Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Fred1- 17 Mar 2014 19:47 - 38369 of 38373

Hazie One,

"Public schools are charities that cannot make profits to tax."

That is a misuse of the Charity Status and an abuse of the tax payer.

Those who make use of the private institution should pay the full cost of doing so.

Today Kermit rang the bell for the NYSE. That is all.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-17/kermit-kaption-kontest

Fred1 - 17 Mar 2014 20:25 - 38372 of 38374

Hazie One,

Are you jealous of Max's.

See on line adverts which could help you if you are worried.

=========

You leave my todger out of this.

Telling a young person to 'Just get a job' is like going to the Sahara and yelling 'Just rain!'
We were told that education was a ticket to employment when really it's more like vague directions to the station.

The Guardian, Monday 17 March 2014 20.00 GMT

In a society where it's considered rude to answer "yes" to the question "Does anyone want the last scone?" (especially if they're at the next table, I've learned), it's amazing how many people will happily go up to a young jobseeker, pick up their last shred of self-esteem and dunk it in their tea until it disintegrates into soggy clumps. My year spent blogging joblessness landed me a job, and doctorate-level knowledge of what not to say to a jobless youngster.

"Get a job"

Today's youth has spent years chasing qualifications no one ever asks us about. The notion that algebra would ever be useful seemed fishy, but the grownups insisted: education, no matter how apparently arbitrary, leads to jobs.

But the minute we graduated, something switched in employers' heads. The same generation who had us sit Sats and the 11-plus and the 12-plus and Sats again and mock GCSEs and real GCSEs and AS-levels and A-levels and BAs and MAs and MScs and PhDs decided education is an afterthought. Experience is what's really important. Which none of us had, because we'd been busy pretending Romeo and Juliet weren't just horny teenagers and Pythagoras wasn't the most tedious bastard that ever existed.

We were told that education was a ticket to employment, when really it's more like vague directions to the station.

We've all watched the Gen Y horror show unfold. We all know many entry-level positions are now filled with cycles of interns, that underemployment is cleverly hidden by internships or zero-hour contracts, that an unprecedented number of jobs created are part-time. By October last year, long-term youth unemployment had risen to four times the 2004 figures (oh, and tripled in the first three years of the coalition).

So telling a young person, "Just get a job" is not tough love. It's like going to the Sahara, looking up and yelling "Just rain!" Which is weird. Stop it.

"You think you're too good for a job at Costa"

Graduates expect too much. That's the line – often stated as if it came out of the blue. After our American-dream style "You can do anything!" upbringings, apologies if it takes us a while to recover from the disappointment of realising it was all, well, a dream.

The "job snobs" snub acknowledges that traditionally competitive industries are double-locking their doors, while ignoring the fact that low-skilled jobs are as rare as a worm concussion; a branch of Costa in Nottingham received 1,701 applications for eight positions. Not to be outdone, Asda got over 2,500 applications for 300 jobs. They should give scratch cards out with applications to double your chances of a win.

It's not arrogance, it's the embers of optimism. Do you think snobbery comes easily to someone who's rejected for a cleaning job for "not having enough experience"? (I knew I shouldn't have put my mum as a reference for that one.)

Lest we forget, our parents and teachers asked what we wanted to be when we grew up, then demanded a ransom of education, good grades, experience and a charming interview manner. We've done what you asked, society! Release the jobs!

"You'll never get a job if you think negatively"

Does anyone actually believe this hippy hogwash? That "positive thoughts" are a mystical good-things magnet? Sorry to shoot down those bluebirds that dress you in the morning, and put them in a pie, but positive feelings don't attract positive events. They're a result of them. Only actions matter – as long as jobseekers tweak their CVs for every job and turn up to interviews prepared and smiling, it really doesn't matter if they're dead inside.

Empathise. Don't leap around shouting "Be positive!" like an inappropriate funeral director.

"Applying for Asda? But you have a degree!"

Damned if I do, job snob if I don't. And thanks for reminding me that I've spent thousands of pounds to beg someone to let me stack their yoghurts.

"Have you tried doing an internship?"

Yes, I did partake in a few rounds of "Who can earn the least for longest?" but I had to fund my expensive habit of paying for things. Don't prod a spot this sore. An internship is not a job, it's a barricade dressed as a stepping-stone. Plus you're bringing back bad memories – the excruciating awkwardness of parachuting into an office for a two-week internship can't be overstated. Inside jokes whizz around you like Dementors, and any attempt to join in with a conversation is met with stares, as if you've just said, "Guys, look at this rash on the inside of my cheek! Look by TOUCHING!"

