The U.K.

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Azrael
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The U.K.

Post by Azrael »

British Taxpayers spend £32,500 per year on renting 12 fig trees.

1. I wasn't aware that trees could be rented. Why would someone rent rather than buy trees on one's property?
2. This is costing British taxpayers about $4500 per tree per year. One would imagine that one could buy a fig tree for less than $4500.

Here you can get a fig tree for $65. The rented trees are probably bigger, but still . . .

Is the desire to rent rather than buy the trees ideological: "the government shouldn't own fig trees", "the fig trees should be privatized", "fig trees owned by the private sector are more efficient", "having the fig trees owned by the private sector would generate more jobs -- the government doesn't create jobs", etc.
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Alexis
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Let not US tactical interests dictate Britain's destiny

Post by Alexis »

We cannot let America's tactical interests dictate Britain's sovereign destiny
The US warnings on British exit from the EU are boilerplate American diplomacy. Washington has been saying these things ever since I started following the matters closely almost 25 years ago. The Americans are correct in a narrow sense. British withdrawal would be a major blow to US strategic interests. (...) But at the end of the day, the British people cannot let America’s taste for tidy structures in Europe determine policy on matters that go to the heart of our democracy and sovereign self-government.
(...)
So yes, the Americans want us to do their lobbying for them inside the EU. If you read the WikiLeaks Cables from London to Washington, this is made crystal clear. There is nothing wrong with this. (...) But at the end of the day, the British people cannot let America’s taste for tidy structures in Europe determine policy on matters that go to the heart of our democracy and sovereign self-government.
Well said!
For me the snapping point was the disgraceful saga of the European Constitution, which I covered in minute detail as it wended its way through the Convention.

It was supposed to return power to the nation states under Laeken Declaration, but in reality was exploited by Project insiders to push for a quantum leap in EU integration – most crucially by turning the European Court into a supreme court with jurisdiction over all "Pillars" of EU affairs, the killer twist.

When this was rejected by French voters, and then by Dutch voters by an even bigger margin, EU elites ignored the verdict. Chancellor Angela Merkel brought it back as the Lisbon Treaty with the collusion of France’s Nicolas Sarkozy (who by then had an absolute majority in parliament), and together they rammed it through without referendums. It was an executive Putsch by EU leaders.

The Irish supreme court ordered a vote in Ireland, the only country where people were given a chance to express a view. When the Irish then voted `No’, they were made to vote again. Britain should not remain a member of an organisation that behaves in this way. It is as simple as that, and I think a great number of readers concur.
Bravo!

Only a minority of French people concur, for the time being.
But our time will come too.

If the British do the right thing and exit the EU, Ambrose-Pritchard is right this will be a huge blow to the "EU" project.
And Britain will have showed the way.
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YMix
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Re: The U.K.

Post by YMix »

Seconded.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
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monster_gardener
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Chicago Hardy Fig Trees & Figs......

Post by monster_gardener »

Azrael wrote:British Taxpayers spend £32,500 per year on renting 12 fig trees.

1. I wasn't aware that trees could be rented. Why would someone rent rather than buy trees on one's property?
2. This is costing British taxpayers about $4500 per tree per year. One would imagine that one could buy a fig tree for less than $4500.

Here you can get a fig tree for $65. The rented trees are probably bigger, but still . . .

Is the desire to rent rather than buy the trees ideological: "the government shouldn't own fig trees", "the fig trees should be privatized", "fig trees owned by the private sector are more efficient", "having the fig trees owned by the private sector would generate more jobs -- the government doesn't create jobs", etc.
Thank You VERY Much for your post, Azrael.

Locally I picked up a Chicago Hardy Fig last year for about $5 to $10 and got some fruit from it.....

Price Right now on the Net as low as $20.....

Some Figs are quite hardy and will grow in NYC though they may die back to the roots if you don't bring them in..........

You can still get some fruit.....

More Info............

