Braco
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Posts posted by Braco
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The fall in the pound is simply the markets reaction to the governments spending plans – too little on the cut backs front - government spending will actually rise over the next 4 years, quantitative easing – another tranche highly likely, and growth prospects – two chances and in this climate of insecurity nil is the best of the two.
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Everyone will have to pay for their bins to be collected at £10/kilo........At that point it will not be a problem as only footballers will have anything to put in their bin.
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Simple is the way to go. The big danger is that come election time party A will bid a £10 rise, party B a £20 rise……… And the net losers will be the younger generations.
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Balance needs to put back into the equation. While the government is prepared to pay an underclass to live off benefits then the result will be that the underclass will grow and grow.There is plenty of work in the UK. Witness the growing prosperity of migrant workers mainly from Eastern Europe next time you pass through Dover.
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I have not fallen into any trap about the quality of our Armed Forces, I KNOW they are the best.........I was one of them. With respect I suggest that your comment is exactly the delusional and non questioning remark that one comes to expect from members of cults who have bought hook, line, and sinker into whatever idea is being peddled.If you had served in all the other armies of the world your comment would have a little more validity, but would still not add one once to the argument as to whether the presence of armies is beneficial.In the US the fire service is held in similar awe as their army. Why don’t we double the size of the fire service and start fires to keep them busy – it will be little different than what has gone on the past ten years.
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Last time I checked, murder, rape and terrorism were not standard operating practice in any of our Military forces. Of course I may be out of date on that and you may know better.Firing cruise missile’s and dropping bombs into populated area’s especially where you have no legitimate grievance equals terrorism and murder (remember shock and awe).Case files listing individual offences while no doubt widely suppressed have already been lodged, and no doubt more will be made public in due course.These latest adventures have been at best a fool’s errand, and at worst highly damaging to the counties that have perpetrated them.You have fallen into the trap (spin/propaganda) of believing that our armed forces are any better than anyone else’s.
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It is inconceivable that the no message was left by the people that carried out 9/11. Assuming that a message(s) were left they have been suppressed. My best guess is that the attack was carried out by Saudi’s whose motivation was to protest against the presence of US troops in Saudi. Not helpful if your agenda is to ring the world with base’s/puppets or to show that you have bigger b____’s than daddy.Conspiracy nut – no, believer in spin/lies – also no.
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7/7 happened because of Iraq. 9/11 (assuming that it was not at least in part an inside job/cover up) can understood or justified on many levels,The fact that a bunch of warmongers, traitors, and sycophants were able to persuade the public that it is ok for our boys and girls to committee murder, rape, and terrorism is simply a sad reflection on the how we waste public money on education.
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Simon, Monica I do not think that basing yourselves anywhere for six months will add much in your search for a property. The way to go is to have a very clear idea as to what you want (size/condition/location/price), and what you intend to do with it. We spent hundreds of hours on the internet researching possible candidates. Armed with a list of about 12 we set aside one week for our property search and stayed in a cheap hotel. In all we visited about 20 properties. So my advice is spend a couple of days compiling your list of must haves, become a computer nerd, and make a couple of short visits to introduce yourself to agents/Mayors/Lawyers. Driving around an area looking at ‘for sale’ signs can also help.
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Hi Paul
I agree with almost all the points you make. I do not agree with ‘And why should only one section of society, the irresponsible section, be given handouts subsidised by the responisible section’.
My contention is that helping the irresponsible is counter productive and damaging to society and the economy. You can only pile so much weight onto a working donkey, at some point its legs will buckle and it will collapse.
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PaulI am a democrat and as such do not believe in representative government or vote for any party. What is needed is a simple constitution, elected officers to follow the letter of the constitution, and the demos (people in the word democracy) to vote directly on any change to the constitution.What we have now are representative’s that gain and hold power by pandering to peoples fear, envy and special interest. I take your point that some people will make mistakes but I strongly think that it is their right to choose and not the role of the state to direct..Looking at the life expectancy levels it is interesting that people in Greece which spends far less on health care and where smoking is almost a duty have a higher life expectancy than in the UK. Even if the figures were reversed I do not think that a few more months at the end of your life would add much to the overall experience.The other point that should be made is that in my opinion we are vastly over employed for no other reason than to support the waste that we create. Striped of this waste our current economies will easily support families with a single bread winner.To give just one example can you think of any good reason why governments need to subsidise the production of children or a more wasteful process than taxing people, then employing civil servant’s to pay back monies in child care.
