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Post by bracknellboy on Sept 12, 2024 8:53:59 GMT
funny how things sometimes come together. I've seen this picture that is in one of those links only once before, about 2 or 3 days ago:  It was in FB post doing a contrast and compare of "How they do borders in europe"...."How we do borders in the US..."
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Post by captainconfident on Sept 12, 2024 9:06:06 GMT
Thanks for treating me gently pikestaffThose places you've observed, it seems like a normal small town but there are painted lines all over roads and paths. What I can't understand is how this worked before "border free Europe" when the customs man had to check various commodities crossing borders. Where you come could just hand a crate of beer to your neighbour across an international border. These border lands have the Carnivale tradition that is missing from the protestant North, and the customs agent, Douanier, is frequently one of the carnival giants that takes part of the parade. |
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pikestaff
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Post by pikestaff on Sept 12, 2024 10:05:11 GMT
Thanks for treating me gently pikestaff [...] No problem. You were half right anyway. According to the link I referenced there are (or were last year) 171 food banks in NL. By contrast a recent government research briefing (May 2024) says there are at least 2,871 food banks in the UK, not including those operating from schools. Even allowing for the difference in population that's an order of magnitude more. researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8585/CBP-8585.pdf
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james100
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Post by james100 on Sept 12, 2024 10:33:52 GMT
Thanks for treating me gently pikestaff Those places you've observed, it seems like a normal small town but there are painted lines all over roads and paths. What I can't understand is how this worked before "border free Europe" when the customs man had to check various commodities crossing borders. Where you come could just hand a crate of beer to your neighbour across an international border. These border lands have the Carnivale tradition that is missing from the protestant North, and the customs agent, Douanier, is frequently one of the carnival giants that takes part of the parade. The border in town itself was always seamless with respect to customs iirc. I used to live close to Baarle on the Belgian side and prior to that lived in NL,crossing that border a lot. There was a checkpoint NL on the closes motorway near to a Travelex (prior to Euros) which caught big lorries and that was it. I always had to have my passport and Dutch residency permit with me but the biggest hassle was postboxes which may still be true. The postbox on the Dutch side only accepted Dutch stamps and the postbox Belgian side only accepted Belgian stamps. Stuff went to post heaven if you screwed up! Lovely area, with vast numbers of Dutch having moved there to avoid wealth tax.
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Post by captainconfident on Sept 12, 2024 11:00:08 GMT
A plug for the local brewer because the beers are so good. Not craft brewery hop rockets, really robust full malt beers. www.dedochtervandekorenaar.be/en/brouwerij/The brewer is from NL but located in Baarle-Nassau for the reason that at the time, Belgian beer had an international cachet while Dutch beer didn't. That was true but it has lead to a certain conservatism in Belgian brewing while the rest of the world moved on. I will add that the current trend is to add fruit flavours and chemical flavourings to practically all beer styles because these are massively popular and nobody wants a plain Imperial Stout anymore. Except me, apparently. Which is where the more out of touch with commerciality Belgians come back in to favour. |
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jonno
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nil satis nisi optimum
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Post by jonno on Sept 12, 2024 11:26:48 GMT
Its all down to a failure to tax people properly, a failure going back 30 years in not helping people insulate their homes. Multiple systemic failures due to an obsession with reducing taxes regardless of the state of public finances. Reporting to you from the continent, I can say that there are no food banks in my country of residence and no need for winter fuel payments. I never voted Labour in my life but the dishonesty of saying that Labour wants to kill pensioners, that "the Labour Party wants to raise your taxes", of course they effing don't. But Hunt lopped 21 billion off the NI tax take to win the election with a bribe KNOWING that if they didn't it dumped a great big $41t in the lap of their opponents, creating a situation where any incoming government has to take measures like this one to maintain basic services. And a lot more to come. This new government can't start on trying to make the country better until it has gained control of a sufficient income. So give them a chance and cut the bullsh that Labour politicians, socialists, don't want the best for the poor. Oh yes yes yes. Once again I'm amazed that taxes are fine and dandy especially if you're not one of the ones who are going to pay it. The way in which this fuel payment change has been handled is unforgiveable on every level, and the last thing those poor people on the margin need is for some ignorant misguided comments from individuals who are not a part of the society that is threatening their very existance. 
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Post by bernythedolt on Sept 12, 2024 11:37:52 GMT
Its all down to a failure to tax people properly, a failure going back 30 years in not helping people insulate their homes. Multiple systemic failures due to an obsession with reducing taxes regardless of the state of public finances. Reporting to you from the continent, I can say that there are no food banks in my country of residence and no need for winter fuel payments. I never voted Labour in my life but the dishonesty of saying that Labour wants to kill pensioners, that "the Labour Party wants to raise your taxes", of course they effing don't. But Hunt lopped 21 billion off the NI tax take to win the election with a bribe KNOWING that if they didn't it dumped a great big $41t in the lap of their opponents, creating a situation where any incoming government has to take measures like this one to maintain basic services. And a lot more to come. This new government can't start on trying to make the country better until it has gained control of a sufficient income. So give them a chance and cut the bullsh that Labour politicians, socialists, don't want the best for the poor. Heck, I'm a simple person and easily confused. There was Labour telling us ad nauseam we had the highest tax burden in 70 years. That surely doesn't square up with a failure to tax people properly? You've said many times you live in Belgium (eg. p2pindependentforum.com/post/479706 ), but whether it be BE or NL, they both have plenty of food banks of course, just like the UK. Struggling to see how any of this helps the poor 93yo gentleman above though.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Sept 12, 2024 12:34:16 GMT
There were no foodbanks during the Victorian era. Does it mean they were all richer and better fed than we are?
