Saturday, March 28, 2009

Getting rid of the recession

Getting rid of the recession
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Having a chat with local folks in my area I put an idea to them. If the government, instead of providing nearly £200 billion pounds to the banks, gave every adult citizen (lets just say 56-million adults in the UK) one million pounds in their bank account or open a bank account in which to put the money, we discussed and concluded:
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a) this would substantially reduce any borrowing (if at all) from the IMF etc
b) would reduce heavy taxation on future generations
c) people would clear their debts
d) there would be no unemployment benefit (for 3 years)
e) people would start buying again thus rejuvernate the ecomony
f) recession would be removed or reduced within a relatively short period of time
g) people can save thus leaving deposits at a good level in the banking stream
h) employment conditions would improve
i) business could once again borrow from the bank at fair rates
j) inflation would 'appear' to be less detrimental (we think)
k) wage rises would be put on hold (2-years)
l) there would be the need for everyone no matter how money-wise or investment talented they are or not to receive basic guidance on how to use money properly
n) contrary to propaganda it appears that most people would and desired to continue to work for a living
m) etc
n) etc
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That this instant monetary injection it would substantially benefit the ecomony immediately and the above measures and more could see a return in the UK to a balanced economy very quickly indeed. Moreover, paying £1 million pounds to each citizen is far cheaper than paying the banks or shoring up their debts - which has demonstrated that the Government offer to the banks todate hasn't worked and there has been no benefit to the British people overall.
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And if you look it from the advantageous person's point of view on this idea - what a GENERAL ELECTION winner !!

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As an update: remember this is just an idea and should be treated with fun, to be played with. For instance, once you realise the maths don't stack up and that £100,000.00 per person maybe more of a realistic figure per adult then the idea provides a useful template to look at where are finanical burdens are too excessive and need to be transformed to kick-start the economy. For instance, removing benefits for 3 years will mean those who receive them could have £100K upfront (maybe) so that they can use that money to focus the direction of their lives. Some people complain they do not like the idea of giving away money? And how many have made their voices heard about nearly £20-billion in combined benefits per annum? Surely, a gift incentive in advance and putting Benefits on temporary hold for 3 years might work. It is merely requires a state of mind and re-assignment of a national debt that is going to happen anyway.

£100K could, for example, remove most peoples debts or arrears (credit cards and bank loans, maybe even mortgage) so this is another area to look more closely. Ths would reintroduce liquidity into the marketplace. The opposite side of the coin for those who have no debt could mean they are £100K better off. The banks would receive money, thus bring a positive balance to their books and with savings increasing, deposits into the banking stream would improve dramatically. This would mean that the banks wouldn't be out of the woods entirely with some of their toxic debts, but would be in a better position to manage their way out of it without enforced changes and high regulation, which some seem to feel would be detrimental to capitalism as a whole.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Recording Telephone Calls

Recording Telephone Calls
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A question that often gets asked is "Can I record a telephone call?" and the answer to that is that you can (according to publicly available material), but conditions apply dependent upon the circumstances under which the recording is taking place and whether you intend to disclose part or all of the recording to a third party. There is a huge amount of information about recording of telephone calls in the workplace, too much to deal with here, so I have highlighted some reference material of which to be aware:
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Recording Calls in the Workplace:
Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice)(Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 ("LBP Regulations")
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Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2093
The Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999
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Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
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Human Rights Act 1998
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Data Protection Act 1998
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Moreover, a further web document worth obtaining from the OFCOM archive holding OFTEL's web data is "47/99 19 August 1999 Recording telephone conversations on private networks". OFTEL produced this document in response to a request from the Home Office to publish new guidance to companies covering their responsibilities about recording phone calls in the workplace for business purposes. Document 47/99 of the 19 August 1999 was published after the Human Rights Act 1998 was introduced and the successful employment case relating to an employee's rights to privacy at work following the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision of June 1997 in the case of Halford vs UK.
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Recording Calls for Personal Use:
OFCOM's current general guidance on this matter is available from their website under 'Recording and monitoring telephone calls or e-mails'. A general overview of interception, recording and monitoring of communications.
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Specifically, the guidance poses answers to common questions about telephone calls. What is quite useful about the current OFCOM guidance is that it seems not to have changed from the original guidance OFTEL gave back on the 07/12/2000 in "Frequently Asked Question" that were published following the introduction of RIPA 2000.
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Q: Can I record telephone conversations on my home phone?
A: Yes. The relevant law, RIPA, does not prohibit individuals from recording their own communications provided that the recording is for their own use. Recording or monitoring are only prohibited where some of the contents of the communication - which can be a phone conversation or an e-mail - are made available to a third party, ie someone who was neither the caller or sender nor the intended recipient of the original communication. For further information see the Home Office website where RIPA is posted.
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Q: Do I have to let people know that I intend to record their telephone conversations with me?
A: No, provided you are not intending to make the contents of the communication available to a third party. If you are you will need the consent of the person you are recording.
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Monday, March 02, 2009

Don't be victimised by phone calls

Don't be victimised by phone calls
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It is being noted that there is an exponential growth in harassing and intimidating calls from financial companies, card companies and from outsource debt collection firms chasing payments where people have got behind with payment due as a direct consequence of this recession. Remember no one can plan for a recession, which in the UK was said to be unforeseeable because of the 'no more boom and bust' guarantee. For those who are made victims by people who seek to scare and frighten by making telephone calls I thought it would be useful to set out a list of some useful legislation associated with malicious, nuisance, threatening and harassing conduct that includes calls by landline or mobile 'phone. Also some suggestions about services available from operators to deal with unwanted calls.
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Legislation
- The Communications Act 2003
- Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice)(Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 ("LBP Regulations")
- Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2093 The Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999
- Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
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- Human Rights Act 1998
- Data Protection Act 1998
- The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003
- Protection from Harassment Act 1997
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- There is some useful advice from West Midlands Police, here at this link:
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Network Operator - Barring calls
If you have a BT landline, for instance, do remember they do have the service "Choose to Refuse" which can be dialled after an unwanted call. BT may charge a quarterly fee:
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Dial '14258' followed by '*' '*'. This is used where the Call Line Identification Number is displayed.
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Where you receive malicious, nuisance, threatening and/or harassing calls from callers withholding their number, BT has the facility 'Anonymous Call Rejection':
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- To Set Up (active): *227#
- To Cancel (deactivate): #227#
- To Check (whether service active): *#227#
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Do check with your landline and mobile operator about services they may have in place to deal with unwanted called and, again, they may charge. For instance, for the mobile operators:
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- Vodafone code for call barring is: 1919 (stated at their website)
- T-Mobile say call 150 from your mobile for assistance (stated at their website)
- O2 say call 100 from your mobile for assistance (stated at their website)
- Orange say call 150 from your mobile phone or 07973 100 150 from any phone (stated at their website)