MERRY XMAS!

Have a very Merry Xmas all my readers!

Bank charges

It seems that there is a growing revolt over the charges the banks hit you with for bouncing cheques, failing to cover direct debits etc. They have been told that the charges are illegal and people are claiming the money back. The banks are making £billions each year in profits and seem to be taking a dislike to not being able to charge fees of around £35 for going £1 overdrawn for one day etc.
I have received an e-mail from one of my banks, First Direct, stating that if you only hold one standard current account with them they are going to start charging £10/month for the priviledge of having an account. This must be one of the ways that banks are going to try and retain their gross profits. I am lucky as I hold more than one account and won't get the charge.
I can see 2 ways round this problem, everyone open another account (savings accounts can be opened with only £1), or everyone leave the bank in question. If they have no account holders they have no money which means no profits. Maybe this is one of the ways forward?
Would it be possible for the Government to open a National Bank, charge fair interest on any accounts and use the money to fund growth? If the rates were better than any of the Major Banks that are currently available then the scope for Government profit would be enormous and maybe this money could be used to fund better pensions etc.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6169539.stm

Good luck.

Diana - Conspiracy or real?

I believe in some of the conspiracy theories. Would it be possible that the Royal Family were worried that if Diana was pregnant, or could get pregnant, the father may be a non-Christian? Would they be worried enough to allow people to act? Maybe Diana had served her purpose and given birth to 2 heirs to the Throne? Too many people were chasing the car for no-one to have seen what happened. Where are all the eyewitness accounts?

These are some of the sites available to check on the validity of the claims of conspiracy:

http://www.dianaconspiracy.com/

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=41&contentid=976

http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/history/unsolved_history/conspiracy_theories/index.shtml

Please feel free to read these accounts and make up your own mind.

Alexander Litvinenko

I do not normally take text from the Internet to use in this blog but I feel that some important facts about Alexander Litvinenko are being overlooked. Whilst I feel sorry for his family and friends for their loss, it is clear that when you live on the edge sometimes you slip and fall. How many people died either directly or indirectly due to the activities of this man and his colleagues?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko

All the references are in the wikipedia and have obviously been checked for truthfullness of the information. Here is hoping that the truth will out in the end.