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load ... 11750.html
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Typhoon
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Re: Let not US tactical interests dictate Britain's destiny

Post by Typhoon »

Alexis wrote:We cannot let America's tactical interests dictate Britain's sovereign destiny
The US warnings on British exit from the EU are boilerplate American diplomacy. Washington has been saying these things ever since I started following the matters closely almost 25 years ago. The Americans are correct in a narrow sense. British withdrawal would be a major blow to US strategic interests. (...) But at the end of the day, the British people cannot let America’s taste for tidy structures in Europe determine policy on matters that go to the heart of our democracy and sovereign self-government.
(...)
So yes, the Americans want us to do their lobbying for them inside the EU. If you read the WikiLeaks Cables from London to Washington, this is made crystal clear. There is nothing wrong with this. (...) But at the end of the day, the British people cannot let America’s taste for tidy structures in Europe determine policy on matters that go to the heart of our democracy and sovereign self-government.
Well said!
For me the snapping point was the disgraceful saga of the European Constitution, which I covered in minute detail as it wended its way through the Convention.

It was supposed to return power to the nation states under Laeken Declaration, but in reality was exploited by Project insiders to push for a quantum leap in EU integration – most crucially by turning the European Court into a supreme court with jurisdiction over all "Pillars" of EU affairs, the killer twist.

When this was rejected by French voters, and then by Dutch voters by an even bigger margin, EU elites ignored the verdict. Chancellor Angela Merkel brought it back as the Lisbon Treaty with the collusion of France’s Nicolas Sarkozy (who by then had an absolute majority in parliament), and together they rammed it through without referendums. It was an executive Putsch by EU leaders.

The Irish supreme court ordered a vote in Ireland, the only country where people were given a chance to express a view. When the Irish then voted `No’, they were made to vote again. Britain should not remain a member of an organisation that behaves in this way. It is as simple as that, and I think a great number of readers concur.
Bravo!

Only a minority of French people concur, for the time being.
But our time will come too.

If the British do the right thing and exit the EU, Ambrose-Pritchard is right this will be a huge blow to the "EU" project.
And Britain will have showed the way.
If the politicians and esp the bureaucrats had left the EU as a free trade and open borders organization, free movement of goods, services, and people, then it may have worked.

Of course, this goes against their nature.
May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.
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Azrael
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Azrael »

Perhaps it would make more sense for the E.U. to have five currency zones. In no particular order:

1. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Czech, Slovak, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia
2. Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Faroe Islands, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia -- Coextensive with Nordic Investment Bank
3. Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, rest of the U.K.
4. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Malta
5. Balkan countries and Cyprus
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noddy
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Re: The U.K.

Post by noddy »

http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html

the largest photo ever taken - the entire of london from the BT tower using a highres camera with a long telephoto lens.

if printed out like a regular photo it would be nearly 100metres long and you can zoom into the windows and perve on anyone in the city over the days this was taken.

3 months of processing time to stitch the 10's of thousands of pics together.
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Typhoon
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Typhoon »

Spenglerman discovers the UK
Last month I stopped briefly in London for business, and found myself hoping that I never would return; it reminds me too much of what might become of us. It is the great capital city of a great nation where the British are entirely marginalized. At the top, Arab and Russian money has turned Knightsbridge and Belgravia and South Kensington into an impossibly priced theme park for absentee owners. At the bottom, what used to be the Cockney London–within earshot of the bells of the Bow Church–has become Little Bengal.
u5vn6OqnD_Q

The result of the conversion of the British economy into the FIRE economy, a result of the late Maggie T's policies, which Spenglerman has in his own small way, aided and abetted.

My own impression of London was that there are two classes of Brits: those that work in the City and those that don't.
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Ibrahim
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Ibrahim »

Too many Bangalis in London; previously too many British in Bengal.

