Mates Rates, D'Myth'd
Submitted by Captain Qahn on
From Vlad to Opec it would seem everyone is at it. Fixing a price:
""Russia is ready to accede to joint measures to reduce [oil] production, and is calling on other oil exporters to do so," said Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We support the recent Opec initiative to set production limits," he added. In late afternoon Brent Crude oil was trading up by 2.5% at $53.21 a barrel, just off the $53.73 high hit earlier on Monday. Speaking at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Mr Putin said that oil prices had "more than halved" in two years due to surplus production, provoking a "cycle of decreasing investment". http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37610287. Not quite the 'barrel' of laughs some anti-frackers were expecting but hey ho. The UK is going Horizontal: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-37567866, BBC (weirdos, yes they said that /this "Horizontal fracking can go ahead, the government has said, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site at Little Plumpton in Lancashire. Environmentalists and local campaign groups reacted angrily, saying it was a denial of local democracy. It means, for the first time, UK shale rock will be fracked horizontally, which is expected to yield more gas." (trust no one) Putin always pulls a cracker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hAgcXgUFVo 
Credit rating gone down hill? Its quite, multiplexing 4:1? Hi ho, check the standards. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/rating
Mind, May's 'Brexit means Brexit' places the UK in Brexiteer mode. Every man for himself as the falling pound continues to hammer down on the UK economy. Independence has a price, but is it worth paying?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/pound-value-sterling-dol...
"Sterling shed more than 4 per cent last week in its worst weekly performance since the EU referendum. It has been easily the worst performing of the G10 group of major currencies versus the dollar this year.... Goldman Sachs said its three-month forecast was for the pound to fall to $1.20, while Rabobank revised down its forecast for sterling after last week’s sharp falls and expects the pound to drop to $1.18 by mid-2017."
As the Euro draws up its bridges Brexiteers have gone from a 'ravishing' to a 'brutal' week : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/sterlings-punishment-fiv... Equality for all as the Euro takes on the pound ;-) https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/eur Oh Dear ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37609114 (Yep, tell that to the Man that is picking up the litter six month a year, and unemployed t'other six month, with a mortgage ) Nope am not mistaken: "https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/gbp-live-today/5571-gbp-to-eur-and-usd...
Yep, best stay at home, tis all home grown after all.
As Bilboa Bob aired on the local radio early July, people are afraid to go abroad they might get blown up.... terrorism is good for the UK tourist industry (btw, wot you say and what is heard are often two things, link at YCR still not put up.. )
A view shared by one of his flock? http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/why-everybody-s-flocking-to-brexit-b... "Sir Gary, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, hailed the “terrific” national figures, adding: “Although we await a breakdown to see how this translates for Yorkshire, anecdotally businesses have told us they’ve had a hugely busy summer. Events like the Tour de Yorkshire have attracted crowds of millions and beamed Yorkshire into homes in 178 countries across the world."
Write oh, Sunbeam, still, plucking huge numbers from the air seems a tad crude: "Written evidence has been gathered for a parliamentary inquiry into the role of tourism in supporting rural growth in England and a series of hearings will be held next month by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee. Committee member, Richmond MP Rishi Sunak, said: “I think we are doing a great job in bringing visitors to this country with London and our regional cities like Edinburgh, York and Oxford leading the way. “But I want to see the British countryside getting a larger slice of this cake. In many parts of rural Britain, including my constituency, tourism is a key, major element of the economy.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmNscnaz2eU
Meanwhile who needs terrorists when Samsung have their own devices: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37614770
Ah, so ... litter louts abound http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/andrew-vine-charging-for-car... perhaps a green tax on delivery vehicles would be prudent.
Boundaries. Mates Rates are not all they are cracked up to be. Working with what you've got seldom gets you anywhere, though granted tis part of the wheel. Cogs in wheels, be they your kin, kind or brotherhood of man it is simply the bottom line.
Mates rates are always the bottom line. That's the nature of the 'game', innit.
However, never let slip the Top line. Cos that's the interesting bit.
Ahem: http://fortune.com/2016/10/10/warren-buffett-taxes-trump/
Still, barking up a wrong tree .... a tenner that Trump will walk it...
