dreamOn120k

That is a bad 10 top list and is akin to getting angry with bacteria when suffering from food poisoning. We need to look up the food production chain when trying to pin blame somewhere. We know that Wall Street is full of microbial scum so blaming them for our current woes misses the point. Regan and Thatcher should be in that list, so should Blair and President Clinton because they raveled in the 25 year credit boom as it funded the social policy they wanted to pursue.

More sad than angry. In the last few months I have observed that incompetence is systemic and deeply ingrained in all branches of Government. My sad conclusion is wholesale replacement of that establishment is the only way to arrest 30 years of British national decline. In practical terms 12 angry Colonels marching with their regiments on London is the only realistic hope the people have. Apparently the UK was closer to insurrection by rebel military elements in the mid 1970's than is generally appreciated.

Yes I did and it was the first time in this credit crunch I have seen someone smart express my seething anger and contempt of the establishment so well. The guy deserves more than a TV soundbite to expand on his views. We are seeing a bunch of progressive 21st century thinkers emerging on the TV who can eloquently demolish the incumbent establishment rabble. During the Davros meeting some alternative group held a counter meeting in Brazil. Again I listened to another smart economist demolish the Liberal Globalism consensus and argue for national and community scale capitalism.

That's the internet for you, given 10,000 self appointed online economic oracles, a 1% success rate creates 100 visionaries. All hale the 100 fortune tellers whoever you turn out to be.

Is New Labour still suppressing publication of monthly stamp duty receipts? This should be the figure to watch.

This is a good point and highlights that it is now time to think the unthinkable and raid the pension pots of well off pensioners. I think any pensioner who has retired in the last 15 years and is pocketing a pension greater than 12k pa should experience the same 7% cut as those in work.

My first thought was that 6% is no bad. But then I realized it was 6% month on month, that is worse than bad and worse than terrible.

It does matter because in this insane world of financial leverage a customer leaves the garage tomorrow with a new car and £700 in pocket. Then he defaults on payments and the Government rescues the whole situation by putting the toxic loan into the "Bad Bank" = happy smiley people all round.

The Beeb catches up 10 hours later. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7866938.stm But sadly lacking in journalistic flare to make an association between the credit crunch, an embattled Gordon brown and a flag flown in distress. Let's see if Cameron does better at PMQ's tomorrow.

Bump. In case you missed out on the overnight laugh.

My sharp eyed mateys on the UK’s main sailing forum noticed that during yesterday’s official visit by the Chinese Prime Minister the Union flag was flown upside down. This is a traditional method of sending out a covert request for help. Do you think staff at No. 10 were asking for help and trying to signal via the world’s media that Gordon Brown needs to be carted away? HM The Queen would be a stickler for this sort of thing, maybe someone at No. 10 was making a direct appeal to our Head of State. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/324884..._84404b5352.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag#Sp...ns_for_flag_use Skip to 22 minutes 50 secs. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hd...Six_02_02_2009/

Wrong analogy. His argument amounts to saying the captain of a battle ship does not need a Rear Admiral promoting equal opportunities for alternative sexual orientations sitting at a desk in the Ministry of Defense in London.

I doubt a practicing surgeon would work at a primary care trust (PCT). Reading some posts here I think folks are confused about the role of a PCT. A PCT is just a local NHS administrative HQ that overseas the provision of first line medical care, principally GP surgeries. A PCTs then uses its budget to buy advanced medical treatment from hospitals. I doubt a real patient ever sets foot inside a PCT HQ. There are about 140 PCTs in England & Wales, so many of those job posts will be multiplied 140 times, yet just a fraction of these £50k to £100 pa suits will ever encounter a patient. http://www.nhs.uk/aboutnhs/howtheNHSworks/...sandtrusts.aspx http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages...ustListing.aspx

Spread the word, email my post to all in your address book. It is just 16 months to the next election unless Brown decides to extend his tenure to deal with the economic emergency and save the nation.

Well let's deconstruct your argument focussing on two apparent essentials. Do we really need a dedicated team of Resuscitation educators cruising around a County? We are talking GP surgeries and not A&E departments. GPs and other uniformed medical staff have already been trained in resuscitation to a higher level than those Resuscitation Educators can achieve in a 2 hour session. What about the primary care manager post? Would front line GP performance drop if this post did not exist? GPs are a self sufficient bunch and don't need to be managed by some jumped up fake sharp suited executive who was probably selling double glazing or flipping burgers 15 years ago. Whenever reviewing an expanding beurocracy don't ask if the post holders are nice people who seem to do a bit of good, instead ask if there would be unacceptable collateral damage if the jobs were eliminated. That is the only way to deal with the chronic beurocratic expansion that has taken place in the NHS over the past 25 years.