³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Late tonight Barrie.

Wow a sparkly new thread!

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Pink Floyd

Celtic Lion

BANKS UNDER PRESSURE

Link Link posted in the previous blog. Too many people still appear to persist with the belief that Liberal-Democratic (red, blue or yellow) politicians can act outside our own legislation when in fact they're bound by it, as well as by their own party policies.

The alternative requires the government to resort to emergency executive powers as Hitler and FDR () did in the 1930s. The term 'fascist' was not perjorative in those days, on the contrary Mussolini was much admired.

One should perhaps ask why there has been such a dramatic change over the past 7 decades or so.

MONEY WITH MENACES?

Isn't paying someone to withdraw their testimony bribery? Not, apparently, when the police do it. And do we assume that money magics away any truth there might have been? Of course; governments bribe electorates (usually at Christmas) so an example is set.

What do you mean "since the US invasion in 2003"? You're not going to start re-writing history are you?

Not only is it clear that the whole invasion was based on a gross pack of lies, but it's perfectly clear that Iraq is ten times worse off than in Saddam's time. (But he was got rid of as quickly as possibly so he couldn't give damning evidence of the help and support he received from the USA, DURING THE TIME he was carrying out his worst atrocities.)

The "demolition" of Iraq as a country -- infrastructure, schools, universities, hospitals, water supply, electricity, the leaving of the country (for their own safety) by so many professionals, such as doctors, the killing of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens, the use of DU which will (again) affect the country for generations ... altogether the greatest war crime I've seen in my lifetime.

And the greatest injustice I've seen in the same lifetime (and probably will ever see) is the smiling so-called "leaders of the Western or 'free' world" -- Tony Blair and GW Bush -- still walking around free and clear.

Iraq is still in chaos, and is no more 'free' than any country under foreign occupation. Of course the prisons are a mess. What a naive thing to bring up.

I look forward to tonight's show - particularly with Alistair Campbell & Lord Lawson :-)

:p Since when has the WI been a law enforcement agency to censor adverts for prostitutes? I thought the WI baked cakes all day.

Iraq: A prisoner, complaining about overcrowding in his cell and blaming the government, said "...this is a crime".

No problem. There was plenty of space in there for the government!

LATE - AS IN: LATE ARTHUR DENT? (#1)

Ho thMan (or may I call you 13?)
I briefly got a life, but I'm back now. Discovered today that my MP, Richard Benyon (Con) who reserves the right to ignore me because I ask questions, has just been made a whip. I have looked it up and it seems it is a matter of 'bullying in the workplace' (one of Westminster's 'do as I say not as I do' niceties) and of making sure any autonomy shown by an Tory MP, on behalf of his constituents, is squashed in the greater interest of the party. So that's alright then.

The evil that men do is lives high in Westminster, the 'good' is oft reserved for clever spin.

NO - NOT IN WESTMINSTER (#3)

"Too many people still appear to persist with the belief that Liberal-Democratic (red, blue or yellow) politicians can act outside our own legislation when in fact they're bound by it, as well as by their own party policies."

Except INSIDE THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER where workplace smoke is allowed, drink has always broken drink laws, and bullying (see me @8) is required behaviour. Abusive behaviour goes unpunished. And I gather all sorts of tax avoidance is written in to their contracts? What puzzles me is: Where are the whistle blowers? Would they lose their pension? Now THERE'S a thought.

THE WI SHOULD LISTEN TO THE PROSTITUTES.

Only the prostitutes can BEGIN to catch on to what goes on in the male mind. Whenever I tell it like it, is to some level-headed lady-friend, I am met with absolute disbelief.

Lust grows in a man like a baby grows in a woman. In the end it just takes over.

I'll get me comeuppance.

Mistress76uk (#6) "I thought the WI baked cakes all day."

'From little cakes, great political/demographic calamities grow....'

bank lending- with demand destruction now reached 50% the problem will not be the amount of money but the lack of demand for loans. lack of demand is what demand destruction means.

which again points to where the solution is -in real job creation such as in a feed in tariff and vince cable's housing for the poor.




New Labour- its clear the credit crunch is being used as a trojan horse to get in 1970s labour thinking of economics. with no doubt the same results?


