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Herzlos wrote: They can still only work with what they get. I'd hate to be reliant on English hospitals though, I've heard enough horror stories.
NHS Scotland is not perfect, I'd be the first to admit that, but it's run by a party (SNP) who unlike the Tories at Westminster, aren't actively trying to soften it up for their mates in private health to buy up chunks at fire sale prices...
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Herzlos wrote: There's always more to lose, unfortunately.
Especially in that "Just about managing" group.
I can't even afford to be just about managing
Like the 1980s*, I'll batten down the hatches and see out the next 10 years - I've got plenty of miniatures sitting around that need assembled and painted...
*Unlike the 1980s, there's no good music to see us through
I am however concerned about the person that washed their underwear on average less than once every 10 times they wore them (I assume this can equate to days), ewww.
As I've said many a time before, I have nothing, now they're saying I'll have half of nothing
Meh.
In many respects, the chickens are well and truly coming home to roost. Years of incompetent Labour and Tory governments have brought us to this point, and were we to stay in the EU, we'd still be struggling...
All this talk of a 'lost decade' is meaningless to people like me who have nothing to lose anyway...
You'd probably be surprised at how much you do have to lose. If inflation hits 4% (or higher maybe for food) then you'll have to make sacrifices somewhere.
That's less wargaming miniatures;
Slower internet access
Less pints down the pub
Less visits to the cinema
reduced mobile phone tariff
Less cans of coca-cola
and so on (replace with items of own choice)
The best thing you can do is take whatever income you have multiply it by 0.95 (that's a 5% decrease) and then work out what you will cut to meet the difference as that could be your relative 'salary' next year.
I grow my own vegetables and I would recommend people to do the same...
Plus, I'm getting a wood burning stove installed, so I can save on heating by burning logs instead of paying rip-off gas and electricity prices...
I agree with almost everything you said, except The pet shop boys. I mean really ??. Now if you said Queen or marrilion, Iron maiden.
Its hard to be awesome, when your playing with little plastic men. Welcome to Fantasy 40k
If you think your important, in the great scheme of things. Do the water test.
Put your hands in a bucket of warm water,
then pull them out fast. The size of the hole shows how important you are.
I think we should roll some dice, to see if we should roll some dice, To decide if all this dice rolling is good for the game.
Hey, Iron Maiden are still going, Queen kinda-ish. And at least now we have their whole back catalogue to listen to rather than have to wait for the albums to come out as we would've had to do back then.
The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.
Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
A Town Called Malus wrote: Hey, Iron Maiden are still going, Queen kinda-ish. And at least now we have their whole back catalogue to listen to rather than have to wait for the albums to come out as we would've had to do back then.
I was in hospital a while back. The only good thing about it was listening to queen, whist in theater having my leg cut open
Its hard to be awesome, when your playing with little plastic men. Welcome to Fantasy 40k
If you think your important, in the great scheme of things. Do the water test.
Put your hands in a bucket of warm water,
then pull them out fast. The size of the hole shows how important you are.
I think we should roll some dice, to see if we should roll some dice, To decide if all this dice rolling is good for the game.
I was in hospital a while back. The only good thing about it was listening to queen, whist in theater having my leg cut open
I think I would find the idea of listening to the Doctor humming along to "Who wants to live forever" and "Another one bites the dust" slightly disconcerting.
"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. " - V
I've just supported the Permanent European Union Citizenship initiative. Please do the same and spread the word!
"It's not a problem if you don't look up." - Dakka's approach to politics
I was in hospital a while back. The only good thing about it was listening to queen, whist in theater having my leg cut open
I think I would find the idea of listening to the Doctor humming along to "Who wants to live forever" and "Another one bites the dust" slightly disconcerting.
It was '"another one bites the dust". That was playing, funny enough.
Its hard to be awesome, when your playing with little plastic men. Welcome to Fantasy 40k
If you think your important, in the great scheme of things. Do the water test.
Put your hands in a bucket of warm water,
then pull them out fast. The size of the hole shows how important you are.
I think we should roll some dice, to see if we should roll some dice, To decide if all this dice rolling is good for the game.
I was in hospital a while back. The only good thing about it was listening to queen, whist in theater having my leg cut open
I think I would find the idea of listening to the Doctor humming along to "Who wants to live forever" and "Another one bites the dust" slightly disconcerting.
