thaibeachlovers

Replying to #216 ( too big to quote ) all the commonalities with the groups that you quote are that GW is caused by humanity ergo too many people, but nowhere do they suggest population control as a solution. Therefore, I suspect it is indeed a big con with a hidden agenda.

If the world's population is over 7 billion, at least 5 billion want to live the fossil fuelled lifestyle- try and deny them that and GW will be the least of the pollies problems.

No one said such a thing, too many people causing GW ? are you referring to the hot air emanating from the opposition?

Nooo , too many people burning fossil fuels, reduce their carbon footprint and we would be fine.

Of course we will still have the hot air emanating from the opposition, so perhaps an opposition reduction program might be in order.

Of course the increase in population has increased the use of fossil fuels. All 7 billion of us want to drive a car and have lots of shiny toys powered by electricity ( generated by -------------- yes, fossil fuels ).

Grouse, on 25 Dec 2015 - 13:49, said:

My comment at 02 was a reaction to all the "shoot from the hip comments" we get on this issue

My point is that it is a complex nuanced issue

I am posting articles to try and illustrate the point

Clearly keeping out of the Euro was the correct decision

But I'm not convinced that the benefits of leaving justify the disadvantages and the risks

I am pro Europe on many levels including the civilised nature of their systems generally speaking

Have you looked at typical pension provisions for example?

Infrastructure?

Health?

Equality?

Happiness even

So, let's have a reasoned debate!

Bt the way, we have a representative democracy - we don't need a plebiscite on every damn thing!

1. As the 1st comment, it was nothing to do with anyone shooting from the hip. It was your assertion, right from the off that anyone who did not agree with your view was a bumpkin.

2. It is only a complex nuanced issue if you wish it to be so. It can be equally simple and straight forward.

3. When you post articles that are Pro - EU, those articles do not illustrate YOUR point. They are only a mantra of the stay in Brigade. They actually weaken your argument as it shows that you have no intellectual input of your own. I could post 1000's of Pro - out material. It would be a waste of time for the exact same reasons.

4. Obviously.

5. Try listing what YOU perceive to be the benefits, advantages, disadvantages or risks for yourself. While this might sound intellectual to some, it is merely words of no substance.

6. Pensions, infrastructure, health and equality ? Are you talking about the UK ? Have you been in an induced coma for 30 years ?

As you were very quick to highlight Lord Rose's unsubstantiated £ 11 Billion cost perhaps you should read this from 2012.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2052433/Chart-How-does-Britain-pay-EU-does-back.html

Your 2nd link I stopped reading when it asserted the UK would be hammered with trade tariffs. More unsubstantiated guff.

Reasoned debate ! Your havin a laff.

There have been many earlier threads on this topic which I have replied to at length and yes, most of the contributions were in my opinion ill thought out and ill informed

I have stated quite clearly that I am pro Europe generally for all sorts of reasons having lived on the continent for many years

I am also quite negative towards American social norms

These are personal opinions

However, the massive rise in inequality and the increasing Xenophobic attitudes in England worry me

The social contracts in much of continental Europe (Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands, France etc) seems to result in greater happiness generally than I observe in England these days

Financially, I do think the membership cost is worth it. According to Wiki, we have a GDP approaching 3 trillion USD (as at Sept 2015). Membership at about 0.3% of GDP is reasonable IMHO

The UK benefits greatly from inward investment BECAUSE we are in the EU

Also around 50% of our trade is with the EU

From what I read, a majority of business leaders want to remain in

Why do you think I have been in coma because of my opinion on European systems?

Check out typical pension provisions....

Also worth looking at Gini coefficients

You might want to rethink the bit about social contracts re Sweden. When people go around stabbing immigrants in school and attacking hostels things are not going well.

AI used to support people illegally imprisoned by bad governments, and did a great job. Since when did they become a political organisation? This is likely to lose them support.

Replying to #216 ( too big to quote ) all the commonalities with the groups that you quote are that GW is caused by humanity ergo too many people, but nowhere do they suggest population control as a solution. Therefore, I suspect it is indeed a big con with a hidden agenda.

