DJKillaQueen

No James...The leap from the 'borough' sharing services and then housing services being run by the same company running Lambeths was campaigned on as being fact and formed the main headline of all Lib Dem campaign literature aimed at council tenants in my ward. Indefensible, especially on the basis that it 'might' one day happen. The intent was clear - to frighten council tenants with the prospect of massive rent increases (yes one headline said that Labour WILL hand council housing management to the same comapny that runs Lambeth and increased rents by 14%). Fortunately the public were not fooled. Yes the governement has taken away the limitations on decent homes funding (from ALMOs) but it has also cut the money available for decent homes to less than a fifth of what is needed. So no great geature there I think. Fact is that 80% of decent homes work will not get done. Nothing for the ooalition to bleat about. But then what else can we expect form a party that lauded 99% satisfaction over housing repairs while the truth was that many repairs were not being done at all.

It is indeed complicated and at some point I think we just have to accept that there are cultures we have no right to demand change from. There is a feminist movement in both Iran and Saudi Arabia who do much the same as our own at the turn of the last century. They chip away bit by bit, apply pressure and change probably will come but it will take the same 50 or so years it took for the West to move foward in that respect. Trouble is that we expect change overnight even though every example shows that change more often than not has to come from within. And in that respect the patriarchy of some Islamic states is no different to that of our own up to the early-mid twentieth century. Even fundamentalism has always posed more of a thread to the middle-east itself than the West. The Muslim Brotherhood, seen as the birth of modern fundamentalism, evolved in Egypt, as a reaction to internal capitalism. When the Shah was deposed from Iran (again an internal ideological struggle) the fear that fundamentalism would sweep accross the middle-east was unfounded. Even Osama Bin-Laden's real target was always the Saudi Royal Family (again an internal ideological struggle)....that's why they expelled him. When Pakistan evolved nuclear capability we were warned of nuclear devastation between her and India......again, the real impact was to force the two countries to talk and indeed the US could never have invaded Afghanistan without the use of Pakistanni airspace. In effect, what nuclear capability tends to do for these countries is force the West to take them seriously and give them an equal say in global government (and it's often what these countries seek) without fear of attack/ bullying if they don't play to America's tune......Not quite the rogue state seeking to start a nuclear war is it? 9/11 was an opportunist strike and not really part of any concerted effort to bring down the West. It is the middle-east's strong attitude to internal terrorism and activism that sent the likes of Bin Laden (who is probably dead now) to amuse themselves with other targets. Isreal remains the thorn in the region (Iran are more pre-occupied with her than the UK or America or anywhere else) and any aggravation towards America was previously beause of her support of Isreal. It's only in the last decade or so (and primarily because of global media and internet) that terroist movements have been able to use the media to create 'fear'.....but it's a disproportionate fear because the power of terrorist groups to bring down any government is non-existent. We buy into it and the thinking of some governments is that it is good to have us kept afraid of something out there, irregardless of the truth of the real risk. The Cold War was a perfect example of that. People seem to have forgotten that we lived with a far better funded and more equiped terrorist movement for decades...the IRA. Yes they planted bombs and people died but they never brought the Uk to her knees, because terrorism in itself never is enough to do that. America has never had any experience of mainland terrorism and her lack of perspective is obvious for all to see. Armies bring down countries...not disparate groups of fanatical nutters and a few home made bombs.

It's a good question H. Personally I think the neo-cons were livid after Bush senior didn't invade after the liberation of Kuwait.....and didn't like Saddam constantly putting two fingers up to them. As to why has a lot to do with neo-con thinking on America's place in the world, both as an economic and military power, both of which have been diminishing for a while. So in short, the invasion of Iraq was about showing a military dominance imo. I really don't think that Bush jnr, Chaney, and Rumsfeld thought beyond that. And yes Tarot....there is no doubt that Saddam and his family were extremely brutal and the world is a better place without them, but it has to be understood that the conflicts within Iraq are far bigger. A consquence of course of how the former Ottoman Empire was carved up by the British and French. The kurds feel aggrieved because half of them live in Eastern Turkey and half in Northern Iraq (when they see themselves as one nation and indeed were for centuries). The same can be said of the shi-ites who populate Iran and southern Iraq. The same can be said of the mountain range that runs accross northern Afghanistan and Pakistan. The tribes that populate those mountains have fought each other for centuries. Poorly educated nomadic mountain people who only come together when they have a common enemy to fight...be that the soviets in the past or America now. Pakistan has huge problems dealing with these northern tribes - who don't consider themselves Pakistanni at all. Poorly planned invasions by the US ia not going to change any culture going back centuries. Long term....I can see Irag being carved up into northern and southern independent states. I can't see any other resolution to the entrenched hatred between those different cultural groups.

I don't deny that resources have often been the reason for war (and will no doubt be so in the future). But what I don't buy is that Iraq was ever a threat to the UK or her oil supplies. Tarot, I accept the point about hindsight but you also forget that weapons inspectors and the UN were arguing that there were no WMDs and that they only needed a few more months to prove that. It was ignored by the US. 9/11 was the excuse that the USA were looking for to invade a country the neo-cons had long seen as a strategic thorn to their dominence of the middle east. There was a neo con think tank report pre Bush jnrs election to president in which Iraq is described as such that 'should an opportunity present itself' be dealt with. In truth Iraq was bankrupt (but not as bankrupt as America left it after the 20 bn national revenue was given to corrupt developers that basically stole it). Iraq is no more stable for the removal of Saddam and forget Western democracy. They don't want it.

LOL Narnia......it was the Ethical bit that threw me off kilter....!

LOL Tarot.....no one is making excuses for Saddam just enlightening you on your poor knowledge of Iraq/ the middle-east and it's history (Saddam was never anywhere close to making nuclear anything btw).

