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Everything posted by Shao Kahn
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Well I don't get any abuse usually - yet! - but it seems that if someone comes on and challenges the self-appointed "knowledge" of some, then a pack of sharks automatically appears and they are torn to pieces without any adequate argument being submitted as to why they should be torn to pieces...too much vitriol and abruptness! And no genuine debate!
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I'm not knocking it mate, it's just my perception. Could be right, could be wrong. My point was that a great many on here seem to be doing some sort of I.T-type job and see it as somehow superior to all other jobs. My view is that there's a lot of crap on here about what jobs are deemed shitty or not, and that most are deemed to be a waste of time. Personally, and this is just my opinion, the sort of logic seen a lot recently that deems so many jobs a waste of time could equally be applied to a great many I.T jobs - surely they could be automated, outsourced etc. We don't ever seem to hear this point of view when we are discussing "efficiency" and which jobs should be consigned to the toilet. And, let's face it, the standards of I.T delivery and innovation are hardly one of this country's greatest success stories. Live and let live, is what I say...
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It's an interesting question. Where I am (Cheltenham), there seems to have been no real crash as of yet - yet. When I was learning to drive a couple of years ago, I was talking about this sort of thing with my driving instructor, who was quite old, and he said that in the last recession in the late eighties / nineties, Cheltenham was affected by the recession, but it seemed to lag behind other areas by about nine to twelve months. E.G, in Gloucester, which to be fair isn't very nice, there have now been big price drops, but nowhere near as many around here. His impression though was that there will be, but that it lags behind other areas by up to a year. See it as a bit like here and the U.S - our crash lagged theirs by about a year. Unfortunately, Cheltenham seems to have attracted massive buy-to-let buying, on the sort of places FTBs like me would buy, which seems to have held up the price of starter homes. One thing I noticed today, though, whilst crossing the town from one end to the other on a visit to B&Q, was the massive volume of "to let" signs about. On my journey, I counted several hundred, and this was just one a pretty bogstandard route. God knows how many empty BTL's there are in the town as a whole. Would have thought it would be in the thousands. Perhaps the current low interest rates are encouraging them to buy, or if they are already BTL, to keep them out of the shite for a bit. Also, I suppose it depends upon what sort of property you are looking at. I agree generally that no area will be immune eventually, but some lag far behind others. It also depends how long this "downturn" will last for. I'm guessing at least five years and that it'll be the start of a long period of gradual socio-economic and general historical decline. Who knows?
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To be honest, Slurms, the above bit I've highlighted is the reason why I haven't been on here so much recently, there seems to have been an emergence of nonsensical rabidity, with a re-emergence of topics about gold-ramping, global conspiracies, public-sector bashing, coupled with a sense, to me, that things are just getting too right-wing and hysterical on here at present, with all this talk about the private sector being supreme over everything, bashing of those on benefits, shouting down of anyone with left-wing views, utter crap about the efinitions of socialism, etc. Unfortunately, things just seem to have become rather inhuman of late and unpleasant, with abuse doled out to anyone who dares to dissent... I was lurking on the site for about three years before I officially joined, and the debate recently seems to have turned away from the rational to the hysterical. Just my tuppence worth, not saying I'm correct, this is just my perception.
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Labour To Buy Votes By Giving More Dole Money!
Shao Kahn replied to Mega's topic in House prices and the economy
Quality post as always, Steve99. -
Labour To Buy Votes By Giving More Dole Money!
Shao Kahn replied to Mega's topic in House prices and the economy
With regard to the original poster, the article doesn't even mention the dole, it states that they are looking to top up benefits or tax credits for low-income parents. So, as a single, childless person, on employment & support allowance, yet again I get stiffed. I still have to pay the same amount for basic things as parents, and they already get quite generous allowances in the form of tax credits etc. It really pisses me off, as it is bloody hard living on £60.50 per week, and whenever something is mentioned about raising benefits, the single or the childless always seem to be excluded. -
No need to be sarky Rinoa, I'm generally pretty easy-going with all views on here, be it bulls, bears or neithers, and am prepared to listen to all viewpoints! But, cockiness I don't care for!
