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blackburn63 said:

rcs1000 said:

blackburn63 said:

rcs1000 said:

blackburn63 said:

RobD said:

blackburn63 said:

RobD said:

blackburn63 said:

This is the society we live in now, teachers call in the police who interview a 10 year old over a spelling mistake.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/20/i-live-in-a-terrorist-house-police-speak-to-muslim-boy-10-over-spelling-error

Terrace and terrorist aren't that similar

Social services were involved too. Im not sure who to direct my anger at, the police, teachers or social services.

I'll settle for the ridiculous environment successive governments have created by treating citizens as objects for their amusement.

MI5 probably rely on even more bizzare tip offs

Nah they're too busy being gay friendly.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/19/mi5-comes-out-top-stonewall-list-gay-friendly-employers

I mean what the fuck is all that about, who gives a toss if somebody is gay. Just go to work and do your job, nobody is interested in who you go on holiday with.

I would have thought that was obvious.

Historically, a very large number of traitors in our security services were blackmailed as a result of their homosexuality. By making it clear that being gay is not a problem, it dramatically lowers the risk that someone will be able to be blackmailed.

I still don't know how making it clear being gay is not a problem is newsworthy. Blackmailing gays was decades ago, Stonewall do themselves no favours with this nonsense.

People are people, being gay friendly is a nonsense, it implies going out of the way to accommodate a section of society which is ridiculous.

I know employers where being publicly gay would be a problem.

And how would you think "gay friendliness" would manifest itself?

The truth is that the security services want to know EVERYTHING about their employees. If you discourage reporting of who your partner is, then that's an employee who's lying to you. You do understand how corrosive that is, right?

Who are these employers that aren't "gay friendly"? Whatever that ridiculous phrase means.

Are they also black friendly, ornithologist friendly and beekeeper friendly?

Again, I would have thought it was obvious.

Gay friendly means, for example, giving death in service benefits to gay partners. (Something that was a big issue before gay marriage was legalised.)

rcs1000 said:

There are very few genuinely evil people in this world. Most people are trying to do the best they can in difficult circumstances. And I think - like the story in the US of the boy with the home made clock - there is a desire to err on the side of caution. Even though that caution can look utterly ridiculous from the outside. If we ridicule people who report things that turn out to be nothing, we will end up discouraging people from reporting things that turn out to important.

We also know little of the circumstances. Did the teacher have other reasons to suspect, or was this a one off? Etc etc.

There's a lot in that (though I know nothing of the specific case, which does sound peculiar and unreasonable on the face of it). In general, not just in politics, if you assume people will always be good or always evil, you run into trouble. Most people try to do what seems to be their best, with lapses of self-indulgence or mood.

AndyJS last thread - if you sign up for PokerStars they offer a "playmoney" option which introduces you to the game (as well as detailed rules and a training option), though because people aren't playing for money they will be much more random in their behaviour than in the real game.

General warning: it's thought that around 90% of players lose money over the long run, so it's best to assume you will gradually lose ground and only play as much as you will enjoy even if you lose - a bit like going to the races and putting £5 on an outsider for the thrill: that's £5 invested in having fun, not a serious expectation of return. If you then win like I did last night, that's great, but it's just icing on the cake. Serious pros are sad people, grinding away hour after hour at what for most is probably less than minimum wage at best.

Stonewall explain in their report how they judge gay friendliness among employers.

There are many workplaces where gay men and lesbians are not made particularly welcome, whatever the formal policies of the organisation. It can vary within organisations. One point I have often made internally is that the experience of a very senior partner in London is likely to be very different from someone working in the post room in Leeds. When policies are set by the former they are unlikely to appreciate the practical problems of the latter.

blackburn63 said:

rcs1000 said:

OldKingCole said:

Mortimer said:

blackburn63 said:

RobD said:

blackburn63 said:

This is the society we live in now, teachers call in the police who interview a 10 year old over a spelling mistake.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/20/i-live-in-a-terrorist-house-police-speak-to-muslim-boy-10-over-spelling-error

Terrace and terrorist aren't that similar

Social services were involved too. Im not sure who to direct my anger at, the police, teachers or social services.

I'll settle for the ridiculous environment successive governments have created by treating citizens as objects for their amusement.

Actually sounds eminently sensible to me. Teachers have a duty of care and are obliged to report it.

As they should be.

Imagine the outcry if it were true, and it had been ignored, and the family had departed to Syria the following week.

