Matt Bawden

Surely a fairer rate should be a combination of the amount of people residing in the household and a calculation of all appliances, showers, toilets etc. having an individual grading similar to white electrical goods?

My apologies sausages, my comment was meant for Doc.Fixit as he mentioned the manslaughter alternative.

@ Mr Sausages, I may well be wrong but doesn't manslaughter carry a maximum of 5 years?

I saw loads of flying objects today, some were unidentifiable due to my not being able to see clearly from 30, 000 feet away.

I think the phrase 'sock puppet' is used far too much and a new phrase should be used.

Manxman8180 you said "The comments about not picking it up earlier are conjecture as we have to rely on pub gossip for 'knowing' when it went wrong.My point was that we should have our own project engineers ON SITE checking what is going on all the time so that this kind of shit doesn't happen. Catch the problems as they happen and stop them in there tracks. The problem is the government engineers want to sit in their warm offices not stand out in the rain with the workers making sure its all going to plan.

Does the F in Johnny F stand for Fartpants?

I suspect the Russians are sending out a very strong signal that they view it as a Russian problem that will be fixed by Russians in a Russian way.

 

After all, they are a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma....

No... that's actually a creme egg

Well, we are witnessing Great Power politics at a grand scale at the moment in Ukraine.

 

A country is being torn apart due to it being caught in the overlapping spheres of influence of Russia and the EU.

 

It seems slightly strange to think of the EU as engaging in Great Power politics (and it is fascinating to see the Poles and the Swedes being so assertive - hints of Westphalia), but have no doubt there is a geopolitical power grab unfolding and the result could be war and territorial division.

 

The issue is no doubt poisoning the well of Russian/Western cooperation and it is going to be fascinating to see how Putin's muscular nationalist wrestles with the combination of the Ukrainian street consisting of everything from EU friendly democrats, to right wing Ukrainian nationalists, to Oligarchs who see more profit in the EU than Russian sphere.

 

Putin is trying to make it as expensive as possible for the Ukraine to turn westwards, and is more than willing to use mob tactics to get his way ... but what is the West doing as well. The coverage is only just touching on the Great Game side of this little drama - and it is wonderfully Gothic - the US's nose is very much out of joint - f*** the EU!

 

Ah, Great Power plots to overthrow governments and alter geopolitical alliances - all unfolding with an angry street and sniper fire.

 

Interesting times.

 

 

As the great Justin Timberlake once sang "Crimea River".

TJ

Bit tasty

There's a secret signal Matt. Handkerchief hanging out of back pocket. Different colour depending on your post count and the first letter of your username.

Rightio, I'll look out for that in future ;-)

How the hell do you know what each other looks like when you've all got avatars?

K

No Matt. The amount over and above £24k is cut by 50%.

 

But let's not get toooo literal here, it was an illustration playing with a former flippant suggestion by someone else. My general point I stand by though.

 

There needs to be a sliding scale. Those over say £50K will start to get hit big. What do these fuckers do with all their money? The money ain't there anymore. The big paid government workers are bleeding the Isle of Man for little worth in return, driven only by their own greed and satisfaction. In terms of our society and economy, many are bringing very little to the party,

 

They have just crawled up the gravy train to the comfy first class carriages, picking up prize promotions and pay rises. And focused on the pinnacle that is the mighty government pension:

 

Aye, that lump sum and mighty monthly cheque for the rest of their lives.

 

As if by fucking right.

Fair enough, the 50% reduction on anything over £20k seems a good one in theory, I'm certainly with you regarding the sliding scale, percentage increases have helped create this divide between the low paid and higher paid, I really can't understand how percentage increases were ever allowed to occur in the first instance.

 

With regard to pensions, I've already stated that I would happily reduce my lump sum upon retirement by half, my monthly cheque isn't so mighty though!

Option D: Cut all govt wages over 20k by 50%. Seriously.

 

It is govt wages where the bonanza money has largely gone. Oh and cut the whopping lump sum that is being dished out to fit and healthy souls retiring from the gravy train. Irrespective of what has been agreed, The money simpy isn't there to honour the gold-plated pensions the civil servants and PS has contrived for themselves

 

But don't - fucking don't - bring in sneaky open ended swathing taxes like the shit tax. Tynwald will make the Isle of Man the laughing stock of the world.

So in effect (and these will be the casualties in your economic plan) those on £24k per an I'm should be on £12k per annum.....you really haven't thought this through have you?

There'll be no revolt for a long time yet....everyone, including the poor are still very comfortable (generally speaking), there's plenty of new cars on the roads, houses are selling, people are still buying £1000 mountain bikes to sit in the garage, gym membership, Sky TV, more than one foreign holiday per year, new clothes on a regular basis, food from M&S, alcohol still being consumed......despite wages freezes (reductions in real terms) and increased rates and taxes we've still got money, now this might be because people are still hitting credit quite hard to maintain the status quo but I'm fairly sure that most people are trimming excess here and there.....so as I say; there'll be no revolt for quite some time....we're a long way off being Greece just yet and citizens don't really want to cause any trouble for themselves, just have a little whine on a public internet forum because it'll make you feel better but ultimately do nothing.

