Sarah W. Hanna, Blogging, Poetry & Everything Else

As we enter 2009, many if not most agree that the US economy is struggling, and that these struggles will continue. An increasing number have been making comparisons to the Great Depression. With that in mind, let’s compare and contrast the situations:

Similarities

1. Both were preceded by an extensive period of credit-fueled bubbles. Before there was the Great Depression there was the Roaring ’20s; likewise, before Depression 2.0 were the Greenspan NASDAQ and housing bubbles. Consistent with Austrian business cycle theory, the end result of a credit-fueled bubble will be a corrective recession that purges out the malinvestments resulting from an excessive expansion of the money supply.

2. Both were marked by government interventionist policies designed to prevent falling asset prices. For instance, bans on short selling occurred in 2008 and at the beginning of the Great Depression. Likewise, stimulus packages were the prescribed remedy at the onset of the Great Depression, and are in vogue once again now. It’s worth noting they were unsuccessful back then, and don’t appear to be succeeding now.

Differences

1. There is a lack of a gold standard, which serves as a restriction to how much the money supply can be expanded. The dollar was devalued relative to gold during the Great Depression, so there were attempts to circumvent restrictions on the money supply, but ultimately the gold standard was not fully abolished until 1971, and so the Federal Reserve was a bit more restricted in how much money it could create. This restriction does not exist today.

2. America was not as debt-ridden during the Great Depression as it is today. Credit cards are a rather new creation, and the national debt and deficit spending were significantly lower.

3. America’s debt is owned largely by foreigners. This introduces the possibility of economic warfare; foreign debt owners can devalue the dollar by selling Treasury bonds as well dollar reserves.

4. All major currencies are fiat currencies, and the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency. This helps the United States in a way, as central banks have been inflating their money supply along with the US dollar to maintain parity of sorts. In this way, the US gets to export its inflation.

Conclusions

1. Because of the similarities, it is reasonable to expect asset prices to continue falling in real value. It is easiest to define “real value” as the price in gold; in other words, assets will fall relative to the price of gold.

2. Because of the differences, currency devaluation as seen in Argentina’s depression in 2001 and Iceland’s depression in 2008, is much more likely. Those who argue for deflation and a scenario similar to Japan are not considering that the Federal Reserve under Bernanke is willing to use unorthodox measures to inflate; Japan was more cautious, and did not heed the recommendation of economists like Paul Krugman, who had called for the Bank of Japan to fully monetize Japan’s budget deficit by simply creating more money. As there are no restrictions on the Federal Reserve to expand the money supply as it pleases, currency devaluation is more feasible. Moreover, unlike Japan and like Argentina and Iceland, the US is a debtor nation — not a lender. This increases the likelihood of a run on the currency, which will result in significant currency devaluation.

3. Because of the US dollar’s role as world reserve currency, other economies may try to devalue their currency along with the US dollar to avoid the pain and chaos of decoupling. This would result in the value of all fiat currencies falling.

4. Depressions that are purely deflationary, like Japan and the Great Depression, last significantly longer and can be characterized by reversals that last for years. Roger Nusbaum noted this in 2009 forecast, in which he expects a rally — offering a comparison to the significant rallies that occurred during the ’30s during the US’ Great Depression. Inflationary depressions, though, have a much sharper and harder fall, and thus do not have genuine rallies until currency stability is restored.

5. While zero percent interest rates and quantitative easing are the tools currently being utilized, should currency devaluation begin to be an issue, raising interest rates will be the most likely and most effective way of preserving the US dollar’s value. Paul Volcker’s policies during the late ’70s and early ’80s are a historical precedent in this matter, and interestingly enough, Volcker has returned as an economic advisor. Should interest rates rise, this would likely send stocks falling.

6. Should foreign currencies devalue along side with the US dollar, gold and silver should rise. Should foreign currencies decouple, the US dollar may fall relative to them.

The world’s major auto makers and energy producers grudgingly admit that the world will eventually run out of oil, and they have begun research and development with alternative sources and fuels. None of the experiments has led to a major breakthrough, but all of them have shown great promise. Meanwhile, however, the world’s demand for oil increases as emerging nations require more and more fuel to run their burgeoning manufacturing plants.

Because of environmental, economic, and political concerns, oil exploration and new drilling have failed to keep pace with increasing demand. Hence, oil prices rise according to the laws of supply and demand, frequently causing economic turmoil in both the oil- producing and the oil-consuming nations.

Because exploration and drilling require time, money, and extremely sophisticated knowledge and skills, exploration and testing may never catch-up with worldwide oil demand.

The oil and gas exploration process

Geologists have mapped the world’s largest oil reserves, many of which remain undeveloped. In the oil and gas exploration process, developers remain reluctant to drill test wells until geologists assess drilling’s feasibility and practicality. Some sites naturally are better than others, and some, despite their location over huge oil reserves, pose nearly impossible challenges for drillers and developers.

As they narrow the possibilities, geologists study geography, topography, and climate, evaluating ground conditions for drilling. They also supplement their preliminary explorations with ground-penetrating radar, estimating the size and volume of the underground reserves. Geologists also extract and test soil and rock samples, assessing the difficulty of drilling. Using a variety of sophisticated tools and 3D-imaging devices, explorers finally map each promising site in three dimensions, subsequently plotting the ideal path for the drill.

Experts claim a reserve must contain at least 160 million battles of oil to make further exploration and drilling worthwhile. Determining a site’s viability may take up to three years and cost millions of dollars: A single test-well costs more than $2.5(US) million, and explorers usually drill at least four test wells on each site. Explorers average about 50% success. Venture capitalists and oil companies, therefore, wager a great deal on relatively uncertain odds.

Drilling

Perfectly straight, clean and accurate downhole drilling is impossible. In a geological game of “rocks-paper-scissors,” rocks always win. The paper map may plot a perfect path for the “borehole,” but the drill-bit seldom cuts straight into the rock under the influence of gravity alone. Downhole drilling a borehole does not advance as simply as dropping a plumb-line from a stick, because dense, drill-resistant rocks can send the drill careening into the earth at radically oblique angles; or dense rocks simply can shatter the drill bits. Because an observer cannot simply look down into the hole to make certain the drill has remained steadily on course, drillers routinely test their boreholes and continue sampling the rocks and sediment they pull out of the hole.

