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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » UKIP voters the least likely to be comfortable about a Roma

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    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,969
    Tapestry said:

    The Green candidate presumably is talking to local constituents, and is on the ground, Richard. Just seen the Queen's Speech has been leaked. Fracking to be permitted without permission of the landowners. http://the-tap.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/queens-speech-leaked-fracking-to-be.html

    Well I am on the ground too Tapestry since it is my home town and I know you are talking rubbish.

    I see you also repeat some outright lies about Methane. It is not a DNA disruptor it is not an Endocrine disruptor. It is not toxic. The reason people die from methane in coal mines is either because it replaces the air and they die of asphyxiation or because the stuff ignites. You appear to be a scientific illiterate and your video presentation is utterly flawed.

    By the way, I am not a fan of fracking. But having people such as yourself making frankly idiotic claims based on no evidence just undermines any reasoned argument against fracking. You do far more harm than good.
  • Options
    TapestryTapestry Posts: 153
    edited June 2014
    Babies are reported being born with defects in fracking areas, Richard. That's DNA disruption. See The Times of 29th April 2014, page 30 and all the ailments catalogued by the Perry family in Texas. Methane not toxic? Now really. You'll be laughing it all off with stories of cows farting next. It will be interesting to see if the Green vote at Newark exceeds expectations. I merely pass on what's in your local paper. Re the medical effects of methane, check out Fracktured Future on Youtube. And see people collapsing from the effects of methane on the nervous system. To prove your point, would you be willing to breathe some methane for five minutes, mixed with air to ensure you can't suffocate?
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    MrsBMrsB Posts: 574
    Having spent much of the past week wondering whether to spend the rest of my life hiding behind the sofa, have decided that I might as well just get on with being a Lib Dem, and to hell with opinion polls.
    Amazingly, I agree with Richard Tyndall about something: fracking. Not a fan, but the OTT arguments being used against it are making opponents of it look silly.
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    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,969
    Tapestry said:

    Babies are reported being born with defects in fracking areas, Richard. That's DNA disruption. See The Times of 29th April 2014, page 30 and all the ailments catalogued by the Perry family in Texas. Methane not toxic? Now really. You'll be laughing it all off with stories of cows farting next. It will be interesting to see if the Green vote at Newark exceeds expectations. I merely pass on what's in your local paper.

    No you don't you repeat the rubbish the Greens are saying and add some of your own. Funny how people have been working and living around methane for hundreds of years and it is only now and with no scientific evidence, that we suddenly hear of it being a DNA disruptor. Sorry Tap but you are talking rubbish.

    And no, methane is not toxic any more than fresh water. But both will still kill you if you stick your head in them for 20 minutes.
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    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,969
    MrsB said:

    Having spent much of the past week wondering whether to spend the rest of my life hiding behind the sofa, have decided that I might as well just get on with being a Lib Dem, and to hell with opinion polls.
    Amazingly, I agree with Richard Tyndall about something: fracking. Not a fan, but the OTT arguments being used against it are making opponents of it look silly.

    Don't be a Lib Dem Mrs B. No one should base their public position on a party. Stick to your beliefs and support the party who best matches them. If that is the Lib Dems then fine. But don't be like some and support a party just because you always have.

    My party right or wrong is as daft as my country right or wrong.
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    surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    MikeK said:

    AndyJS said:

    Tried to put £10 on UKIP with Betfair but only £2 was accepted. What's going on?

    I think, can't promise, that if you go to your local Paddy Power, you may be able to sneak a £30 bet on UKIP for Newark. I did and got on @ 5/2.
    It was 3/1 this afternnon.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,031
    edited June 2014
    Just to add to what @Richard_Tyndall has being saying, methane has been dissolved in water for thousands of years and 'burning water' images date back a long way (centuries before 'fracking', certainly). The burning bush stories in the bible almost certainly relate to methane seeps (of which there are millions on planet earth).

    Hydraulic fracturing (aka 'well stimulation') isn't that new either, dating back at least 50 years. The water used (aka 'slick water') is 99.9% regular water and sand. The chemicals are sparsely used (because they're expensive, and only really exist to stop the grains of sand clogging the pores in the rock). You can drink fracking fluid, in undiluted form, and I've seen it done (although I passed on the opportunity myself.) And, (properly competed) wells can never pollute your water supply, as if there wasn't cap rock in place, the gas wouldn't be there in the first place.

    What else?

    Look: if I lived in a village, would I want a large number of trucks trundling through? Not really. But I wouldn't want local fracc'ing because I (as a resident) wouldn't see the benefits and would see the costs of increased congestion.

    UKIP's policy of a SWF is obviously ridiculous. But @AnotherDave has it exactly right: bribe local communities. A decade without Council Tax would be enough to sway most communities. Make it so that 25% of the tax take goes to the local council.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,031
    FalseFlag said:

    AveryLP said:

    FWIW I think that judging individuals by their nationality is essentially racist in the usual sense of the term, even if they're white (to be less emotive, let's say it's unhelpful). As Sean Fear says on the last thread, attitudes tend to be formed on the basis of media coverage of the countries - Germans are portrayed as all serious and efficient, Nigerians as people who run banking scams. Such generalisations rarely survive contact with real people, which is possibly why the cruder forms of prejudice are more common in areas with few immigrants.

    Absolutely true, Nick.

    In 1990 I employed a Romanian aslyum seeker. He had fled Bucharest three years before without his wife and child. He spoke no English on arrival in the UK, but was fluent in Romanian, German, Spanish and Italian. By the time I interviewed him, he was fluent in English too. And a year after being given responsibility for Romania and Hungary, he had learnt Hungarian too (not an easy task even for a natural linguist!).

    Eventually he was granted residence and his family joined him. They lived deep in a Lib Dem enclave in South West London and were a charming couple.

    Yes, he was a little eccentric, but so were we all, not least myself!

    It was South West London not his nationality which would have prevented me being his neighbour.

    Indeed, had he been in the constituency you contested at the time, I would have had ten of him or his families living next door.
    Yes of course Avery old chap all Romanians are multilingual geniuses, it's why Romania boasts such a high standard of living. Lousy anecdotes are always the best basis for social policy.

    Let's just pretend those Roma in Marble Arch don't exist.
    Statistically, black people have lower IQs than white people.

    Does this mean that - when employing people - you can simply dismiss all the black people out of hand?

    Obviously not. That would be ridiculous.

    People are individuals. Being black no more makes you stupid than being Romanian makes you a criminal.

    Would you rather an employed Romanian family moved in next door, or four unemployed local youths on housing benefit?

    I find questions like this deeply offensive.
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    surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    edited June 2014
    rcs1000 said:

    Just to add to what @Richard_Tyndall has being saying, methane has been dissolved in water for thousands of years and 'burning water' images date back a long way (centuries before 'fracking', certainly). The burning bush stories in the bible almost certainly relate to methane seeps (of which there are millions on planet earth).

    Hydraulic fracturing (aka 'well stimulation') isn't that new either, dating back at least 50 years. The water used (aka 'slick water') is 99.9% regular water and sand. The chemicals are sparsely used (because they're expensive, and only really exist to stop the grains of sand clogging the pores in the rock). You can drink fracking fluid, in undiluted form, and I've seen it done (although I passed on the opportunity myself.) And, (properly competed) wells can never pollute your water supply, as if there wasn't cap rock in place, the gas wouldn't be there in the first place.

    What else?

    Look: if I lived in a village, would I want a large number of trucks trundling through? Not really. But I wouldn't want local fracc'ing because I (as a resident) wouldn't see the benefits and would see the costs of increased congestion.

    UKIP's policy of a SWF is obviously ridiculous. But @AnotherDave has it exactly right: bribe local communities. A decade without Council Tax would be enough to sway most communities. Make it so that 25% of the tax take goes to the local council.

    That is the only way really. The community must get something out of it. One of the complaints of the Olympic Village was that the locals got nowt !

    When I was a Councillor many moons back, there used to be a S52 of the Planning Act where the council negotiated some local benefit when deciding on a planning application. There must be something similar today.
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,362
    edited June 2014

    Only under duress, and largely to recover the territories that they lost fighting on our side in the Great war.

    Which territory did the Romanians lose in WW1, Dr Fox? Romania's territory was at it's largest extent in 1919, after the defeat of Germany, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, and in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
  • Options
    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,969
    rcs1000 said:

    Just to add to what @Richard_Tyndall has being saying, methane has been dissolved in water for thousands of years and 'burning water' images date back a long way (centuries before 'fracking', certainly). The burning bush stories in the bible almost certainly relate to methane seeps (of which there are millions on planet earth).

    Hydraulic fracturing (aka 'well stimulation') isn't that new either, dating back at least 50 years. The water used (aka 'slick water') is 99.9% regular water and sand. The chemicals are sparsely used (because they're expensive, and only really exist to stop the grains of sand clogging the pores in the rock). You can drink fracking fluid, in undiluted form, and I've seen it done (although I passed on the opportunity myself.) And, (properly competed) wells can never pollute your water supply, as if there wasn't cap rock in place, the gas wouldn't be there in the first place.

    What else?