I'm frustrated at the family asking for an apology.

One of those situations where everyone’s got some element of right on their side. And where everyone’s got something wrong.

There are very few genuinely evil people in this world. Most people are trying to do the best they can in difficult circumstances. And I think - like the story in the US of the boy with the home made clock - there is a desire to err on the side of caution. Even though that caution can look utterly ridiculous from the outside. If we ridicule people who report things that turn out to be nothing, we will end up discouraging people from reporting things that turn out to important.

We also know little of the circumstances. Did the teacher have other reasons to suspect, or was this a one off? Etc etc.

Yes perhaps the teacher was alerted by the ticking from the ten year olds anorak. God only knows what would have happened if he failed his times tables, the teacher would have called the riot police.

Still, before long some bright spark will say the teacher was a ukip voter who assumed all Muslim boys are being groomed to blow us all up.

Come on hand wringers - which way do you want it?

A teacher should be able to look at a home made clock and understand that it was a clock and how it works.

rcs1000 said:

HYUFD said:

Palin has a network she built up in Iowa, potential donors and is popular with evangelicals, she is more likely to be Secretary of Energy though than Vice Presidential pick again

Interesting: so you think it's about improving Trump's Iowa ground game. That's a plausible scenario.

She built up a network in Iowa for a potential 2012 run which will help him

Theuniondivvie said:

blackburn63 said:

RobD said:

blackburn63 said:

RobD said:

blackburn63 said:

This is the society we live in now, teachers call in the police who interview a 10 year old over a spelling mistake.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/20/i-live-in-a-terrorist-house-police-speak-to-muslim-boy-10-over-spelling-error

Terrace and terrorist aren't that similar

Social services were involved too. Im not sure who to direct my anger at, the police, teachers or social services.

I'll settle for the ridiculous environment successive governments have created by treating citizens as objects for their amusement.

MI5 probably rely on even more bizzare tip offs

Nah they're too busy being gay friendly.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/19/mi5-comes-out-top-stonewall-list-gay-friendly-employers

I mean what the fuck is all that about, who gives a toss if somebody is gay. Just go to work and do your job, nobody is interested in who you go on holiday with.

Traditionally MI5 & 6 were VERY interested in their employees' sex lives. Perhaps there's a touch of over compensating going on.

They still are very interested in the sex lives of their employees, and with good reason.

They want people who are honest with those close to them, who aren't likely to draw attention to themselves by their out of work behaviour, and who can't be effectively blackmailed or coerced into acting against the state that employs them.

Someone having an affair, someone sleeping with a different partner every week, someone who uses prostitutes, someone who is closeted gay to their conservative parents - all of these are people who could be a security risk if working as spies. Positive or Developed Vetting still goes on for many senior governmental positions too.

AndyJS said:

"Oxford Union backs motion to remove Cecil Rhodes statue

Students narrowly back Rhodes Must Fall campaign despite hearing that next step would be to tear down statues of Winston Churchill and anyone else with an unblemished historical record"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/12109394/Oxford-Union-backs-motion-to-remove-Cecil-Rhodes-statue.html

I doubt even Churchill would have claimed his record was "unblemished"!

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/20/i-live-in-a-terrorist-house-police-speak-to-muslim-boy-10-over-spelling-error

What is so pathetic about this is the contrast between the heavy-handed response of the authorities to a child's scribblings and the supine and limp-wristed response of the authorities to genuine Islamic extremism practised by adults. Cowards always pick on the weakest I suppose.

blackburn63 said:

AlastairMeeks said:

Stonewall explain in their report how they judge gay friendliness among employers.

There are many workplaces where gay men and lesbians are not made particularly welcome, whatever the formal policies of the organisation. It can vary within organisations. One point I have often made internally is that the experience of a very senior partner in London is likely to be very different from someone working in the post room in Leeds. When policies are set by the former they are unlikely to appreciate the practical problems of the latter.

Sounds a bit Leedsist to me Alastair. I really don't see how being gay is either a help or a hindrance in any job.

Dirty Leeds.

It helps having workers who are comfortable in their own skins in the workplace. Interestingly, younger members of staff (gay and straight) tell us that they strongly value working for a firm that recognises that.

runnymede said:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/20/i-live-in-a-terrorist-house-police-speak-to-muslim-boy-10-over-spelling-error

What is so pathetic about this is the contrast between the heavy-handed response of the authorities to a child's scribblings and the supine and limp-wristed response of the authorities to genuine Islamic extremism practised by adults. Cowards always pick on the weakest I suppose.

