Mick Mac

I don't think its in dispute that for the US to create an NHS would cost extra money and extra taxes would be required to pay for it (irrespective of how much tax they are paying currently). In order to avoid having to pick up the tab on this project the US right wing tries to devalue the UK NHS to the extent that the proposals will be dropped amid public anger at the extra cost. With a large religious population in the US then picking isolated examples of people being "allowed to die" and thus calling it "evil" adds impact to their argument and helps to win over the religious elements in society, especially if this opinion is voiced by those in religious positions of authority.

i answered the question of what is the breeding ground for this nonsense. To answer your more more direct question. People in the us see people in the uk pay 1 high taxes for the nhs and 2 private health insurance. In the us they currently pay high insurance for their personal healthcare and dont want to pay on top of that additional taxes for a health service for all.

Interesting that tonight Norwich won and Colchester lost (Colchester having beaten Norwich 7-0 on Saturday)

Very jealous - Reminds me if being at the dentist.

You are certainly the life and soul of this party BBW (among others of course). Never good to see you out of action. Are you missing Dulwichmum? she does not seem to be around much these days.

I'll run down there and take a picture for you now Sue.

Sophie - I went past last night and the Foxtons lighting was green, so maybe they are paying attention after all.

BBW - I have just seen that you were banned for a week - You are the school bad boy, the guy who always got the strap and did not give a toss. Fair play. What did you do for a week? is there life outside the forum?

Can doctors be bought or conned by wealthy people? eg Saunders. If their release in on the basis that they are ill and they are only being released on these grounds then it should be subject to regular post release reviews to ensure the Ernest Saunders' of this world cannot buy/con their way out of justice.

Not much of a take up on your argument so far Hugenot. What I agree with totally is that final salary pensions promised to those of near pensionable age are going to cost the current taxpayer a fortune and the current government has just brought in a 50% tax rate to help them fund this public sector final salary scheme disaster and at the same time as saying certain people have to pay 50% tax, they have prevented the same people gatting higher rate tax relief on their own personal pension contributions. At the same time the benefits to final salary schemes, being in general the pension schemes of the public sector, were unaffected by the new changes other than preventing them being amended to make them more generous, but since they are so incredibly generous already the higher earners in the public sector are unaffected. Its a disaster. Final salary schemes allow people to earn potentially 2/3 of the highest salary they ever earned, being their salary on retirement. Why would a 65 year old person need this amount of money, they tend to have little outgoings, lots of equity in their homes and all of this is being funded by people in their 30s-50s who are working their asses off with children and mortgages to pay for. As PR and Louisiana have said, those who have been self employed have not beenfitted from these schemes. The state pension is a completley differnt matter and on its own would be difficult to live on. Public sector final salary pension schemes is an issue that must be resolved soon. The money that these people have put into these schemes would come nowhere near the amount required to pay out the pension they will get - other taxpayers pick up that bill.

Anyone intereted in watching the Celtic Arsenal game Tuesday night in the EDT? - Arsenal fans welcome. I feel I should stand up and be counted.

matthew123 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Would he walk out on Arsenal to return to his > boyhood club... hmmmm... damn right he would! > > But Cesc or no Cesc, I still have to tip Arsenal > to wipe floor with Celtic at Parkhead - maybe by 4 > or 5 goals Matt - I feel a wager coming on for Tuesday's game - You think Arsenal will sweep Celtic aside. If you offer to set the spread at a 2 goal win for Arsenal you have a spreadbet. If Arsenal win by 5 goals I owe you 3 units (at whatever stake you agree) and a 1 goal win for Celtic wins me 3 units.... Any takers?

