Saturday, July 01, 2006

Random Thoughts while reading the newspaper

Yeah, as you know i am not one of the well read ones who would daily read a newspaper, (especially with one costing something like 1.50 Pounds, Damn thats the amount my dad pays for the entire months newpaper subscription back home in india)

Anyways these were some of the Headlines which i noticed (last week when i was reading the Daily Telegraph and the Times), and well provoked these thoughts

The Queen and the Royal Family Costs UK just 62 pence per person


The reporter was talking about how UK Monarchs were staying well within their
means and not costing the citizens a lot. It was like "We are having a Royal Family on a Budget"
Dammit, with a popultation of 60 million people , its like some 40 million pounds being spent on a Royal Family which doesnt have any powers, has little utility to the governance of the nation.
and then 62p per person, but how many of them are tax payers? How many of them are in the higher slabs? I guess i might be paying 1-2 pounds a year for some old lady and her philanderous son who loves horses, her 2 grandsons who live on the wildside and pay for their recreational drug abuse

Well then on hindsight i thought, these people do add some value. To a nation obsessed with celebrity worship (or following their sex lives) these people have generated an industry. So many papparazzi are employed t ofind out which zimbabwean chick is dating Prince William, where does Prince Harry buy his Cocaine and Marijuana (Cannabis has been demoted as a soft drug now in UK, so its no longer fashionable).

And well, the tabloids Sun, Mirror and loads of others purely survive on these things (apart from the glam wives of the soccer stars who shopped more than World cup prize money in Baden-Baden, which it seems has increased a few basis points of the German inflation)

Police refuse to chase a motorcycle thief

This was since the thief was not wearing a helmet and thus while chasing him, he might fall off trying to run away from his pursuers and thus might sue the police force, causing them financial harm. Thus the policemen took the easy way out of not following the thief, but hoping to catch him later (when he would have dismantled the BMW and selling individual parts in the blackmarket)
Damn, well how the hell can the thief sue, since he was not supposed to be on the motorcycle at all. Damn, with such kinds of rules i wonder its better to buy a motorbike, or steal one?

"Hedge funds are bad, and so secretive you cant find them on the yellow pages"
Member of the Parliament while saying the hedge funds are responsible for
volatility

Well arent hedge funds supposed to be non regulated funds, meant only for the ultra rich and sophesticated investors? Those who dont mind taking high risk in order to get highewr returns?
And as per rule they are not supposed to advertise in public media or target small clients. Then definitely you wouldnt find a single one in the yellow pages.
This shows that the members of parliaments here too are as ignorant as the ones in India

Buy a Kawasaki Ninja Z10 for 41 pounds a Week !!!

Wow!!! 1100cc bike for 41 quid a week. Damn im game, but need to look into the hidden costs, and insurance parkign charges and what not. But definitely in less than a year from now soon i shall be having my very own super bike. (Its time this Bad Biker moved on from his paltry bicycle and his previous 100cc 7.2bhp hero honda splendor, and got something which can actually go fast.
I told about my intentions to my parents and obviously they went ballistic. They think i am crazy (which i think is correct) and my learned dad said, buying these high speed motorcycles is the surest way to reduce ones life expectancy. Yeah i totally agree, but i do decide to live my life on the fast lane, and with all 4 of my grandparents living beyond 80 and 3 of them still alive, i sure have an expectancy of living that long, and i believe its no point having lived till 80 and sat all my life in front of the telly watching motorsports, rather die early, but live life to the fullest.
With my shortsightedness, poor reflexes (ask anyone who has seen me field in cricket) short attention spans make me extremely unsuitable as a high speed motorcyclists, but i guess i have to over come these defects and make the best out of it. So soon i too shall be ready to roll.

(Gandhi, ... the one from wimwi and not the mahatma is currently doing those himalyan rides on his fatichar caliber, it makes one think are the 1000cc bikes worth the money?? But lemme tell i surely bet they are. If not anything atleast for the snob value. Its time again i get conned by another salesman :P)


What the hell i thought