JAG

Well no, he won't contest it - preventing it is rather more his style.

Note how he is going around explaining how national reform is needed. That sounds familiar now doesn't it?

Let's wait and see what will happen if a party he dislikes looks like winning...

????

Where to begin..

2 hours ago, oilinki said:

Brexiteers didn't even consider Northern Ireland border issues, when they campaigned for Brexit. This "You don't matter to us" is causing political strir in Northern Ireland. 

 

This means that Sinn Fein is coming back. 

Well we have it on good authority - from the man who runs Sinn Fein/IRA - that "they never went away you know".

Since the selection and appointment of these judges appears to be purely in the partisan interests of the ruling party, and because of the declared intention of that ruling party to create a panel of judges that will reflect the political views of the current governing party for many years to come, then I suppose that he is a suitable candidate.

If one considers the appointment from the point of his legal and juristic abilities I simply don't know.

If you consider the appointment taking into account his astonishing performance at the recent hearings, and his known proclivities then no.

His political loyalty and leanings "trump" everything else.

1 hour ago, vogie said:

Why don't we compare leaders oli. It seems to me you have lost the moral high ground.

 

 

It's the very devil isn't it - all those glasses of sciatica medicine!

Still never mind, as the Guardian reported today, if he gets his way it will never be mentioned again - apparently suggesting that the EU's leader is a pisshead infringes his human rights!

25 minutes ago, CanterbrigianBangkoker said:

snip...It is the snide remarks and baying for punitive measures to be taken against the UK that bothers me most. The arrogance and duplicity of it is simply stunning, especially when the events of the last century are taken into consideration, as they should be! ,,,snip.

3

Yes, and what bothers (no surprises and saddens me) is that so often these cries come from citizens of the UK! It's almost as if the unfettered ability to guzzle St Ager bleu, drink cheap Bordeaux and access ones holiday cottage in the Dordogne without having to show a passport outweighs (I was going to say "trumps" but that has unfortunate connotations these days!) any consideration about the medium and long-term future of the country.

What really annoys (grips my sh*t in the vernacular) is the accusation that anyone who does not hold the remain camp's views is ignorant, ill-educated, stupid, old and holds extreme right-wing views - I think that I am quite well educated, reasonably intelligent ( I know lots of long words like wheelbarrow and marmalade) and hold fairly liberal conservative views (note the use of the lower case). I will admit to being a little bit oldish...

I think that the result of the referendum has stirred up such bitterness because it has overturned a rather cosy long-standing consensus amongst the political and politicised classes, perhaps (obviously) not one which was shared by the majority.

1 hour ago, oilinki said:

I suppose many Brexiteers were expecting EU members to come begging UK to stay in the Union. Nobody came and it must hurt the ego quite a lot.

 

Speaking personally, absolutely on the contrary. As a result of the appreciation process which  I went through before deciding how to cast my vote, (I voted to leave) I decided that the medium and long-term interests of the UK would be served by leaving the UK. I voted accordingly and with absolutely no expectation that there would be any special deal for the UK. I also expected that the EU and the UK would sensibly co-operate in the process of arranging the departure, allowing for arrangements to control borders, collect tariffs if necessary, and allow matters such as aviation, supply and accreditation of medicines, and international cooperation on mutually beneficial projects to continue.

I concluded that in all probability, whatever the views of the various other member states would be, the EU commission and its other executive branches would be as difficult, truculent and obstructive as possible towards the UK. They would, I surmised, do this for three main reasons. First because the UK's withdrawal would leave a colossal hole in the EU's future budget plans, and the EU depends upon access to liberal and continuing  amounts of cash to maintain its march towards an "ever closer union". Second, the decision of the UK, in particular in the face of their intransigence towards David Camerons insistence on meaningful reforms, was a direct challenge to their authority, and therefore to be rebuffed - if Cameron's mission had resulted in any movement towards reform I was actually prepared to voter (holding my nose) to remain in the EU. Thirdly, I very much expected that the UK would be "made an example" to curb any other nations desire to leave.