Yes I've noticed that as well.

'There are no safe spaces when we are trying to combat such an evil.'

That sounds like the excuse of tyrants throughout the ages, doesn't it? Tomas de Torquemada would have agreed entirely with such sentiments.

runnymede said:

'There are no safe spaces when we are trying to combat such an evil.'

That sounds like the excuse of tyrants throughout the ages, doesn't it? Tomas de Torquemada would have agreed entirely with such sentiments.

The idea of a safe space is infantile.

All this fuss and bother overnight about the supposed link-up between Trump & Palin has rather obscured the big mover in the GOP nominee betting markets, John Kasich whose odds with a number of bookies have tumbled from 100/1 to the 50/1-66/1 range.
It's a shame that he starts so far behind in a seemingly hopeless position ..... I've listened to him speaking on a couple of YouTube clips and he's actually quite impressive as well as having an excellent record of achievement in Ohio.
Realistically though, he has no chance and it's already down to the three clear front runners.

blackburn63 said:

What a weird world we live in, on a blog where I've been accused of racism, xenophobia and homophobia (with no basis in truth incidentally) I find myself on the side of gays and Muslims whilst arguing with "liberals".

There was me thinking people were people, to be treated equally, it seems the saying about liberals and illiberalism is true.

Im off to be non gay friendly and check if Muslim boys are living in a Mudrassa.

Ciao.

No blackburn63

You are on the side of outrage. No news story escapes your anger an exasperation at the world. You want something, anything, to shake up the cosy liberal consensus.

What those who wish to lay Trump now need to answer IMHO is who of Trump's base will Sarah Palin's endorsement put off? They've backed him so far throughout all of his wackier and outlandish statements, and his support has continued to grow, so who will now say 'nah - no thanks'?

As far as I can tell (and the NY Daily News supports this) it will put off those who detest Trump already and think he's a dangerous joke. It might harm him a bit with independents (who weren't put off already) but we're not there yet with the actual Presidential race.

Conversely, as pointed out downthread, Palin's endorsement might bring supporters, activists and perhaps a little bit more cash.

So I see this as a neutral/mildly positive for the Republican nomination.

Gary Pepworth
We may laugh at Sarah Palin but I bet you'll find she learnt her oratory from watching VHS tapes of John Prescott.

CarlottaVance said:

FPT:

DecrepitJohnL said:

CarlottaVance said:

More coverage of the SNP's Middle Class Perks:

The richest Scottish students are 3.53 times more likely to enter university via UCAS than the poorest one, compared with 2.58 in Northern Ireland, 2.56 in Wales and 2.52 in England. For a poor young person wishing to go to university, Scotland is easily the worst country in the UK to grow up.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2016/01/what-snp-doesnt-understand-about-tuition-fees

The conclusion might be true but does not really follow from that ratio.

From the article:

North of the Tweed, the poorer your family is the more debt you graduate with. Scottish students from families earning £16,999 or less will graduate with £5,000 more debt than those from families earning over £34,000, as research from Lucy Hunter Blackburn shows. And students who are assessed as mature and independent of their families (who are disproportionately from poorer backgrounds) get lumbered with £8,000 more in debt than students from the wealthiest families.

So in summary:

- Poor Scots are the least likely to go to University compared to their rich peers of any country in the UK and

- Those that do end up with greater debts the poorer they are.

Maintaining free university tuition while cutting student grants has amounted to a £20m transfer to middle-class students at the expense of less advantaged ones......In 2013/14 alone, spending on grants for low-income students was cut by 40 per cent.

Imagine the fuss if the Tories had done this?

What absolute mince. Are you trying to pretend that if you are poor you are charged more than someone who earns more money. Even a stupid Tory would understand that to be in debt you must borrow, and even a stupid Tory would understand that a person from a poorer family would likely have to borrow more as they would not get free cash from family as richer one would.
How thick can you be to try and portray this as Scotland Bad.

blackburn63 said:

Terrorist links? It was a ten year old boy who made a spelling mistake.

Intern every Muslim I say, just in case.

Jesus wept, as a ukip member I'm supposed to be the one pointing fingers with knowing glances, where do you lot get off ffs?

