talahtnut

19 hours ago, oldhippy said:

To be honest, I like "German jokes".

 

That is, "German jokes" that make fun of the people that tell them.

"The Germans" in Fawlty tower is an excellent example of that.

But now I wonder: did the Brits ever understand that joke?

 

Ah where have all the good times gone, when Brits were concidered to be the funniest people in the universe? Next came Benny Hill, Farage and Boris. So sad.

 

Belgians aint got no sense of humour at all.

20 hours ago, oldhippy said:

At first I thought that your ideas were a usefull contribution to this thread.

Next I thought you had high entertainment value.

I was wrong twice.

 

 

More than twice' I'd say.

15 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

if you remember around 1990,

when East and West Germany were folded together into Germany;

 

many a UK politician let fall rather strong negative words re Germany and her politicians

 

UK politicians..say no more.

15 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Do you actually read the posts on this and other brexit threads?

 

How do you reply to something you haven't read? .... A puzzle for you.

15 hours ago, oldhippy said:

OK - so with what word  would you typify this bigoted hatred?

 

'Bigoted hatred' of Germans is nonsense, we may make jokes about them in the same way as we do the Scots, Welsh, and Irish. We are more likely to envy and admire them..Thats why the Brits buy so many of their cars, machinery, wine. and Bechsteins... Made in Germany..the mark of excellence in the UK.  Cool out and pet your dog.

21 hours ago, oldhippy said:

One thing I truly underestimated when I started following various brexit threads, is the deep rooted racist hatred of some ancient Brits against the Germans.

21 hours ago, oldhippy said:

German "puppet masters".

Oh dear.

 

One thing I truly underestimated when I started following various brexit threads, is the deep rooted racist hatred of some ancient Brits against the Germans.

That same feeling existed in most of Europe  when I was young, but as Europeans became more educated and more intelligent, that hatred slowly disappeared.

 

I remember hitch hiking in Norway in the 70's, with my big Belgian flag on my backpack. Not very successful - until a Norwegian advised me to remove the Belgian flag, as many Norwegians mistook it for the German flag. Nowadays many Norwegians in tourist areas speak German - in 40 years time the Nordmenn evolved, unlike some isolated islanders accross the Strait of Calais. I bet "German jokes" are still very popular over there.

  'the deep rooted racist hatred of some ancient Brits against the Germans.'

That is an inappropriate remark considering we are both from the same Anglo  Saxon 'tribe'.  The 'racial hatred' red card is offensive and can not be justified.

15 hours ago, oldhippy said:

too much mindfulness can damage your mental health

That is an incorrect statement.

Mindfulness can help give access to a different perspective, and helps open other possibilities, and enhances resilience and the capacity to tolerate distress.

Also good for physical health.

15 hours ago, oldhippy said:

apart from the 48%?

The 48% are pessimists with negative minds  and unable to rise to a challenge.

Success comes with optimism. 

15 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Do I detect a small inconsistency in the conspiration theory of the brexiteers?

The Guardian influences people by printing fake and biased news, but nobody buys the paper?

 

The oldhippy conspiracy theory will be debunked in a couple of years.

And newspapers will die a slow death..how will you manage without the smut?

15 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Seems asking for donations is consistent with its financial structure rather than a customer base.

It’s owned by the nonprofit Scott Trust, not allowed to make profit distributions to shareholders and created nonprofit theguardian.org, to raise money from people and foundations to support its journalism.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/guardian-asking-readers-to-donate-money-to-continue-its-intelligent-journalism-20160630-gpv80k.html

https://digiday.com/media/guardian-launches-nonprofit-fund-journalism/

 

You and Simoh give logical reasons for the Guardian but, like most papers, it is losing readers.      [The editor may have to consider sticking dollops of smut in it..

to attract more punters!]

16 hours ago, oldhippy said:

QUOTE: (the Guardian) begs for donations to keep going

 

Yes, they ask for donations, because, unlike most other quality newspapers, they are not behind a pay wall.

 

Could it be that they are asking for donations because nobody is buying it?

Perhaps people are more discerning than you think.

17 hours ago, Grouse said:

Traditional Northern English monologue for your enjoyment!