It was '"another one bites the dust". That was playing, funny enough.
Could be worse, coulda been "Tear It Up"
The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.
Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
I was in hospital a while back. The only good thing about it was listening to queen, whist in theater having my leg cut open
I think I would find the idea of listening to the Doctor humming along to "Who wants to live forever" and "Another one bites the dust" slightly disconcerting.
It was '"another one bites the dust". That was playing, funny enough.
Could be worse, coulda been "Tear It Up"
How about "death on two legs" from night at the opera.
Its hard to be awesome, when your playing with little plastic men. Welcome to Fantasy 40k
If you think your important, in the great scheme of things. Do the water test.
Put your hands in a bucket of warm water,
then pull them out fast. The size of the hole shows how important you are.
I think we should roll some dice, to see if we should roll some dice, To decide if all this dice rolling is good for the game.
I was in hospital a while back. The only good thing about it was listening to queen, whist in theater having my leg cut open
I think I would find the idea of listening to the Doctor humming along to "Who wants to live forever" and "Another one bites the dust" slightly disconcerting.
It was '"another one bites the dust". That was playing, funny enough.
Could be worse, coulda been "Tear It Up"
How about "death on two legs" from night at the opera.
Nice
The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.
Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
Herzlos wrote: There's always more to lose, unfortunately.
Especially in that "Just about managing" group.
I can't even afford to be just about managing
You are writing here. That means you have as a bare minimum:
a) computer/phone/laptop
b) electricity
c) food(or you would be dead)
So yeah. It can get worse. Just because you don't realize what you have doesn't mean you have nothing to lose.
Nevermind things you don't normally think about like roads, plumping, police security...
My local library provides free internet access and obviously, the electricity to run things, so I might be forced to rely on that,.
The food could come from one of our foodbanks, which sadly, are a common sight these days
I'm not saying any of this applies to me, but some people could be struggling badly, and still be online...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/11/28 10:06:58
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: My local library provides free internet access and obviously, the electricity to run things, so I might be forced to rely on that,.
And who says free internet in local library will continue with economic downfall? You think they aren't going to get their budgets cut? What makes them special snowflakes?
The food could come from one of our foodbanks, which sadly, are a common sight these days
Good that they exists now. But not quaranteed to be in future. What if they go away? You still had nothing to lose?
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: My local library provides free internet access and obviously, the electricity to run things, so I might be forced to rely on that,.
And who says free internet in local library will continue with economic downfall? You think they aren't going to get their budgets cut? What makes them special snowflakes?
The food could come from one of our foodbanks, which sadly, are a common sight these days
Good that they exists now. But not quaranteed to be in future. What if they go away? You still had nothing to lose?
I don't know if you know this, but the UK is made up of 4 nations, and 3 of those nations (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) have their own parliaments with control over many things.
Up here in Scotland, the Scottish parliament controls council tax, police, health, justice/courts, education, transport etc etc
To cut a long story short, the party in control of the Scottish Parliament, is against shutting libraries and is trying to mitigate the increase in foodbanks.
They're in power for at least 5 more years, so I'm not to worried about libraries closing...
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: I don't know if you know this, but the UK is made up of 4 nations, and 3 of those nations (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) have their own parliaments with control over many things.
Up here in Scotland, the Scottish parliament controls council tax, police, health, justice/courts, education, transport etc etc
To cut a long story short, the party in control of the Scottish Parliament, is against shutting libraries and is trying to mitigate the increase in foodbanks.
They're in power for at least 5 more years, so I'm not to worried about libraries closing...
Noble ideas all fine and good. What will they do without money though?
Nobody cuts stuff out just for fun but because money is short. And generally it's not rich that gets cut when things get rough...
But okay I'll let you believe Scotland is some magical fantasy land that can generate infinite amount of cash as needed.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/11/28 10:38:22
Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote: I don't know if you know this, but the UK is made up of 4 nations, and 3 of those nations (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) have their own parliaments with control over many things.
Up here in Scotland, the Scottish parliament controls council tax, police, health, justice/courts, education, transport etc etc
To cut a long story short, the party in control of the Scottish Parliament, is against shutting libraries and is trying to mitigate the increase in foodbanks.
They're in power for at least 5 more years, so I'm not to worried about libraries closing...
