Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

[Cobol74]

I have a question - how much of this stuff are the tax payer actually throwing away and how much are we getting back some time in the future? Anyone done the Maths?

Consider:

1. UK Government at least have become majority shareholders in several profitable (apart from toxic loan debt, some of which is supposed to be insured)
2. The people who avoid going on to the jobs market and therefore being a cost to the exchequer and the additional tax so raised
3. The profitable businesses not going into bankruptcy because of no loans and squeeze on cash flow.
4. Some of the toxic loans will turn out to be OK
5. Impact (in the short term at least) of lower wages as the workforce increases reducing pressure for employers to pay increases.

So UK and US governments as far as I am aware are getting assets for their money - its just that the assets can not at the moment be valued as the total amount of bad debt can not be calculated. Additionally as the properties are taken into possession they are assets too - now that asset class is falling in value but still some money should be recoverable.

My guess is that the Governments will loose 30% of the money put in as opposed to doing nothing - anyone disagree?

Oh that is still shed loads of money and it will take 20 years for the economy to recover I think.

[Hidden_Hunter]

lol at the australian media,

obama makes one reference to kevin rudd and they're beside themselves

[Cobol74]

OBAMA - "Er who is Kevin Rudd? Some mate of that Scottish twat Gordon Brown?"

[jetsetter]

Headline News

You can’t call her Madame, either

Don’t call a woman Miss says Brussels
By Adam Docherty

BRUSSELS has banned the use of Miss and Mrs in a bid to enforce its dream of ‘gender-neutral’ Euro-speak.
A storm of protest has blown up after politically-correct guidelines were sent to every MEP by the Secretary General of the European Parliament.
A booklet warns them to avoid making reference to a woman’s marital status by using Miss or Mrs when addressing a female colleague.
That also means a ban on Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein, Senora and Senorita. MEPs will have to address women members by their names. And the madness doesn’t stop there. There can be no mention of sportsmen or statesmen — they are athletes and political leaders.
Taboo
Similarly, man-made is taboo — it will be synthetic or artificial.
Fireman has gone and air hostesses are replaced by flight attendants.
Headmasters and headmistresses are now heads or head teachers.
Layman and laymen are replaced by lay person and lay people. Manageresses and mayoresses become managers and mayors.
Strangely, men can still be referred to as midwives as there is no accepted alternative for male midwives.
But forget about male nurses, they’re all just nurses. Police officers replace policemen and policewomen unless the officer’s sex is relevant.
That salesman with his foot in the door is now a sales representative and you can’t buy an ice cream from a cinema usherette they’re all ushers.
The booklet does admit, however, that “no gender-neutral term has been successfully proposed” to deal with waiter and waitress, so at least MEPs will be spared one worry when ordering a coffee.
Ludicrous
Describing the guidelines as “political correctness gone mad”, Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson said, “This is frankly ludicrous.
“We’ve seen the EU institutions try to ban the bagpipes and dictate the shape of bananas, but now they seem determined to tell us which words we are entitled to use in our own language.
“Gender-neutrality is really the last straw. The Thought Police are now on the rampage in the European Parliament.
“We will soon be told that the use of the words ‘man’ or ‘woman’ has been banned in case it causes offence to those who consider ‘gender neutrality’ an essential part of life.”
West Midlands
Conservative MEP Philip Bradbourn is calling on the Secretary General to reveal who authorised the publication of the booklet. He wants to know its estimated cost and details about its circulation.
Waste
He described it as “a waste of taxpayers’ money” and “an erosion of the English language as we know it.”
He added, “I will have no part of it. I will continue to use my own language and expressions, which I have used all my life, and will not be instructed by this institution or anyone else in these matters.
“I shall also expect the many translators who sit in the European parliament to translate accurately the language I use. I find this publication offensive in the extreme.
“The Parliament, by the publication of this document, is not only bringing itself as an institution into more disrepute than it already suffers, but it is also showing that it has succumbed to the politically correct clap-trap currently in vogue.”

http://www.thesundaypost.co.uk/postindex.htm

Tackling the hard-hitting issues I see.

