1. Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!

Off Topic News & Current affairs

Discussion in 'Charlton' started by ForestHillBilly, Feb 6, 2020.

  1. Ubedizzy

    Ubedizzy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2021
    Messages:
    812
    Likes Received:
    588
  2. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    One of the reasons I'm not a great fan of tourism.

    The 'Grand Tour' as it was once known, is a direct descendent of Colonial Imperialism.
    Touring the Empire (not just for the British, but all European Empires) was a pastime for the wealthy, who would often behave with utter contempt for the natives and their culture.
    Very little has changed in 150 years, in my opinion.

    Global tourism demeans the countries that rely on it, and it demeans the fellow countrymen of the people who indulge in it.
    It is also shockingly bad for the environment.
    Want to save the Planet? Then stop flying all around it simply for leisure purposes.

    Tourists who have respect for the places they go to and the people they meet there seem firmly in the minority as far as I can see.
    Holiday at home and support your own economy - and learn about your own heritage.
     
    #1322
  3. Smudger603

    Smudger603 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2018
    Messages:
    5,124
    Likes Received:
    3,914
    #1323
    Ubedizzy likes this.
  4. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    Dorks of the Day...

    The OK yah right-on students of Moron College Oxford <bubbly><diva>

    Taken down a portrait of the Queen because she's an Imperialist witch-hag.
    Probably threw the picture in the local canal as well I expect.

    Who are they going to have a graven image of in the Common room instead?
    Karl Marx?
    Che Guevara?

    Someone they really do have much less in common with than her Colonial Maj.

    Half of them are the children of Earls and Barons <laugh> On personal guilt trips because great-great grandaddy was on the wrong side at Isandlwana.
    This is my definition of White Privilege :emoticon-0172-mooni
     
    #1324
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2021
    Smudger603 likes this.
  5. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    Fair play to the Liberal Democrats (a party I can hardly ever take seriously)

    Chesham and Amersham by-election won by Lib Dems

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-57472032

    A massive turnaround in the vote.
    The Lib Dems didn't just squeak home, they won by a majority of 8,000+
    A lesson for Boris - it's not only Labour who lose safe seats if they neglect the feelings of their voters and take them for granted.

    A little bit of my faith in our UK democracy has been restored today.
     
    #1325
  6. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2011
    Messages:
    4,616
    Likes Received:
    3,165
    Too early to make any sort of forecast from that, but there may be signs that a section of the south east conservative vote don't actually want to give a free ticket to the bunch of lying, thieving, morally bankrupt party currently running the country into the ground with no plan except to keep themselves in power at whatever cost. I'd imagine a lot of those voters are ones who wouldn't touch Labour with a barge pole but felt the current sleaze on offer deserved a well timed slap in the face. Could we about to see a minor shift in north/south politics?
     
    #1326
    ForestHillBilly likes this.
  7. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    There's a fair bit of HS2 nimby rage going on as well in the area.

    But I'm not sure if the Lib Dem candidate promised to do anything about HS2. I think it's a bit late for that now.
     
    #1327
  8. ForestHillBilly

    ForestHillBilly Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2011
    Messages:
    14,663
    Likes Received:
    6,006
    Voters like to give somebody a good kicking. No party is popular.
     
    #1328
  9. Butterfield

    Butterfield Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2011
    Messages:
    4,487
    Likes Received:
    2,994
  10. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    That's just bizarre.

    Unsold stock has no value? Come on you XR deperados, time to have a go at Amazon :bandit:
     
    #1330

  11. Smudger603

    Smudger603 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2018
    Messages:
    5,124
    Likes Received:
    3,914
    Must be a business opportunity there surely?
     
    #1331
  12. Butterfield

    Butterfield Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2011
    Messages:
    4,487
    Likes Received:
    2,994
    Apparently there was some cutlery going too

    58C4A6C4-E482-443A-BB3C-0C42A0D02A9B.jpeg

    All good stuff though, no rubbish
     
    #1332
  13. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    I don't know much about money, but this is one of those rare occasions where I'm going to agree with Donald Trump;

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57392734

    The relative value of the US Dollar (like other traditional currencies) is mostly based on real things - like regulated & verified economic data, gold reserves, that kind of stuff. What is the value of Bitcoin based on?

