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Saw on the BBC that Virgin America was getting swallowed up by Alaska Airlines, which I thought was surprising, so did a quick google to get some more info.

So some news sites are reporting it's Virgin America, and some that's it's Virgin Atlantic! The BBC reports it as a $4bn deal, while fortune declare it as a $2bn deal.

Who needs facts and accuracy, it's only news

I was curious why our Richard was flogging it off, and it turns out he had little say due to US laws.

"I would be lying if I didn’t admit sadness that our wonderful airline is merging with another. Because I'm not American, the US Department of Transportation stipulated I  take some of my shares in Virgin America as non-voting shares, reducing my influence over any takeover. So there was sadly nothing I could do to stop it."

www.virgin.com/richard-branson/virgin-america

Seems it is $4bn according to the Virgin web site, so at least Richards pension pot will be ok 

Recently I saw an Asian Female business network group getting promoted, which to me is wrong on all levels and sends out all the wrong signals.

Interesting seeing you say lots of people are making money out of these female networks. Do we really have such drastically different requirements based on race and gender to warrant a dedicated group or netwrok, or could this not be included or discussed in a mixed environment? 

Just my 5 pence worth, and maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't it better to educate and empower women from within normal networking channels? If groups are male dominated, then women need to do something about it and join  The days of old boys clubs, or blokes tut tutting are long gone aren't they? (genuine question).

I've just come back from a digital marketing conference at the NEC today, and 1 of the 5 speakers was female, and I'd say about 25% of the audience were female.

Each speaker was very good, but gender played no part of my expectation, or biased my opinion. It could have been 4 women and 1 bloke, but as long as it was an interesting presentation, I don't think anyone really cares do they?

It would be nice to know that the top spots in businesses are done on ability versus gender or even race. That may be idealistic and I know UK boardrooms still have some way to go, but I also wouldn't want to see women accelerated to positions above their ability purely to fulfil some kind of daft target or quota. The best person for the job, simple as that.

Does it actually matter if the boardroom is female or male dominated? Or we will have to have a token director position for a one legged black lesbian just to fulfil a government target?

I expect not hope that my daughters will have equal opportunity when they eventually arrive on the job market in 15 years or so, and there is no logical reason or argument other than common sense that will convince why this shouldn't happen. But no doubt time will tell...

I found the BBC reporting interesting.

They clearly were expecting a long hi-jacking, and had organised a survivor from a 1980's hijacking which went horribly wrong. I suppose they could utilised all sorts of survivor news nuggets and anecdotal advice.

Instead it was all over before it started, and the poor chap that was being interviewed was relating events from years before which held absolutely no similarity and was clearly emergency filler on a slow news day

My mate goes to Sharm El Sheikh at least twice a year diving, and has done for years, including all through the Arab Spring uprisings.

I said to him aren't you bothered by security issues, but he said he's not worried and never feels threatened. Although the tourists have dried up and a lot of the subsidiary industries like diving schools which tend to be run by UK or EU expats are struggling or closing. He did say though as a bonus is it's cheap as chips now to got to Egypt 

Wouldn't be my destination of choice, or anywhere in that region, which is a shame because it is actually an interesting part of the world.

I think technology will be the eventual answer to this.

A larger Police Force is unrealistic, with force mergers and budget constraints. I'd sooner have more bobbys (or any!) on the beat or house break in's being solved, rather than more coppers in panda cars.

We're about 5 years away from self driving cars in the luxury market, then 10 years for main stream vehicles. This will cut down the number of idiots that can't drive, and eventually we will evolve into a nation of passengers.

Auto breathalysers will stop vehicles from being started (they are already playing with this), reckless drivers will be pulled over by remote control, insurance scams and crash for cash should become a thing of the past.  

Head up displays will emerge in the near future for most cars, or it will be wearable or voice technology making the current trend of typing texts obsolescent.

Most vehicles now are capable of Bluetooth, which will soon be mandatory, and we can already see the fledging steps with voice texts using Apple Siri and similar. Not an excuse, as you shouldn't text and drive, but if you are just dictating, then in theory that's no different to a voice call.

But until technology catches up, we'll have to rely on Darwins law of natural selection to weed out the reckless and the idiots. It's just a shame when innocent people are caught up in their carnage.

Crikey, here's a thread I missed while on my hols!

There's so much recipe for debate and grief, I suspect most have been nervous to comment, particularly men!

I think it's a by product of the PC world we live in, with people terrified to express an opinion. In an ideal world, I think we just need a little more common sense. 

I remember back in the 80's and 90's, women in the military were paid less than us. The argument was that they couldn't fulfil the exact same role due to some physical (ie strength) or operational reasons (UK servicewomen at the time were unable to deploy to certain Middle Eastern Countries or operational theatres).

So the discrepancy in pay seemed fair, and was generally accepted. You never heard any of the girls complaining about it. The arguments got weaker the more senior the roles, were physical or location constraints were often irrelevant, but that was well above my pay grade.

Times have changed now, women deploy with men operationally (rightly or wrongly) and pay is the same (I believe).

In civvy street, I was first exposed to pay differences in blue chip companies which did seem odd, and I can't see any reason or justification for pay scales for an IT techie based on gender. It's ability and thats it.

But as I managed a team of techies, I became exposed to the maternity argument, and witnessed first hand someone back from 12 months maternity, then quarrelling over missed education entitlement, something her team mates had already lost due to work commitments and lack of resource. It caused a lot of bad feeling in a male dominated team and unfortunately that's the kind of thing that sticks in your mind.

On the other side, my wife took 2 bouts of maternity leave, so I've seen both sides of the argument. In her case she was ostracised when she returned and tried (unsuccessfully) to be forced out, which was a real eye opener to the realities working mums have to face.

Business travel and security is real interesting point, and it's something I've never considered, particularly after managing women, and is real food for thought.

No real answers, just an honest insight into my experience and thought process.

Did a car boot once years ago. Turned up in a open pickup truck. What a mistake, got pounced on as soon as we parked up and never got a chance to get the stuff out. It was like getting hit with a plague of locusts  People were going nuts, grabbing things, shouting prices. It was only junk, completely surreal. 

Vowed never again and have since done garage clean outs on ebay. A lot slower and steadier pace. Downside I now have a garage full of junk, old toys and the usual, and about a weeks ebaying to do when I can be bothered!

Sounds like somebody got shouted at very loudly!

Wish they would have a chat to the hospital parking people 

As April fools go, I thought this was a pretty good one this morning 

Good post Dan.

It's always a battle keeping overheads under control! Someone said to me years ago when I was talking about using an agency to do some marketing, "look at the big shiny building, posh reception, plush office and account managers. Guess who will be paying for it!"

Was definitely food for thought!