If the world's population is over 7 billion, at least 5 billion want to live the fossil fuelled lifestyle- try and deny them that and GW will be the least of the pollies problems.

BTW, now guns can be manufactured by 3D printing, no amount of laws will prevent anyone obtaining a weapon, and with no background checks etc etc. Once again, the politicians are showing their lack of knowledge as to the tech age, and have no clue how to regulate it.

Quote function not working.

Replying to #233.

I meant education in safe gun ownership for LAWFUL owners ie how not to let children get hold of your gun etc.

If someone is bent on committing mayhem, obviously education will not stop them, but I was not referring to them.

Fair enough.

Bye bye, I'm off this thread.

Happy day to those like me that don't have family to spend the day with, and are hanging out on TV. Cheers.

Quote function not working.

Replying to #2

Benefits- do tell.

Perhaps you refer to the benefits of paying large amounts of tax to Brussels to be dictated to by a bunch of unelected bureaucrats, LOL.

Do you think Hyatt didn't have "basic security measures and precautions" in place? I don't think anything connected to the internet is safe. Even Thai banks put the details into their computer, but with a passbook I can prove that I hadn't withdrawn that big wad of cash that was taken out of my account by a hacker.

No idea what the Hyatt had in place.

If someone fraudulently uses my CC i can simply get the money refunded by the CC provider.

It is credit, not my savings account, so it drains nothing

You don't think someone can just steal your passbook and walk into the bank?

The OP is not about CCs.

In Thailand they would not only have to steal my driving licence or passport as well as the passbook, but would have to look the same as me to get anything from my bank account. Pretty safe really.

Here is an example of a child who was tired of not getting ice cream and finally snapped:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/30/us/idaho-walmart-shooting-accident-mother-toddler/

Here is one where an otherwise law-abiding 4-year old didn't like getting spanked so took care of it Dirty Harry style:

http://www.walb.com/story/29814056/mother-shot-in-head-by-4-year-old-son-dies

Here is one Law Enforcement is trying to label an accident but witnesses said child was upset his Baby Elmo was removed from the dinner table:

http://m.wptz.com/news/toddler-accidentally-shoots-mother-at-lake-placid-apartment/35416506

In each of these incidence, an otherwise good toddler got angry and then got even.

Which is why we don't allow children to drive cars and shouldn't allow them anywhere near guns. Education is the key to the latter.

It's because of this sort of thing I refuse to use internet banking etc. The crims are more clever than the people trying to stop them. It amazes me that the sheeple are prepared to put their entire economic security in harms way so readily, as though hacking never takes place.

I've used various internet banking for must be close to 15 years (?). Have not had any problems.

Everything is OK till it's not. You have been lucky till now, but you may not be lucky tomorrow.

That's like saying because my granny smoked all her life and lived to 95 tobacco doesn't cause cancer. However, it's a fact that tobacco causes cancer, and internet hackers exist. There are billions of internet transactions everyday, and it's not possible for hackers to attack everyone.

Yes, I might not ever be hacked, but I'd worry about it all the time if I did use IT banking, so I don't. In fact, my computer has been hacked by people trying to extort me in a common scam, so I know from personal experience that it can happen to me ( I was using anti virus, but it was a new scam at the time ).

It is nothing like that at all.

Put a few basic security measures and precautions in place, Most banks have a one time pin or sms alerts and passcodes these days.

Do you think a passbook is safer in some way?

Do you think Hyatt didn't have "basic security measures and precautions" in place? I don't think anything connected to the internet is safe. Even Thai banks put the details into their computer, but with a passbook I can prove that I hadn't withdrawn that big wad of cash that was taken out of my account by a hacker.

Quote function is not working, but to reply to #209, when some of your respected scientists are claiming that disaster is upon us WHY has the conference said there is till 2100 to act? Surely it would be necessary to act NOW.