    Look: if I lived in a village, would I want a large number of trucks trundling through? Not really. But I wouldn't want local fracc'ing because I (as a resident) wouldn't see the benefits and would see the costs of increased congestion.

    UKIP's policy of a SWF is obviously ridiculous. But @AnotherDave has it exactly right: bribe local communities. A decade without Council Tax would be enough to sway most communities. Make it so that 25% of the tax take goes to the local council.

    It is the 'properly completed' that I have an issue with. Cement job failures are common in oil and gas drilling (an extreme example is the one which caused the Deepwater Horizon blowout) and the chances of a failed cement job increases hugely in high angle and horizontal wells such as those proposed for fracking.

    There are a number of serious reasons for objecting to fracking in the UK at present. Many of these could be overcome if the HSEQ regime and reporting systems used in the offshore industry were enforced in fracking but at this present time they are not and the government does not seem to be inclined to do that I assume because of pressure from the fracking companies.

    Until the offshore safety regimes are applied to fracking I will be sceptical of the security of wells and the protection of aquifers.
  • Options
    surbiton said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Just to add to what @Richard_Tyndall has being saying, methane has been dissolved in water for thousands of years and 'burning water' images date back a long way (centuries before 'fracking', certainly). The burning bush stories in the bible almost certainly relate to methane seeps (of which there are millions on planet earth).

    Hydraulic fracturing (aka 'well stimulation') isn't that new either, dating back at least 50 years. The water used (aka 'slick water') is 99.9% regular water and sand. The chemicals are sparsely used (because they're expensive, and only really exist to stop the grains of sand clogging the pores in the rock). You can drink fracking fluid, in undiluted form, and I've seen it done (although I passed on the opportunity myself.) And, (properly competed) wells can never pollute your water supply, as if there wasn't cap rock in place, the gas wouldn't be there in the first place.

    What else?

    Look: if I lived in a village, would I want a large number of trucks trundling through? Not really. But I wouldn't want local fracc'ing because I (as a resident) wouldn't see the benefits and would see the costs of increased congestion.

    UKIP's policy of a SWF is obviously ridiculous. But @AnotherDave has it exactly right: bribe local communities. A decade without Council Tax would be enough to sway most communities. Make it so that 25% of the tax take goes to the local council.

    That is the only way really. The community must get something out of it. One of the complaints of the Olympic Village was that the locals got nowt !

    When I was a Councillor many moons back, there used to be a S52 of the Planning Act where the council negotiated some local benefit when deciding on a planning application. There must be something similar today.
    Fully agree that the community must see a chunk of the economic benefit. I would though be concerned that the 'free' money would be squandered on pet schemes and the council tax would hardly drop.
  • Options
    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,427
    surbiton said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Just to add to what @Richard_Tyndall has being saying, methane has been dissolved in water for thousands of years and 'burning water' images date back a long way (centuries before 'fracking', certainly). The burning bush stories in the bible almost certainly relate to methane seeps (of which there are millions on planet earth).

    Hydraulic fracturing (aka 'well stimulation') isn't that new either, dating back at least 50 years. The water used (aka 'slick water') is 99.9% regular water and sand. The chemicals are sparsely used (because they're expensive, and only really exist to stop the grains of sand clogging the pores in the rock). You can drink fracking fluid, in undiluted form, and I've seen it done (although I passed on the opportunity myself.) And, (properly competed) wells can never pollute your water supply, as if there wasn't cap rock in place, the gas wouldn't be there in the first place.

    What else?

    Look: if I lived in a village, would I want a large number of trucks trundling through? Not really. But I wouldn't want local fracc'ing because I (as a resident) wouldn't see the benefits and would see the costs of increased congestion.

    UKIP's policy of a SWF is obviously ridiculous. But @AnotherDave has it exactly right: bribe local communities. A decade without Council Tax would be enough to sway most communities. Make it so that 25% of the tax take goes to the local council.

    That is the only way really. The community must get something out of it. One of the complaints of the Olympic Village was that the locals got nowt !

    When I was a Councillor many moons back, there used to be a S52 of the Planning Act where the council negotiated some local benefit when deciding on a planning application. There must be something similar today.
    There is section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
  • Options
    stodgestodge Posts: 12,877

    Only under duress, and largely to recover the territories that they lost fighting on our side in the Great war.

    Which territory did the Romanians lose in WW1, Dr Fox? Romania's territory was at it's largest extent in 1919, after the defeat of Germany, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, and in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
    Romania's disastrous involvement in WW2 was the direct result of the power diplomacy of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the truth that no state in eastern Europe would be able to avoid the ideological conflict. The Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939 led to the carve up of the states of Eastern Europe and Romanian territory was arbitrarily seized by Moscow in June 1940 and by Germany to appease other allies under the Second Vienna Award.

    The rise of authoritarianism via Antonescu and the Iron Guard was motivated after June 1941 by the desire to regain the lands lost to Moscow the year before to compensate in turn for lands given to Hungary.


  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,362

    Completely off topic question to the military historians on here.
    I have heard Operation Bagration pronounced 3 different ways in WW2 documentaries
    Soviet Storm: Bag-rat-eon
    Battlefield: Bag-ray-schon
    Road to Berlin: Bag-rat-een
    Which (if any) of these is the correct way?

    Since the operation was named after a real person:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bagration

    Then the phonetic pronunciation of his name is probably correct?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Bagration

    In summer 1944, far more Nazi divisions were destroyed on the Eastern Front during Bagration than on the Western Front during the Battle for Normandy. Though I guess we'll be hearing far more about D-Day on the telly in the next couple of weeks!
  • Options
    No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 3,842

    surbiton said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Just to add to what @Richard_Tyndall has being saying, methane has been dissolved in water for thousands of years and 'burning water' images date back a long way (centuries before 'fracking', certainly). The burning bush stories in the bible almost certainly relate to methane seeps (of which there are millions on planet earth).

    Hydraulic fracturing (aka 'well stimulation') isn't that new either, dating back at least 50 years. The water used (aka 'slick water') is 99.9% regular water and sand. The chemicals are sparsely used (because they're expensive, and only really exist to stop the grains of sand clogging the pores in the rock). You can drink fracking fluid, in undiluted form, and I've seen it done (although I passed on the opportunity myself.) And, (properly competed) wells can never pollute your water supply, as if there wasn't cap rock in place, the gas wouldn't be there in the first place.

    What else?

    Look: if I lived in a village, would I want a large number of trucks trundling through? Not really. But I wouldn't want local fracc'ing because I (as a resident) wouldn't see the benefits and would see the costs of increased congestion.

    UKIP's policy of a SWF is obviously ridiculous. But @AnotherDave has it exactly right: bribe local communities. A decade without Council Tax would be enough to sway most communities. Make it so that 25% of the tax take goes to the local council.

    That is the only way really. The community must get something out of it. One of the complaints of the Olympic Village was that the locals got nowt !

    When I was a Councillor many moons back, there used to be a S52 of the Planning Act where the council negotiated some local benefit when deciding on a planning application. There must be something similar today.
    Fully agree that the community must see a chunk of the economic benefit. I would though be concerned that the 'free' money would be squandered on pet schemes and the council tax would hardly drop.
    If you don't like what your council does, vote them out and get someone else in.
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,362
    stodge said:

    Only under duress, and largely to recover the territories that they lost fighting on our side in the Great war.

    Which territory did the Romanians lose in WW1, Dr Fox? Romania's territory was at it's largest extent in 1919, after the defeat of Germany, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, and in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
    Romania's disastrous involvement in WW2 was the direct result of the power diplomacy of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the truth that no state in eastern Europe would be able to avoid the ideological conflict. The Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939 led to the carve up of the states of Eastern Europe and Romanian territory was arbitrarily seized by Moscow in June 1940 and by Germany to appease other allies under the Second Vienna Award.

    The rise of authoritarianism via Antonescu and the Iron Guard was motivated after June 1941 by the desire to regain the lands lost to Moscow the year before to compensate in turn for lands given to Hungary.


    Yes I know all that (trust me!), but Dr Fox suggested the Romanians lost territory 'fighting on our side' in 'the Great War'!
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    MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,290
    RodCrosby said:

    Tories continuing to edge out.

    1.38

    Now tightening again!

    1.32 Back / 1.34 Lay
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    Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,820
    edited June 2014
    @Richard_Tyndall - A question for you: do the shale beds which are believed to hold gas extend under the sea (for example, off the Sussex and Lancashire coasts)? And if so, is fracking from offshore wells feasible? Also, could sea-water be used?
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    stodgestodge Posts: 12,877
    MrsB said:

    Having spent much of the past week wondering whether to spend the rest of my life hiding behind the sofa, have decided that I might as well just get on with being a Lib Dem, and to hell with opinion polls.

    Amazingly, I agree with Richard Tyndall about something: fracking. Not a fan, but the OTT arguments being used against it are making opponents of it look silly.

    There are still one or two of us left, Mrs B. I will be fascinated to see the detailed policy the Party will be putting forward in 2015 (and indeed the policy of all parties much of which remains shrouded in mystery).


  • Options
    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,427

    Completely off topic question to the military historians on here.
    I have heard Operation Bagration pronounced 3 different ways in WW2 documentaries
    Soviet Storm: Bag-rat-eon
    Battlefield: Bag-ray-schon
    Road to Berlin: Bag-rat-een
    Which (if any) of these is the correct way?

