The one where I witter on about unrelated things

I found these in the supermarket the other day - Strawberries and Cream flavoured Kit Kats. To describe them as tasty wouldn't be entirely accurate. Peculiar would be better. Apparently this was a special introduction for Wimbledon last year, though I've never seen them before.
According to Wikipedia, Japan is the place to go for weird Kit Kat varients - not sure I like the sound of the Green Tea one...

Spot the problem with the following rhyming scheme: know it, poet, court, throat.
Worked it out yet? Yes that's right, THE WORDS D0N'T BLIMMIN' WELL RHYME! No matter how Stuart Murdoch tries to mangle and mispronounce them, it just doesn't work, and ends up sounding incredibly forced. Much like the rest of the song. Still, I keep hearing good things about the new album, so I'll try not to allow this lyrical atrocity to distress me too much.
This is about Belle and Sebastian by the way. Just thought I'd best mention...




The UK Government finally announced today it's long-awaited proposals for the reform of Incapacity Benefit. I haven't read all the details yet, but from what I've seen, it's a cautious thumbs up with a few reservations.

A quote from this page suffices to explain my first reservation:

A recent survey of employers carried out by Mind showed that fewer than 10% of companies had a mental health policy.
"The majority of people with mental health problems want to return to employment as soon as possible," said policy director, Sophie Corlett. "But they need to be helped and supported, not goaded and ultimately forced to return to work before they are ready to do so."

Ms Corlett believes that the threat of sanctions could put people with mental health conditions under increased and unnecessary pressure.

Another issue of concern is the idea of placing employment advisors in GP surgeries. This is not the right place for this service to be provided - patients should be free to visit their doctor without feeling at all compromised. I suspect this is motivated more by financial motives than anything: this way, the government can continue with their current cutbacks in Jobcentre services and staff numbers (and by having the financing of this scheme possibly shipped by the accountants to a different department, it would allow spending on the NHS to look more inflated than it was in actuality, the cynic in me suspects).

The major concern though has to be the financial one. The Pathways to Work scheme which the government is planning to roll out across the country needs substantial money thrown at it in order to succeed, requiring as it does one-to-one counselling and advice for each person hoping to return to work. Whether the government is willing to put up the cash required remains to be seen.

(And an added concern: the "success stories" highlighted in the link above seem to hint at another, more underlying problem: note how all three end up self-employed when attempting to find work. This may be less to do with choice than with necessity, as there is still considerable prejudice against the disabled, the mentally ill and the long-term unemployed. You'd think they could have found at least one example where this wasn't an issue)