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First it was outrageous then it was comic...

Derek Conway, Conservative MP employed his son as an assistant.

Freddie, for that is his name, was paid £12,000 a year for a 17-hour week. Nothing wrong with that say commentators, many MPs employ family. The problemette in this instance was that the son he hired happened to be a full time student at Newcastle University at the time, some 300 miles from Westminster.

The parliamentary Standards Committee was not impressed. They concluded Freddie had been “all but invisible” during the period of ‘employment’ and it was “astonished” to find no evidence of any work actually done ... Read More

When I discussed water wars there was one country I did not mention… that’s the US.

While I am not expecting armed conflict in the country just yet, it has started fighting water wars already using a very American weapon… lawyers…

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago the dispute between Georgia and Tennessee over the border at Lookout Mountain. This fight is for access to watercourses around the Tennessee River that would allow Georgia to quench the thirst of the baking city of Atlanta… but Tennessee wants the water rights to itself. This dispute over the borders is expected to go all the way to the Supreme Court… and it is probably the first of many ... Read More

Feeling lonely? Depressed? Is life a cage? If so, then perhaps you are a parrot. Parrot owners are coming home to find their favorite pet has been plucking out his feathers or even pecking his legs to the bone in a fit of frustration.

Last time I ventured into this world I managed to upset pet-lovers. But at risk of upsetting them for a second time, dare I suggest that parrots may be feeling a bit fed up because they would rather be roaming the jungles of the Amazon than stuck in somebody’s living room?

Anyway owners are increasingly calming their parrots by administering a version of the same Prozac anti-depressant drug that, according to the latest research, is no more effective than a sugar pill. TV vet Romain Pizzi tells us that tropical birds are by far the most likely to be treated for psychological difficulties. And it is not just parrots. Research for Sainsbury’s Bank reveals that 632,000 cats and dogs in this county suffer from depression ... Read More

Remember that advertisement for the Mint credit card, the one that says: "The Planet is in a delicate balance. For every clever thing that happens, something really dumb happens elsewhere."?

...somewhere in the world, a man makes the intelligent decision to sign-up for a Mint credit card; somewhere else in the world, a man working on his car engine makes the stupid mistake of telling his friend to start the car up while he has his head in the bonnet…and so the clever-dumb balance is restored…

Well, we might not have to wait too long to see a perfect demonstration of that in financial markets ... Read More

The Pilanesberg....now there is a name that brings back memories of weekends away! Home to a well-stocked game reserve, this volcanic landscape in South Africa’s North West Province is an easy escape from the hustle and bustle Jo’burg. But that is not all. It is also the site of the "Pilanesberg Project", the most advanced venture of Toronto and AIM-listed platinum explorer, Platmin Limited.

The Pilanesberg Project has a total surface area of 14,511 hectares. It is estimated to contain approximately 90% of the global platinum resources in South Africa. Located in the Western limb of the so-called Bushveld complex, it is home to world’s biggest known deposits of platinum and palladium. All the major players are here — Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin. Also, a little one — Platmin ... Read More