    Since the operation was named after a real person:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bagration

    Then the phonetic pronunciation of his name is probably correct?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Bagration

    In summer 1944, far more Nazi divisions were destroyed on the Eastern Front during Bagration than on the Western Front during the Battle for Normandy. Though I guess we'll be hearing far more about D-Day on the telly in the next couple of weeks!
    That's unsurprising, seaborn invasions are tricky to pull off. Certainly much harder than pushing back a front line from land. Operation Overlord is one of the most impressive military achievements of all times.
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,942
    MikeK said:

    AndyJS said:

    Tried to put £10 on UKIP with Betfair but only £2 was accepted. What's going on?

    I think, can't promise, that if you go to your local Paddy Power, you may be able to sneak a £30 bet on UKIP for Newark. I did and got on @ 5/2.
    I'd have happily given you 11/4 !
  • Options

    surbiton said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Just to add to what @Richard_Tyndall has being saying, methane has been dissolved in water for thousands of years and 'burning water' images date back a long way (centuries before 'fracking', certainly). The burning bush stories in the bible almost certainly relate to methane seeps (of which there are millions on planet earth).

    Hydraulic fracturing (aka 'well stimulation') isn't that new either, dating back at least 50 years. The water used (aka 'slick water') is 99.9% regular water and sand. The chemicals are sparsely used (because they're expensive, and only really exist to stop the grains of sand clogging the pores in the rock). You can drink fracking fluid, in undiluted form, and I've seen it done (although I passed on the opportunity myself.) And, (properly competed) wells can never pollute your water supply, as if there wasn't cap rock in place, the gas wouldn't be there in the first place.

    What else?

    Look: if I lived in a village, would I want a large number of trucks trundling through? Not really. But I wouldn't want local fracc'ing because I (as a resident) wouldn't see the benefits and would see the costs of increased congestion.

    UKIP's policy of a SWF is obviously ridiculous. But @AnotherDave has it exactly right: bribe local communities. A decade without Council Tax would be enough to sway most communities. Make it so that 25% of the tax take goes to the local council.

    That is the only way really. The community must get something out of it. One of the complaints of the Olympic Village was that the locals got nowt !

    When I was a Councillor many moons back, there used to be a S52 of the Planning Act where the council negotiated some local benefit when deciding on a planning application. There must be something similar today.
    Fully agree that the community must see a chunk of the economic benefit. I would though be concerned that the 'free' money would be squandered on pet schemes and the council tax would hardly drop.
    If you don't like what your council does, vote them out and get someone else in.
    Easier said than done if you live in one of the one party state councils.
    Have you never read Private Eye's Rotten Boroughs?
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    edited June 2014
    @Richard_Nabavi

    Some of the "beds" will extend under the sea, though drilling for them seaward would entail greater cost, and because of the smaller "recovery" area for a fracked gas well, would only be a partial solution.
    As to seawater? it would be a possibility I would assume, but the main problem in Britain is not the quantity of water, but the pollution after injection.
    We could just flush it into the sea for cheapness though.
  • Options

    Completely off topic question to the military historians on here.
    I have heard Operation Bagration pronounced 3 different ways in WW2 documentaries
    Soviet Storm: Bag-rat-eon
    Battlefield: Bag-ray-schon
    Road to Berlin: Bag-rat-een
    Which (if any) of these is the correct way?

    Since the operation was named after a real person:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bagration

    Then the phonetic pronunciation of his name is probably correct?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Bagration

    In summer 1944, far more Nazi divisions were destroyed on the Eastern Front during Bagration than on the Western Front during the Battle for Normandy. Though I guess we'll be hearing far more about D-Day on the telly in the next couple of weeks!
    Bagration was the German's largest military defeat. IVSTR reading somewhere that 80% or so of German losses were on the Eastern front
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Romania lost the region Bessarabia (modern Moldova) and Northern Bukovina (now part of Ukraine) in the Molotov/von Ribbentrop pact. They were also fierce rivals to the Hungarians over Transylvania. Despite both countries fighting with the Nazis in Russia they each maintained divisions on their disputed border. In 1944 Romania swapped sides and ended the war on our side.

    The Romanians that I know are a lovely bunch, and proud of their countries rich heritage going back to Roman Dacia. I would be very happy with them as neighbours. Their country has a long way to go before it matches most of the EU in development, not least in rooting out corruption, but is well on its way. Interestingly my Romanian colleagues can understand some Hindi words used in Leicester because of similar words used by Romanian gypsies.

    This book gives a good flavour of life in modern Romania according to my son who was there last summer. I may go myself soon, having heard of the fascinating painted churches of Southern Bukovina and beauty of the Carpathians.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1477465367?pc_redir=1401368106&robot_redir=1
    stodge said:

    Only under duress, and largely to recover the territories that they lost fighting on our side in the Great war.

    Which territory did the Romanians lose in WW1, Dr Fox? Romania's territory was at it's largest extent in 1919, after the defeat of Germany, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, and in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
    Romania's disastrous involvement in WW2 was the direct result of the power diplomacy of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the truth that no state in eastern Europe would be able to avoid the ideological conflict. The Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939 led to the carve up of the states of Eastern Europe and Romanian territory was arbitrarily seized by Moscow in June 1940 and by Germany to appease other allies under the Second Vienna Award.

    The rise of authoritarianism via Antonescu and the Iron Guard was motivated after June 1941 by the desire to regain the lands lost to Moscow the year before to compensate in turn for lands given to Hungary.


  • Options
    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    Pulpstar said:

    MikeK said:

    AndyJS said:

    Tried to put £10 on UKIP with Betfair but only £2 was accepted. What's going on?

    I think, can't promise, that if you go to your local Paddy Power, you may be able to sneak a £30 bet on UKIP for Newark. I did and got on @ 5/2.
    I'd have happily given you 11/4 !
    I prefer to walk into my local shop and place bets, rather than dabble into betting on the internet. I still don't trust security fully on the net. I have three betting firms urging me to bet with them on the net. I probably never will take up their offers.
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @foxinsoxuk
    I note that several posts on here have mentioned corruption in other less developed nations.
    This begs the question. Is our corruption of higher quality?
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    There is certainly corruption here; but in Greece it is not unusual now to have to pay a cash bribe to get treated on their NHS. We are not in that position yet!
    Smarmeron said:

    @foxinsoxuk
    I note that several posts on here have mentioned corruption in other less developed nations.
    This begs the question. Is our corruption of higher quality?

  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @foxinsoxuk

    You mean basically paying to get better/quicker treatment, and more efficacious drugs?

    I see your point, we have more developed system.
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    edited June 2014
    The Romanians were rather unwisely persuaded by our government to enter WW1 on our side, and as a consequence were largely occupied by the Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian forces. Their losses as a percentage of population were higher than ours. They were indeed rewarded by the treaty of Versallies, in terms of territory.

    stodge said:

    Only under duress, and largely to recover the territories that they lost fighting on our side in the Great war.

    Which territory did the Romanians lose in WW1, Dr Fox? Romania's territory was at it's largest extent in 1919, after the defeat of Germany, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, and in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
    Romania's disastrous involvement in WW2 was the direct result of the power diplomacy of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the truth that no state in eastern Europe would be able to avoid the ideological conflict. The Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939 led to the carve up of the states of Eastern Europe and Romanian territory was arbitrarily seized by Moscow in June 1940 and by Germany to appease other allies under the Second Vienna Award.

    The rise of authoritarianism via Antonescu and the Iron Guard was motivated after June 1941 by the desire to regain the lands lost to Moscow the year before to compensate in turn for lands given to Hungary.


    Yes I know all that (trust me!), but Dr Fox suggested the Romanians lost territory 'fighting on our side' in 'the Great War'!
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Here you can pay to go private; but in Greece you may not get treated at all without paying a bribe.

    Smarmeron said:

    @foxinsoxuk

    You mean basically paying to get better/quicker treatment, and more efficacious drugs?

    I see your point, we have more developed system.

  • Options
    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Very sad news that the redoubtable Mary Soames, daughter of Winston Churchill, has died aged 91 :

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27655894
  • Options
    Pulpstar said:

    MikeK said:

    AndyJS said:

    Tried to put £10 on UKIP with Betfair but only £2 was accepted. What's going on?

    I think, can't promise, that if you go to your local Paddy Power, you may be able to sneak a £30 bet on UKIP for Newark. I did and got on @ 5/2.
    I'd have happily given you 11/4 !
    Ladbrokes are currently offering 3/1 and Shadsy isn't often wrong.
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    edited June 2014
    @foxinsoxuk

    Apparently so, Instead of illegally paying a doctor for better treatment, we can pay a middle man to arrange it for us.
    Same basic idea though?
    Total privatization will no doubt improve things immensely, But I did find the picture of a gunshot victim parked outside a fancy hospital in America just a little worrying.
    Blood group and credit card sir?
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @JackW
    Condolences Jack, did you know her well?
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    You get it spot on. The issue is legality.