Porn - the local paper has gone belly up in the last month. but they used to run job ads for escorts and for adult movie actors. All part of those fabled 400,000 vacancies the Govt keep talking about. No one ever says where or what these jobs are?

This so called VAT reduction is a con.
Any VAT registered company has just been imposed with a 2.174% increase on its fuel. Now only able to claim back 15% on its fuel purchases which have been loaded with extra duty. The same applies to Pubs (the final nail?) and other booze and tobacco resellers, so, prices will increase - plus the inevitable heavy handed 'round up' of price changes. Hold tight - it is going to be a rough ride

chricynical

Re: the re-purposing of the WI

It's a pity you couldn't get Smith and Harman on to explain what's going on in their heads; they seem even more irrational and close-minded than Fiona MacTaggert nearly two years ago. They might have made some progress since 2006 if they had paid attention to people with real experience, got rid of some of their own prejudices and adopted the attitude of this poster (not me, incidentally) -

"The bottom line is that the current system is not working and these women are being exposed to danger. The government must look with fresh eyes and produce a radical new approach to prostitution and drugs, otherwise we will witness the same disgusting story unfolding in another few years' time, the next time a psycho emerges."


/blogs/newsnight/2006/12/prostitution_the_oldest_dilemma.html

Pretty fair coverage as usual, Alistair Campbell up against a pushing 80 post dinner Nigel Lawson.

Why do you allow NooLabour to fight against 30 year old opponents? Or is the answer that obvious.

The banks are just not lending, I've experienced it first hand! I have a business plan with a gilt edge business model, which I have proved. My request is for the minimum for BURR's Small Loan's Guarantee Scheme. My manager loved it, but three weeks later the calls not being returned! I have little faith in the banks and their lending, and thats when HM Gov underwrites them! So what chance for those who want borrow with their house as collateral! None

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s premier news flagship programme.

With the world's slowest blog moderation.

I would like to know why is 'the man' from Sheffield who committed the horrible crimes against his daughters not being named! Who is being protected in this?

While the reporting from Austria re Fritzl case named all involved, this is the first time we hear about such a horrific case i UK. Moreover, apparently the case was brought by his victims.

This is all very strange. Is ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ worried about political correctness? Should I look somewhere else for full factual reporting?

Having just watched Newsnight, I thought Jeremy Paxman was very one-sided and appeared to side against the WI representative - trying to rididule her case.
I felt that this was very disrespectful, not only to the WI, but also to those women who are forced into prostitution against their will.

The VAT cut will have near zero effect.Retailers price items by many criteria not just tax (price points).So the 'tax cut' will mostly go to big retailers such as Tesco.The government should have given cheques or vouchers to all taxpayers, with a 'spend by' date in 6 months.Or just printed banknotes with 'use by' dates on them.Sure, some would have been saved but a lot would have been used in extra spending.

People may think the income tax changes don't affect them,only the 'rich'.It is always easy to agree that 'someone else' should pay.However, I'll bet that the new thresholds will not change when incomes rise so 'fiscal drag' will bring more workers into scope of the new rates.Also, the cuts in personal allowances mean that the 45% rate really affects workers on £100K pa and those who aspire to join them (doctors, headmasters etc).And the new tax is not 'a little' or 'just 5p in the pound', it means losing thousands of pounds to Brown instead of using it more usefully (spend or invest).Meanwhile the really rich (and politicians) can still use tax loopholes (or allowances) so they pay much less tax than suckers like me on PAYE.The new tax will not bring in much more money for the state anyway-the state is just softening people up for the wider tax rises that will be needed, so it can say it is being 'fair'.This country is turning into Italy without the good bits.

barrie (#8) As you rightly remind me, they consider it which affords indemnity from civil (but not criminal) prosecution so long as they don't use the term 'liar'.

Politics these days is a high verbal's , although it's most odd that there aren't more British East ('Chinese') Asians in it given the equalities lark I reckon.

