[French Government vote to stop Amazon selling discounted books]

That's a very harsh line to take, Benjamin.

Authors generally write books to earn money - if they are not interested in money, then they write fan fiction. Therefore they are entitled to receive royalties from the purchase of their books. What the application of this law seems to allow is for people to 'buy' a book, read it for free over a few days, then claim a refund - meaning the authors miss out on a just payment for their efforts in writing the book in the first place.

You might argue, well isn't that what people do in libraries - yes that's true, but there is a method of payment for authors based on the number of times their books have been borrowed.

There are times no doubt when a refund is justifiable - a mistaken purchase for a book already possessed, or the blurb was misleading, however these are different cases to simply going through the processes of 'buying' a book with the intention of claiming a refund once the book has been read.

[Basic skills lacking in England]

Years ago when I did my teacher training, we were told under no circumstances to correct any pupil's spelling or grammar as that would damage their creative ability, so it's no surprise that whole generations of people have emerged from the educational system unable to write correctly.

And of course, some of these are now teachers.

If you want to see some wonky English, just look at the TES teachers' forum!

[French Government vote to stop Amazon selling discounted books]

Like many, I am a great lover of books - the paper kind, but getting a Kindle was a revelation for me. No longer having to find room for dozens of books when going on holiday, I can now carry an extensive library easily!

 

If you sign up to it, Amazon will email you each day with the Kindle Daily Deal - usually three books for 99p, one of which is non-fiction - a quick and easy way to increase your library for only a few pennies.....[:)]

[Political Party to kill somoking ban in public (including pubs)]

In our recent local elections, UKIP candidates won a fair number of seats on our local council. Everyone was agog to see what policies they would influence etc.

It turns out that their main concern was that the council should stop flying the EU flag!

[French Government vote to stop Amazon selling discounted books]

There is another aspect with regard to e-books. Some recent research has shown that some children and young people are more willing to read via an e-book than a paper version, Some schools in the UK are considering e-book use in the classroom for this reason.

I teach English and I find my dyslexic students read better on an e-book because they can adjust the font size. There is also a dictionary link they can use easily.

[A good day for Parliamentary democracy]

I think Mr Obama has dug himself into a big hole with his 'red line' comment some time ago. As of last night, he seems to be trying to say it isn't his red line, nor the US's red line, but the world's and therefore it is up to the world to do something.......

Of course, there is no need for the UK PM to get Parliament's approval for military action - he or she can use the Royal Prerogative. It was Blair who came up with the idea when he wished to join the US war in Iraq. And we all know where that lead - so Iraq casts a long shadow.

It seems that Miliband's change of mind came about when the Labour whips told him his own party wouldn't support the government's proposal - so political decision rather than principle......

[Not your usual DM article: Alan Turing]

I find the modern notion of apologising for some action taken in historical times totally bizarre. It serves no purpose other than to gain a little publicity for the individual doing the apologising.

There are, however, exceptions. I have some Australian cousins who were part of the group sent to orphanages during the mid-twentieth century where they were poorly treated. Recently the Australian PM apologised to them for what had happened. This worked for me because the people directly affected were in the room when the apology was made - it was personal and related to their own lives.

Apologising to the modern world for something that happened before the lifetimes of living people is ludicrous.

[The French ability to cultivate the self]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"][quote user="NormanH"]Hattie Jacques...

back to the topic

« Pangloss disait quelquefois à Candide : “Tous les événements sont

enchaînés dans le meilleur des mondes possibles ; car enfin si vous

n’aviez pas été chassé d’un beau château à grands coups de pied dans le

derrière pour l’amour de mademoiselle Cunégonde, si vous n’aviez pas été

mis à l’Inquisition, si vous n’aviez pas couru l’Amérique à pied, si

vous n’aviez pas donné un bon coup d’épée au baron, si vous n’aviez pas

perdu tous vos moutons du bon pays d’Eldorado, vous ne mangeriez pas ici

des cédrats confits et des pistaches.

– Cela est bien dit, répondit Candide, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin.” »

Surely that is the source of the original idea?

[/quote]

Did Hattie Jacques really say that? I have to be honest, I haven't seen "Carry on Candide"

[/quote]

Ooohhhh Matron

[The French ability to cultivate the self]

The French in general do have the idea that their culture is far in advance of any other nations. A few years ago, I employed a young Frenchwoman who had come to work in England to help me with French conversation. We were discussing the number of Brits who loved France and how many wanted to live there, or visit. I asked her if many French people would like to visit England. I shall never forget her reply, which was uttered in all sincerity (and not without a little puzzlement) 'Why would they want to come here? There's no history and no culture.'