    If you cannot see the difference between illegal bribes and legal payments then there is no hope for you.
    Smarmeron said:

    @foxinsoxuk

    Apparently so, Instead of illegally paying a doctor for better treatment, we can pay a middle man to arrange it for us.
    Same basic idea though?
    Total privatization will no doubt improve things immensely, But I did find the picture of a gunshot victim parked outside a fancy hospital in America just a little worrying.
    Blood group and credit card sir?

  • Options
    NeilVWNeilVW Posts: 709
    Hi all, newbie here. From old thread:

    Shadsy has LibDems odds on to lose their deposit, in a seat in which they came a close third.

    No doubt the vote will be squeezed but by 15%?

    AveryLP said:

    shadsy said:
    [Ladbroke's] prices could all change on Monday afternoon when Lord Ashcroft publishes his constituency poll.

    With two former titans of the bookmaking industry financing UKIP and with donors likely to have access to the party's canvassing returns, one would have thought that party money loading on the kippers today would be the most reliable indicator of the gap being closed.

    And yet you push out the prices for UKIP.

    The UKIP ramping is beginning to appear like a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

    LD performance in by-elections so far this Parliament
    % share in 2010 -> % share at by-election (change in % pts)

    1. Oldham East and Saddleworth - 13 January 2011: 31.6% -> 31.9% (+0.3%)
    2. Barnsley Central - 03 March 2011: 17.3% -> 4.2% (-13.1%)
    3. Leicester South - 05 May 2011: 26.9% -> 22.5% (-4.4%)
    4. Belfast West - 09 June 2011 [did not stand]
    5. Inverclyde - 30 June 2011: 13.3% -> 2.2% (-11.1%)
    6. Feltham and Heston - 15 December 2011: 34.0% -> 27.7% (-6.3%)
    7. Bradford West - 29 March 2012: 11.7% -> 4.6% (-7.1%)
    8. Cardiff South and Penarth - 15 November 2012: 22.3% -> 10.8% (-11.4%)
    9. Corby - 15 November 2012: 14.4% -> 4.9% (-9.5%)
    10. Manchester Central - 15 November 2012: 26.6% -> 9.4% (-17.2%)
    11. Croydon North - 29 November 2012: 14.0% -> 3.5% (-10.5%)
    12. Middlesbrough - 29 November 2012: 19.9% -> 9.9% (-10.0%)
    13. Rotherham - 29 November 2012: 16.0% -> 2.1% (-13.9%)
    14. Eastleigh - 28 February 2013: 46.5% -> 32.1% (-14.5%)
    15. Mid Ulster - 7 March 2013 [did not stand]
    16. South Shields - 2 May 2013: 14.2% -> 1.4% (-12.8%)
    17. Wythenshawe & Sale East - 13 February 2014: 22.3% -> 4.9% (-17.4%)

    Eight lost deposits for the LDs so far.

    Newark 2010 result: CON 53.9%, LAB 22.3%, LD 20.0%, UKIP 3.8%
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @foxinsoxuk

    If you cannot see the difference in a doctor whose bankrupt country hardly pays, trying to get money to feed his family and pay for drugs, and probably treating those who genuinely can't afford it, against much the same being done for profit and convenience, you are a member of the BMA.
  • Options
    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Smarmeron said:

    @JackW
    Condolences Jack, did you know her well?

    Only through family stories of previous generations who did and also the folklore of the old "ruling class" who venerated her.

    RIP.

  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    So taking bribes is OK if you need the money? Its a view!

    Incidentally I am not in the BMA.
    Smarmeron said:

    @foxinsoxuk

    If you cannot see the difference in a doctor whose bankrupt country hardly pays, trying to get money to feed his family and pay for drugs, and probably treating those who genuinely can't afford it, against much the same being done for profit and convenience, you are a member of the BMA.

  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Smarmeron said:

    @foxinsoxuk

    Apparently so, Instead of illegally paying a doctor for better treatment, we can pay a middle man to arrange it for us.
    Same basic idea though?
    Total privatization will no doubt improve things immensely, But I did find the picture of a gunshot victim parked outside a fancy hospital in America just a little worrying.
    Blood group and credit card sir?

    You do realise that American hospitals are not permitted to refuse treatment?
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    NeilVW said:

    Hi all, newbie here. From old thread:

    Shadsy has LibDems odds on to lose their deposit, in a seat in which they came a close third.

    No doubt the vote will be squeezed but by 15%?

    AveryLP said:

    shadsy said:
    [Ladbroke's] prices could all change on Monday afternoon when Lord Ashcroft publishes his constituency poll.

    With two former titans of the bookmaking industry financing UKIP and with donors likely to have access to the party's canvassing returns, one would have thought that party money loading on the kippers today would be the most reliable indicator of the gap being closed.

    And yet you push out the prices for UKIP.

    The UKIP ramping is beginning to appear like a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

    LD performance in by-elections so far this Parliament
    % share in 2010 -> % share at by-election (change in % pts)

    1. Oldham East and Saddleworth - 13 January 2011: 31.6% -> 31.9% (+0.3%)
    2. Barnsley Central - 03 March 2011: 17.3% -> 4.2% (-13.1%)
    3. Leicester South - 05 May 2011: 26.9% -> 22.5% (-4.4%)
    4. Belfast West - 09 June 2011 [did not stand]
    5. Inverclyde - 30 June 2011: 13.3% -> 2.2% (-11.1%)
    6. Feltham and Heston - 15 December 2011: 34.0% -> 27.7% (-6.3%)
    7. Bradford West - 29 March 2012: 11.7% -> 4.6% (-7.1%)
    8. Cardiff South and Penarth - 15 November 2012: 22.3% -> 10.8% (-11.4%)
    9. Corby - 15 November 2012: 14.4% -> 4.9% (-9.5%)
    10. Manchester Central - 15 November 2012: 26.6% -> 9.4% (-17.2%)
    11. Croydon North - 29 November 2012: 14.0% -> 3.5% (-10.5%)
    12. Middlesbrough - 29 November 2012: 19.9% -> 9.9% (-10.0%)
    13. Rotherham - 29 November 2012: 16.0% -> 2.1% (-13.9%)
    14. Eastleigh - 28 February 2013: 46.5% -> 32.1% (-14.5%)
    15. Mid Ulster - 7 March 2013 [did not stand]
    16. South Shields - 2 May 2013: 14.2% -> 1.4% (-12.8%)
    17. Wythenshawe & Sale East - 13 February 2014: 22.3% -> 4.9% (-17.4%)

    Eight lost deposits for the LDs so far.

    Newark 2010 result: CON 53.9%, LAB 22.3%, LD 20.0%, UKIP 3.8%
    Welcome, newbie
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    edited June 2014
    @JackW

    Indeed, RIP. You will be further saddened to know of my neighbour who died recently in her seventies. While not of the "old ruling class", she was not a bad old stick.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,898
    NeilVW said:

    Hi all, newbie here. From old thread:

    Shadsy has LibDems odds on to lose their deposit, in a seat in which they came a close third.

    No doubt the vote will be squeezed but by 15%?

    AveryLP said:

    shadsy said:
    [Ladbroke's] prices could all change on Monday afternoon when Lord Ashcroft publishes his constituency poll.

    With two former titans of the bookmaking industry financing UKIP and with donors likely to have access to the party's canvassing returns, one would have thought that party money loading on the kippers today would be the most reliable indicator of the gap being closed.

    And yet you push out the prices for UKIP.

    The UKIP ramping is beginning to appear like a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

    LD performance in by-elections so far this Parliament
    % share in 2010 -> % share at by-election (change in % pts)

    1. Oldham East and Saddleworth - 13 January 2011: 31.6% -> 31.9% (+0.3%)
    2. Barnsley Central - 03 March 2011: 17.3% -> 4.2% (-13.1%)
    3. Leicester South - 05 May 2011: 26.9% -> 22.5% (-4.4%)
    4. Belfast West - 09 June 2011 [did not stand]
    5. Inverclyde - 30 June 2011: 13.3% -> 2.2% (-11.1%)
    6. Feltham and Heston - 15 December 2011: 34.0% -> 27.7% (-6.3%)
    7. Bradford West - 29 March 2012: 11.7% -> 4.6% (-7.1%)
    8. Cardiff South and Penarth - 15 November 2012: 22.3% -> 10.8% (-11.4%)
    9. Corby - 15 November 2012: 14.4% -> 4.9% (-9.5%)
    10. Manchester Central - 15 November 2012: 26.6% -> 9.4% (-17.2%)
    11. Croydon North - 29 November 2012: 14.0% -> 3.5% (-10.5%)
    12. Middlesbrough - 29 November 2012: 19.9% -> 9.9% (-10.0%)
    13. Rotherham - 29 November 2012: 16.0% -> 2.1% (-13.9%)
    14. Eastleigh - 28 February 2013: 46.5% -> 32.1% (-14.5%)
    15. Mid Ulster - 7 March 2013 [did not stand]
    16. South Shields - 2 May 2013: 14.2% -> 1.4% (-12.8%)
    17. Wythenshawe & Sale East - 13 February 2014: 22.3% -> 4.9% (-17.4%)

    Eight lost deposits for the LDs so far.
    Yikes, hadn't realised things were so bad as all that, even though most of them have been in strong Labour areas. Seems to be getting worse as well. Based on that, another lost deposit looks odds on.
  • Options
    Life_ina_market_townLife_ina_market_town Posts: 2,319
    edited June 2014

    So taking bribes is OK if you need the money? Its a view!

