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.

From the 'local to Milton Keynes' rag:

A sharp increase in the number of homelessness interviews has been described as “very unwelcome” by Milton Keynes Council.

The number of people presenting at the councillor homeless interviews jumped by 50 per cent in just one week.

There were also 79 families living in bed and breakfast accommodation at the taxpayers’ expense – a 27 per cent increase as compared to the two weeks prior.

There were 57 families staying in B&B in the final two weeks of December 2013.

Councillor Hannah O’Neill, cabinet member responsible for housing, blamed rising house prices.

She said: “Changes in house prices and interest rates could directly and indirectly lead to increases in numbers of households made homeless as private landlords seek to sell on their properties in an improving market.

“It will continue to be a council priority to prevent homelessness where we can and increase the quality and quantity of housing we can offer to those households who do become homeless.”

Larger families facing eviction from their private rented housing made up a significant part of the increase. But this year’s figures were unexpected because the use of B&B has been reducing, say MK Council.

It claims efforts are being made to resolve the situation with an additional eight hostel rooms arranged and more options being explored. The authority also says a “complex legal situation” has been resolved to bring forward 11 new build housing association homes within the next two weeks.

Plans are also in progress for nine more homes in the Bletchley area.

Roger Harding, director of communications, policy and campaigns at Shelter, said: “The huge rise in the number of homeless families in bed and breakfasts in Milton Keynes is shocking.

“And, as more people struggle to make ends meet against the current backdrop of stagnant wages and sky high housing costs, all it takes is a sudden job loss or illness to tip a family into a spiral that could put their home at risk.

“Sadly, families who do lose their home can often find themselves trapped in unsuitable, temporary accommodation for months on end and this makes it much harder for them to get back on their feet.”

Leader of the Conservatives, Councillor Edith Bald, said: “When the Conservatives were leading the Council, tackling B&B was top priority and a number of initiatives put in place saw B&B levels halve.

“It is disappointing to see that under the new Labour Council, in only a couple of months, B&B levels have risen significantly.

“It will be a tragedy for families if Labour continue to lose the gains which the Conservatives made.

“Some good news to come is that 28 of the 38 houses purchased by the Conservatives from the open market for homeless families will be added to the Councils stock over the next month or so.”

Early evening in the UK, 14 August 2014

Buffett’s $200,000 Berkshire shares are now definitely priced for an elite class of investor

Warren Buffett once wrote, “Shareholder eugenics might appear to be a hopeless undertaking” – but by refusing requests for a stock split at Berkshire Hathaway, its founder believes he has attracted a better class of shareholder.

On Thursday, when Berkshire shares changed hands above $200,000 for the first time, a milestone event occurred which meant Mr Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate has the highest priced shares on trading in New York - and by a factor of 150 times.

The BH's company value has risen 12 per cent this year, including a 6 per cent surge since the start of August, as investors have looked beyond Mr Buffett to focus on the earnings power of its collection of industrial, insurance and utility businesses.

“Were we to split the stock or take other actions focusing on stock price rather than business value, we would attract an entering class of buyers inferior to the exiting class of sellers,” Buffett wrote in the 1983 letter to shareholders and which he has also harked back to on occasion since.

Buffett has always argued, that making the stock more expensive has encouraged investors to take a long-term view and locked out those more likely to trade on emotion.

Buffett, now 83, has succession plans which are never far from the surface. Analysts say he has persuaded the market to view Berkshire as a holding company, that will outlive him, rather than just as a strange mixture and collection of investments assembled since he took control of what was then a small textile firm in 1964.

“People are realising that this is a great standalone mix of businesses, available at a reasonable price, with one of the world’s best managers at the helm,” said an analyst at Barclays.

Berkshire’s A class shares at a price of $201,697 at lunchtime in New York compared to $1,288 for the travel website Priceline, the next highest-priced stock.

Many of the A class shareholders have been with the company since its earliest days and are regular attendees at an annual shareholder meeting which has been nicknamed “the Woodstock of capitalism”.

There is a second, cheaper 'B' class of stock with fewer voting rights. Apparently this was created in 1996 to thwart brokers who were slicing and dicing the stock themselves.

