Cars and Garages

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Fun Online Poll, good turnout.

Which of the following apply to you (multiple answers allowed)?

Total - 86 voters

I have no garage - 40 votes
I use my garage to store junk - 28 votes
I use my garage as a workshop - 15 votes
I keep my everyday car in my garage - 8 votes
I keep my second car in my garage - 7 votes
I use my garage for some other purpose (please specify)* - 7 votes
My garage has been converted to living space - 2 votes

With only 8 out of 46 people using their garage to keep their everyday car in, my suspicions that most people have repurposed their garage is confirmed. I'm also glad to see that my usage is the most popular one.

Only one person actually specified: Frank said "I store my bicycles in my garage and I have a set of rollers to ride my bike when I can't go out. I also use it to store my garden power tools: lawnmower, strimmer etc."

Fun Online Polls: cars and garages

Suggested by Bayard.

Vote below; or here; or use the widget in the sidebar.

Which of the following apply to you (multiple answers allowed)?

I keep my everyday car in my garage.

I keep my second car in my garage

I use my garage as a workshop.

I use my garage to store junk

My garage has been converted to living space

I use my garage for some other purpose (please specify).

I have no garage

pollcode.com free polls

Teresa May - Reader Poll

1. Trying to wreck Brexit?

2. Completely f*****g useless?

3. Just stupid?

4. Is absolutely lovely and fragrant and trying to do the Best for Britain?

UKIP MEPs well on course to hit 2019 target number of resignations

Back in 2014, I ran a Fun Online Poll on the topic of how many UKIP MEPs would have resigned by 2019 (the end of the current term of the current EU Parliament).

During previous terms, on average just over a quarter of their MEPs resigned/were sacked (summary here). Having gained 24 MEPs - the highest number of MEPs of any UK party in the 2014 elections, please note - I would expect at least six of them to have resigned/been sacked by the middle of next year.

The weighted average result in the Poll was six, although the results were pretty evenly spread between "none" and "more than half".

According to the BBC, their sixth MEP resigned yesterday, which the BBC says that brings them down to 18.

The UKIP page still shows 19 (having promptly removed Jonathan Arnott). I suspect that the difference is because one UKIP MEP, Roger Helmer didn't resign or leave UKIP, he did the decent thing and retired, which allowed somebody else to take his seat (as a UKIP MEP). So a bit of misreporting by the BBC there, methinks.
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On a personal note, I really liked Jonathan Arnott. He was highly intelligent, approachable and seemed pretty liberal. IMHO he was too good for UKIP, but I couldn't swing him round to a more Georgist point of view.

Fun Online Polls: Donald Trump and Severn Tolls

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Did Trump collude with Russia in the 2016 Presidential election?

No - 70%
We'll never find out - 11%
Trump is clearly trying to cover up something - 12%
Yes - 5%
Other, please specify - 3%

Well that's conclusive enough. I still think there was something fishy going on, but I'm in the minority.

Thanks to everybody who took part.
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I allowed this poll to run for far too long, partly out of laziness and secondly because I haven't been inspired to start a new one. If anybody has any bright ideas on which burning issue of the day can be resolved by asking the internet, please advise.
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I just stumbled across this article of a year ago, from the BBC:

Estate agents in south Monmouthshire claim about 80% of home buyers are now coming from the Bristol area ready for the halving of the Severn bridge tolls. As a result, property prices have been rising quicker than the Wales average as Bristol commuters seek new homes, figures have suggested...

"House prices in Bristol are off the scale," said agent Charles Heaven, "People know the tolls are coming down next year and hoping to get a bargain... With the railway electrification of the south Wales mainline, the planned south Wales Metro, the proposed M4 Relief Road around Newport, coupled with the beautiful countryside of south Monmouthshire and the Wye Valley, this is desirable place to live."

Two big housing developments are planned at Chepstow's old dockyard and near its hospital while a new estate is heading for Undy, bordering the M4 motorway near Magor. Severn Tunnel Junction railway station in Rogiet, between Caldicot and Magor, has recently undergone an £8m refurbishment while a new train station at Magor has the backing of Monmouthshire council and is part of the new South Wales Metro proposal.

Nathan Reeks, owner of Nathan James Estate Agents in Caldicot and Magor, explained why south Monmouthshire is becoming attractive for commuters from Bristol.

"We recently had a couple from Bristol who bought a property in Rogiet near Severn Tunnel Junction station, they bought a four-bedroom detached house with detached garage for about £295,000, after selling their three-bedroom mid-terrace in Bristol for £390,000. So they made almost £100,000 on a bigger house and the new owner can get to his work in Patchway on the outskirts of Bristol quicker from Severn Tunnel Junction than from when he lived in Bristol.

"That's typical of our business in the last six months as since the government was announced they are reducing the bridge tolls, 80% of my buyers have come from over the Severn Bridge. The accessibility for Bristol, the Midlands, the south west, south Wales, London and Heathrow Airport is all the more desirable as south Monmouthshire offers a semi-rural location with a stunning backdrop. It's a great place to bring up children and with a new comprehensive school opening soon in Caldicot, the Monmouthshire market is very strong."

They say "location, location, location", the Georgists say "community-generated value of land", it's two ways of describing the same thing.

This all reminds me of a Winston Churchill speech when he was (fairly briefly) a land value taxer:

Roads are made, streets are made, services are improved, electric light turns night into day, water is brought from reservoirs a hundred miles off in the mountains -- and all the while the landlord sits still. Every one of those improvements is effected by the labor and cost of other people and the taxpayers. To not one of those improvements does the land monopolist, as a land monopolist, contribute, and yet by every one of them the value of his land is enhanced.

He renders no service to the community, he contributes nothing to the general welfare, he contributes nothing to the process from which his own enrichment is derived...

Some years ago in London there was a toll bar on a bridge across the Thames, and all the working people who lived on the south side of the river had to pay a daily toll of one penny for going and returning from their work. The spectacle of these poor people thus mulcted of so large a proportion of their earnings offended the public conscience, and agitation was set on foot, municipal authorities were roused, and at the cost of the taxpayers, the bridge was freed and the toll removed.

All those people who used the bridge were saved sixpence a week, but within a very short time rents on the south side of the river were found to have risen about sixpence a week, or the amount of the toll which had been remitted.

Fun Online Polls: Bitcoin, Trump and Russian interference in the Presidential election.

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Bitcoin is...

A decentralised digital currency - 25%
A massive great pyramid scheme - 63%
Other, please specify - 11%

A lot of people left a comment saying "both", with the benefit of hindsight, I should have included this as an option.

I'm with the majority on this, thanks to everybody who took part.

By the way, if you know how to sell Bitcoin, would you be so kind as to send me an email and explain? Ta!
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The whole Russiagate (are we calling it that yet?) saga rumbles on.

Originally, I assumed it was something that the Clinton team invented to discredit Trump, but now it looks as if Trump is really botching a cover-up i.e. there must be something in it.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll.

"Did Trump collude with Russia in the 2016 Presidential election?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Xmas songs and Bitcoin

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Which is the most Christmassy Beatles-related song?

Beatles "Christmas time is here again" - 0%
John Lennon "Happy Xmas (war is over)" - 13%
Paul McCartney & Wings "Mull of Kintyre" - 2%
Paul McCartney "Wonderful Christmas time" - 36%
All of the above - 5%
None of the above - 38%
Other, please specify - 5%

I'd call that a narrow win for "Wonderful Christmas Time" (36% plus the 5% who voted "All of the above") with "None of the above" in close second place. Which is logically impossible answer, unless you believe all the songs listed to be exactly equal in terms of Christmassy-ness or un-Christmassy-ness.
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Steven-L's post of yesterday about Bitcoin has prompted this week's Fun Online Poll.

"Bitcoin is..."

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Royal weddings, riots and Beatles-related Xmas hits

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Will there be riots after next year's Royal Wedding?

Probably - 35%
Probably not - 65%

OK, I'm in the minority on this, maybe this will be the Royal Extravagant Display of Wealth that bucks the trend and is not followed/accompanies by riots.

