Ignoring the Trees for the Wood

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Compass has a report out about the state of the housing market. Dire they say, there should be lots more, well, essentially, lots more of the things that Compass likes. State intervention, more taxpayers' money being spent, more social housing and, by the way, can we get the bankers out of the whole thing? It isn't all bad, it has to be said, they come out in favour of land value taxation which as has been pointed out here before is a thoroughly good idea.

However, they seem incapable of, while discussing which shade the bark on the trees should be, of understanding the wood which is our real problem in the housing market.

The need to understand notoriously opaque land markets and the complexities of the planning process also make housebuilding an extremely difficult industry for new competitors to enter, reducing competitive pressure further. The result is a business model that does not deliver the homes we need, but is very difficult to change.

Now someone like me would say, OK, then we should be looking at changing the planning system if that's one of the major problems. And of course, the planning system is. They note that in recent years we've been building flats on brownfield sites, the houses that do get through are rabbit hutches crammed together: and yet they fail to note that this is exactly what the planning system, in all its complexity, has been demanding. If you don't put 14 houses on a hectare you won't get permission. The extraordinary price of housing is not because houses are expensive to build, nor is land: what is expensive is the licence that allows you to build a house on a certain piece of land.

There have been solutions proposed to this of course: if the planning system is the problem then let's change the planning system. But of this sensible sort of thinking we get none from Compass: despite their approval of LVT showing that they have at least one rational individual within their ranks.

Still, at least they are not quite as crazed as the current government was with the Pathfinder scheme. This baby of John Prescott's was going to solve the shortage of affordable housing by knocking down hundreds of thousands of cheap houses: you can imagine how well that worked.

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Cheers to precious water

Know how precious water is... take a look at the pages here.
Cheers to precious water

Inner Planets

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How many inner planets are there in our solar system? What are the inner planets and outer planets? What are the planets in order? These questions seem like ones tackled during elementary school days but let us answer them one by one.

How many inner planets are there in our solar system?
There are 4.

What are the inner planets and outer planets?
The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. While the outer planets consist of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

What are the planets in order?
The planets in order starting from the one nearest to the sun:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

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Beetroot juice 'increases stamina'

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Drinking beetroot juice can increase stamina, allowing keep-fit enthusiasts and athletes to exercise for longer, researchers have found.

A glass a day of the vegetable juice helped men to work out for 16 per cent longer, a new study shows.

The scientists credit nitrates in the juice, which they say help the body to deplete less of its oxygen reserves, meaning those exercising feel less tired.
The effect on oxygen levels is more than can be achieved through training alone, they said.

Prof Andy Jones, of the University of Exeter's School of Sport and Health Sciences, who led the study, said: "We were amazed by the effects of beetroot juice on oxygen uptake because these effects cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training.

The team believes that nitrates in the juice could be turning into nitric oxide in the body, reducing the "oxygen cost" associated with exercise.

The team tested the benefits of the juice on eight men aged between 19 and 38.

All of the men were given 500ml per day of organic beetroot juice for six consecutive days before completing a series of tests, involving cycling on an exercise bike.

On a different week they were given a placebo drink of blackcurrant cordial for six days and then put through the same cycling tests as before.

After drinking the cordial the group were able to cycle for an average of almost 10 minutes.

However, after taking the Beetroot they cycled for an average of 11.25 minutes, 92 seconds longer, or an extra 16 per cent longer.

After drinking the beetroot juice the group also had lower resting blood pressure, the findings, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology show.

The researchers now plan to look at other foods which are also rich in nitrates and to test it they also have a beneficial effect on stamina levels.

Last year a study by researchers at Barts and the London School of Medicine and the Peninsula Medical School found that beetroot juice can reduce blood pressure.

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World at War Map Pack 3 Launches

Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 3 Launches Today

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As many Call of Duty fanatics know, Call of Duty: World at War is getting yet another map pack on August 6th. This makes three total and anyone who's been off the COD bandwagon for a while will have have to shell out 800 Microsoft Points per map pack, or $10 dollars in real people money/PSN store points to catch up. The four new maps: Der Riese (the new Nazi Zombie map), Breach, Battery and Revolution add some much needed replay value to the game.

Yes, all of these maps can pack a punch on your wallet, but Activision's here to save the day (and some money) by adding a free iPhone app that allows you to track your stats (kill/death ratio, win percentage, etc.), performance tracking (such as weapon usage), the ability to see what your COD buddies are doing anytime, anywhere, and it will also keep you up to date on all the gaming news you need in the COD universe.

