Shipping in Recession (background story to Shipping Faces Stormy Seas )

By Johnny

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a number issued daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange. The index provides “an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea. Taking in 26 shipping routes measured on a time charter and voyage basis”.  (Cited in Wikipedia)

 

 

According to Andrew Leonard, if the BDI index goes up, it is considered a sign that global demand for commodities like iron and steel and coal and grain is strong, and thus, by correlation, the global economy is healthy.

 

However, as slowing economic growth cut demand for raw materials such as coal and iron ore, the Baltic Dry index has fallen continuously in the second half 2008.

 

 

The most significant events make a long list:

•  11 December 2008 — after a small rise in the Baltic Dry Index (one percent), share prices of major Asian dry bulk shipping firms have seen increases. However S Hajara, The Shipping Corporation of India’s chief, believes conditions in the dry bulk market as still being ‘grim’. (Shipping Times)

• 9 December 2008 — Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has laid up several bulk carriers after the sharp drop in Baltic Dry Index. (Business Line)

• 5 December 2008 — the Baltic Dry Index sank 3.9% to 663 points in a week, hit its lowest level since January 1987. It plummeted 94% from its high of 11,793 in May.  (Asia Maritime News)

• 29 – 22 October 2008 — The daily rental rates for capesize big ships have dropped $234,000 to $7,340 in a week. Empty ships are now crowding Singapore and other global ports. (The Daily Telegraph)

• 3 July 2008 — As buyers sit on their hands, coal prices have plunged by over $20 a ton. The Daily Telegraph says it “signals the start of a serious correction in coal, iron ore, and grain demand”.  (The Daily Telegraph)

• 21 May 2008 — The Baltic Dry Index reached its record high level of 11,793 since its introduction in 1998.  Forbes.com believes, Chinese earthquake, steel demand pushes ocean freight rates skyward.   (Purchasing)

 

(click here to main story)

 

Professional support needed for mentally ill people to work

by hyacinthy

Sunday, 14 December 2008

 

 

The UK government risks “writing off” people with mental health problems due to lack of trained professionals.

 

Urgent action is needed to build a professional workforce training to get more people with mental illness into work, according to the recent report published by Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH) and College of Occupational Therapists.

 

The paper warns the government that if it doesn’t take urgent action on employment support immediately, it may fail the benefit reform which aims to get more mentally ill people back to work through government policy support.

 

According to the paper released by SCMH – “Vocational Rehabilitation: what is it, who can deliver it and who pays”, the UK has a serious shortage of people with the skills they need to offer expert help, both to people who need support to stay in their jobs and to those who want to get jobs.

 

Andy Bell, the communication officer from SCMH said, “Certainly the government has given increasing amount of support, but it’s still not enough. What we need are trained professionals who have the skills to work with people with mental health problems, both to keep their jobs if they are in, and get a job if they are not.”

 

 

 

Government’s promise

 

The government now is issuing a serious of measures related to welfare reform, which promises to help millions of people with mental health problems to get and keep their jobs during economic recession period.

 

On 3 December 2008, the Queen’s speech said “gave the best possible support for people with mental health problems to find and keep jobs.”

 

Mind, the mental health charity said in their recent news release paper, “the last recession has created a ‘lost generation’ of workers who were written off as incapable of work,” and the government’s new policy for welfare reform during this economic recession clearly aim to change this.

 

 

Actual difficulties for mentally illness

 

According to a research released by Rethink, the leading national mental health membership charity, mentally illness actually has the highest “want to work” rate of all disabled people. So in theory, the aspirations of people with mental illness and government targets match up perfectly. 

 

In reality, people who want to work often can’t get jobs because of discrimination, with 75% of employers say they wouldn’t employ someone with a mental illness.

 

Paul Corry, the Director of Public Affairs in Rethink said: “The main barrier to employment for people with a mental health problem is discrimination by employers. If the Government really wants to get people back to work they should make sure that all employers get training and support to employ people with mental health problems.”

 

 

click here to background story

No Sex Please, We’re British – Background To “Slam,Bam, Thank You Ma’m”

By Sunil Kumar

Changing attitudes to sex have made Britain “Pleasure Island”.

Click here for link to main article -Slam Bam Thank You Ma’m

The British penchant for sex is well documented, even more so for the kinky aspects. From Henry VIII, Elizabethan and Victorian England right down to the present day with sex scandals involving the royals, England has been merry with the romp.

So how did staid, conventional gentlemen transform into Italian lovers? Researchers “blame” Britain’s high casual rating on a few factors, including the decline of “religious scruples about extramarital sex”, a highly sexed up popular culture, and “the growth of equal pay and equal rights for women.”

British comedy has tended to be farcical, serious and “downmarket” at the same time. The “Carry On” comic series poked fun at British institutions in a humorous, underhanded fashion. John Cleese as “Basil Fawlty” in Fawlty Towers was the prude outraged by promiscuity in his “upright” establishment.

Aleister Crowley, supposed occultist and Satanist was one of the first people to spout “sexual nirvana” in conservative Britain. The decline in prudish morality has been gradual as England undid her knickers and inched closer to the G-string.

SPICE UP MY LIFE

Smack my Bitch Up!! How did sex become even more mainstream?

The 90s were the “wonder years” for the tabloid media as Britain’s royals kept the cashboxes ringing. Princess Diana and “Fergie- The Duchess of York” collectively became the merry wives of Windsor.

As Generation X became Generation Y, sexual mores transformed overnight.

According to the Brand Science Institute, Generation Y E-Ethics term most illegal behavior as acceptable.

Shows like “Sex and the City” – ‘Carrie Bradshaw knows good sex’ and brazen feminists exporting their own brand of sexual nirvana may have contributed to the most interesting finding of the survey- “Women are more promiscuous than men”.

Coupled with an oversexed popular culture and easy access to video, it is no surprise then that Britain tops the sex league tables !!