Favourite interviews of the day were Jeremy with the Wi & English Collective of Prostitutes.The WI are just a bunch of middle aged (or older) busy bodies who are now being urged to trawl newspaper ads by prostitutes. What a complete and utter waste of time! Niki Adams quite rightly pointed out that this was utterly prejudicial, and racist - as the first women getting arrested are all immigrant women, and quite rightly pointed out that trafficed women could be found by other methods. I see the Nora Batty brigade out in force!

Also great to See Nigel Lawson back on Newsnight - perhaps he should be bought back as chancellor again.

Banks ain't gonna lend as the cliff-edge and fear experienced recently has forced a radical collective re-jigging. No amount of prodding from Mervin with stick and threats will change the new mind set of the bailed out banks. A long period of consolidation, product removals and remodeling will be the banks primary focus.

To quote the obscure Roman poet Flodus Pinkus : grabbeth the cash with both thy palms and maketh a stash. circa MCMLXXIII

8. At 8:27pm on 25 Nov 2008, barriesingleton

Mr & Mrs Whippys. All flake, no value.

Think you vote for the proxy person, but get the poxy party. You're either with 'em or really with 'em.

Something 'they' might want to factor in when beating democratic breasts and wailing 'why does the public not engage with politics more'?

Speaking for this voter.... why on earth would I in such circumstances?

As a matter of interest (shamed to say I don't know), does any party actually allow its MPs to vote to reflect the actual interests of the constituents who voted for them?

"Is New Labour dead? Well despite JollyRuth at posting *15 mentioning it, as a Labour Party member, I jolly well hope it is.

In its place will you get "New Tory" or, as I expect Old Tory who will have to clear up the so-called "bomb damage" with some "you have seen nothing yet" taxes and policies.

When asked by Jeremy Lawson what the Tories would do he mumbled something about banks etc. I will give you some ideas.
1. The ending of final salary settlements.
2. The abolition of National pay scales in the public sector. (was proposed policy for teachers-still is to my mind)
3. They have promised NOT to tax the rich so the proposed increase will not happen.
4. End the building of hospitals and schools. ("we will not match labour spending")
5. Another increase in National insurance.
6. VAT on clothing. (they kept flagging that up in the 80's)
7. They won't abolish the so called "stealth taxes" so national road charging will be in.

Just a few to be gettng you heads around. As I wrote last week, Brown is in a no-lose situation, as he will either be re-elected or the Tories will have to clear up his mess.

When in power, as ALL politicians do, watch them change their views to that of the party in power. When I used to question my MP about Government, when in opposition is was a "disgrace" but now in power "the Govt. has to make very difficult decisions".
Speaking in "forked tongue" is a well known attribute of politicians.

26. At 07:43am on 26 Nov 2008, Billbradbury

Brown is in a no-lose situation,

As the subject of accountability (or not) for proxies invited and actions taken is raised, I am a also more than a little concerned about this 'no lose' situation.

Because it rather seems to encourage, self-evidently, 'Black Maria' (after the card game, often named 'Hunt the Queen of Spades' (or similar) at school) politics: when you are well down and have nothing to lose you just go for broke. You may prevail, but if not... oh, well.

The only slight quirk in the case of government is that the chips being played with are the taxpayers'.

And, 'Win' or 'lose', the gambler retains pay, perks, pension, etc no matter what.

A different system is suggested to focus the minds of those with every reason to want to be in the current game, that playing fast and loose with the pot will have 'consequences'.

Odd that the situation is so different in the US, at least so far.

After a long break from tuning in to UK politics to follow the US campaign on the net, I thought I'd have a UK news day today.

Started with the Today Show on Radio Four. Decided I was listening to an arrogant prat who kept interrupting his guest Alistair Darling with aggressive snipey attacks. So I didn't learn much.

Then dragged myself away from the serious political debate on BO's appointments and the US economy on the net to watch Newsnight.

Decided I was listening to a ridiculous ego who shouts at his guests, dismisses everything they say, and guess what, I didn't learn anything!

What's wrong with political discourse in this country. It seems to be more about the host's theatrical performance, political point scoring, than actually informing the viewer.

I think I'll go back to searching out information for myself. In times like these it's important to be informed and not blindsided by theatrical performance and partisan point scoring.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

WESTMINSTER ALLOWANCES (#25)

"As a matter of interest (shamed to say I don't know), does any party actually allow its MPs to vote to reflect the actual interests of the constituents who voted for them?"