I think the NHS in the way we know it today is not sustainable. Rising population and increased life expectancy will mean more people to treat and an unacceptable burden on the taxpayer. To me this seems to be clear. The NHS may have to draw the line in more and more cases such as elderly patients with life threatening illnesses, where quality of life cannot be sustained. Its not an ideal world and while we would all like a perfect NHS for everyone, someone has to pay. When healthy successful people are faced with the choice of paying 50% tax or more every month to fund an NHS that they may never use, they will not be happy. This is one of the reasons the Torys may well win the next election and I believe they will increase cuts in the NHS. Many of their voters will be unaffected or perceive themselves to be unaffected as they have health insurance. Those who will suffer will be those who need the NHS most. In the US Obama is safe for his Presidency and US republicans, in general the wealthier side of society, have health insurance and their "I'm alright Jack" attitude will mean they do not want to pay additional taxes to support a health service for the poorer people in society. They are aware of his plans and want to create a poor image of the UK NHS to create hysteria and a poorly informed objection to the proposed plans. Those who work in the NHS should not take any of this US abuse personally - its their issue to resolve. What I do find surprising is that after so many years of people saying the UK would perhaps move to a more US style healthcare model, its seems ironic that it is they who are instead moving towards our style of NHS.

cacaolat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Judy you should be happy that someone is willing > to do the bin job for probably a low pay. Any evidence of the low pay? Dustmen earn 30k+ Anyway I don't think what they are paid is relevant. People are asking that they work more normal hours not having to start so early. As a matter of interest does anyone have their bin collection late afternoon? If not it suggests these guys start very early and finish very early. Why can't they do the bin collection between 9 and 3 when people are at work and children at school.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Brendan Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > So why should a buyer go through estate agent Z > then? > > I don't think it works like that in practise. I > wouldn't just pop into my "favourite" estate > agents and ask them to show me what they've got. > I'd pick a selection of properties online > (regardless of the agent), and then ask to see > those specific properties. If my favourite one was > exclusively on the market with Foxtons, then I'd > begrudgingly go through them. Yes I agree Jeremy. There are cheaper estate agents and there is also fixed fee private sales like Property Broker where you do not use an Estate Agent. However selelrs who think they have saved money by either not paying an estate agent or paying a cheaper agent may well have achieved a lesser price for their property and whilst they have saved fees they may be worse off overall. In my experience as a buyer, estate agents create a market amongst interested parties and create a sense of insecurity in order to get the most money from the most keen buyer. The best agents are probably best at this. Back to the lighting issue - it will be interesting to see Foxton's response to the letter, a softly worded "no" I imagine. If you guys succeed, well done but I suspect they spent a lot on researching this image and will stick with the frontage that has obviously cost so much money.

Matt - I have heard of Inter Milan (think we beat them in the '67 final) - I have not heard of the other two. There is really no need for you to worry.....I hope.

The 4/5 goals did make me laugh - I thought I needed to respond somehow.

That's so extreme it doesn't function well as either a joke or a wind up, Matt.

Barca seek to buy Cesc by next Tuesday

HonaloochieB Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > graham26 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Absolutely brilliant. Low energy or not, its > still > > energy- WATSED. > > > > Foxtons are the worst of a rather awful bunch. > > Wat Graham26 sed. I get it HB!!! I get it. :)

Have you had much luck since you smoked the first one ratty?

No probs MP, it's an association that will be with Celtic for some time I'm afraid, due to some people who seek to associate the poloitcs and football. Celtic is a club set up originally for the Irish immigrants in Glasgow so it will always have a big Irish support and rightly so, but there will always be minorities who let the club down. The club seeks to isolate itself from those minorities, as does Rangers.

Ok Georgia, send the nice ones in first to secure the free booze. I'll come along later (and tell BBW it starts at 10;-)).

You may be right Atila.

Well MP I have never been to a wolftones gig and would never go to one. I support the celtic football team. I have always felt football and politics should be seprate. I was at a Celtic game on the Saturday immediatley after the Omagh bombing and during the minutes silence someone shouted out a pro IRA slogan. Among 60000 people that was a huge embarrassment for the club. Those people were ejected and banned for life. I feel that since then Celtic have done more than anyone could expect to keep politics out of Celtic Park. As for the Wolftones, well thats up to you if you want to go to one of their gigs, its not exactly going to be an easy night for anyone who does not think the same way as them. But they are nothing to do with Celtic. I think its unfortunate that people with strong Irish political views believe that wearing a Celtic shirt in some way brings the two together. It does not.