A fourth point, which has subsequently occurred to me is a degree of dislike in the UK from amongst those in charge of the negotiations - Messrs Junker and Barnier, although this has I suspect flavoured rather than dictated their approach to the matter. I was also surprised by the EU's enthusiasm for keeping Northern Ireland effectively within their sphere of control - and I doubt whether this has any regard to the views of the majority of people in that unfortunate province! I personally tend to the view that the whole of the Island of Ireland should be one country, but I think that should principally be the decision of the people of Northern Ireland ( in conjunction with The Republic of Ireland) rather than the decision of the EU executive.

My ego has not been hurt one iota. I am however saddened that the continent in which I have lived and travelled widely over much of my adult life, and two of whose primary languages I speak, is being driven to harm my country, the UK, especially in view of the UK's significant contribution and commitment to Europe over the last century. And before you question or scoff at that contribution, walk through the cemeteries which are scattered so thickly across Northern France and Belgium. It is not just all about the economics...

37 minutes ago, xtrnuno41 said:

SO what about all those earlier Europeans going to, now USA, South America, and slaughtered the Indians?

What about all those Europeans and Americans having slave labour, by deporting thousands of people from Africa.

Treating them for ages like shit, still do. Jews arent really special, it is just another group. Now they slaughter Palestinians where they are. In earlier times christians were fed to the lions by the Romans and so there are many history stories full of slaughter and suppression. A Mao tse Tung, Stalin, Lenin and so on and so on. ALso the opponents of them were the same.

Where do they all come from? All those indoctrinating, manipulating ass**** and still they are among us with millions.

This argument crops up every time. The answer is the same every time.

Singling out Nazism and what it did to European Jewry is not to ignore or condone the actions of all those that you mention (although I would take issue with you about "Jews" slaughtering Palestinians). The Nazis were unique in that they emerged from a people and nation who were one of the most cultured, educated, economically and politically sophisticated in the world.

Nazism turned that country to developing an industrialised nationwide programme, which consumed significant resources and could not have continued without at least the awareness if not the active collusion of much of its population. This programme was devoted to, and largely successful in exterminating mercilessly both Germany's own significant Jewish population and that of the many European states which it conquered and subjegated.

This programme was conducted for racial and idealogical reasons, and continued throughout Nazi Germany's last desperate fight for survival, using manpower and resources which were desperately needed elsewhere. The trains to the death camps were running right up to the end, when ammunition and manpower could not be moved to the fighting fronts for lack of trains. What is more, the civilian population of the country knew - Google "The Celle rabbit hunt" if you want confirmation of that!

That all encompassing national dedication to this genocide is what makes it stand out, and it is what I believe makes it so evil. It is also why it is incumbent upon those of us from Europe to educate, inform and do everything we can to stop the "glamourisation" of Nazism and it's iconography, even if the people here are innocent by virtue of ignorance.

Back (closer) to the topic. The school I teach at has an annual concert. The backdrop is painted by the senior children, directed by the art department. A couple of years ago the backdrop featured a vignette of each continent. Europe was represented by The Colloseum and The Eifel Tower, surmounted by a swastica flag. I leapt in feet first, and explained what that meant. After a 10 minute history lesson, they were horrified and painted it out...

I wonder if the Embassy of The Federal Republic of Germany have (or will) be in touch?

They are somewhat sensitive about such matters...

I understand that there is a chap operating from an email address in Lagos who will offer a competitive service. He has an agent based on the corner of Sukhumvit Road and Sukhumvit Soi 13, usually to be found, after 8 pm, sitting on the steps of the entrance to the Miami Hotel...

7 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

I agree with this to a large extent.

 

Arguments nowadays shouldn't be based on what happened in the past.  Our parents or grandparents suffered/died in WW1 and WW2, but the vast majority of us weren't even born at the time.

 

Additionally, the russians (IIRC) suffered the greatest loss in the number of deaths in WW2.

 

In short, I can see no reason to base arguments on the death and sacrifice of our parents and grandparents.

 

The way it was handled (financially) at the end of WW2 is somewhat more on-topic - but is still largely irrelevant, other than making it clear that govts. and big business are not to be trusted.....

Whilst I do rather agree with you both on this, It does occasionally cross my mind that perhaps their is, in some circles, some latent resentment of the UKs role in European affairs in the last century.

And I do get very annoyed when some opine about the United Kingdom's lack of past commitment to Europe (as a continent rather than the current political construction), given the sheer number of Commonwealth cemeteries which dot the landscape.

Maybe it's just me...