Every Little Bit Corrupts Absolutely.

Or conceivably, "Absolute Power Helps." But definitely not, "Every little helps," because it most certainly doesn't.

Not when, there's also that extra 'little' volume of nefarious surplus packaging or litter, plastering the local streets and pavements, clustering about the local vegetation, or simply blowing in the wind, uncertain as to which area of the local 'community' to 'best' blight.  There's that extra empty, boarded-up space in the high street, where once smaller, non-Tesco, shops existed. There's that extra 'little' volume of congestion upon the adjacent roads, as drivers hone in upon the area's solitary 'free'- but also timezone-massive- car-park. And there's that extra 'little' all-consuming desire to control absolutely everything in the retail markets. Incidentally, it's in my will, I refuse to be buried by Tesco. I'd rather just be dumped in the recycling bin.

Precisely, David Basanta

When John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton made his famous remark, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," he would, thankfully, have had a far lesser insight into the prophetic truth of his own words than would have been the case were he alive today. Such corruption as we might daily, here in Big Society Britain, have to endure might even be regarded as a form of power-corrupted madness. But obviously not a form of madness that is deserving of any form of pity. More so contempt!

'My' town, you will by now have gathered, is just one of the many that has been almost completely subsumed by the blight that is Tesco. So, having watched the hugely disadvantaged competition quickly go to the wall, one might be forgiven for assuming that the damage, now 'complete,' stops here.

If you are ever surprised at the depths of dishonesty and subterfuge, to which 'mighty' business interests might stoop you shouldn't be. Remember that your one regularly-disillusioned mind is just that, 'one mind,' whereas the multinationals, in these cashing-in-times-of-austerity, will employ a veritable truckload of corruptibles in order to outflank the competition, and grab evermore of the goodies. I think Thatcher referred to these faceless would-otherwise-be-Nazis as, 'a think-tank.'

Should Julie Walters- the voiceover Julie Walters- ever happen to stray far from her cherished local delicatessen, perhaps in order to pick up another sizeable cheque, in the event of, say, a postal strike, she might, should a tiny section of her discerning soul remain intact, wonder at the ever-diminishing choice of produce, available upon the shelves of her nearest Tesco. She might care to note that Tesco, far from content with the seeming-total-obliteration of any fair competition, have taken to removing favourite brands and replacing them with Tesco's own brands, cheapening the ingredients as well as reducing the contents, but not necessarily the prices. Maybe she'll give one of her cheeky winks and, in a suitably sing-song voice, utter the 'immortal' words, "Every Little Helps," and the digits in her current account might adjust accordingly.

Unlike JW, George Osborne is never likely to attract the same sort of contempt, when he deals in subterfuge and dishonesty for personal gain; and just to clarify, this is exactly what so much advertising is. Obviously with George, if he's speaking then he's lying, or evading, or misdirecting; at absolutely no time in his public life have we been given cause to expect anything other than subterfuge from Georgie Boy. Presently, he's continuing to lie us into an unprecedented triple-dip recession that is showing no signs of relenting, despite having endured for some eighteen months longer than the former Great Recession of the 1930's, just so that his millionaire-mates (not really 'mates', George doesn't have these) can continue subdividing the nation's wealth.

And a Nightingale sang...
arellis49

When one sees George smiling- is it even technically a smile?- if one is even remotely aware, one is likely to revert instantly to panic mode, or to be reduced to uncontrollable bouts of sobbing, or to be overwhelmed by an all-consuming sinking feeling of utter dread. Thus, when he did just that ('smile') the other day, during the BBC's Breakfast news programme, I was instantly enveloped within a pulsating toxic plume of nausea. Daring, against my better judgement, to raise the TV's volume I soon learned that George, Dave and maybe Nick, if he continues to wear Dave's rectum as some sort of necktie, are on the verge of filling their families' pockets for generations to come. All hail the HS2! £32 billion, and already bracing itself for its mega-inflation to God-only-knows-what over the next twenty-years-and-counting. For those 'on the inside' decades of banquet-feasting development.

And for the rest of us? Community Charges might just need to sustain a tad of political fiddling. Democracy, it doesn't work if you don't participate, but if you do...

The scar that will tear the heart out of so much of what is left of the English countryside has been deemed so immense that even some of 'our' politicians are up in arms; invariably those who stand to lose half of their back garden, or conservatory, or who maybe don't have major share-holdings in one of the to-be-appointed-and-underwritten-by-the-tax-payer construction companies. I think George was so excited that he may have left a small damp patch upon the BBC's guest couch.

For the rest of us it's not even much consolation to have deduced that many of the feasting piggies will be dead before the monstrosity is complete. Whole government and construction company departments will, even now, be setting up misinformation centres, full of would-otherwise-be-Nazis, as we are left at leisure to contemplate the scale of such wholesale destruction.

Developing nicely, Greenpeace Finland

Fair East Anglia will, of course, be spared much of this agony. Our far, far smaller scale plundering takes the form of, 'the duelling of the A11.' With an 'estimated' cost to 'benefit' ratio of 20:1, and having, "escaped the cut in the government's Comprehensive Spending Review'" one should make the obvious conclusion; that big business and 'purchasable' politicians are yet again on the take. At a current cost of £134 million that means that 'we' stand to make £2.7 billion; that is until the formulated-working-delays-inflation eats away the entirety of this 'benefit'. To be underwritten as ever by the ever-gullible tax payer. One can but merely speculate as to exactly who might eventually stand to benefit most from this sort of thing.

Obediently ready to tow the line, the BBC reported- in order to fully allay any concerns by interfering conservationists, you understand- that all 'due' measures were already being undertaken. Badgers and newts, worry you, not! No more 'reputable' a body than The Highways Agency itself has everything 'nicely' in hand. It is currently endeavouring to ensure that, "Newt Fencing will remain in place, allowing captured newts and other smaller reptiles to be relocated to an area of safety, away from future construction activities."What a relief, we of the conservation-minded will be thinking...

Or maybe not! "To be relocated to an area of safety," non specified?

Perfect, Terry Freedman

So, if it's an area, "of safety," suitable for these newts how come there aren't already newts there? I mean, if it's that suitable then nature will naturally have worked her wonders and populated the area with the appropriate numbers of newts, won't she? And, if she already has- as common sense would seem to suggest- factoring in all of the variables affecting the size and potential growth of the current population, won't the resident population already have expanded to the optimum size for the area of suitable habitat?

No worries, The Highways Agency already has all bases covered. The Highways Agency? Really? Either that or one of those misinformation centres is already up and running like clockwork.

The Highways Agency, "Every little helps," but who's it helping and at who's expense? What do you think, Julie? Something to ponder, "For the journey."