mad_dan

Eric, Welcome to the 6 year club, Kinda got boring over the last 3 years as our friendly BTL trolls left the forum.... I especially miss TTRTR. ( maybe he's had to finally get a real job and can't spend all day on here) If anyone still has contact with them it would be nice to invite them all back for a recap of the last 6 years.... I would definitely reignite an old war and bring back the crowds. I have enjoyed watching the sheeple believe they are rich over the last few years, but not as much as I see them struggling to make payments on their 1.5% IO Mortgages and putting £10 of petrol in their 6 year old BMW X5. Long gone are their must have 3 holidays abroad a year paid for by their (the banks) house. Welcome to mandatory debt repayment.... there's no exit .... you're now leaving the cheapest debt you've ever had, but don't worry i'm sure you'll be fine...... as I buy you house from your bank for 50% less than you paid. Have a lovely day my HPC Friends, Mad_Dan

MIDDLE class families face no longer being able to use child benefit to buy wine, it emerged last night. Who will pay for this spoilt little ******* to make a total racket twice a week? Ministers have spent two months searching desperately for ways to cut the UK's soaring welfare bill before finally realising they should just stop giving money to people who obviously don't need it. A senior source said: "We looked into who would be adversely affected by scrapping the £87 a month child benefit for middle class families and realised pretty quickly that it was Oddbins and Majestic. "We may as well have been paying them directly, so all people would have had to do was drop by once a month, show them a photo of a child and pick up their free case." But Helen Archer, a woman who doesn't know what a job is from Grantham, said: "I use my child benefit for Oliver's trombone lessons. Two years and he's still absolutely ******ing shit. Thank Christ it's not my money." And Emma Bradford, a part-time locum GP from York, added: "My £87 a month goes towards the accountant who is helping us avoid inheritance tax." Meanwhile old people's charities have warned that scrapping the winter fuel payment for middle class pensioners could force them to burn their Bill Bryson collections in their garden chimeneas. A spokeswoman for Old UK said: "Thanks to the recession the average middle class pensioner couple is already down to just 27 holidays a year. Many of them in Scotland. "Removing the winter fuel payment will simply cause a vast bonfire of gentle, but keenly observed transatlantic humour, or force thousands of people to stay in Magaluf until early April."

HOUSES GO BAD 09-07-10 HOUSES, for so long the friends of mankind, have finally turned against their masters, according to the latest property market survey. Mortgage lenders have reported a sharp rise in houses uprooting themselves from their foundations and embarking on murderous rampages, caused by either a comet which recently skimmed the earth's atmosphere or the tightening of credit conditions since April. Tom Logan, of the Halifax, said: "We're definitely seeing the start of an uprising by sentient houses and bungalows hell-bent on chaos. "They are using the jagged glass of their smashed windows as razor-sharp teeth, tearing and rending mercilessly through flesh and bone, consuming all in their wake." He added: "It is a concern for homeowners, particularly those with a five-year fixed rate or a tracker. In the short term prices will be affected, while in the medium to long term they'll kill every single one of us." The leader of the houses, 28 Rathbone Place, said: "For centuries we have given you shelter and warmth and you repay us by mutilating our kitchens in the vain pursuit of profit, or to make your friends feel inferior and worthless. It ends now." Number 28 was then surrounded by hundreds of other angry looking houses chanting: "Bricks not flesh! Bricks not flesh! Bricks not flesh!" Teacher Emma Bradford recently purchased a two-bed semi in an up-and-coming area of Lewes, East Sussex for £195,000. It has since slaughtered her fiancé Tony. She said: "The house lifted up its attached garage and swung it like a mallet, instantly severing Tony's head. "Then it jumped up and down on his body, crushing it to a bloody pulp as the letter box turned into a mouth shouting 'Die! Die! Die!'. "It's a nightmare. I'll probably have to move back in with my parents."