Most drillers employ “wireline services” to monitor and guide their drilling processes, because wireline services have command of extremely specialized instruments for tracking and adjusting the borehole’s path and dimensions. In addition to maintaining the borehole’s proper path, wireline services measure temperature and pressure well beneath the Earth’s crust, helping drillers adapt to different kinds of resistance, and helping developers anticipate the requirements for pumping oil out of the hole. Wireline consultants frequently stay at a drill site from the drill’s first penetration to production of the oil well’s first barrel.

I enjoyed the Love Productions and Channel 4 series Tower Block of Commons. I feel a single programme might have maintained the power of the culture clash better than four episodes. Five English MPs temporarily gave up their comfortable lifestyles to live on some of England’s disgraceful local authority housing estates. The guests were Tory: Iain Duncan Smith, Nadine Dorries, Tim Loughton; LibDem:Mark Oaten and Labour: Austin Mitchell. Iain Duncan Smith left the series, as his wife was diagnosed with cancer and his place was taken by Nadine Dorries. The series was reviewed by Brian Viner in The Independent ‘It’s so obvious, it might be the result of a brainstorming session in a primary-school classroom.’ I doubt very much if primary school children would be aware of the link between poverty and government policies, or lack of them. The problems encountered by the residents were certainly not obvious to the MPs.

An introduction to the second programme claimed ‘these MPs got closer to the lives of the British voters than ever before’. This claim is untrue, as at least one resident did not even know where the Houses of Parliament were. This does not mean that the residents were not political, some expressed very logical and pertinent political opinions. I think all residents were agreed, they had never seen an MP on the estates previously; some had seen a photograph of an MP. Yet, it was very easy to engage the residents in political activity. They were very keen to become involved and to improve their lot when given the chance.

The MPs were expected to live on £5 per day, which is what someone on benefits lives on. It would be hard for most people to cope with moving out of their own home to sleep on someone’s sofa or floor. To drastically change someone’s budget would be difficult for anyone to deal with. It was not easy for a £60000 per annum MP to revert to living on £5 per day, as it would be for someone living on £5 per day to be asked to manage a £60000 budget. Plus, not all residents lived on benefits, therefore the decision to make the MPs live on benefit level income was possibly ill considered. Austin Mitchell refused to cooperate with the request to live on £5 per day. Nadine Dorries was caught trying to smuggle cash in, in her underwear.

Austin Michell is 75-years-old and has been with his wife, Linda, for 45 years. It’s not surprising he and his wife asked for their own flat on the estate in Orchard Park, Hull. It has been widely criticised in the media that Austin requested separate accommodation and brought along his wife. He has also been criticised for going to his friends’ house for dinner. Personally, I do not see that this matters very much. The series highlighted the fact that some people live on £5 per day and live in horrific housing conditions. If a programme highlighted the need for clean water in a developing country, I do not expect the presenter to drink the water.

Austin’s Mitchell’s first host was Selina, who could be described as: intelligent, clever, articulate, sociable, confident and presentable. She is also: a methadone user; ex-prisoner; ex-prostitute and ex-drug user and dealer. Selina came to Austin and Linda’s flat on the second day of their stay to explain that she is a methadone user. Selina grew up on the estate and was introduced to cannabis at the age of fourteen by a female neighbour. Austin’s wife, Linda McDougall then bravely revealed she had heavily used benzodiazepines as a young mother. Austin claimed not to know this was the case and joked that her confession might affect his parliamentary career. Austin did not seem at ease with the revelation and viewers were no t party to discussions between the two on the wisdom of this self-disclosure. Two junkie women meeting for the first time, one had to prostitute herself, deal drugs and go to prison on account of her habit. The other a drug addict in her own domestic and socially acceptable way. McDougall’s addictions were probably privately funded, or she found a sympathetic medical practitioner who favours MPs families as patients.

Selina lived with boyfriend Graham. Austin incredibly asked Selina if old people really have to share a block of flats with ‘druggies’. He did not realise when he asked this that Selina and her partner Graham, are both druggies. He has shared his life with a druggie, but that does not seem to have registered with him. Perhaps, people are only druggies if they live in social housing, or have been to jail or inject heroin. If the druggie is middle-class, or the wife of an MP, they remain described as Linda McDougall does as a ‘television producer’ and ‘journalist’. Perhaps after viewing the series, the most astonishing discovery is that 75-year-old Austin Mitchell is Chair of the government Council Housing Group. It beggars belief that Austin Mitchell could say he thought such drug-use problems amounted to ‘folklore’. Mitchell has said on his website that he thought, before taking part that, the series was ‘an appropriate way to promote council housing…’ which is foolish given that he did not really understand what council housing was. Tim Loughton said to his host, Dean, that he was offered cannabis at a Young Conservatives bash. Drugs are everywhere, but perhaps the requirement to escape is not.

Selina took Austin to the daily methadone dispensary, which dispenses ninety doses per day on that site. Therefore, addicts are densely packed into a small area and this will bring its own unique problems. Austin said he did not know why people took heroin and said perhaps he would find out that week. I suppose it would be for much the same reason as his wife used drugs. Linda said now if she has a bad day, she drinks alcohol. I suppose her bad day and that of an Orchard Park resident vastly differ. Linda said to Austin it is difficult to be a mum and she considers that is the core issue during the making of the series. McDougall, obviously, personally found it difficult to be a mother herself. It is the one thing I did not hear any of the mothers on the estate complain about. Austin’s attitude is that cooking, children and housework are women’s work and this must have put stress on his wife as a young mother. Austin phoned his to wife for help when he was left babysitting for his second host, unemployed chef, Dave. He said in the call ‘the food is all over the floor and the baby’s shat itself…’, I don’t know what leaving the MP to babysit was meant to prove. It is hardly likely that most 75-year-olds, with no experience, would be left babysitting.

Hull North MP Diana Johnston was invited, with the residents, to dinner by Linda, Austin’s wife. This gave the high-rise residents the chance to discuss their concerns with their MP. Dave, another host to Austin and Linda, spoke intelligently, as ever, about bailing out the banks while people who cannot pay back money to the banks are made homeless. Dave is an unemployed qualified chef forced to cook family meals in a microwave as the local authority want to charge him £80 to connect his gas cooker. Austin Mitchell said surely this was the responsibility of the property owner and not the tenant. Dave gambles to make money and said it is like Alistair Darling gambling with the UK economy. Dave questioned Austin about his expenses and asked if he had to pay back any expenses. Austin said facetiously he had to pay back a few bottles of wine and a jar of pickles and crinkly crisps; he forgot to mention the £10000. Dave said out of £60000 he was amazed he could not afford to feed himself. Dave asked: ‘how can MPs say what benefit claimants need to live on if they do not know the price of anything?’

