Brexit, for once some facts.

Woosh

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May 19, 2012
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did you watch The Big Question this morning on BBC1?
An old man in the audience, 95 year old.

he was asked at the closing:

How should we deal with the unemployed [in the EU]?

his answer:
we need a war.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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did you watch The Big Question this morning on BBC1?
An old man in the audience, 95 year old.

he was asked at the closing:

How should we deal with the unemployed [in the EU]?

his answer:
we need a war.
I didn't see it but that was predictable. It never ceases to surprise me how some of the old glorify war.

There's a more peaceful way of dramatically reducing unemployment, we used it after WW2 to compensate for the huge numbers of military being discharged with insufficient employment available.

That was National Service, taking millions of 18 to 26 year olds out of the employment pool for 18 months at first, and then later for 2 years, paying them a 28 shillings a week pittance.
.
 
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Woosh

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That was National Service, taking millions of 18 to 26 year olds out of the employment pool for 18 months at first, and then later for 2 years, paying them a 28 shillings a week pittance.
I shamefully run away from France to avoid the NS.
 
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Zlatan

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Nov 26, 2016
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Well Tom has been joined by the BBC now.

A week ago they broadcast a TV program on BBC 4 titled "Jonathan Meades on Jargon" in which Meades used his ascerbic wit with graphics to attack misuse and distortion of the language, including by politicians. It wasn't far into the program when the graphic "Tory Scum" appeared, scrawled across the screen. Ten minutes in, having already portrayed Boris Johnson being defecated out of the rear of a horse as a way of calling him a turd, he launched into a withering assault on politicians such as Donald Trump and Theresa May. Throughout the rest of the one hour program politicians again came under attack from time to time and the foulest of language was shouted at times.

Considering that the BBC is effectively our state broadcaster and BBC 4 their premium serious channel, this surely must mean that Old Tom is now one of the establishment.

The program is available to listen to on the i-player on this link

Or if on a smart TV, use the i-player Search facility and after entering JONA the title of the program will appear in the prompts to be clicked on.
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Agreed, the BBC is not without its two faced bigots, champagne socialists living highlife abroad paid for by those at home.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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I shamefully run away from France to avoid the NS.
You were in good company, many did this in various countries, particularly the USA whose citizens often disappeared south. Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay) famously refused to serve.

Avoiding the possibility of killing fellow beings isn't necessarily shameful. I did go in and and signed up for a longer term, gaining three promotions and a better income than most in civvy street. Those savings set me up well for civilian life after six years service, including immediately buying my first property at 24 years old.

Age and experience has made me a pacifist though, so with my time over again I would refuse to serve in the military, no matter what the cost.
.
 

oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
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The Guardian/Observer has posted this gentle reminder...

Government plays down Brexit 'armageddon' fears

Leaked Whitehall advice had warned of food, fuel and medication shortages

The government has sought to play down the risks of a “no deal” Brexit after leaked advice from Whitehall warned of shortages of food, fuel and medication if Britain leaves without a deal.

Three scenarios drawn up in Whitehall and obtained by the Sunday Times – the worst referred to as “armageddon” – lay out the consequences should Britain walk away from the negotiating table.

“In the second scenario, not even the worst, the port of Dover will collapse on day one. The supermarkets of Cornwall and Scotland will run out of food within a couple of days, and hospitals will run out of medicines within two weeks,” a source told the Sunday Times.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jun/03/government-plays-down-brexit-armageddon-fears
 
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oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
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I shamefully run away from France to avoid the NS.
Having always been extremely unathletic, one memorable PE report saying "tries hard despite limited ability", my teens were spent hoping that NS would disappear and not come back. I was scared stiff of having to go through even the most basic training and utterly failing.

(It is also that unathleticism which has brought me to ebikes. No way could I have managed getting back on a non-assisted bike, especially on the hills round here.)
 
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flecc

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Oct 25, 2006
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It may have been the use of dashes to separate parts of this sentence instead of the more correct commas:

Three scenarios drawn up in Whitehall and obtained by the Sunday Times – the worst referred to as “armageddon” – lay out the consequences should Britain walk away from the negotiating table.
.
 
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ianboydsnr

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Apr 25, 2018
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It may have been the use of dashes to separate parts of this sentence instead of the more correct commas:

Three scenarios drawn up in Whitehall and obtained by the Sunday Times – the worst referred to as “armageddon” – lay out the consequences should Britain walk away from the negotiating table.
.
The answer is more simple than that, the answer is that I didn’t, I use an iPad and it’s very easy for such things to happen, without the user knowing, in much the same way as it’s easy to post complete nonsense, because apple thinks it knows best what you mean, or doesn’t like you writing English unless it’s the American version, in fact I never care about spelling, it’s what your saying that’s the important bit, though it makes things more clear with some basic punctuation,

Carry on :)
 
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Woosh

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May 19, 2012
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does anyone follow what's going on with the new Italian government?
M5S wants to spend more, the League wants to cut tax and build a lot more detention centres and mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
A taste of things to come here?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,157
30,573
The answer is more simple than that, the answer is that I didn’t, I use an iPad and it’s very easy for such things to happen, without the user knowing, in much the same way as it’s easy to post complete nonsense, because apple thinks it knows best what you mean, or doesn’t like you writing English unless it’s the American version, in fact I never care about spelling, it’s what your saying that’s the important bit, though it makes things more clear with some basic punctuation,

Carry on :)
I did wonder that misplacing possibility Ian, having done it myself on odd occasions, but also saw it could be the punctuation.
.
 
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oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
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It may have been the use of dashes to separate parts of this sentence instead of the more correct commas:

Three scenarios drawn up in Whitehall and obtained by the Sunday Times – the worst referred to as “armageddon” – lay out the consequences should Britain walk away from the negotiating table.
.
Good thought! But ianboydsnr has clarified now and, if it had been that, well, it was copied and pasted. :)
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,157
30,573
does anyone follow what's going on with the new Italian government?
M5S wants to spend more, the League wants to cut tax and build a lot more detention centres and mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
A taste of things to come here?
Don't worry, there'll be a new government along within a few weeks. In 2008 they stopped counting at number 62 since WW2.

Italy has it right, don't bother with running anything, just let everyone sort things out for themselves. That's why the people are individually so happy and prosperous, despite the country being a shambles.
.
 

anotherkiwi

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Jan 26, 2015
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I shamefully run away from France to avoid the NS.
Ah! At last a coming out! Enfin des aveux ! :D

Imagine if you were Italian, the Liga would take away your passport for that! M5S would probably give it back though.
 
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anotherkiwi

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Jan 26, 2015
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Do I actually have to use an iPad in order to use that excuse? Or can I just quote the "ianboydsnrv defence" regardless the machine actually used?
Luckily there isn't a "bad grammar" option... :rolleyes:
 
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