The report on Savile and the BBC has received major coverage as expected, but was the conclusion unexpected? It appears that nobody at top level was aware of the sexual predators taking advantage of their high profile and ‘stardom’. Really?? Excuse us being cynical – must be something to do with age.

    I was having another clear out at home and found a sign that used to hang in my office. It was a reminder about a key element if you want to stay in business and thrive.

            ‘When you can measure what you are speaking about and express

            it in numbers, you know something about it. When you cannot

            express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and

 unsatisfactory kind.’

                                                            LORD KELVIN

Any questions on net immigration should be directed to David Cameron but avoid the use of numbers - they confuse him.

    ‘The Donald’ is receiving more flack than war torn Syria and he seems to thrive on it. The more condemnation of Trump’s utterings, the more votes he collects. Perhaps voters are tired of the standard position taken by most politicians – namely, to say what they believe people want to hear. Their reason is pretty straightforward. We hear the promises they make, we put our cross in their box and then appear surprised when our selected party doesn’t deliver. Dr Richard Bandler, the father of Neuro Linguistic Programming summed it up beautifully when he said, ‘if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got’. Maybe that has sunk in and people are voting against the status quo rather than for Trump. And we’re still not sure if the Trump wall is to keep immigrants out or Trump in!

     The 29^th of February has arrived as I write this para so we should see plenty of ladies on their knees today as they propose marriage to their chosen. We shall also see a lot of white-faced men who used the word love casually to achieve a biblical relationship. An Irish folk tale says fifth-century nun St Brigid of Kildare began the tradition. She asked St Patrick to allow women to propose to men every leap day. He agreed and she promptly proposed to him. Caught flat- footed he managed to refuse and sought solace with the choirboys, in a platonic sense of course!

    India’s supreme court has ruled that sleep is a fundamental human right. Their actual ruling stated that’ sleep is essential for a human being to maintain the delicate balance of health necessary for it existence and survival’. Human rights judges in Brussels will be examining the ruling in detail before producing a European version. The Working Time Directive can easily be modified to contain rules about sleep periods during the working day. That said, we have dealings with staff in some companies that seem to be permanently asleep.

    A lot of our ‘gatherings’ sound like medical conferences but we had an interesting one this week. One of our number has been a bit bunged up lately but the discussion on laxatives got overtaken by a learned oration about the poop button. Paddy seems to be an expert. The so-called button is three finger widths directly below your belly button. This spot, also known as the Sea of Energy, is apparently connected to other body functions – digestive system, colon, reproductive organs. So what is the laxative process? First find the spot, three finger widths down, take deep breaths and press firmly, moving the fingers slightly. Continue for two or three minutes if necessary. Apparently the response can be quite rapid so we suggest you never try it while out shopping or in a social setting.     

    As the noise about the referendum hid most other news, the government took the opportunity to slip out their proposal on changes to probate fees. The progressive (code for increased tax) charges will be based on the value of estates and could raise as much as £250 mill for the exchequer. We often hear that death and taxes are the only certainties in life but now the government plan to ensure that taxes reach the afterlife.

    Ever wondered in which areas of the UK your surname is most popular. Wherever you now live it might relate back to your birth. If you wonder, take a look at named.publicprofiler.org. It is a bit of fun.