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It maybe better than the French. I do not have any experience to call upon but my experiences around the world tell me that it is a total delusion. While by no means a perfect test try checking out life longevity on Google. In other parts of the world GP’s may not earn up to £250k a year but the voters are left with enough of their earnings to keep them busy. In the UK we have the RAC, AA, and Green Flag amongst others providing a vehicle recovery service. Can any one seriously claim that this service could be provided more efficiently by a government department? On the plus side obesity would be history if the well meaning cretins took over food distribution.
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This assumes that you view taxes as a penalty. To me they are the price one pays for public services, whether one uses them or not. The alternative is to return to the days when we had to rely on the goodwill of others to support those less fortunate - something which it appears to me is in short supply these days.No I do not view tax as a penalty but I think that most voters are divorced from making any value judgments. If the general tax was set at say 15% (with no exceptions) then a voter could simply ask the party leader to set their proposed rate and decide on that basis. A truly democratic system would also a allow total opt out of certain aspects. Example do you want to be part of the governments pension scheme, national health service…………My view is that government spending generally destroys wealth. With far less interference I believe that true wealth will increase. It probably costs less than five to ten years worth of average work to pay the total cost of labour and materials to build a house (which can then be passed on to multiple generations). Our brilliant distortion of the market usually means that successive generations end up working for decades to achieve the same result. The delusion also persist that the UK has the best health service in the world, fine if you believe that contribute, if you don’t make alternative arrangements or not.
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Living within the means and the comfort level of earners is never likely to happen when you have politicians in control of the money. Fair taxation is only possible when a single flat rate sales tax is applied to all earnings, services, and products.
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A nice part. I hope that you enjoy your time there. We are refugees from the occupied part but have a place in Nicosia.
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Not really - just a few of the beaches which I avoid - too dificult at my age to keep the stomach sucked in.
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Welcome on board - where about?
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What an insecure bunch we are. In my home planet of Cyprus we have tens of thousands of foreigners/guests (the word xenos means the same in Greek) living with us and we have never worried that they have different customs and cannot speak the language.I am disappointed that Ms Merkel feels the need to raise this issue at this time as I had hoped that the German economy was robust and about to lead Europe into better times.
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Woolybanna
World War part one 1914-1918 and part two 1939-45 was fought between imperialist partners looking to either cement or advance their domination of territories. The effect of destroying a vile group such as the Nazi’s was a great benefit but never the primary reason for going to war. Given better diplomacy skills and softer demands I am sure that an accommodation could have been reached between all and any of the main combatants.
Each side used the same propaganda, and a docile population blinded by nationalism provided the cannon fodder.
The next evolutionary step after the eventual demise of all empires is an educated population that will question the PM as to why he wants to project power – I am not holding my breath.
Please explain the justification and benefits of holding onto the Malvinas,
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You are, of course, perfectly entitled to your opinion of the Armed Forces and you may rest assured that they will, as ever, defend you and your right to that opinion (odd though it may be)
I do not buy into any of the politics of fear and do not require protection.
Do not confuse defence with aggression.
The solution is pretty simple - open up live ammunition paint ball parks for any one who wants to play at hero’s.
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I for one would be happy for all these sacred cows especially the armed forces to be put to the sword. Not sure what the people of France think, but many people in the UK are either in denial or ignorant of the true facts. Government spending needs to be cut back by at least 50% and then more modest yearly reductions. What we will get instead is a defacto 50% devaluation of the currency (purchasing power) over next decade and stagflation.
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We also used a UK based Solicitor and was very pleased with the advice that we received. A number of people seem to think that understanding the language either by being fluent or obtaining a translation is sufficient to enable them to grasp the intricacies of contract and property/tax law. I disagree. A number may well have had enough experience to deal with all the issues. The trick is to know your strengths and your limitations.If you do decide to take advice I suggest that the time to start is before you make an offer.
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The bottom line is that until we start choosing frugal governments we will be asked to pay and pay. Their capacity to spend (waste) will always exceed our capacity to produce.
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Hi DebbieOur place is in Pezenas. Currently we visit about six times a year but hope that when/if the economy improves to spend at least half the year there.
Moving to France from US- Some quick questions
in Making the Move From Outside the EU
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