[Right, guys, without heated debate, let's have the reasons for UK leaving.]

[quote user="dwmcn"]

Thibault,

Er, wot's that supposed to mean?

 

dwmcn wrote:

Thibault, So, the US Cival War never happened? David 'As the various States came into being, they benefited from having a common language and roughly the same approach to laws etc. so they were able to fit into a federal framework without too much difficulty.'

 

 

[/quote] As asked the other day, why is my use of quotations leading to all the machine code?

[Right, guys, without heated debate, let's have the reasons for UK leaving.]

[quote user="dwmcn"]

Thibault,

So, the US Cival War never happened?

David

'As the various States came into being, they benefited from having a common language and roughly the same approach to laws etc. so they were able to fit into a federal framework without too much difficulty.'

 

[/quote]

Wasn't this more to do with the right to own slaves? And IIRC the Confederacy intended to have a federal system - just one of its own.

[Nigel ventures North]

Absolutely, Betty.  NF's justification for the 'bad apples' that keep popping up amongst his candidates is that UKIP do not yet have enough of a party structure to vet people properly.  In that case, I suggest he refrains from simply putting up any old people who say they want to represent UKIP until he does - that is if he wishes to have any credibility at all.

NF, on the surface, appears to be a 'hail and well-met' type of character, but when anyone tries to probe below the surface and get at proper costed and well thought through policies, he is rather 'empty'.

[Right, guys, without heated debate, let's have the reasons for UK leaving.]

I don't think there is much mileage in comparing a united states of Europe with the USA. The US was basically an empty country when the Europeans arrived, apart from the Native American tribes which were easily contained and pushed out of areas where the Europeans wanted to settle.

As the various States came into being, they benefited from having a common language and roughly the same approach to laws etc. so they were able to fit into a federal framework without too much difficulty.

Europe, on the other hand, was made up of a number of individual nations before the EU - each with its own language, culture, approach to laws etc, as well as a history of having fought to become that individual nation. and what is proposed is to impose a federal structure on top of already existing nation states - a different case entirely.

[Nigel ventures North]

But, Powerdesal, as you know, the term 'protest vote' as used in my post, has a specific meaning - voters not wishing to support candidates from any of the potential governing parties, seek another, smaller party which doesn't stand a chance of being elected, to register their annoyance at the sitting, and/or potential government.

It is not what UKIP writes as its 'policies' that you should look at, it is looking at or listening to what their candidates say, that reveals their basic premise. If you Google Godfrey Bloom, for example, you will find some interesting opinions he has on women. There is also a recently elected cllr who has made some rather nasty racist comments and is currently being investigated.

[Nigel ventures North]

The problem is that since the Lib Dems became part of government, there are very few places where a protest vote can go and UKIP came along at just the right time for that.

[Nigel ventures North]

Why do my quotes show with machine code?

[Nigel ventures North]

[quote user="woolybanana"]I wonder if there is a link between core UKIP voters and Daily Mail readers?[/quote] Hardly a valid sample, but my neighbours, avid DM readers, decided to vote UKIP.........

[Staying in the EU]

Thanks for the links, Pickles. I have just got hold of a book 'Au Revoir, Europe - What if Britain Left the EU?' by David Charter. I've only just started it, but it is very interesting so far.......

By the way, I am not anti-EU per se, but I do think it needs reforming. A lot of pro-EU people say that UK should '...reform from within...' but that looks increasingly impossible, especially with QMV - just look at what's happening with the financial transaction tax.......

[Right, guys, without heated debate, let's have the reasons for UK leaving.]

[quote user="EuroTrash"]"that is what democracy is all about. If the vote is to leave, even by a narrow margin, then that is the wish of the people - right or wrong." But when people get what they think they want, it sometimes turns out not what they wanted at all. Democracy voted for Hollande but very soon realised it had got it wrong.[/quote] I'm afraid that's the risk one takes with democracy. Either the nation states of the EU are democracies or they are not. You cannot decide on the people's behalf that in one particular case they should be denied a vote in case they vote the 'wrong way'.....oh, isn't that what some in the EU do when they fear the vote in a referendum might go against them or make the people keep voting until they get it 'right'? I begin to see where the pro-EU people get the idea that you mustn't let people vote from......