BBC link Living with Latvia's burst bubble By Shanaz Musafer Business reporter, BBC News, Riga Ilze Latisenoka's dream apartment soon turned into a financial nightmare Ilze Latisenoka gazes around her top-floor apartment with a sad smile on her face, wondering what might have been. As the sun streams in through the large skylights in the sloping roof, it is easy to see why she fell in love with the flat. But things did not work out the way she planned. She bought the apartment for 280,000 euros in July 2007 with the aid of a huge bank loan. She realises now that she made a mistake in buying at the top of the market. "I lost my common sense in that period," she says. "I was not thinking about the money. It was really a lot of money, I now understand, but in that moment, the money didn't matter. Only the flat mattered." It soon became apparent that she was going to struggle with the loan repayments. So instead of moving into her dream flat herself, she rented it out. Easy credit All the money I have got goes towards paying the loan. I live for the loan Ilze Latisenoka At the same time, Latvia's housing market collapsed in spectacular fashion. Prices have fallen by more than two-thirds in just under three years, well and truly bursting the bubble. Now Ilze's apartment is worth less than half of what she bought it for and the rent she receives does not even cover half of the loan repayments. She blames herself, but is also angry at the banks who made credit so easily available. "They had analysts and economists in their staff. They should more carefully analyse the situation and the people to whom they are giving the loans." Latvia has no bankruptcy process that would let Ilze walk away from the loan. Now out of work and expecting her first child, she is worried about the future. "All the money I have got goes towards paying the loan. I live for the loan," she says. Economists say Latvia's property bubble is at the heart of its troubles "Even the social benefits I get I have to give away to pay the loan." 'Crazy years' Ilze's is a familiar story, echoed around the country. Vyacheslav Dombrovsky, assistant professor at the Stockholm school of economics, says that Latvia's property market was more over-inflated than those elsewhere. "The bubble was so huge. There was so much money pouring in," he explains. "People borrowed a lot of money to buy a lot of real estate - 2006, 2007 were crazy years. "For much of the developed world, the main reason for the economic crisis was the perils of the US financial system," he goes on. "The crisis in the UK, for instance - 80% of it is down to what's happened in the US, 20% was a home-grown real estate bubble. For Latvia, it is the other way round." 'Worst, worst case' Viktors Savins is chairman of Arco Development, the biggest property developer in Latvia. The past three years have been tough for him and the company. It has gone through a major restructuring, including having to cut about half of its workforce. I think this was a very painful lesson which will be remembered for a while Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis "It turned out to be the worst worst-case scenario that we could expect," he says. "But still we managed to survive." He proudly shows us around the site of an apartment block complex. This is a rare sight in Latvia, construction actually under way, he says. But things are not as rosy as they may seem. The entire project will not be completed until 2015 - five years behind schedule. And the flats will be sold at a loss, though the company would make a bigger loss if it just stopped working on them altogether. Policy mistakes Latvia's Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who took office in March 2009, blames the previous coalition government of Ivars Godmanis for allowing such a big property bubble to develop. The last few years have just been about survival for property developers "Real estate speculations were not taxed, which was adding to the problem," he says. "So there were all too many policy mistakes." But he hopes lessons have been learned. "I think this was a very painful lesson which will be remembered for a while." Not everyone is so sure, though. Property developer Viktors Savins fears that the cycle of boom and bust may well be repeated. "When people are getting optimistic and if good things in the market continue for a few years, then they are even more optimistic. "Then the bubble bursts and everybody goes completely the opposite - pessimistic. And it brings [the market] further down." Whether or not another boom follows this bust, one thing is for sure. Many people like Ilze Latisenoka fear they will be living with the consequences of the "crazy years" of 2006-2007 for years to come.

This is serious, During January no imports passed through our boarders for 4 days in total due to the snow. The supermarkets were running out of food and the government got involved trying to get essentials into the UK (food). How long can we last with this kind of dependency? ............not long me thinks. We'd better pray it does go on for too long. suddenly allotment owners will be rich with their own supply of food on tap. We're all kinda obese now so maybe its a blessing disguise.

