Ick

I usually like the FT, but this is REALLY up it's own arse.
And this is newly launched, in the present climate. When I have lost MY job. It's disgusting.
Still, not the worst thing anyone's ever done.

The superficial nature of beauty, or dating ugly people

There's a piece in the Mail (i know i know) about dating 'ugly' people.
My comment was "Sounds like woman can't get near him due to the huge potato fields on his shoulders.
Lots of people aren't 'good looking', which isn't helped by our celebrity-obsessed culture. But ALL people are helped by having a personality, social skills and a sense of humour. These are things people can work on. I'm no oil painting to say the least, but i don't let it get me down. I have other things in my life than my looks. Try getting that grey matter between the ears working for a start.
Being that picky isn’t helpful either. Try looking beyond their looks too, that might be a start."

From the article, the man's looks don't seem to be a reason why he can't get a woman, his personality seems far more off-putting than his face. He sounds like the chips on his shoulder can be seen from space, he says: "'Celebrities are always complaining about the fact that women are only interested in them because of their fame,' he says. 'Well, that sounds great to me, actually." which to me, makes his sound like a right dick.

Looks do matter, it would be silly to say they don't. But there are plenty of other factors, and then judging others by their looks means he's getting what he deserves

Working in a supermaket

I know I shouldn't, but I was reading something in the Daily Mail.
I've worked in a supermarket, part time. It was horrible. The staff were treated like crap, we weren't allowed to talk during the shift other than to help customers. All I was doing was staking shelves.
I'm lucky that I didn't have to stay there long, and I wouldn't want to go back. I've had other simular jobs, working in what i called the 'arse end of the service industry' and others have agreed with that assessment.
What struck me about the article was how horrible and rude most people are, how people expect things to be landed on their plates, not only from the people mentioned in the article but the comments section too.

Benefit claimants

Claimants are still seen as 'scroungers', the public are happy for people to be very rich, people still believe in 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor, "Despite negative perceptions of poorer people, however, there was strong underlying support for a progressive tax system. The research identified a public appetite for "more radical action on pay and taxation at the top of the spectrum"."
"most people on middle incomes complained that the system was less generous to them than other groups."

interesting, mixed results. It seems there is some appitite for greater distribution, too much belief in scroungers, still a belief in meritocracy, and a desire for everyone ELSE to pay more tax.
We're an odd lot.
I'm not sure these findings actually tell us anything really

Pay, Banker's, public sector and the rich in general

Peston makes an very interesting point:
how much should people be paid?
As a lefty, i'm pretty much against big pay packets or bonuses for anyone. Hester may be an exception. His contract states that failure will not be rewarded (finally!), and his big cheque is dependent on his meeting certain targets which include getting a big profit on tax-payer investment and therefore significantly improving the public finances.
Surely all these things are the right things to do, and should have been done ages ago. It's been obvious to me that there has been a problem in bankers' pay for a long time, so others should have been able to see it if i could.
On top of that, a bloke taking home millions while millions are unemployed is an issue that hasn't been to the front in the current crisis, but that's no surprise

How to know you're living in a consumerist nightmare, no 1

A mate of mine has recently changed jobs, from charity fundraising to selling Paint Ball days out.
One of the reasons he gave was that the paint balling was more honest.
So we have a COMPANY more ethical and honest than a CHARITY. That's pretty bad. Also what i'm appalled by is the nature of the paint ball thing. It's as far from a necessity as possible, while a charity is actually of value and importance to people and yet they need to lie and decieve while the company is honest and true.

Perfect example of what's wrong with the world right there