sundance_kid
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Posts posted by sundance_kid
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Don't mean to gloat but I feel a slight hint of satisfaction. I worked for this company fairly recently not too long back for a brief period. The writing was on the wall then, so took the gamble and duly abandoned ship before they duly did the same. Could see it coming a mile off, been there too many times to see the writing on the wall. Instantly demotivated me enough to also most immediately start looking for another job.
It always makes me laugh how the mini manager Hitlers always take on these projects with such enthusiasm to impress their bosses, only to find themselves out the job down the line at a later date for a job well done.
I joined soon after a redundancy programme had already gone round. They were in the process of centralising their HR process from each factory to one focal point meaning it gave them the perfect platform to outsource the lot at a later date. My heart goes out to some of them.
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We seem to be approaching another reckoning.My own gut feeling is that we'll start seeing more movement downwards as the summer comes to a close.
The signs are there for me, I know there's another wave of redundancy already in place in certain places from the Govt pulling the plug on contracts, even the holiday industry is currently struggling at what should be it's most profitable time.
I can't see another round of QE fixing the problem, as the only recipient of this money so far has been the banks and it's the lack of spending power in peoples pockets wherein the problem rests.
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The price of this unholy alliance between Lib dems and Labour is that of the demands of the nationalist MPs.
The moment their price is revealed expect English voters to rally to conservatives (even more). It's simply a non-starter.
Cuts are coming and the English will not allow Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland a free pass.
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Here is my prediction.
Lib Dems and Torys realise they need to get this coalition to work so compromise is on the table. I'm guessing the market situation is almost untenable for the Uk now and they know it.
They're going to announce a coalition, the Lib Dems will get key cabinet seats, they reveal the scale of the situation that Labour have put us in and then take credit for perhaps salvaging what's left of the UK economy.
If the Lib Dems side with Labour it's just a no win scenario for them as far as I can see. They'd been taking the brunt of the financial problems along with Labour.
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Mums net means nothing.
It was targeted by Labour months ago. It’s no secret, it was in the broadsheets for all to see pre election.
It’ll just be full of activists posting any old rubbish.
The man is finished. This is career ending stuff.
The only interest now is to see what Labour will still poll come election day.
Then we’ll get a true figure of just how much of the population Labour has managed to bribe to still secure their vote.
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This is why I've had doubts on a Labour-Lib coalition working out, so much has to happen for it.
First off Clegg needs a coalition to cement his position. He holds a great ace up his sleeve at the moment but if he doesn't get a swift coalition sorted soon after the election I think his support will quickly dissipate.
From Cleggs point of view, the minimum he requires from labour is for Brown to step down as PM, that's why he is sending out the feelers. He's not ruling a coalition with Labour, only Brown. Plus the more hangers on Brown takes with him (Mandelson) the better. This alone is a massive pill Labour would have to swallow.
Would Brown step down, would he do it quickly enough for a coalition to be established. would he have to be kicked out and how long would that take? The rules alone in the Labour party can mean it could take months for them to vote in a new leader. Would the unions want their say on it?
Plus the other demands on top of that, simply expecting Labour to power share after 13 years won’t be an easy thing for them to do.
Out of a sheer practically alone it could merely descend on a Tory-Lib dem coalition being the only option left with a few concessions on either side.
The alternatives are less appetising for both.
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Plus its also why Clegg is refusing to work with Brown. If the coaltion is to come off, he can't be seen mixing with the old regime when they're delivering the biggest state cut backs ever seen. Otherwise he's and the lib dems will be dragged down with Labour.
If he removes the old lot he can pin the blame on them and keep his new found support.
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Hilarious stuff from the Tories.
The conservative party destroyed all industrial activity in those areas in the 80s thinking London's financial center could power the country. Classic muddle headed thinking from idiots who think the tail wags the bloody dog.
History has proved this was a very stupid idea and Cameron and chums now want to replace what they destroyed in the bloody first place.
Agreed to a point but the problem at the time was that the industrial power houses we're ruled by the mob. At the time they became as bloated as the public sector has done today. It's just a shame how it came to a point where two polar opposites had to dual it out.
