Re: The Bigger, Badder, Even More Serious Thread [3]

[Pettytyrant101]

Yeah and thats one we found out about- I wonder just how many times a ridiculously bad accident has nearly happened.
And more importantly, is this sort of near disaster still happening!

[Lancebloke]

Can just imagine a Russian sitting next to a big red button with a few empty bottles of vodka next to him....

...then on the other side of the water, an American with a few empty bottles of Jack Daniels, one fallen over and leaning on another, similarly big and red button.

I wonder how easy it would be for someone to get a signal to an Ohio or Vanguard class sub to send a few missiles away should someone work out how the codes are sent in the event of a war.

[Pettytyrant101]

A frightening thought Lance!

Ive been reading the McBride stuff in the papers- he was Gordon Brown spin doctor/attack dog, with the emphasis on attack.
But among all the myriad of unpleasant spinning, briefing ect one thing stuck out to me.
McBride says that one area Brown was very naive about was basically sex.
According to McBride he often had to tell the PM that certain people couldnt be promoted to the cabinet because they were open to blackmail, and Brown would then be horrified to hear what they got up to that left them open to blackmail.
Is it just me or if you hold office of any sort, including MP, you shouldn't have been up to so much illegal stuff you are open to blackmail  

On a similar note Edinburgh city council are trying to close down a bunch of sauna bars in the city which are thinly disguised knocking shops.
The saunas however are not going down without a fight and say they are hypocrites and next week are threatening to present in court a list of the great and the good who have used their 'sauna service'
Could be very interesting that.

[David H]

On a similar note Edinburgh city council are trying to close down a bunch of sauna bars in the city which are thinly disguised knocking shops.
The saunas however are not going down without a fight and say they are hypocrites and next week are threatening to present in court a list of the great and the good who have used their 'sauna service'
Could be very interesting that.

Interesting indeed, and particularly interesting to watch who is pushing for the closure. Is the sex industry their primary target, or do they perhaps have rivals who are clients? I'm all for transparency, but it's rarely entirely altruistic.

[Pettytyrant101]

'Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff  speaking at the opening of the UN General Assembly said Brazil would adopt legislation and technology to protect itself from illegal intercepts.
Ms Rousseff told the assembled leaders that Brazil had been a target of intrusions and intercepts carried out by a "global network of electronic espionage".
She said that "corporate information - often of high economic and even strategic value - was at the centre of espionage activities".
President Rousseff said such tampering with another country's affairs was an "affront to the principles that must guide the relations among friendly nations".
Ms Rousseff rejected arguments put forward by the US that the illegal interception of information was aimed at protecting nations against terrorism.
"Brazil, Mr President, knows how to protect itself," she said.
"We face, Mr President, a situation of a grave violation of human rights and civil liberties; of invasion and capture of confidential information concerning corporate activities, and especially of disrespect to national sovereignty," she added.' -BBC

That last point, about it being disrespectful is I think what will long term prove to be the most damaging to the US, not the actual information they steal this way.
Its the acting like the US has some sort of god given right to put its interests ahead of all else that will eventually bring the US down I believe.
American Exceptionalism has to end, there is nothing exceptional about America- its just another country full of human beings= exactly the same as all the rest.

[Lancebloke]

It seems they are determined to learn the hard way though.

[Eldorion]

I think it's good to see other countries standing up to US abuses of power.  I would like to see America engage with the rest of the world on a more egalitarian basis.

[Pettytyrant101]

I suspect Eldo there a lot of US 'friendly' countries who are saying the same behind closed doors to the US.
I certainly hope so anyway.

[halfwise]

It's very rare to see a marginally strong man play fair.  A weak man plays fair because he's got no other chance, and will be a team player.  A truly strong man can afford to be nice because nobody's gonna mess with him.  But someone in between will backstab and coerce his way to the top.

Casting this in the context of actual people makes it look pessimistic: the power of personality has been left out.  But looking at the way governments behave it seems like they will act machiavellian rather than social beings/team players if it seems to their advantage.  I'm afraid America right now is a marginal strongman and will act like it until it's either sunk down among the common crowd or clearly climbed up on top.

[Pettytyrant101]

I think countries are like people. They start off uncertain, get a sense of self and purpose, become teenagers, think they know everything, build an empire, get in a lot of avoidable fights, make an arse of themselves, and then slowly realise they knew nothing at all all along and become a proper settled country instead in their middle age.
America is still a stroppy teenager.   (But with some small signs its starting to espy middle age on the horizon)

[chris63]

COLOMBIAN'S PENIS AMPUTATED AFTER VIAGRA OVERDOSE

http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/news/colombian-penis-amputated-after-viagra-overdose#axzz2fs2pP452

[David H]

 well, I'm sure his girlfriend was impressed ...for the first week..... 

[halfwise]

Well I'm taking that one off the bucket list!  

[Ally]

i em so sad dat tomy robinzon is leevin da edl becuz no1 cn protext us from muslamicz now

[Lancebloke]

You will have to barricade yourself in at home then Ally.

A matter of days left I reckon.... matter of days.

[Eldorion]

Clearly he's been shot by the Muslamic ray gun.

[leelee]

A sizable minority of the homeless are deuced hard to shove into homes even if you hand housing to them.  They simply don't like it, don't feel it fits their spirit.  So I think you'll always find some stubborn homeless no matter what you do.  They've got pride and self image too, even if we don't always understand it.

