Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

[jayhawk]

Originally Posted by AiR

Courts of justice are usually rather good at that sort of thing.

Yes...except when the courts are biased politically, in either direction; to think they have not in the past, present and future is being naive. Hope this is not the case.

[nomix]

There's no such thing as an objective person.

It is, if you work quite hard, possible to write and objective sentance, like:

"I saw a carrot lying on a table. I ate it, it was a carrot. Also, I have a cat. It is not a dog."

Best you can hope for is an attempt on objectivity.

[Cobol74]

Pull - bang. Destroys object.

Any how - this week Gordon Brown was the target for an attempted smear campaign from the Sun - it failed I think. He is blind in one eye from a rugby accident when a youngster and he has a detached retina in the other - it is thought his sight is down to 40%.

Now I am no Labour supporter, but the bile put out by the Sun was ludicrous. He takes the trouble to write to all the bereaved parents (in his own hand) of all the casualties from the Afgan and IRAQ wars, but remember his writing is erratic due to the problems he has, and I would suggest that his spelling is not super either - nor is mine.

The Sun had a go at him because one of the bereaved who really wanted to highlight (in my opinion) the lack of equipment and support her son received from the MoD and Government - I think he bled to death waiting for evacuation that did not come - I may be wrong.

However instead of this message getting through - one I agree with, the MoD is a disgrace and needs a top to bottom purge. Instead we got a cheap campaign from Murdoch - against Gordon Brown and his disabilities, what a git (Murdoch) that man is.

We can spend 180 Billion bailing out banks but can not spend 4d sorting out support and equipment for our armed forces - bastards. Worse than that our NATO partners are quite happy that we are doing the dieing whilst they stand around being scared to help, oooh Germany sends in 100 more troops - why to cook sausages?

EU part of NATO FU.

[teeb]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

Pull - bang. Destroys object.

Any how - this week Gordon Brown was the target for an attempted smear campaign from the Sun - it failed I think. He is blind in one eye from a rugby accident when a youngster and he has a detached retina in the other - it is thought his sight is down to 40%.

Now I am no Labour supporter, but the bile put out by the Sun was ludicrous. He takes the trouble to write to all the bereaved parents (in his own hand) of all the casualties from the Afgan and IRAQ wars, but remember his writing is erratic due to the problems he has, and I would suggest that his spelling is not super either - nor is mine.

Attacking Gordon Brown for his handwriting is ludicrous - he writes with a thick black pen, as he's blind in one eye and doesn't exactly have 20/20 vision in the other.

I'd be the first to admit I'm not his biggest fan but all the Sun's coverage has done is to humanise him, make me sympathise with him and generally boost my image of him.

[British_Rover]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

From my facebook status:

So, they are going to send terrorists up to New York for trial. The question is, is it to show that "Hey, we weren't like the last guys", to show that we are a fair and just nation, or is it really about political revenge? If it is for political revenge, shame on the administration. Leave the politics in Washington, where they belong. Justice needs to be served for the 3,000+ people who died.

That particular federal court has the most experience trying terrorism cases like this one.

That federal court handled the first World Trade Center attack case from the 90s.

[Cobol74]

I'd pick Texas myself.

[Dogbert]

Originally Posted by British_Rover

That particular federal court has the most experience trying terrorism cases like this one.

That federal court handled the first World Trade Center attack case from the 90s.

This. There was a big debate when they first considered this, because it was a challenge initially to find judges or public defenders that could actually construct a valid trial for them.

[Plissken]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

Now I am no Labour supporter, but the bile put out by the Sun was ludicrous. He takes the trouble to write to all the bereaved parents (in his own hand) of all the casualties from the Afgan and IRAQ wars, but remember his writing is erratic due to the problems he has, and I would suggest that his spelling is not super either - nor is mine.

One of the major planks of the attack was that Brown had been "so disrespectful, he couldn't even get my sons surname right".

Meanwhile...





To quote The Sun, "you couldn't make it up".