The Labour strategy of the past 13 years has once again been built on power grabbing and cementing their base of support. Although I think the strategy could possibly backfire.
Labours led a scorhed earth policy. They probably fully expected the Torys to get in this time around therefore they could pin the state cut backs on them.
Now a Lib dem-Labour power share looks the likely outcome and these brutal cuts will probably have to be delivered under their watch.
The Torys could really be dodging a bullet by losing this election.
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This true?
Seems plusable. Ukriane collapses, EU powerless to intervene with it's own problems to deal with, Russia sweeps in as the white knight.
Also gives Russia total control of those gas lines now.
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Speaking to a Lithuanian lad I know last night it seems the east Europeans are almost at breaking point now with regards to the low pound.
They've been riding it out so far hoping things would improve but patience is wearing thin.
He said a couple of his fellow polish workmates have had enough, and are going back home, with others on borrowed time. A mixture of a weak pound, poor work conditions and a tighter jobs market (harder getting a job being foreign) is breaking they’re backs.
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OK, so if there is a crisis what will be the response - a rapid raising of IRs?
A snap election.
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Looks like you've nailed it.......and it isn't afternoon yet.
Yep, the markets to me are clearly out of steam. Each DOW injection by the central bank is having less and less affect. Can’t maintain these levels for long I’d say.
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I was suggesting the comment about generally flat whilst waiting for the next decision about QE was disingenuous as the general path in the last few weeks has been down and thus far it is down 7 odd % from its high. Now that isn't insignificant.
I was only making the point that the recent trend has been downward and not flat. Has it or has it not? And yes, I know intra day charts can fluctuate etc.
Fair enough but when I say flat I was speaking in the context of what I'm expecting in the FTSE should they pull the plug on QE.
7% is pale to that.
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Follow what's happeneing with QE if you want to know which direction the FTSE is heading. We'll see a huge spike in share prices if/when the government or BoE allued to more QE, or a further fall if they hint it's definitely over as a result of the inflation figures.
Exactly, the markets have gone flat it seems, waiting to see if the nurse is going to walk through the door with another steroid boost. It all rests on the QE decision.
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I'll explain it to you.
300K Polish soldiers fought for the British Army and airforce in WW2. they fought for a Free Poland. This was promised to them by Churchill.
Most of those who fought were very anti communist and anti-Russian. Poles fought against Russia for Napoleon, for the Germans in WW1 (and refused to fight the allies on Russia defeat and interned becuase of it) and again in 1919-1921 when the communist-Russian invasion of the west was stopped at the Battle of Warsaw. Stalin was one of the Russian generals defeated by the Poles in 1921, this humiliation was why he exterminated 40,000 Polish officers in 1940 at Katyn and other sites.
In 1940, the communists also deported 1.7million polish civilians to Siberia where 60% of them died. These were mainly the soldiers and families of Poles who defeated the communists in 1921. After the Nazi's attacked Russia, Churchill persuaded Stalin to allow these soldiers to join the allies - Britain - in the middle east. 110 thousand made it to Persia (Iran) form a Polish Army of 74 thousand under General Anders. They fought all the way across African up into Italy (many other Poles fought in Normandy and, for instance at operation Market Garden).
http://www.aforgottenodyssey.com/film.html
However, at the Tehran conference in 1943 the west basically surrendered Poland to the communists. Polish soldiers fighting (up to 250 thousand) in the British forces were not told about this, They were fighting and dying (80 thousand died in the British forces) for a Free Poland that had been handed over to their direst enemy. Churchill tried to stand up to Stalin, but he was powerless without help from the USA, Roosevelt and Stalin mocked Churchill and the British.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_betrayal
After the war, they were told the truth. Most refused to return to Poland under the soviet occupation. Forced repatriation was considered (as happened to the Cossacks where were exterminated on return), however they were armed and it was assumed they would fight to the death rather than return to the communists and it was likely no British forces would take up arms against their allies (mutiny from British officers and men). They were given the right to stay in Britain (not that anybody in Britain objected).