Well having worked in the health care profession for years, plus having a street ministry with my family only, just making sure they have shoes and socks, and three meals a day , etc. I don't believe it is a matter so much of stubbornness.
For one thing, when they are in hospital or group homes, they may have a nice journey, or typically, they are force fed all kinds of drugs with all kinds of side effects, mostly mental, and then all of a sudden, they are let go with reams of rules they must obey, they are simply afraid and overwhelmed and now they have no one to help them, they have been made dependant and now , nothing. Here a place called Tranquil, housed hundreds of clients and suddenly the government decided they were just a big bother, and just like that they were let go into the streets if you will, They forgot to take the meds, or got them stolen or conned into selling them. The landlords of the places they now stayed at fleeced them horribly, and to a large degree everyone. The one exception here is a place they can work for nine dollars an hour, proper breaks, and they make enough to live and make first class wooden products But it is a premium place. they get workers to help them, but the rest, well.
So a long time ago I decided that I would not stand for it. We saved our money and routinely went and made sure they had shoes, etc. We took them to stores and let them pick and tried to get them on social assistance as far as medical, etc. It was met with a lot of unkindness, but so what.
And then there is the matter of them not having any life skills. They are worn out simply by trying to get aboard a bus and getting to work or school on time. And most cannot read, it goes on and on. Being treated like they are inferior makes them afraid to stay in housing because " they might get into trouble" and usually do because they have been lost in the streets and don't know how to keep up a place and get kicked out. It is heartbreaking, because they don't trust any more.
About six years ago a strange thing happened here. There were those that begged, and those that were regulars. One was in bad shape and we asked if we could help. He was frightened but agreed to learn to read and get life skills from an agreeable man in restaurant business. He was so happy And another that was intelligent and poetic. And one by one, they were found dead , murdered and thrown away like garbage. And that "solved " the problem of the beggars. I think I know who did it and others think the same, but we will never prove it and no one cares. So stubborn is not a word I would actually agree with in most cases.
Don't get me wrong, our city has a vast array of help, from first class soup kitchens manned by first class chefs, places to get free outfits for work, supplements for health, free food, etc, but without caring humans to help, it is like a carousel you can't seem to get off of.
And Target, from the US came to Canada, and they treated our Vets horribly We love our Vets and do what we can to love them and take care of them..Each year for November 11 we have two minutes of silence and a holiday to celebrate them and pay them tribute.They always sell their poppies inside the first doors of any public building so they can stay warm.
The Target stores said they may NOT do that , they have to go outside in the freezing cold. We all protested and refused to shop there, and they are "thinking it over" but I predict the demise of the store Canada widel

[Pettytyrant101]

Tory right wing rhetoric runs into unfortunate collision with facts! (ok not the actual headline)

"The UK government has consistently declined to provide evidence to support its claims about "benefit tourism", the European Commission has said."

On the Tory side we have had them telling us since they got in power that the ability for new EU member states to move about freely within Europe has meant the UK being swamped by migrants stealing our jobs, our women, and takin gth episs out of our benefit system, trying to steal the crown jewels and pinch the Queens bum.

Heres what some typical Tory's have to say on the matter-

Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said: "There is an issue around access to the welfare system, around fairness as well as a cost issue."
Conservative backbench MP Stewart Jackson told Daily Politics: "These people have not contributed. If you're a pensioner from Portugal or the Czech Republic you've not contributed. "The strain in hot-spots, like my own constituency of Peterborough, is very, very acute, and I think that's why we're right to be saying there is an element of benefit tourism, particularly from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and the government is absolutely right to be saying to the European Commission: 'Thus far and no further.'"

Unfortunately, as well as not being able to come up with the figures to back any of this up the EU have been doing their own study on the impact of migration across the EU countries on the each nation-

'The Commission's intervention follows its publication of a report claiming that jobless EU migrants make up less than 5% of those claiming social benefits in most of the EU member states studied.
Some newspapers have noted that the report shows that there are more than 600,000 "non-active" EU migrants in the UK - describing them as "unemployed".
But the Commission said this figure included older schoolchildren, students, the spouses of migrant workers, and retired people.
Fewer than 38,000 were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, it added.
"The vast majority of migrants go to the UK to work, and they actually contribute more to the welfare system than they take out, purely because they tend to be younger than the average population, and of working age, The more EU migrants you have, the better off your welfare system is."
He said that if the UK government could show evidence of "systematic, widespread abuse of benefits by EU migrants", then the Commission would look at changing EU rules.
The spokesman argued that it was important to deal with facts rather than perceptions.'- BBC

Well, that puts the ball back in the tory court- can they prove what they claim? I seriously doubt it.

[Orwell]

The spokesman argued that it was important to deal with facts rather than perceptions.'- BBC.

Wouldn't that be great - even in Forumshire.  

[Pettytyrant101]

 

[Orwell]

I'm not saying we always have to worry about the facts - just ... err.. I just thought it'd make for a nice change every now and then.  

[Pettytyrant101]

In Forumshire?!  

[Pettytyrant101]

Can some of the UShobbits help me out- I see your government is open for business again and after all this arguing, all this wrangling, all the enforced shut down of payments and the like the Republicans got out of it- nothing at all. As far as I can tell they signed off on a deal that's more or less the same as the one they could have signed off on ages ago.

So my question is- What in the name of buggery was the point of all this?  

[Eldorion]

They took a gamble and they lost.

[David H]

Can some of the UShobbits help me out- I see your government is open for business again and after all this arguing, all this wrangling, all the enforced shut down of payments and the like the Republicans got out of it- nothing at all. 

Less than nothing. Look at the poll numbers in a bout a week. I wonder if rank and file republicans didn't allow the teapartiers just enough rope to hang themselves while the democrats stood solid as a tree.