Spengler: "Imagine, if you can stomach it, a city with many different cultures living together, and Anglo-Saxons are not the obvious majority. I hope I never return." *flies home to NYC*
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YMix
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Re: The U.K.

Post by YMix »

Ibrahim wrote:Spengler: "Imagine, if you can stomach it, a city with many different cultures living together, and Anglo-Saxons are not the obvious majority. I hope I never return." *flies home to NYC*
Ah, but in NYC the right people are in control of the upper middle class areas of the city. No Arab or Russian invasion to ruin the neighborhood.
Typhoon wrote:The result of the conversion of the British economy into the FIRE economy, a result of the late Maggie T's policies, which Spenglerman has in his own small way, aided and abetted.
Exactly. He should be proud of himself.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
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Endovelico
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Endovelico »

I have just been a few days in London with my youngest daughter and what surprised me most was realizing that - as far as the service sector is concerned - people are there less efficient than in Portugal. Service in shops and restaurants is very inefficient, and I even had to put up with an airport identity control officer who would not keep his job very long if he was working in Portugal. And he was a Brit, not a Bengali... Which reinforced my feeling that what makes Portugal a less productive country than Britain - and probably most northern European countries - is not the human factor, but the lack of adequate investment. In the service sector, where the human factor is paramount, we immediately see that the competitiveness of northern Europe is less evident. The fact that the CEO of Lloyd's Bank is a Portuguese citizen seems to reinforce this idea.

As to Spengler, he is, obviously, a moron...
Simple Minded

Re: The U.K.

Post by Simple Minded »

Endovelico wrote:I have just been a few days in London with my youngest daughter and what surprised me most was realizing that - as far as the service sector is concerned - people are there less efficient than in Portugal. Service in shops and restaurants is very inefficient, and I even had to put up with an airport identity control officer who would not keep his job very long if he was working in Portugal. And he was a Brit, not a Bengali... Which reinforced my feeling that what makes Portugal a less productive country than Britain - and probably most northern European countries - is not the human factor, but the lack of adequate investment. In the service sector, where the human factor is paramount, we immediately see that the competitiveness of northern Europe is less evident. The fact that the CEO of Lloyd's Bank is a Portuguese citizen seems to reinforce this idea.

As to Spengler, he is, obviously, a moron...
How to compare the competiveness of one region to another, is a tough one. In the US northerners obviously hustle a lot more than southerners (same size crew builds a house in NY in 1/3-1/2 the time of a crew in VA) I think a lot of it is due to unpredictability of weather), yet the southern regions have lower tax burdens and probably also wages.

On a side note I find interesting, in this post, Endo types mike-oscar-romeo-oscar-november and it comes out durian. In a previous post, I typed in india-delta-india-oscar-tango and it also came out durian.

Is durian the new politically correct derogatory term?

"Don't be a durian!" just does not have the same ring....
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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

Endovelico wrote:I have just been a few days in London with my youngest daughter and what surprised me most was realizing that - as far as the service sector is concerned - people are there less efficient than in Portugal. Service in shops and restaurants is very inefficient, and I even had to put up with an airport identity control officer who would not keep his job very long if he was working in Portugal. And he was a Brit, not a Bengali... Which reinforced my feeling that what makes Portugal a less productive country than Britain - and probably most northern European countries - is not the human factor, but the lack of adequate investment. In the service sector, where the human factor is paramount, we immediately see that the competitiveness of northern Europe is less evident. The fact that the CEO of Lloyd's Bank is a Portuguese citizen seems to reinforce this idea.

As to Spengler, he is, obviously, a moron..

.



Portuguese (and Spaniards) work much harder and have a much higher productivity than Brits .. Brits live from milking Arab, Brunei and and and .. Install a traitor as Sultan on an Oil well and milk him .. British prosperity comes from that, same story last 150 years, that's what Brits are good at



.
Last edited by Heracleum Persicum on Tue Apr 16, 2013 11:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
Simple Minded

Re: The U.K.

