still a great country!!!

It said on the home page this was a good place to have a rant!! so here goes


Have you ever known this country to be a more blaming, entitlement culture than ever before?
Gone are the days of people genuinely going out to work and being happy to pay their way, if they haven't got qualifications then they either went to night school or got a job and worked their way up through hard work and talent.
Many of our own parents and grandparents if they wanted more went out and got a second job, we then had mums going out to work either part time or full time with the support of their own parents
Owning a car was not some form of human right, a Sunday roast was a treat,no fast food and happy meals for children.
I could go on and on having just had a very sad conversation with a person who is leaving their part time job because of having had her child to an absent father is now going to live off the state.
No shame, just an attitude of entitlement to living off the state, not actually helped in this case by the state not having made her think of the consequences of having a child in the first place without having the means to bring this child up in a self sufficient way.
To cap it all her friend from Slovakia has decided to do the same having been here for a few years and now fancies staying home whilst her Eastern European boyfriend works away and she is able to claim to be a single mum thus obtaining housing benefit, does not have to pay council tax and gets enough to stay at home whilst still being supported by the boyfriend who works away.
These are examples of people who have not paid sufficient in in the first place drawing far more out then they shall ever, if ever, pay in.
It's like opening a bank account with a penny and then living off some overdraft knowing full well you'll never have to pay a penny back, who wouldn't want that if it was going and acceptable?
I have never had a problem with the genuine in need both young and old alike but many these days are taking this way of life as a lifestyle choice and it makes me wonder yet again, just who are the silly , them or us working to pay our way?
The key to me is that for me it would be never be acceptable to live like this, for We were not brought up like this in the first place, we had a work ethic drummed into us from being a tot and were taught basic spending principles, from when we very first had pocket me you could only spend what you had and when it was gone that was it until next pocket money day, which for us was on a Wednesday, the day the Beano came out in those days.
It was not difficult, like the traditional wife of years ago with her housekeeping, money in money out has to balance whilst if you can do it, you build up a prudent reserve for a rainy day.

Rant over!! Have a nice day

Well put, Hillwalker

They are lacking that magic ingredient ..... pride !!

I'm hoping to live long enough to get back part of the 'Dosh' I've payed in before it is all given away

Brian

Hi there,

I agree entirely. Parasites!! I hate them with a passions!

Let's start with the parasites that didn't pay taxes for generations, own half a dozen palaces and are still taking handouts! They cost us millions every year!

Then let's move on to the individuals and companies that cost us billions in tax avoidance scams.

Then let's nail all the people in public office who are on the fiddle with expenses.

Then let's sack all the heads of business and politicians who give handouts and jobs to old pals, school friends and their sons and daughters.

Then let's .......

Anyway, I agree entirely but I think that by the time we get down to the young lass who is occupying a council flat and costing society about £1,000 a month we will easily afford it if we nail the rest of them!

Counter-rant over!

Best regards,

Ian

Agree with all that has been said.

But these parasites have not stolen the Country.

Our stupid governments have given it away.

Blame all the lily livered do gooders.

Whisky.

Hmm. Thats got the day off to a good start. Wheres me pills.

whisky wrote:
Agree with all that has been said.

...........

Hmm. Thats got the day off to a good start. Wheres me pills.

Bedroom cupboard, your side, top drawer. We hid them because of your last attempt to be "nice"!!

Mrs. Brown next door still has nightmares!

Best regards,

Ian

May not be so many of our EEC friends (that apparently have the right as an EEC member country resident !!) to decide to come here at the moment because I understand we have just eaten all of their transport.

LobbyLudd wrote:May not be so many of our EEC friends (that apparently have the right as an EEC member country resident !!) to decide to come here at the moment because I understand we have just eaten all of their transport.

PS ..... Also if you're a Koi carp, Swan or Duck in this Country ..... suggest you keep your head down

Brian

deckie wrote:

LobbyLudd wrote:May not be so many of our EEC friends (that apparently have the right as an EEC member country resident !!) to decide to come here at the moment because I understand we have just eaten all of their transport.

PS ..... Also if you're a Koi carp, Swan or Duck in this Country ..... suggest you keep your head down

Brian

Also our mackerel !! - Groups of these guys from eastern europe on my favourite summer beach fishing marks last year camping overnite , rubbish left everywhere unbelievable! some actually had taken 'wheely bins' and filling them up -NO not in any way for any of their litter but for mackerel

Unfortunately the mackerel come in in shoals and are so easily over caught by these individuals and they now seem aware of this in increasing numbers. Greedy so and so,s. ( I would only ever take about 6 as they are really only best eaten fresh as the tired sour supermarket ones illustrate.)
Perhaps they smoke them (I mean actually smoke them)

If I retired tomorrow and lived to be 110 I might get most of what I have paid in taxes back. Fat chance, Mrs Matchlessman says I must keep working till I drop.

