The trial of Conrad Murray has just got underway and as I understand it the prosecution claim that he was negligent in his care of Michael Jackson and administered too much of the sedative Propofol whilst the defence claim that Jackson administered it himself when Murray was not there. Apparently this drug is only to be prescribed in hospitals and clinics so that Dr. Murray was in the wrong for allowing it into Jackson's home providing a basis for the negligence claim but I can see why he allowed it. Dr. Murray was being paid handsomely for his role as Michael Jackson's personal physician but when one of the most famous personalities on the planet demands a certain drug as that is the only one he feels happy with (if that is indeed the case) then it would be difficult to refuse. Other doctors may have already done so to the extent that he hires the first person who is willing to prescribe what he wants. This is not to condone any illegal activity only to demonstrate that the celebrities are not helping themselves and hopefully any people in a similar position will think twice about appeasing their famous employer with the potential consequences that may entail.


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   A success story of sorts as Bethany had her photo taken and laughed and smiled whilst doing so. They were taken at Joshua's school and Louise & Paul took Nathan along to get a family photo and invited Bethany as well to get one of all the children and we took the opportunity to get Bethany on her own as well. Unlike the last occasion at nursery where she cried the whole time, this time she was quite content - if not a little bemused at times. Credit should go to Joshua who she does playing with and he is also happy to be with his cousin. Kissing both Joshua and Nathan may start to give her a reputation which I might have to have words about. Nathan seems quite fond of the kissing lark and was doing his best to kiss Bethany when were all out for Anna's birthday and our anniversary last week. She obliged a few times but, like everything else, grew tired of that game and started clambering over the seats instead.

Bell harms any hat

No one seems to have taken the hint that this rampant capitalism lark doesn't seem to be in the best interests of the general public. After castigating bankers for putting the economy into meltdown, politicians have simply tutted and blamed each other for not regulating them enough before not regulating them. Like the 50p tax rate big business threaten to leave if they have to join in the "we're all in this together" malarkey so politicians run scared and mumble something about job creation as if they are wonderful philanthropists. In reality they employ as few people as possible for as little as they can get away with and want perks for doing so. Yes small businesses are a vital part of the economy but they are not the ones in a position to uproot anywhere as they often provide a local service, but big business try to squeeze these smaller companies thus removing any competition and effectively forming a cartel where they can demand what they want.
   This is the case with energy suppliers who have just been criticised by Chris Huhne at the Lib Dem conference in another example of "oh we didn't see that coming" where they have come up with confusing tariffs and make excessive profits from peoples unwillingness to shop around. This is always the argument put in favour of privatisation: competition will drive down prices. Now this may work in the manufacturing sector where you have a product which people want to buy but another company is selling one slightly cheaper although it may not be as good quality. Different companies will have differing overheads and their size may make them more or less efficient and as a consumer we do have the choice about which we would prefer. This is slowly being eroded by efficiency gonks who believe that each company should strive to make Product A as cheaply as possible which may mean sidelining it for the slightly different but easier to produce generic Product Z. The trouble is as every company does this we are left with a sea of the same generic product at some cheap price after they have all undercut each other but no Product A or even B and C which the public actually quite liked.
   With the energy companies the "product" is the same. The quality of the electricity or gas is no different no matter who supplies it and what I've found when shopping around is they ask me what I pay then say "Well if you pay that to us". Really? You want me to fanny around switching suppliers just so I can give the same (or slightly less at a push) amount to you. Then in a couple of months time British Gas or n-power will announce they are putting bills up 16% and within a couple of months the others will have followed suit.
   This problem arises with most of the companies that were privatised in the 80s which supplied your household needs. Energy and water are essentials for every household and people don't have the time or inclination to wade through the various tariffs available. Telephones are the exception in that they now have ab accompanying product to pitch but again the various tariff rates on offer make a maths degree essential when shopping around.
   Letting these companies grow in a deregulated fashion and then scratching your head wondering why they seem a bit greedy is pathetic and asking them not to do it again just weedy. Self regulation will never work and if any of these politicians are serious about addressing the imbalances in society then they have to start acting.
Parish Notices:
   Alison started college today and is now the proud owner of a student card, but the extra placements she needs to do the course and the overtime stopping at work mean things could be a bit tight for a while. Bethany is developing an ever increasing fondness for our bed to the extent where she won't go down in the cot and we have to wait for her to fall asleep in our bed before transferring her over. Oddly we don't have to be in the bed with her: she just likes our bed.

May enthrall bash

This past week has seen what appears to be Bethany stringing words together to form sentences with the most pronounced phrase being "I don't want to". 21 months old and already showing defiance with her first utterances but the pride in hearing her say that far outweighed the frustration at trying to get her into the bath at the time. It was her reply to me as she ran around the spare room in her nappy when I asked if she wanted to go in the bath only for her to indicate that she preferred to climb over the futon.

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Good as it is that England have won the One Day series against India with one game to go it should not lead to assumptions that we are now a force in this form of the game as we may have beaten the World Champions but they are a depleted, demoralized and unlucky version of the team that won on the sub continent in Spring. Whilst England chose to rest Pietersen and have since lost Morgan and Broad through injury India are without Tendulkar, Sehwag and Zaheer Khan and after a long tour where they were outplayed in the test series. The last ODI highlighted the close nature of the contest with Duckworth Lewis determining a rain affected match to be a tie with only 7 balls left and England requiring 10 with their last effective wicket. This is not to suggest that England have not played well but there have been times when after getting good starts they  have relaxed and let India get back into the game which a more experienced and streetwise team may not have done.
   As things stand India have still to win an international match on English soil this year and for such a highly ranked team this is more a reflection on their failings than on England's brilliance. Certainly England are a good Test team but it is far too early for some of the superlatives being bandied around and  tough matches away from home may give a truer picture of their quality.

Haybarns tall hem

These posts are getting more sporadic as overtime eats into my spare hours and Twitter is getting increasingly addictive to the point where I don't think I actually watched any TV last week until Saturday evening. Bethany seems quite hyperactive at the moment as she tries to burn off excess energy but is finding and exploring new things all the time with an enthusiasm that I am jealous off.

   To keep the youthful(ish) passion thing going Alison has enrolled at the college for a course in Youth Services which should start later this month. There is only the small matter of a large form regarding the finances to sort out along with Alison having already arranged some placements. Tomorrow night now.