Hi Junkk. I feel the key word is 'ALLOW'.
As I have read on the web: under a one line whip, the party ALLOWS its ciphers to vote how they choose. I am not aware of the MP, even then, consulting the constituents. They seem to believe - BELIEVE! - that they act for their constituents, who only voted for their rosette! Let the rosette vote, say I! The whole Westminster DE MOCK CRASS Y charade needs root and branch reform. As I have reported recently, my MP, Richard Benyon (Con) gets on his high horse if I challenge him over such matters - then he sulks. The irony is, of course, that his ROSETTE actually holds office - HE would get nowhere if he stood as an independent.

Today's Alex and Matt may put a grin (if rictus) on things:

I thought it was a pity that the WI's attempt to do something about trafficked women received the full Paxman treatment. OK so they hadn't thought it through, and are a bit far away from the real world, but it's an honest attempt to contribute to the wellbeing of women as they see it. Perhaps it should have been aired when Emily or Kirsty was presenting? And perhaps the WI and the prostitutes' organization could now work together on the problem?

My Personal views -

Bank Lending

How can the Banks lend when the Rules (2006) requires them to store up cash as their loan book assets devalue ?

The Government can huff and puff in the media but the only thing left as an real option is direct lending by the Bank of England to business, as both the Lib Dem's and Conservatives have said recently.

The Banks do not need to be Nationalized , that's Labour's left wing seeking their Communist lewd dreams !

The Banks need time to sort out their economic sustainability, while they are doing this the Bank of England should step in as lender of last resort for Business , Large , Medium or Small !

Keeping people in work in large , medium or small business should be the Priority , because Workers earn money and spend it , people on the Dole can not and the recession goes even deeper !

The give away PBR is Labour playing politics and wasting good money !

Is Nu Labour Dead

I have some very long standing good friends who were brought up as Labour voters , but even they have seen the light , they will not be voting Labour at the next General Election.

Iraqi Prisons

It don't look good , but these are suspected criminals and some are suspected of murder and there is still a counter insurgency battle going.

On the plus side the Iraqi's seem open about this problem , which is the first criteria needed for a open free democracy to flourish.

I was impressed with their openness !

Prostitution

I watched a documentary about prostitution in Iran last year , even though if caught the women are sentenced to death it still goes on, so it is not going to go away from the UK.

Sex workers need protection, from all sorts of dangers , either from them working on the streets or health dangers. The only way , that has been proved in other EU countries is by legalising it and regulating it.

Labour seem set to try and criminalize the sex workers and their clients even more, that will only push it underground more what leaves the sex workers even more vulnerable.

RicardianLesley (#32) Yes, I too was left with the impression that the WI representative meant well and could have been given a little more support under the circumstances. It's a difficult issue and needs to be treated as such.

BRAVO RICARDIANLESLEY! @32

I don't think I have ever seen a more level-headed post (certainly not from me!).
Sadly Paxman has made a name for himself for 'directness' (I was a bit more forthright @ 29 above) and the die is cast.

Your comment: "And perhaps the WI and the prostitutes' organization could now work together on the problem?" is painfully valid. But while we pretend we are 'cerebral with a bit of sex' rather than 'sexual with a bit of cerebral - on a good day', doublethink will continue and we shall not advance.

Not sure how Emily or Kirsty would have handled it - Woman's hour still non-plussed by the male. (:o)

Nu Labour
Nu Labour was the, probably over paid and certainly overblown sense of self-importance, Middle class (i.e. upper middle class) - they have regrouped at the whiff of wealth redistribution

Iraq
Maybe the West did remove a dictator but what has happened since is entirely down to the psyche of the Iraqis. The war between shias and sunnis was there all the time, the West did not create that rivalry and the fact that professionals, who could rebuild the country, are now leaving, is further testament to the lack of solidarity of the Iraqi people and a preference for living in the peaceful, as fair as exists anywhere, science and logic driven, West.

Prostitutes
There is no moral reason why women should not safely earn a decent living by providing services that men are willing to pay for. Why is it that men are so conflicted that they want to ban something that they are the majority customers of? The WI is a support group for patriarchy.