Polish armed forces were refused permission to take part in the Victory parade in 1945. Polish officers were warned that they would face jail if they talked about what happened to them. The entire Polish army was exiled in the UK. In Poland (and other soviet occupied countries) resistance fighters continued fighting the communist occupation until the late 1960's.
In Britain you won't hear much about the Western Betrayal, but the Poles do have a point. If Britain and especially France had continued the invasion of Germany in 1939 there is a very good chance the the second world war would have ended in 1939. Poland caused far damage to Germany than is realised in Britain (40% of the Luftwaffe destroyed in the Polish campaign for instance, the Poles continued fighting longer against both the communists and Nazi's than the British did against the weakend Germans), the so called 'Phoney War' and 'Appeasement' are simply convenient distractions from the fact that Poland was abandoned by its allies who were too scared to do anything even when German was very weak.
Yes they were but it was never pointed out that they were in fact fighting for British an American causes and they had been deceived to do so by false promises of Freedom.
There was one result of the Polish holocaust by the Soviets - it was the specific reason for the Cold war. I read a declassified report by a CIA officer who described its as the 'unspoken truth'; what happen to the Poles was the driving force behind the fight against communism.
Simply listing the Polish contribution doesn’t negate the fact that Churchill and Roosevelt had little influence on the Russian’s.
The Tehran conference speaks for itself because it was held in 1943. At that point they couldn’t afford to disgruntle the Soviets as we needed their help to finsih off the Nazis and Japan too.
If Churchill and Roosevelt could have delivered a free Poland they would have, but it just wasn’t in the realms of reality. The best they could do was demand Stalin offer free elections in Poland when possible, Stalin promised and never delivered. What else could we do?
The only other way do it was through conflict and that wasn’t going to happen. Again, you can’t heap blame on us for not wanting to carry on the war.
The reason France and Britain did not invade Germany in 39 was more down to poor leadership and poor strategy. Fair enough I’ll take that on the chin but that is the reason rather than the idea we purposefully sold out Poland. The Fall of France bears that out.
France simply put all it’s eggs into one basket, the Maginot Line, they were purely defensive minded, as we too were ill prepared for total war.
The other point being Churchill had too many war fronts on his plate to worry about. He could ill afford a new battle with disgruntled Polish officers hammering on his door demanding he tear down the Kremlin to make Stalin listen.
It’s simply unrealistic to heap blame on him or Roosevelt for another despots failings.
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I never got this idea of how the west sold out the polish in world war 2. Infact I'm sick of the idea.
The stark facts are we never had a choice in it. Now I'm sorry for what happened but it's not our fault and it wasn't through lack of trying.
The only way we could have possibly shifted the Soviets from east europe was through conflict and I'm sorry to say that after 6 years of total war against the Germans, Britain and the common wealth just didn't have the capacity to take on Russia.
Apart from the odd American general, the yanks didn't have the capacity either even if they had, had the stomach for it. There's no way America could keep an army supplied from the east coast of America, across the Atlantic, across a war torn Europe all the way into Russia.
We’re grateful for the Polish in our armed forces but you were fighting for your own cause as much as ours.
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From my own prespective it does seem the numbers of new Polish workers has crashed since last summer.
Where I work a few night shifts many of the staff there are Polish but they're the ones who have been there long term now.
Any new staff it seems are by and large English or Indian, and they're mainly either students or people simply displaced by the recession, putting in a few shifts but looking for other work. There's no great wave of new working migrants by any means.
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Personally I think the vote in Massachusetts may also have spooked the markets.
It was a clear protest vote against the status quo meaning it may force many politicians hands to adopt a more hard-line approach in order to keep their seats in November which the markets don't like.
Obamas already had to talk tough on the bankers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a meaningless gesture but a step in the right direction still.
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I know people talked about this at the time of the bailouts but I still cannot believe how this story has managed to stay off the papers and the mainstream media.
Mp’s expenses managed to find its way there but the story that thousands of people outside the UK we’re secured employment through the British tax payer seems to remain illusive. Why is this?
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Work with a guy who lives in Northampton and is trying to sell two properties there.
Told me he's been trying to sell both well into last year after he lost his job and nothing is moving whatsoever. Hardly any viewings in that time.
