Xann Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Caroline said a stupid thing and she's getting a kicking from her own, quite rightly. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straggler Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 55 minutes ago, bickster said: Standard Aah the subtle differences between the Hippocratic oath that Doctors take and the hypocritical oafs that are our politicians. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Quote Hollywood star Richard Gere has called upon the Italian government to assist migrants who have been stranded on a Spanish charity boat in the Mediterranean for more than a week. The Italian government needed to stop "demonising people", the actor said. Mr Gere boarded the vessel on Friday, which has been blocked from entering Italian waters. Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini hit back, saying Mr Gere should take the 160 migrants to Hollywood. Mr Gere, who visited the Open Arms ship in a show of support, joined a news conference on the Italian island of Lampedusa calling for the migrants to be allowed to dock. He made comparisons between Mr Salvini, who is also interior minister and has made repeated efforts to block migrant ships from docking in Italy, and US President Donald Trump, who has faced widespread criticism for his immigration policies. "We have our problems with refugees coming from Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico... It's very similar to what you are going through here," he said, accusing politicians in both Italy and the US of demonising migrants". "This has to stop everywhere on this planet now. And it will stop if we say stop," he added. It didn't take Mr Salvini long to respond. "Given this generous millionaire is voicing concern for the fate of the Open Arms migrants, we thank him: he can take back to Hollywood, on his private plane, all the people aboard and support them in his villas. Thank you Richard!" he said in a statement. Mr Salvini has pushed through sanctions on NGO boats that aim to bring migrants rescued at sea to Italy. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49309196 So Richard Gere just went up in my estimation (oo-er) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 25 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49309196 So Richard Gere just went up in my estimation (oo-er) Gere’s no doubt gone up in Salvini’s good books, too. The migrant issue is largely the reason he’s top of the polls in Italy. Hollywood celeb’s flying in to berate him only reminds the electorate why they are supporting Salvini in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 2 minutes ago, Awol said: Gere’s no doubt gone up in Salvini’s good books, too. The migrant issue is largely the reason he’s top of the polls in Italy. Hollywood celeb’s flying in to berate him only reminds the electorate why they are supporting Salvini in the first place. Not really sure of the point being made here Awol. What is the alternative? Letting it all pass without comment? It's also hardly an Italian domestic issue. People have/will criticise the 'irregular migrant' issue all around the world. It may embolden Trump supporters when he is criticised for the ICE stuff over there. Should people just 'leave it' for fear of their words or actions being propagandised? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted August 12, 2019 Moderator Share Posted August 12, 2019 21 minutes ago, Awol said: The migrant issue is largely the reason he’s top of the polls in Italy. Not strictly accurate at all as Lega Nord appear to be taking votes from the Five Star Movement and those two are pretty much aligned on immigration, so that can't be the reason why Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 48 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said: Not really sure of the point being made here Awol. What is the alternative? Letting it all pass without comment? It's also hardly an Italian domestic issue. People have/will criticise the 'irregular migrant' issue all around the world. It may embolden Trump supporters when he is criticised for the ICE stuff over there. Should people just 'leave it' for fear of their words or actions being propagandised? No that’s not what I mean. Gere’s message is sound, my point is the fact it’s being delivered by an ‘A’ list US celeb’ (seen by many people as raving hypocrites insulated from the problems normal folks face) does more harm than good. As it’s the Italian people pushing back against admitting more illegal migrants, any messages to the contrary would be better received if they came from authentically Italian voices - b/c they are harder for Salvini to dismiss. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Awol said: my point is the fact it’s being delivered by an ‘A’ list US celeb’ (seen by many people as raving hypocrites insulated from the problems normal folks face) does more harm than good. Oh right 'Film Actors Guild' type stuff. I disagree it does more harm than good myself. It's hardly a moment comparable to the backlash against the likes of Comic Relief. Oddly the random Italian people I chatted to in Rome who disagreed with what Salvini was doing aren't exactly being courted for comment by the world's media. As someone who is also an 'outsider' and randomly been quoted in the Italian press about the lack of humanity being shown by Salvini, have I also made it worse, by that rationale? Or is it just about the money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Quote While immediate political attention has focussed on urgent questions of how, when or if Britain’s new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will succeed in taking the UK out of the EU, the longer-term agenda of a Johnson-led Conservative administration has been pushed into the background. This is unfortunate. Johnson’s dream, should his premiership survive, is of a post-Brexit Britain akin to a European ‘Singapore of the West’, writes Charles Woolfson (Linköping University). He cautions, however, that this ‘Singapore scenario’ leaves a lot to be desired... ... Yet, as the Prime Minister of Singapore pointed out, the transposition of a Singaporean model to the UK is not so simple. Currently, the UK government spending on the public sector accounts for 40 to 45 per cent of the GDP, while for the Singaporean government it accounts for a mere 16 to 17 per cent of the GDP (Bloomberg News, 2018). Furthermore, the Singaporean economy, while ranking second in the World Bank index of 190 countries in terms of ‘ease of doing business’ (pro-business regulation), is also accompanied by powerful regulatory social controls and an extensive system of government patronage (Trading Economics, 2019). Social inequalities in Singapore are rising. A