jaspers

"The two characteristics immanent in the credit system are, on the one hand, to develop the incentive of capitalist production, enrichment through exploitation of the labour of others, to the purest and most colossal form of gambling and swindling, and to reduce more and more the number of the few who exploit the social wealth; on the other hand, to constitute the form of transition to a new mode of production." http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/17/marx-banker-china-social-disparity

Psychology of crowds. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deindividuation#section_1

Yep. Rises dramatically if you look at '"at least 5 yrs out of the last 7", which could include 24 months of scattered employment throughout 7 yrs period. It's a picture of short employment periods on a background of unemployment. http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2011/jsa_benefit_history.pdf

Around 5k people in the UK have been unemployed for over 5yrs. Lower or higher than you thought?

"The pen is mightier than the sword" Unfortunately for the people of Argos their short stubby pens were no match for the might of Athenian armour.

On iplayer. 1 min in, too pi**ed off with the bleating muppets to listen. Will someone else suffer the pain of listening and report back?

On now

On today. At noon "Is it the next mis-selling scandal ?" Can we have some HPC emails to the programme?.Nip this one in the bud. Link soon. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/youandyours_contact.shtml

Those damn research scientists with their flash cars and mansions…

If anyone's interested there's some new research on altruism and self interest in this months Nature. Looks like altruism is an immediate response, driven by the immediate seeing of a need in others. Self interest is a less immediate response, calculated slow greed. Any who, was it Erasmus who said we have just enough free will to see how deterministic our lives are?

Didn't she spend the last years of her life dependant on welfare handouts?

'Its thought seems to be that as long as 50% of Conservative party funding comes from the big banks and there is a lack of real political will to change banking structure' NuLab knew all about land price bubbles, demographic and home ownership rates, cynically using the above to support the voting demographic in a Credit Bubble. Those who benifit most from credit bubbles provide 50% of Conservative Party funding. The lack of will to change as it might 'hurt' the homeowning voting electorate and the massive lobbying by the Banks means change seems as far away as ever.

"Repurposing the role of banks – for instance, away from their grotesque interest in property loans, up from 5% to 18% of GDP in the decade from 2000 – towards the real economy, should be a no-brainer. But the big beasts lining up to take on this fight are strangely few in number." http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/02/big-beasts-change-banking

Looks like this 'laziness' seems to be spreading all over the world, infecting those countries who were previously unaffected as their BMI soars. Hyperpalitable, non-satiety foods manufactured cheaply. All in the name of 'consumer choice'.Capitalism in action.

The Market nr me at the moment is in a North Nottinghamshire ex-mining town. Stalls are your basic fruit, veg, meat and fish. No 'Artisan' bread malarkey! Market runs down pedestrianised high st. Could it be a model that works? With young family's often needing two wage earners to pay high living costs, makes it more difficult to do a food shop during the day I suppose. That and the appeal of a warm supermarket on a cold wet day. Factors which may not apply to our southern European cousins?

Free parking and the return of the 'market town' markets will save certain high streets. Fresh food cheaper than supermarkets, food stalls, and market traders. Open in the evening. Just an idea, Mary Portas.

From PPI to IO mortgages… http://m.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/oct/29/claims-firms-mortgage-mis-selling?cat=money&type=article I can't see it taking off myself, but then again I've been wrong since 2006.…

Would some kind of large elastic band help? Tightens up when windy to release when it stops blowing Am just about to start reading "The Pseudoscience Wars", a small piece about it in the latest issue of Nature.

SMI call for evidence from 2011 http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/support-for-mortgage-interest-call-for-evidence.pdf

That would have been a fantastic opportunity for the worlds largest Crazy Golf course.

All my neighbours are pensioners. One new extension being built, one garden landscaped, someone getting a new drive, I'm getting a new door…

Pensioners have had the biggest real increase in incomes over the past 35yrs. They can afford to pay for a few chuffing windmills. Wouldn't give the landowners a penny either. But to answer why and how means going over the whole land value tax arguement again.

The only damage windfarms do to the environment is to the view of a small number of country landowners.

No. Represents a generation passing through constant corporate capitalist devotion to the idea of the needs of a generated "individual". "Individual" in the meaning of a vacuous identity based on brands. A 'collective individualism' so to speak, step out of line and feel the wrath of shame and condemnation from your peers and the media. A corporate capitalism whose job it is to spin lies, encourage false desires and remove hope for real change. A generation with no jobs who riot to steal overpriced trainers made cheaply by young employed Chinese for the benifit of global corporations. A generation in a demographic cul-de-sac. If you think the actions of a few teachers trying to teach kids to read and write have any power against this behemoth you're a fool. Meanwhile those in receipt of real educational privilege, where the reality of how to 'get on' in life is really known are laughing all the way to the City from their charity status schools.

Pensioners wanting as big a bungalow as their house so they don't have to get rid of any of their tat.