Noble ideas all fine and good. What will they do without money though?
Nobody cuts stuff out just for fun but because money is short. And generally it's not rich that gets cut when things get rough...
But okay I'll let you believe Scotland is some magical fantasy land that can generate infinite amount of cash as needed.
I never said it was a magical fantasy land - I'm arguing that it's less likely to happen, but not impossible.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/11/28 10:59:36
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Friend of mine helped make this documentary which is on TV tonight.
Worth a watch IMO
Spoiler:
Bodes well eh ?
2016 just keeps on giving.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/11/28 12:10:03
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
Yodhrin wrote: Eddie Hitler from Bottom is the leader of UKIP and Mini-Maggie has found God.
Christ just launch the Trident missiles at us now and save us the deathspiral.
What with Trump's finger on the red button and Farage moonlighting as a British ambassador, it does feel like a bad Monty Python sketch.
It's enough to turn a man to drink
If it's any consolation, we've hit rock bottom and I suppose we can only go up...
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Found this a funny take on the issue; we now have the God of Brexit. Given Trump is currently appointing 4 horsemen do you think the God of Brexit will send his son down again or just point and laugh and tells us we have to be joking?
Comments like this from May are particularly worrying
“I’ll think it through, have a gut instinct, look at the evidence, work through the arguments, because you have to think through the unintended consequences. But ultimately, if you’ve done all that and you believe it’s the right thing to do , then you should go and do it — but sometimes it is difficult.”
So basically she'll make a decision, listen to the evidence, ignore it and then carry on with what she planned anyway, all the while saying it's the "will of God?". I can see now what the next ten pieces of legislation are going to be, failure to comply = being burnt at the stake.
In other news it appears that there is another article (127) that would need to be repealed to leave the EEC and a legal challenge is about to start on this one as to whether parliament should have a vote on it.
"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. " - V
I've just supported the Permanent European Union Citizenship initiative. Please do the same and spread the word!
"It's not a problem if you don't look up." - Dakka's approach to politics
Skullhammer wrote: Nah never happen farage has more charisma than there existing dead fish
Whut? Nige Garage has charisma? Where does he keep it?
As for Nuttal its nice to see someone sensible in charge of UKIP
Tuesday is Emmeline Pankhurst Day, and whilst I am not going to throw myself in front of a horse to make my point about British democracy on this occasion, this is a vitally important constitutional matter and perhaps we should throw Sturgeon in front of a hunt horse as part of the commemorations.
Or maybe not. In fairness that probably does count as sensible as far as UKIP is concerned. He is also a climate change denier, that's a pretty good litmus test for wilful ignorance which as everyone knows is the core attribute to any successful politician.
Whirlwind wrote: I can see now what the next ten pieces of legislation are going to be...
They will be etched in a stone slab whatever they are. Number 1 is probably going to be "Thou shalt not question Brexit", number 2 will be "Brexit means Brexit", 3 is "Don't ask what Brexit means"......
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2016/11/28 18:13:09
I remain deeply pessimistic about Brexit, simply because it clearly is going to take a lot longer and be a lot more difficult than anyone thought, and probably the results are going to please less than half the population, and it will put a crimp on economic growth for up to 10 years to come that will feth up everyone who isn't rich.
The post-Brexit era will have to be become an absolutely banging success for the UK to claw back the lost ground of 20 years of stagnation, and that will take 10 years longer even if it happens.
The whole thing is such a huge feth-up by "everyone in charge."
Of course one way to stop immigration is to become a very undesirable place to live.
Mind you several countries across Europe face the prospect of going down a similar road to the UK, with 'far' right and Euro sceptic parties on the rise. With luck Brexit might not even be necessary, if it prompts enough reform, rolling back of EU powers and an end to "ever closer union" to placate Euro-sceptics. I want out of the EU because I do not like the path it is going down, and I perceive it to be impossible and unwilling to reform. But in the unlikely event it were to reform to my liking, then Brexit would no longer be necessary. The point would have been made.
Yes, that's absolutely great - If the EU reforms, lots and lots of people would most likely say "Aha! It's better now! I want to change my mind!"
And everyone has a different line in the sand on when circumstances have changed enough that we should stay. For a lot of people it'll be when the pound drops like a stone, and that's already happened. So if even people previously keen to leave begin to decide that remaining might be a better plan, doesn't that kill the idea that we should never have a second referendum stone dead?