Your posts regularly show that you're genuinely keen on individual freedom and resistance to petty interference - FWIW it makes me think better of UKIP that it's got members like you, even if we disagree 95% of the time. (That sounds a bit patronising, but isn't meant to be.) I think it's just one part of a decent society, but a crucial one and it's important that we've got people who make it their first priority.

peter_from_putney said:

All this fuss and bother overnight about the supposed link-up between Trump & Palin has rather obscured the big mover in the GOP nominee betting markets, John Kasich whose odds with a number of bookies have tumbled from 100/1 to the 50/1-66/1 range.
It's a shame that he starts so far behind in a seemingly hopeless position ..... I've listened to him speaking on a couple of YouTube clips and he's actually quite impressive as well as having an excellent record of achievement in Ohio.
Realistically though, he has no chance and it's already down to the three clear front runners.

This is presumably because Kasich is polling well in NH. I think the last poll had him 2nd. A 2nd place in NH keeps him in the game. Although in S Carolina is is nowhere.

blackburn63 said:

Wanderer said:

blackburn63 said:

rcs1000 said:

OldKingCole said:

Mortimer said:

blackburn63 said:

RobD said:

blackburn63 said:

This is the society we live in now, teachers call in the police who interview a 10 year old over a spelling mistake.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/20/i-live-in-a-terrorist-house-police-speak-to-muslim-boy-10-over-spelling-error

Terrace and terrorist aren't that similar

Social services were involved too. Im not sure who to direct my anger at, the police, teachers or social services.

I'll settle for the ridiculous environment successive governments have created by treating citizens as objects for their amusement.

Actually sounds eminently sensible to me. Teachers have a duty of care and are obliged to report it.

As they should be.

Imagine the outcry if it were true, and it had been ignored, and the family had departed to Syria the following week.

I'm frustrated at the family asking for an apology.

One of those situations where everyone’s got some element of right on their side. And where everyone’s got something wrong.

There are very few genuinely evil people in this world. Most people are trying to do the best they can in difficult circumstances. And I think - like the story in the US of the boy with the home made clock - there is a desire to err on the side of caution. Even though that caution can look utterly ridiculous from the outside. If we ridicule people who report things that turn out to be nothing, we will end up discouraging people from reporting things that turn out to important.

We also know little of the circumstances. Did the teacher have other reasons to suspect, or was this a one off? Etc etc.

Yes perhaps the teacher was alerted by the ticking from the ten year olds anorak. God only knows what would have happened if he failed his times tables, the teacher would have called the riot police.

Still, before long some bright spark will say the teacher was a ukip voter who assumed all Muslim boys are being groomed to blow us all up.

Come on hand wringers - which way do you want it?

The only person wringing his hands about this is you. I don't think anyone else is troubled.

The Guardian reported it, why do you think they did?

They need page views?

Imo it's not worth getting stressed about this type of story. They are always couched in terms that will wind people up, omitting any facts or circumstances that would make the supposedly mad behaviour reasonable. What's going on is that the Guardian is monetising readers' outrage.

Alistair said:

RaRaRasputin said:

CarlottaVance said:

RaRaRasputin said:

Establishing government policy as the causal factor for these discrepancies is very tricky indeed.

Its all a big coincidence?



http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/27/debt-burden-scotlands-poorest-university-students-record-high

I was referring to the debate around the number of economically disadvantaged youngsters who attend university. And Scottish students are surely leaving with less debt than their English counterparts, no?

Correct, despite Scottish degrees being a year longer than England (4 years rather than 3) the average English debt is 10 grand higher than for Scottish students over the life of the degree.

Scotland hating Carlotta was just using the usual Tory lies to denigrate Scotland. These insecure exiles seem to hold grudges against the country of their birth for some reason. They try desperately to impress their chums and try to feel they have succeeded in life.

malcolmg said:

CarlottaVance said:

FPT:

DecrepitJohnL said:

CarlottaVance said:

More coverage of the SNP's Middle Class Perks:

The richest Scottish students are 3.53 times more likely to enter university via UCAS than the poorest one, compared with 2.58 in Northern Ireland, 2.56 in Wales and 2.52 in England. For a poor young person wishing to go to university, Scotland is easily the worst country in the UK to grow up.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2016/01/what-snp-doesnt-understand-about-tuition-fees

The conclusion might be true but does not really follow from that ratio.