    @Smarmeron appears to subscribe to the maxim, "necessitas non habet legem". I rather prefer "interest reipublicæ ne maleficia remaneant impunita".
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,362
    edited June 2014
    NeilVW said:

    Hi all, newbie here. From old thread:

    Shadsy has LibDems odds on to lose their deposit, in a seat in which they came a close third.

    No doubt the vote will be squeezed but by 15%?

    AveryLP said:

    shadsy said:
    [Ladbroke's] prices could all change on Monday afternoon when Lord Ashcroft publishes his constituency poll.

    With two former titans of the bookmaking industry financing UKIP and with donors likely to have access to the party's canvassing returns, one would have thought that party money loading on the kippers today would be the most reliable indicator of the gap being closed.

    And yet you push out the prices for UKIP.

    The UKIP ramping is beginning to appear like a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

    LD performance in by-elections so far this Parliament
    % share in 2010 -> % share at by-election (change in % pts)

    1. Oldham East and Saddleworth - 13 January 2011: 31.6% -> 31.9% (+0.3%)
    2. Barnsley Central - 03 March 2011: 17.3% -> 4.2% (-13.1%)
    3. Leicester South - 05 May 2011: 26.9% -> 22.5% (-4.4%)
    4. Belfast West - 09 June 2011 [did not stand]
    5. Inverclyde - 30 June 2011: 13.3% -> 2.2% (-11.1%)
    6. Feltham and Heston - 15 December 2011: 34.0% -> 27.7% (-6.3%)
    7. Bradford West - 29 March 2012: 11.7% -> 4.6% (-7.1%)
    8. Cardiff South and Penarth - 15 November 2012: 22.3% -> 10.8% (-11.4%)
    9. Corby - 15 November 2012: 14.4% -> 4.9% (-9.5%)
    10. Manchester Central - 15 November 2012: 26.6% -> 9.4% (-17.2%)
    11. Croydon North - 29 November 2012: 14.0% -> 3.5% (-10.5%)
    12. Middlesbrough - 29 November 2012: 19.9% -> 9.9% (-10.0%)
    13. Rotherham - 29 November 2012: 16.0% -> 2.1% (-13.9%)
    14. Eastleigh - 28 February 2013: 46.5% -> 32.1% (-14.5%)
    15. Mid Ulster - 7 March 2013 [did not stand]
    16. South Shields - 2 May 2013: 14.2% -> 1.4% (-12.8%)
    17. Wythenshawe & Sale East - 13 February 2014: 22.3% -> 4.9% (-17.4%)

    Eight lost deposits for the LDs so far.

    Newark 2010 result: CON 53.9%, LAB 22.3%, LD 20.0%, UKIP 3.8%
    Welcome! But I beat you to it with a tweet from some months ago! :)

    http://t.co/VBgDNsxbwv
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @foxinsoxuk

    "So taking bribes is OK if you need the money? Its a view!"

    If you need the money to buy drugs and medical equipment because the "pharma" companies will not supply them without payment. or because your wages have not been paid for months, I can understand it.
    The big pharma companies also need money to cover their costs.

    e.g. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/03/glaxosmithkline-fined-bribing-doctors-pharmaceuticals
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,362

    The Romanians were rather unwisely persuaded by our government to enter WW1 on our side, and as a consequence were largely occupied by the Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian forces. Their losses as a percentage of population were higher than ours. They were indeed rewarded by the treaty of Versallies, in terms of territory.

    The Austro-Hungarian forces on the Carpathian Front were really under German command by 1916.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Smarmeron said:

    @foxinsoxuk

    "So taking bribes is OK if you need the money? Its a view!"

    If you need the money to buy drugs and medical equipment because the "pharma" companies will not supply them without payment. or because your wages have not been paid for months, I can understand it.
    The big pharma companies also need money to cover their costs.

    The pharma companies did supply Greece for a long long time, based on promises by the government to pay. Then the government refused to pay without a retrospective discount.

    As a result, the companies continue to supply the basic, life-supporting medicines, but not the more expensive ones . So, for example, Novo supplies first and second generation basal insulin but not the pen-based formulations. The result is that the patients get their medicine, but have to go through the inconvenience of manual injections.
  • Options
    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    edited June 2014
    Smarmeron said:

    @JackW

    Indeed, RIP. You will be further saddened to know of my neighbour who died recently in her seventies. While not of the "old ruling class", she was not a bad old stick.

    It's a sad fact that the younger members of the "Golden Generation" of WWII are now being taken from us at a great rate and within the next generation we will see passing the last who served in WWII.

    In a rather timely piece of serendipity this morning I was reading about Winston Churchill's funeral and then came across a short youtube video of the funeral. It still moves me :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Xkr8z3lEo
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,031
    @Smarmeron

    Greek doctors took bribes to expedite treatment long before the current crisis. Greece has been a deeply corrupt country - probably the most so in Europe - for a long time.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    O/T but very nicely phrased, so I thought I'd share

    The tragedy of the Liberal Democrats is they're an honest party with dishonest voters. Liberal Democrat voters wanted to be able to say smugly "don't blame me, I voted Liberal Democrat" when the talk turned political at dinner parties. The hard-working, realistic, decent centrists of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party took to Government rather well. It's the voters who couldn't handle the compromises of Government. Not being in a position to deliver all your promises is not the same as "lying".

    And it seems Clegg, by obtaining power will destroy his party.



    http://www.brackenworld.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-rise-of-ukip-heralds-return-to-two.html
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @Charles

    Indeed Charles, their generosity is unbounded. and after such a heavy fine, Glaxo Smith Kline will have learned their lesson on bribery.
    The latest accusations by China and Poland along with their governments "evidence" will no doubt be shown to be a tissue of lies.
    How is the regulation of the banking industry going?
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,898
    Charles said:

    O/T but very nicely phrased, so I thought I'd share

    The tragedy of the Liberal Democrats is they're an honest party with dishonest voters. Liberal Democrat voters wanted to be able to say smugly "don't blame me, I voted Liberal Democrat" when the talk turned political at dinner parties. The hard-working, realistic, decent centrists of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party took to Government rather well. It's the voters who couldn't handle the compromises of Government. Not being in a position to deliver all your promises is not the same as "lying".

    And it seems Clegg, by obtaining power will destroy his party.



    http://www.brackenworld.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-rise-of-ukip-heralds-return-to-two.html

    There may well be something in it. Those who jumped ship immediately or have been hysterical in how the LDs actions are supposedly without par in the political sphere in a negative sense, do seem to outnumber those who feel the compromises of government and the gains achieved have not been worth the cost, which is a much more reasonable position to take.
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @rcs1000

    Unlike Britain? Corruption and bribery free (except when caught in the act)
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    isamisam Posts: 40,952
    Regarding the Jenrick "hatchet job" by the Mail.. on the same page they have a piece on Helmer too which is equally unflattering ...

    Maybe they want a Labour victory!!

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2644905/Newark-election-Will-brazen-dandy-really-cause-UKIP-earthquake-Meet-Roger-Helmer-Tory-defector-views-immigration-gays-make-Nigel-Farage-look-progressive.html
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Smarmeron said:

    @Charles

    Indeed Charles, their generosity is unbounded. and after such a heavy fine, Glaxo Smith Kline will have learned their lesson on bribery.
    The latest accusations by China and Poland along with their governments "evidence" will no doubt be shown to be a tissue of lies.
    How is the regulation of the banking industry going?

    You can't use the example of the US in the case of the pharma industry - they are basically repeated shakedowns by the government rather than crimes.

    One CEO I know told me that he budgeted $1bn per year in fines as "a cost of doing business" in the the States.

    Regulation of the banking industry is a disaster. Politicians have focused on the wrong issues, while the regulators are snapping at each other throats and we have idiotic and inflexible rules like the mortgage cost of living calculations introduced. Conceptually it's eminently sensible - what banks should have been doing - to understand how customers can cope in a stress scenario, but the rules are far too prescriptive and detailed to be workable.
  • Options
    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited June 2014
    Dr Sox

    In communist Russia, and for a good period thereafter, private payment for medical services was the only means of securing treatment. I discovered this for myself when having to surrender a minimal sum to be put on saline drips following the spiking of my drink by a Chechen group when drinking innocently in a Moscow bar.

    The key point though was minimal sum. At the time everyone in Russia had stacks of roubles and simply nothing to spend them on. So a grey economy developed where services supposedly provided free by the state were in reality 'paid for' in the grey market. Even if you didn't have roubles a barter transaction was possible.

    The payments were not so much for core medical treatment but more like tips for underpaid and undermotivated state employees. They removed bureaucratic barriers to treatment.

    Now if you had US dollars anything was possible even for a tiny amount. And in the two years when tobacco supplies became scarce a box of 200 Malboro Red could buy a full course of treatment for lung cancer.

    I fear this is the direction the NHS would follow under a Miliband government. The migration of East European communist practice to the UK would become an unstoppable force.

