It seems that every time you turn the TV or radio on theses days you're bombarded with warnings about what will happen if you don't do your bit.

Well you know what? I think they're talking rubbish (and not recycled rubbish either!).

Never mind all the talk about China and America not pulling their environmental weight. What about here in Britain?

All the penalties seem to be directed at the law abiding man (or woman) in the street.

Councils are snooping through our rubbish to check that people are recycling.

And why has no one kicked up a fuss that Marks & Spencer are charging 5p per carrier bag?

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Rude shopkeepers. And the worst are to be found in cities.

I've just come back from visiting my Grandma in Derbyshire where shop staff are pleasant and friendly - not only in local village shops but also in the larger stores in town.

A polite and smiling person on the other side of the counter makes your day a lot more pleasant.

But in my experience, shopping in the city isn't like that at all.

Returning from the Derbyshire countryside on a Sunday evening I realised we were short of milk so I popped to the shop at the top of the road.

As I approached the counter the shopkeeper was on the phone. He didn't even stop gossiping for a second to acknowledge my presence - or even say hello, please or thank you.

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Idiots who walk around with an aggressive dog as a fashion accessory.

Whatever you think about this shambolic Government's feeble penalties for those who carry weapons the fact remains that to carry a knife or a gun is illegal but owning an aggressive dog is not. Why not?

According to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 only four types of dog are prohibited in the UK. They are the Pit Bull, the Japanese Tosa, The Dogo Argentino (Argentinian Mastiff) and the Fila Brasileiro (Brazilian Mastiff). But when the act was amended in 1997 it went on to say that dangerous dogs are classified by type rather than breed.

So to determine if a dog is dangerous or not depends on a judgement being made about it's physical characteristics.

Basically, is the dog in question likely to be aggressive? And do you know who makes the judgement? Not the RSPCA, or any organisation even slightly connected to animals. Of course not, it's a bleeding court that decides! Go

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The number of young people carrying knives at the moment.

It’s almost like a fashion accessory. I’d bet that most knife carriers don’t even think about the potential consequences of their actions.

In fact do people that carry knives use their brains at all?

Knife crime is nothing new to me. Kids in my school got stabbed on a fairly regular basis. Normally by people from rival schools waiting outside the school gates looking for trouble.

But the problem is getting worse.

I knew Richard Whelan, the guy who was stabbed to death on the number 43 bus travelling on Holloway Road in North London.

What scared me most after hearing about the incident is that Richard did what any decent person would do. He defended his girlfriend because a lowlife scumbag was throwing food at her.

Now I’ve alw

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Last week a colleague of mine asked if I could get her a couple of Twirls when I went for lunch.

I went up to the till and was quite amazed when together the two bars cost just under a pound.

I remember when chocolate bars were 25p, bus fares were 40p and crisps were 20p - and I’m not talking about that long ago either.

As highlighted by the Daily Express today, the cost of living is going up under Labour - and it's unfair.

For those of us who are employed on permanent contracts, pay remains the same despite the steep increase in prices of travel, food and petrol.

If I fancy going for a drink after work these days I have to think again

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