Posted by Ben @ February 2nd, 2010 1:30 am. Filed under: Clearly You've Thought This Through,Everyone Stop What You're Doing Because You're Mildly Inconveniencing Me — Tags: Margaret King —
by Margaret KingThe obvious reason for this is that single-deckers are much smaller than double-deckers and can therefore accommodate far fewer passengers. At the moment they can become intolerably crowded and this can also mean passengers further along the route being unable to get on to one bus; and therefore (obviously) having to wait for the next which may also be too full to take on any more passengers. If the Government is serious about the environment, and about reducing the carbon footprint caused by cars, it will accede to the request in this petition.
In my experience – and I recognise this is just in Luton and probably isn’t representative – the “single-decker” routes run every ten-to-fifteen minutes, and the double-decker routes are usually hourly. What you’re asking for would require that Arriva, who service Luton, either make their ten-to-fifteen minute routes run five-to-eight minutes, or cut their hourly routes to once every two hours instead.
You’ve also completely forgotten to take into consideration the bendy accordion buses. Tch.
Posted by Ben @ December 23rd, 2009 5:58 pm. Filed under: Hug A Granny,I Sure Hope There's No Way This Can Be Misinterpreted.,It's Just A Little Request...,Really REALLY Bad Ideas,Unnecessary Bureaucracy — Tags: Margaret King —
Hello Margaret King. What stupid thing do you want now?
by Margaret KingNot to do this can cause immense anxiety to people who may be affected by these announcements. For instance one of the provisions in the Budget of 9th December was to raise the age at which pensioners could get concessionary travel (i.e. Freedom Passes); these passes expire on 31st March so, as someone who holds such a Pass (which is very useful in getting around London especially since I can’t drive), I suffered a lot of anxiety wondering whether I would be affected.
I did phone Age Concern, and my Local Authority Accessible Transport office, but neither could give me any definite information probably because, as stated in the petition title, the details hadn’t been worked out! This is just one issue I know about, because it affects me personally, but there must be many more which potentially affect a considerable number of people.
So basically, you’d like the government not to tell us what they’re up to until they actually do it. Doesn’t that strike you as, I’unno, incredibly fucking dangerous?
Posted by Ben @ November 26th, 2009 6:11 am. Filed under: I Am A Brain!,I'm Keeping The Whole Class Back,That'd Be Nice,Unworkable Ideas,Won't Somebody Please Think Of The Children? — Tags: Margaret King —
Ho ho! The title of this post is ironic!
by Margaret KingThis is in response, or reaction, to a petition against racism in schools; I signed that petition but I’m sure there is at least as much, if not more, sexism in schools: e.g. boys calling girls “slags” (if they do make themselves sexually available) or “tight” if they don’t etc. There is also what is known as the “hidden curriculum” in which girls internalise ideas about what is suitable for them, as girls who will become women, by observing the relative positions of male and female school staff. And, of course, there was the recent report of the Head of an independent girls’ school telling her pupils that, as girls, they couldn’t “have it all”; my view of this is that women could have more if men, as a matter of course, had less and the fact that they don’t seem prepared to is, almost certainly, due to the sexism experienced in schools.
Ho ho! The requested act is impossible!
Posted by Ben @ October 5th, 2009 7:40 pm. Filed under: Hug A Granny,I Am A Brain! — Tags: Margaret King —
by Margaret KingEither people over the age of 80 do need more money or they don’t. If they do the amount of increase needed should be far more than 25p; what can you buy with that? If they don’t this increase should be stopped.
An increase of 25p per week is pointless; it must cost far more to administer than can possibly be justified by any benefit to individual pensioners. It might have been worth something when it was instituted but, like the £10 Christmas bonus, it has completely lost its value.
So, hang on. Your argument is basically, “Old people deserve more money, so take away the increase you’ve already given them”? I know 25p isn’t a lot but your reaction is a mite over-the-top, isn’t it?
Posted by Ben @ September 10th, 2009 10:21 pm. Filed under: Unworkable Ideas — Tags: Margaret King —
I live in Belsize Park, North-West London, where no fewer than 4 Post Offices have closed in recent years; leaving us with none in the immediate area. The nearest are a bus or tube ride, or a long walk, away. However the problem isn’t so much the distance to those few Post Offices still remaining as the long, standing wait, for a till to be free which obviously affects people with mobility problems and those who find standing difficult; something which applies to many pensioners.
