Artful Dodger: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1207241.stm

It's a report nearly 10 YEARS OLD.

what did you say about old WHO facts..

Since then... we've had 10 YEARS of changes including hikes in the minimum wage, tax credits, more support for crèches and flexi jobs either allowing single parents to work in parallel to school hours (schools operating breakfast clubs for those needing to goto work earlier) and of course... as with one person I know.

... The ability thanks to the internet of people to work from home.

.......... I thought you were not talking to me, or was that just a pout?

Bernice: .. That it maybe.. but I was quoting from memory world figures.. I forgot a "0" though.. it's 10% owning about 90%.

1% it seems own 40% of the worlds wealth... .... ....

Benefits system overhaul 'to make work pay'

The biggest welfare shake-up since the 1940s will make going out to work pay and see benefit cuts for those who refuse to take jobs, ministers say.

Work Secretary Iain Duncan Smith plans to bring in a single Universal Credit to replace work-related benefits.

Claimants moving into work will keep more of their income than now, but face losing benefits if they refuse a job.

Labour said it backed moves to make work pay but warned about the possible lack of available jobs.

The new system will mostly be administered through the internet, with people expected to make claims online and check their payments like they would an online bank account - even though an estimated 1.5 million unemployed people do not currently have internet access, according to government figures. The DWP says a "minority" of cases will still be dealt with face-to-face.

Unveiling his white paper on welfare reform in the Commons, Mr Duncan Smith said the current system was hugely complex and costly to administer, vulnerable to fraud, and deterred people from finding a job or extending their hours.
'Real time'

Mr Duncan Smith, who campaigned for root-and-branch welfare reform while in opposition, said millions of people had become "trapped" on benefits and long-term unemployment had become entrenched in communities where generations of families had not worked for years.

There will be tougher penalties for people fit to work but unwilling to do so. A sliding scale of sanctions will see those refusing work on three occasions having their benefits taken away for three months. Those repeatedly convicted of benefit fraud could have their benefits stopped for three years.

Mr Duncan Smith insists no one will experience a reduction in the benefit money they receive as a result of the introduction of the Universal Credit.

Universal Credit claimants will receive a basic personal amount with additional sums for disability, caring costs, housing costs and children, with single people and couples getting different rates and, as now, the under 25s receiving less. Unlike now, people will not have to claim separately for different benefits.

**BBC website**

Artful Dodger: Mmmmm You seem to forget that being a single parent means that you have a job already.. Being a parent. But that single significant FACT OF LIFE seems to have been lost.. maybe a dud bit somewhere.

Also that only 1% of the whole population gets to earn 99% of the wealth.. so all millionaires/billionaires are an exception.

.. If a single mum raising 1 or more children gets a job it means she has two jobs. While a married man (or woman) doing a 9 to 5 only has one job, some may have a disabled child which makes the ability to work even harder.. that is a fact of life.

Picking on single parents seems a bit of a fallacy, rather sexist and outdated. If (as you think is right) education gets privatised all it'll do is create an even greater poverty trap as good education gets to be a privilege rather than a right.

http://www.mumsrock.com/articles/the-mag/interviews/leila-wilcox-mumpreneur-millionaire

She’s a youthful 28 but Leila Wilcox is something of an old-timer when it comes to business. Hailed as one of the original mumpreneurs, she combined single motherhood to Troy - now 5 - and getting her brain-child off the ground. With Ivan Massow as a mentor she won Channel 4’s Make Me A Million in 2005 with Halos n Horns chemical-free children’s toiletries. Leila is already on to her third venture, with a seat on many entrepreneurial panels and awards after her name. She talks to MumsRock about her latest business start-up:

http://www.tmspp.org/

The Mobile Single Parent's Project

Here at The Mobile Single Parent's Project our view of single mothers & fathers is a positive one. As we view you as an individual and one can not be determined upon marital status. Instead we focus upon inspiring you to attain your goals, in the attempt to raise society's perception of single parents.

