Borland: DOOOOOOOOMED.  Am not too happy about that.  El Reg has an amusing writeup however.

CAB and I had a major set to this week; I've had enough of doing all the food shopping, all the cooking and all the cleaning up after.  Which we discussed, there were tears and a big improvement yesterday; I cooked and she cleaned up.  I felt pretty bad at having a go but I tried not to be too excitable about it and I think some progress was made.  Although how long this lasts for, we shall see.

An additional point I made was that we don't spend time doing things together anymore, really.  We used to go out for dinner a few times a week, just the two of us nothing soppy like ^[1] but since CAB's been dieting this has fallen by the wayside.  She doesn't like RTFO or online gaming, I don't like watching TV.  So, at a bit of a loss to decide what we're going to do, jointly.    Apart from serving portions, of course.

Going to Russia in summer, oh yes.  Apparently we have to start visa negotiations early.  If you stay in any place for longer than 3 days then you have to register your visa with the local police.  Mmmm, communist super state.

There has been precious little RTFO of late, which has not pleased me greatly.  This weekend I will endeavour to get my ADC replaced I think.  On the plus side, CAB's brother is coming over and he's pretty good with the whole recording at home thing so I may be tapping him up for tips and tricks. 

Toon vs the Salford Buccaneers on Sunday; I am hoping for a draw but I think they may pwn us.  Roedererererer will have Dyer back possibly, which will at least give us some more options up front.  Shee-ra will be largely neutralised by Man USA's back line I think, so we need someone with a bit of pace to get through.  Roederererer also seems to have shored up our back line quite nicely; 2 goals conceded in 6 games is not too shabby a record.  I hope Luque gets a start though, I can see him going in the summer unless he begins getting some regular starts in.  Which will leave a massive gap in the front line; next year we will have Owen, SUPAH_CHOPS, Slower Ameobibi, and um that's it. 

After rampant trolling informed discussion with some of the bleeding heart socialists this week I have been thinking about social policy and how best to address the massive overspend in the public sector.  Whilst there really should be some sort of safety net for the sick and unfortunate, how is it best to trim the wastrels from the system?  And what to do with them?

At present, because both Tory and Labour governments have flogged off large swathes of council housing, many private landlords are letting their properties to councils, who in turn put state dependants in them.  This is clearly not the cheapest way of going about it.  Case in point: in my block of flats one apartment is held by a council tenant subletting.  Flats in the block go for about £1200/month, although the tenant is charged £200.  That's £1000 per month, of your money going to a single parent and her 10 year old child.  The parent does not work.  Whilst this is a localised case, it still shows the mentality and capability of the council to overspend.  Whether this is because all council housing has been sold off or what, I do not know.

In the private sector, it has always been the habit to centralise disparate departments, to take advantages of economy of scale and sharing resources.

Which is why we need to be moving forward in social policy, to bring these expensive outliers on the social budget into a more cost effective solution. 

I propose rebuilding the Victorian style workhouses. 

Obviously, we will need a more modern, sexy sounding name for these centres, something refreshingly NuLabour.  "Participation Centres" or the like.

Whilst the more fully featured social services safety net will still be in place, for those suffering temporary hardship, an arbitrary limit should be set for long term claimants.  These will benefit most from being assigned to the Participation Centres, and offer the largest savings to the local council.

A comprehensive review of those over the boundary of the long term dependant should be conducted, and the Participation Centres built around those demographics.  For example, single parent family units and special units for the disabled.

As a condition of entry, the residents that are of working age and fitness contribute to the cost of running the centre.  Large piecework contracts are to be assigned to the units, similar to the piecework completed by the prison system.  This means that the council is making further savings to the cost of providing care for the disadvantaged. 

[1] Bonus points for getting this reference