The Metro on 19 February carried a headline saying Austin Mirchell received ‘hate mail’after his appearance. On reading the sensationalist piece, it seems he received a lot of mail, which was critical of him – and he deserved it. He has said on his website he was made to take part under false pretences. He has been criticised for being arrogrant; out-of-touch and a disgrace. For what it is worth, I liked him, but I have to say if he was humiliated as he claims he was, he humiliated himself. Surprisingly enough, most of the newspapers seem to have simply replicated his opinions with no objective analysis of his performance during filming. He describes himself in the Hull Daily Mail as being naive for taking part. All I can say is that is a very poor excuse, a 75-year-old Labour MP should definitely not be naive. He was shown as an amiable old joker who is probably being allowed to stay in a job for which he is ill-equipped.

Mark Oaten was sent to stay with Kathy in Barking. Barking and Dagenham have more BNP councillors than any other area in the UK. This reflects not the success of the BNP, but the failure of mainstream political parties. The BNP is very active in an area where none of the residents has seen an MP. The BNP recognise the opportunity to thrive on hopelessness. Mark Oaten was aware of their canvassing while living on the estate. He heard them say if there were less people, houses could be built and they could move out of these tower blocks. Part of the BNP’s ‘Welfare and Housing Policy’ states: ‘make all…social housing only available to British citizens…’ The residents are willing to believe anyone who will offer them a glimmer of hope away from their intolerable living conditions.

LibDem Roger Williams is the elected member for Welshpool, home to Nick Griffin. Mr Griffin is a Cambridge graduate and lives in an exclusive stone farmhouse in the Welsh hills. His two-acre, exclusive property is guarded by dogs, CCTV cameras and alarms. His political manoeuvres are described by his wife as ‘a game’ (Times 14 June 2009). I have no idea how close the nearest BNP councillor is to Nick’s hilltop retreat – Barking probably. The only thing Nick Griffin is interested in is finding fodder for his race hate agenda. You would think he would like to live close to others who were supportive of his politics. However, you are never likely to find Nick Griffin living in an area represented by BNP councillors anytime soon.

Mark Oaten said before taking part he felt he would spend his time on the council housing estate eating McDonald’s and watching Coronation Street. I do not think it occurred to him that McDonald’s food is well outwith the budget of someone living on benefits. It should come as no surprise to find that tenant’s in social housing do not seem to eat any more junk than the next man. Oaten had an affair with a rent boy, I wonder how many MPs would tolerate all council tenants believing all MPs have affairs with rent boys? Council tenants are a disparate group of individuals, with varying abilities, concerns, experiences, views and capabilities – and Kathy was no exception.

Mark said he associated home with being ‘…a safe place, it’s about a garden….’ Kathy has neither safety, nor a garden or even space in which to move. Mark was critical of Kathy not using the common land surrounding the tower block to exercise. He went out running amid the poo, needles, unbelievable traffic noise and threatening surroundings. He admits in his interview on the Channel 4, Tower Block of Commons webpage, that within a day or two he was sharing the lacklustre reticence of Kathy who rarely left the flat. He was filmed lying face down on the grass outside crying. Kathy pointed out that was his response after one day and predicted in a few days he would be looking for a noose.

The first day on the estate Mark was cruelly taunted by passing males about his dalliances with rent boys. It does seem that this incident was possibly engineered and had some connection with the production team or possibly the BNP. It seems incredulous that on an estate where no one had seen or met a reputable politician, they would recognise the MP for leafy Winchester. A place far, far away, eighty miles south-west, a place with no tower blocks and no BNP councillors. A place where politicians lived in mould-free bathrooms, with swimming pools in the garden and a place where they can afford to eat McDonald’s junk food, at the expense of the taxpayer, should they choose to.

Mark moved on to a new host, Sloane and her husband Mark who have five children and three cats. Mark went supermarket shopping with Sloane who spent £150 on food and nappies for the children. Sloane then spend £42 on cigarettes and justified it by saying we all have our addictions. Obviously, anyone would question why someone on such a limited budget would spend so much on cigarettes. I suppose it would be so much easier if we could decree that people who could not afford addictions did not have them – but it is not that easy. Sloane, fed up with Mark’s criticisms, checked up on Mark’s expense claims as an MP and was astonished to find he claimed £116 for two irons and said ‘are you taking the piss?’ Sloane said he could have bought an iron at Argos for £14.99. Sloane said she thinks Mark is a sweet guy, but a Jekyll and Hyde when he can claim so much money to live, while condemning her. Mark did not seem to cope with the accusation of being likened to the dual personality in RL Stevenson’s novel; Sloane has possibly unwittingly hit a nerve.

Kathy’s house is neat and well kept therefore Mark was shocked to discover a seriously fungi and mould ridden bathroom. She was told by the local authority it was a problem with condensation, therefore a problem for her to control and not their responsibility. Mark photographed the mildew, fungus and mould-ridden bathroom and offered immediately to help her. Kathy cannot believe Mark will achieve anything as nothing has ever been done previously. She has been told for so long that she will be moved out of the tower blocks and that they will be pulled down. Mark came across as a genuine man and Kathy engaged with him and became politically active during his stay. Mark organised a petition to pull the tower blocks down and Kathy embraced the challenge wholeheartedly. It seems many groups are written off as not being interested and being apathetic towards politics. Mark managed to engage many residents in politics and they ran with the campaigns from the outset, managed, and addressed public meetings like consummate professionals.