TMSPP encourage you to dream, because dreaming is where the magic begins....

The Millionaire Bootcamp For Women 26th, 27th & 28th November 2010 in London:

The Speakers

GILL FIELDING

Star of ‘Secret Millionaire’ and ‘The Apprentice – You’re Fired’ used to play in the gutter and left school at 16 with just two CSEs.

RACHEL ELNAUGH

Is the former 'Dragons Den' entrepreneur and mother of five who built up a business turning over £100 million in the 16 years she ran it.

CAROLINE MARSH

Grew up in poverty in Zambia... but went on to become a property expert and star in TV’s ‘Secret Millionaire’.
TRACY REPCHUK increased her income to 6 figures in just 6 months... despite having no contacts and no idea what she was doing.

The first multi-millionaire that was featured on The View this morning was a single mom who was broke and desperate. She was ringing out her mop one afternoon and was annoyed because her hands kept getting wet and filthy. She invested a mere $250 dollars and created her own self-ringing "Miracle Mop" prototype. She sold the mops at trade shows and eventually was featured on QVC where she sold 20 thousand mops in 20 minutes. Since creating the Miracle Mop, she has invented numerous other "problem solving products" and has sold over 20 billion of them on the Home Shopping Network.

Oprah interviewed another millionaire mom who invented "Jibbitz". If you are a mother of a school-aged child or teenager, I am sure you are familiar with Croc shoes. (They are the lightweight, rubbery clogs with all of the little air holes). This stay-at-home mom of three young girls was working on a craft activity when one of her girls stuck a silk flower in the hole of her Croc shoe. They thought it was cute, so they started making more Croc decorations out of buttons, rhinestones and other items. When all was said and done, this mother-daughter craft project turned into a business worth millions.

How many times have you had a brilliant idea but not followed through with it? Have you ever used a product and thought, "if only it looked like this, or worked like this...". We all have, haven't we?

We all need to remember the stories of these "millionaire moms" the next time we think of an invention or business idea
and decide to shrug it off as impossible. These moms were not wealthy and they had absolutely no clue what they were getting into when they started their money-making adventures. They were simply determined, enthusiastic...and often simply desperate to make it work.

They don't call moms "domestic engineers" for nothing!

http://home-business.families.com/blog/millionaire-moms-on-oprah

Artful Dodger: Quite frankly, much of the UK would consider the American right wing "rational" thought process as illogical and irrational. Especially as it is based on 'tradition' and political bias.

"If the world were a logical place, men would ride side saddle."

- Rita Mae Brown

Artful Dodger: If logic is your God... when are you moving to Vulcan?

Artful Dodger:Like you were right about France!!

Here is some reading material for you. As Lord Sugar said, being a good entrepreneur is something you are born with, not something money can buy.

Artful Dodger: Absolute rubbish. Some surveys were done on self made millionaires a time back, more came from those who came from an impoverished background then those who came from normal/rich backgrounds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/31/healthcare-barack-obama-nhs-childbirth

Cleaning up US healthcare's mess
I know first-hand the difference between healthcare in the US and UK. My experience shows why the profit motive isn't healthy

Bernice: As one greatly respected news presenter said. "good news does not make good news".

And when things do go wrong, at least (unlike in the USA) it can't be brushed under the carpet.

Artful Dodger: really!! You have proof of this?

And yes.. believe it or not we have A&E as well.. also 24/7 GP services. And also there is not a single medical need that I've not had covered.. with NO having to pay 1000's of $ before the tab is picked up by an insurance company.

As for privatisation of the NHS..... they tendered out the prep of surgery kits to private sector companies. What a joke that was. Essential operations had to be cancelled as the kits were wrong, incomplete or not upto standard regarding sterilisation.

The private companies put profit first above quality control.

Artful Dodger: And if the government backs out of certain areas (such as education) ..... how much more paperwork and administration costs do you think you'll have to pay for.

N' from what Rod has said regarding what you get for your $ in terms of healthcare...

