pap

Ricky Tomlinson's name is on a piece in the Guardian this morning. 10 lies we're told about the welfare state. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/02/ten-lies-told-about-welfare

You mean, you're glad Paolo avoided the question? Given the bother that authoritarian systems have had on the rest of Europe, you can understand why there is such interest in the term. I was listening to the Guardian's Football Weekly yesterday. They addressed this issue and James Richardson, the bloke who made his name covering Italian football and whatever else you might think of him, highly regarded for his knowledge there, spoke at length about the way that elements of fascism don't necessarily have a stigma amongst Italians, expanding to explain that they had an a la carte philosophy in assessing its merits. They thought some things were good; others bad. It's odd, because this is probably the most compassionate treatment of Di Canio's previous statements, yet it's made by the same organisation that is supposedly part of the gutter press. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/footballweekly It's also the same organisation that showed us how far into the gutter the press had really crept. The one that kicked off this whole Leveson business with its reportage into the Milly Dowler case. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world C'mon, this is too easy.

Scrounger.

You always go on about flatscreen tellies, hypo. Have you actually tried to buy a CRT lately?

Feck off, Charlie. You're supposed to annoy me, not amuse me.

The Department of Work and Pensions own impact assessment recognises that there aren't enough smaller properties to move in to. On a separate note, playing into the SNP's hands. 90% of Scottish MPs voted against this tax. http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2013/mar/bedroom-tax-could-lead-homelessness

Last year we got a draw at their place. They mugged us at ours 1-3. We've got the 1-0 league win from this year. Was this a cup game?

Don't play the slippery eel with me, mate! You started it when you asked how spending might be financed. I know I shocked the f**k out of you by actually suggesting something . I'd advise listening to some real politicians waffle interminably about nothing for a bit. You'll feel better.

Don't muddle the argument, trousers. It's not just about squeezing money out of the rich. More about pulling one lever to get the machinery of the economy working again. Rent controls wouldn't just lower the housing benefit bill; it'd be a universal benefit to anyone renting accommodation, an escape for anyone stuck in unemployment, and end to the practice of paying housing benefit to those in full time work and more disposable income for everyone. Who knows, it might actually pay to work. Sacrifice of the private landlord industry and short-term house prices too high a price to pay for all that, trousers? I think it's a bargain.

Why do you have The Kraken's avatar? Is it because he is a much better poster than you? x

Introduce rent controls. Use the money saved from housing benefit to ensure people are properly looked after. Basically, take from the rich to give to the poor. Too simple?

Well unfortunately Kelv, this is the reality of what getting people into work actually means. I wouldn't actually mind if the jobs were there or more importantly, entry level paid enough to incentivise participation in employment. It doesn't, and few governments have done anything to address the global seepage of opportunity to the Far East and assorted parts of the third world. The net result is that people just end up getting punished for circumstances outside of their control. Exactly the same thing is going on with the bedroom tax. You don't have to pay it if you move to a smaller property, although there aren't enough smaller properties. Your account there is shocking, but not surprising.

My interest is quite specific. I'd like to depict Bazza as your go-to-gimp. I'm not getting off on this.

David Cameron @BritishPM Iain Duncan Smith says he could live on £53 a week if he had to. Yeah, of course Iain. And that's why you claim £39 breakfasts on expenses.

Do yourself as the b!tch or the butch? Going from your previously released sex handles, it sounds very much like you'll be double-penetrating Barry ( cucumber? ) while he sucks your balls. You're safe on the bum love. What about the ball sucking?

Do you not see it as cheating if bum love is involved?

Mileage does vary. Been on the dole twice, once in Wigan and another time in Liverpool. Wigan was a complete pain in the arse. People just like you said, trying to get me to take clerical jobs ( I was a qualified software engineer, ffs ). Liverpool was sound. They could see that I wasn't going to be on the dole long after the first interview, and gave me no sh!te whatsoever.

Predator 2 is not a crap film, but the thing I used to get excited about was the little Alien skull in the ship at the end of the movie. Aliens vs Predator is a crap film which I wish was better.

Which, I might add, Lord D makes a lot of use of

Arf. Looks like Bazza and DPS have both got "stalkers". In their underpants. For each other. Not that it's a bad thing, chaps. Just think your wives should probably know.

Of course there is a shift in expectancy. It's pretty much what fuelled the consumerist boom. Look at our Saturday night TV schedules. Both channels prime time shows are effectively full of wannabes who largely, don't want to put the shift in to become a real pop star. Verbal wrote a post a few years ago about the collision of consumerism, advertising and credit. When you look at the amount of personal debt in this country, it's very clear that there has been a shift in expectancy and attitude. People want stuff now, and lack of money isn't necessarily a problem. I appreciate what you're saying, but you'd almost have to plan your life around discounts and bargains.

Barry, take note. These people don't need this sh!t, ta

Do you want me to pull out the PM where you beg me not to interact with you?

You wait until I posit a conspiracy theory I place personal stock in. That'll be fun The moon landings thread was a classic, as are most conspiracy threads if you get the right participants. I think what really did my nut in, and still does to this day, is the way that Chapel End Charlie starts out with the combination of impassioned narrative combined with sideswipe insult. As you say though, by the end of the thread, the "Pulp" nickname was in full flow. I really didn't mind. Jarvis Cocker is one of my all time heroes. I even changed my location in honour of my new moniker. I'd have been cut up about it if someone had called me that in the 1950s, though.

Yeah, but not advisable. Always been the case that the stuff that's the worst for you is generally the cheapest stuff around. My perspective; speaking as a former and sometimes member of the underclass, is that taking benefits away doesn't really act as an incentive for the long-term unemployed to find work and start paying tax. They normally just start robbing more