Port workers vote in favour of strike Last updated: 3/22/2010 3:11:00 PM WORKERS at Felixstowe Port have voted in favour of industrial action over pay which could potentially cripple work at the site. However, management is hopeful that further talks with the Unite trade union will avert the threat of action over what they have described as a “generous and final” offer. Members of Unite are understood to have voted decisively in favour of industrial action at the UK's largest container port over their pay claim. No-one from the union was available to comment, but it is understood just over 90% of those who voted backed some form of industrial action while about 85% backed an all-out strike. They have rejected an offer from port owners Hutchison of a 1.5% pay rise and an extra £500 per head. Port spokesman Paul Davey said the offer amounted to about 3% for most of the port workers who were on an average salary of £30,000. He said: “This is a generous and final offer, but we still have further negotiations to have with the union and we hope we can reach agreement over the next few weeks.” Union officials apparently asked the company for 5% plus a £500 lump sum for each worker to make up for the two days' compulsory unpaid leave workers had to take this year as part of the earlier cuts. After the result of the ballot was told to port workers, one contacted the EADT to say: “We hope the Port of Felixstowe hears the voices of the port workers.” Discontent has been simmering for some time after the port brought in cost-cutting measures as the amount of work there decreased as trade fell off during the height of the recession in the early months of last year. During the negotiations earlier this year, one port worker said: “The feeling is that the port is very busy at the moment and last year was not as bad as the management thought it would be. “The offer is just not good enough and we want management to see how we feel about it and take our opinions seriously.” Last year all bonus schemes were scrapped, compulsory unpaid leave brought in, “hot seat” changeover payments axed, canteen subsidies removed, and the port closed on Boxing Day to reduce costs.

I very sad day when you can't express yourself through the medium of filth, now where that Cherie Blair to defend your human rights and freedom of speech

B3ta.com well worth a look and vote B3ta is a site with a massive global following, the media are constantly stealing its content. The best and funnest site on the net i'd dare to say better than facebook. Enjoy, mad_dan

Unsold home prices 'fall further' Disused "For Sale" signs in a yard in Hull Asking prices continue to be cut on unsold homes, with the average price down by £22,061 in the past week on properties where reductions were made. This meant 3,293 unsold homes had an average 7% fall in their "for sale" price, said property website Globrix. Southend saw the sharpest level of price cutting, with 2.9% of sellers reducing their asking prices last week. Earlier this week the Halifax reported that selling prices were now down 14.9% over the past year. 'Penny has dropped' "As the weeks go by, more and more sellers are re-pricing their properties downwards on the basis that if they don't then they simply won't find a buyer," said Daniel Lee of Globrix. "There is no doubt that sellers are becoming a lot more realistic around price - the penny really has dropped." Other figures from the internet search engine suggest that the property market is heading for further stagnation. Despite the recent cuts in interest rates, Globrix found that at the end of November, 23% of UK properties for sale had been on the market for six months. But just a month earlier 30% of homes for sale had been on the market for that length of time. With sales currently both very low, and flat, it suggests that more people are taking their homes off the market because they cannot be sold while mortgages are rationed by banks and building societies.

Glad to see you've entered into the spirit of this thread! haha, brilliant

When immoral lending backfires on the banks, this will be the only way they'll get my money to bail them out. Cheer up Friends, we'll all be laughing when we are buying decent houses at 2 times our salaries in 12-18 months. Just because the rest of the UK population are boned, we can still smile, or a smug grin at their stupidity. I don't really care much for all the greedy folk whom are currently losing everything. Karma to all, Mad_dan

They are the only thing going up today, put your money on them!

FTSE now down 8%, This country is run by idiots, at least talk the UK up for christ sake. These morons (MP's) are selling us out, How can we trust Darling, White hair and jet black eyebrows, what the hell is that image portraying, mentalist...