I am still waiting for someone, anyone, to inform us as to exactly WHAT action is to be taken to reverse GW. So far there is zilch, nada, nothing, just a lot of words.

Given that they have not resolved to not fly to the next conference I have no faith in their integrity or their commitment to do anything meaningful.

You may have missed it, but we don't live in normal times. Normal times is when we can go on a plane without someone having a bomb in their shoes and hoping to kill us all.

Except that that was somebody else, and happened 14 years ago, I didn't miss it but I do think it's unrelated to this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid

Normal times is now, there have been wars in the Middle East for centuries, probably always will be, and airline-security has been improved since 2001, I hope !

Entirely related. If not for improved security they WOULD STILL be trying to blow up planes with shoe bombs. That's why suspicious people are denied entry to other countries.

Nobody can comment on the rightness or wrongness until the full details are exposed, if ever.

It could be discrimination, or it could be a member of the family was flagged for some real reason.

If the latter, why stop the entire family?

f

You are on point concerning finding out the reason. In the creeping police state the reason will not be divulged as a matter of security. Welcome to security Trumping freedom. No charges, no trial or justice oversight....

That is correct. No charges ergo no trial.

They were simply denied entry.

Happens everyday in every International Airport in the World.

They were not American citizens, they have no right to enter simply because they bought tickets to Disneyland.

Next.

If you think that it's OK to deny people to travel to US because of their religion then maybe it's time to start denying travelers from US to enter EU, Australia and Asia just because they are from US as it's basically the same thing to deny anyone to travel/enter based on their religion!

It WASN'T because of their religion. Where does ClutchClark say that it was?

In view of the context in which the question was asked in the OP, I would suggest to any moderator to close the thread ?

are you intolerant ?

No. I find it sick, a.k.a paedophilia.

In Sri Lanka, according to Wikipedia a girl under 12 can get married under certain conditions- are all Sri Lankan males paedos? It's not up to you to dictate what is legal or not, and the OP was asking for the LEGAL age.

PS I don't know why the OP is still confused- from the info given it is obviously 18 with reference to him. That would be obvious from even a superficial Wikipedia read.

But it does seem unusual that, having gone through all the usual pre-travel vetting by the USA, they then pulled the whole family at the late stage of boarding, when they had checked-in without a problem ? Especially with children going to Disneyland at Christmas-time !

I'm betting 2 male adults, and 9 male children, travelling as a 'British family' and wearing full Islamic mufti raised a few 'hang on a minute' thoughts with the airport check in staff.

Yet it's reported that the late-instruction to deny boarding came from the US, not from airport check-in staff, who clearly had been happy to check them in ?

I would consider two parents, seven children (were they all male ... I didn't see that anywhere yet) and two of their children's friends, the kids aged between 8 and 19, going to see Disneyland & Universal Studios in California, where they had other relatives they planned to visit, as a normal enough group during the school-holidays.

What would they have made of a group of Boy Scouts, or a Youth Club or Girl Guides, with appropriate leaders ?

A niece of mine recently helped lead a school-trip over to California, she got the pre-clearance too, perhaps coming from Sevenoaks rather than Walthamstow made a difference, who knows ? But how can normal people lead normal lives, when this can happen ?

You may have missed it, but we don't live in normal times. Normal times is when we can go on a plane without someone having a bomb in their shoes and hoping to kill us all.

Just read Wikipedia for the real deal.

It's 15, but only with parental consent, and even then the man can be prosecuted if it all goes wrong. 18 is the safe age at which the girl can legally consent

Actually, it's not safe even if the girl produces an ID saying she is 18, as they can use their sister's card or make a fake. Best not to if not 100% sure of age, or if they look too young.

The 20 yo for bar girls is because they have to be 20 to work in a bar.

13 year problem has just now been fixed?

Why did the photographer take a photo of only African-American prisoners?

How racist.

That's a ridiculous statement. Far right appears Hispanic, 2nd from right is white,1st on left is unseen and 2nd on left unidentifiable. There is one out of 5 who is clearly black in my opinion.

