What Do You Think Today?

[Avatar]

Ha, welcome to the club...state pension here is literally a pittance.

So, what happens to the NI contributions of the young people?

--A

[Skyweir]

That sounds terrible.

I got an all clear today no cancer but have to repeat all tests in six months cos mass of irregular cysts. Arent boobs grand

We celebrated with bubbles and friends

[I'm Murrin]

Ha, welcome to the club...state pension here is literally a pittance.

So, what happens to the NI contributions of the young people?

--A

Largely goes to funding the NHS, supposedly. Not sure exactly, given that NHS funding has been getting slashed. Lately there's a little bit of drive to end NI and replace it with some sort of unified social security tax.

[Kizza]

That sounds terrible.

I got an all clear today no cancer but have to repeat all tests in six months cos mass of irregular cysts. Arent boobs grand

We celebrated with bubbles and friends

Fantastic news Sky!
Boobs and that part at the top of the outside of the thigh are still my favourite. Although I have been told that some ladies would sooner have the boobs off and gone.

All sexist comments aside, Really pleased to hear the news for you.

[Kizza]

Ha, welcome to the club...state pension here is literally a pittance.

So, what happens to the NI contributions of the young people?

--A

Largely goes to funding the NHS, supposedly. Not sure exactly, given that NHS funding has been getting slashed. Lately there's a little bit of drive to end NI and replace it with some sort of unified social security tax.

Yeah I cant see anyone existing on a pension alone without converting to 1940's wartime rationing.

[Avatar]

Congrats Sky. Good news.

Largely goes to funding the NHS, supposedly. Not sure exactly, given that NHS funding has been getting slashed. Lately there's a little bit of drive to end NI and replace it with some sort of unified social security tax.

Thought that's pretty much what the NI was in the first place?

--A

[Skyweir]

Cheers Av and Kizza

Kizza Im ok with keeping mine lol .. but if it came to a choice cancer or boobs, bye bye boobs. But you know I ordered some new lingerie a few weeks back .. then thought oh fuck what if I can never wear them .. what a fucking waste of money and I got pissed about it lol (could be a Scots thing )

[Kizza]

Sometimes I have a fairly dry and evil love of comedy.
One time I was off doing things in the middle of the day and I got back into the office after a couple of hours - I think I was Christmas shopping for the family to be honest - and one of the people who I worked with said to me "Where have you been?", and I looked them straight in the eye knowing full well what it was none of their business and said "Lingerie shopping for my mother in law".
That caused a wide eyed and dry mouthed response of "Oh... Cool", so I went on with it and never bat an eyelid saying "yeah I hope she likes it."

[Skyweir]

[peter]

Is she hot?

[Skyweir]

So today as its now pouring down, again an indoor day for me .. so catching up on laundry, a bit of sewing, nothing exciting .. though some excitement has been had

[Kizza]

Is she hot?

Ahhhhh Peter, That is Dave Allen dry. Note the forefinger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We9ziUIrT1Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWJEtNgU45g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdVXn8a5k0Q

[Skyweir]

LOLS

[peter]

I have mentioned elsewhere today the rise of the far right across swathes of Europe. On Friday the EU agreed to the construction of huge detention centers within its boarders to house the seemingly unstoppable flow of sub Saharan and Middle Eastern migrants into Europe. Last week I saw the chilling film by Alfonso Curaon Children of Men in which such 'zones' feature in a bleak dystopian world of the near future. I bought a book yesterday, Travellers in the Third Reich - a collection of eyewitness accounts of life in the developing Nazi Germany of the thirties, made by celebrities, journalists, business travelers etc, people who had no political axe to grind just making simple observations on what they were seeing in general, but without any idea of where it was leading. Last week I watched aireal drone footage of a snake of coulorful illegals being led from one Nissan compound to another by armed guards front and back on the Mexican boarder and crying children pulled from their mothers arms as America pursued it's zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration. And I think to myself "something is going badly wrong here. In the words of the song, there's a bad moon on the rise.

(As a corollary to that I thought of ex cabinet minister Micheal Portillo on a recent TV appearance where he responded to another guests damning indictment of Europe's treatment of migrants with the entirely reasonable response that I was perfectly understandable that people were worried about the effect of unrestrained immigration on their lives. The impact on their jobs, the strain placed on already struggling health and housing services, not to mention schools and welfare. And I realized that it is here that the danger lies - not in the clear cut and obvious evil of a Sturm Trooper with a deaths head about his neck, but in the reasonable, the sensible and the justifiable.)

[I'm Murrin]

peter, maybe don't call people "illegals", it's dehumanising.

[peter]

peter, maybe don't call people "illegals", it's dehumanising.

Fair comment Murrin: my apologies.

[Skyweir]

Ahhh Pete .. I feel exactly the same sense of horror .. and yes the rise of the radical right is cause for concern.

The last time in our history this occurred it did not end well for minorities .. or well .. anyone.



Australia harbours its own vile immigration policies, along with countless nations around the globe. Its sad this verbal and visceral trend toward inhumanity and discompassion.

[Kizza]

I see there are groundswells of fascist and extreme right pockets appearing more often than I have noticed before, but there is also a more prevalent terrorist threat than ever before. Pretty sure that a case can be made where one drives the other as an action and consequence.

There's a lot of great songs I loved as a kid. I must have been such a funkster , and I loved the simple message and optimism of this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyT9jTW7MHc
Alas, you can sing it until you're blue in the face..... If they do not want to listen, it will not be heard.

[peter]

Awesome Kizza! Love that song. Anything Motown does it for me - I'll be singing that to myself all day!

It is reported that upward of thirty percent of all consultant appointments in the NHS are missed and these no-shows are costing the service billions. A fifty pound penalty for non attendance without 24 hours notice should be implemented forthwith to curb this shocking waste of the service.

[Avatar]

Very difficult to enforce / collect on unfortunately.

--A