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Wikileaks' latest leak

Discussion in 'Serious' started by tristanperry, 28 Nov 2010.

  1. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    Tell me about it... it's madness isn't it, but I bet there is some EU pen-pusher getting funding from somewhere to make sure the UK doesn't get the order sorted. I know that sounds tin-foil hat style, but as I've seen no political servant is above corruption for their own financial gain!

    Ahh I mean manufacturing anything man, even if that is socks, it helps the economy! Anything from metalwork to designing, building, modification you name it, manufacturing can be anything. I would definatly prefer a hi-tech manufacturing centre of the UK though. Might actually put my IT qualifications to the test then.

    haha, very much so. Ever wonder if it's a "Give more money to London and we'll support you, don't and we'll buy you out?" ;)
     
  2. MacWalka

    MacWalka What's a Dremel?

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    I agree with you there, I'm getting very sceptical about the EU these days. I always get sceptical when the main political parties in a country agree constantly on one issue. You very rarely get any proper argument about the EU from the political paries here. Also, theres something about having a group of MEPs making decisions about Europe and not really having the same accountability to their constituents as an MP or MSP or local Councillor does is a bit scary.

    I don't want to bleat about Scotland too much as there are a few posters on here that love to jump down my throat when I talk too much about it. But did you watch the three links to the BBC I posted? The level of misinformation is staggering.
     
  3. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    Indeed chap, little worrying is it not? They can basically get away with anything in that place... my third cousin works in law over there and she says its staggering the way the MEP's of most nations talk about the countries... it's like one big night out, but with all the bitching of children.

    Well... Scotland isn't a real country anyway ;) we just let you think that :p I jest chap. I haven't seen them, I'm at work so the lack of sound is... deafening... +echos because the joke was lame+
     
  4. MacWalka

    MacWalka What's a Dremel?

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    Ha ha I thought it was Canada that wasn't a real country anyway?
     
  5. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    Your Englands version of Canada, you make a fantastic hat by the way... Wales is a nice rucksack and ireland is our pet dog ;)
     
  6. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    I did. Still do. My impression is that subsidy and investment is just an old boys network game. The government will do favours for pals, for companies that they have a personal stake in, and for facilities that they make personal use of. The Lottery Fund subsidises opera houses in London, not community centres in Hull.

    :hehe: It's funny because it's true...
     
  7. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    Indeed, it's disgraceful isn't it? It's like Norway is it, saving up all it's oil and savings since the 60's and now it basically lives off the intrest?
     
  8. MacWalka

    MacWalka What's a Dremel?

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    It's only been saving up the oil wealth since 1990 and now has amassed roughly £512 bn in it's oil fund. Not bad eh? They have now started investing that wealth in buying assets, land and investing in companies all over the world. I think estimates put Norway as owning about 2% of the world's real estate.

    The Norwegian oil industry is also probably the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly in the world yet still turns a huge profit.

    They are also investing the money in building up other industries as they know they can't rely on oil forever.

    I could make parallels between Scotland and Norway here in terms of it's resources and where we could be if we had used it properly rather than squandered it.
     
  9. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    It's madness isn't it. Bloody good idea though, resourceful them Scandav's!

    You can make as many comparisons as you like, you are still a hat. Our island (to prevent further hat comments >.<) has an abundance of resources, but the red-tape to get through to use them is stupid.
     
  10. MacWalka

    MacWalka What's a Dremel?

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    Ha-ha aye well your our trousers and we think we just pissed our pants so sorry you smell. :D

    Without sounding too bitter, the resources within the UK and especially Scotland have been squandered with no real direct benefits being felt by the communities that should.

    I can only really draw examples from Scottish history as I'm not really clued up on the history of the rest of the UK or their resources so I apologise for that.

    Initially our main natural resource was farmland, some of the most fertile and profitable farmland was in Scotland. Cue the Highland Clearances to remove the communities that live on this land so that landowners can raise more sheep and make more profits themselves. Even today the food, drink and agriculture in Scotland is strong with just under 50% of the UK's food and drink exports coming from Scotland.

    Then we had coal and steel, communities never really got the investment they needed while these industries were in full swing. Then Thatcher came in, made sure these industries were closed down and set-up our 'service' economy in London with nothing to replace the industries destroyed in Wales, Glasgow, Yorkshire, Sheffield etc. Now I'm not saying that some of these industries didn't need trimming down but to not replace them with something else was criminal.