[Dogbert]

Conservative MEP Philip Bradbourn is calling on the Secretary General to reveal who authorised the publication of the booklet. He wants to know its estimated cost and details about its circulation.

Go him.

Seriously, doesn't the EU have more important issues to worry about?

[Cobol74]

Nope, it has loads of 'wasterals' wandering around thinking of things to piss off the UK, and some times really really piss off the UK and just on the odd time to undo one of the things that the UK liked - and we (fair dos - with Germany and Sweden) pay their wages too.

[freeferrarisdonotexist]

^^^Oh for god's sake. I believe in equal rights, not androgyny.

[wooflepoof]

I'd be for stricter gun regulations in Texas if it would help quell the drug based violence coming from Mexico. That kinda stuff really upsets me

[freeferrarisdonotexist]

^Speaking of which, have there been many drug-related crimes there lately? It's been a while since I was there.

[FATMOUSE]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7945774.stm

Incoming pwnage?

[wooflepoof]

Originally Posted by freeferrarisdonotexist

^Speaking of which, have there been many drug-related crimes there lately? It's been a while since I was there.

its spilling over the border the TX rangers wont even go to Laredo or someplace like that. The drug wars have bested Chuck Norris. Tho if something heinous goes down TX'll fuck some shit up but i dont wanna wait for that to happen and its getting worse in cali with MS-13 etc getting more into the drug trade.

[Dogbert]

Originally Posted by wooflepoof

I'd be for stricter gun regulations in Texas if it would help quell the drug based violence coming from Mexico.

Links?

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by wooflepoof

I'd be for stricter gun regulations in Texas if it would help quell the drug based violence coming from Mexico. That kinda stuff really upsets me

The majority of guns leaking into Mexico aren't coming in from the US, they're coming from the world arms markets and from the Mexican army.

For example, we don't even *get* the civvie version of the H&K G36 rifle, but hey, there's TONS of them running around in Mexico in the hands of the gangs. US-market AK-pattern rifles aren't easy to convert to full-auto, but there's lots of AKs running around down there... what the media *doesn't* notice is that they're clearly full-auto *and left the factory that way* instead of being converted US models.

I mean, if you're already smuggling in boxcarloads of cocaine, a few guns isn't going to be hard.

If you want to keep the drug violence out of Texas and prevent the "US guns in Mexico problem", build a REAL border wall and protect it like Mexico protects their southern border. That will instantly cut down on a lot of the idiocy.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by wooflepoof

I'd be for stricter gun regulations in Texas if it would help quell the drug based violence coming from Mexico. That kinda stuff really upsets me

A terrible idea.

[nate_bartlet]

I just finished watching last thursday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, i usually watch this show along with its brilliant Colbert Report but a few days later because i live in the uk and have to acquire the shows through 'other means'
Anyway the show had Jim Cramer on it. Cramer is the host of CNBC's Mad Money show and throughout the interview i thought Stewart really had captured my feelings about those higher ups in the business world. Stewart did a great job in putting Cramer on the ropes, commenting on how they treat what happened as a game except its not a f'ing game.
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report always do great and entertaining stuff, but last thursday the Daily Show really did the yanks proud and i often wonder why no one here in the uk has ever looked at making a uk version of these shows.

[Cobol74]

The Daily show is on MORE 4 20:30 hrs and Colbert Report is on FX Channel 00:00 hrs. I see them the day following the US showing.

http://fxuk.com/schedule/

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/t...th-jon-stewart

[nate_bartlet]

Thanks for the time details, i knew the Colbert Report airs on the FX channel but didn't know the Daily Show airs on More 4. much appreciated.

[Cobol74]

Not everyone has got FX

[Firecat]

US to sign UN gay rights declaration

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/...ama_gay_rights

[Hidden_Hunter]

Alcopops tax hike was defeated in the Australian senate tonight,

IMO this is a good outcome, a) all alcohol should be treated in a similar fashion, that's the whole point of "standard drinks" not to say that one type is worse than another for some arbitary reason. b) the government never expected it to cut binge drinking in the slightest, else they wouldn't of forecast 1.5 billion dollars from it.