Beggars belief ? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37592866 "The letter is signed by leaders of the CBI and manufacturers' body the EEF. It says the way in which the UK leaves the EU and on what terms is critical for jobs and investment in the UK. It says defaulting to trading by World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules would leave 90% of UK goods trade with the EU subject to new tariffs. The letter says that would mean 20% in extra costs for the UK's food and drink industry and 10% for car producers. These significant costs would affect British exporters and importers, as well as those in their supply chains, it adds. "We respect the result of the referendum, but the government must make sure that the terms of the deal to leave ensure stability, prosperity and improved living standards," the groups write." Scripted.
In a nutshell, hard times calls for hard measures... fiend or foe Theresa May is doing an excellent job.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/11/revealed-hard-brexit-will-cos... "...Conservative former minister Anna Soubry, a supporter of the Open Britain campaign, said: "The horrific damage of a hard Brexit is clear. Less tax revenue means less to invest in schools and hospitals, lower trade and investment means businesses and jobs at risk." Oops ? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/11/revealed-hard-brexit-will-cos... "...Treasury coffers will take a £66 billion annual hit if Britain goes for a so-called hard Brexit, Cabinet ministers have been warned...."
Leaked Government papers suggest leaving the single market and switching to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules would cause GDP to fall by up to 9.5 per cent compared with if the country remained in the European Union.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkEmwky7zT8
If you want a job doing professionally, on budget, on call and you call the shots .... never employ a mate.
Work harder ... earn less.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvGeYYUQ1gU
Tickled: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37573474
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOBjDWUFvDg
Radios...
More bang for the buck.
12 Comments
Canny Carney & Carillion
Submitted by Benefitz Betty on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37652467
"Mark Carney has said that inflation will rise on products such as food because of the fall in the value of the pound.
The governor of the Bank of England made clear that sterling's fall "helps the economy adjust".
However, he said it was "going to get difficult [for those on the lowest incomes] as we move from no inflation to some inflation".
He said that food would be the first to experience price rises.
More broadly, Mr Carney said goods and services would see higher inflation over the next "few years".
"It will show up," he said.
Mr Carney, who was speaking at a public roundtable with charities and other third sector organisations in Nottingham, said it was not the Bank's job to target the value of sterling but that "we are not indifferent to it, it matters to the conduct of monetary policy".
He said the Bank had to "weigh increased inflation against supporting the economy" with low interest rates..."
Meanwhile: -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-37655678
"Another bell-ringer has been suspended after speaking out against the sacking of 30 volunteers who peal the bells at York Minster...
Dr John Ridgeway-Wood, who plays the smaller carillion bells, said he was "sad and shocked" by the sacking.
York Minster said: "We don't discuss confidential issues relating to staff and volunteers..."
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/allow-the-york-minster-bell-ringe...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fA2Sig7F3c
Work Harder ... Earn Less
Submitted by Benefitz Betty on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37982080
Pershing "“Heads of state can and will change but I am confident that we can and we will sustain a durable international effort to counter climate change,” he said."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37981840
Routing ... "Joe Rukin, Stop HS2 campaign manager, said ministers were "trying to con the public" that the high-speed line was needed to boost rail capacity."
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business/14904765.Port_plan____could_de...
Kerching "Free ports, which Mr Sunak said are already popular in the US, are areas that, although inside the geographic boundary of a country, are considered outside the country for customs purposes... “A free ports programme would benefit the North.”"
Oh well:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37983948
foundlings ;-)
Awe bless : http://icl-uk.uk/7reasonstolove-polyhalite/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Sd5c4o9UM
SXX & FMG
Submitted by Benefitz Betty on
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10427356
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTq0lrwnmJM
http://fmgl.com.au/
Simon Carter: "Simon has a successful fast track project delivery record, from concept through to ramp-up. He has broad international senior management experience acting as a client, consultant and contractor. Simon was previously the Director of Development at Fortescue Metals Group and Project Director of the Solomon and Iron Bridge projects."
Work Harder Earn Less
Submitted by Captain Black on
Unfounded allegations costs Council £ 111.7k
http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/no-confidence-petition-launched-on-t...
"An online petition has been launched calling for a vote of no confidence in Scarborough Borough Council following a series of concerns.
The petition, which has almost 500 signatures states: “We, the undersigned, wish to state that we no longer have confidence in the present council cabinet to manage and maintain services whilst ensuring constitutional and legal processes and procedures are observed and upheld, for and on behalf of the people.”