"Do something fun with all that free time!"

Free time? When your life is a cycle of applying for jobs, listening to crickets and crying into sponges, you don't get to clock off.

Also, what fun is there for the jobless? Perhaps taking some sort of revenge on the Employed? Deliberately getting to the front of the Starbucks queue at 08:56 and saying "Umm … what's actually in a latte?" Going to a pub on a Friday night and joining in some random work drinks, claiming to work in accounting and watch them pretend to remember the time we met at the water cooler?

Well I did, and I just felt silly.

Labour now romping away.

Was on SKY News last night Tory Boy and Mguire, re- to Gove having a dig at the Eton Boys.

Both reckon tories positioning for next leader as they feel they will probably lose the G Election.

electionista ‏@electionista
UK - YouGov/Sun poll:

CON 32%
LAB 40%
LDEM 9%
UKIP 11%

GF,

Surprised that Cons got 32%.

Haze will have get on his bike and pedal up to party HQ and ask for the latest directive for Manuel to distribute to the Hoi Polloi of the party.

How many seats advantage does that give Ed Miliband?

======

Boris for con party leadership before or after the next election!

Cast your vote below.

It depends on what Boris is planning.


Does he want to be PM or leader of the tory party?

Well he won't become PM if he is leader of the Con Party.

Got more chance as leader of the Kippers.

Not sure Fred.

I suspect he is the only one with enough chutzpah to pull off an outright win for the tories.

Cameroon certainly isn't going to do it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26626167

Tory minister attacks David Cameron's 'Eton mess' inner cabinet

Lady Warsi backs Gove criticism of public school cronyism dominating Downing Street


Rowena Mason, political correspondent


The Guardian, Tuesday 18 March 2014


A senior Conservative minister has held up a sign suggesting there needs to be an end to the "Eton mess" at the heart of Downing Street, in a reference to the public school backgrounds of David Cameron and many of his top advisers.

In a gift to Labour and Ukip, Lady Warsi, a former chairman of the Conservative party, appeared on ITV's Agenda programme holding up a mocked up newspaper headline reading "Number 10 takes Eton Mess off the agenda".

The fake front page is meant to be a light-hearted feature within the programme, but is likely to infuriate No 10 days after Michael Gove, the education secretary, attacked the "preposterous" number of Etonians in the prime minister's inner circle.



more: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/18/tory-minister-cameron-eton-mess

Relatives of Chinese plane passengers threatening to go on hunger strike if they don't get more information.

Warsi made a mistake, should be "No 10 fakes in a cabinet due to Eton Mess!"


What was/is Nigel up to?

Vladimir Putin Signs Treaty to Annex Crimea

By Greg White MOSCOW--Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on Tuesday to annex the breakaway Ukrainian region of Crimea, defying Western sanctions against senior officials and denunciations of the move as a violation of international law. In a speech to both houses of parliament, as well as top government and civic officials, Mr. Putin said Crimea and its port city of Sevastopol, home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, are vital to Russia's security. He defended the move as supported by the majority of residents of Crimea as expressed in Sunday's referendum and by the "absolute majority" of Russians. He dismissed Crimea's status as part of Ukraine as "a shocking historical injustice." He said that Russia isn't seeking "a partition of Ukraine" and would defend the interests of Russian speakers in the country by "diplomatic and legal means."

Dear Fred and Cynic
Saxobank UK says I have to pay to debt collectors to prevent problems.

They say, I have to wait for process to finish and it takes three weeks. They cannot give me any information while they are considering my complain. No director is happy to talk to me. I told them I am abroad now.

Any other suggestion?

ahoj,

If what you have said is correct, that's appalling treatment. SaxoBank are a multi-national and should know better imo.

If your contract is with the main office of SaxoBank who are in Denmark, I'd be inclined to tell them to stick their debt collector where the sun doesn't shine. Unfortunately, however, I'm not so sure that Danish financial regulation is worth much and you might, ultimately, have to carry the loss.

If, instead, your contract is with SaxoBank UK, then they are regulated by the FCA. I'd certainly speak to the FCA and see what they have to say about it. Even after speaking to the FCA, I'd still tell SaxoBank what they can do with their debt collector.

If you are contacted by debt collectors, I would also make it clear to them, in writing, that the amount is already in dispute.