recent review of 157 countries in terms of commitment to reducing inequalities ranked Singapore overall at 149, among the 10 worst performers, and at 157 in terms of redistributive progressivity of tax policies. LSE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Switzerland decided to rerun a referendum this year, when its judges deemed the information passed to the electorate was insufficient. It was a married/unmarried couples' tax matter. They didn't have disaster capitalists pushing through the result, of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted August 12, 2019 Moderator Share Posted August 12, 2019 12 minutes ago, Xann said: Switzerland decided to rerun a referendum this year, when its judges deemed the information passed to the electorate was insufficient. It was a married/unmarried couples' tax matter. They didn't have disaster capitalists pushing through the result, of course. They have much more experience in referenda, Switzerland is a semi-direct democracy where there is a legislative assembly but also a system of referenda where the people decide the outcome of various policies (some of these go to the people because petitions reach a set threshold) It's a bit effin bonkers if you ask me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 On 11/08/2019 at 01:18, PompeyVillan said: What is this stupid national obsession with fishing? I don't think we care overly much about fish as a food or a livelihood. We send our best langoustines to France, our hake to Spain, and we let multinationals poison our best waters with their vile salmon farms. We consume vast quantities of prawns gathered and processed by slave labour and children. Short term profit for a few companies, at the expense of the environment and good food. We care about our fish and fishing about as much as shares in cobalt or logging. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 11 hours ago, tonyh29 said: No space for any non white females in the Caroline Lucas gender restricting save our country dream team .... I had her marked as slightly bonkers but never had her down as a sexist racist It's true that a group of women will often approach a problem in a more collaborative way than a similar group of men. It's a vast leap from that observation to proposing a cabinet of white people who she finds amenable, to oversee what would be regarded as a form of coup. As a Green Party member, I find it indefensible, and frankly barking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 24 minutes ago, bickster said: It's a bit effin bonkers if you ask me Boris Johnson is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - How bonkers is that? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Quote Farage backer Aaron Banks faces allegations of "diamond smuggling" Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) is reportedly examining fresh allegations concerning Arron Banks and his South African mines, amid allegations of diamond smuggling. Banks, who owns diamond mines in South Africa, has faced claims by a former business partner that he tried to get hold of black-market diamonds originating from Zimbabwe in order to supplement his South African diamond exports with the illegal supply, pretending they were all from his mines. The diamond trade in Zimbabwe is strictly controlled because of corruption and human rights abuses. Russia also exerts a significant influence over the country’s illegal diamond industry, according to western intelligence sources. The allegations by Mr Banks's former business partner also included the claim that he had been 'dealing with Russians' in the diamond scheme. Banks has been suspected of using Russian contacts to further his interests in the past. In August of last year, The Guardian reported that he had been offered the chance of making potentially enormous profits in a deal featuring a Russian gold company. The offer was reportedly made through Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador in London (pictured left with Nigel Farage), who was reported by the Mail on Sunday in March of this year to be a former Soviet spy who was expelled from the United States in the 1980s. Yakovenko and the Russian government denied the allegation. EU Today The traitorous stink around Camp Brexit just gets stronger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 The Imperial Myths Driving Brexit Quote For more than three years, the world has watched Britain attempt to act on the result of its 2016 referendum and leave the European Union. Yet while the causes of the Brexit vote were complex, the causes of the catastrophic handling of the Brexit process might be familiar to anyone versed in imperial and postimperial history. They stem from what appears to be a belief in British exceptionalism: the idea that Britain is inherently different from, and superior to, other nations and empires. ... A British leadership that wanted to deliver Brexit safely and was not in thrall to exceptionalism might have learned from past mistakes. ... But to learn from mistakes you must confront them, and exceptionalism means you never do. Successes may be evidence of Britain’s greatness, but failures are inherently un-British. It is worth noting, too, that exceptionalism does not affect only those who support Brexit. As the historian Robert Saunders has pointed out, “The idea that Britain should lead the EU—widely deployed [by campaigners who supported staying in the EU] in 2016—has as strong an imperial heritage as the aspiration to leave it.” What would be exceptional about meekly accepting equal status with 27 others? Brexit is exposing flaws in the British political system and culture, but they are not new. Exceptionalist thinking has long helped insulate that system from the criticism and reform it needs. For advocates and critics of Brexit alike, it may be tempting to imagine a golden age in which Britain was competent, reliable, stable, and sensible. Looking at its history, though, if it turns out to be none of those things, we shouldn’t be surprised. ... full article on link 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 We're back at this nonsense again Quote PRITI Patel will be challenged this week to honour her promise to restore "integrity" to Britain's immigration system by insisting all immigrant workers must earn at least £36,700 after Brexit. The Home Secretary will be urged to raise the proposed £30,000 minimum salary threshold for all new foreign workers to protect lower-paid British workers. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9699349/migrants-salary-threshold-brexit-priti-patel/ Bye bye nurses, doctors, teachers, fruit pickers, bar staff etc etc etc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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