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2 Million Now, 20 Million Soon?
Shao Kahn replied to A.steve's topic in House prices and the economy
Good points, well made, and to be fair, I probably read your original point wrongly, in terms of the context in which it was meant... To me, it seems that as long as you are part of a "couple" in this country, then there are all sorts of ways to bend the rules... I'm "on the sick" at the moment, on contribution-based employment and support allowance. Because I'm on the contribution-based system, due to paying loads of N.I over the last eight years when I was working, I don't qualify for free prescriptions, eyecare, travel concessions, etc, you name it, whereas, if I was on the income-based employment and support allowances, I would get all of these things for free. Income-based benefits are the ones you automatically go on if you have paid little or no N.I... I mean, WTF? I've paid the N.I for the last eight years but now I'm in a worse position than if I had never worked. I don't have any savings at the moment as I had to spend most of what I had on psychotherapy fees - this is not free on the NHS around here, but it is something that I do need. I also have to pay for all my prescriptions. As a single man, I only get £60.50 per week. When you add up the bills, plus my medical costs, I only get around £70.00 per month in disposable income, most of which is spent on food, etc. The whole system seems to be rigged in favour of feckless "couples" and whose who have never worked... And, as soon as I am well enough again, I will be actively looking for work, no matter what the climate economically, I would rather get a job I enjoy than be sat around here twiddling my thumbs all day... -
How To Stop House Prices Exploding Again
Shao Kahn replied to bobed's topic in House prices and the economy
"How To Stop House Prices Exploding Again?" Perhaps a contributing factor could be to make it illegal for estate agencies etc to pay towards funding property "supplements" in newspapers... -
Correct me if I'm wrong, but from memory we actually have quite a few members on this site who actually are conveyancers...including one whom I am sure I read was in danger of being laid off a few months ago... Would any of them care to comment on the views from their frontlines?
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2 Million Now, 20 Million Soon?
Shao Kahn replied to A.steve's topic in House prices and the economy
Oh, I might be missing the point, t.b.f - do you mean those who are formally employed as carers, usually on a totally crap wage, who work in homes for the old, sick, disabled, etc, or those who stay at home looking after relatives? I've probably missed the point you were trying to make! Could you expand? Ta... -
2 Million Now, 20 Million Soon?
Shao Kahn replied to A.steve's topic in House prices and the economy
FFS, this is a valid and vastly underpaid job that is needed in a humane society... -
2 Million Now, 20 Million Soon?
Shao Kahn replied to A.steve's topic in House prices and the economy
Most people in this country at the end of the day do "nothing jobs", including most working in financial services, administration, I.T (is most of it really needed? With a bit of sense most of it could probably be automated), and almost all of those doing some sort of managerial role (both in the private or public sectors). As well as many of those working in various "service" sectors... There is too much spite towards the unemployed on these forums of late...all I'd say it that it could be you next on the proverbial scrapheap... -
Who's it written by?
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When Will The Golden Moment Be?
Shao Kahn replied to HovelinHove's topic in House prices and the economy
At least ten years, probably? -
Gordon Brown Has Massive Tantrum At 30,000 Ft
Shao Kahn replied to Waiting Patiently's topic in House prices and the economy
Gordon is the modern-day King Lear - going nuts in a shitstorm in the middle of the wilderness... -
Rbs To Sack Most Manchester Staff
Shao Kahn replied to thefinalbear's topic in House prices and the economy
It's really beginning to get surreal now, like Monty Python, well, either that, or G. Brown is the modern-day equivalent to King Lear losing his marbles in the howling rain in the middle of the wilderness... -
Rbs To Sack Most Manchester Staff
Shao Kahn replied to thefinalbear's topic in House prices and the economy
Good - all bank staff there should be sacked, along with those in all the other part-nationalised ones, and none of the "jobs" moved abroad, the banks themselves should then be wound up and dissolved. The resulting benefits bill for these staff will in the long-term likely be miniscule compared to the cost of keeping these taxpayer subsidised organisations running, as is happening at present. -
It is disgusting - you omitted to give the place a quick coat of magnolia Tesco Value paint and some crap squeaky laminate flooring before you put it back onto the market. Call yourself a landlord?
