UK Riots Consequences

I got kicked out of Liverpool One last night at 8pm as the police were putting a "ring of steel" around the city centre, advising all shops, restaurants to close. Oh dear, oh dear, could it be martial law!

I found this to be an excellent summary of the general situation at http://www.meetup.com/21stCent​uryNetwork/boards/view/viewthr​ead?thread=14694001

For many respectable city-dwellers, it can't feel very comfortable. Feeling too old, too comfortable and too much of a coward to get out on the streets, it is difficult with the responsibilities of family etc to even try to make a difference. Defeatist I know, but I suspect that is the stance of many, many people - politically unaware, and equally politically inactive.

If only the energy of protest could be directed more constructively into non-violent civil disobedience a la Thoreau/Ghandi to avoid giving "them" the circumstances "they" want to bolster security company profits etc. But that requires a certain amount of insight from those working in education etc and when the TES forums are full of Daily Mail/Express shouts of "scum", it is rather depressing. I'm not politically active either and it is scary (but less so for me as I've got nothing to lose now, so I can relate to a very small degree) as well as knowing that this has been building up with very little real opposition for a long time - watch the film Network from 1976 - incredible!  Alternatively, it would be nice if everyone could try the "F*ck It Way"

Eyes, over, pulled, wool, your... more fear factor

A French blogger has a page comparing the French and American debt... in real time!
See http://beaugency.over-blog.com/article-les-dettes-fran-aises-et-americaines-comparees--43250165.html

The counters and graphs on the page are scary but only if you are sucked into believing this money is real. I laughed when I saw it because it's another display of "blinding us with science" - the debt is created artificially and could be destroyed artificially by resetting all those counters back to zero and stopping them. But no, people will enjoy being impressed by the obscene amounts being projected, be suckered into the drama of last minute, tenter hook deals to save us from financial meltdown. As the beautiful Bill Hicks said, it's just a ride. And, furthermore to paraphrase the words of Woody Allen in the Front

Fellas, I don't recognise the right of these authorities to impose these sort of burdens on us, and furthermore, you can all go £'$k yourselves

Expat Explorer Survey

Not completely related to business but veeerryyy interesting seeing how your place of residence matches up to your values in HSBC's Expat Explorer Survey

If you were moving abroad, what would you want to know? Find out the results from the largest ever global independent survey of expats. Gain a unique insight into how expat life differs across the globe.

Expat Explorer is the world's largest global survey of expats. In 2010 more than 4,000 expats answered questions relating to their finances, quality of life and even what it's like to raise children abroad. This tool allows you to see how countries perform based on the criteria that are important to you.

Overcommitment to failing goals or failing commitment?

Is depression about overcommitment to failing goals rather than failing commitment? Interesting argument.
For depression, read business failure? Much in the article below can be applied to entrepreneurship
Read more at
Psychology Today: Why do depressed people lie in bed? A surprising theory

Patriotic Retirement Plan - Never a truer word said in jest?

Dear Mr. Cameron,

Please find below our suggestion for fixing the UK 's economy.

Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 10 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them £1 million each severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire.
Ten million job openings - unemployment fixed

2) They MUST buy a new British car.
Ten million cars ordered - Car Industry fixed

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage -
Housing Crisis fixed

4) They MUST send their kids to school/college/university -
Crime rate fixed

5) They MUST buy £100 WORTH of alcohol/tobacco a week .....
And there's your money back in duty/tax etc

It can't get any easier than that!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back their falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances

If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.

Also.....
Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home.

This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.

They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying it out.

They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education.

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ's and legal aid would be free, on request.

Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.

Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls.

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised. Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room and pay £600.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out.

Think about this (more points of contention):

COWS
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Appleby almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the county of Cumbria?

And, they even tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 125,000 illegal immigrants wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

Also;
Think about this ... If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -- YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM! It is time for us grumpy old folk of Britain to speak up!

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward

Can you spare 2.5 hours with an open mind to watch an analysis of where we are and an alternative for getting out of our global mess? Will our children and children's children look back at our continuing insistence on hydro-carbons in the same way we look back at the slave system?

Watch on YouTube now or see below for the synopsis and trailer

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, by director Peter Joseph, is a feature length documentary work which will present a case for a needed transition out of the current socioeconomic monetary paradigm which governs the entire world society. This subject matter will transcend the issues of cultural relativism and traditional ideology and move to relate the core, empirical "life ground" attributes of human and social survival, extrapolating those immutable natural laws into a new sustainable social paradigm called a "Resource-Based Economy".

Zeitgeist Movement: Moving Forward Trailer on YouTube

Reclaim Control of Your Data

Credit reference agencies are unable to update YOUR data based on YOUR request without authorisation from the companies, as "the information they hold belongs to the companies who provide it and they are the data controllers." They subsequentely advised that "the Human Rights Act 1998 requires all 'public authorities' to act compatibly with the rights contained in Schedule 1 of the Act. However, the agency is not a public authority but a private company carrying on commercial activities. It follows that the 1998 Act does not directly place upon us any additional responsibilities or duties."

The financial institutions are also able to set their own rules for retention of data.

The UK Financial Ombudsman advise that they are unable to do anything and suggest contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office who advise that
* the information can remain on record for "as long as information is relevant for credit referencing purposes"
* there is no set time limit for how long this period of relevancy is

ICO suggest contacting the FSA for further advice. The FSA summarised response was that they were unable to resolve disputes and that I should seek legal advice.

Ultimately the irrelevancy and powerlessness of the FSA, ICO and Financial Ombudsman are quite astounding and to suggest that it is we who have to resort to legal advice in order to control our own personal data is frankly insulting.

Consider voting for a campaign to raise awareness here or liking the Facebook page