Mark posted advertising signs on the walls to get tenants along to a meeting. He was told the local authority were taking them down to stop the meeting taking place. Mark suggested the council was afraid of of strength in unity, if the residents organised. Mark spoke to the warden at reception, who was nervous and said he could not be filmed, when questioned regarding what had become of the posters. Orchard Park is obviously a place were anything goes eg free for all violence can be filmed. Just don’t try to awaken apathetic voters and tenants, or your efforts with be activiely thwarted, even if you are an MP. Don’t try to tell me no one knows or cares what’s happening to these people, the minute they politically stirred they were stamped back down. This Orwell quote from 1984 sprung to mind ‘always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment…the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever’. This counter insurgency might have been enough to quell the residents had they acted alone, but Mark posted the leaflets directly through each letterbox. The residents ironically walked to the meeting place via Poverty Can Be Eradicated billboards. Councillor Robert Bailey from the BNP attempted to hijack the meeting, but was informed the issue is not party political. Mark is exhuberant at their organising, controllig and management of the entire process. Sloane was working with another neighbour on the campaign when police cars arrive at the estate. Two families are arguing over allegations of assault on a child. Local children tell Mark, who was very badly shaken, that similar events happen around three times per month. Events of this type were so common in overcrowded Glasgow tenements, they were given a name – a ‘stairheid rammy’.

In the final episode Barking and Dagenham Council’s Head of Housing came to meet those who had organised the perition. He explained his council have to pay £20 million per annum to central government and this is the reason they cannot affort to knock down the tower blocks. This money paid to central government does not benefit Barking and Dagenham in anyway. The Head of Housing suggested the action group take up the issue with the Housing Minister at Westminster. The action group accompanied the head of Housing and he addressed a rally stating that Barking and Dagenham had the lowest average incomes in London yet they had to subsidise Chelsea and Islington by millions of pounds. The action group handed in their petition to Downing Street and were filmed on the step. At the end of filming the series all the MPs met and Nadine asked Mark if he had made a difference to which he unbelievably replied ‘no’. John Healey MP is the Housing Minister then joined the meeting and announced that a decision had been made to allow Barking and Dagenham to keep all of the rents they raised. This is a wondeful outcome for people like Kathy, who will hopefully one day have a garden, soem space and no mould in her bathroom.

Tim Loughton, Shadow Children’s Minister, was sent off to Birmingham’s New Town Estate. He said: ‘Birmingham has lots of tower blocks and no Tory MPs’. He went off to live with Natina 23, child Suri and Natina’s mother Jennifer. Natina, as far as I know seemed to work full-time and did not use drugs. Tim discussed Suri’s father and asked if Natina would like to be with him. Tim parents divorced when he was 12, father was a vicar and mother was church helper. Once again, it seems as if the problems magnified and associated with certain groups are found throughout society.

Tim became involved in a dispute with a man at the local shop about MPs expenses. Tim suggested that MPs are treated the same as everyone else over their expenses claims. I think while MPs hold this view resentment will grow. Tell that to a single mother who has been pulled from her bed, separated from her child and jailed for overlooking, or not being able to afford payment of her television licence. Rena, host to Nadine Dorries, lost her house because of an unexplained dispute over rent arrears. The money, support and infrastructure do not exist to replace what is lost when people at the bottom of the heap lose their homes and possessions.

Dave, Austin’s host could not pay the council £80 to connect his gas cooker, therefore he had to live without. He is a trained chef and might reasonably be offered a one-off job to get the money to connect his cooker. However, such people are hounded by government media campaigns promising prosecution. There are inspectors; hotlines to report suspected fraud; posters; secret cameras and hidden surveillance; dedicated websites and expensive media advertising. The DWP claim to catch 232 benefit fraudsters every day, but there is no information if this is done via the systems they have in place. There is no information on whether the benefit fraudsters are aware they defrauding the DWP. Millions of pounds must be spent making sure people on benefits know they are being watched and will be criminalised should they try to augment their income in any way. Six million people claim benefits in the UK and 232 ‘cheats’ are caught daily. How many MPs did not abuse the expenses system? Yet, we will not have posters up in loos in the House of Commons and on radio, TV and newspapers warning MPs that we are watching them. There is no hotline to report suspected abuse and yet most MPs are demoralised and want to give up politics; yet most of them are cheats. Many have still not repaid expenses ruled by Sir Thomas Legg’s commission, which looked into the matter of repayments. There is no rush, MPs know they will not be frogmarched to jail and separated from their children. If MPs were treated like people on benefits they definitely would not stay in politics. The fear and oppression machine definitely costs so much more than the DWP will ever recoup. How does someone on benefits repay, for example the £10000 excessive claim by Austin Mitchell, which he attributes to ‘gormlessness’? Are MPs not ruthlessly hunted because they have the ability to repay what they have taken.

Tim’s host 43-year-old Adrian works full-time and lives on Birmingham New Town Estate. Adrian was threatened with a knife in the stairway therefore keeps a stick in every room to protect himself. To investigate the source of the violenceTim went to meet Families For Peace, a group dedicated to raising awareness of gang violence and gun crime on families. Tim then met Jason, an ex-gang member and goes off with him to investigate the situation. This is very brave of Tim to do this, he travelled immediately straight into the heart of a potentially dangerous siutation. At the start of filming Tim said: ‘whether we will convince people that politicians are all normal people, I very much doubt’. He certainly convinced me that some politicians transcend normal, they have integrity and courage. Tim met gang members who were not keen to be filmed. Tim asked them to speak about postcode gangs, shooting, protecting the patch. Postcode patch gangs are absolutely ludicrous and should be treated as such if they were not such a danger to the community. The government has to smash, change, reform and educate this moronic mindset. Tim went out to meet young people, to discuss gangs, aspirations and the police. He suggested setting up a football tournament against the police. Tim went to the Young Disciples Group, run by Jason, and met young people learning to mix music and leanr about photography and media skills. Jason is now part of the solution and taking as many people with him as he can convert. Tim was sincere and wholehearted in his attempts to understand and solvethe problems. In the final episode Tim organised football tournaments and secured access to a local football pitch which they were not allowed to use previously. Tim then invited Jason to the Tory Party Conference as a speaker.

Nadine Dorries, the MP for mid-Bedfordshire said she would be surprised if she discovered anything about herself via the experience of living with a council tenant. She was sent to South Acton to live with host, single mum Micha and her sister Rena who is housed in temporary accommodation. Rena did not come to an agreement to pay her rent arrears and was evicted from her house with her children. Nadine looked stunned after listening to the story of the eviction. Rena has lost her house, which was re-let to recent immigrants; this situation is ripe for BNP exploitation. Nadine said she fears losing her job and ending up living back on a housing estate, where she had once lived. Nadine said life on a council estate was better than when she was living there. There were laptops etc., all financed by benefits. I do not know if the luxuries are all bought by benefits as Rena had worked up until recently. People on benefits have not necessarily lived on benefits all of their lives and have relatives, for example, not on benefits who might very well buy a laptop for a child. Unless, we completed an inventory, it is difficult to say what was paid for by benefits.