    There is certainly corruption here; but in Greece it is not unusual now to have to pay a cash bribe to get treated on their NHS. We are not in that position yet!

    Smarmeron said:

    @foxinsoxuk
    I note that several posts on here have mentioned corruption in other less developed nations.
    This begs the question. Is our corruption of higher quality?

  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,898
    Smarmeron said:

    @rcs1000

    Unlike Britain? Corruption and bribery free (except when caught in the act)

    No country is free from corruption, the presence of some does not mean the country is a failure, and we are far from the worst or even middle of the pack when it comes to such things, and while 'relatively corruption free' may not be the best thing to be triumphant about, it's better than the alternative.
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,942
    JackW said:

    Smarmeron said:

    @JackW

    Indeed, RIP. You will be further saddened to know of my neighbour who died recently in her seventies. While not of the "old ruling class", she was not a bad old stick.

    It's a sad fact that the younger members of the "Golden Generation" of WWII are now being taken from us at a great rate and within the next generation we will see passing the last who served in WWII.

    In a rather timely piece of serendipity this morning I was reading about Winston Churchill's funeral and then came across a short youtube video of the funeral. It still moves me :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Xkr8z3lEo
    Almost 50 years since anyone has received a full State funeral.

    Should be kept an exceedingly rare event.
  • Options
    TapestryTapestry Posts: 153

    Tapestry said:

    Babies are reported being born with defects in fracking areas, Richard. That's DNA disruption. See The Times of 29th April 2014, page 30 and all the ailments catalogued by the Perry family in Texas. Methane not toxic? Now really. You'll be laughing it all off with stories of cows farting next. It will be interesting to see if the Green vote at Newark exceeds expectations. I merely pass on what's in your local paper.

    No you don't you repeat the rubbish the Greens are saying and add some of your own. Funny how people have been working and living around methane for hundreds of years and it is only now and with no scientific evidence, that we suddenly hear of it being a DNA disruptor. Sorry Tap but you are talking rubbish.

    And no, methane is not toxic any more than fresh water. But both will still kill you if you stick your head in them for 20 minutes.
    I take it that's a No. You're not willing to breathe methane despite its being mixed with oxygen to ensure no suffocation. The sources I gave give you that picture too. Methane is a killer other wise than suffocating people. The people saying this are not Greens but former oil industry personnel who decided to break the true story of fracking to the public as they could see a massive deception taking place, as per your output, Richard.

  • Options
    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,427
    JackW said:

    Smarmeron said:

    @JackW

    Indeed, RIP. You will be further saddened to know of my neighbour who died recently in her seventies. While not of the "old ruling class", she was not a bad old stick.

    It's a sad fact that the younger members of the "Golden Generation" of WWII are now being taken from us at a great rate and within the next generation we will see passing the last who served in WWII.

    In a rather timely piece of serendipity this morning I was reading about Winston Churchill's funeral and then came across a short youtube video of the funeral. It still moves me :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Xkr8z3lEo
    That is moving JackW. I think it's a shame that some of the basic respect of that era is no longer practiced.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Pulpstar said:

    JackW said:

    Smarmeron said:

    @JackW

    Indeed, RIP. You will be further saddened to know of my neighbour who died recently in her seventies. While not of the "old ruling class", she was not a bad old stick.

    It's a sad fact that the younger members of the "Golden Generation" of WWII are now being taken from us at a great rate and within the next generation we will see passing the last who served in WWII.

    In a rather timely piece of serendipity this morning I was reading about Winston Churchill's funeral and then came across a short youtube video of the funeral. It still moves me :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Xkr8z3lEo
    Almost 50 years since anyone has received a full State funeral.

    Should be kept an exceedingly rare event.
    Aye. There have only been 4 since 1900, including my cousin Edward, but he didn't really deserve - or want - one (Craigavon felt guilty about how he had behaved and offered one up by way of apology and to try to bask in the reflected glory)
  • Options
    NeilVWNeilVW Posts: 709

    NeilVW said:

    Hi all, newbie here. From old thread:

    Shadsy has LibDems odds on to lose their deposit, in a seat in which they came a close third.

    No doubt the vote will be squeezed but by 15%?

    AveryLP said:

    shadsy said:
    [Ladbroke's] prices could all change on Monday afternoon when Lord Ashcroft publishes his constituency poll.

    With two former titans of the bookmaking industry financing UKIP and with donors likely to have access to the party's canvassing returns, one would have thought that party money loading on the kippers today would be the most reliable indicator of the gap being closed.

    And yet you push out the prices for UKIP.

    The UKIP ramping is beginning to appear like a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

    LD performance in by-elections so far this Parliament
    % share in 2010 -> % share at by-election (change in % pts)

    1. Oldham East and Saddleworth - 13 January 2011: 31.6% -> 31.9% (+0.3%)
    2. Barnsley Central - 03 March 2011: 17.3% -> 4.2% (-13.1%)
    3. Leicester South - 05 May 2011: 26.9% -> 22.5% (-4.4%)
    4. Belfast West - 09 June 2011 [did not stand]
    5. Inverclyde - 30 June 2011: 13.3% -> 2.2% (-11.1%)
    6. Feltham and Heston - 15 December 2011: 34.0% -> 27.7% (-6.3%)
    7. Bradford West - 29 March 2012: 11.7% -> 4.6% (-7.1%)
    8. Cardiff South and Penarth - 15 November 2012: 22.3% -> 10.8% (-11.4%)
    9. Corby - 15 November 2012: 14.4% -> 4.9% (-9.5%)
    10. Manchester Central - 15 November 2012: 26.6% -> 9.4% (-17.2%)
    11. Croydon North - 29 November 2012: 14.0% -> 3.5% (-10.5%)
    12. Middlesbrough - 29 November 2012: 19.9% -> 9.9% (-10.0%)
    13. Rotherham - 29 November 2012: 16.0% -> 2.1% (-13.9%)
    14. Eastleigh - 28 February 2013: 46.5% -> 32.1% (-14.5%)
    15. Mid Ulster - 7 March 2013 [did not stand]
    16. South Shields - 2 May 2013: 14.2% -> 1.4% (-12.8%)
    17. Wythenshawe & Sale East - 13 February 2014: 22.3% -> 4.9% (-17.4%)

    Eight lost deposits for the LDs so far.

    Newark 2010 result: CON 53.9%, LAB 22.3%, LD 20.0%, UKIP 3.8%
    Welcome! But I beat you to it with a tweet from some months ago! :)

    http://t.co/VBgDNsxbwv
    Thanks, lovely graph! Consider yourself followed. :-)
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    Completely O/T but read through todays threads and the site has returned to how it used to be 5 years ago, good (concise) thread headers, good to read, good contributors, sensible chat. Its like going to the pub on the night and finding the local thug and local pub bore have decided to stay in. Congrats Mike, pb.com still the best political betting thread.
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    RobDRobD Posts: 58,985
    JackW said:

    Smarmeron said:

    @JackW

    Indeed, RIP. You will be further saddened to know of my neighbour who died recently in her seventies. While not of the "old ruling class", she was not a bad old stick.

    It's a sad fact that the younger members of the "Golden Generation" of WWII are now being taken from us at a great rate and within the next generation we will see passing the last who served in WWII.

    In a rather timely piece of serendipity this morning I was reading about Winston Churchill's funeral and then came across a short youtube video of the funeral. It still moves me :

    Thanks for posting that, Jack. The nodding of the cranes was particularly poignant, especially as the dockyards there have no all but gone.
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,362
    NeilVW said:

    NeilVW said:

    Hi all, newbie here. From old thread:

    Shadsy has LibDems odds on to lose their deposit, in a seat in which they came a close third.

    No doubt the vote will be squeezed but by 15%?

    AveryLP said:

    shadsy said:
    [Ladbroke's] prices could all change on Monday afternoon when Lord Ashcroft publishes his constituency poll.

    With two former titans of the bookmaking industry financing UKIP and with donors likely to have access to the party's canvassing returns, one would have thought that party money loading on the kippers today would be the most reliable indicator of the gap being closed.

    And yet you push out the prices for UKIP.

    The UKIP ramping is beginning to appear like a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

    LD performance in by-elections so far this Parliament
    % share in 2010 -> % share at by-election (change in % pts)

    1. Oldham East and Saddleworth - 13 January 2011: 31.6% -> 31.9% (+0.3%)
    2. Barnsley Central - 03 March 2011: 17.3% -> 4.2% (-13.1%)
    3. Leicester South - 05 May 2011: 26.9% -> 22.5% (-4.4%)
    4. Belfast West - 09 June 2011 [did not stand]
    5. Inverclyde - 30 June 2011: 13.3% -> 2.2% (-11.1%)
    6. Feltham and Heston - 15 December 2011: 34.0% -> 27.7% (-6.3%)
    7. Bradford West - 29 March 2012: 11.7% -> 4.6% (-7.1%)
    8. Cardiff South and Penarth - 15 November 2012: 22.3% -> 10.8% (-11.4%)
    9. Corby - 15 November 2012: 14.4% -> 4.9% (-9.5%)
    10. Manchester Central - 15 November 2012: 26.6% -> 9.4% (-17.2%)
    11. Croydon North - 29 November 2012: 14.0% -> 3.5% (-10.5%)
    12. Middlesbrough - 29 November 2012: 19.9% -> 9.9% (-10.0%)
    13. Rotherham - 29 November 2012: 16.0% -> 2.1% (-13.9%)
    14. Eastleigh - 28 February 2013: 46.5% -> 32.1% (-14.5%)
    15. Mid Ulster - 7 March 2013 [did not stand]
    16. South Shields - 2 May 2013: 14.2% -> 1.4% (-12.8%)
    17. Wythenshawe & Sale East - 13 February 2014: 22.3% -> 4.9% (-17.4%)

    Eight lost deposits for the LDs so far.