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Thanks..

Obama trying to rally

Obama trying to rally support in favour of healthcare reforms

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US President Barack Obama is trying to rally support in favour of his healthcare reforms. Democrats too have been lobbying hard for its passage. But Republicans have said that they will not allow the Federal government’s meddling in healthcare system.

As President, Barack Obama has initiated a series of actions intended to reform health care. The full elements in his plan were outlined in a document entitled Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s plan to lower health care costs and ensure affordable,accessible health coverage for all.

The plan aims to "improve efficiency and lower costs in the health care system by adopting state-of-the-art health information technology systems; by ensuring that patients receive and providers deliver the best possible care, including prevention and chronic disease management services; reforming the market structure to increase competition; and offering federal reinsurance to employers to help ensure that unexpected or catastrophic illnesses do not make health insurance unaffordable or out of reach for businesses and their employees."

The plan includes implementing guaranteed eligibility for affordable health care for all Americans, paid for by insurance reform, reducing costs, removing patent protection for pharmaceuticals, and requiring employers to either furnish meaningful coverage or contribute to a new public plan. He would provide for mandatory health care insurance for children.

Obama has promised to “bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family.” His advisers have said that the $2,500 premium reduction includes, in addition to direct premium savings, the average family's share of the reduction in employer-paid health insurance premiums and the reduction in the cost of government health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Ken Thorpe of Emory University has issued estimates that support Obama's proposal. Other health analysts, such as Joe Antos of the American Enterprise Institute, Karen Davis of the Commonwealth Fund and Jonathan B. Oberlander of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill expressed skepticism that the Obama plan would achieve the stated level of cost savings.

With his healthcare reform, President Obama wants to give the public the choice of a public sector competitor in the private health insurance market. An article in The Economist said that the inclusion of a public sector option could trigger insurance opposition which, in conjunction with employer health-care provider opposition, could kill health care reform.

President Barack Obama is lobbying hard for universal coverage and end of medical red tape, calling an overhaul of America's ailing health care system the most important issue for the nation's long-term economic stability.

Health care reform should mean all Americans can get coverage while allowing doctors to heal patients instead of being bureaucrats, he told the doctors' advocacy organization American Medical Association in Chicago recently.

He acknowledged the concerns of doctors that reforms could bring a government-heavy system that would dictate how patients get treated and how much physicians get paid, CNN reported. But he called such thinking wrong.

Obama urged all players-doctors, patients, insurance companies, drug companies and the government-to contribute to a workable system that would provide coverage for the 46 million uninsured Americans while reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

'You did not enter this profession to be bean-counters and paper-pushers,' Obama said to a standing ovation at the conference in Chicago, Illinois. 'You entered this profession to be healers, and that's what our health care system should let you be.'

Obama has made health care reform a top priority of his administration, and Congress will consider at least three proposals in coming weeks to address an issue that deeply divides Democrats and Republicans.

His plan includes reducing tax deductions for high-income Americans. Another funding idea under consideration is taxing the medical benefits of employer-provided health coverage, which the Obama administration opposes but has not ruled out entirely.

The AMA represents a powerful constituency of US physicians, and its support is considered important in getting a bill through Congress. The AMA acknowledges the need for reforms but opposes any public option plan that forces physicians to participate, expands the fiscally challenged Medicare programme for senior citizens or pays Medicare rates.

A proposal from Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, a longtime health care reform proponent, includes a public option as one choice for consumers. Republican leaders adamantly oppose any public option, complaining it would lead to an eventual government takeover of health care similar to the cradle-to-grave coverage in Canada and England.

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Keep Reading..

Human-Dog Hybrid

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This is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. I know art should be bizarre, and an artist should always bring something new that leaves people breathless, but I don’t know if they’re supposed to scare every single one of us. Here is a human-dog hybrid sculpture by artist Patricia Piccinini that was intended to show that we are all family. I know a dog is a best man’s friend, but not in that way. Seriously. Not like that.

Well, this sculpture is called The Young Family and it’s part of the We Are Family series of sculptures by the artist. A human dog hybrid would be really scary. Actually, all hybrids are somewhat scary, and people and animals should remain how they’re born therefore we have to save them all and prevent extinction for endangered animals.

Did I mention that this is a human-dog hybrid? Do you feel comfortable about it? If you do then something is wrong.

via Patricia Piccinini Finsoft Design

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