Nadine moves in to live in South Acton with 69-year-old Ruth and her budgie, Tipsy. The Royal British Legion opposite Ruth’s house has been bought by Somalis and is now a mosque. Ruth has a neat and clean home, which Nadine compliments her on. Ruth went to the British legion every week with her husband Dennis. In some respects, it is not the fault of the Somalis, who bought an empty derelict building and now at least use it. Ruth’s complaints are the really loss of her husband, the loss of her social life and trying to cope with the unfamiliar alone. She complains of attenders at the mosque: bowing forward on their knees to pray, bending with their backsides in the air, praying outside, spitting, talking in their own language and parking on double yellow lines. It’s hardly in the same league as discarded needles and violence, yet all the residents, she says, have complained, officially, about the same trifles. Nadine meets Khalid who says 500-600 people come to to the mosque to pray. Nadine passes on the complaints about double yellow lines and blocking the outside pathways.

Nadine invited the neighbours and the mosque members to a barbecue. The barbecue goes ahead and a Somali woman, Anab, suggests Nadine wear conventional Muslim dress, which she does. Nadine is also with non-Somali residents, therefore I did not get the point of her Somali dress. Nadine was the only MP who was not offered high-rise uniform by her hosts. It was suggested to MPs that they dress in hoodies, trackie bottoms and trainers. High-rise female attire and grooming is apparent in a wide cross-section of society. There were the three-inch long nails and false eyelashes sported by homeless, unemployed Rena, but also seen in mainstream society by countless celebrity wags, for example. Men on the estate seemed to wear a wide-range of clothing including collar and tie outfits, therefore this aspect of the programme was probably unnecessary. Tim quickly reverted to his own clothes arguing he was a white middle-aged man. Wearing his Nike tracksuit accompanied by devil dog Tiger, Iain Duncan Smith looked the part. It struck me that people out of their usual environment, fit the new environment very quickly and look as if they belong. For the barbecue, Nadine went door to door and invited residents and shopkeepers. Nadine was concerned that only the residents or Somalis would turn up. Khalid finally met Ruth who was disarmed when she met members of the mosque face-to-face.

In the final episode Nadine went to stay with twenty-year-old Jonathan, who ‘underestimated the power of weed and did not know it was addcitive’. Potent words, which our politicians should listen to, however there is no point criminalising young people. Jonathan’s electricty supply is cut disconnected and and he he has to steal electricity from a socket in the public access. Nadine behaved wonderfully in this situation, she recognised Jonathan’s intelligence and potential. Nadine continued to help him after moving out. Jonathan spoke of his aversion to Tories and the difficulties trying to move between cultures from poor to rich as he had done during his education. Jonathan was invited to the Houses of Parlaimant and met David Cameron, he is now considerign becomign a local councillor.

The children filmed were enough to make anyone pray for a better future for them. Chanelle, the child who in 2010 said to Austin she was lucky to get shoes. The tiny girl who could make a microwave oven work by banging it with a hammer. Chanelle also explained about the effects of her house being flooded: ‘when you have water all over it makes brown bits’. A little girl in the street asked Austin what he was doing. He said making a film about Orchard Park and asked if she liked the place. She said there were bad people who assault other people. She said ‘I haven’t seen any drugs myself, but…’ I was horrified that this was the unprompted conversation of our 6-year-olds. These beautiful, normal children are possibly the future: druggies, prisoners and prostitutes if there is no intervention to change their lives.

How council estate residents live should be regarded as basic information about living the UK. The Home Office should perhaps redesign its Britishness Test to include fundamental information about all of its citizens, including high-rise and council-housing dwellers and make sure politicians are real-life aware and tested before we vote for them. Any government’s first duty is to protect its citizens, how can this duty function optimally, when politicians do not know such basic facts?

It has been estimated by the Colorado Geological Survey that expansive soils are directly or indirectly responsible for approximately $12.9 billion dollars in structural damage to homes, buildings, and other man-made structures annually in the U.S. That is more than the combined damage of fires, floods, and earthquakes in an average year!

How and why is this?

The most commonly occurring types of expansive clay soils found in Colorado’s Front Range are bentonite and smectite. What makes these clay minerals such a dynamic risk to manmade structures is their uncanny ability to absorb large amounts of moisture during wetter times of the year, with the result that they physically expand in size to twice and even three times their “dry” volume. Further, this dramatic increase in physical volume can bring with it an accompanying compressive force of between 10,000-20,000 pounds per square foot against whatever structural components it encounters. That is a lot of force! If you multiply that magnitude of force across a whole section of foundation wall, then the result is a force of nature nearly irresistible to most structures. There’s no surprise that buildings and homes constructed in these areas are at risk for damage, sometimes experiencing a significant degree of shifting, settling, bowing, and cracking in the foundation walls, footings, and slabs.

Modern foundations are designed by licensed structural engineers after a review of specific soils testing done at the proposed building site. Due to the adoption of more stringent building codes, testing and design methods have improved greatly over the last 20-30 years in many parts of the U.S. However, the presence of expansive soils remains a big challenge to the professional engineering community and the odds are tilted heavily in Mother Nature’s favor.

While engineers tell us that in theory, virtually any problem can be solved given an adequate budget, there are economic realities that constrain designing foundations and structures that are less vulnerable to unstable clay soils. We find that the risk of such damages can seldom, if ever, be completely eliminated. Settling, shifting, cracking and other problems can be managed with a reasonable degree of success and cost efficiency by maintaining a stable moisture level in the soils adjacent a foundation. The careful management of grading, draining, irrigation, and runoff have proven to be effective keys to keeping a home or building stable. When soil conditions remain stable, structural damages from expansive clay soils are kept to a minimum.