I am hoping you will get Zimbabwe on the programme this week?

If Zuma (a god compared to Mbeki) says action is needed now and there are reports of cholera outbreaks then it sounds as though the wheels are about to come off.

Are the "new" targeted sanctions working?

Is Mugabe's cadre unified or do they see the writing on the wall?

Just switched off the lunchtime news.

So... if I lob up to the counter in Woolies and flash my TV licence (don't go there), does this mean I'll get a stakeholder discount?

I am sure there are many uniquely Lord knows what ways this can all be explained away, but it is still the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ brand I heard used, and that, mostly, is still co-funded by me.

So... since when did 'we' get into buying highstreet shops? I know the precedent has already been set, but... huh? I guess just as we get Lonely Planet promoted at every turn... on a non-commercial channel... we will soon have that facile dog and sheep duo presenting Newsnight. Mind you, they might bring something back...

I know the banks are being a bit tardy in stumping up seed money to shore up various failing enterprises, but is this really within Aunty's remit?

I watched Newsnight last night and, contrary what was billed, you did not speak to the banks. There was an ex-CEO of the Alliance Leceister but, yet again, no one from the banks apperared.

THE SUPER EQUITIES AND PROPERTY CASINO

On the one hand we expect the banks to be less profligate with other people's money and on the other they are being urged to lend more to businesses. But we've had a property boom, fueled by a growing band of people rushing into the market as well as homes abroad, whilst others no doubt have borrowed cash simply to play the equities markets. There was a time when people didn't take such risks with other people's money, and even the stock-broker firms have been doing this since shares were electonically registered and held in nominee accounts etc. That such dergulation attracted money into financial services and is clear, so surely what's required now is a) a contraction here and b) more regulation here, and that's going to mean that many new-money players (capitalists) who invested, but with borrowed money, are now going to get stung as easy credit dries up. As I see it, this has to happen so why is Darling making so much noise about the banks not lending enough? Is it just noise?

#38 JunkkMale

Ah the business acumen of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳!

I entered the competition to run the Dome as a global environmental centre. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ were one of the other sort of shortlisted proposals.

Having done the shortlist interview My proposal was moved forward. Now having seen how areas of my idea were similar to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳s I contacted them to see if we could combine the proposals.

My plan worked on that if projected the cost to the global economic system would be £500 billion as regards environmental problems. If we only addressed 10% of the global challenge this would generate £50 billion for the UK economy.

There were a number of important areas I put forward in the competition.

In 2001 the Government were told the UK economy would crash if they carried on with the present development trajectory.

£50 billion as a % of £1200 billion (UK GDP)
is 4%ish. Quite simply if the Government had followed the competition rules the UK would not be in this economic situation.

Part of the proposal contained my work on UK flood models. I had a prediction that the UK would suffer catastrophic flooding on or after 9th December 2006.

Knowing this would happen I supplied the solution to the Government in the proposal.

The Tay flooded on the 13th December 2006, large parts of the UK in 2007. All known about and preventable.

On a global level I had designed a environmental monitoring and alert system, to stop people dying in natural disasters. The Government didn't want it.

On Boxing Day 2004 more than 200,000 people died in a Tsunami. People said there was no early warning system, as none could be built.

Completely ignoring the fact I had designed a workable one, but the Government weren't interested.

Now I contacted the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ in 2001 regarding my proposal. Now as we have discussed in these blogs we all know what reply I got.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ didn't even bother to reply.

All the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ did was promote their own proposal and a few of the other ones within their narrow paradigm.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ wanted to bake and have all of the cake and failed. They could have joined in with me. Then they would have had a slice of a real workable bigger cake.

All the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ have done since 2001 is report on disasters floods, Tsunamis, recessions etc, that they had the solutions to before they happened.

But they couldn't be bothered.

Whether it was conflict of interest I don't know. On the competition criteria the environmental centre should have won. Did the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ decide to 'nobble it' by denying it the publicity it gave to its own and cosy same paradigm projects.

One thing the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ certainly did not do was inform the public of the proposal that should have won.

