NAMED, BLAMED and SHAMED with Harry Blackwood

BUBBLE ABOUT TO BURST?

namedblamedandshamed@gmail.com (Harry Blackwood) — Fri, 6 Jun 2014 19:41:00 +0100

International Monetary Fund chairperson Christine Lagarde is highlighting that something needs to be done about Britain's housing bubble. The IMF are suggesting either a rise in interest rates, more house building, or a combination of both.

It's Friday. It's financial. It's Friday Financial with JULIAN SAYER.

Mortgage misery on the way for millions.

This week I want to give a quick recap on what's been happening since I started writing this blog back in February, both on the subjects I have covered, and geographically around the world.

First domestically. A few weeks ago I covered the problems building up in the housing market, and it looks as though it will become even worse than I had feared. The Bank of England even admits a housing bubble is forming, the bubble is out of control and when it bursts it will cause misery for all involved. This is the concern for millions, and if it does it will so damage the UK and its economy over the rest of this decade. This paragraph was taken from the article below which is well worth a read:

"The independent think tank raised the alarm about the most vulnerable 770,000 households already with mortgages, saying they were “doubly exposed”. Typically, they might have very low equity in their home (less than five per cent), might be self-employed or have an interest-only mortgage, making them less attractive to lenders. Secondly, it would take only a relatively modest rise in rates by 2018 for a third of their income to be eaten up by mortgage repayments."

http://www.independent.co.uk/money/mortgages/millions-face-becoming-mortgage-prisoners-as-rise-in-interest-rates-could-trap-to-23m-homeowners-9399137.html

How is this Governments gamble to ride the housing market to stimulate growth for the UK economy going to end? They will have to be very careful, it's already overheating and they have an extremely difficult balancing act ahead, but these housing bubbles don't tend to end well! As a whole the UK economy is growing, but it lacks of any real strength, which means it is very susceptible to outside shocks, and everywhere you look around the world, business is struggling and central banks are panicking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27731567

Next the tax burden in the UK is not going away, it is in fact getting worse. The latest figures shows borrowing by the Government is actually continuing to rise. This coupled with the reduced tax revenues will mean the Government will have to raise taxes on the easy targets of middle England and Pay As You Earn. The lack of any real ease in the cost of living crisis within the UK means there are many more years of hard times for the working poor.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/city-news/new-tax-scandal-report-claims-3573085

The next problem that both the consumer and Government will have to face are the interest rate rises and inflation that is bound to come, if and when the economy recovers. It's estimated nearly 2 million households will struggle with any rise in interest rates.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/uk-britain-inflation-idUKKBN0E00N120140520

A very good article was written this week about the problems the world economy is storing up. The massive Quantitive Easing (QE) that nearly every central bank has undertaken to try to save their respective economies has stored a lot of huge difficulties around the world that will be an almost impossible task to unwind. It's an excellent article and well worth a read, this was taken from it;

"There are troubling signs that globalisation may be in retreat. There is a risk of yet another epoch-defining and disruptive seismic shift in the underlying economic regimes. This would usher in an era of financial and trade protectionism. It has happened before, and it could happen again," he said."

This is the article and something we have seen coming for the last few years, how it plays out will frighten many economists.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/10876377/The-nagging-fear-that-QE-itself-may-be-causing-deflation.html

Let's have a quick look around the world at the troubles the world economy is having. The USA is the most important economy which dwarfs every other, in size and spending power. If America sneezes the world catches a cold the old saying goes. Well America appears to be sneezing!

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-05/half-country-makes-less-27520-year-and-15-other-signs-middle-class-dying

Japan was the first to experiment with QE and was dubbed Abeonomics after their Prime Minister. It never really succeeded, and Japan has become the most indebted country in the world, with no real hope of ever paying their debt off.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-05/abenomics-legacy-greatest-misery-33-years

China has struggled, as their economy is based on exporting to the developed world. As these exports have struggled as have China's companies. This in turn affects the raw materials they import from Australia and South America to make these goods.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-02/china-hsbc-pmi-misses-economy-contracts-5th-month-row

South America is feeling the heat as well;

http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2014/5/20/argentina-fesses-up-price-of-milk-doesnt-lie-but-politicians.html

Europe is in many ways a basket case, countries such as Italy and Greece are building up debts similar to Japan and will never be able to pay them off. It has huge problems, in debt, unemployment, pensions and demand. The European Central Bank has just about used up all its tools trying to restart the economy. Let's see how the latest one works.

http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUKKBN0EG1EV20140605?irpc=932

Hot off the press, Mexico is the latest to press the panic button.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-06/it-snowed-mexico-mexican-central-bank-unexpectedly-cuts-rate-due-worse-expected-econ

Finally, I reported about the fixing of various markets by the global investment banks. As the investigations continue, it seems the theft and deception entered every market they were allowed to operate in.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-03/gold-price-manipulation-was-routine-ft-reports

Anyway, hopefully now I am back in the groove, I will continue my blog next week with a very important piece on understanding how we got into these troubles. Next week's blog will be on Financialization.