From the article:

North of the Tweed, the poorer your family is the more debt you graduate with. Scottish students from families earning £16,999 or less will graduate with £5,000 more debt than those from families earning over £34,000, as research from Lucy Hunter Blackburn shows. And students who are assessed as mature and independent of their families (who are disproportionately from poorer backgrounds) get lumbered with £8,000 more in debt than students from the wealthiest families.

So in summary:

- Poor Scots are the least likely to go to University compared to their rich peers of any country in the UK and

- Those that do end up with greater debts the poorer they are.

Maintaining free university tuition while cutting student grants has amounted to a £20m transfer to middle-class students at the expense of less advantaged ones......In 2013/14 alone, spending on grants for low-income students was cut by 40 per cent.

Imagine the fuss if the Tories had done this?

What absolute mince. Are you trying to pretend that if you are poor you are charged more than someone who earns more money. Even a stupid Tory would understand that to be in debt you must borrow, and even a stupid Tory would understand that a person from a poorer family would likely have to borrow more as they would not get free cash from family as richer one would.
How thick can you be to try and portray this as Scotland Bad.

Not as thick as you who continues to not understand the difference between SNP BAD and Scotland, and in this specific case their betrayal of the poor.

As we saw with the Forth Road Bridge "free stuff" costs - in the case of Scottish education about £20 million a year transferred from the poor to the rich.

'It will only change when parties like Labour and the Liberal Democrats come to the defence of people like David Cameron when he makes a speech trying to tackle this issue'

I know you are keen to talk up the PM's recent remarks but that is all they were - words. I agree there is a large part of the political and bureaucratic establishment that has problems even with empty rhetoric on these topics, but a bit of triangulation and nudge politics from the PM is not going to improve the underlying situation.

malcolmg said:

Alistair said:

RaRaRasputin said:

CarlottaVance said:

RaRaRasputin said:

Establishing government policy as the causal factor for these discrepancies is very tricky indeed.

Its all a big coincidence?



http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/27/debt-burden-scotlands-poorest-university-students-record-high

I was referring to the debate around the number of economically disadvantaged youngsters who attend university. And Scottish students are surely leaving with less debt than their English counterparts, no?

Correct, despite Scottish degrees being a year longer than England (4 years rather than 3) the average English debt is 10 grand higher than for Scottish students over the life of the degree.

Scotland hating Carlotta was just using the usual Tory lies to denigrate Scotland. These insecure exiles seem to hold grudges against the country of their birth for some reason. They try desperately to impress their chums and try to feel they have succeeded in life.

You're just fine with declining social mobility in Scotland - we get it - it's a small price to pay to avoid criticism of the SNP.

Some of us are not.

Plato_Says said:

That Palin speech was very strange. Incoherent would be too kind.

The thing is to us in the UK it sounds bonkers, I bet to the target market in Iowa it went down a storm.

@George_Osborne: Great stats just out: new record employment rate (74%), more women in work than ever & unemployment rate at lowest level in 10 years (5.1%)

Plato_Says said:

Gary Pepworth
We may laugh at Sarah Palin but I bet you'll find she learnt her oratory from watching VHS tapes of John Prescott.

Oddly enough, Palin actually has one of the nicest-sounding accents of any American politician IMO, even if she's often incoherent when speaking.

@ONS · 4m4 minutes ago
For Sep-Nov 2015 wages up 2.0% on a year earlier including bonuses, & 1.9% excluding bonuses http://ow.ly/XiTs0

CarlottaVance said:

malcolmg said:

Alistair said:

RaRaRasputin said:

CarlottaVance said:

RaRaRasputin said:

Establishing government policy as the causal factor for these discrepancies is very tricky indeed.

Its all a big coincidence?



http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/27/debt-burden-scotlands-poorest-university-students-record-high

I was referring to the debate around the number of economically disadvantaged youngsters who attend university. And Scottish students are surely leaving with less debt than their English counterparts, no?

Correct, despite Scottish degrees being a year longer than England (4 years rather than 3) the average English debt is 10 grand higher than for Scottish students over the life of the degree.

Scotland hating Carlotta was just using the usual Tory lies to denigrate Scotland. These insecure exiles seem to hold grudges against the country of their birth for some reason. They try desperately to impress their chums and try to feel they have succeeded in life.

You're just fine with declining social mobility in Scotland - we get it - it's a small price to pay to avoid criticism of the SNP.

Some of us are not.

Except the proportion of poorest students attending university has increased under the SNP.