[Clockwerk]

My city is stupid...Tuesday we had a vote to add an amendment to our city charter. The amendment stated that all people running for the office of city auditor must be a CPA,this amendment past with flying colors. Well on the same ballot we voted for a new city Auditor, the majority elected the one who isn't a CPA.

[NooDle]

annoyance of the day : there's a good chance that our dumbass politicians OKed a bill that makes us pay our road taxes depending on the amount of kms you cover, coupled with how polluting your car is...

this would mean that people who drive a fair bit like 25k kms/year (like me) and do this in a relatively powerful car (again, like me) would be paying a LOT more...

Also, this does not mean that they will stop charging "regular" road tax, this will be on top of that.
So I guess I'll go and buy me a 1.0 litre econobox to be able to still afford driving around...

[DanRoM]

So, even worse than what the Dutchies decided on the weekend?

[nomix]

Originally Posted by NooDle

annoyance of the day : there's a good chance that our dumbass politicians OKed a bill that makes us pay our road taxes depending on the amount of kms you cover, coupled with how polluting your car is...

this would mean that people who drive a fair bit like 25k kms/year (like me) and do this in a relatively powerful car (again, like me) would be paying a LOT more...

Also, this does not mean that they will stop charging "regular" road tax, this will be on top of that.
So I guess I'll go and buy me a 1.0 litre econobox to be able to still afford driving around...

Buy a bus!

[AiR]

They said on the radio you Noodle-people would not pay vehicle tax and VAT on cars anymore, isnt that correct? I quite like the dutch proposal if its what I think it is, you pay according to how much you drive instead of what kind of fuel your car runs on.

[shad_68]

Originally Posted by AiR

They said on the radio you Noodle-people would not pay vehicle tax and VAT on cars anymore, isnt that correct? I quite like the dutch proposal if its what I think it is, you pay according to how much you drive instead of what kind of fuel your car runs on.

I don't like the way they want to implement it though - a GPS unit in EVERY car, recording where you go to determine your mileage. Yeeeah, I totally can't see any privacy concerns right there.
Especially if, as I understood, one of the criteria for how much you pay is how much fuel your car uses/how much it pollutes. If that's the case, why don't they just add it to the fuel tax?
Sure, that's not exactly the ideal way to realise the spirit of the law, but at least you don't have to summon Big Brother's GPS overlord to do it...

[salle]

Originally Posted by shad_68

I don't like the way they want to implement it though - a GPS unit in EVERY car, recording where you go to determine your mileage. Yeeeah, I totally can't see any privacy concerns right there.
Especially if, as I understood, one of the criteria for how much you pay is how much fuel your car uses/how much it pollutes. If that's the case, why don't they just add it to the fuel tax?
Sure, that's not exactly the ideal way to realise the spirit of the law, but at least you don't have to summon Big Brother's GPS overlord to do it...

Because then they can't subsidize certain types of vehicles.... which they'll be able to now. That's the only reason as far as I can see to why to implement this system... except if it's a step towards taxation of certain heavy used roads at rush hour say higher than say using a country lane late at night.

[shad_68]

Originally Posted by salle

Because then they can't subsidize certain types of vehicles.... which they'll be able to now. That's the only reason as far as I can see to why to implement this system... except if it's a step towards taxation of certain heavy used roads at rush hour say higher than say using a country lane late at night.

I get those parts of the plan that make such a solution necessary, but still... first of all, that's going to be a massively complicated system. Sure it sounds easy on paper, but for instance just take a look at what it took to make the German Toll Collect system work... and secondly, I really don't think that any good intent really justifies opening this pandora's box of government control.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I find it a bit disturbing that there isn't a bigger outcry over the implications of that law.

[salle]

Originally Posted by shad_68

I get those parts of the plan that make such a solution necessary, but still... first of all, that's going to be a massively complicated system. Sure it sounds easy on paper, but for instance just take a look at what it took to make the German Toll Collect system work... and secondly, I really don't think that any good intent really justifies opening this pandora's box of government control.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I find it a bit disturbing that there isn't a bigger outcry over the implications of that law.