My adrenalin level started to rise, and I began to panic. The email had come in my Hotmail Inbox, and read:

“PayPal (support@PayPal.Inc.com), This message may be a phishing scam. Learn more. Sent: Fri 6/27/08 8:20 AM, Reply-to: support@PayPal.Inc.com

“Dear PayPal Member, This email confirms that you have sent an eBay payment of $347.85 USD to

achaade13@yahoo.com for an eBay item. Payment Details: Amount: $347.85 USD, Transaction ID: 2LC956793J776333Y, Subject: Digimax 130, Item Information, eBay User ID: scratchandgnaw2, Edward “Blank”,UNCONFIRMED Address (an address was provided).

“Important Note: Edward “Blank” has provided an Unconfirmed Address. If you are planning on shipping items to Edward Harrell, please check the Transaction Details page of this payment to find out whether you will be covered by the PayPal Seller Protection Policy.

“Note: If you haven’t authorized this charge ,click the link below to dispute transaction and get full refund. Dispute transaction (Encrypted Link ) *SSL connection: PayPal automatically encrypts your confidential information in transit from your computer to ours using the Secure Sockets Layer protocol (SSL) with an encryption key length of 128-bits (the highest level commercially available)

“This payment was sent using your bank account. By using your bank account to send money, you just: Paid easily and securely, sent money faster than writing and mailing paper checks, paid instantly — your purchase won’t show up on bills at the end of the month.

“Thanks for using your bank account! Thank you for using PayPal! The PayPal Team, PayPal Email ID PP118″

My mouse arrow poised

My mind raced. I don’t know anybody by the name of Edward “Blank” (I’ve left the last name out), and I certainly haven’t made a $347.85 transaction which was deducted from my bank account. Adrenalin charged fear began to mount.

I don’t have enough money in the bank account to cover that amount, I thought, and now I’ll get some bounced checks.

My alarm quickly became outrage and angry thoughts raced through my mind:

–Where had this charge come from?

–Who was Edward “Blank”?

–Of course I want to dispute it!

My mouse arrow was poised over the “Encrypted” Link”. and I was on the verge of clicking it, when from somewhere came a small voice of sanity. “Wait a minute,” it whispered, “this email came to your hotmail account. Your paypal email account is a yahoo account, not a hotmail account.”

I looked more closely at the return address of the email I had received. It read, “support@PayPal.Inc.com” and I realized it was totally wrong. The “Paypal” portion of the address was a subdomain of the “Inc” Primary Domain. A correct Paypal return address would be “support@PayPal.com”.

What If I had clicked on the link?

Well, probably nothing, until I started filling out the form requesting my personal information. The phishermen were counting on the fact that by now I would be panicked enough to give them the information they wanted, and that would initiate a raid on my Paypal account, bank account, and everything else connected with my personal identity.

Clicking on that link would be an invitation to a personal disaster rivaling the Sumatran Tsunami, something that would take me years to straighten out (assuming I could do it at all).

Watch out for the buttons

Let’s take a look at the email again, and note the “panic buttons” it uses to stampede the recipient into taking the bait.

1) You’ve sent an unauthorized payment of $347.85 to someone you don’t know.

2) This has been paid out of your bank account

3) The recipient is an unconfirmed mail address — the money was sent out “into space”, so to speak. The implication is that he raided your account and will do so again.

4) “If you haven’t authorized this charge”. Of course you haven’t, and you’re invited to dispute it by clicking on the link The phisherman is counting on your first thought: “I’ve got to take care of this.”

5) The link is a Secure Sockets Layer Protocol. Implication: You’re perfectly safe doing this.

6) Paying from your bank account was convenient and fast, etc. They will probably want “updated information”.

What should you do?

The proper response to an email like this is to do nothing it tries to stampede you into doing. Instead, go directly to your account and check the charges (this would be true if it were your credit card or bank account). I’ve seen many phishing emails advising me that there is something wrong with my Bank of America account. I don’t bank with them, but the phisherman is gambling that a percentage of the people he/she spams will have one, and will click the “secure link”.

Avoid the Phishing Scam Stampede

The email you will receive from the phisherman is intrinsically terrifying. The phisherman uses “panic buttons” to stampede you into divulging personal information. Your response to this is simple:

Don’t panic and don’t let them drive you into clicking the “secure link” they so conveniently provide. Put the email where it belongs — in the “deleted” folder. Then empty it.

Terrorism poses as one of the world’s most severe security risk in the 21st century. It is a negative concept with a believe in violence as a means of attracting national and international attention, achieving political, economic and social interest. Terrorism is dated right from the very beginning of human civilization but with increased cases as from the 19th century. For instance, anarchists in some rural parts of Italy and Spain employed terrorist means likewise their counterparts in France. Russian revolutionary movement before World War I had a strong terrorist element etc. In the 20th century, groups as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out their terrorist activities beyond the boundaries of individual countries. They were sometimes supported by established governments, such as those of Bulgaria and Italy under the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.

Con temporal terrorism is more effective than those of the past due to technological advances, effective communication mediums, extensive worldwide connection and the availability of smaller size weapons.

Most co temporal terrorist activities are carried out by extremists with terrorist bases in countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, etc. Recent terrorist attacks like the plane crash against the World Trade Centre in New York City and Pentagon, the bombing of the London underground railways, etc were carried out by the terrorist organization known as Al-Qaeda net work, as a Jihad against America and her Western allies. There are smaller terrorist organizations in different parts of the world but the vast net work is coordinated by Bin Laden the founder of Al-Qaeda. People live in the United States in relative security until 9/11 when the terrorists stroke and brought down the twin towers of the world trade centre and Pentagon, sending many who came for business to their graves. Thousands used the London underground railway in relative security and safety for several years until July 7 2005 when the terrorist strike killing many and wounding others. Egypt Nile resort was an important spot for tourists until the terrorist’s stroke and killed over 300 persons. India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine Israel, Kenya in Africa etc have all witness severe insecurity as a result of terrorist assaults. Terrorism has increased insecurity worldwide. People are no more certain with their safety as they travel or work in different places. The security risk posed by terrorism, has changed the course of world affairs. Billions is spent in the fight against terrorism worldwide, yet the threat is still here with us. So much is still needed to curb the plight of terrorism.

Combating Terrorism

There is a solution to every problem, an answer to every question. Terrorism has its solution in both pro-active and reactive measures. Pro-active measures are preventive while reactive measures are restrictive measures. Pro-active measures are less expensive measures, while reactive measures are more expensive. To curb terrorism in the 21st century, humanity must be more pro-active than reactive. (Prevention is better than cure).