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Sept 12, 2024 12:35:39 GMT
Thanks for treating me gently pikestaff Those places you've observed, it seems like a normal small town but there are painted lines all over roads and paths. What I can't understand is how this worked before "border free Europe" when the customs man had to check various commodities crossing borders. Where you come could just hand a crate of beer to your neighbour across an international border. These border lands have the Carnivale tradition that is missing from the protestant North, and the customs agent, Douanier, is frequently one of the carnival giants that takes part of the parade. Have you seen the film "Rien a Declarer"? www.imdb.com/title/tt1528313/Set on the French/Belgian border at the time the border opened. National stereotypes-a-go-go...
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Sept 12, 2024 12:37:20 GMT
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ilmoro
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'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on Sept 12, 2024 12:39:21 GMT
In Tilburg. Be careful, anyone who comes in my orbit gets asked to donate. cztilburgtenmiles.nlAh ilmoro , I see where you're going, its like having a fact checking bot on my tail when I'm trying to write a polemic. I bet the pub empties every time you open the door. You just made it too easy. We are still members of FEBA. 😁 Only if they don't want to discuss beer.
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james100
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Post by james100 on Sept 12, 2024 14:22:57 GMT
Debacle written up here before the review was concluded: quillette.com/2024/08/04/gaslighting-scotlands-rape-victims-in-the-name-of-trans-inclusion/The article’s author was formerly co-chair of the London Mayor's Violence Against Women & Children Board for years. Not sure how well known Quillette is in UK but it publishes academic-type 'free thought' essays which are often quite thought provoking. Bit of a mixed bag but lots of interesting contributors like Richard Dawkins, whose recommendation prompted me to start reading it.
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keitha
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2024, hopefully the year I get out of P2P
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Post by keitha on Sept 12, 2024 15:47:57 GMT
In Tilburg. Be careful, anyone who comes in my orbit gets asked to donate. cztilburgtenmiles.nlAh ilmoro , I see where you're going, its like having a fact checking bot on my tail when I'm trying to write a polemic. I bet the pub empties every time you open the door. You just made it too easy. We are still members of FEBA. 😁 Only if they don't want to discuss beer. FEBA ? Free European Breweries Area
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Sept 13, 2024 16:28:12 GMT
The police and CPS should scale down the amount of resource going into prosecutions like this. If every burglary, mugging, car theft and corner shop anti-social behaviour was taken more seriously then fair enough but they are not. www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2x202v2ejo |
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09dolphin
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Post by 09dolphin on Sept 14, 2024 7:24:28 GMT
I have no problems with the Winter Fuel Allowance being means tested. I totaly agree that peope like me who can afford to pay the full cost of their energy bill should. What I object to is that people who have a pension income of circa 12K and are therefore ineligable for pension credit so are £200 - 300 per year worse off as their income is greater than the meagre amount they are allowed before they can claim. We are talking about people who often worked from being 15 years old to retirement age (50 years) not the 35 years now required for a pension. Yes there are probably some allowances they could claim - but how does someone who is computer illiterate and doesn't have children to look after their interests know this. They may be intensly proud and feel ashamed I live next to a 93 year old gentleman who worked in the steel industry who is in this situation. A man who did national service and fought for his country (I think in Korea). A man who owns a house I know he can't really afford to maintain but he does his best and is too proud to admit he has a problem. I am so worried about him. How is it fair to remove the Winter Fuel Allowance from him? I am so angry that a socialist government can do this to the elderly that I actually wonder if they intend to kill the older people and it is their intention to save more money by not having to pay his pension. Sorry - rant over -. But I think the society I now live in is one I am ashamed of. I had decided to 'stuff the next person I heard saying they did not need the fuel allowance into my freezer for two hours'. However due to the fact there is no space in there and I cant be bothered to track you down, I will let it pass. I mostly agree with you. It is a physical fact that as people age their ability to withstand cold weather reduces considerably. So need to keep warmer in cold weather, the reason for the fuel allowance first being introduced. So yes the Governments plan is quite likely to endanger life on a grand scale (getting into full dramatic mode here) and is a shameful act. Yes many nuances and household setups make it a fairly blunt instrument to achieve targeted aid, I suspect however the cost of not giving it will simply be transferred to the NHS in trying to save lives caused by its absence. Once again we have replaced one set of blinkered 'Leaders' with another set equally as incapable of thinking outside the box. No apology rant only just getting out of the starting blocks...........
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