JunkkMale ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ enterprise consists of putting £350 billion in a bin and burning it, Then boring us stupid by reporting on the "poignant and devastating consequences".

And Barrie Newsnight does have a copy of a letter from your favourite Minister showing she knew all of the above. Do they ever ask her?

Celtic Lion

PS The Government gambled our future by 'giving' the Dome to an American friend of Bush to try and open a casino.

CALUMNY (#41)

Hey Celtic, I don't have favourites - that way prejudice lies.

All MPs have signed up, by default, to Westminster dishonour. That makes them all the same. Difference between - say - Cable and Mandelson hardly contrast one to the other, against the back-cloth of Westminter.

As alluded to in the interview, the WI had already been investigating a practical approach towards improving the safety of working prostitutes - something this govt has disregarded.

so, what reasons might an extremist ideologue politician have to involve the WI in her policies and spin them on what to do?

Possibilities:
1 The WI can read adverts, which the police apparently can't, so the WI are therefore in a position to spot adverts revealing women who have been trafficked.
(This is a slight expansion on a politician's stated approach.)

2 The WI will read escort/massage adverts and then initiate complaints closing down premises possibly used by prostitutes, where they are 10 times safer than on the streets. This would undermine existing WI research, and any fallout due to greater number of prostitutes working/attacked on the streets can be spun as part of the success of this alliance between WI and politicians.

3 It will cause the WI to rethink any ideas they may have on campaigning for workable laws on prostitution, and so takes pressure off the illogical and useless legislation currently being pushed by politicians.
"The branch made the licensing of brothels the subject of its motion for debate at the autumn meeting of the WI's Hampshire Federation, which has 6,000 members. The motion received almost unanimous backing."

Having looked at the main WI website it seems they are determined to help Harman and Smith with their agenda, despite the likely harmful results for working prostitutes.

As for the issue of trafficking into prostitution, which Smith and Harman will not affect with their plans and so appear to be cynically using as a lever for political manipulation, it seems some people do have constructive ideas:


"If Smith’s main motive were to protect the most vulnerable prostitutes, there is a way to do it. All prostitutes should be licensed and all should work off the street and only in licensed premises run by licensed people. This would have the side effect of legalising prostitution, which many would regret.

However, it would have huge advantages: if every prostitute had to get an up-to-date licence showing her photograph, birth certificate, nationality, licensed place of work and registration with the police and show it to every punter to prove she was not under duress, many of the worst traffickers and pimps would be forced out of business. The punter could have a photocopy of his prostitute’s licence to protect him in case of any future prosecution."

41. At 5:02pm on 26 Nov 2008, KingCelticLion

Wow. I have been involved in my own sweet little way with various enviro initiatives/awards/competitions for a while now, so I can empathise to an extent.

However the scale and stakes you share rather put my efforts in the shade.

However what is interesting are the 'issues' one faces seem pretty similar.

Through experience my greatest concern now is who one might find oneself competing against (maybe such as ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Green, which is another incarnation of the unique funding/revenue situation that exists these days - at least the ads are more ethical than the Guardian's 4x4/Eco safari efforts, but still seductive diversions of revenue away from those of us not so blessed with limitless start-up budgets) and the various relationships at play that may not be so obvious when one commits to the time and costs of competing. And often it can seem the future of my kids on this planet may not be best served as a consequence.

Process seems now to be the mantra, and certainly over product and/or result.

I am still scratching my head at the recent winner of a £20k prize a government department, the Cabinet Office, has sponsored on using data.

Whilst a very nice idea, no one seems to have noticed, or be unduly worried, that it already exists in a few forms already.

Quangos 'R Us?

Barrie, I used to ask my MP about such things too, but he has more important issues at hand. Never had a reply to a request to be involved in a critical (relevant to our ability to question EU eco edicts being shoved through) vote being sneaked through at short notice. Done & dusted. Raised on this site, too, though to not an editorial peep.

He's quitting before the next election. Oddly, to go and work in the same private sector where he was involved on government business. Ah well, it makes sense if that is where your expertise and relationships lie. A bit like Ms. Douglas hooking up with a music company within a month of doing all those great things with the nation's music choices.

Some are also more blessed than others, I guess.

Funny old world, eh?