    Newark 2010 result: CON 53.9%, LAB 22.3%, LD 20.0%, UKIP 3.8%
    Welcome! But I beat you to it with a tweet from some months ago! :)

    http://t.co/VBgDNsxbwv
    Thanks, lovely graph! Consider yourself followed. :-)
    You're welcome :)
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    isam said:

    UKIP will sue OFCOM if they arent given equal status with the other two big parties

    If UKIP is going to litigate, it is sensible to start laying the groundwork now, and avoid the SNP's utterly counter-productive litigation strategy in the Court of Session in 2010. The problem UKIP may have is that there may not be a decision from OfCom which is amenable to judicial review until very close to the election, reducing the time for challenge substantially. As for the merits, it will be an uphill struggle, but you never know...
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    What's the betting that FIFA decide that nothing needs to be changed?

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/01/qatar-2022-world-cup-allegations-fifa-revote?CMP=twt_fd
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    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    edited June 2014
    @ToryJim

    " I think it's a shame that some of the basic respect of that era is no longer practiced. "

    Get Gove to put forelock tugging into the curriculum perhaps?

    The death of someone is always sad. But if you want respect, try earning it instead of demanding it as a birthright.
    A great play is made on here of the honour and traditions of the "old families"
    The news is, they were a corrupt as the new families but their "indiscretions" (never of course incompetence or criminality) were covered up by the "system" lest the lower orders got the impression they were really just the same as those they ruled over.
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    On topic, in terms of neighbours I have had (not many), ratings are:

    (1) Vicar who cuts my grass for me
    (2) Young bank workers
    (3) Bodybuilding white van man
    (4) Young alcoholic couple
    (5) Couple who didn't get to know well cos they didn't speak English
    (6) School teacher and BT engineer
    (7) Violent benefit cheats

    Three of my neighbours were from ethinic minorities, without stating which was which, their ethnicity was always irrelevant.

    Lucklily for me my current neighbours rank number 1 and number 3.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    @Pulpstar @ToryJim @RobD

    In the seventies I watched a long film on Churchill's funeral. It was immensely moving and I was welling up on several occasions during the service .... and then later ....

    The cranes bowed - a symbol for all the nation - cue waterworks, I still gets me today.

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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,427
    Smarmeron said:

    @ToryJim

    " I think it's a shame that some of the basic respect of that era is no longer practiced. "

    Get Gove to put forelock tugging into the curriculum perhaps?

    The death of someone is always sad. But if you want respect, try earning it instead of demanding it as a birthright.
    A great play is made on here of the honour and traditions of the "old families"
    The news is, they were a corrupt as the new families but their "indiscretions" (never of course incompetence or criminality) were covered up by the "system" lest the lower orders got the impression they were really just the same as those they ruled over.

    The trouble with the concept of earned respect is that almost all of us will do something to fail to earn it. The trouble with modernity is that disrespect is automatic and outright hostility and brutalism follows close behind.
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    JackW said:

    Smarmeron said:

    @JackW
    Condolences Jack, did you know her well?

    Only through family stories of previous generations who did and also the folklore of the old "ruling class" who venerated her.

    RIP.

    Jack

    She lived long enough to know all her eleven grandchildren.

    And there may be a great future in the confluence of Marlborough and Smith blood. The one to watch is her granddaughter Isabella Soames, seen here celebrating her eleven A* grades in GCSE.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdHGpxMldTU

    The future is our strength.

    RIP, Lady Soames.
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    On topic, in terms of neighbours I have had (not many), ratings are:

    (1) Vicar who cuts my grass for me
    (2) Young bank workers
    (3) Bodybuilding white van man
    (4) Young alcoholic couple
    (5) Couple who didn't get to know well cos they didn't speak English
    (6) School teacher and BT engineer
    (7) Violent benefit cheats

    Three of my neighbours were from ethinic minorities, without stating which was which, their ethnicity was always irrelevant.

    Lucklily for me my current neighbours rank number 1 and number 3.

    I'm going to guess (2), (3) and (5) ;-) Would consider switching out (3) for (6) though.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,942
    Smarmeron said:

    @ToryJim

    " I think it's a shame that some of the basic respect of that era is no longer practiced. "

    Get Gove to put forelock tugging into the curriculum perhaps?

    The death of someone is always sad. But if you want respect, try earning it instead of demanding it as a birthright.
    A great play is made on here of the honour and traditions of the "old families"
    The news is, they were a corrupt as the new families but their "indiscretions" (never of course incompetence or criminality) were covered up by the "system" lest the lower orders got the impression they were really just the same as those they ruled over.

    Churchill certainly earnt it in spades.
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    BlueberryBlueberry Posts: 408
    Here's an OECD map of world corruption ratings: http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/

    FWIW, Britain is 14th least corrupt out of 177 countries. Romania is tied with Italy on 69th.
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    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @AveryLP

    Breeding will out? It goes against the mathematics of what is known about human genetics.
    Still if it keeps you happy.
    On a more rational level, if you took a kid from a "sink estate" and gave the child the same advantages as your little heroine has had, you would in general find no distinguishable difference.
    Smart is good. Family and contacts are a surer way to wealth.
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    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,969
    Tapestry said:

    Tapestry said:

    Babies are reported being born with defects in fracking areas, Richard. That's DNA disruption. See The Times of 29th April 2014, page 30 and all the ailments catalogued by the Perry family in Texas. Methane not toxic? Now really. You'll be laughing it all off with stories of cows farting next. It will be interesting to see if the Green vote at Newark exceeds expectations. I merely pass on what's in your local paper.

    No you don't you repeat the rubbish the Greens are saying and add some of your own. Funny how people have been working and living around methane for hundreds of years and it is only now and with no scientific evidence, that we suddenly hear of it being a DNA disruptor. Sorry Tap but you are talking rubbish.

    And no, methane is not toxic any more than fresh water. But both will still kill you if you stick your head in them for 20 minutes.
    I take it that's a No. You're not willing to breathe methane despite its being mixed with oxygen to ensure no suffocation. The sources I gave give you that picture too. Methane is a killer other wise than suffocating people. The people saying this are not Greens but former oil industry personnel who decided to break the true story of fracking to the public as they could see a massive deception taking place, as per your output, Richard.

    Er Tap, I have worked in mines and on oil rigs over the years and have many times breathed methane at non suffocation levels, rarely on very close to suffocation levels. Actually so has anyone who has left the gas on at home by mistake.

    And no, no one in the oil industry or in science is claiming that methane is toxic. It is a stupid and completely false claim
  • Options
    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    Smarmeron said:

    @ToryJim

    " I think it's a shame that some of the basic respect of that era is no longer practiced. "

    Get Gove to put forelock tugging into the curriculum perhaps?

    The death of someone is always sad. But if you want respect, try earning it instead of demanding it as a birthright.
    A great play is made on here of the honour and traditions of the "old families"
    The news is, they were a corrupt as the new families but their "indiscretions" (never of course incompetence or criminality) were covered up by the "system" lest the lower orders got the impression they were really just the same as those they ruled over.

    Oh don't be so silly, Smarmy.

    It matters not what you get up to in bed chambers or banking halls. it is one's conduct at the dining table which counts in life.

    Now go and learn how to hold a knife and fork.

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    Charles said:

    On topic, in terms of neighbours I have had (not many), ratings are:

    (1) Vicar who cuts my grass for me
    (2) Young bank workers
    (3) Bodybuilding white van man
    (4) Young alcoholic couple
    (5) Couple who didn't get to know well cos they didn't speak English
    (6) School teacher and BT engineer
    (7) Violent benefit cheats

    Three of my neighbours were from ethinic minorities, without stating which was which, their ethnicity was always irrelevant.

    Lucklily for me my current neighbours rank number 1 and number 3.

    I'm going to guess (2), (3) and (5) ;-) Would consider switching out (3) for (6) though.
    1 out of 3. (2) were a couple from Derby who had moved to the "big city" Birmingham, (3) were both born 3 miles from where they live now and will never leave the area. *(5) were definitely foreign, but only being able to speak some language I don't recognise (I think Arabic) was a bit of a drawback. I never even worked out what country they were from - definitely middle eastern but no idea where. Had the biggest satellite dish on their house I have ever seen.
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @Blueberry
    Only fourteenth? If that was an education table, you would all be foaming at the mouth demanding something be done.
  • Options
    Oh, and 6 were quintiscential immigrants (Vietnamese boat people). We only ever argued twice, once when they complained about kids playing football in the street (which I believe is a basic human right!) and once for letting their house illegally to the violent benefit cheats!
    Charles said:

    On topic, in terms of neighbours I have had (not many), ratings are:

    (1) Vicar who cuts my grass for me
    (2) Young bank workers
    (3) Bodybuilding white van man
    (4) Young alcoholic couple
    (5) Couple who didn't get to know well cos they didn't speak English
    (6) School teacher and BT engineer
    (7) Violent benefit cheats

    Three of my neighbours were from ethinic minorities, without stating which was which, their ethnicity was always irrelevant.