Unless you have insurance for accidental damage then it will be you I think. Also worth checking your contents insurance as policies usually cover for accidental damage too .....just check there are no exemptions for mobile phones.

Tarot...Saddam had no WMDs (apart from the small amounts of poison used on the kurds).......I think that has been catagorically proven beyond doubt. The truth is that Saddam aim was to keep up an illusion of military might, not to intimidate us, but to keep Iran from ever attacking them again. It's a total myth that Saddam was ever war with the west. His fear was always Iran. And no I am not too young to recollect or know what was happening at the time of the Falklands invasion either :) H by that definition we should be invading any country that can affect our economy to our detriment. It's the kind of nonsense that pervaded the neo-con thinking that took us into Iraq in the first place. Iraq is made up of four culturally different populations that hate each other. It is a hatred that goes back centuries. No amount of democracy is going to change that. Do people ever ask themselves why countries like Iraq ultimately end up being ruled by dictators? It takes a rod of iron to govern that kind of hatred. The naivity of the west in their understanding of these internal conflicts is astounding.

So at just what point has Iraq ever been a threat to the UK? And given the equal mess the country is now in just what has been achieved? The shi-ites/ sunnis/ kurds and assyrians still hate each other with a vengence. For all the Hussein family's ills the problem remains that who ever governs needs to do so with an iron rod. Anything less won't be able to keep a lid on the waring factions. As for the Falklands...entirely different issue altogether. We were taking back sovereign land after invasion (a direct attack on Britain). Iraq has never attacked us or the USA either.

Well those are just sun signs anyway....it's the ascendent that really matters!

I agree Sean....and it's not a job I'd want to do for any price.

The Police were just trying to establish identity and it is normal practise to ask someone to sit in a Police car while they do this. If identity can not be confirmed they can take someone to the Police station if they want to, and put them into a cell until ID can be confirmed. They will certainly do this if there is a possibility that a person might be evading confirming identity for any reason. Your son may well have fit an age profile that Police have a general policy towards. This is not peculiar to Liverpool. It's policy nationwide.

The BNP are about to go bankrupt anyway. James, dubious tactics in election campaigns are not the sole premise of the Labour candidate in Oldham as you well know....they can be found from all parties. Is a blatant lie any worse than a claim made with no basis in truth? In my books no....the Lib Dems in my ward blatently tried to frighten voters with the unfounded claim that a Labour led council would sell hosuing management to a neighbouring borough...... Councillor Edwards recent findings into the sham of housing repair statistics lauded by the previously held Lib Demcouncil also make enlightening reading. You might want to think before you take every opportunity that you do to dig at the opposition....is your own house clean? Those are the reasons voters lose faith in politicians....there's no general intergrity anymore....just a drive to make every think look great...when for those on the ground, it so obviously isn't.

If someone can find which company they are from exactly then a complaint can be lodged with the OFT.

Not only that but DH's current bar licensing (esp with regards to noise) takes into account it's proximity to the nearest residential premises. Having domestic dwellings practically next door to it may affect that.

We had peacemeal work in this country in the past and men worked themselves to death while their families starved (whilst the mine owners and industrialists got rich). Fortunately employment laws came in to end that practice. Most employers are in business to make as much profit as possible but that should never be at the total expense of fair pay. If you want to see what happens when employees have no legal minimum protection in employment then go to India or any similar country and see the rooms full of ten year olds working 12 hour days for pennies.

I've recommended all along, the Squire UBX and Trelock Titan D-locks as the best on the market. Have never had a bike stolen in 20 years and I use those locks. The CTC wrote an article after testing various locks for ease of breaking/ picking and they wrote the following (which backs up my view) The D-lock is still the most secure general design of lock; and there are some that Brian and his 'friends' find excessively time consuming to defeat. One of these, I'm pleased to report, is the British made Squire UBX also recommended in the recent Which? article, so it seems they can get something right! A few imported, but also European D-locks, by Trelok and Abus, also receive qualified approval.

Interesting. I welcome it in principle but I think drivers will equally need to be made aware of the change.

Be nice Tarot. I can perfectly understand why having had the bike damaged once whilst parked Clare wouldn't want to see the same happen again. Clare if you need any help moving your bike to somewhere where it might be safer, then I'd be happy to help you move it.

A big thank you to the person that found my colleague's wallet on Lordship Lane (near the post office) and handed it in to his bank HSBC/ Midland yesterday. He is very grateful for your honesty.

The other thing to say about the majority of illegally downloaded music is that it is in mp3 form. That is never as good as the sound quality of a non compressed audio file such as that found on an original CD. My only gripe personally with the music industry are the prices we were charged for CDs in the past. During the 80's and 90's I imported most of my cds from the US for that reason.

H where have I said piracy is ok? I have merely pointed out the difficulties in addressing it along with some reasons why it is not treated with the heavy hand you might expect if the music industry really cared so much about it. There is absolutely no comparison to be had between people being paid an hourly wage for the work they do and the cost to 'royalites' of piracy. The two things are seperate problems (one is a wage being denied by an employer which is illegal and the other is royalties being denied by the consumer - also illegal). Maybe I should put you back on ignore seeing as you seem to be on some crusade to attack everything I post?

Ah yes......but he'll be ok because he's a computer ;-)

Yup....the most prevalent group for illegal downloading are teenagers and students. Many adults that download go and buy the CD if they like it enough and the third more is a third more than those who never illegally download music. This is perhaps why more music publishers are finally allowing consumers to listen to an album online before they buy it. To be honest there has always been illegal copying and it's never going to go away.

For those at the top it is business, but for those they expect to get the programmes made they think it's a creative 'passion'. It is indeed all creme brulee topped with a dollop of sh1t.....