Amadeus

I haven't followed this case very much, but I did speak to a few IOM people at various conferences in the past, and when the topic of what they thought about the current CM came up, I was honestly shocked by the very open disdain shown towards him, and the extremely negative way he is being talked about. I mean normally you're kinda polite if someone's a bit rubbish, right? Well, these guys - who shall remain nameless obviously - were anything but and ripped into him in a way I have not experienced before. Not with Bell and not even with TB. If business leaders outside of IOMG are talking like this, what on earth must be going on within government?

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/roadside-cameras-launched-to-catch-road-tax-dodgers/ Not liking the idea of ANPR cameras over here. Privacy comes before making the government's job easier and these things simply assume everyone is guilty unless proven otherwise. How are they going to prevent misuse of the data as has happened elsewhere?

TT 2019 will see the roll out of body worn cameras for uniformed Police officers. Initially in Douglas they will become a common sight affixed to officers’ uniforms. The devices are controlled by officers and will give unprecedented evidence gathering capability for a wide range of incidents. The cameras will display an image on the screen when they are recording, and also show a bright flashing red light. If you’re interested, our officers will be wearing them on foot patrol during the TT period. Say Chhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

When the beer tent goes up in the bottleneck car park.

Then you probably like Hitler, too, and sexism, organised crime, extra judicial killings, corruption, cronyism, etc...

Corruption exists everywhere, from the best to the worst countries. Sometimes it's real, sometimes it's only perceived. At least the island has a functioning police force worthy of the name. Try coming here to Manila if you want to see how bad things could be. If anything was ever to happen, then the absolute last people I would ever call are the local cops. They make everything worse, if they do any work at all and not just turn out to be the perpetrators themselves. Actually quite fascinating to watch a country descend from a progressive democracy into a fascist regime. Scary, but fascinating. So yeah, gimme the IOMC any day of the week over the PNP.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't, or? In any case, being wanted on the island must be one of the dumbest things you can do. What is he gonna do? Ask the foxdale freedom fighters for asylum and hope they don't extradite?

I actually grew up with dogs and never really had a thing for cats until one followed us home in Douglas years ago. She simply decided to live at the house after that and it was her who woke me up when the burglar broke in. Being a cat, she was probably scared someone would steal her food, but still, nice gesture for an animal that's usually considered selfish. The ones we have now are all rescues and I would never spend money on buying a cat. All started with one I found outside the office in Makati. She would have died if I left her, so off she went with me: Then I found another one, this time on Manila Bay, same scenario: she had fallen onto the road, no mama cat in sight, so fine: let's have two then. Three and four are from Greece, found outside the office when I worked in Athens Five and six are from Manila again. I cycle to work every day (taking a car in this traffic is simply not an option by now) and found them at the roadside. Couldn't just leave them there, so six it is, even if that was never really the plan. The problem here is that it's very hard to find homes for rescues. Having pets isn't a big thing here yet and if people have one, it's usually a dog to guard the house. So once you take a rescued cat in, you're kinda stuck with it, if you want to or not, something I knew before I committed to any of them. We have tried to re-home another few rescues with bad results and animal charities - if they exist at all - are also always overwhelmed and underfunded, and as a result not really an option. So for now at least the furballs are family and travel and live with us wherever we go, even if it means flying them twice around the globe. Or a third time if I count the move back to IOM. So no, I'm not really your typical cat person, but once you committed to rescuing them, you also can't just dump them again. Having said that, if someone wanted a couple of them, I wouldn't be against it. The last two are sisters anyway and could easily be rehomed. We'll see. For now I need to find a place big enough for all of us. We own our place here and I hope we can find something on the island to make it an easy move within the next month or two. Turns out what they say about the island is true: you can check out, but you'll never leave...

I can neither confirm nor deny that.

Thanks, I'll try that!

I'm looking for a place to rent on the island from May or June onwards. Either a flat, cottage or house. Preferably in Douglas but anywhere else considered as well, as long as the internet connection is still quick I'm looking for myself plus my better half and our cats, of which there are six (all rescues from various parts of the world). I know multiple pets is a concern for some landlords but we have moved around the world with them before and lived in numerous places without ever having any problems. Damage, if any occurs at all, is of course always covered by us, so I'm hoping that someone has a suitable place (2 bedroom and up please, can be empty, semi or fully furnished) for long term rent (minimum 1 year, likely more). Please drop me a line at amadeusiom@googlemail.com Thanks!

Nice to see folks across the water are looking out for thieves as well

Funnily enough, no, and I often told people that I felt safer here than in my house in Douglas. At least here I have armed guards downstairs who can freely shoot any intruder with zero questions asked. Having said that, there's enough other crime here and I know of colleagues and friends who were robbed, mugged at knife point and other not so funny things. Plus there's the small matter of extra judicial killings, terrorism, and other dangers. You don't know how much a functioning police force is worth until you don't have one available.

As someone who lives in number 163 out of 178, I kinda am looking forward to spending more time in country number 3 again.

Black Snake Mone https://wingsoverscotland.com/black-snake-mone/ I am shocked and totally surprised.