It was a fridge magnet speech. Words in a random jumble. Haven't forgotten her really long one when she withdrew. Same thing with lots of Hell Yes.

I don't mind that end of US politics, it's their Ukip. She just talks gibberish.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Plato_Says said:

That Palin speech was very strange. Incoherent would be too kind.

The thing is to us in the UK it sounds bonkers, I bet to the target market in Iowa it went down a storm.

rottenborough said:

peter_from_putney said:

All this fuss and bother overnight about the supposed link-up between Trump & Palin has rather obscured the big mover in the GOP nominee betting markets, John Kasich whose odds with a number of bookies have tumbled from 100/1 to the 50/1-66/1 range.
It's a shame that he starts so far behind in a seemingly hopeless position ..... I've listened to him speaking on a couple of YouTube clips and he's actually quite impressive as well as having an excellent record of achievement in Ohio.
Realistically though, he has no chance and it's already down to the three clear front runners.

This is presumably because Kasich is polling well in NH. I think the last poll had him 2nd. A 2nd place in NH keeps him in the game. Although in S Carolina is is nowhere.

The Kasich surge is quite recent in New Hampshire. When was the last South Carolina poll taken ?

I'm letting my long Kasich position ride personally, but not adding to it at sub 100-1.

I agree. And she's got a certain crumpet factor.

AndyJS said:

Plato_Says said:

Gary Pepworth
We may laugh at Sarah Palin but I bet you'll find she learnt her oratory from watching VHS tapes of John Prescott.

Oddly enough, Palin actually has one of the nicest-sounding accents of any American politician IMO, even if she's often incoherent when speaking.

Alistair said:

CarlottaVance said:

malcolmg said:

Alistair said:

RaRaRasputin said:

CarlottaVance said:

RaRaRasputin said:

Establishing government policy as the causal factor for these discrepancies is very tricky indeed.

Its all a big coincidence?



http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/27/debt-burden-scotlands-poorest-university-students-record-high

I was referring to the debate around the number of economically disadvantaged youngsters who attend university. And Scottish students are surely leaving with less debt than their English counterparts, no?

Correct, despite Scottish degrees being a year longer than England (4 years rather than 3) the average English debt is 10 grand higher than for Scottish students over the life of the degree.

Scotland hating Carlotta was just using the usual Tory lies to denigrate Scotland. These insecure exiles seem to hold grudges against the country of their birth for some reason. They try desperately to impress their chums and try to feel they have succeeded in life.

You're just fine with declining social mobility in Scotland - we get it - it's a small price to pay to avoid criticism of the SNP.

Some of us are not.

Except the proportion of poorest students attending university has increased under the SNP.

Now now Alistair, Carlotta knows what's best for Scotland.

Indian batsmen thumping Aussie bowlers all over the place at Canberra. Smallish ground of course.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Scott_P said:

Might come up at PMQs...

@dwppressoffice: Female employment rate is at its highest since records began in 1971 #getbritainworking https://t.co/GOkl0rrKZx

Not from JJ though.....We will be treated to more bollocks from Sue from Stockport. Lets she can top, evil Tories bedroom tax means can't move when I retire......spareroom subsidy doesn't apply to retired people, TAXI FOR JEZ....

JihadiJez or JossiasJessop? Yeah, obvious, but I suffered a moment of dislocation...

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Topping, some terrorists are very stupid. Remember the recent case where a chap got caught after tweeting about what he was going to do?

That is true. Perhaps their homelife was something like this (apologies for my near-fixation on Four Lions).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-lJhKXBBbs

Meanwhile Mutti Merkel looks likes she could just be about to gain the reputation as the person who killed Schengen and further integration.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/12108806/Germany-should-close-its-borders-to-refugees-Angela-Merkels-own-transport-minister-says.html

rcs1000 said:

MikeK said:

rcs1000 said:

blackburn63 said:

What a weird world we live in, on a blog where I've been accused of racism, xenophobia and homophobia (with no basis in truth incidentally) I find myself on the side of gays and Muslims whilst arguing with "liberals".

There was me thinking people were people, to be treated equally, it seems the saying about liberals and illiberalism is true.

Im off to be non gay friendly and check if Muslim boys are living in a Mudrassa.

Ciao.

No blackburn63

You are on the side of outrage. No news story escapes your anger an exasperation at the world. You want something, anything, to shake up the cosy liberal consensus.

And why not FFS.. The so called "Consensus" is making a a black pit of the western world.