 

Things have to get really tough before people will wrench themselves from their comfy armchairs and take to the streets, after all 95% will be law abiding compliant beings spoon fed on being told what to do and will only revolt when the authorities tell them to do so.

I think you may be wrong on a few points here H boy,firstly: as the MEA and water authority are being merged the same meter reader who already calls to read the elecy meter will take both readings in one visit.

 

Secondly the purchase and installation costs aren't enormous according to someone I know in the industry.

Why not issue a one off fee incorporated in the water bills over a twelve month period to pay for the purchase and fitting of water meters?

 

 

It is quite a thing when one reviews previous threads in the archive and you aren't featured. I've often wondered whether your appearance on this forum is responsible for the absence of previous long-time posters who've had quite enough of the distractive nuisance that you've become. A serious thread can descend into farce with a post from you.

I think it's much more likely that the no-personality, self-righteous, humourless, geriatric "Let's keep everything serious and on-topic and talk down to other posters who don't adhere to our anal-retentive notion of how-things-should-be" hallway monitors / bullies put people off the forum. It is unkind and spineless of you to make such a personal comment about me publicly on the forum.

To be fair TJ you do appear to hijack almost every thread which you twist and turn to your favour which then in turn descends into hurling insults back and forth and totally derailing the original topic!

 

 

It is quite a thing when one reviews previous threads in the archive and you aren't featured. I've often wondered whether your appearance on this forum is responsible for the absence of previous long-time posters who've had quite enough of the distractive nuisance that you've become. A serious thread can descend into farce with a post from you.

I think it's much more likely that the no-personality, self-righteous, humourless, geriatric "Let's keep everything serious and on-topic and talk down to other posters who don't adhere to our anal-retentive notion of how-things-should-be" hallway monitors / bullies put people off the forum. It is unkind and spineless of you to make such a personal comment about me publicly on the forum.

To be fair TJ you do appear to hijack almost every thread which you twist and turn to your favour which then in turn descends into hurling insults back and forth and totally derailing the original topic!

I'm no intellectual heavyweight but I'm no Philistine either....I second your statement Quilp

 

 

More of a concern for me is the success or otherwise of population number control. It appears that the UK has not controlled it's numbers successfully.

It would be interesting to see the correlation between gdp and population number fluctuation. Particularly the fluctuation figures of productive population.

A simple way of controlling that would be to exterminate all guests and audience on Jeremy Kyle after every show. They'd have a much better demographic afterwards and save a fortune in benefits.

Along with the Tesco aisle dawdlers

 

 

Yeah, show me your proposed timings!

 

Matt B's lost a bit of weight, hasn't he?

Well I have been on the Adkin's diet ;-)

Matt. Bollox if I ran a project like that I'd be ashamed. Don't waste time defending it!

I'm promoting what I feel are the positives, I'm no expert on road construction/resurfacing so I don't know how things should've been done no more than anyone else on this forum but as I have stated I would hope that what is in place although not perfect is the best of all options given that money etc. are factors.

 

I've had dialogue with someone who apparently ran multi-million pound road/civils schemes who criticised the planning and implementation of the Peel Road scheme and when I challenged them to come up with a viable alternative to that which was/is in place they offered nothing but silence.

Matt, the staff should have been put on shift, much like any other 24/7 operation.

 

Wonder how much nurses earn compared to some on the road crews?

 

No extra cost, work gets done faster, half as many stood about during the day.

 

Simple example of daytime overkill...

 

The moving of the clock tower attracted no less than 30 high viz jackets to move a lump of cast iron...... (Public sector)

 

Lifting of 40+ foot boats in the harbour takes about 4. (Private sector)

 

 

Bob, the trouble is that people then complain about the noise before and after specific times.... it's pretty much a case of that no matter what the DoI would have done there would be a section of society that would be up in arms...we're damned if we do and damned if we don't.

 

It is a major inconvenience to all, not forgetting the fact that those who are working on it, managing it, planning it are all island residents and have everything to gain by getting it done as quickly and I inexpensively as possible along with the fact that everyone involved is aware of the financial impact to local businesses so I genuinely believe that due consideration and consultation/discussion had taken place and all avenues/options explored. The road, footways and signals all needed doing and I would imagine that the road etc. will not need to bedone again for many years, surely you can see the bigger picture here.

So....let me get this straight.....you moan because something takes longer than you think it should (even though it's ahead of schedule) therefore you want more money being spent (which you claim we can't afford) so that it can be done quicker....er....how does that work out at pleasing all the people all the time then.....just curious?