Thanks to all 69 who took part.
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December wouldn't be December without an Xmas-related poll. I think I've already done real tree/artificial tree/neither, so let's do music again.

"Which is the most Christmassy Beatles-related song?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Brexit bill, royal weddings and riots

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

How much should the UK be prepared to pay the EU to kick start the Brexit negotiations?

£40 billion - 2%
Zilch - 34%
Zip - 2%
Jack - 3%
Nix - 3%
Diddly squat - 47%
Other, please specify - 8%

A clear for "diddly squat" with "zilch" in a good second place, is how I'd sum that up.

Thanks to all 95 who took part.
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And lo, the Powers That Be have decided to distract us plebs with another shameless display of consumption at our expense.

It occurred to me last time this happened that the worst outbreaks of rioting seem to follow royal extravanazas, when the distraction has worn off and people have to face back up to the normal joyless day-to-day grind.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll.

"Will there be riots after next year's Royal Wedding?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Fixed-odds betting terminals & The Brexit Bill

The results to last fortnight's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

What 'should' be the maximum bet on fixed-odd betting terminals?

£2 - 19%
£20 - 4%
£200 - 1%
It's none of the government's business - 76%

Thanks to everybody who took part, 105 votes in total, a good turnout (albeit spread over two weeks).

'Nuff said, I think. These machines - and gambling in general - is something I (and presumably a lot of other people) instinctively dislike, it's always a negative sum game and seems all rather depressing. But that in itself is no reason to ban something.
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Our strong and stable leader appears to be adopting a bizarre variant of the black sheriff in "Blazing Saddles"'s negotiating tactic, i.e. taking the whole country hostage and offering to pay the EU £40 billion in ransom for a safe return of the Brexit negotiations.

Ho hum, seems a bit craven to me, but not as bad as the original ransom demand of about £100 billion.

So that's week's Fun Online Poll.

"How much should the UK be prepared to pay the EU to kick start the Brexit negotiations?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: The North-South divide; Fixed Odds Terminals

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

The UK's North-South divide runs from...

Chester to London - 8%
Bristol to Norwich - 76%
Other, please specify - 16%

A low turnout of 50,even though I was away last week so this Poll ran for a fortnight.

Thanks to everybody who took part or left a comment, but I'm with the majority on this. If you've spent half your life in Oop North and half Darn Sarf, you know the difference.
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And lo, The Righteous are out in force again:

Gambling addict warns against fixed-odds betting terminals

A recovering gambling addict has warned others about the dangers of using fixed-odds betting terminals in bookmakers. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had lost as much as £15,000 in a day at betting shops in Reading town centre.

The government is conducting a review into the machines, which account for more than 50% of bookmakers' profits. The Association of British Bookmakers said a report suggesting the maximum bet should be reduced from £100 to £2 was "flawed".

You can't even begin to pick holes in these claims and counter-claims, they are one giant hole. I'm not going to waste your time or mine by trying to guess what the actual substance is before picking holes in it anyway. The only fun bit is waiting for Philip Davies to spring to the defence of the betting industry for the eight zillionth time.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll.

What 'should' be the maximum bet on fixed-odd betting terminals?

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: LVT vs Wealth Tax; the North South divide

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

3% of £80 is more than 0.5% of £100. So what would raise more revenue - Land Value Tax or a general Wealth Tax?

Land Value Tax - 94%
A general Wealth Tax - 6%

Thanks to all 33 who took part, a low turnout but an arcane topic.

I would have thought the maths was obvious, but I got some real grief from two acadamics/communists/Homeys (their stand point was not clear) on Twitter who demanded that I refer them to a 'study'. I asked them what they thought the figures were and they refused point blank to even give a hint as to what they thought the numbers might be. They just insisted I was wrong.

For sure, my numbers are rough and ready, but the principle stands.

1. Land and buildings are at least two-thirds of total household 'wealth'. The net cash is negligible (one man's mortgage is another man's deposit) and the rest is largely shares/pension funds.