Pro-Active Measures

i) Enlightenment: One of the most effective pro-active measures in curbing terrorism is investing towards enlightenment. Most at times, humanity ignores the factor of enlightenment as a means to resolving conflicts and resorts to weapons of mass destruction. This is great ignorance. Enlightenment can go a long way in providing solutions to conflicts in which the use of weapons of mass destruction cannot. Every problem has its solution in knowledge. In fact, ignorance is the platform for every form of inhumanity. Ignorance is the greatest instigator of violence and destruction. Societies where terrorism is applied as a means to achieving political, social and economic interests are societies with perverted knowledge and unenlightened nationals. Until humanity realizes the destructive effect of ignorance and the superiority of enlightenment in resolving human conflicts, humanity will continue in unnecessary loss of resources in her search to resolve conflicts.

Enlightenment is the sense of being correctly or rightly informed, instructed, inspired and learned. Enlightenment is the greatest need of every human being with respect to proper moral and ethical behavioural patterns. To order the behaviour of people with respect to right morals and ethics, enlightenment is imperative. One of the weaknesses of the world’s education is its deficiency in knowledge with respect to proper understanding of life and social sciences. This has made the world poor in her morals and social ethics, leaving us in an imbalance with respect to our civilization. The world has improved in her scientific and technological breakthroughs but failed in having humanity to live together, enjoying all we have in love, peace, harmony and brotherliness.

If humanity will balance up her civilization with proper human relation and operation, she must accept an educational revolution characterized by absolute focus on achieving complete quality and positive human development. (Mental, physical, moral and social). Such educational revolution will produce balanced individuals and societies which will express proper understanding, consciousness and awareness in relation to life’s demands.

Ignorance is not the lack of information but the absence of positive and quality knowledge. Terrorist individuals and societies are informed to some extent but their actions reveal their ignorance with respect to positive and quality knowledge.

No properly knowledgeable individual or society can encourage terrorism. Quality and positive knowledge have a way of enlightening individuals and societies with respect to proper behavioural and ethical pattern to human relation and life’s demands. It is knowledge which illuminates, motivates, prepares, activates, challenges and transforms the human life and mind for quality operation and productivity.

The world needs a new educational concept to conquer terrorism. We may not be able to change the mentality of those who are currently intoxicated with the terrorist ideology but through quality education, we can influence and change the younger generation towards quality living in the future of this century and millennium. “Enlighten the youths” is the slogan for a long term solution to terrorism. If all what is invested in the production of weapons of mass destruction and the deployment of soldiers around the world as a means towards the defeat of terrorism can be invested in propagating the concept of quality education. I believe much will be achieved to curb the threat of terrorism.

ii) The rule of law: The rule of law deals with stipulated standards by which a society is governed, right and wrong determined for the purpose of justice. Laws are principles or stipulated standards made by men to order the behaviour of individuals and to determine the operative dynamics of a setup, society, nation or the world. In a setup, laws may take the form of rules and regulations. While in a society or nation, laws may take the form of constitutions of government, legislation or judicial opinions.

One of the pro-active measures in curbing terrorism is for every society to establish legislative laws, adopting constitutions of governments and judicial opinions which abolish every form of terrorist actions and the propagation of terrorist ideology. Every society without laws against terrorism will inevitably become the breeding ground for all forms of terrorist ideology and action. Terrorism thrives in societies which provide safe grounds for their activities. If every nation of the civilized world will enforce laws against terrorism, then terrorism will soon be history.

(iii)Sharing intelligence: Terrorism can be prevented if intelligence sharing between citizens and their governments and between nations of the international community is effective. Intelligence sharing deals with the provision of needed information by concern individuals, intelligence services and concern groups with respect to terrorist plans and activities before they are carried out. To prevent terrorist attacks, intelligence sharing between nations of the international community must be efficient and effective. This is equally a preventive or pro-active approach to terrorism.

Reactive Measure

These are emergency measures intended to restrict and to curb terrorist actions. These measures involve diplomacy and the use of force.

i) Diplomacy: Diplomacy in restricting and curbing terrorism has to do with dialogue with designated terrorist groups, in search of their grievances and methods of resolving them. In fact, the policy of not negotiating with terrorists is not just working. Governments and the international community should review this policy and go into negotiations and dialogue with terrorist groups in search of their grievances.

Most terrorist groups have grievances which can be resolved through diplomacy. In fact, most terrorist attacks are intended by the terrorists to attract national or international attention to certain plights and grievances. Thus, diplomacy can be applied nationally or internationally as a means to identify and resolve grievances which instigate terrorism. When diplomacy fails?

ii) The use of force: This is a reactive measure intended to apply pressure on terrorist groups so as to restrict their activities. It is worthwhile to note that, force is only necessary when all avenues of diplomacy fail. Force may take the form of sanctions. These sanctions may involve economic and arms embargoes or international isolation against terrorist organizations and societies which sponsor terrorism.

Secondly, force may involve military intervention. The use of force is necessary because certain terrorist groups or societies may never accept diplomacy and may never comply with standards. They may want to achieve their aims no matter what. Such recalcitrant individuals and terrorist groups need to be brought to order through the use of force. It needed force to stop the ambition of Hitler. After world leaders applied diplomacy and failed, force was the only option which arrested Hitler’s ambition to conquer Europe. It was force which brought the end to Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait, etc

Global warming is causing havoc everywhere in the world. The weather has become completely unpredictable and earth is being hit by some of the worst disasters in history. Unanticipated earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods are leaving death and destruction in their paths. Flooding often goes hand-in-hand with many of these disasters. Fortunately there’s something you can do to protect your home against floods. The answer is flood shields.

These shields will offer protection to your home by being installed in places that are vulnerable to flooding. The first step is to call your local authority to ascertain if you live in an area that has a history of floods. This is even more important for homes near a lake, a river or near the beach. If floods have occurred in such regions, you may be living in a Special Flood Hazard Area.

The local authority will also inform you what the BFE (base flood elevation) of your region is. BFE refers to areas where flood elevation has a 1% likelihood of being equalled or exceeded in one year. When you have all this information, a flood shield contractor will be able to tell you what kind of shielding is needed for your home.

