Things Noticeable this week

[rotobott]

Originally Posted by Devius

Following on from our posts, this story annoyed me a lot today, when I read it:

[i]Oxford student Lavinia Woodward 'may avoid jail' for knife attack

An "extraordinary" Oxford University student who stabbed her ex-boyfriend in the leg may avoid jail as it would affect her career prospects, a judge has said.


Details:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-39947017

Defence barrister James Sturman QC had argued it would be "almost impossible" for Woodward to become a surgeon once she had disclosed her conviction to employers.

I've always found drug and violence problems an admirable quality in a surgeon

[Greenman]

Just to clarify-the word fag(which means a gay person in the US) means cigarette OR someone at a public school used like a slave by an older boy to run errands and do menial things. Likewise a faggot can be a piece of wood or a meatball where as I believe that is also a slang term for a gay person(usually a man) in the US. I first came across that in a Clint Eastwood film with Jack Cassidy calling his dog that. I think it was the 'The Eiger Sanction'

My eye is a lot better almost back to normal thanks to the Optrex and warm water. Only use for tea bag is for tea.

Conservatives launched their Election manifesto -well I say manifesto more a list of promises that we all know they will break and probably the biggest work of fiction since the Protect and Survive manual in the 1980's - that was crap and so it this.

[CARLTON BROWN]

I had considered putting something about Moors Murderer Ian Brady on the RIP thread, but this clearly isn't the right place, as I certainly don't wish him to RIP. Seems to me the best place to dispose of his ashes (which appears to be an issue), is by flushing them down a public toilet.

[seany65]

Greenman, the tories won't break all of their promises.

For example I have total, and utter belief f that the tories will stick to their manifesto promise on removing the £300 winter fuel allowance from all pensioners, and changing the amount of money/assets they can have before having to pay for any carehome stay they may need, from £23,000 to £100,000.

In short: Take £300 per year from the poorest pensioners and sort-of 'give' £67,000 to the better off.

Whenever any tory govt. introduces or 'improves' a 'benefit' or raises an allowance, they always try to aim it at the better off if they can.

[haroldeye]

Actually the promise is to means test the winter fuel allowance, so the better off don't receive it.

As for having to pay for care. People with £100k homes are hardly rich, especially in the South East. Here in the North East Care Home costs are typically £30k - 40K per year for those who still have assets and council funded for those that don't. The care home my father in law was in was £34k a year, and as it was a charitable institution some of his fees were used to pay for the charity cases. Three years in there and he would have been one of the charity cases himself as his funds would have run out.

Care for the elderly is one of the biggest problems facing society at least Ma May is attempting to realistically deal with the problem. Corbyn and the Communist party of GB's plans will bankrupt the nation in 2 years and make us a bigger basket case than Venezuela.

[vinceprince]

May's social care reform is just a death/inheritance tax without using the words death, inheritance or tax. The certainties in life are death, taxes and the Tories being sneaky bastards.

I don't have a problem with it - £100,000 is enough for anyone to inherit IMO.
What I don't like is the lack of honesty and frankness 'We're giving you £100,000 free! and reducing inheritance tax' bullshit.

[bloke57]

Originally Posted by vinceprince

May's social care reform is just a death/inheritance tax without using the words death, inheritance or tax. The certainties in life are death, taxes and the Tories being sneaky bastards.

I don't have a problem with it - £100,000 is enough for anyone to inherit IMO.
What I don't like is the lack of honesty and frankness 'We're giving you £100,000 free! and reducing inheritance tax' bullshit.

I agree vinceprince.

I know it isn't popular and I don't like it either - but the fact is that we have an ageing population (including me!) and one way or another it is going to have to be paid for. That means either more direct, progressive taxation or the sort of measures the tories are advocating. But raising income tax has become a no-go area in the last 30 odd years. People complain about "stealth taxes" but that is all governments are left with!

I, like everybody, don't like paying taxes - but I'd rather there was a progressive approach.

[Estreeter]

Important things I noticed this week

My lead pencil here on my desk is getting small
I've filled my two 2TB back up hard drives, even after compressing most of the stuff on them
The new girl working at sub way ..... great t, ti.... smile

Last and least important ...
165 million dollar tax fraud involving a high ranking tax offical here

[Brecht]

Looks like the right-wing Temer regime that seized power in a spectacular coup d'état is coming to an end. But Temer, who is involved in a major corruption scandal, refuses to resign.

Brazil: explosive recordings implicate President Michel Temer in bribery

Angry crowds and outraged members of Brazil’s congress have demanded the impeachment of President Michel Temer following reports he was secretly recorded discussing hush money pay-offs to a jailed associate.

The tapes were presented to prosecutors as part of a plea bargain by Joesley and Wesley Batista, brothers who run the country’s biggest meat-packing firm JBS, according to O Globo newspaper.

They are said to contain conversations that incriminate several leading politicians, including the former presidential candidate Aecio Neves and the former finance minister Guido Mantega.

Temer is alleged to have talked with Joesley about cash payments to Eduardo Cunha, the former speaker of the House who has been jailed for his role in the sprawling Petrobras corruption scandal.
Brazil's corruption inquiry list names all the power players – except the president
Read more

Cunha is in the same ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement party as Temer and initiated the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff that allowed him to take over the presidency. He has alluded to the many secrets he knows about his former colleagues.

The Guardian

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by bloke57

I agree vinceprince.

I know it isn't popular and I don't like it either - but the fact is that we have an ageing population (including me!) and one way or another it is going to have to be paid for. That means either more direct, progressive taxation or the sort of measures the tories are advocating. But raising income tax has become a no-go area in the last 30 odd years. People complain about "stealth taxes" but that is all governments are left with!

I, like everybody, don't like paying taxes - but I'd rather there was a progressive approach.

I would like to agree, but the ageing population has been with us for decades and is not exactly new. Yes some people are living longer, but that's just a natural progression and this is hardly a surprise. What we do have is a massive influx of immigrants eating up resources and everyone knows this, but is afraid to admit it. The UK population is probably now 70+ million, if we knew the truth.

When you are wasting our money on crap like HS2, giving massive amounts away in overseas aid to rubbish regimes and making truly terrible political mistakes all the time, it's hardly surprising that the kind of people who will be affected by these proposed, very nasty cuts are seriously angry because they've made the biggest contribution and have repeatedly been promised things were going to be taken care of.

So those with assets who've worked all their lives and have in many cases paid large amounts of tax, are expected to subsidise layabouts who've spent their lives doing nothing, then reach old age and expect things like care to be handed to them for free. Give me a break.

This country is now almost broken, thanks to term after term of truly dreadful government that is always out of touch with the people. The NHS is collapsing, the police are only interested in making money from motorists, councils employ thugs to secure litter fines, the military is short of essential equipment and the very wealthy have never had it so good.

I have no confidence in Theresa to make things any better for anyone except the Hooray Henries who want to get back to bit of weekend bloodthirsty fox hunting. I have no confidence in my local Tory MP to ever bother doing anything for local people and as there is nobody else I want to vote for, I'll simply not bother this time around as it's a total waste of time.