BatChainPuller

This is the sort of thing I was alluding to. I'm in the position of that 'day-to-day' ground level middle manager - I have to cover London and the South West. Many of those still in jobs are having to cover two or three posts. The threat hanging over your head is "think yourself lucky to have a job and whilst we're not going to give you any annual pay increases other people in the same industry have experienced pay cuts - stop complaining and get on with it". I think many employers have exploited the current situation to increase workloads whilst freezing or cutting wages. Personally I'm nearing the end of my tether and close to chucking it all in - I ended up in hospital last year with a minor heart problem and I don't intend on returning. When I get home from work I've got so little energy left for the family and any of my personal stuff. Many of my colleagues are in the same boat. The British 'presenteeism' culture - long additional unpaid hours of course means less jobs, probably lower productivity and quality of work, and employee burnout with the state carrying the associated health costs. In my case, like many others, it's debt (mortgage, cards etc) and the consumption cycle that keeps me on the treadmill.

The jobs safe, but keeping it might kill me.

Can't keep his mouth shut.

Ah of course they will now all ditch their tax avoidance measures now the top rate of tax has been cut. Lamest tory excuse ever - bang on about incentives, scaring the rich away blah blah then as soon as its passed say its all academic anyway. How predictable that SD should parrot the tory line.

Thank heavens this government were considerate enough to cut the top rate of tax - these people are suffering: Rich List reveals record fortunes for Britain's wealthiest | Business | guardian.co.uk Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, remains top of the annual Sunday Times list of Britain's wealthiest residents. Photograph: Sebastien Pirlet/Reuters Britain's wealthiest people saw their fortunes rise to record levels last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Rich List (paywall), at a time when most Britons' earnings and savings were squeezed by inflation and low interest rates. The combined wealth of Britain's 1,000 richest people swelled by almost 5% to more than £414bn, the highest recorded by the 24-year-old survey. Some 77 members of the 2012 rich list were billionaires, two more than the previous record in 2008. Their good fortune contrasted with the economic plight of many Britons who face five years of austerity aimed at wiping out a record budget deficit as the economy struggles to recover from the 2008 financial crisis. The three top places in the list were taken by foreign-born magnates with a base in Britain who earned their fortunes from resource-based industries such as minerals, steel and oil. Lakshmi Mittal retained his crown as Britain's richest man despite losing almost a quarter of his wealth over the past year following a fall in the share value of his ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker. The Indian-born businessman saw his personal worth slide by £4.8bn to £12.7bn, but that was still enough to keep him on top of the list. Uzbek-born billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who owns around 30% of Arsenal football club, was again in second place and close behind Mittal with a fortune of £12.3bn. Russian investor Roman Abramovich, who owns rival club Chelsea, held onto third place with a personal value of £9.5bn, down from £10.3bn last year. The richest British-born billionaire was the Duke of Wellington, who slid from fourth to seventh place even though his largely property-based fortune rose 5% to £7.35bn. Britain's richest woman was former Miss UK Kirsty Bertarelli, who shares a £7.4bn fortune with her Swiss-Italian entrepreneur husband Ernesto. The annual list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property and other items such as art, racehorses or significant shares in publicly quoted companies, but does not include bank accounts.

1. Gerrard 2. Suarez 3. Kelly

Remploy was identified as a quango by the Tories, so has been in their ideological sights for a while. Even in purely economic terms the 'loss' incurred by Remploy is based on a very feeble-minded calculation. Economically inactive people are likely to be a burden on the benefits system, the NHS, perhaps even the criminal justice system - all apart from loss of tax revenue to the Treasury.

"An Irishman goes on to a building site looking for a job and is told by the foreman that he will have to undertake a brief test. ‘Fine,’ says the Irishman. ‘OK then,’ says the foreman. ‘First up, can you tell me the difference between a joist and a girder?’ ‘That’s easy,’ the Irishman replies. ‘Joyce wrote Ulysses and Goethe wrote Faust."

I like the cut of El Presidente's jib: That's the kind of companyero you want in your foxhole with you. Viva El Presidente ! Death to the imperialist lackey Evrita ! (maybe we should put Downing at the bottom of a well for a couple of years to grow some cojones)

"Gypsies, hehehe"

The beans.

1. Bellamy 2. Gerrard 3. Agger

1. Skrtel 2. Gerrard 3. Reina

If you want to have a go yourself this site is pretty good Buy Washing Machine Spares & Washing Machine Parts | eSpares - got little vids of how to fit the parts. I've replaced motor brushes and belt and got a few more years out of mine.