Enjoy your week.

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PUTTING THEMSELVES FIRST

namedblamedandshamed@gmail.com (Harry Blackwood) — Tue, 20 May 2014 16:24:00 +0100

Why Putting Hartlepool First are no different. More greedy politicians. More snouts in the trough. Zero integrity.

ByHARRY BLACKWOOD

I was born in Hartlepool fifty eight years ago and have never lived more than five miles away from the magnificent Christ Church which stands proudly in the centre of my home town.

I mention this, not only because I'm a proud Hartlepool bloke, but also to counter a stupid comment from a woman the other day on The Hartlepool Mail website who suggested I should keep my nose out of Hartlepool political affairs because I don't live in the town.

The intensely misguided Stella Leighton (if that's her real name) is technically correct but when I was editor of the Hartlepool Mail I could run from the front door of my current home to my office (within spitting distance of the aforementioned Christ Church in under half an hour. It's five miles. Reckon ten minutes on the bike would sort it now.

My affiliation with Hartlepool (I worked and lived in the town for more than forty years plus my connection and editorship of the local newspaper, combined with a lifetime's interest in politics puts me in a unique position to pass comment on all aspects of Hartlepool life.

As the local council elections are just days away I'm going to stick with politics.

In the fifty eight years of my Hartlepool life, I have watched my town and its people being failed, abused and taken for granted by national and local politicians alike. I've seen Tory governments like the current one ignore the problems and challenges the town has. I've seen self-serving bastards like Peter Mandelson use the town to further his own personal and political objectives. I've been exasperated to see Labour and Tory Councillors whose only interest is a little bit of power and a few quid expenses, sail from one election to the next without lifting a finger to achieve anything.

I watched with horror as a football club mascot dressed in a monkey suit, who stood in the mayoral elections as a joke, attempted to morph into a serious politician once he'd realise how much bigger the pay cheque was than the one he'd been receiving at a local call centre.

But worst of all. I've watched the current MP Iain Wright - a local bloke who you could expect better of - redefine the term 'spectacularly useless'. Like 99.9% of politicians, Wright is in it for himself. From his mealy mouthed words in the local paper to employing his wife part time on almost £30,000 a year, Wright takes the piss out of the electorate in his safe Labour seat.

BUT WE ARE LED TO BELIEVE THINGS ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE. THERE'S A NEW POLITICAL GANG ON THE BLOCK.

With more bluff, bluster and mouth than a group of cider-fuelled teenagers at a school disco, Putting Hartlepool First have been bombarding social media with their political message. That message is about as worthless as the town's MP: VOTE FOR US, WE'RE BETTER THAN THE OTHERS.

Yep, that's pretty much it: The others are crap so vote for us. Surely nobody would buy that old tosh?

Well, just as you'll soon discover that democracy is a joke after a two minute chat with the average voter, it was fairly obvious that the thick, the gullible, the disillusioned and those desperate for change, swallowed the bullshit pumped out by these political opportunists hook, line and sinker. Thankfully, there were others (myself included) who didn't buy this nonsense and began asking serious and relevant questions of Putting Hartlepool First (PHF). It became obvious immediately that PHF don't like answering questions. Not only do they not like answering them but they take grave offence at people even having the audacity to ask them.

PHF chairman David Riddle.

As the days went by, their Facebook page became a laughing stock. Comments they didn't like were deleted, whole threads removed and a complete raft of people were blocked from commenting. Surprisingly, local criminals, violent thugs and football hooligans, together with other unsavoury characters, were encouraged to post. There was racism, homophobia and general nastiness that would put UKIP or the BNP to shame. Instead of condemning and exposing these people, PHF chairman David Riddle courted these people. No surprise at all. This is a man who has no scruples. He'd sell his granny for a few votes in the Hart election.

Oh yes, the Hart Ward. The one Riddle wasn't going to stand in because he thinks Councillors should only stand in their own wards. Hmmmmmm.

Anyway, I digress. As the debates raged, it became apparent that PHF and The Hartlepool Post web site were in fact one and the same. Hartlepool Post is nothing more than a vehicle for Putting Hartlepool First. The methods employed on the Hartlepool Post Forum are the same. The posters (almost all PHF members posting under a variety of names) abuse people and censor their views. Eventually they are blocked from posting. Joe Stalin himself could learn a bit from how these people handle dissenting voices.

SO IT'S WORTH ASKING WHO THE HELL ARE PHF AND ARE THEY ANY BETTER THAN THE REST?

The second part of that question can be dealt with easily. No. They're not any better. I'd put my life on the certainly they're a whole lot worse. Everything they say and do backs that up.

As for who they are, they are nothing more than a bunch of disillusioned, low-achievers playing political games to draw attention to themselves and get a bit of power to brighten up their shallow lives. They could easily be PTF - Putting Themselves First.

Hartlepool councillor Geoff
Lilley.