Post by Simple Minded »

Now Endo's post has self corrected and moron no longer appears as durian on my screen......

unruly electrons?
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Endovelico
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Endovelico »

Simple Minded wrote:Now Endo's post has self corrected and moron no longer appears as durian on my screen......

unruly electrons?
I had used idi*ot instead of moron, and had to edit my post... :D
Simple Minded

Re: The U.K.

Post by Simple Minded »

Endovelico wrote:
Simple Minded wrote:Now Endo's post has self corrected and moron no longer appears as durian on my screen......

unruly electrons?
I had used idi*ot instead of moron, and had to edit my post... :D
Because idi*ot appeared as durian?

Makes one wonder how many legislative bodies around the planet use the same software to write laws..... :)
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Torchwood
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Torchwood »

Endovelico wrote:I have just been a few days in London with my youngest daughter and what surprised me most was realizing that - as far as the service sector is concerned - people are there less efficient than in Portugal. Service in shops and restaurants is very inefficient, and I even had to put up with an airport identity control officer who would not keep his job very long if he was working in Portugal. And he was a Brit, not a Bengali... Which reinforced my feeling that what makes Portugal a less productive country than Britain - and probably most northern European countries - is not the human factor, but the lack of adequate investment. In the service sector, where the human factor is paramount, we immediately see that the competitiveness of northern Europe is less evident. The fact that the CEO of Lloyd's Bank is a Portuguese citizen seems to reinforce this idea.

As to Spengler, he is, obviously, a moron...
Personal service is the bugbear of living in the UK, and believe it or not, it used to be even worse. It is a residue of the class system: people feel that providing personal services is somehow feudal and demeaning. The ironic paradox is that the UK has still (despite the poor state of the banking sector) the highest level of exports of services in the world, and customers must get good service otherwise they would not buy. These however are at a higher level and employ middle class educated: consultancy, insurance, media, education etc, so it is a different rank for status and class.
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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

.



“ We are deeply disappointed that on 7 February 2013 the Department for Education published a draft specification for a revised History curriculum that excludes all reference to Muslims and Islam from the history curriculum that is proposed for English schools ”

.

.. 10% of children in Britain's schools are Muslim ..

. . fail to acknowledge "the preservation and enhancement of ancient Greek and Roman learning by classical Muslim civilisation, which percolated into Europe via Spain and Italy, leading to the European Renaissance".

.



Main pillar of "democracy" is "protection of minority rights"




.
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monster_gardener
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If Spengler is a Moron, he is a kindly pro-Portugal moron...

Post by monster_gardener »

Endovelico wrote:I have just been a few days in London with my youngest daughter and what surprised me most was realizing that - as far as the service sector is concerned - people are there less efficient than in Portugal. Service in shops and restaurants is very inefficient, and I even had to put up with an airport identity control officer who would not keep his job very long if he was working in Portugal. And he was a Brit, not a Bengali... Which reinforced my feeling that what makes Portugal a less productive country than Britain - and probably most northern European countries - is not the human factor, but the lack of adequate investment. In the service sector, where the human factor is paramount, we immediately see that the competitiveness of northern Europe is less evident. The fact that the CEO of Lloyd's Bank is a Portuguese citizen seems to reinforce this idea.

As to Spengler, he is, obviously, a moron...
Thank You Very Much for your post, Endo.
As to Spengler, he is, obviously, a moron...
FWIW, if Spengler is a moron, he is a moron who seems to like Portugal and says that Portugal should be treated better by the Euro Bankers than places like Greece because Portugal was frugal, hardworking and had a reasonable national budget pre financial crisis.

Sounds like the sort of moron who possibly should be recruited to lobby his brother bankers to give Portugal some financial relief....... :idea:

Wondering how many degrees of separation there are between posters here, the Portuguese Finance Ministry and David Goldman Spengler and the European Bankers.... :idea:

Hint:

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

Just trying to help.....

Sincerely.......