But here's the thing. Hordes of Brexiters have been howling and screaming for months now that Brexit is Brexit is Brexit. So even if the EU changed its rules to "No free movement, massive free trade, anyone who speaks English as a first language gets a free gold plated unicorn" the Brexiters will still howl that there should be no second referendum. And the current government appears not to have the gumption to tell them to get lost. I wish it did. But then my line in the sand started out at the position that leaving the EU was a bad plan. I still think it was a bad plan. In 2 years time I'm likely to think that it wasn't just a bad plan, but utterly terrible.
Shadow Captain Edithae wrote: Mind you several countries across Europe face the prospect of going down a similar road to the UK, with 'far' right and Euro sceptic parties on the rise. With luck Brexit might not even be necessary, if it prompts enough reform, rolling back of EU powers and an end to "ever closer union" to placate Euro-sceptics. I want out of the EU because I do not like the path it is going down, and I perceive it to be impossible and unwilling to reform. But in the unlikely event it were to reform to my liking, then Brexit would no longer be necessary. The point would have been made.
Even if that were to happen, the UK is already on its way out. The EU is already working as a 27-member group and whatever lessons are learned they will apply to the 27.
Only the British press is still going round the issue of Brexit will or will not happen, Parliament this or revote that.
The UK is likely to slip further down the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index when it is published next year, according to the charity’s UK bureau director, Rebecca Vincent.
She was speaking to Press Gazette ahead of the launch of the organisation’s first UK office in London next month.
The UK is currently ranked 38th out of 180 countries around the world on press freedom by Reporters Without Borders, which Vincent said is “not great for a democracy”.
She added: “I think it’s likely that the UK will slide further down the list when the new index is released next year. We should be really concerned about that downward trend.”
The charity, known internationally as Reporters sans frontières, has offices in ten other countries, including its Paris headquarters.
Vincent said that the UK is a good strategic location to help advance RSF’s global agenda of promoting press freedom.
But she said the UK also has its own challenges at present: “I’ve been surprised by how much of my time the UK has been taking up. There have been a number of particularly worrying press freedom developments here over the past couple of months”.
RSF has been working closely with Syrian journalist Zaina Erhaim, who had her passport seized by UK authorities at Heathrow airport in September, after it was falsely reported as stolen by the Assad regime. Last year, Erhaim was awarded the prestigious Reporters Without Borders Prize for her work training citizen journalists in Aleppo.
Vincent said: “We are concerned by the precedent this could set for other foreign journalists and activists travelling to the UK. Repressive regimes should not be able to manipulate our system to target critical voices here in the UK”.
RSF is also concerned about the Investigatory Powers Bill, also known as the ‘Snoopers’ Charter’, which was passed by Parliament earlier this month, and codifies a system of widespread digital surveillance powers for the state.
Vincent said: “The passage of this bill could effectively serve as a death sentence for investigative journalism in the UK. It lacks sufficient mechanisms to protect whistleblowers, journalists, and their sources. It also fails to require authorities to give advanced notice to journalists before hacking their devices.
“As the Don’t Spy on Us Coalition has said, this is the most extreme surveillance law in UK history. It’s also part of a global trend of erosion of press freedom and other civil liberties in the name of security.
“A similar law has recently been adopted in Germany. We are troubled by the possible knock-on impact these bills could have, as they could be used by repressive regimes as cover to pass similar legislation, but without the democratic checks and balances we have”.
Vincent said RSF also had concerns about implementation of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which the UK Government has recently re-opened for consultation.
She said: “The cost-shifting provisions in Section 40 are particularly worrying as publishers who don’t sign up to a state-approved regulator could be held liable for the costs of all claims made against them, regardless of merit. This would be crippling for some publishers, and would have a serious chilling effect on free expression.”
Vincent noted that the future of the Human Rights Act also remains in the balance, as the UK government has threatened to repeal it. The Human Rights Act protects free expression under Article 10.
She said: “It all amounts to a worrying trend of moves against press freedom and broader human rights in the UK. This makes it a particularly important time for RSF to open its office here. Such moves don’t only impact the UK; they are part of a global deterioration in press freedom that must be addressed.”
This article was produced in association with Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which is a supporter of this year’s British Journalism Awards.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
