Jump to content

Braco

Members
  • Posts

    294
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Everything posted by Braco

  1. Good night and good luck. I am sorry I challenged some of your certainties. I will not trouble you again. Discussion with closed minds is a pointless exercise.
  2. [quote user="woolybanana"]So your views are essentially anti-Western, selectvie not comprehensive then. Another crypto fascist in the making?[/quote] So anyone who dares to think must be a crypto fascist? We should all tow the party line? That is exactly the thinking that allowed an Austrian Corporal to assume power and a modern day scum bag to persuade a nation to support our glorious troops in killing the Taliban or in ‘English’ Afghanistan citizens. You do not show your disgust of Nazis by copying their traits and actions.
  3. [quote user="woolybanana"]Tell that to those who have been occupied or sent to the concentration camps![/quote] I do not need to tell the good people of Afganistan they already know.
  4. [quote user="Russethouse"] What is the 'the military myth' ?  ( I know I'm going to regret asking) FWIW I had just parked my car when the 11.00 chimes were played on the radio, so I stayed in my car ( probably best as we buried my father on the 11th of November 14 years ago and I preferred to be alone with my thoughts) but as I walked toward the shops a crowd of people came out of the British Legion, even grown men had moist eyes.......some of them I've 'known' (as in seen them around, passed the time of day) for years....I had quite a lump in my throat.... [/quote] That they serve freedom and liberty.
  5. [quote user="woolybanana"]Braco, you should thank your lucky stars that such brave people have been prepared to die for you to have the right to say that, and remember and thank them![/quote] Hook, line and sinker - it is only cowards and sheep that think that their freedom comes at the end of a gun.
  6. Since you ask I see it as the UK swastika badge and as such boycott it. To me it has no merit other than perpetuating the military myth and allowing leaders to manipulate the population.
  7. I agree with all of the cost cutting measures that you mentioned and much more. Assuming that we ever get back to some financial stability then I think that an on demand three or four year university placement fully paid for out of taxation remains a weak and questionable use of public resources It is a career option and as such the decision as to whether to attend should be made on all available information by the individual and their family. I do not see why the much maligned shelf stacker (or anyone else) should be paying tax to subsidise those in further education. On a practical level I also think that the current structure is archaic and in desperate need of reform. During my career dozens of my teams have achieved degrees on day release while holding down their full time job. Overall my experience is that these part timers are more useful and progress more quickly than our graduate intake I do not buy the loss of formative year’s contact and interaction development argument. If you want the social aspect pay for it.
  8. I have very little if any sympathy for the plight of university students. Their case is weak and unsustainable.   I have no problem with the use of violence by people in extreme circumstance such as the establishment of a Republic, Democracy (real not the current pretence) and bringing to account war mongers.   The anti Iraq war rally should have ended in my opinion with Blair and his allies hanging ala Mussolini.  
  9. What gives?   The road to economic hell is paved with government good intentions and interference in the workings of a free market.
  10. A very interesting post. Your comment ‘descent into effective Third World Statedom’ is probably a lot nearer than most realise. Tomorrow Hertfordshire County Councillors meet to start the process of implementing highways cuts. On the agenda among other possible cuts is the possibility of switching off the vast majority of street lighting with a view to save the grand total of £6m to £8m pa.
  11. I am not usually a fan of the BBC, but I think they were spot on with the Power of Nightmares series that argued ‘the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries—and particularly American Neo-Conservatives—in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies’. Next step in the brain washing will be 24/7 armed forces X factor.
  12. [quote user="Patf"]Another way of looking at it: If a minimum wage is set at a level above the maximum benefit income available, more people would be tempted to take a low-paid job. I think governments have been frightened off this idea because of the difficulty of enforcing a higher minimum wage. They don't want to antagonise employers. They are also frightened of taking on landlords to reduce rents to conform to the new cap on housing benefits. It's easier to put the blame on the inarticulate people at the lower end of the social scale. [/quote] The reality is that we are already overpaid relative to others, hence the falling value of Sterling. Increasing the minimum wage while supporting the unemployable (either by choice or the fact that they are priced out of the market) will just hasten the day when historians will have one more country to compare with the Weimar Republic.
  13. A list of a few jobs that are brilliantly filled by guest workers: Bus drivers in Nottingham = Poles Plasters, electricians, plumbers, builders = Eastern Europeans Crop pickers = Eastern Europeans Civil Engineers = World wide. Health service = World wide. There are probably at least a million public sector jobs that entail little more than passing bits of paper (now e-mails) to each other. The drain on the economy of this indulgence as well as the subsidised leisure industry has lead to the point where our political masters will finally be forced to contemplate actions that they should have taken half a century ago. Unfortunately I have no doubt that they will choose the path of least resistance and the steady decline will continue.
  14. Government make work schemes will always fail. If you want to compete with low cost producers then stop competing with your own manufactures by offering the alternative of unemployment. If you don’t want to compete then all that is left is to allow the service industries to flourish. This can only happen if people are left with significant amounts of disposable income.
  15. Cowardice, ignorance, and short term (eyes on the next election) thinking.
  16. Smoke and mirrors. Almost every government has promised similar actions without delivering.
  17. No attempt at misinformation. I am happy that you seem to be reassured that a small part of the £Trillion debt mountain has a pensions post it note attached to it,
  18. A black hole in your argument, methinks. An internal IOU - great. If they had invested wisely say Confederate War Bonds we would have something pretty to hang on our walls.
  19. The answer is really quite simply. While we work we pay for the current retiree’s. When we retire we hope that the then current workforce will pay for us. In effect a Ponzi scheme whose limitations are now exposed. There are two options: Live within the countries means. Devalue savings (QE).   Option 2 is at best a short term solution.   By all means join the barricades but I don’t think you will be joined by many who don’t believe in the golden money tree.
  20. Pensioners are generally well off. They know what they want and are on the whole immune to life style peer pressure. Money is saved not from fear but because they see no reason or have no need to spend it – been there, done it, don’t need another T shirt.   The exception of course is passing money to grand children.
  21. Study your shares - many good companies are trading at five year lows and a 10% rise in the price will net you a couple of year’s worth of rent.
  22. £100k is too little for a rental property unless you are prepared to take a risk on depressed areas.
  23. Hi SimonR I think that the points I made are valid. Looking for a property before you have a feel for the place is taking things in the wrong order. Once you have a very clear idea as to what you want then the internet is the perfect tool for eliminating the properties and areas that do not meet your criteria and identifying a few possibilities.   We knew the exact area and type of house we wanted before we went house hunting.     The cheap hotel was chosen as I was there for the one and only purpose of viewing properties, and did not want any distractions. Not even lingering over a good breakfast.  
×
×
  • Create New...