It was Christmas Day in the workhouse
The one day of the year
The Brexiters hearts were happy
Their bellies full of beer
Then in strode the Workhouse Master
Within those stony walls
He cried: 'A Merry Christmas'
The Brexiters anwered 'Balls'
This enraged the Workhouse Master
Who swore by all his gods
You'll have no Christmas pudding 
You load of rotten sods
Then up stood one old Brexiter
His face as bold as brass
'We don't want your Christmas pudding
You can stuff it up your arse'.

 

?

Grouse is a poet and did'nt know it.

15 hours ago, nontabury said:

So you’re saying that being a M.E.P is not a proper job.

I could not agree with you more. And thankfully in the near future,we will not have to shoulder their costs.

 

MEP sitting in the European Parliament cost three times as much as Westminster MPs at a price tag of £1.79 million each a year. Nice work if you can get it.

On 12/24/2017 at 7:47 AM, vogie said:

Especially for you this xmas.

 

Stitch that!

17 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

And a very merry Xmas to you too bert! Actually not sad at all, I use forums like Thaivisa as a break from all the other stuff that I'm doing, today it's repairing a bridge in the garden to I've got to wait until a decent hour before cutting steel. And the Mrs/ has gone to work, it's just another day in Thailand.

I'm impressed, that's good style..but I hope the work will be completed, at least, to EU minimum standards. I've got a hole in the ceiling, but I'm working by Thai standards, ie. 'Sod it, do it later'.

16 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

...much more so than The Sun!

More truth in the 'VIZ' mag.

15 hours ago, aright said:

As long as we don't have to use your ball. We know what you do with it when you don't like the referee's decision

One side playing by Association Football UK rules, the other side playing by EU regulations.

15 hours ago, SheungWan said:

But mostly confine themselves with the loopy stuff. Too lazy and too uneducated to research anything more but kid themselves that they have.

That's quite amusing really, when you consider that certain government members seem busy on the internet, researching porn.

Would they be classed as lazy and uneducated?

Being able to see raw documents and speeches is preferable to someone else's second hand words in any newsrag.

15 hours ago, SheungWan said:

Has proved to be very useful cover in particular for extremists who do not/cannot/will not read very much at all other than loopy websites.

We are privileged with the internet; we can look up and find any raw documents, speeches, videos of anything the news outlets are reporting on. You're not subjected to anyone's opinions and your own are left to form your own.

21 hours ago, Khun Han said:

 

Christine Lagarde (who should be in prison: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/christine-lagarde-convicted-imf-head-found-guilty-of-negligence-in-fraud-trial-a7484586.html) tells the world that this steady growth in our economy is vindication of Project Fear's relentless fake forecasts of recession . That's what we get when criminal stooges are put in charge of our destinies, folks. Welcome to 1984.

Yeah, 'Animal Farm' springs to mind. Give the peasants TV ...there's the distraction to cover the truth.

15 hours ago, Grouse said:

Listen, fat head, if you want a sensible discussion I'm listening

 

1) In Germany they have a a much better rental sector (50%)  due to proper regulations and security

 

2) If you build a new house, you are encouraged (fiscally, financially) to include a granny flat

 

3) In Denmark, mortgages stay with the property. One may buy a house by taking over several existing mortgages with different fixed term rates. 10% of the purchase price is held in escrow against undisclosed defects.

 

OK???

No need to be abusive..I have lived in Germany before the wall came down, and had a German GF for 18 months, so I know a little about Germany.   Why the aggression?

15 hours ago, Grouse said:

Now this IS a key issue and worthy of debate. In the UK we have this terribly wrong. Look at Germany and Denmark. Different systems. Look it up ?

Right on Grouse, Germany, and its people are impressive.

15 hours ago, oldhippy said:

So you live on the island?

And you told us before you are into buddhism?

Surely much easier to be a buddhist on that island than in Thailand, where you would be confronted with the reality of buddhism.

I'm sure your local library has very inspiring books on buddhism - whereas Thailand has no libraries and no inspiring books on buddhism. They have monks though. Lots. Monks on grid.....

 

 

 

Wrong again.

I am in Thailand now. 6 months, 6 months in UK   There are books in Thailand on Buddhism. Monks are human..Its the philosophy thats right.  So what is your point?