2. We know from the French that there approx. 1% wealth tax rate was driving wealthy people abroad, which is why Macron wanted to exempt everything except land and buildings. By exempting non-land 'wealth', he reasonably expected to increase overall tax receipts (to howls of outrage from Homeys and Socialists alike).

3. Politically of course, you can only apply a wealth tax to the 'wealthy' so there is an arbitrary threshold of EUR 1 million or something, pushing potential receipts down much further. Imagine the outcry if they had abolished the threshold and made everybody pay on everything.

4. Applying a wealth tax to cash is madness anyway, there's already income tax on interest income from cash savings (ha!) and a stealth tax on cash savings called 'inflation'. Applying wealth tax to shares is also madness, as dividends are gains are usually taxed. The more cash and shares you have, the more tax (income tax, inflation tax and capital gains tax) you pay. That's quite enough tax.

5. Unlike the critics, I have at least prepared one wealth tax return, back in Germany in the 1990s. Their wealth tax was about 1% p.a. with a high threshold, at the last count it raised about EUR 5 billion a year whereas their very modest Domestic Rates (Grundsteuer) raises EUR 20 billion a year, which is a small fraction of one per cent of what houses are worth.

6. In the UK, the closest thing we have to Land Value Tax is Business Rates, which works out, coincidentally, to about 2% - 3% of what the land and buildings would sell for. Council Tax/the TV licence fee are a distant poor cousin of LVT (being very regressive) and those two between them raise £30 billion a year, less than 0.5% of what houses are worth.

7. The closest thing we have to 'wealth tax' is Inheritance Tax which raises a modest £4 billion a year, assuming a death/inheritance every 40 years that implies an annual rate of about 1% on the value of 'wealth' over a relatively low threshold (£325,000). Those above the threshold own a disportionate amount of 'wealth' (probably at least half of all of it) so an annual wealth tax of 1% on all 'wealth' would raise maybe £10 billion a year.

8. The real world also tells us that most countries have some sort of tax on land and buildings; very few have 'wealth taxes' in the narrow sense, which gives us more clues. Not that academics/communists/Homeys have ever put much thought into this.
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A recent article in The Daily Mail on the North-South divide said that it started when the Vikings invaded in the north east; they got as far as a line from London to Chester, with our greatest King ever (Alfred) holding the line to the south-west. The modern A5 road, which in turn runs along an old Roman road between their two major outposts (pushing the origin back even further) is the modern border. From south-east to north-west, in other words.

That's all news to me. As a born Northerner who's lived in London half his life, I always assumed that that the true north-south divide runs diagonally in the opposite direction, from Bristol to Norwich, from south-west to (slightly more) north-east.

(Watford Gap is pretty much where the two lines cross, giving it extra significance.)

In the south there are more Tory MPs, higher house prices, smug Home-Owner-Ists and rent seekers*, drier and sunnier weather, lovely country lanes for driving on, more arsehole drivers on the motorways, flat countryside with no lakes or mountains, containing London and a few little towns.

The north is the opposite; more Labour/SNP/Plaid Cymru MPs, cheaper houses*, more people with proper jobs, terrible weather, fewer good driving roads (A66 excepted), courteous drivers who stick to speed limits, dramatic valleys and mountains, rivers and lakes, dotted with medium sized towns.

* The BBC published some good stats on inflation-adjusted house prices since 2007 today, the line between 'winners' and 'losers' is pretty much Bristol to Norwich.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll.

The UK's North-South divide runs from... Bristol to Norwich or London to Chester.

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Brexit, Catalonia and the French wealth tax reforms

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Which of the following applies to you...

Pro-Brexit; pro-Catalan independence - 78%
Anti-Brexit; pro-Catalan independence - 7%
Pro-Brexit, anti-Catalan independence - 11%
Anti-Brexit; anti-Catalan independence - 3%

Good, I'm with the intellectually coherent majority on this. Thanks to all 99 who took part.
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Re my post of yesterday, this week's Fun Online Poll is about maths and logic:

"3% of £80 is more than 0.5% of £100. So what would raise more revenue - Land Value Tax or a general Wealth Tax?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Crash for cash; Brexit and Catalonia

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Certain parts of Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and Oldham topped the league for Crash for Cash. Do these areas have anything else in common?