I do feel very sorry for the kids out there who do genuinly want a job (there are a few) but can't get one.

I have a solution. Let us all retire at 56 and bring in the young ones to the jobs created when all the others still in work shuffle up the career structure. The difference between paying dole and all the other allowances, compared to paying me a pension wouldn't be very much. Kids get a chance to work, there are jobs there for them (if they don't take a job, benefits stop) and I can enjoy life while I'm still fit enough - no offence to our esteemed senior citizens.

Hell, if the books don't quite balance I'll continue working to 57..... I could even be persauded to work for a few days per month passing on my experience on a consultancy basis if that helped.

LobbyLudd wrote:..........

Also our mackerel !! - Groups of these guys from eastern europe on my favourite summer beach fishing marks last year camping overnite , rubbish left everywhere unbelievable! some actually had taken 'wheely bins' and filling them up -NO not in any way for any of their litter but for mackerel

Unfortunately the mackerel come in in shoals and are so easily over caught by these individuals and they now seem aware of this in increasing numbers. Greedy so and so,s. ( I would only ever take about 6 as they are really only best eaten fresh as the tired sour supermarket ones illustrate.)
Perhaps they smoke them (I mean actually smoke them)

I like it for two reasons:

1) How the heck did they manage to find any?

That shows real skill because the stocks have been decimated by OUR fishermen as well as foreigners. I have heard that "Government Policies" are to blame but I have yet to see a "Government Policy" put to sea!! The truth is the fishermen have virtually swept the seas clean.

We blame the French, the Spaniards and the Russians. The French blame the Spaniards, the Portuguese and the British. The Spanish blame the French, the Italians and the Moroccans! The ......... well you get the idea. Basically OUR OWN FISHERMEN ARE TO BLAME and I am sick of them trying to offload the problem to others!

2) At least in your case they were catching them on rod and line by the dustbin-full and not the "Mothership" full!

Best regards,

Ian

Dutto wrote:

LobbyLudd wrote:..........

Also our mackerel !! - Groups of these guys from eastern europe on my favourite summer beach fishing marks last year camping overnite , rubbish left everywhere unbelievable! some actually had taken 'wheely bins' and filling them up -NO not in any way for any of their litter but for mackerel

Unfortunately the mackerel come in in shoals and are so easily over caught by these individuals and they now seem aware of this in increasing numbers. Greedy so and so,s. ( I would only ever take about 6 as they are really only best eaten fresh as the tired sour supermarket ones illustrate.)
Perhaps they smoke them (I mean actually smoke them)

I like it for two reasons:

1) How the heck did they manage to find any?

That shows real skill because the stocks have been decimated by OUR fishermen as well as foreigners. I have heard that "Government Policies" are to blame but I have yet to see a "Government Policy" put to sea!! The truth is the fishermen have virtually swept the seas clean.

We blame the French, the Spaniards and the Russians. The French blame the Spaniards, the Portuguese and the British. The Spanish blame the French, the Italians and the Moroccans! The ......... well you get the idea. Basically OUR OWN FISHERMEN ARE TO BLAME and I am sick of them trying to offload the problem to others!

2) At least in your case they were catching them on rod and line by the dustbin-full and not the "Mothership" full!

Best regards,

Ian

These 'beach' guys still continued catching them 'presumably for fun' after the wheely bins were full leaving them in heaps on the beach to rot (Although caught they could say "sustainably" on rod and line, that is wonton and unnessesary wastage ) At the moment mackerel stocks are plentiful around uk shores in summer, its the Icelandic Fishermen that are threatening them as with the cod stocks starting years ago. Yes British fishermen have been greedy in the past. The few surviving British fleet have had to throw back tons and tons of perfectly good overfished 'qouta' fish because of DAFT legislation our govenment has been forced to make law here by Brussells Its all gone mad.

LobbyLudd wrote:.........

These 'beach' guys still continued catching them 'presumably for fun' after the wheely bins were full leaving them in heaps on the beach to rot (Although caught they could say "sustainably" on rod and line, that is wonton and unnessesary wastage ) At the moment mackerel stocks are plentiful around uk shores in summer, its the Icelandic Fishermen that are threatening them as with the cod stocks starting years ago. Yes British fishermen have been greedy in the past. The few surviving British fleet have had to throw back tons and tons of perfectly good overfished 'qouta' fish because of DAFT legislation our govenment has been forced to make law here by Brussells Its all gone mad.