[Staying in the EU]

[quote user="Pickles"][quote user="Quillan"]The problem as I see it at the moment is we are all expressing views that we have gained from reading newspapers or watching the TV. What I would like to see is a truly independent enquiry as to the advantages and disadvantages to the "Yes or No" question written in simple terms so that everyone can understand it so we can all make an informed decision on how we want to vote should we get a vote. To my mind there is so much rubbish written in papers some of which is clearly biased because of the political leaning of owners, like Murdoch who only put this negative stuff out because of personal gain and greed and nothing else.[/quote]
I think you know what the chances of any truly independent enquiry are ...  it didn't happen with the PR vote and I think that that campaign sets the standard for what would happen in the run up to any referendum on the EU.
[/quote] Everyone has a POV - both supporters and non-supporters of the EU. Non-supporters have just as much right to express their opinions and make their points as pro-EU people. I sometimes get the impression from some of the posts, both on this thread and on others, that only pro-EU people are entitled a) to have an opinion and (more importantly) b) express it. I'm afaid that now, the UK's relationship with the EU is the elephant in the room and will be for the foreseeable future. It will influence the voting in the next general election. It will not go away. There needs to be debate. It's no good saying that the public are too stupid to know what they think and feel about the EU - as someone else said asking the public to think about something and then vote is what democracy is all about. It is up to the opposing sides to get their message across clearly and honestly.

[Staying in the EU]

Interestingly there was someone on Jeff Randall Business Programme the other night who said that Britian's trading position with the EU would not be affected to any great degree.  He also thought that inward investment would still happen because of factors outside those relating to the EU.

 

Unfortunately as no one has left the EU before, no one can be sure of the consequences.

[Right, guys, without heated debate, let's have the reasons for UK leaving.]

There was an interesting article in the papers over the weekend which said that Germany was more in sympathy with the UK's feelings about the EU and because they very much do not want the UK to leave, are likely to find some way of accommodating Cameron's desire for some renegotiation.  There was also a piece by one the businessmen who campaigned strongly for Britain to join the Euro when it was first mooted, saying how wrong he was then and how thankful hewas that Britain did not go down that road.  So views and opinions can change over time. 

The latest trade figures show that Britain is successfully finding markets outside the EU.

A Federal United States of Europe is a fundamental change to my country's sovereignty and cannot be allowed to happen without the consent of the British people.  It is up to those who feel strongly about British membership to put their case properly (and those who want to leave, of course).  A lot of scare stories that outside the EU Britian will be 'lost' doesn't constitute a rational argument.

As for having a cake and eating it too, there is room for compromise.  It may be necessary for the EZ countries to have an integrated financial and political system, but it is not necessary for those outside it.

[Staying in the EU]

As the OP was several days ago, I would have thought there would have been a rush to set out exactly what the benefits are to the UK from being a member [:)]

If UK left the EU, do you think all our EU trading partners would suddenly stop trading with us?  Would we stop trading with them?

[Right, guys, without heated debate, let's have the reasons for UK leaving.]

I think it was Quillan who earlier talked about how the process of becoming a United States of Europe would come about.  But I, along with lots of other people do NOT want to be part of USE.  I was asked to vote to join  the EEC - a good idea and I was in favour.  The idea of having a large trading bloc is a good one.

When it comes to political integration, I would say that the 'European' mind-set is completely different to the UK mind-set and that is where the trouble lies.  The UK has been successful as a large economy because it is flexible and adapts to circumstances (give or take different political positions here - but there's not much fundamentally different between right and left) whereas Europe comes across as highly centralised, with little in the way of flexibility.  It wants to impose its view, regardless.  Let's not forget its approach to referenda - if the first vote isn't what 'they' want, let's do it again until they vote the 'correct' way.

Its administration appears to be unaccountable - how many years have the auditors refused to agree their accounts?  The European Parliament appears to be a joke.  How much does it cost to move from Brussels to Strasburg?  That was done to placate the French - but at what cost.  A sensible organisation would have one HQ, but then I fear the EU is not a sensible organisation.

I do not want to see the UK leave entirely, but I do have to agree with Cameron - we need to renegotiate our position - if that means a two tier Europe, with some going for political union, and others for trading bloc status, then sobeit.

[Should rich OAPs give back benefits]

I don't think any politician is suggesting that people 'hand back' their state pension. What was suggested was that 'wealthy' pensioners give up the extras such as WFA or not take up the free bus pass.