Glass and lightweight aluminum are the most typical materials used to make flood shields. The glass panels go through a glazing process for strength, and then rigorously tested to ensure they offer strong resistance to rampaging water. Check that your contractor uses shields that comply with regulations set by insurance companies and local authorities.

The aluminum used to make shields to protect against floods is fitted with girders to make the aluminum extra strong. This is done before the shield is assembled. When the shields have been assembled, they are welded and waterproofed. They are also tested to meet certain criteria.

You can also get a lift-out flood shield. This is an inexpensive way of protecting your home against flooding water. If you like, they can be mounted permanently, but then you would be negating the practicality of being able to take the shield out of its holder when it is not being used. Another popular option is a sliding shield. This shield can be placed in position easily and quickly.

A barrier shield is an effective means of protecting the contents of your house after water has accumulated on your porch or patio. A barrier shield is also very practical because it can be easily set up and easily detached. This type of shield can stand up to 1ft and more of water, and they can be obtained in heights of 10 or 20 inches.

Doors are especially vulnerable when it comes to flooding. Most doors are not very strong and therefore are often the first victim of flooding water. Special shields to protect doors are available. You are strongly advised to put door shields on all exterior doors. A door shield can be put up in a couple of minutes and then removed when the danger is over. A regular door shield can protect against water as high as 4 feet.

Teaching your child to save is essential because the sooner they inculcate such habits the better for them as is evident from the recent global economic debacle. Lessons learnt in saving and spending reasonably would go a long way in shaping your child’s habits about money as most children today don’t realize the value of dollar and depend on their parents for everything that they need. The first step in teaching your child about money and its value would be to gift him a piggy bank. With technology and advanced banking technologies, piggy banks are losing their importance but they are still the best way to teach children about money matters.

The advantages of such banks are numerous. Firstly, they act as a huge motivation for the kids to save money as they actually see money piling up in their boxes. Your child would definitely want to fill up his bank as soon as possible because counting money once the bank gets full is another added motivation.

Secondly, you can sit down with your child and help him count the money and then deposit the money in child’s savings. This would teach the child to save money over time and watch them grow in banks. If it’s your argument that children might break away the piggy bank even before it gets full then it is only advisable to opt for a wooden piggy bank that is unbreakable and keeps the money secured throughout.

Thirdly, you should develop the idea of savings in your child’s mind from a very young age so that they are able to face the harsh realities of life in future. Savings would also give them a sense of pride and they can later splurge with their own saved money. You should try to give your child the best in life and piggy banks are surely the right way to a better life.

Lastly, it is important that you keep an eye on your child and see that he develops good habits. You must teach your child to save first and then spend. Inculcate good habits in him and give him chores that would help him in earning money. Piggy banks would go a long way in developing your child’s acumen for saving money and with every hard-earned dollar he would be motivated to live a fulfilling life in future. The growth process is maximum during childhood so use the time to teach your child the best things about life.

Many people would assume that having a prepaid debit card is similar to having a bank account with a debit card tied to it. However, these finance options are vastly different. While the majority of the population does have a bank account, few people realize all the added benefits of using a prepaid card instead. Prepaid debit cards provide worldwide financial access and user control. These benefits and others will be discussed more in-depth below.

One thing that can make opening a bank account difficult are the high minimums required to open a new account. This is not so with prepaid debit cards. Deposit amounts can be chosen by the user and there is no minimum balance to worry about. Additionally, selecting which type of bank account is right for you can be difficult as well. There are various account options all with their own fine print, not to mention the fact that there are often strict rules about usage depending on the type of account you choose. Prepaid debit cards avoid all of this, and make managing and accessing your money easy and convenient.

A prepaid debit card is a great alternative as they allow users to withdraw cash at ATMs and make purchases worldwide. Also, prepaid options allow users to view spending and add additional funds online, making the process simple and quick. One of the biggest advantages of a prepaid debit card over a bank account is the inability to overdraft and incur fees. Spending is entirely defined by the amount loaded on the card. This allows you to have complete control over your spending and put your own personal limits on it.

Direct deposit is another common feature of bank accounts where paychecks can be automatically deposited each month. Prepaid cards also have this option available, which gives users access to their funds immediately. Another option both bank accounts and prepaid cards have in common are transfers between accounts. Just as you can transfer money between bank accounts, you can transfer it between prepaid cards. Users of prepaid cards also have the option to put some of their money into a savings account, just as they could with a bank. These savings accounts offer a 5% annual percentage yield interest rate, a comparable rate to those available with a typical bank savings account.

A prepaid debit card has many of the conveniences of a traditional bank account without any of the hassles or fees. Prepaid options are a great way to have easy and safe access to your money.

Computers have come to be an essential part of our life today. This requires IT professionals to have a good understanding of IT security foundations. These security foundations require an understanding of the controls needed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information.

Without strong controls cyber hackers and cyber criminals can threaten systems, expose information, and potentially halt operations. These types of attacks can create serious business losses. Cyber criminals and cyber hackers can target firewalls, IDS, and access control to enter the network and thereby causing serious damage. The problem of cyber crime gives rise to the need for cyber security training and aggressive controls to protect data. Anyone considering learning cyber foundations can learn the proper handling methods of sensitive corporate data.

The purpose of such training is to address aspects such as IT security and protection, responsibilities of people handling information, availability of data confidentiality, and how to handle problems such as unauthorized data modification, disruption, destruction and misuse of information.

Any cyber security foundations training must cover aspects such as Network Security and Administration, Secure Software Development, Computer Forensics and Penetration Testing. Here is a look at what such training should cover as a minimum:

• Standard IT security terminology
• Techniques that provide hands-on experience with mitigating controls. This means you must learn real skills to handling breaches in security.
• Current and future cyber security roles and positions that will be required by businesses to successfully design secure IT computer networks
• Aspects and concerns such as the hacker attack cycle and 7 steps of cyber attacks
• Technical aspects of handling security breach should be addressed comprehensively, so that you are intend in-depth knowledge on how to prevent security breaches
• The basic aspects of security zones so that you are aware of defense in depth
• Auditing requirements.

With the internet bridging distances and making the whole world a global marketplace, computers have come to be only more important. There are several companies that offer online courses that cater to all the requirements related to computer security that an individual might have. Registering for a course that takes care of all your requirements is important. The course must be such that equips you the power to take on the challenges of the present day competitive world. With knowledge by your side and the confidence to take on the world, success is sure to be yours.