Ahh certainly. I think it's a stupid move of overcomplicating something just so they can gain more control.
I think raising the fuel tax and annual road tax based on the weight of the car aught to be enough. You can still subsidize the tax for fuel if you really wanted to for the sectors or types of vehicles that deserves it.

It certainly doesn't warrant the extra cost to the tax payers to keep that GPS tracking system up and running.

[Cobol74]

If an item has VAT on ot you can not take it off - the reason is that a proportion of the tax goes to the EU. So if you are a moronic Tory government run by a person who ran away from a circus to become a merchant banker - I kid you not - and you need more money you do not put up the VAT rate, or raise income tax, no you put VAT on fuel.

Mr (Call me Tony) Blair then can not remove the tax completely, he could only cut it to a rate where the tax cost of collection plus the tax due to the EU are equal. We end up paying EU even more money than when we started.

As I said electing morons as PM since Anthony Eden in 1953.

Eden - Suez
McMillan - Christine Keeler/Profumo affair
Douglas-Home - a Lord
Wilson - Pound in your pocket and Knomes of Zurich
Heath - Takes on miners led by Joe Gormley an effective leader
Callaghan - Crisis what chrisis?
Mrs T. - Poll Tax, allowed defence cuts causing the Argies to think we would not fight for the Falklands - they were wrong
John Major - VAT faux pas as outlined above, thick I mean really stupid, could not lead his party, Signed Maastrict (The berk), gives in variously to nasty nasty people
Tony (Americas Poodle) Blair - Git, and too clever for his own good, money grubber - enough said
Gordon Brown - not up to it - taxes pension pot dividends under Blair - knackers Bank of England and the FSA leading to the present crisis in Banking. Tries to be Blair but is not does not realise that British people can spot a phoney a mile away

There you go all crap!

[Walsh_e]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

As I said electing morons as PM since Anthony Eden in 1953.

Eden - Suez
McMillan - Christine Keeler/Profumo affair
Douglas-Home - a Lord
Wilson - Pound in your pocket and Knomes of Zurich
Heath - Takes on miners led by Joe Gormley an effective leader
Callaghan - Crisis what chrisis?
Mrs T. - Poll Tax, allowed defence cuts causing the Argies to think we would not fight for the Falklands - they were wrong
John Major - VAT faux pas as outlined above, thick I mean really stupid, could not lead his party, Signed Maastrict (The berk), gives in variously to nasty nasty people
Tony (Americas Poodle) Blair - Git, and too clever for his own good, money grubber - enough said
Gordon Brown - not up to it - taxes pension pot dividends under Blair - knackers Bank of England and the FSA leading to the present crisis in Banking. Tries to be Blair but is not does not realise that British people can spot a phoney a mile away

There you go all crap!

After looking at that list I reminded of a quote from Shaun Micallef "People say we get the politicians we deserve. If that’s the case, I’ve never been so insulted in all my life!"

I think they really do need to introduce a "none of the above" option for the next election.

[nomix]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

As I said electing morons as PM since Anthony Eden in 1953.

Let me elaborate.

Eden - Suez and he was constantly high on benzadrine.
McMillan - Christine Keeler/Profumo affair, a cabinet made out of his FAMILY!
Douglas-Home - a Lord
Wilson - Pound in your pocket and Knomes of Zurich, father of spin, thought he was 17.
Heath - Takes on miners led by Joe Gormley an effective leader
Callaghan - Crisis what chrisis?
Mrs T. - Poll Tax, allowed defence cuts causing the Argies to think we would not fight for the Falklands - they were wrong
John Major - VAT faux pas as outlined above, thick I mean really stupid, could not lead his party, Signed Maastrict (The berk), gives in variously to nasty nasty people + ERM.
Tony (Americas Poodle) Blair - Git, and too clever for his own good, money grubber - enough said, had a boss in the United States.
Gordon Brown - not up to it - taxes pension pot dividends under Blair - knackers Bank of England and the FSA leading to the present crisis in Banking. Tries to be Blair but is not does not realise that British people can spot a phoney a mile away, NOT FLASH, JUST GORDON!

There you go all crap!

Just a few needing some filling in.