    Lucklily for me my current neighbours rank number 1 and number 3.

    I'm going to guess (2), (3) and (5) ;-) Would consider switching out (3) for (6) though.
  • Options
    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @Pulpstar

    Churchill possibly did, however he was not without faults. some of which got brave men killed.
    If you assume that only Churchill could have got Britain through the war, you do a disservice to the rest of the country.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,783

    Tapestry said:

    Tapestry said:

    Babies are reported being born with defects in fracking areas, Richard. That's DNA disruption. See The Times of 29th April 2014, page 30 and all the ailments catalogued by the Perry family in Texas. Methane not toxic? Now really. You'll be laughing it all off with stories of cows farting next. It will be interesting to see if the Green vote at Newark exceeds expectations. I merely pass on what's in your local paper.

    No you don't you repeat the rubbish the Greens are saying and add some of your own. Funny how people have been working and living around methane for hundreds of years and it is only now and with no scientific evidence, that we suddenly hear of it being a DNA disruptor. Sorry Tap but you are talking rubbish.

    And no, methane is not toxic any more than fresh water. But both will still kill you if you stick your head in them for 20 minutes.
    I take it that's a No. You're not willing to breathe methane despite its being mixed with oxygen to ensure no suffocation. The sources I gave give you that picture too. Methane is a killer other wise than suffocating people. The people saying this are not Greens but former oil industry personnel who decided to break the true story of fracking to the public as they could see a massive deception taking place, as per your output, Richard.

    And no, no one in the oil industry or in science is claiming that methane is toxic. It is a stupid and completely false claim
    If methane is so dangerous, what the feck are we doing piping it into people's homes?

    Of all the objections to fracking, this must be one of the dumbest.....oh, and only a teeny tiny percentage of people in Britain get their water from private wells - the source of concern in the US - the overwhelming majority in the UK are on the water mains.....
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    nigel4englandnigel4england Posts: 4,800
    Smarmeron said:

    @AveryLP

    Breeding will out? It goes against the mathematics of what is known about human genetics.
    Still if it keeps you happy.
    On a more rational level, if you took a kid from a "sink estate" and gave the child the same advantages as your little heroine has had, you would in general find no distinguishable difference.
    Smart is good. Family and contacts are a surer way to wealth.

    So you agree that private school is better than state school?
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,857
    Smarmeron said:

    @ToryJim

    " I think it's a shame that some of the basic respect of that era is no longer practiced. "

    Get Gove to put forelock tugging into the curriculum perhaps?

    The death of someone is always sad. But if you want respect, try earning it instead of demanding it as a birthright.
    A great play is made on here of the honour and traditions of the "old families"
    The news is, they were a corrupt as the new families but their "indiscretions" (never of course incompetence or criminality) were covered up by the "system" lest the lower orders got the impression they were really just the same as those they ruled over.

    Good manners cost nothing. In general, our society is a good deal coarser than at the time of Churchill's funeral.

  • Options
    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,969

    Tapestry said:

    Tapestry said:

    Babies are reported being born with defects in fracking areas, Richard. That's DNA disruption. See The Times of 29th April 2014, page 30 and all the ailments catalogued by the Perry family in Texas. Methane not toxic? Now really. You'll be laughing it all off with stories of cows farting next. It will be interesting to see if the Green vote at Newark exceeds expectations. I merely pass on what's in your local paper.

    No you don't you repeat the rubbish the Greens are saying and add some of your own. Funny how people have been working and living around methane for hundreds of years and it is only now and with no scientific evidence, that we suddenly hear of it being a DNA disruptor. Sorry Tap but you are talking rubbish.

    And no, methane is not toxic any more than fresh water. But both will still kill you if you stick your head in them for 20 minutes.
    I take it that's a No. You're not willing to breathe methane despite its being mixed with oxygen to ensure no suffocation. The sources I gave give you that picture too. Methane is a killer other wise than suffocating people. The people saying this are not Greens but former oil industry personnel who decided to break the true story of fracking to the public as they could see a massive deception taking place, as per your output, Richard.

    And no, no one in the oil industry or in science is claiming that methane is toxic. It is a stupid and completely false claim
    If methane is so dangerous, what the feck are we doing piping it into people's homes?

    Of all the objections to fracking, this must be one of the dumbest.....oh, and only a teeny tiny percentage of people in Britain get their water from private wells - the source of concern in the US - the overwhelming majority in the UK are on the water mains.....
    Though to be fair the water that gets into those mains often comes from underground aquifers. If we did end up polluting them (with the chemicals not the methane of course which is already there in many of our aquifers) then it would be an issue.
  • Options
    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,942
    Smarmeron said:

    @Pulpstar

    Churchill possibly did, however he was not without faults. some of which got brave men killed.
    If you assume that only Churchill could have got Britain through the war, you do a disservice to the rest of the country.

    No man (Or woman) is without fault.
  • Options
    Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 30,969
    By the way, maybe Tap would like to explain where he thinks methane comes from in the first place. It might be illuminating (not to say highly amusing) to see how he thinks it becomes a DNA and endocrine disruptor given its origins.
  • Options
    NinoinozNinoinoz Posts: 1,312

    If methane is so dangerous, what the feck are we doing piping it into people's homes?

    Of all the objections to fracking, this must be one of the dumbest.....oh, and only a teeny tiny percentage of people in Britain get their water from private wells - the source of concern in the US - the overwhelming majority in the UK are on the water mains.....

    And where does the water in the mains come from? I can assure you that a lot of bore holes are used and these would face the same problems as wells. In fact, borehole contamination is already a problem in this country.
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    SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @CarlottaVance

    Aquifer water makes a major contribution to the water supply of the South East.
    This might prove entertaining when people work out where their water comes from.
    (Yes, I know most of you only drink bottled melt water from a secret spring in the upper Andes, but I was talking about normal people)
  • Options
    TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    edited June 2014

    Tapestry said:

    Tapestry said:

    Babies are reported being born with defects in fracking areas, Richard. That's DNA disruption. See The Times of 29th April 2014, page 30 and all the ailments catalogued by the Perry family in Texas. Methane not toxic? Now really. You'll be laughing it all off with stories of cows farting next. It will be interesting to see if the Green vote at Newark exceeds expectations. I merely pass on what's in your local paper.

    No you don't you repeat the rubbish the Greens are saying and add some of your own. Funny how people have been working and living around methane for hundreds of years and it is only now and with no scientific evidence, that we suddenly hear of it being a DNA disruptor. Sorry Tap but you are talking rubbish.

    And no, methane is not toxic any more than fresh water. But both will still kill you if you stick your head in them for 20 minutes.
    I take it that's a No. You're not willing to breathe methane despite its being mixed with oxygen to ensure no suffocation. The sources I gave give you that picture too. Methane is a killer other wise than suffocating people. The people saying this are not Greens but former oil industry personnel who decided to break the true story of fracking to the public as they could see a massive deception taking place, as per your output, Richard.

    And no, no one in the oil industry or in science is claiming that methane is toxic. It is a stupid and completely false claim
    If methane is so dangerous, what the feck are we doing piping it into people's homes?

    Of all the objections to fracking, this must be one of the dumbest.....oh, and only a teeny tiny percentage of people in Britain get their water from private wells - the source of concern in the US - the overwhelming majority in the UK are on the water mains.....
    In the "right" mix with air, methane can be explosive, but then so can dust.
    Concerning wells: sadly, in the US many farms in the midwest can no longer drink their well water owing to pollution by long term intense use of fertlizers---by nitrates perhaps.
  • Options
    BlueberryBlueberry Posts: 408
    Smarmeron said:

    @Blueberry
    Only fourteenth? If that was an education table, you would all be foaming at the mouth demanding something be done.

    "you would all be foaming at the mouth". You've got me all wrong. Never foamed in my life. However, I do find it astonishing though that our government thinks it's a good deal to have an open border with eastern Europe. Your average Britain gets absolutely nothing out of it.
  • Options
    nigel4englandnigel4england Posts: 4,800
    Smarmeron said:

    @CarlottaVance

    Aquifer water makes a major contribution to the water supply of the South East.
    This might prove entertaining when people work out where their water comes from.
    (Yes, I know most of you only drink bottled melt water from a secret spring in the upper Andes, but I was talking about normal people)

    Ah, the good old Peckham Spring.
  • Options
    Ishmael_XIshmael_X Posts: 3,664
    Smarmeron said:

    @AveryLP

    Breeding will out? It goes against the mathematics of what is known about human genetics.
    Still if it keeps you happy.

    "The mathematics of what is known about human genetics" show that there are no heritable human characteristics, do they?

    Golly.
This discussion has been closed.