Bolitics The New Condem Government

[Xann]

This is a bit more of a pressing matter for the Dutch, and they've foreseen the day where the continued reinforcement of their sea defences is no longer viable.

 

One of the solutions they were looking at was constructing homes with foundations of expanded polystyrene.

 

Whole streets would be built around large poles dug into the earth. When the waters rise so does the street, but they stay in same geographical location.

[colhint]

Yes I know, but it's such small quantities. And that would fall foul of the EU directive anyway. It still doesn't get around urban sewarage though

[Xann]

Yes I know, but it's such small quantities. And that would fall foul of the EU directive anyway. It still doesn't get around urban sewarage though

 

Sewage is both a problem and a valuable mostly untapped resource anyway. This is going to force households to be more efficient with resources and waste, which frankly, is what we should have been doing anyway.

[colhint]

oh I agree

[Kingfisher]

Who voted against flood prevention measures in the European Parliament?

I'm just wondering if you have read the directive or not. It seems they are trying for a uniform policy on water quality and management , with the same rules applying to the alps region, to the drought regions of Andalucia and to the low countries. I'm not sure that would be wise. Certainly the European landmass will have far different problems to an Island. But it seems it should all be treated the same

I think these directives might have helped alleviate the severity of the recent floods.

20. Notes that some countries do not suffer from shortages of water but are having difficulty in managing the excess of water resulting from regular or heavy rainfall, flooding, river erosion and pollution affecting river basins and coastal areas, as well as the effects of these phenomena on the local population, as is demonstrated by the many petitions received; calls on the Commission to conduct a relevant analysis of the ways to prevent the effects of flooding, given the noticeable increase in the flood risk in Member States in recent years;

21. Emphasises the need for the Commission to call on the Member States to promote the reintroduction of environmentally-friendly agricultural activities in mountain areas to combat hydrogeological instability and to promote water regulation by reintroducing the good practices of creating ditches, drains and embankments, which make it possible, in the event of excessive rain, to reduce the negative impact downstream and, in the event of drought, to guarantee stored water resources that can also be used to fight forest fires

Probably better than the route the government went down.

Cut flooding budgets.

Cut EA budgets.

Cut EA staff numbers.

Cut emergency services personnel numbers.

[Kingfisher]

Tory MP Kris Hopkins says disabled people hit by bedroom tax need to change their ways...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bedroom-tax-tory-mp-kris-3138564

Maybe they could stop eating, or getting cold. Just a couple of suggestions.

[veloman]

Al last some sense; The School Teachers Review Body have rejected that 'Pipsqeak' Gove's proposals to reduce school holidays and increase the length of the school day. If you are a teacher or have a close friend or relative who is a teacher you will appreciate how much extra work they put in.

I do love that term 'Pipsqeak'.

[snowychap]

It does have a 'u' in it, though.

[mockingbird_franklin]

seems everything this government does benefits every scam artist going but never those it is suppose to, couple of articles on the exploitation of the compulsory for the unemployed job site 'Jobmatch'

 

http://www.channel4.com/news/hackers-use-government-jobs-site-to-steal-your-data

 

http://www.channel4.com/news/why-is-government-website-carrying-fake-jobs?fb_action_ids=616247101745059&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=[286215154861092]&action_type_map=[%22og.recommends%22]&action_ref_map=[]

Edited February 13, 2014 by mockingbird_franklin

[mockingbird_franklin]

Government planning for public pension allocation?

 

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/02/why-are-old-people-britain-dying-their-time

[mockingbird_franklin]

On a serious note, surely if money is no object as we are a rich country, doesn't that prove that Austerity really is the frothing at the mouth ideological driven load of old tosh most sensible thinking people knew it to be

 

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/02/camerons-declaration-money-no-object-has-destroyed-his-austerity-message

[bickster]

Al last some sense; The School Teachers Review Body have rejected that 'Pipsqeak' Gove's proposals to reduce school holidays and increase the length of the school day. If you are a teacher or have a close friend or relative who is a teacher you will appreciate how much extra work they put in.