Let's take Trump.

He has promised, among other things, that:

* He would make Apple relocate its manufacturing back to the US
and
* He would build a wall with Mexico that the Mexicans would pay for

Neither of those things is going to happen. He's an intelligent guy. He knows that he cannot make the Mexicans spend 20% of their GDP on building a wall. He knows that he could not possibly force Apple to end manufacturing in China.

Let's imagine Trump becomes President. If you think people were disappointed with Obama, how disappointed do you think they'll be with Trump when the wall is not paid for by the grateful Mexicans and Apple's iPhones keep being made in China?

He could entice Apple to onshore manufacturing by eliminating worker rights and minimum pay levels. So what if those workers at Apple's shiny new factories in South Dakota only make $0.80 per hour. I'm sure someone will be willing to take the job.

MaxPB said:

rcs1000 said:

MikeK said:

rcs1000 said:

blackburn63 said:

What a weird world we live in, on a blog where I've been accused of racism, xenophobia and homophobia (with no basis in truth incidentally) I find myself on the side of gays and Muslims whilst arguing with "liberals".

There was me thinking people were people, to be treated equally, it seems the saying about liberals and illiberalism is true.

Im off to be non gay friendly and check if Muslim boys are living in a Mudrassa.

Ciao.

No blackburn63

You are on the side of outrage. No news story escapes your anger an exasperation at the world. You want something, anything, to shake up the cosy liberal consensus.

And why not FFS.. The so called "Consensus" is making a a black pit of the western world.

Let's take Trump.

He has promised, among other things, that:

* He would make Apple relocate its manufacturing back to the US
and
* He would build a wall with Mexico that the Mexicans would pay for

Neither of those things is going to happen. He's an intelligent guy. He knows that he cannot make the Mexicans spend 20% of their GDP on building a wall. He knows that he could not possibly force Apple to end manufacturing in China.

Let's imagine Trump becomes President. If you think people were disappointed with Obama, how disappointed do you think they'll be with Trump when the wall is not paid for by the grateful Mexicans and Apple's iPhones keep being made in China?

He could entice Apple to onshore manufacturing by eliminating worker rights and minimum pay levels. So what if those workers at Apple's shiny new factories in South Dakota only make $0.80 per hour. I'm sure someone will be willing to take the job.

I'm sure that's exactly what Trump's voters are looking for him to do

MaxPB said:

rcs1000 said:

MikeK said:

rcs1000 said:

blackburn63 said:

What a weird world we live in, on a blog where I've been accused of racism, xenophobia and homophobia (with no basis in truth incidentally) I find myself on the side of gays and Muslims whilst arguing with "liberals".

There was me thinking people were people, to be treated equally, it seems the saying about liberals and illiberalism is true.

Im off to be non gay friendly and check if Muslim boys are living in a Mudrassa.

Ciao.

No blackburn63

You are on the side of outrage. No news story escapes your anger an exasperation at the world. You want something, anything, to shake up the cosy liberal consensus.

And why not FFS.. The so called "Consensus" is making a a black pit of the western world.

Let's take Trump.

He has promised, among other things, that:

* He would make Apple relocate its manufacturing back to the US
and
* He would build a wall with Mexico that the Mexicans would pay for

Neither of those things is going to happen. He's an intelligent guy. He knows that he cannot make the Mexicans spend 20% of their GDP on building a wall. He knows that he could not possibly force Apple to end manufacturing in China.

Let's imagine Trump becomes President. If you think people were disappointed with Obama, how disappointed do you think they'll be with Trump when the wall is not paid for by the grateful Mexicans and Apple's iPhones keep being made in China?

He could entice Apple to onshore manufacturing by eliminating worker rights and minimum pay levels. So what if those workers at Apple's shiny new factories in South Dakota only make $0.80 per hour. I'm sure someone will be willing to take the job.

That looks like a plan.

Plato_Says said:

I agree. And she's got a certain crumpet factor.

AndyJS said:

Plato_Says said:

Gary Pepworth
We may laugh at Sarah Palin but I bet you'll find she learnt her oratory from watching VHS tapes of John Prescott.

Oddly enough, Palin actually has one of the nicest-sounding accents of any American politician IMO, even if she's often incoherent when speaking.

In fact, she seems to have lost even that. She seems chubbier now, certainly not the Milftastic figure of 2008.

