Reply to: Wisdom from unexpected sources

[KentPhilip]

Very strange one last night. Got a bus from Dublin Airport to Belfast in the small hours. Presumed that there would be pretty much no one on it. Rather surprised to find approximately 40 Romanians (or at least I presume they were) of all ages joining me. Asked the bus driver if it was normally this busy. He basically told be this was a quiet one. Last week there was a scrum to get on the bus as there were too few seat for the number of passengers. Welcome to backdoor entry to the UK.

I wonder how they got through Irish republic border control?

[original PM]

*I see Thatcher in new light after hearing an R4 program about her a few weeks back, the gist was she was happy to make people fabulously wealthy because she believed the wealth would trickle down, her great failing was to underestimate just how greedy and selfish people would become.
There was an interview with BJ a few months back where he said much the same thing about the super rich of today, whereas the rich of old used to be philanthropists building universities and hospitals in the countries they lived and worked, today they just float around the globe ignoring borders and the taxes that come with residency.

*Could be bulltulip.

as far as I am aware that is true - she was a greengrocers daughter and felt that if she could rise from humble beginings to be PM then everyone should also have that chance - this was her main ethos behind the whole greed is good thing - but she was raised as a methodist and as you say she really was not prepared for the arrogant selfish dicks her time in office created.

[gingerjedi]

*I see Thatcher in new light after hearing an R4 program about her a few weeks back, the gist was she was happy to make people fabulously wealthy because she believed the wealth would trickle down, her great failing was to underestimate just how greedy and selfish people would become.

There was an interview with BJ a few months back where he said much the same thing about the super rich of today, whereas the rich of old used to be philanthropists building universities and hospitals in the countries they lived and worked, today they just float around the globe ignoring borders and the taxes that come with residency.

*Could be bulltulip.

[Mich the Tester]

Take the US of the 1950s, an united country with a common purpose

[The_Equalizer]

Very strange one last night. Got a bus from Dublin Airport to Belfast in the small hours. Presumed that there would be pretty much no one on it. Rather surprised to find approximately 40 Romanians (or at least I presume they were) of all ages joining me. Asked the bus driver if it was normally this busy. He basically told be this was a quiet one. Last week there was a scrum to get on the bus as there were too few seat for the number of passengers. Welcome to backdoor entry to the UK.

[KaiserWilly]

That's not smart, it's Toynbee being her usual economically illiterate self. It's not about cheap nannies and other low-skill trades (like plumbing...??), it's about the cost to social support (schools, housing, health care...) and St Vince of Cable's determination to drive our best industries offshore.

The main cost of mass immigration is not economic. It's the damage to the cohesion of the national community, the creation of parallel societies and the division of society into sects and communities.

Take the US of the 1950s, an united country with a common purpose, and take the US of 2013, a country divided into communities (white, Latino, Afro) that want completely different things for the country.

[vetran]

What's wrong with summary execution?

too quick!

[OwlHoot]

I have to say that, after extensive research, I have never found anything remotely sensible said by Ed Balls. Come on, positive rep for anyone who can find a sensible comment by Ed Balls!

Was having a quiet fag outside clientco in a side street in the West End of London four years ago, when who should I spy on the other side of the road than a grumpy and flustered looking Ed Balls pacing up and down.

He was on a mobile phone, evidently trying to contact his oppo to summon his ministerial limo, and I clearly heard him say "Where am I? I'm here."

How useful that was to the driver, possibly not knowing where "here" was, is debatable. But as a philosophical statement of his existence, in the "wherever you go, there you are" sense, it couldn't be faulted.

[Mich the Tester]

Come on, positive rep for anyone who can find a sensible comment by Ed Balls!

Ed Balls Quotes - BrainyQuote

I would love to go on 'MasterChef'. But while I really like cooking, I'm doubtful anyone would ever want to pay for what I'd cooked.

Not sure about this though;

We have come to the edge of the abyss and now it is time for a bold step forward.

[xoggoth]

Hmmm. Only me who thinks Toynbee can sometimes be quite sensible then.

Actually, she also says summit else very sane in that link, it is GDP per capita of the existing population that should be used to measure benefits of immigration, not GDP. A house of Lords committee looked into that and found, in line with studies in other countries, that there was no significant benefit.

I have to say that, after extensive research, I have never found anything remotely sensible said by Ed Balls. Come on, positive rep for anyone who can find a sensible comment by Ed Balls!

[Troll]

They should all be stripped of their cash and forced to live on the minimum dole!

What's wrong with summary execution?

[vetran]

There is a trick to evaluating those that you disagree with. It's really tough sometimes to check out their arguments properly (due to confirmation bias), but a sure-fire way is check them out for ad-homs and insults
I have found that people who resort to name calling are seldom worth listening to

what the **** you talking about muppet???

sorry couldn't resist.


People like Polly accused us all of being racists while New Lie robbed our young & unemployed of jobs to keep their mates happy and support the false boom. They should all be stripped of their cash and forced to live on the minimum dole!

[EternalOptimist]

There is a trick to evaluating those that you disagree with. It's really tough sometimes to check out their arguments properly (due to confirmation bias), but a sure-fire way is check them out for ad-homs and insults
I have found that people who resort to name calling are seldom worth listening to

[Platypus]

That's not smart, it's Toynbee being her usual economically illiterate self. It's not about cheap nannies and other low-skill trades (like plumbing...??), it's about the cost to social support (schools, housing, health care...) and St Vince of Cable's determination to drive our best industries offshore.

And all the listed soi-disant left wing socialists are on six-figure sinecures isolated from reality: I'd rather put my trust in the guy that writes Thomas the Tank.

Spot on

[mudskipper]

Sometimes I agree with xoggoth.