See https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-scarboro....
It comes amid issues including that of the whistleblower Ben Marriott who says he is still waiting for an apology from the authority after settling his wrongful dismissal case.
Mr Marriott and the council came to a damages agreement at a hearing in Bradford last week after judges ruled that he had been forced to leave his job after the authority ‘whitewashed’ his complaints about corruption.
Mr Marriott told The Scarborough News that including legal fees and the damages he estimates that pursuing the case against him has cost the council around £250,000.
Mr Marriott, 65, told his bosses in 2014 that council employees were allegedly having work done on their houses by approved council contractors at favourable rates in exchange for taxpayer funded contracts down the road.
At an employment tribunal in Hull earlier this year, three judges led by Humphrey Forrest ruled the council had failed its employee, effectively leaving him with no choice but to resign from his job at Dean Road Depot, and savaged the authority’s handling of the investigation into his complaints."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yfkZR32fbg
http://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2183144/council-to-ap...
"4:17pm 22nd December 2016
"North Yorkshire County Council is to apply for a review of a decision by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal to allow an appeal against penalty charge notices issued under the Scarborough disc zone parking scheme.
On 7 December 2016,the Tribunal, an independent body to which drivers can appeal if they receive a penalty charge notice they believe should not be paid, allowed an appeal against five penalty charge notices relating to the Scarborough scheme.
Following the 7 December adjudication, the County Council maintains the view that the Scarborough scheme complies with the relevant legislation..."
YCR: Knightime
Submitted by Captain Black on
http://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2181084/scarboroughs-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifMe1s43eHw
http://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2182023/scarboroughs-...
http://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2182945/scarboroughs-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZJ9tx_zk4A
Leprechaun Economics
Submitted by Captain Black on
"...let me make a different point: GDP is actually the wrong measure. If you’re going to be pulling in foreign capital, you’re going to be paying more investment income to foreigners; so gross national income – income accruing to domestic residents – is going to go up by less. And surely that’s the measure we care about.
In fact, when you bear in mind the reduced taxes collected on foreign investors who are already here, GNI could actually go down, not up.... Ireland, famously, is a country where GDP vastly exceeds national income, by a growing margin...The reason is a low corporate tax rate, which attracts both real foreign investment in capital-intensive sectors – investment that raises GDP but does little for workers – and also creates an incentive to use transfer pricing to make profits appear in Ireland even though they have nothing much to do with Irish activity."
https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/leprechaun-economics-and-ne...
"That leap in GDP was underpinned by the relocation of €300 billion in capital assets to Ireland by multinationals – mainly in the form of intellectual property.
The massive transfer of assets here came amid a global clampdown on multinational tax avoidance."
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/cso-to-remove-leprechaun-fro...
Paradise Lost.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buy/forget-shepherd-hut-ultimate-gar...
"But you can’t just park your showman’s wagon in the garden and expect it to prosper..."
Hmmm ...
"The new higher stamp duty rates only apply to additional residential property. The following types of property, and land, are therefore exempt and would not be considered when determing ownership of additional property for stamp duty purposes.
Mobile homes, caravans and houseboats are not classed as residential so these are also exempt when considering ownership of an additional property."
P6: https://www.revenue.wi.gov/DOR%20Publications/pb075.pdf
The Golden Ocean. Empire of the Seas.
Air Compression
Submitted by Captain Black on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41945650
"Huge quantities of nitrate chemicals from farm fertilisers are polluting the rocks beneath our feet, a study says.
Researchers at the British Geological Survey say it could have severe global-scale consequences for rivers, water supplies, human health and the economy.
They say the nitrate will be released from the rocks into rivers via springs.
That will cause toxic algal blooms and fish deaths, and will cost industry and consumers billions of pounds a year in extra water treatment..."
http://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2017/10/climeworks-captures-co2-air-tur...
https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/tech/compressed-air-energy-storage/
Organics
Submitted by Captain Black on
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/14/switching-to-organic...
https://support.wwf.org.uk/adopt-a-rhino?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41958801
East Coast Anaerobics
Submitted by Captain Black on
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/environment/farmer-confident-of-vict...
