NormanH

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Moi je suis obnublié par les hob nobs..

I wonder if any of you saw any of the demonstrations. Here there were about 5500 processing with a certain amount of noise https://www.midilibre.fr/2019/12/04/beziers-suivez-la-mobilisation-contre-la-reforme-des-retraites-en-direct,8582150.php

I bought some of the butter in our town centre Casino today... https://lamarqueduconsommateur.com/produits/beurre-de-baratte/ All the products are here: https://lamarqueduconsommateur.com/produits/ In a similar vein we have a shop that tries  to avoid  as much packaging and waste as possible https://www.epicerie-my-vrac.fr/

A very thorough  artcle in Le Monde  about les regimes speciaux https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2019/12/03/le-vrai-du-faux-des-regimes-speciaux-de-retraite_6021530_4355770.html

Close...a pastiche of  Pope (Sporus as you spotted) but also Zimri from Dryden's Absalom and AchitophelI combined elements from both...

There is no point me airing my grievances about this yet again, but the additional one is that if Brexit does go ahead I won't be able to vote for any elections at all...I was on one of the lists for my town in 2008 (it isn't the same system in large towns  as in smaller places with individual candidates) and I wouldn't be able to do this either..

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This has been going on for a number of years. I tick the box on my tax declaration to state that I have no TV but I still am charged the  RedevanceIt has to be claimed back in this case, and I find the most efficient way is via the secure mail connection in your espace particulier  on the impôts site.

Yes he died on St Cecilia's day (the patron saint of Music) :(( He championed modern Eastern European music in the Carol Service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbyUZkBHCko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwWUBTEkvQA

I will miss both of them and their  genius.

On the positive side you have taught me a new word.[:)]

I never dun it Guv I promise

It  would seem that Boris Johnson  might have understood my Dryden pastiche [:P] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/13/boris-johnson-drops-word-onanism-from-speech-after-criticism Onan One day the cult of Brexit gripped the land. In the first rank of these did Onan stand. Puerile pranks his emptiness betray Shallow ambition clearer by the day. By night a vision clearer still expressed: A jester’s face, a reptile all the rest. See Onan wriggle --“What? That phoney Brit, Onan, albino turd of ass’s shit ? Serial philanderer; liar ; fake buffoon Peoples’ champion– born with a silver spoon! No shame, and no disgrace can Onan feel At seeking consummation in No Deal. Yet let me crush this bug with rumpled hair. Spoiled child of privilege; whose only care His Fame and popularity and power. Swears anything; then changes in an hour. Inconstant, churlish; always in the wrong; All things to all, but not for very long. Whether in florid impotence he speaks, And, as his prompter breathes, the puppet squeaks; Or paid to write a Column for a rabid Rag-- Half-froth, half-venom, using it to brag In puns, or politics, or tales, or lies, Or spite, or smears or rhymes, or calumnies. Invented falsehoods are his usual themes And usually (to show his judgement) in extremes. Contemptuous of Truth, first writing that then this, And he himself one vile antithesis. A preening rogue pretending to be Hulk-- Incredibly he flounces off to Sulk. Outside he sees himself as Hercules , But Inside he is trembling at the knees As well-bred puppies obsequiously delight In menacing grown men they dare not bite. Coward, bully, scoundrel and disloyal ; A strutting moral bankrupt and a fool. p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; }

But ONLY on your résidence principale. Second homes are not concerned

Can you pay the bill online with the bank card?

I gave the details in another thread recently.The contributions which French pensioners pay (unlike British ones who don't have to pay NI) are in a series of bands similar to the ones for Tax https://www.retraite.com/dossier-retraite/actualites/janvier-2018/quelle-csg-pour-les-retraites-en-2018.html

Very much liked the choir and orchesta....but I found the soloists, especially the tenor a little 'con belto'  i.e. strained [:P]

https://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail/particulier/exonerations-et-degrevements L'exonération spéciale en faveur des personnes âgées ou handicapées et de condition modeste Certains propriétaires sont exonérés en totalité de taxe foncière pour leur habitation principale. Cette exonération est accordée de plein droit sous trois conditions. Conditions relatives à l'occupant Sont exonérés : les titulaires de l’allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées et de l’allocation supplémentaire d’invalidité ;les redevables âgés de plus de 75 ans au 1er janvier de l’année de l’imposition, lorsque le montant de leur revenu fiscal de référence (RFR) de l’année précédente n’excède pas la limite prévue à l’article 1417-I du CGI ; The income limites are here:https://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail/files/media/1_metier/1_particulier/EV/5_patrimoine_logement/510_calcul_idl/limite_seuil_lf2019.pdf see also G Dégrèvement d'office de 100 € Le dégrèvement d’office de 100 € de la taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties, s’applique : à la résidence principale ;aux propriétaires âgés de plus de 65 ans et de moins de 75 ans au 1er janvier de l'année d’imposition dont le revenu fiscal de référence de l’année précédente est inférieur à la limite de l’article 1417-I du CGI ;sous réserve de remplir la condition de cohabitation (identique à celle exigée pour l'exonération totale). Ce dégrèvement bénéficie également à ces personnes lorsqu'elles sont hébergées durablement dans une maison de retraite, à condition que le logement qui constituait leur résidence principale reste libre de toute occupation. Le dégrèvement est réalisé d’office sans démarche préalable du contribuable.

1)A major problem is the mismatch of the skills needed by employers and those that  unemployed people have to offer, especially at the relatively unskilled end of the market. 2)The system, like housing benefit, has always been there for the advantage of the owners: housing benefit goes into the pocket of the landlord, and the system which permitted seasonal workers to get unemployment benefit after 4 months was to the advantage of the employers who can pay only a few months salary  and then expect the taxpayer to foot the bill for their workers when the season is finished... I don't see the unemployed as the villains here.

For HalloweenThat's what is done in Béziers...https://www.lci.fr/police/violences-urbaines-a-beziers-une-ecole-et-un-college-incendies-les-policiers-pris-a-partie-2136502.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1572609563

I don't live in the department, but I am very well aware of the problem which I have also noticed here and in neighbouring departmentsGetting up and down off pavements and negotiating obstacles on them is a nightmare for people in mobility scooters, but also for people with pushchairs.One classic was a  pedestrian crossing in Mirepoix  which led to the local post office. Not only was there no dropped kerb on either side but once you had crossed the road there was a barrier that wouldn't let you get off it..

Just talking about  taxation linked to income:I think that income tax is lower here  but if you have to pay contributions to social charges as retired French people do, and potentially British people will have to after Brexit in order to keep Healthcare, then the grand total is a bit higher here.  Retired British people don't pay National Insurance contributions. There is also the question of the currency in which income is sourced of course. On the other hand as Sue has  said cost of buying and renting accommodation are lower.Local taxes of course a vary  very much between town and country, and from region to region so that is hard to generalise. In my case I reckon that I get better services here that I need then I would now in the UK after various cuts; but since France seems to be going down the same path that may not last for long.

I haven't used the payment service, but I find the messaging one very unreliable too.I have contacted 4 advertisers recently and only one has replied.One had had nothing from LBC when I phoned, but I don't know about the others..

I have sent you an email nomoss about something else