These 'B' shares were split and hark back to Berkshire’s cash-and-shares acquisition of Burlington Northern, the rail freight giant, but Mr Buffett has consistently expressed ambivalence about having made it cheaper to invest in Berkshire Hathaway.

After the latest spike up in the share price, which comes after strong second-quarter earnings earlier this month, Berkshire is roughly now valued at $326bn.

Barclays explains it should generate operating income of around $16bn this year.

Families could be forced to keep six separate bins due to EU rules

Families may have to separate rubbish into six separate bins due to European regulations coming into force in January, Britain's biggest waste firm warns



More than two thirds of people do not wish to separate rubbish into more than four bins Photo: Alamy



By Miranda Prynne, News Reporter

9:11AM BST 14 Aug 2014





Households may be forced to put out six separate rubbish bins due to new EU regulations, Britain’s biggest waste company has warned.


Families will need to dispose of glass, paper, tin cans and plastic separately so they can be recycled without the risk of contamination, under the European rules coming into force in January.


The move could force councils to increase the number of bins outside every home to six, waste collection firm Veolia warned as it launched a campaign against “unnecessary bins”.


The company is arguing that the sorting and division of waste materials can be done after collection, removing the need for more bins.


A spokesman said: “From January 2015, EU rules mean households and businesses may need to separate their waste into six separate bins.


More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/businessandecology/recycling/11033122/Families-could-be-forced-to-keep-six-separate-bins-due-to-EU-rules.html

No! Damn it!

ENOUGH!

"The Council" should work for the people (in that area) NOT the other way round!

We should have just one or two bins and "The Council" should do the separating at their "Special Plant".

ENOUGH of this stupidity which is a blight on all of our homes! Most of our homes have not been built with ANY facilities to store bins. That's why they are a visual blight.

There has to be a more Aesthetic way. For Fcuk's Sake there has to be a better way!

Bollocks to the EU!

Yes bollocks to the EU on this daft plan.

It's only a proposal at this time...

But as you know, the tribe of €U lovers at the local councils will run with this...manna from heaven, even more forms to fill in, boxes to tick, and busybodies to employ.


Who said there isn't a God?

How do you say, "For God's sake!" without using the term, "God"?

Aha! Got it!

It's "For Fcuk's sake!"

Have duly edited previous 'bins' post above.

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Don't they have EU rules in Europe?


By Richard Littlejohn

Published: 00:59, 15 August 2014 | Updated: 07:20, 15 August 2014


Our Town Halls have been captured by crazed Guardianistas, all living in their own reality show



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2725482/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-Dont-EU-rules-Europe.html

Exec,

Not getting frightened of God's impending wrath?

8-)

How can the average pensioner drag 5 ot 6 bins about, its a crazy idea.

It just won't happen.

We refuse (as in won't, not as in waste) use the Slop Bucket at our house. This means we don't have the small one on the kitchen worktop (or anywhere else in the kitchen) or the slightly bigger one (into which you are supposed to tip the contents of the small one when the small one gets full) elsewhere on our premises.

Neither do we need to purchase (at a ridiculously high cost of 16p per liner!) the biodegradable liners for them either.

For Fcuk's Sake! Are they fcuking serious?

Any other AntiSloppers on MoneyAM or have you been radicalised by the EU's lackey, your Council??

Probably best not to mention any of the above to Tanker....

:o)

My local council doesn't seem to have enough funds to empty the rubbish bins every week instead of every two weeks, never mind finding the money to supply every household with another 5 recycling bins. Anyone who has visited Portugal will know that country has a far more efficient method of rubbish collection and recycling.

Portugal also needed a bailout because they squandered all their money on public sector employment, Doods.

The result of the dead hand of socialism and union influence. It should come as no surprise that the Portuguese government is the equivalent of our Labour party and has been in power since 2011.

Good point hilary.

That will be the fate of many who do stupid degrees at pretend universities. Luton lets in students with no A levels at all. The UK is being flooded by people with media and sports degrees and no chance of employment.

Update -

Labour and Conservative Tied
by YouGov
Fri August 15, 2014 6 a.m. BST

Latest YouGov / The Sun results 14th August -

Con 35%, Lab 35%, LD 8%, UKIP 12%;