silverfox

Merkozy talking new treaty. Referendum here we come

It sounds as if it's still in a cycle and won't open until the cycle's finished. Try extra rinsing and draining. It might override it

"...First of all she was voted for in 2009 through proportional representation, and regarding her general electability she was voted into Hereford and Worcester county council first in 1977 and has been ever since..." I rest my case.

My point in posting that was because Brussels is full of non-entities like McIntyre who nobody has voted for and nobody has heard of and who would struggle to be elected to a parish council in Britain. They then enjoy huge salaries and outrageous expense allowances while sitting around making such earth shattering decisions such as what shape the bananas I eat should be. Is it any wonder the PIIGS have had their snouts in the trough and Europe is on a precipice?

Even the losers get prizes in EU farce Huge congratulations to Anthea McIntyre who has just become Britain?s newest MEP. Nobody voted for her ? she was appointed by the EU on the basis of having been the best loser in the last European elections back in 2009. I suppose as Brussels (or Berlin ? call it what you will) has recently appointed an entire government in Italy, we should consider ourselves lucky to have escaped so lightly. McIntyre, a Conservative, was plucked from cheerful obscurity because the EU recently decided that there just weren?t enough MEPs to carry out the crucial task of bankrupting the world?s economy, and immediately decided there should be 18 more of them. Anthea is what we in Britain got out of the deal. I don?t remember voting for more MEPs, any more than I remember voting for Anthea. Eighteen more MEPs means an additional ?36m a year on your bill, incidentally. (Rod Liddle in The Sunday Times today)

It may seem resonable to assume that but that is not what he said and that is not what the Labour backbenchers rah rah rah-ed to

Like most people, I've enjoyed Sir David Attenborough's nature programmes over the years. However, the older he gets the more controversial he gets. Now, according to him, the future of the planet is at risk because people living in cities have lost a sense of responsibility towards the natural world. He is quoted today as saying: "..We have a huge moral responsibility towards the rest of the planet,? he told The Times. ?A hundred years ago people certainly had that ... They were aware of the seasons and aware of what they were doing to the land and animals around them.? Sir David, they were chopping down wood to burning it to keep warm and fuel industry like it would grow forever - and raising animals to eat. In his latest series, Frozen Planet, it was the first time that Sir David had visited the North Pole and he said he was struck by the scale and speed of the melting of the ice. ?The sort of thing that came as a surprise to me was that these things can suddenly accelerate,? he said. If it was the first time he'd visited the Arctic he is basically a tourist. And many countries have refused to take his polemicised episodes. I've watched your programme Frozen Planet and it strikes me there's a hell of a lot of snow and ice around in the Arctic and only half a dozen polar bears maraunding around. Please keep doing what you do best, making programmes and leave the politics to us

Yesterday, Ed Miliband criticised David Cameron over the strikes. Fair enough. However he made the following statement: "...I'm not going to criticise... dinner ladies...people who earn in a week what the Chancellor pays in a week for an annual skiing holiday..." Much cheers from the Labour bench here. Now, I've tried to quote Ed verbatim. However the point is, here is a Labour leader out of touch with those he claims to represent. I guess (don't know for a fact) that the Chancellor pays thousands for a week at one of the exclusive ski resorts he frequents. Which makes Ed Miliband's statement all the more stupid. Shame, I liked his father's (Ralph) work. Okay a bit of a champagne socialist. However, if Ed thinks lowley paid workers earn such amounts in a week after tax that they can aspire/afford an skiing holiday at an exclusive resort then "Houston, we have a problem" Resign now Ed, do Britain a favour.

Press mute on your control?