MaxPB said:

rcs1000 said:

MikeK said:

rcs1000 said:

blackburn63 said:

What a weird world we live in, on a blog where I've been accused of racism, xenophobia and homophobia (with no basis in truth incidentally) I find myself on the side of gays and Muslims whilst arguing with "liberals".

There was me thinking people were people, to be treated equally, it seems the saying about liberals and illiberalism is true.

Im off to be non gay friendly and check if Muslim boys are living in a Mudrassa.

Ciao.

No blackburn63

You are on the side of outrage. No news story escapes your anger an exasperation at the world. You want something, anything, to shake up the cosy liberal consensus.

And why not FFS.. The so called "Consensus" is making a a black pit of the western world.

Let's take Trump.

He has promised, among other things, that:

* He would make Apple relocate its manufacturing back to the US
and
* He would build a wall with Mexico that the Mexicans would pay for

Neither of those things is going to happen. He's an intelligent guy. He knows that he cannot make the Mexicans spend 20% of their GDP on building a wall. He knows that he could not possibly force Apple to end manufacturing in China.

Let's imagine Trump becomes President. If you think people were disappointed with Obama, how disappointed do you think they'll be with Trump when the wall is not paid for by the grateful Mexicans and Apple's iPhones keep being made in China?

He could entice Apple to onshore manufacturing by eliminating worker rights and minimum pay levels. So what if those workers at Apple's shiny new factories in South Dakota only make $0.80 per hour. I'm sure someone will be willing to take the job.

Re Apple -- the other controversial thing Apple (and other US companies) are doing is holding billions in cash overseas because if they bring it home, they will have to pay tax. Americans (or many of them) think Apple should pay tax in the US because it is an American company. We think Apple should pay tax here on British sales of ipads and iphones. Apple takes the view it would rather not pay tax anywhere. HMRC sort of agrees, hence the Damehood for the boss.

Also, he seems to think that Apple make their own phones, which they don't. They farm out manufacturing of the phones and components to a whole bunch of companies, just like every company out there. The most recent product I know the details about is the PS4, about 5% of global PS4s out there were assembled by EMCS (Sony's manufacturing company) and that was basically the first run because they didn't want the design and specifications to leak by farming it out to Hon Hai. Out of the 340 separate components that make up the PS4, only about 20 are sourced from one of Sony's own subsidiaries, the rest are purchased from other companies.

Apple is nothing more than a research and design group with a massive sales and marketing department. It's a great business model as other companies take on the risk of manufacturing.

Scott_P said:

MaxPB said:

He could entice Apple to onshore manufacturing by eliminating worker rights and minimum pay levels. So what if those workers at Apple's shiny new factories in South Dakota only make $0.80 per hour. I'm sure someone will be willing to take the job.

Mexican immigrants...

How will they get over the wall which 40% of their taxes have just paid for though!

blackburn63 said:

AlastairMeeks said:

Stonewall explain in their report how they judge gay friendliness among employers.

There are many workplaces where gay men and lesbians are not made particularly welcome, whatever the formal policies of the organisation. It can vary within organisations. One point I have often made internally is that the experience of a very senior partner in London is likely to be very different from someone working in the post room in Leeds. When policies are set by the former they are unlikely to appreciate the practical problems of the latter.

Sounds a bit Leedsist to me Alastair. I really don't see how being gay is either a help or a hindrance in any job.

AlastairMeeks said:

blackburn63 said:

AlastairMeeks said:

Stonewall explain in their report how they judge gay friendliness among employers.

There are many workplaces where gay men and lesbians are not made particularly welcome, whatever the formal policies of the organisation. It can vary within organisations. One point I have often made internally is that the experience of a very senior partner in London is likely to be very different from someone working in the post room in Leeds. When policies are set by the former they are unlikely to appreciate the practical problems of the latter.

Sounds a bit Leedsist to me Alastair. I really don't see how being gay is either a help or a hindrance in any job.

Dirty Leeds.

It helps having workers who are comfortable in their own skins in the workplace. Interestingly, younger members of staff (gay and straight) tell us that they strongly value working for a firm that recognises that.

Yes - we have had the same reaction where I work. We've recently had a Diversity Week which covered a range of topics and the response to the individual events and the strong support for them from the CEO has been very good. Employee surveys consistently show that this, the volunteering that is done and similar engagement with employees and the community around us is one of the positives of working here. All of these are factors which go into the decision to join an employer and, more importantly, to keep on working there.