... it's pretty crap compared to our NHS system. Plus.. one point. Even if you have a private health insurance plan here in the UK, you can still use the NHS GP's...

.. just you have to declare you have a private health scheme so the cost of the GP visit is charged to your scheme.

Artful Dodger: No you didn't. But it's nothing I don't expect... An answer would be why you did think she'd make a good pres and no you don't.

As for Socialism.. "China is the fastest growing economy in the world. It's a State controlled economy...."

you are contradicting yourself.. Yet again!!

Artful Dodger: So if socialism does not work... why is China buying up so much of the USA debt..... It could be said that China has/is keeping the USA afloat.

It could also be said that no purely free market country works... but. Have we at the moment any country that could be called strictly socialist or of a free market nature.
... could you point out some so we can do a reasonable comparison?

As for Palin being pres...... why the change of heart? You've still not answered that. Just over a year ago you thought she would make a great president.... now you don't.

Artful Dodger: Do they??? If a certain companies had their way at the moment, the government spending and interference that has caused some of their products to be severely criticised. The aimed market as such was not one that could easily protest... especially when the products could lead to neurological damage or death.

without government spending, the fact that they lied about the effects of their products would be hard to check into because of the budget and infrastructure needed to analysis and check these products.

But I guess you are saying that as such the free market protects us from frauds who'd quite happily let people be die or be damaged mentally beyond what medical science can fix in the name of profit.

Artful Dodger: But......

Politics (Artful Dodger, 2009-07-04 21:55:11)

4. July 2009, 20:55:11
[Artful Dodger, United States, Brain Rook (forever), Male] Artful Dodger (hide)
show this user posts | show thread | link
Subject: Re:Bush is a republican, McCain a republican, Palin a conservative, Reagan a Conservative
Vikings: Spot on. Many Republicans are talking about returning to their conservative roots. Palin would make a great President. Obama will ruin the economy and put us into so much debt I'll be long dead and we'll sill be paying back from his reckless spending.
Reply (box)


************************* Do I understand you now that you think Palin is crap as a potential VP or President???

......... If so... why the change of heart??

Artful Dodger: You don't really care that Palin who is (as it appears) is going for being the next President of the USA, and that she is as about as qualified for the job as a monkey is to run a nuclear reactor!!

mmmmmmmm

Artful Dodger: So he was there all the time the Senate was in session??

Artful Dodger: How much experiance compared to Obama?

Artful Dodger: Palin has no real experiance.. when asked, a senior Republican from Alaska (after pausing) could only come up with two reasons why Palin should run for VP..... one of them was that she was the right age!!

rod03801: .... I wouldn't be surprised at that... Quite frankly some of what was said in olde days to get the blood up.. well.. .. being in league with devil was a common fear inducing tactic.

... But I was referring to ads used in the mid term campaigns.

I read/saw today Palin's new ad....... "We're going to get back to the time-tested truths that made this country great,"

.. That is I must admit, genius in terms of empty could mean absolutely anything talk... some of the best "fill in with own imagination talk" that I've heard in a long while.

The Col: Infighting ... if recent ads I've seen are an example of the way politics can get dirty .. then it'll get even worse.

rod03801:

....."....pretty much only helps with the MOST basic things, as in a reasonable co-pay for routine visits to your primary care physician, and reasonable co-pays on prescriptions. If I need anything "special", I pay for it all, until I reach $3000 of money spent out of my pocket...."

That's it!!!! O.M.G!!

rod03801: I have answered.. PROFIT!!!!

Certain practices (if you read the 2011 implementations, etc) cut the ability of the health insurers to rip you off, and to stop them ripping off the government.

... semi decent????.. what do you get for what you pay?

Artful Dodger: So it's like death panels is it?? A human life is only worth so much!! So you agree with those companies cancelling child health plans on grounds such as "you had leukaemia before you started the policy" ... "well it wasn't manifesting.. I didn't know" is ok?

As for the increases.. Sure.. some maybe due to insurers having to actually properly cover children and adults. But the majority I doubt is.. the companies, etc just thought it would be a good idea to hike the prices to make you angry.

... Because they know you'll blame the government rather than the old system first.

And how does the American right wingers here stand on that sevral of USA health insurers are withdrawing child only health policies. How do you feel that Asthma is treated as a pre existing condition...


... how do you feel that this is a response to Children having a bill of rights which prevents health insurers refusing them treatment through pre-existing conditions?

Artful Dodger: It seems insurance rates have been going up for years above inflation. It appears looking there is more than just "Obamacare" being responsible.. maybe it's profit margins.. or that in the future the health companies can claim money from the government regarding rates.

As for private enterprise keeping prices down... why is it then the cost of getting to wind tunnel tests of the American version of Concorde cost via private contractors £1.5 billion.. yet the UK and French government built Concorde for £1.5 billion??

And (as you probably read) the running costs of the USA current system is giving you less actual care per dollar than our *cough* socialist (actually it's a mix of NHS/Private/Charitable) run system.

But such points you do not tend to address.

Artful Dodger: .... ????? All the talk regarding the new healthcare system is that of the 40 million uninsured is that they will be able to have affordable insurance, so yes they WILL be able to contribute and by law (see 2014 new rules) WILL have to through state insurance exchanges or by paying a tax.

Also that right wing speech you posted neglects to talk about the practice of rescission that is in practice a "cancel coverage when you get sick" system.

... Did you not hear about Wellpoint and how they actively targetted women with breast cancer to find a way (via the small print) to cancel their health coverage?

Artful Dodger: ... The health care providers in the USA already think like this...

"If you add 30 million more people into a system with fewer resources how could you possibly avoid rationing?"

... everyone paying into the system.

"This will only further decrease the quality of healthcare when the 30 million more people enter the system."

.. so it's a case of lets leave 30 million without the same quality of healthcare as we get...... sounds like nimby talk!! A class system.

BP have been in the news again over the cement used to line the drill hole... Claims have been made through testing that the cement used was not upto standard and that both BP and Haliburton knew it. Also that certain tests to confirm the stability of said cement once in place were not done.

... The test is a basic safety test laid down in the "how to drill safely" manual.

Pedro Martínez: The policeman is still suspended till the inquiry next year.

Yet.... there is a matter of forensics... some weird stuff going on this subject.

.... some a bit suspicious ....

Artful Dodger: I imagine the same way some Conservatives fill their head with nonsense.

SL-Mark: I was speaking about the intelligence officer as an example of how despite claims to the otherwise.. freedom of speech is an abstract idea. I still by my word till the day I die, am obliged not to divulged info regarding a project I worked on several years back through signing the Official secrets Act....

... even though by all accounts the sensitivity of any info I remember is almost obsolete by the nature of technical advances.

Pedro Martínez: lots.

SL-Mark: The guy who released the video of the reporters being killed in Iraq via a Apache gunship.

It seems real freedom of speech is an illusion.

Freedom of speech is a civil right?? So why those involved in releasing video of war crimes facing prosecution????

WikiLeaks Documents Confirm Pentagon Knew of Civilian Death Toll and Torture in Iraq

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/wikileaks-documents-confirm-pentagon-knew-

"I mean, the reality is that what the WikiLeaks documents show about Blackwater is that the State Department knew that Blackwater was killing civilians while guarding U.S. government personnel, and actually didn`t do anything to discipline them or punish them because, according to an internal document, the State Department believed that it would hurt morale of Blackwater.

What about hurting morale of the Iraqi people that were being targeted by these people? So Hamid Karzai is under the misimpression that he is in charge here. The U.S. is calling the shots and that means that Blackwater stays.

OLBERMANN: Let`s work backwards on some of this. Based on the reporting at the time, many of us believe that the Bush administration was lying about the situation on the ground in Iraq daily, repeatedly, in manifold ways. Is there criminality involved in what we know about this, what`s been confirmed about this so far?

SCAHILL: Well, first of all, the entirely operation was a criminal enterprise because it was a war based on lies. There were scores of war crimes that have gone unprosecuted. But it goes much further than just lying or misleading. Donald Rumsfeld, when he was secretary of defense, beginning in 2005, implemented a policy in Iraq known as the Salvador Option, named after the dirty wars in El Salvador that the U.S. fueled in the 1980s. And What Rumsfeld and his cohorts were doing was supporting what were effectively Shiite death squads, known by the names Wolf Brigade, Scorpion Brigade.

What they did was ethnically cleanse Baghdad. They targeted the Sunnis. So when they talk about the surge being a success, what actually happened is that Rumsfeld and his cronies had supported death squad activity that essentially Balkanized Baghdad. And so when the surge troops came in, they didn`t even go to Anbar Province, which was the heart of the violence. They went to Baghdad.

The entire thing is a lie, but the criminality here is that the U.S., under Rumsfeld, was supporting and creating death squads, Keith."

Artful Dodger: what they found is "chemical weapons".. from various reports it looks like small munitions rather than 'WMD's' .... mustard gas. An old throwback to WWI and trench warfare.

SL-Mark: Aye.. One sore point over banks and the signing of a declaration they will stop helping tax avoidance.

... only a few signed up... now they are being told they must sign by a certain date.

Why Does U.S. Health Care Cost So Much? (Part II: Indefensible Administrative Costs)

One thing Americans do buy with this extra spending is an administrative overhead load that is huge by international standards. The McKinsey Global Institute estimated that excess spending on “health administration and insurance” accounted for as much as 21 percent of the estimated total excess spending ($477 billion in 2003). Brought forward, that 21 percent of excess spending on administration would amount to about $120 billion in 2006 and about $150 billion in 2008. It would have been more than enough to finance universal health insurance this year.

The McKinsey team estimated that about 85 percent of this excess administrative overhead can be attributed to the highly complex private health insurance system in the United States. Product design, underwriting and marketing account for about two-thirds of that total. The remaining 15 percent was attributed to public payers that are not saddled with the high cost of product design, medical underwriting and marketing, and that therefore spend a far smaller fraction of their total spending on administration.

Two studies using more detailed bilateral comparisons of two countries illustrate even more sharply the magnitude of our administrative burden relative to that in other developed countries.

One of these is an earlier McKinsey study explaining the difference in 1990 health spending in West Germany and in the United States. The researchers found that in 1990 Americans received $390 per capita less in actual health care but spent $360 more per capita on administration.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/why-does-us-health-care-cost-so-much-part-ii-indefensible-administrative-costs/

Artful Dodger: I thought the problem in the USA was that 'adequate' coverage was either too much for certain people.. or that the schemes had through past increases been made out of reach by price hikes above inflation!!

... "AND he bought his huge yacht overseas depriving Americans of that job. And all to save himself money."

That's a free market option, part of capitalism. You might as well ban Chinese imports and cheap migrant labour. But would Americans be happy with the prices increases resulting from such?

SL-Mark: Unfortunately certain sides of the American politburo have to cater to their bosses that to do things straight in the USA seems to be such a comical circus.

... as they say quite often these days.. follow the cash.

Mélusine: He's not well thought of over here. Bit to much "Maggie Thatcher" in his style!!

Mélusine: Been seeing it on the TV... Sarkozy should of known better then to cross the French people when it comes to discussions of national matters.

SL-Mark: In olde days... a mans word/handshake was his bond, it is still reflected in the likes of the stock exchanges floor trading.

'Madoff's' would be nigh on impossible.

As for Iron Fist.. Is that the government within government Clinton went on about? The protection of the almighty gOd of the material world called profit??

SL-Mark: It was destroyed before he came into power.. lax regulations on the financial market are never good. The time of the handshake being a matter of honour in business is dying.