No joke........
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Typhoon
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Typhoon »

Economist | Send in the clowns!

Apparently a small upstart party, the UKIP - the UK Independence Party, has given the Establishment a bit of a shock with it's successful showing in local UK elections.

Any comments from our British forum members?
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Ibrahim
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Ibrahim »

Typhoon wrote:Economist | Send in the clowns!

Apparently a small upstart party, the UKIP - the UK Independence Party, has given the Establishment a bit of a shock with it's successful showing in local UK elections.

Any comments from our British forum members?
I'd love to hear from more UK residents on this. I've seen some unflattering tweets, basically calling these guys neo-nazis (I thought that's what the BNP was for?) but twitter may skew a little left of center.

Its an interesting feature of parliamentary systems that you can have extremist parties (left or right wing) with regional appeal entrenched in your legislature. No hope of government or passing legislation, but a disruptive presence.
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Endovelico
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Endovelico »

UKIP could be a British version of Beppe Grillo's 5 star movement in Italy, with fewer intelectuals and more lower middle class supporters. But the anti-establishment factor is very much present. But of course this is an outsider's vision...
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Typhoon
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Typhoon »

Ibrahim wrote:
Typhoon wrote:Economist | Send in the clowns!

Apparently a small upstart party, the UKIP - the UK Independence Party, has given the Establishment a bit of a shock with it's successful showing in local UK elections.

Any comments from our British forum members?
I'd love to hear from more UK residents on this. I've seen some unflattering tweets, basically calling these guys neo-nazis (I thought that's what the BNP was for?) but twitter may skew a little left of center.
About those tweets . . .
Ibrahim wrote:Its an interesting feature of parliamentary systems that you can have extremist parties (left or right wing) with regional appeal entrenched in your legislature. No hope of government or passing legislation, but a disruptive presence.
Another way of looking at this is that in some parliamentary democracies there is hope for protests to effect real change.
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Alexis
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Alexis »

Endovelico wrote:UKIP could be a British version of Beppe Grillo's 5 star movement in Italy, with fewer intelectuals and more lower middle class supporters. But the anti-establishment factor is very much present. But of course this is an outsider's vision...
The paradox here is that having a strongly anti-system party circa 20 / 25% of vote is fast becoming a European standard these days -no matter the precise political positioning of such party, which might be of secondary importance-.... What with Beppe Grillo's 5 Star movement in Italy, Marine Le Pen's Front national in France, Alexis Tsipras' Synaspismós in Greece, and now Nigel Farage's UKIP in Britain.

So Britain is showing her basic nature as a European country... precisely through her anti-EU party! :D

Anti-EUers of all European countries, Unite!
:P
Ibrahim
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Re: The U.K.

Post by Ibrahim »

Typhoon wrote:
Ibrahim wrote:
Typhoon wrote:Economist | Send in the clowns!

Apparently a small upstart party, the UKIP - the UK Independence Party, has given the Establishment a bit of a shock with it's successful showing in local UK elections.

Any comments from our British forum members?
I'd love to hear from more UK residents on this. I've seen some unflattering tweets, basically calling these guys neo-nazis (I thought that's what the BNP was for?) but twitter may skew a little left of center.
About those tweets . . .

A blogger who names themselves after Margeret Thatcher and complains about calling people racist being an easy out? Well why wouldn't I agree with all that? Clearly people have this anti-immigrant, anti-gay, libertarian, populist, right wing fringe party wrong.


Ibrahim wrote:Its an interesting feature of parliamentary systems that you can have extremist parties (left or right wing) with regional appeal entrenched in your legislature. No hope of government or passing legislation, but a disruptive presence.

Another way of looking at this is that in some parliamentary democracies there is hope for protests to effect real change.
Once in a while you get new parties that rise to national competitiveness, and in England the Labor party famously replaced the Liberals permanently. But mostly its fringe parties that cannot and should not rise out of the fringes.
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