    Then we have oil and gas, 95% of it in Scottish waters. No direct benefit in terms of investment to Scotland or the areas that process the oil and gas. There was an interview with a renound economist Andrew Hughes-Hallett who basically said that the oil and gas revenues in the 80s kept the UK afloat and that it was subsidising the rest of the UK. None of the revenues have been saved or invested, simply spent away frivolously. To this day, Scotland remains the only country, state, province or district in the world that has found oil within its boundaries and recieved no direct benefit other than jobs from it.

    Another resource is fish. Around 90% of the UK's fishing industry is in Scotland and most of that was traded away in talks with the EU fisheries policy. We now have countries with very little coastline able to fish in our waters while our own fishermen are restricted to how much they can fish there. Sustainable fishing is one thing, giving a resource away like that and killing an industry is another.

    Now the next resource is renewable energy, initial estimates state that roughly 25% of Europe's renewable potential energy is located in Scotland. That will become important in the future when fossil fuels become scarce and expensive and CO2 emission targets become more stringent. There is a potential to export this renewable energy to other countries in Europe and create an industry that builds renewable energy sites.

    Anyway, like I said, I can only speak for resources in Scotland as I admit I don't know the resources prevailent in the rest of the UK and to what extent they have been utilised or squandered.
     
  11. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    Actually I'd like to provide you with the understanding of We're the brains, the bag has been slung over out shoulder and the dog has jumped... HOWEVER France is our left shoulder, Germany our right, Italy and Spain can be the torso and Africa can be the legs. So shush.

    To be fair man, I think any investment in anything that the UK's resources could do now would do nothing for the entire nation, we have yet another bunch of "gravy-train" MP's who don't understand "For Queen and Country" anymore than a chav understand "WORKING".

    I'm fairly sure China will declare us enemy one day and just invade us... because we've got Weapons of Mass Destruction, oh wait that happens to ... third world... countries... nevermind.
     
  12. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    China doesn't need to invade us. It owns us already.
     
  13. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    Yet again, Touche sir...
     
  14. supermonkey

    supermonkey Deal with it

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    Oh my goodness, yes. I have no less than 4 managers (team lead, group lead, office lead, and contract lead) plus a civil servant manager who has 2 or 3 levels of management. Our contract has a whole group of people whose sole job is to drag us all kicking and screaming through the Lean Six Sigma process, and they annoy us monthly by asking for redundant sets of metrics and performance data. To make things worse, our new contract is written in such a way that I am not allowed to do anything that is not specifically spelled out in my task order. Unfortunately, the task order is written at such a low level of detail that I almost can't blink without consent from 3 different levels of management. :sigh:

    It's not all bad, though. When I started out, my official job title was "Professional Specialist." Nice and generic, isn't it?

    Someone asked earlier which news sources I read. Typically, I get most of my news from the New York Times, BBC, NPR, and on occasion The Economist. Often I use FactCheck.org and Snopes to verify some details if necessary, but if those sources don't provide any insight I'll look around for other information. I'm not opposed to starting with Wikipedia, and I do try to pay attention to the citations. Lately I've found myself peeking at the Huffington Post to see what big ticket issues people are bickering about these days, but as a rule I expect biased reporting due to its firm and admitted position opposite Fox.
     
  15. Cthippo

    Cthippo Can't mod my way out of a paper bag

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    I wonder how much of that is tied to the colonial mindset. For hundred's of years Britan's (and, most other countries too) economy was based on expropriating labor and resources for their colonies while screwing the natives whenever possible. At least some of that same mindset shows up domestically, and is the foundation of capitalism.

    So now you've moved up to "Junior intern"? :D :p
     
  16. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    We need to start a thread in general for "Worlds most pointless job titles..."
     
  17. nukeman8

    nukeman8 What's a Dremel?

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    politician
     
  18. BRAWL

    BRAWL Dead and buried.

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    Not true, they aren't all hopeless. To be fair I'd love to go into politics, generally because apparently I'm "Incorruptable"... but with that, I wouldn't exactly make friends would I?
     
  19. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    You wouldn't last. Success in politics involves selling your soul. No biggie if you haven't got one to start with, but impossible if you do.
     
  20. javaman

    javaman May irritate Eyes

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    Middle Manager
     

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