Carry on race baiting now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Really?

You can see all that?

I thought they all looked dark-skinned.

Thanks for clarifying.

So why did the photographer take a photo where atleast 80% of the prisoners are minorities?

I find that offensive.

Are you serious? It's well known that minorities are disproportionately represented in jails in most, if not all countries with diverse populations. It would probably be impossible to take a photo of mainly white prisoners in a random photo in an American jail.

It's because of this sort of thing I refuse to use internet banking etc. The crims are more clever than the people trying to stop them. It amazes me that the sheeple are prepared to put their entire economic security in harms way so readily, as though hacking never takes place.

I've used various internet banking for must be close to 15 years (?). Have not had any problems.

Everything is OK till it's not. You have been lucky till now, but you may not be lucky tomorrow.

That's like saying because my granny smoked all her life and lived to 95 tobacco doesn't cause cancer. However, it's a fact that tobacco causes cancer, and internet hackers exist. There are billions of internet transactions everyday, and it's not possible for hackers to attack everyone.

Yes, I might not ever be hacked, but I'd worry about it all the time if I did use IT banking, so I don't. In fact, my computer has been hacked by people trying to extort me in a common scam, so I know from personal experience that it can happen to me ( I was using anti virus, but it was a new scam at the time ).

But it does seem unusual that, having gone through all the usual pre-travel vetting by the USA, they then pulled the whole family at the late stage of boarding, when they had checked-in without a problem ? Especially with children going to Disneyland at Christmas-time !

I'm betting 2 male adults, and 9 male children, travelling as a 'British family' and wearing full Islamic mufti raised a few 'hang on a minute' thoughts with the airport check in staff.

That would be normal for a fundamentalist Islamic family. Women are to be kept away from any potential contact with unknown men, and the two men probably didn't want to have to be chaperoning them all the time. It is stupidity like that that makes me, for one, want such attitudes kept out of western countries.

In an endeavour to stop this topic immediately descending into ill-informed commentary have a read of Australian gun laws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Australia

I don't give a rat's turd about Australia's gun laws...if that's what they want that's fine. Americans will adopt gun laws in line with American law, cultural traditions, and historical experience.

Would that be the cultural tradition to shoot everything that goes "bump" in the night or the historical experience of 355 mass shootings in one year?

Would that be the cultural tradition to shoot everything that goes "bump" in the night

Oh deary me...

In an endeavour to stop this topic immediately descending into ill-informed commentary have a read of Australian gun laws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Australia

I hope everyone reads it and learns that research does not support the contention that banning guns reduces gun caused deaths. Obviously there is something different in the psyches of Oz/ NZ citizens as against US citizens that explains the lower death rate.

You Actually believe that criminals are the only ones that kill others with guns...

You actually think good people run out and get guns to kill other good people?

I actually think there are plenty of situations that "good people" can get angry and use the gun that they have like a "bad person" would. They are good until they are bad..that's kinda the point. Crime in the USA is more violent than most other countries that have strict gun laws!

Can you give any stats on that sort of crime, because I don't believe it?

All the mass shootings that have been publicised have been done by nutters or terrorists.

Yes, some die in mistakes and by careless storage of weapons, but the answer for the mistakes is better education, not by banning guns. Banning guns only leaves the law abiding citizen defenceless against the crims that have no problem obtaining them. However, I do support mandatory training for all gun owners. How many ex military have guns misused- very few I'd guess.

"America's bizarre reaction to mass shootings"..............and the ThaiVisa gun haters immature responses to America's mass shootings. You people need to get a life.

18 people within the last 5 days can't get a life anymore, because they are now dead!

Thanks to a country were every Tom, Dick and Harry is allowed to own an arsenal in the basement!

Including people on the terror watchlist, as we are finding out!

Get some empathy!

When people call for cars to be banned because they are dangerous and kill lots and lots of people I'll have some empathy. In the meantime ( and I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen ) if I lived in the US I'd have as many guns as I could afford for home defence.