Friday! Talk Talk- Ascension Day

Taking Obama’s Pulse

PeoplesGeography@Pulse rounds up the better perspectives and analyses the attitudinal divide.

Here Comes The Pain

Citizens’ advice managers in Wales are warning the “true human cost” of the recession has yet to materialise after debt inquiries rose by almost 20%. The charities 32 offices in Wales dealt with 111,339 debt inquiries in the 12 months to April 2009, a rise of 19%. CAB Cymru director Fran Targett said previous recessions showed a lag before the number of debt advice calls peaked. More recent figures suggested a “spike” in problems with mortgages, loans, fuel debt and bailiffs, she said. The service, which operates from 200 locations in Wales, overall inquiries rose by 11% on the previous year to 298,119 in the 12 months to April 2009.

More than thirds of these we related to debt, with benefits and tax credit problems rising 11% to 97,803 and employment-related problems increasing by 17% to 22,262. Problems with mortgage and secured loans increased by 57% as did problems with private bailiffs. Fuel debt problems also increased by 31%. Within the benefits portfolio, problems with Job Seekers Allowance increased by 61%. Within the employment portfolio there was a 124% increase with redundancy-related problems.

Deckchairs, Titanic, etc

The current middle management of the UK for the neoliberal hegemony is having a bit of a snit fit. From those inside these are two interesting reactions so far, Livingstone, Meacher (!)Hmmm, What chance John McDonnell taking over No. 10? Not much. And anyway let someone else take the poison chalice, bide your time J McD, a Tory victory might be what’s needed for the party to purge the  NL conservatives (let’s face it half of them will probably join Cameron’s smarmy ship) then time for some actual social left politics to re-emerge. After all the ‘crisis’ of capitalism is only being sporadically postponed by current measures, the next ‘crisis’ could be smack bang in the middle of a Cameron reign. After all the financiers have not changed, currently hoarding oil (probably bought with the public’s bailout cash!) playing games with resources to enrich themselves at our cost. 

Meanwhile in pug nosed seventies throwback news:- Purnell is beginning his leadership bid by again demonstrating what a belligerent prick he is, he tells Brown to step down, did he get him confused with a peasant he wants to put in a workhouse? And note his great cause is tossed aside the instant his career is threatened, Thatcherite to the core- Hate on poor people but always priorities your own career welfare.

And for all the expenses shenanigans let’s not forget this is a government that committed massive war crimes. 

So fuck ’em. This is me, not crossing the street to piss on the fire engulfing New Labour. Bye Bye shitheads, not missing you already.

Britain’s Gini co-efficient is now 0.36, beyond the normal bounds of inequality seen in developed countries. In the United States the figure is 0.408, putting the largest economy in the world on a par with Mexico in terms of income inequality. But by European standards, the UK figure is exceptionally high. Sweden has a Gini coefficient of 0.23, Germany 0.283 and in France the figure is 0.327.

New Labour- FAIL