No - 3%
Yes, but I'd rather not say it out loud - 63%
Yes, it's… [please specify] - 33%

Of those who had the nerve to say something, six said what I was thinking. But it's probably a complete coincidence. What's worrying is that two-thirds of respondents - me included - don't dare say what they think.

Thanks to all sixty who took part, as ever!
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People's views on Catalania's possible independence raise some interesting questions, if you compare and contrast with their views on Brexit.

I'm a small government liberal-cum-troublemaker, so I was all in favour of the Scottish independence referendum and had no strong view either way (it being none of my business); I voted leave in the EU referendum; and I see no reason why Catalonia shouldn't become independent, they've made their views perfectly clear for long enough. That is, I think, an intellectually coherent approach.

The stereotypical lefties are dead against Brexit but are in favour of Catalan independence; the conservative-nationalists were against Scottish independence, were in favour of Brexit and are against Catalan independence. I can see some sort of pattern in either case.

I'm just not sure about the fourth category - people who are against Brexit and against Catalan independence. Putting EU shills* and Spanish nationalists to one side, where do they fit in? Are they left-conservative? Scared of any change ever? The 'liberal metropolitan elite' or those aspiring to be?

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll, just to see how many are in this mystery fourth category.

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

* UPDATE: I think the EU's official statement (h/t @ProfSteveKeen) makes their position clear enough:

Under the Spanish Constitution, yesterday's vote in Catalonia was not legal.

For the European Commission, as President Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain.

We also reiterate the legal position held by this Commission as well as by its predecessors. If a referendum were to be organised in line with the Spanish Constitution it would mean that the territory leaving would find itself outside of the European Union.

Beyond the purely legal aspects of this matter, the Commission believes that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation.
We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics. We trust the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish Constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein.

Are they mental? How can a vote not be "legal"? It might not be in any way binding, being more of an opinion poll/peaceful protest, but neither of those are actually illegal, are they?

Fun Online Polls: Central heating; Crash for cash

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Have you turned on the central heating yet?

Yes - 46%
Not yet - 45%
We don't have central heating - 9%

Thanks to all 87 who took part. Looks like we are exactly on the cusp of than half of us having turned it on (to the extent that we have central heating).

JQ: Can't vote because there is no "no" or "other please specify". I do have central heating but "Not yet" implies that I will turn it on. I probably won't unless the winter is exceptionally cold. I didn't turn it on last year at all.

I'd count that as a "not yet" myself. But well done for making it through last winter unaided!
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Mr Yan: Next poll should be on this - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41360891

"We don't know the exact reason Birmingham features so heavily in these surveys,"

I think a poll on what factor causes this in Birmingham, Bradford, London and Oldham would be illuminating.

The same question occurred to me when I saw the article. Full list from here.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll:

Certain parts of Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and Oldham topped the league for Crash for Cash. Do these areas have anything else in common?

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Man-made climate change & Have you turned on the central heating yet?

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Are this year's strong hurricanes and Indian monsoon evidence of man-made climate change?

Yes - 10%
No - 90%

Thanks to all 114 who took part and 8 who re-Tweeted. I'm with the majority on this. It'd be bloody embarrassing if it turned out to be true.

Rapscallion in the comments linked to this fine article.
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Sticking with the weather, the Daily Mash republished their article on central heating, as it seems to do this time every year*.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll:

"Have you turned on the central heating yet?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

* One recurring article we haven't seen this year is Ryanair switching to its winter schedule and blaming the reduction in the number of flights on high airport taxes. They've got themselves in to a whole different mess this year.

Fun Online Polls: Student immigration numbers, hurricanes and man-made climate change.

The results to last fortnight's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Should students from overseas be included in the UK's maximum immigration target?