Is this the magic of which you speak ??? Daily Aids - Bariatric

Problem is that much play is made in the report of Comolli not making careful notes about such an important matter at the time, but Marriners notes are highly questionable (if Comolli is indeed a Spanish speaker it is barely credible that he would have dictated 'Tues negro' to Dowd) and Dowd's notes were destroyed. This is the pattern throughout - any inconsistencies in Suarez' defence are treated as highly significant and undermining his credibility. By contrast all of Evra and the FA's inconsistencies are either ignored or glossed over. All of the 'balance of probabilities' are unfailingly tilted in Eva/FA's favour. IMO the report is riddled with internal inconsistencies and any decent legal team should be able to tear it to shreds. The central point made early in the report : The 'evidence' is flimsy at best and I don't think it even approaches the standard they set for themselves. I agree that it's going to be very difficult to put this right after the event - ie after the incompetent preparation and defence. Evra was clearly far better prepared and briefed. As Dave and others have pointed out it stretches credibility that Evra and the FA are satisfied Suarez isn't racist despite what he is alleged to have said. They clearly didn't fancy their chances of trying to substantiate that and picked the battle they thought they could win.

That's what I was thinking - he had a real mare in that game and I think his confidence was destroyed. Clearly some top coaching/confidence-building going on. He's become a far better player than I thought possible, always saw him as a squad player. Glen Johnson shows similar improvement - the defensive part of his game is unrecognisable. Steve Clarke is instrumental in all this I imagine.

1. Bellamy 2. Gerrard 3. Skrtel

"So tell me, vich vay did you find to be ze sane vay ?"

Coming from you that makes him pretty sound.

DECEMBER 22, 2011 Atheist Found Dead in Fox Hole Hitchens vs. Higher Power? » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names by NORMAN FINKELSTEIN Even some of the critical commentary on Hitchens’s passing pays tribute to his atheism, which no doubt shocked readers of Vanity Fair. But the ultimate irony seems to have gone over everyone’s head. When I first learned that Hitchens was diagnosed with an excruciating and terminal cancer, it caused me to doubt my atheism. Could it be merely chance? The news came just as Hitchens was about to go on a book tour for his memoir. It was as if he was setting out on his victory lap when the adulating crowds were supposed to fawn over him and—wham!—his legs were lopped off at the kneecaps. Could it be the hidden hand of a Jehovah? If I still had doubts, the events of the past week dispelled them. First Hitchens passed. If that wasn’t burden enough to bear, the next day Vaclav Havel imploded. The deep thinkers among us were now beside themselves with grief. But then, on the third day, Kim Jong-il kicked the bucket. Was this a practical joke, and who was the joker? Biblical scholars report that divine interventions usually come in threes. Moe, Larry, Curly. Christopher, Vaclav, Kim. I cannot help but see in this otherwise improbable sequence a divine intelligence at play. The irony could not be more perfect: the god that the vindictive but witty Mr. Hitchens made a career scoffing at turns out to be…vindictive but witty. But I will leave the last word to a close buddy of Hitchens’ who is himself a true believer. When Saddam Hussein was executed, Tony Blair remarked: “I do not believe in capital punishment, but I think the world is a better place without him.” When I heard that Hitchens was dead, I took a deep breath. The air felt cleaner, as if after a 40-day and 40-night downpour. *** I get no satisfaction from Hitchens’s passing. Although he was the last to know it, every death is a tragedy, if only for the bereft child—or, as in the case of Cindy Sheehan, bereft parent—left behind. But, still, life is full of surprises. No one should be too smug in his certitudes. And if you’ve made a career of pissing on other people’s mostly innocuous beliefs, should it surprise that outside the tiny tent called Vanity Fair, your memory stinks of urine? NORMAN FINKELSTEIN is author of five books, including Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Beyond Chutzpah and The Holocaust Industry, which have been translated into more than 40 foreign editions. He is the son of Holocaust survivors. His website is Norman G. Finkelstein | Official Website

aws is safe then - dead men don't vote Plaid.

Has produced enough material for a whole series of that Mythbusters programme on the Discovery Channel. RIP YNWA

Only just got round to reading the text of this - fabulous stuff and absolutely spot on. Amongst Kenny's smorgasbord of delicious one-liners this was one of my favourites :

A racist who likes 1980's over-produced electronica ?