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Why isn't there an option for "the general public"? An analogy: I could go out tomorrow to the local shop and buy, say, twenty cans of beer. I could then repeat this process the following day, the day after next and so on, until I became a hopeless alcoholic. I could do the same thing with drugs, gambling, hell, even takeaway fish and chips or something until I died of a heart attack in my forties or something, etc. But nobody would have forced me to do this. Just because there is a sweetshop selling candy, doesn't mean that you have to go in and scoff yourself silly! The only problem to my argument is the persuasiveness of the various, powerful vested interests that have been singing like psirens on the rocks for the last ten years or so. But, at the end of the day, if you don't listen to their call, then you won't end up shipwrecked and eaten by sharks! And, if you do not have the sense or will to resist Medusa, then you will surely be turned to stone...
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Why not then landlords accept DHSS tenants, but on the proviso that the rent is paid directly to the landlord by the local authority and not to the tenant (New Labour are trying to encourage the latter for some reason), and the tenancy can only start after the final agreement to the housing benefit has been agreed by the local council. Once it is all agreed, from my experience, the payments from the council are always regular and on time. And, if the tenant doesn't like this set-up, then the landlord doesn't have to enter the contract. A lot of good ideas and opinions could come out of this topic. Let's just keep all of the "benefits claimants = pieces of human shite" w@nkers out of the debate...
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A lot of people renting off the housing association I'm with now are unemployed, so am I at present. Most of us treat the place as if it was our own, due to the fully assured tenancy, which we all recognise is a great gift in the present environment. We paint, decorate and upkeep the property in our own manner, we all pay the rent on time, statistically very, very few are in arrears with rent (I am on a tenants advisory board working with the association and have seen the statistics in the flesh), and there are very few antisocial incidents etc. Of course, there are some, as there are some rent arrears, places falling into disrepair etc. But, they're of a minority, as with any other subject or category, there is the perception that a few bad apples spoil the bunch. Take the private rentals in the same street. This street which we all live in is a regency crescent. The private rentals are all falling apart, the windows are mouldy, in some of them the glass above the doors has been smashed by what looks like someone throwing a bottle or full can of beer through it, the tenants are transient in nature due to their ASTs, especially the Eastern European economic migrant ones, and so don't give a monkeys about the area and don't form any neighbourly relationships, a lot of them (the U.K citizens) come in pissed at three in the morning and wake the whole street up etc. What is needed is the opposite to what we have. We need a strongly-regulated, tenant friendly legislative environment, like in the more enlightened western-European countries, where most have fully assured tenancies through housing associations or local authorities, or various other regulated social landlords, and can live in whatever manner or by whatever lifestyle they please, provided they pay their rent on time, do not cause antisocial behaviour, respect their neighbours and their surroundings, maintain the property as if it was their own, do not commit criminal activites, etc. Then, there should be a private rental sector, with ASTs where all the scum should live, run by landlords like Van Hoogstraten, and if they act up like they do at present then they should be thrown onto the streets. Perhaps then they might behave? Students should also have ASTs, not because they're scum - they are, of course, nothing of the sort, but because they're transient in nature. Sadly on here, it seems that there are too many "bears" waiting to become the next BTL landlords and then fock everyone else, in particular, the next generation down from them, over, in the way that they perceive that they have been. Not healthy...money isn't everything, FFS. Just my tuppence worth...
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You're right, but the problem is that these kinds of clauses seem to be very prevalent these days. From your experience, is there any room for negotiation?