Yes - 58%
No - 21%
We shouldn't have a maximum immigration target - 8%
I'm heartily indifferent to the whole topic - 12%
Other, please specify - 2%

That answers that question, I suppose. But as the official target is a made-up number which the UK government cannot achieve and has no intention of achieving anyway (it's an 'aspiration' rather than a 'target) and the net number of overseas students who overstay is apparently quiet small, I don't suppose it matters.
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It's hurricane season again. It's been pretty bad this year in the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico and this year's monsoon was pretty hefty in India.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that many (possibly most) BBC articles or news bulletins don't contain the solemn statement that the severity of hurricanes has increased because of man-made climate change.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll:

Are this year's strong hurricanes and Indian monsoon evidence of man-made climate change?

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Protest marches; students and immigration targets

The results to last fortnight's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

What's the correct response if people with whom you disagree organise a march?

Ignore them, hope they get bored and perhaps organise your own event a few weeks later - 84%
Organise a violent counter-protest to ensure maximum coverage and encourage them even more - 9%
Other, please specify - 8%

Good, I was with the majority on that. People don't seem to get the "other, please specify" option, it got eight votes but only three people left comments, heck knows what the other five were voting for.

Thanks to everybody who took part (104 voters).
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Just to change the topic a bit, let's look at the whole mess that Ms T May is making of immigration targets, in particular how students from overseas fit in.

The debate seems to jumble three topics;

a) whether we should have immigration targets at all (large employers against; nationalists and low-paid Brits in favour);

b) whether overseas students should be included. One the one hand, they pay top dollar to be here and should be welcomed like any other high-spending tourists IMHO; on the other, some of them overstay their visas (again, whether that is acceptable or not depends on your point of view)

c) what the actual figure for over-stayers is. For some reason the lefties (see linked article from NS) seem to think that the fact that the true number of over-stayers is very small (allegedly) is a reason to exclude them. Logic fail - if the number is so small, it doesn't matter whether they are included or not (seeing as the official target is a made-up number to start with, which the Tories have no intention of actually delivering).

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll.

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: The Big Ship; Charlottesville

The results to last fortnight's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

When did The Big Ship sail on the Ally-ally-oh?

The Nineteenth of September - 12%
The Last Day of September - 83%
Other, please specify - 5% (3 votes)

Derek had the best answer - it sailed on the 19th of September and sank on the last day of September, source. OK, the dates are out but at least that way the words make sense.
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This week's Fun Online Poll concerns last weekend's unpleasantness:

On Saturday the president condemned hatred and violence “on many sides” in his remarks, but did not directly single out the white supremacists, whose attempt to hold a major rally in Charlottesville, Virginia resulted in the governor, Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, calling a state of emergency. Disorder including clashes with counter-protesters left more than 30 injured.

That's the key word here - counter-protestors. We observe that the president didn't single out the group who were trying to stifle other people's freedom to organise a rally/march either. Quite correctly, he remained above the fray. One wonders what sort of a frenzy The Guardian would be in if left-wingers had legitimately organised a rally/march and some right wing nutters had turned up to physically intimidate and attack them.

And so that's this week's Fun Online Poll:

"What's the correct response if people with whom you disagree organise a rally/march?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: HS2 vs the Graduate Tax; When did The Big Ship sail?

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

If the UK govt had £60 billion to spare, what's a better use of the money?

Spend it on the HS2 railway - 16%
Waive the 9% Graduate Tax - 84%

Good, that's what I thought.

A low turnout on an obscure issue. Some people missed the point - at present the UK government probably doesn't have £60 billion to spare, in which case it should do neither.

This was just a dig at the Tories who insist that HS2 is a good investment (if Labour were in power, no doubt they would say the same, having dreamed up this crap pre-2010) but that writing off student loans/waiving the Graduate Tax is unaffordable.
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Something else that has been bugging me recently is, when did The Big Ship sail on the Ally-ally-oh?

The way we sang it when we were at school, it was the Nineteenth of September, but that's a long time ago, and it didn't strike me as very important, being a silly nursery rhyme.

However, having Googled it recently, it turns out that some people sang that it sailed on the Last Day of September.

Hmmm.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll.

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.