Ah now, you didn't mention the fact that they were just catching and dumping. Then I agree - total 's!!

However, I do have to correct you on your Icelandic history!

The Cod Wars were supposed to have happened because the British Fishing Fleet was rapidly denuding the Icelandic Cod Grounds of fish. There is no doubt that this was true as every year Britain landed thousands of tons of fish removed from Icelandic waters; along with the Russians, Germans and almost every other European country with a fishing fleet.

The Cod Wars took place in the 1950's and were renewed in the 1970's.

There were two main drivers. The first was that the Canadian Halibut Grounds were on the verge of total collapse and eventually the Canadian Government had to introduce a "quota" system. At the time it was just being talked about in Canada but as fishing was (and still is) virtually the only industry in Iceland they acted to protect their own interests by moving their territorial limits out from the then traditional three miles to twelve miles.

Note: Almost every other country in the world has followed suit and instigated a twelve mile territorial limit in the last fifty years!

The second point was more obscure. Britain was by far the number one country when it came to who took the most fish from Icelandic waters and because of this Britain expected to have some form of leverage with the Icelandic Government; but they had already shot their bolt!

There is a small and obscure lump of rock out in the Atlantic Ocean called Rockall. Discovered in the 7th century by the 1950's there had been less than two dozen recorded landings on this bit of rock (most of them were shipwrecks!) yet in 1955 the British Government suddenly decided to annex Rockall by landing a party on the rock from HMS Vidal and planting a flag. The general public were unaware as to why this had happened but I doubt that the Icelandic Government was fooled!

In the late 1950's the Geneva Convention of the High Seas (of which both Britain and Iceland are members) were discussing the Continental Shelf and on 29th April 1958 The Convention on the Continental Shelf was adopted. Traditionally, Britain often takes ten years or more to adopt ANY Geneva Convention but in this case is was adopted within about a year! The 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf came into force on 10th June 1964 and the British Government introduced The Continental Shelf Act almost immediately afterwards.

So how did this affect Iceland? Well, under the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf the shelf is allocated to the half-way point between each country as measured from their nearest land. Until Britain annexed Rockall the "half-way point" between Britain and Iceland started at the north western end of somewhere like St Kilda just off the Scottish mainland. However, by annexing Rockall the British Government had moved the goalposts by about 500 miles!!

Personally I think the Icelanders had a valid point; especially as their fishing grounds are still prolific and ours are about fished out.

Best regards,

Ian

Thanks Dutto for such a comprehensive explanation on the Iceland history, that puts it into perspective.

Now I believe the majority of British fisherman are finally having to except that in reality agreed 'exclusion zones' in force for a set number of years will have to be accepted in order to give threatened fish stocks some realistic chance of revival. Marine scientists have already shown proof that this starts working in a remarkably short time scale, even after trawlers have effectively left certain areas of the sea bed in no different state than an immense ploughed field.

I think it is interesting that one prominent person has had the guts to say (at last) publicly, that we now have the early warning signs before us that THE greatest threat this world faces is "increasing world population numbers" (Barring Impact by a giant meterorite etc.) It has been suggested that there is simply going to be too many of us eventually for this planets resources - as said by Sir David Attenborough.


Whats the answer Dutto ?? What advice can we give to our grandchildren and their children ? Please tell us ?

LobbyLudd wrote:.............

Whats the answer Dutto ?? What advice can we give to our grandchildren and their children ? Please tell us ?

I think the answer is in the question! Just explain to your own kids that you don't want any grandchildren!!

An old fisherman I met in the Moray Firth (owner of "Budding Rose") told me that when he started fishing just after WW2 his boat had a 50HP Mirrlees-Blackstone engine. He reckoned that the UK fish stocks would recover quickly if the powers that be just limited the number of fishing boats and restricted all of them to 100 horse-power engines. He maintained that this system would:

o Be easy to regulate.

o Automatically limit the size of nets that could be used.

o Automatically remove some of the seabed areas from being fished (and provide safe-havens for the fish) due to bottom conditions.

o Remove the need for "quotas" because the amount of fish that could be taken would be severely reduced anyway.

o Remove the need to "throw back" undersized fish because no-one would be able to fish with small meshed nets anyway because they took too much power to pull.

Not being a fishing boat owner myself I can't comment on the accuracy of his beliefs, but it does seem a logical approach.

Best regards,

Came across this today


“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
Thomas Jefferson

hillwalker wrote:Came across this today


“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
Thomas Jefferson

I assume that this was the same Thomas Jefferson that owned thousands of slaves!!

If so, I'm not too sure that I would regard anything he said as being a philosophy worth following!

Best regards,



Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery