Did Gulliver ever bend down so far?

[reddragdiva]

• The BBC utterly justifies the licence fee. (Though this does bring qualms to my soft lefty free-speech-nutter heart.)

• Give money to the United Nations Population Fund — Bush is fucking them over again. We just gave US$15.

• Floating ideas toward Wikipedia 1.0.

Mostly better. Yesterday morning I visited the British School of Osteopathy, to get poked and prodded on the cheap by a student. Although osteopathy started as generic New Age quackery, in Britain it's getting quite regulated and the BSO actually tries to do proper research. And, like chiropracty (a quack haven to a similar degree), if you leave them to working on your back they may well do a competent job.

I did my back thirteen years ago ... filing. At the DSS. The rib popped out of its ball joint to the vertebra at T 6/7. It was put back in short order, but the muscles around it have been fucked ever since and the rest of my back has warped itself to compensate. So the programme is to get the tensed-up soft tissue mobile again, while I continue exercising as I have been and eating proper food. This is eminently plausible and I did feel better after they inflicted pain on me. So I'll be back next week.

The blonde fairy (arkady) came over last night and blessed me with artificial stupidity once more. *giggle* *flounce*

I went to work today. I was almost falling asleep at my desk. Work is such a stupid concept.

Comments

[reddragdiva]

Getting a bank account in this country verges on the FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE in any case. And there is no bank of last resort for those who can't get an account anywhere else. Australia does this a lot better.

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

I *think* national savings still takes anybody. The government has problems in this regard as it is going to stop paying benefits through post office giros - which presumes that claimants can get bank accounts or already have them.

Of course people on the dole are not good credit risks and there is no money in providing a bog standard current account.

Of course there are a lack of cash machines in some places, but they are closing down post offices anyway. La la la.

All who think Britain is fucked say "aye!"

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

I hope everyone remembers Blair's comment about the police marching "yobs" to cash machines for fines. Not only were the police to be judge, jury and executioner - but it implies people a) have bank accounts and b)had 50 quid in them.

Thankfully that Daily Mailesque idea disappeared...

[reddragdiva]

If the poor can't afford to shop at the supermarket, they should eat in restaurants like decent people.

[reddragdiva]

It was precisely for government benefits that gov.au beat the banks into providing at least a "basic" account to anyone with sufficient proof of identity, where the proper certificate from the Department of Social Security counts as sufficient proof.

Unlike the UK where they require blood samples from all your addresses over the past twenty years or something. I just could not get an account at all until I started this job and work arranged one for me.

One presumes the UK will shift to something like the Australian model — that if it's good enough proof of identity for the government to give you money, it's good enough for the banks to accept.

Blunkett, of course, will use it as a reason for ID cards.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I have a Cardcash account from the Halifax. It's your standard current account - except it has no overdraft facility whatsoever, and you get a Solo card, not Switch. however there is no credit check required, and minimal proof of ID needed - in fact, when I got mine (about 4-5 years ago) simply having someone else who was already a Halifax customer verify they knew you was enough. (That may have been tightened up since then though.)

[reddragdiva]

I think they have. Trust me when I say I investigated this area thoroughly over six months ...