Food for thought in today's leader in The Times - The European Autumn 'In the year that the Arab Spring toppled undemocratic regimes in one part of the world, the notion of democracy is being severely tested in another. The appointment of a civilian junta in Italy, by the country?s new unelected Prime Minister, is a profoundly worrying development. In Arab countries, democracy has bloomed out of dictators? failure to pursue sustainable economics. In the eurozone, the failure of so many elected leaders to manage their economies sustainably now poses a challenge to democracy. A European Autumn has dawned, and it is chilling... ...Mr Monti?s decision to appoint an emergency Cabinet made up entirely of technocrats... Able as many of these individuals may be, they do not represent the will of the people. The true price of membership of the euro is becoming clear: having your finances, and your future, decided by people you have not chosen. The European Union has always had a democratic deficit, but this is a gulf...'

Mario Monti's new cabinet has some very able specialists. However it does not include one politician. Given the austerity measures about to be imposed on the Italian populace, is it wise to have non-elected officials telling people what to do?

17 democratically elected leaders sitting on a wall ... 15 democratically elected leaders sitting on a wall and if one democratically elected leader should accidentally fall (be pushed) there'll be ... 17 IMF technocrat puppets sitting on a wall, 17 ... (sung to the tune of 10 green bottles)

FIFA is wrong on this issue

Fair point. however there is a third option here - that more sinister forces are paying the bills to spread this 'global' movement.

I see some 'students' are setting up another tent city in Trafalgar Square. those tents look like a job lot. I wonder who paid for them?

StraferJack Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Fair enough and good if you don't judge people for > not wearing them but you do accept that many > people do judge others, right? > > And that that judgement is becoming more public > and more shrill? I'm curious as to why it's becoming more that way Yes, SJ, I agree. more and more we seem to be witnessing forms of consensus intolerance. maybe it's a new media thing.

FIFA is correct on this issue

He wouldn't be able to park there if CPZ comes in

Thank you. That's interesting. However the choice of a white poppy to signify, basically: "I'm a youngster who comes from a spoilt generation and haven't a clue what earlier generations sacrificed for my right to talk nonsense..." Seems silly to me

We hear this all the time - "the market will decide" - it is an axiom that is rarely questioned. I've personally never understood it. And, since Lehman Brothers, it appears most financial gurus don't have a clue either. Let's take what's happening in the Eurozone presently and Hugenot's worries. Why is Italy next? And after Italy is destroyed - Spain, France? Who are these faceless people making these decisions that can bring down whole governments, countries? Who elected them? It occurs to me if Greece can have 50% of its debts written off why don't we do bit of lateral thinking here? Instead of paying billions to bail out these countries why don't we say all credit card bills are frozen for, say, three years, mortgage interest payments frozen for three years and so on. This potentially frees up billions of pounds that can be spent in the economy guaranteeing jobs and kick starting the economy - so what if Visa take a hit for example - at the moment companies such as Visa with interest rates of around 19% are enslaving people and hampering any recovery. Am I being totally naive?

Help. What is this trying to achieve? Don't these people have jobs to go to? Or has capitalism liberated them from the need to go to work? One of the reasons China, India, Brazil etc are powering ahead is they don't pay people to do nothing - if you don't work you don't eat. I vounteer to go to St Paul's tomorrow with my clipboard and anyone there is obviously not looking for work - or daddy and mummy have so much money they are allowed to play (anti-capitalist) politics until the trust funds click in. I've no objection to the right to protest. Futile protests, paid for by the very system you object to, appear to be biting the hand that feeds you.

Personally I've never seen a white poppy or anyone wearing one. Do they exist in nature or is this a PR ruse? All sounds a bit iffy to me.

Last time I looked 'Europe' was a big place. Can you be more specific?

?Qu??

Let me apologise in advance for what I'm about to say. I have no idea where Hindemans Road is and presumably it has lots of old people in council accommodation? My question when I hear/read of these horror stories is where are the children? Presumably some of the children of these pensioners have done well in life? Why is it always the council's responsiblilty to sort these matters out? When my boiler breaks down I put my hand in my pocket. Where are the children of these poor folk? I bet they'll be there for the reading of the will. And the idea that my old mum was freezing in the warmest autumn on record would shock me. I'd even take out a loan to fix the problem. Confused...