While the figurehead of the group is chairman is David Riddle, the brains of the operation (steady on there aren't many brains amongst this lot) is veteran councillor Geoff Lilley. I'd love to say that Lilley is a seasoned political campaigner with an ounce of integrity and honesty but I refuse to lie. He's another one with his snout at the trough who is in it for himself. If it didn't attract too much attention, the party could be called Putting Lilleys First. I use the plural, because Geoff's wife Alison is also a councillor. So, two Council allowances coming into the house. Very nice. Beats working for a living. No wonder Geoff hasn't had a job since Accrington Stanley were a leading force in professional football.

What we have is Lilley using Riddle as his meal ticket. Big Geoff wants Riddle to succeed so he can be king maker. If Riddle succeeds, he'll be eternally grateful to Uncle Geoff and will fight to get extra allowances for Geoff. Mr Lilley likes these that's why he tried to get the vice chairman's salary doubled. Who knows, if PHF do well at the elections the Lilleys could be the Hartlepool version of the Kinnocks.

The long term plan has already been discussed. Riddle and Lilley can both see how vulnerable Iain Wright is as the town MP and Riddle is arrogant enough to think that he can take the seat.

So, getting independents into the council chamber is nothing more than a ruse. It's utter bullshit. If that was the aim, people would stand as independents. There would be no need for PHF, PLF OR PRF. It's just a launching pad for a Riddle MP challenge as PHF endorsed candidate with Geoff Lilley In the background pulling the strings.

So, there you have it in as neat a nutshell as I can manage. I've left lots of dirt out. I've kept the insults to a bare minimum. These people have no interests in the advancement of the town or the betterment of the people. They are cyclical political chancers. They are liars. They are bullies. They are censors. They curtail free speech. But worst of all they are incompetent with no political or strategic skills worth talking about. They are in it entirely for themselves. PUTTING THEMSELVES FIRST.

If that's what you want feel free to go out and vote for them. But be prepared for me to come back to say I told you so . . . .

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TEN REASONS NOT TO VOTE UKIP: REASON NUMBER 4

namedblamedandshamed@gmail.com (Harry Blackwood) — Mon, 19 May 2014 18:46:00 +0100

UKIP's David Silvester has been widely condemned for calling the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act “contrary to the gospel”.

YOU BELIEVE IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH 'GAY'

I used to live my life thinking live and let live. That was before we started getting lots of rain and gay people started getting married. Obviously the two things couldn't possibly be connected. Could they?

Well, obviously not. Well not if you're rational and level-headed. But what if you're a UKIP supporter?

Since the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act, the nation has been beset by serious storms and floods. One recent one caused the worst flooding for 60 years. The Christmas floods were the worst for 127 years. Is this just global warming or is there something more serious at work?”

David Silvester (suspended UKIP councillor) – who called homosexuality a “spiritual disease”, thinks that God is punishing us for allowing people of the same sex equal rights. This one also works if you are a religious person who doesn’t want their religion hijacked by extremists.

Then there's Dr Julia Gasper, former chair of the Oxford Branch of UKIP who said this: "As for the links between homosexuality and paedophilia, there is so much evidence that even a full-length book could hardly do justice to the subject.” FFS. She also thought that gay rights were a “lunatic’s charter”, and likened homosexuality to bestiality. Lovely woman. She also said that she wouldn't talk about her comments to a journalist, because it was “None of your business”. I disagree. We have the right to ask questions of those who seek power, especially when they spout hate like this.

Here's another little cracker: “The evidence is quite clear that the percentage of homosexuals who molest children is very high and cannot be dismissed.” That pearl of wisdom is from UKIP member Jan Zolyniak.

Then we have Douglas Denny, of the Bognor branch who protests with imagery that has clearly had him awake at night… “I just wish they would keep their homosexual nature and practices to themselves and stop trying to ram it down my throat telling me they are ‘normal’ when they are not.”

Gay adoption is “unhealthy”, and a form of “Child abuse”, according to Winston McKenzie, the 2012 candidate for Croydon. Winston seems lovely, and a man of conviction, who stands loyal to his policy. Which is why he has run for election with every political party in the country, and failed every time.

But UKIP members are not always homophobes. Two notable exceptions are Olly Neville, former leader of UKIP youth organisation ‘Young Independence, and Richard Lowe, former UKIP candidate for Chester. Both bravely stood in support of Gay marriage. Both were subsequently fired because of that support.

The 2004 candidate for Mayor of London Frank Maloney, refused to go to Camden to campaign. His reasons? There were, “too many gays” and “there is a problem with gay parades.”

But fear not. If you feel that just reading this article puts you at risk of “getting gay”, UKIP have the answer. Just go for a brisk jog. 2013 local election UKIP candidate John Sullivan says that physical exercise regimes in schools would prevent people from being gay. Just keep your eyes closed in the showers John. We don't want to put you off your “protesting a little too much” homophobia.

The lovely Harry Perry, mentioned elsewhere, thinks that homosexuals are, “An abomination against God”. He was suspended for his “crackpot views”. So if you hate homophobia, this is who wants to represent you, and if you hate homophobia, these people don't even have the courage to stand up for your bigotry. Either way, the bigots lose.

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