I do love that term 'Pipsqeak'.

Tbh Gove has a point with regards to the length of school day, it is ludicrously short. When did 2:30 become an acceptable time for the end of the school day? What on earth is wrong with 4pm like it used to be?

[snowychap]

On a serious note, surely if money is no object...

Has any 'new' money been made available for the relief/rebuilding effort(s), though?

Each time I hear a specific sum being mentioned for anything, it is followed a few hours later with a report that it was either money already committed to that area or spending brought forward a few months.

[villaajax]

Which school ends at 2:30?!

[peterms]

On a serious note, surely if money is no object as we are a rich country, doesn't that prove that Austerity really is the frothing at the mouth ideological driven load of old tosh most sensible thinking people knew it to be

 

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/02/camerons-declaration-money-no-object-has-destroyed-his-austerity-message

Exactly, which is why Cameron had to change his line so quickly.

The "austerity" line is built on a daft notion that money is a finite object, the government has only so much of it as it can extract via taxes or borrow from lenders, and all the rest of it. Cameron let slip that in fact there are no constraints on government spending other than those which are self-imposed, and that if they chose to, they could spend far greater amounts than at present.

Since that simple fact completely undermines his government's entire approach, he had to reverse his position while trying to minimise the political damage such U-turns might do in his own heartland. Amusing to watch, sad that the media have ignored this aspect of things entirely.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

I think most infant/junior schools do.

I'm with Gove on this one.

[Genie]

I have never understood how a government like ours can have debts... can't we just 'print' some and pay the bills with that?

(Yes, I know I'm coming across stupid)

[villaajax]

I have never understood how a government like ours can have debts... can't we just 'print' some and pay the bills with that?

(Yes, I know I'm coming across stupid)

 

Because a loaf of bread would then cost this

 

[peterms]

I have never understood how a government like ours can have debts... can't we just 'print' some and pay the bills with that?

Yes.

In fact, we didn't need to "borrow" money in the first place; it's a device intended to offer a safe outlet for people and institutions who want safe, risk-free investments which carry a little interest.

We could have simply created the money and spent it, but then the institutions (pension funds and the like) would complain that they have nowhere safe to invest their money, as they did in Australia when the government thought it had to run a surplus and so failed to issue "debt" to be "purchased". They might even have to exercise some skill and judgement in placing money with companies whose stock may rise or fall. Such a task would of course be highly skilled, and would need to be compensated by levying charges on the pension funds of all individual savers, whereas buying government bonds requires no - oh, hang on...

If governments create money at a rate which far outstrips the capacity of the economy to use it, then inflation occurs. Usually, this is held up as a bogeyman to scare us away from the idea that we might actually control our own money supply, instead of leaving the creation of money to the, ahem, wisdom of the banks, hedge funds and other assorted parasites.

Of course this is a fantasy, usually wrapped up with irrelevant and ignorant references to "Weimar" and "Zimbabwe". Trying to displace analysis with fear. Because in most situations, like ours at present, the economy has massive unused capacity, represented most starkly by the unemployed, the underemployed, the involuntary "self-employed", the vast amounts of capital firms are sitting on, the share buy-backs to boost directors' share-price-linked bonuses at the expense of investing in productive capacity...

So yes, the debt is a myth. Large parts of it are owed to our pension funds, ie us. We could repay it or not, and it wouldn't matter a great deal either way.

What does matter, and what is not being done, is investing in things which make us stronger, better, cleverer: green energy, education, infrastructure, culture, all the rest of the trappings of an advanced society. Instead of which, we have enforced hardship for the many to enable asset-stripping by the few, and the hype about "austerity" and "there's no money left" is utter bollocks mouthed by the useful idiots who would enslave us.

Don't accept this bollocks, even for a moment.

[peterms]

Amid the media scrum around the effects of floods, could the government perhaps spare a moment to think about the illness, rather than just dash around expressing concern about the symptoms?

It's like you have acute appendicitis, and someone is stood outside telling the press they've brought you a bunch of grapes. Yes, thanks, nice gesture, but it's hardly the point.