Andy Crawford - Blog Site

01 June 2010 - Should Cyclists Pay Road Tax?
Road funding comes from general taxation, which means that if you pay tax in the UK, you are indirectly contributing toward road funding. What people normally mean by "Road Tax" is Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), which is the tax, charged on motor vehicles to allow them to be used on public roads. The amount paid is based on vehicle co2 emissions. It is a pollution tax. The cleanest and most economical motor vehicles are charged nothing and so if cycles and other human powered vehicles were subject to VED too, the rate would be zero based on the current tax structure and rates. Road Tax itself was abolished in 1936 because at the time it was thought that by charging motorists a token amount to use the roads, it might lead them think that they have some kind of ownership of them. That could never happen now could it? ipayroadtax.com

21 October 2009 - Postal Workers Strike
The last time the postal workers went on strike I was rather worried as my business depended on me communicating with customers by post. As a result of their strike, I decided to communicate entirely by email by default, and only post anything on request. As a result, I have saved myself about £3k pa on brochures, stationery, envelopes, paper, ink as well as the postage I used pay to send out all this stuff. I owe a big thank you to the post office workers, if they had not gone on strike, I would still be a slave to the postal service. Now I don't need you anyway.

06 October 2009 - The Politics of “High School Musical”
David Cameron, (leader of the Conservative opposition) announced today that in the current financial situation "we’re all in this together" and that we *all* need to cut back and accept difficult measures to rectify the situation. Well David, perhaps if you, your cronies and everyone else in the world of business & finance were prepared to “be in it together” and tax everyone to the point where they are living on the same income as the poorest of society you might have a point. And that really would be a very quick fix to the economics of the problem. But until then, you are just a hypocrite. When you, and all your well-to-do, well off, Conservative voters are prepared to live on £95 per week (like you expect pensioners to) I will respect you. Until then we are not in it "together" at all.

08 June 2009 - Elections
It’s not really surprising that two seats are given to the BNP party when only 43% of the electorate bother to turn out to vote. “Given” because this is how fringe groups come to power. If the other 57% of voters bothered to express their preference, (even if that just means voting against the party they do not want to represent them), we would not end up with extremist minorities taking the power. The last thing the fringe parties like UKIP and the BNP want is the apathetic majority casting votes as their success depends on people not voting for other parties thus allowing their minority of followers to vote them in. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about who represents you in government. I do not support any political party, but this time when I went to the polls I chose to vote for individuals who did not represent the parties that I would not want in power.

27 th May 2009
Saracen Morzine
Now doing around 100 - 120 miles per week. Mainly on this one but the MTB gets used as a runabout, taking kids to school, shopping, DZ etc. The Neuzer is waiting for new tyres (700x32) and I intend to use it for on/off road combination rides.

5th November 2008
Neuzer Courier DT Bought in September this year and I have only just got around to writing about it. See the Neuzer Courier page.

12 June 2008 - Beach Signs
The Good, The Bad and the absolutely despicable
As summer hots up, discussion on misleading naturist beach signs hots up too. The award for the most misleading sign must go to The East Riding of Yorkshire Council (thanks to Conservative Councillor Jane Evison who was allegedly behind the signs wording). Cllr, Evison can't seem to spot the difference between good honest naturism and the activities that sometimes occur by those looking for a bit of err, shall we say "Adult Fun". If they want to clamp down on sexual activity then they ought to do that. Instead they blame naturists but allow the sexual activity to go on. Daft or what? Naturist Beach Signs

15 April 2008 - World Naked Bike Ride (June 14)
The WNBR takes place each year in various cities around the world. It is primarily a protest against oil dependency and car culture. It seeks to promote cycling and walking and celebrates body freedom. The London event takes place at Hyde Park on 14 June 2008. Follow the links for details.
World Naked Bike Ride - Links

04 March 2008 - Violent Parents
I heard this news story on the radio this morning. At approximately 08.45 Outside a Junior School in a nearby town, two women tried to take the same parking space. Both women stopped their cars, one of them got out of her car and punched the other (who was at the time sitting in hers). OK so there may be more to the story. Perhaps there is an ongoing family fued. Perhaps it's a sign of the times. Or is it just an example of the way in which some of the (ahem) ladies around here are accustomed to behave?

13 February 2008 - The Public Domain
Everything on here is in the public domain. All my "putting the world to rights" is here for everyone (and anyone) to read. Unlike private email which is intended to be read by the recipient only. So, if you read it here, feel free to discuss it, in my presence or behind my back, I don't mind. Really I don't mind. But, if you receive an email, please bear in mind that the content was destined for you only. If you forward it on, it shows a lack of respect for privacy, confidentiality, and trust.

30 January 2008 - Mid Life Depression
I heard on the news yesterday that the most miserable age for men is 44. That's my age. Apperently, men my age are at their most miserable. But in the happiness stakes a 20 year old has the same hapinness levels as a 70 year old. I guess that life can only get better!

28 January 2008 - TalkTalk Broadband Helpdesk
This really is the stuff of a comedy script, so I have dedicated a page to them. Read On...

22 January 2008 - UK2 Still sending Spam
All may domains have now been transferred away from the ghastly uk2.net but they can't seem to be able to remove my email from their Spamming system. Today I received an email entitled "UK2 - We Bend Over Backwards" with the usual tosh. More reasons not to use UK2.

09 January 2008 - Lest We Forget
It's some 2 years since Fenland District Council decided that I should not be allowed to take my children swimming on their premises. This blatant discrimination against naturism was eventually overturned and the several of those responsible for the ban have since moved on. One councillor left under a cloud accused of bullying. Another highly paid council executive was made redundant. But had the ban remained in force, unchallenged and allowed to continue, I fear it would be near impossible to overturn the ban now and similar bans would happen as a result. If we allow these people to ban our way of life, I fear that naturism will eventually become illegal in this country.

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