freebo

Young people are spending not saving, older people (retirees) are drawing down their savings. There are proportionally more old people.

So far so good, but the savings being drawn down are largely Japanese Govt Bonds, and less are being bought. If it plays out this way it could lead to a finding crisis for the Japanese Govt, which would be very bad for their economy and of course for their unemployment rate (govt workers and the industries which serve them).

pemajoka

If Gordon had englands best interests at heart he would not be giving up the leadership and leaving politics. Or maybe that's why he is???

paulry

While on his morning walk, Gordon Brown falls over, has a heart attack and dies because the accident and emergency dept at his nearest hospital is too understaffed to treat him in time.

So his soul arrives in Heaven and he is met by Saint Peter at the Pearly gates.

"Welcome to Heaven," says Saint Peter, "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a Socialist around these parts, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in; I'm a good Christian; I'm a believer," says the PM.

"I'd like to just let you in, but I have orders from God Himself. He says that since the implementation of his new HEAVEN CHOICES policy, you have to spend one day in Hell and one day in Heaven. Then you must choose where you'll live for eternity."

"But I've already made up my mind. I want to be in Heaven," replies Brown.

"I'm sorry .. But we have our rules," Peter interjects. And, with that, St. Peter escorts him to an elevator and he goes down, down, down ...all the way to Hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a lush golf course. The sun is shining in a cloudless sky. The temperature is a perfect 22C degrees. In the distance is a beautiful club-house. Standing in front of it is Harold Wilson and thousands of other Socialist luminaries who had helped him out over the years --- John Smith, Michael Foot, Jim Callaghan, etc. The whole of the Labour Party leaders were there .. Everyone laughing, happy, and casually but expensively dressed.

They run to greet him, to hug him and to reminisce about the good times they had getting rich at the expense of 'suckers and peasants.'

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar.
The Devil himself comes up to Brown with a frosty drink, "Have a tequila and relax, Gord!"

"Uh, I can't drink anymore, I took a pledge," says Brown, dejectedly.
"This is Hell, son. You can drink and eat all you want and not worry and it just gets better from there!"

Brown takes the drink and finds himself liking the Devil, who he thinks is a really very friendly bloke who tells funny jokes like himself and pulls hilarious nasty pranks, kind of like the ones the Labour Party pulled with the European Constitution and the Education, Immigration, Tough on Crime promises.

They are having such a great time that, before he realises it, it's time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug and waves as Brown steps on the elevator and heads upward.

When the elevator door reopens, he is in Heaven again and Saint Peter is waiting for him. "Now it's time to visit Heaven," the old man says, opening the gate.

So for 24 hours Brown is made to hang out with a bunch of honest, good-natured people who enjoy each other's company, talk about things other than money and treat each other decently. Not a nasty prank or short-arse joke among them. No fancy country clubs here and, while the food tastes great, it's not caviar or lobster. And these people are all poor. He doesn't see anybody he knows and he isn't even treated like someone special!

"Whoa," he says uncomfortably to himself. "Harold Wilson never prepared me for this!"

The day done, Saint Peter returns and says, "Well, you've spent a day in Hell and a day in Heaven. Now choose where you want to live for Eternity."

With the 'Deal or No Deal' theme playing softly in the background, Brown reflects for a minute ... Then answers: "Well, I would never have thought I'd say this -- I mean, Heaven has been delightful and all but I really think I belong in Hell with my friends."

So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down, all the way to Hell.

The doors of the elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren scorched earth covered with garbage and toxic industrial wasteland, looking a bit like the eroded, rabbit and fox affected Australian outback, but worse and more desolate

He is horrified to see all of his friends, dressed in rags and chained together, picking up the roadside rubbish and putting it into black plastic bags. They are groaning and moaning in pain, faces and hands black with grime.

The Devil comes over to Brown and puts an arm around his shoulder." I don't understand," stammers a shocked Brown, "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a club-house and we ate lobster and caviar and drank tequila. We lazed around and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and everybody looks miserable!"

The Devil looks at him, smiles slyly and purrs, "Yesterday we were campaigning; today you voted for us!"

pemajoka

Ahhh! the joys of socialism and communism where all are rewarded the same. Well nearly anyway

sonlymewalter

Long one and scarily true

Alfresco

Many a true word spoken in jest.

It's a pity it is the painful truth. Great analogy.

sonlymewalter

Even more painful is that it could apply to any poly in any party

Alfresco

Agreed. I try and choose the least painful ones though, if that's possible.

sonlymewalter

yup, me too mate

ABCDiamond

It actually has done I think it began with John Howard though...
"Work Choices" springs to mind

DownUnderPaddy

1.699......here we go again !

Alfresco

paulry

I see that the US$, Euro and UK£ are more recently fluctuting in synch with eachother against other currencies such as the AU$, NZ$, ZAR, etc.

paulry

So suppose that one day in the future the pound is going to once more regain it's lofty heights against the AU$ ().....

What is the best way to hold sterling in readiness for transferring into AU$? Clearly a mechanism needs to be set up such that the sterling funds can be easily moved over at the right time without the necessity of walking into a UK bank. Does anyone know how this can be done?

pemajoka

Hi
If you are talking about moving thousands at a time,
1 set up internet banking on the account where the money is,
2 start a trading account with an exchange house ( there are loads about, I use Ozforex because they were best at the time for what I wanted),
3 open a bank account in the country currency you want. ( again I used National Australia as part of the group I bank with in UK)
4 When you are ready check the deal on the exchange website, press BUY, then follow the instructions.
Do not fall into the trap of thinking that you have to do an immediate transfer for which your bank will charge about £25+ do it by a normal BACS transfer, takes 3 or 4 days but costs nothing and the exchange house do not have a problem with that.
regards
pete