I’m certain the problem isn’t confined to Belsize Park or even London; in fact judging by the very many petitions asking for a specific Post Office to be re-opened, or not to be closed, it is prevalent all over the country. Just petitioning about your own Post Office, however, is counter-productive, since it just means another Post Office will be closed; the only effective action is to ask for them all to be saved.
Actually I’d be more inclined to say that the only effective action is to ask that new Post Offices be opened in convenient locations. Asking for the re-opening of every building that once contained a Post Office is perhaps overkill. That said, I’m sure Andrew disagrees with me.
Posted by Andrew @ December 31st, 2008 9:19 am. Filed under: Don't Worry About What THEY Want,Everyone Stop What You're Doing Because You're Mildly Inconveniencing Me,Not actual justice -- just what I wanted. Which is basically the same thing.,Really REALLY Bad Ideas,Rejected Petitions,What Would Idiot-Jesus Do? — Tags: Dr Alfred Vella, Jonathan Evans, Margaret King, Steven Gash, Veronica —
Justice (n)
Pensioners who are 80 years old are supposed to get £400 Winter Fuel Allowance.However,those pensioners whose 80th birthday falls after the 21st September 2008 will get £150 less(the same as 60-79 year olds)They will therefore have to wait until their 81st birthday before they get the full £400.That is assuming that they survive this winter on the reduced payment.
This is totally unfair,and I urge the government to give the full £400 to all pensioners whose 80th birthday falls within that year.Give Pensioners Justice,the least this country can do is to give them ALL enough money to keep warm during the winter.Please support my petition.
Justice (n). Defining a cutoff in December instead of September.
Obesity, loutish behaviour, drunkenness, knife crime, …, and even terrorism are symptoms of a system that denies justice to the ordinary citizen.
A sign of this is when, for example, a middle manager at a new university is sacked for whistle blowing. Despite attempts at obtaining justice through ‘normal channels’ it is denied. The Prime Minister even ignoring a petition signed by family, friends, past students and past staff of the institution in question as well as a number of current and past local councillors. What are less well placed observers to make of such a system?
We call on the Prime Minister to ensure that real justice, rather than mere law, rules in the United Kingdom. As a first step towards this we ask him to have a Royal Commission on ‘Justice not Just Law’.
Justice (n). A healthy physique.
There are very real concerns that if this becomes law Christians could be found guilty of ‘inciting hatred’ towards gay people for simply saying that engaging in same sex sexual activity is ‘sinful’ and contrary to God’s Word. At the very least the new offence will make people a lot more nervous about openly reflecting on their faith based view of sexuality.
The former Home Secretary, Lord Waddington has tabled a free speech amendment to the Bill which, if accepted, should help prevent Christians finding themselves in trouble with the new law for simply expressing a faith based view of sexuality.
It was expected that this vote would come up on Wednesday 23rd April 2008 but the Government have just announced that they will extend tonight’s sitting (Monday 21st) to midnight which means it will be reached very late tonight.
This is very bad because the later it comes up the less likely it is that those in favour (who tend to be older and not given to late nights) will stay.
Indeed many people won’t be there at all because they are expecting the vote on Wednesday!
Justice (n). The act of prioritising irrational prejudice over the rights of others.
There is one lawyer, in particular, who frequently appears in the papers as having acted in this way for celebrity clients. I feel, strongly, that if someone has committed an offence, especially one which may cause INJURY OR DEATH to an innocent victim, it is totally wrong for this person to pay a lawyer to exploit a loophole in the law in order to escape punishment for this. (There should, of course, BE no such loopholes but that’s for another petition).
Justice (n). A punishment under law for upholding the law as written.
Whether placing an order via telephone, or a website, we, (the ordinary British public) are subjected with "add on’s" (extra selling).
Apparently, the poor staff who have to offer these items are DOWNGRADED if they do not meet their targets by the companies they work for!
It’s not only unfair on our extra telephone bill, but also on the poor staff who work for these "GREEDY" companies!
There has to be be some kind of compliance to protect both parties.
Justice (n). Shorter, more convenient telephone calls.