"The farmer and businessman said he will be seeking the costs of the appeal from the council - and that could cost the taxpayer between £100,000 and £150,000.
The proposals for the plant, which will run on chicken manure and straw, were rejected earlier this year by the council’s planning committee due to detrimental impact on visual amenity.
Six parish councils and more than 300 residents are objecting to the latest application for the plant, which will convert 40,000 tonnes of waste into a methane-rich biogas which will be injected into the National Grid, providing “green energy” for more than 12,000 homes.
Officers are recommending approval, with conditions.
"Mr Bird told The Yorkshire Post, plans for other AD plants had won at appeal “because it is part of Government policy going forward.” He said: “I am not bothered whether it goes through or not. I am in the appeal process any way. If we don’t get it through on Thursday I know for a fact we will get it through at appeal.”
The plant has been designed to be a sealed system and Mr Bird said: “If it smells we are losing money.”
He claimed there had been no complaints from neighbours of other AD plants in East Yorkshire, adding: “People don’t want nuclear, fracking, they don’t want coal - but we have to get power somewhere. If they don’t want wind turbines do they expect us to import all our power from abroad like we do now? We have to because we are not producing enough energy ourselves.”
However chairman of campaign group Communities Against Digester David Gillyon-Powell said the battle was “not over”.
At least 50 protestors are expected to turn up to demonstrate outside the meeting tomorrow at County Hall, Beverley."
The Green Age.
Appetites.
Ne'er mind ...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/14/delhi-smog-fighting-helico...
“If it smells we are losing money.”
Ah, so ... Brexit.
The drawing board.
https://theenergyadvocate.co.uk/2017/11/10/national-grid-opposes-calls-r...
Carillion Updates
Submitted by Benefitz Betty on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42680585
"The troubled government contractor Carillion has held talks with its creditor banks this weekend and further meetings are planned for Monday, the BBC understands.
The construction firm owes £900m to RBS, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander.
The banks may be able to show Carillion more leniency if the government is able to do its part, according to sources.
The firm's future is also being discussed by government officials.
Carillion is involved in major public projects such as the HS2 high-speed rail line, as well as managing schools and prisons."
Supersonic travel that showed how British engineering could turn science fiction into science fact.
https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/tom-cruise-performs-ha...
“It’s the only railway of its kind that we know of and it was incredibly ahead of its time when it was built,” Mr Huskisson says.
“Completely driverless, it ran on electric power 22 hours a day while there were still horse and carts on the streets above.”
http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-ideas/weird-and-wacky/the-other-und...
"The flowering plants are the most important group of plants on Earth and now we finally know why they have been so successful," they say.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42656306
Carillion on the Brink?
Submitted by Benefitz Betty on
Overboard ...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/14/carillion-on-the-brink-...
Clean & Green
https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ec.html
Oh OK ;-00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLAJ0ooorDU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPDxtclZzVU
Ah, so ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNMgBxjegQc
The Missing Magpie
Submitted by Benefitz Betty on
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/feb/26/len-mccluskey-repays-40...
"...The union no longer owns a share in the general secretary’s flat.”
The flat is two miles from the union’s offices in Holborn. According to Land Registry documents, Leonard McCluskey became the registered owner of the £695,500 flat in February 2016. Unite paid £417,300 towards the flat and signed the agreement with McCluskey.
Some union executive members complained that the flat had been purchased without their knowledge. However, the union said the deal was completed with the “full authority” of its executive council..."
"So the dividing lines are clear politically - if less clear in practice. Clear politically, because the government is committed to coming out of the customs union. And in contrast Labour now says it wants to negotiate "a new comprehensive customs union" with the EU.
That puts clear blue water between opposition and government - and may signal to Remain voters that Labour wants a 'softer' Brexit, staying closer to the EU.
But in practice, there may be fewer differences than meets the eye. Jeremy Corbyn wants a customs union that would still give the UK a say in EU-led trade deals - which the EU may resist.
And Theresa May has spoken of a new "customs arrangement," which would, er, allow independent trade deals. But it's currently in the government and opposition's political interests to emphasise the differences, not the similarities."
Ah, so ...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/feb/25/generational-battle-lin...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQJrBSXSs6o
Tintin.. Duck.
http://newsthump.com/2018/02/20/will-you-survive-in-post-brexit-britain-...