    Absolutely nothing.
    When you strip away all the stuff designed to make it look attractive to gamblers, it doesn't actually exist.
    Investing in it is nothing more than betting.

    This is just the most extreme example of a trend which is sweeping the world now, among people who have more money than sense.
    The notion that something which only exists in cyberspace has any real value - or even more value - than real, solid material assets.
    Stuff like old Yootube videos are being bought and sold for stupid money, because they have some kind of electronic certificate with them that says they are 'original' and that the daft buyer then has some kind of ownership rights.

    How can anything that just exists as a string of zeros and ones in a computer somewhere have any real value?
    Binary data is not real. It's just the raw material computers use to create the illusion of something - like this forum for instance.
    Such data can be duplicated an unlimited amount of times. It can be corrupted or deleted.
    It has no worth beyond the function it serves.

    In short, it's smoke and mirrors.
     
    #1333
  14. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2020
    Messages:
    6,033
    Likes Received:
    5,300
    I've never understood Bitcoin even when it's been explained to me, but surely
    applies to cash as well? After all, what useful purpose does a wad of £20 notes serve, apart from what you can exchange it for?
     
    #1334
  15. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2011
    Messages:
    4,616
    Likes Received:
    3,165
    I think Lardi has the right of this one though. I'm not an economist, but cash is a currency which has a value determined by the economy of the country it belongs to - hence currency has a value that is traded according to the relative prosperity of the country. A country with a healthy economy generally has a strong currecy to trade elsewhere. And within the country, it has a value precisely because of what you can but with it.
    Bitcoin as far as I can see is a fantasy curency on the internet, who's value is entirely decided by whether big players decide to buy or sell it in big amounts, and it is anchored to nothing of measurable value.It isn't (that I know of) anchored to anything beyond it's market value, so it could technically drop to almost zero on a panic attack.
     
    #1335
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2021
    lardiman likes this.
  16. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    Perhaps I should have said 'existence' or 'substance' rather than 'worth'.
    At least a £20 note is a real piece of paper, with a real promise printed on it to pay the bearer.
    And old bank notes can be collectable as antiques.

    I know when it comes to things like music, even I have accepted the movement towards data over real things.
    All the music I care to listen to now (the equivalent of about 150 albums at a guess) is stored as MP3 files on a flash drive smaller than my thumb nail.
    That's for the convenience of listening to it in the car without having to change CD's every few hours.
    But have I sold or thrown away all my vinyl LP's and singles?
    No,
     
    #1336
  17. Butterfield

    Butterfield Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2011
    Messages:
    4,487
    Likes Received:
    2,994
    My understanding is that money represents confidence
     
    #1337
  18. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2016
    Messages:
    13,151
    Likes Received:
    8,757
    Gavin Williamson is right (shocker)

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57643697

    Mobile phones should be banned in schools.
    Any that are found should be locked away for 30 days.
    They're used for bullying, sexual harassment and all kinds of other things that are harmful to education.
     
    #1338
  19. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2020
    Messages:
    6,033
    Likes Received:
    5,300
    Sir Chris Whitty may get police protection after being harrassed and manhandled by a group of drunken yobs in St James' Park. It's not the first time he's been harassed. The fact that when he was 17 his father was attacked and killed by terrorists must have made this a pretty frightening ordeal. It's not clear whether or not the police were present, and as far as I know no action is to be taken against the yobs.
     
    #1339
    Smudger603 and lardiman like this.
  20. Smudger603

    Smudger603 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2018
    Messages:
    5,124
    Likes Received:
    3,914
    The kids/ youths / youngsters aren’t bothered by any kind of authority these days , back in the day you’d be dealt with by the local Bobby and worse still you’d have to face your parents when you got in <yikes>
     
    #1340

Share This Page