The striking thing is however he does nothing but slate England, as he's from Europe. His wife works in the Middle East.
H likes to complain about the price of everything including housing yet that didn't stop him from moving here for a job and buying two properties the first place. Was he complaining then, I doubt it.
Until he sells he's stuck in England working a job he hates.
My heart breaks.
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It seems that the Army is running short of people able to fight.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8453369.stm
With no money to recruit, servicemen will no doubt be recycled on duty ever faster, leading to a faster rate of injury and drop-out. I'm not sure that the Taleban will suffer from the same problem, so probably not too long now before Osama succeeds in his long-standing aim to bleed us into submission.
Actually, although I never condone killing people so don't want to give the impression I condone terrorism in any form, on a purely strategic basis does anyone else think that OBL may well be the smartest man active in World politics right now?
I actually have an example of this. One family I know, both parents with a history of long service in the armed forces. They're two sons both went into the army, one left as he just couldn’t hack it. The other was supposed to be going out there shortly but has now picked up a convenient injury you might say to halt his redeployment. One friend of his who came back from his first tour of duty has vowed never to go back there again.
The reward for doing this job just isn't worth it. It's to the point that the salary is far too low for these lads. The army tries to counter this and bribe the lads by adding on various offers like free or cheap trips but it's not enough.
Some though are also reluctant to leave due to the state of the economy, although the lad who came back from is redeployment has stated he'd rather work in a supermarket.
The problem now is the British army is in a major war of attrition, something we haven’t been in for some time now and it's killing the army.
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Lately? Anyone know?
I've been working for one at the moment since November doing some low paid shift work just to help my finances tick over.
It's pretty anecdotal but the week before I started they had won the contract over from another agency who had been performing badly. At first they seemed to be good but just before Xmas hit their service seems to have gone to h*ll.
Stopped sending pay slips out, communication has gone way down, I haven’t a clue who is organising the weekly shifts as it’s a different number every week, it seems the girl they had may have left them and even the warehouse company I'm working at seems to be getting frustrated, total lack of communication from them.
Can’t quite put my finger on it but something just doesn’t seem to be quite right with them.
Are they struggling, is there enough temp work out there to keep them all going?
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One of the reasons of this possible snap election could be from whats looking like an incredibly poor Xmas period for the high street. This could hit the economy really hard post December. Of my own personal experience, a lot of people I know are really cutting back their Xmas spending a lot.
Zerohedge has highlighted that in America theyve already started laying off seasonal workers and its only just about mid December.
Labours going for broke if they feel they can't wait any longer. Obviously something is brewing.
The next election to me will highlight two things, first will be the collapse in support for all the mainstream parties and two, where those votes will be going, i.e. fringe parties.
My own vote will not be touching any mainstream party Labour, Tory or Lib dem, they dont work for me, they dont represent me.
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I never saw so much deception than what I saw in the outsourcing boom.
There was always this naïve approach business took towards outsourcing companies and their consultants in that they would save them money without fail.
Ask a consultant to find work to outsource and without fail he’ll find some.
The problem being the cost benefits were usually conjured from thin air by a middle management/consultants, obligated to show these cost benefits to impress higher management. Even when a project was known to be pointless it always somehow ended up dressed in success. Quite amazing to see.
Even the managers of the department that were outsourced were asked to provide critical data to show this success which usually descended into them creating workload that never existed. Fictitious and blown up work was handed over to teams around the world where after 6 months later you’d discover these teams sat around twiddling their thumbs for much of the day working off documentation that’s completely incorrect.
Merv Wanted To Recap Banking System In March '08
in House prices and the economy
Posted
If any accusations were to fall to King, he could happily retort he was powerless to act, since it was Brown who neutered the BOE.
He could argue it was the FSA who should have been acting.
They were all 'aware' of the problem. Even if any one of them did have a concious, It would have meant them walking into the Fuhrer Bunker at Number 10 announcing the catastrophic news.
It would have been on par of announcing to Hitler the fall of the 6th army at Stalingrad, it meant the end of the road of no more boom and bust.