Actually that wasn't such a bad idea...

So I'm going to right a blog, not sure why but fuck it this shit is happening. I'm also not really sure what it's about other than just thoughts that I fancy writing on the internet through this blog. Incidentally, now I've used the world blog a couple of times I'm already irritated by the fact that a red squiggly line appears underneath it each time, and weirdly not the world squiggly, despite the fact that I'm using a blogging site owned by Google and using Google Chrome as a web browser they still insist on squiggling the word. Maybe it's because even Google are pissed off at the ludicrousness of the it! According to Wikipedia (the fountain of all knowledge), a blog is a Portmanteau (Wikipedia tells me this is just a technical term for the merger of other words) of web and log and I suppose I can see that Weblog was a bit of a mouthful what with having to say that extra half-syllable, although most of the time the word is never said out loud it's typed meaning all you're emmiting are two letters which are actually next to each other in the top row of your keyboard!

Anyway, I don't really give a shit about the word blog and I'll get on with the thought I had. I watched the news earlier and the lead story was that the government has made its second U-turn in a week. This is something the BBC felt it could only demonstrate to me with a downwards arrow curling round into the shape of a U, this pissed me off - obviously I know what the term U-turn means you do not need to demonstrate just get on with reporting facts please.  Anyway, the two U-turns were the "Pasty tax" and something to do with tax relief on charitable donations. There seemed to be a large outcry when these idea where first put forward and hence the government decided not to bother. Whilst normally everything this government does pisses me off, I have actually been pissed off by them doing a U-turn and ha caused me to think "actually, that wasn't such a bad idea!"

Firstly, this damned "pasty tax". The whole nation seemed to be in uproar that the government wanted to charge a 20% tax on pasties. Well, first off, this seems to have been reported/ commented on exclusively by fucking idiots because that it not what it was. In fact, the "pasty tax" was simply a removal of the VAT exemption on hot pastry goods, that's all! And to me, it seems perfectly reasonable to say "hey, you know that tax you pay on most things, including hot fish & chips and cold pasties, well would you mind paying it on hot pasties?" When you consider that we are the fattest country in Europe (and second fattest in the world) it only seems sensible that we apply the basic tax to foods with a high fat content. But, was the debate fought on these grounds? No, it wasn't! For some reason it was used as a shitty stick for the oppose-anything lefties (as opposed to the sensible lefties like myself!) to whack the Tories with and make the look posh! WTF?? How is that even fucking relevant?? Apparently, the government did not understand what pasties mean to people (or something) and they were out of touch for not understanding how this would affect people's lives! I really didn't get this: I don't believe there is anyone living so heavily on hot pastries that this would really affect them, and if there is someone they are:
a) horribly unhealthy as this things are high in fat etc. but there probably also subject to scurvy as they have a terribly unvaried diet.
b) thick as fuck. Buying a hot pasty is great when you're on the go but make little sense to eat at home. If you go to a supermarket, you can buy a cold Ginsters pasty for about a third of the price! And, seeing as everyone has a microwave and/or oven (probably) they can very soon turn into a hot pasty!

Secondly, there's this weird deal of tax exemptions for wealthy people who make charitable donations. Now, I don't really understand this so I won't go on, but from what I could gather the situation is that if you are particularly wealthy and give some of your income to charity then that bit of your income is exempt from tax (I think) and the government wanted to remove this exemption. Again, this has provoked me to say actually, that wan't such a bad idea. Surely, we need to collect tax and people should be paying it! The cut that the government is imposing include to its support of charities, so surely getting in tax will help these charities to! And anyway, donating to charity is not an alternative to paying tax but supplementary. I'm sure when the troops in Afghanistan are suffering from being poorly equipped they will be soothed by the reminder "Don't worry, we may not have been able to buy you a new helicopter but Eton School (which is a charity) has been able to renovate the sleeping quarters of the young aristocracy!" And at any rate, paying tax should not be seen as something to squirm from but a duty, in fact a pride! Paying tax is you're membership fee to join this wonderful nation and help to keep it going! *hums national anthem*

Well that was nice, letting of some steam, I'll get off my high horse/ soapbox/ moral high-ground now and have a nap!! Sweat dreams! 


God I fancy a pasty ... and tax dodging.


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