in other words more than 50% of the 63 million people covered by the census have origins in countries outside the UK which also means that as a born and bred Englishman I am now in the minority in 'my own country'. That has to go a long way to explain quacky laws we now have in place to protect the rights of those people who have adopted the UK as their home and the amount of benefits and support options that are available to those that have never worked, paid income tax or National Insurance contributions. Then bearing all this in mind, the 2nd event (sentencing takes place today) and 3rd events, one has to adjust to the overriding fact that these people, coming to the UK which they believe is road to prosperity, are not even worthy of being called animals, they are lower than that.
So let us think about immigration some more. It can be argued that these people came to the UK and did the jobs that we 'didn't want to do' but did they really? Is it not the case that they took 'our jobs' and just did them on a lower rate of pay, forcing an ever downwards spiral of pay rates for basic jobs, jobs our own less well educated could have done and been happy doing. Now they have 'lock out' in some areas of the job market like taxi driving or train driving on London's underground. When was the last time you saw a white skinned taxi driver in your nearest city (London, Birmingham, Leicester, Derby....)? And those convicted of sexual grooming, trafficking and exploitation of young white girls were all exclusively form ethnic backgrounds. The cleric Abu Qatada has cost the UK taxpayers millions trying to deport him because of the laws brought to the statute books by those with a (at the time) hidden agenda to protect their own from having to leave the UK against their will.
So have we, the UK, benefited from immigration? Maybe, maybe not. It is not clear cut or as simple as my prose appears to make it but one thing is for certain. Good or bad we are stuck with it, the consequences of decisions made over the last 50 years will take another 50 to work their way out. One thing is certain though and that is, when I people watch and I see people from a different ethnicity to mine and I go to 'judge a book by it's cover' the mental picture I will carry won't be the nice rosy and welcoming one that I have carried in the past.
I grew up in a multicultural family long before anybody coined the word 'multicultural'. As a result I've rarely had an issue working with people who had a different coloured skin to mine, or who had behavioural or physical attributes that differ to my own. But recent events have resulted in me responding in ways that I would not normally. The 1st event was a questionnaire from the office of my MEP, among which was hidden the question 'Do you feel that immigration has been good for the UK' (with sliding scale response). The 2nd was the conviction of a mother and her partner for the starving and beating to death of her 4 year old son. The 3rd event is the conviction and sentencing of a number of men for sexual grooming and exploitation of young girls here in Derby and across the Midlands.
You might ask why these two events caused my change in attitude. Well the answer is simple. The last Census of England & Wales revealed that immigrants now comprise the majority of the population, in other words more than 50% of the 63 million people covered by the census have origins in countries outside the UK which also means that as a born and bred Englishman I am now in the minority in 'my own country'. That has to go a long way to explain quacky laws we now have in place to protect the rights of those people who have adopted the UK as their home and the amount of benefits and support options that are available to those that have never worked, paid income tax or National Insurance contributions. Then bearing all this in mind, the 2nd event (sentencing takes place today) and 3rd events, one has to adjust to the overriding fact that these people, coming to the UK which they believe is road to prosperity, are not even worthy of being called animals, they are lower than that.
So let us think about immigration some more. It can be argued that these people came to the UK and did the jobs that we 'didn't want to do' but did they really? Is it not the case that they took 'our jobs' and just did them on a lower rate of pay, forcing an ever downwards spiral of pay rates for basic jobs, jobs our own less well educated could have done and been happy doing. Now they have 'lock out' in some areas of the job market like taxi driving or train driving on London's underground. When was the last time you saw a white skinned taxi driver in your nearest city (London, Birmingham, Leicester, Derby....)? And those convicted of sexual grooming, trafficking and exploitation of young white girls were all exclusively form ethnic backgrounds. The cleric Abu Qatada has cost the UK taxpayers millions trying to deport him because of the laws brought to the statute books by those with a (at the time) hidden agenda to protect their own from having to leave the UK against their will.
So have we, the UK, benefited from immigration? Maybe, maybe not. It is not clear cut or as simple as my prose appears to make it but one thing is for certain. Good or bad we are stuck with it, the consequences of decisions made over the last 50 years will take another 50 to work their way out. One thing is certain though and that is, when I people watch and I see people from a different ethnicity to mine and I go to 'judge a book by it's cover' the mental picture I will carry won't be the nice rosy and welcoming one that I have carried in the past.
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