chrisp65

Just got 4, so I now have 3,4 and 5 of the series of 5 I might never get 1 or 2, just to wind up completists and autistic types that might rummage through my CD's

as for the age old duck tape vs duct tape you can get both! in fact. you can get Duck duct tape everybody 'appy!!!

Not strictly on topic, but a friend of mine (!) was staying on holiday on a small island and the small number of others there were Italian speakers. Every morning, when the Italians walked past, he would shout a cheery 'il meo nome' or some such. Thinking he was shouting a variation on 'hi! fellow holiday maker, good day!' First day he didn't get much of a reaction, but through the week more and more people took to the greeting and gave raucous call and response, even at an evening BBQ they all attended. Everyone calling 'il meo nome e' Turns out later, all week he'd been meeting people, passing by people on the beach or leaving parties etc., and shouting 'my name is'.

But sometimes, like charging people £14 for a room they don't use in a house they can't move out of, it's more of a gesture, to show we're all in it together. If there's no tax to actually pay, I don't see why people are upset? Surely everyone is happy?

the one against titilation

It is the banal that keeps us interested. A roll call of the dead in their thousands becomes numbing and everyday, but little pieces of crazy detail keep us alert. The one that got me the other day was that they had banned coloured pens and pencils. Apparently god only wants us to write in black or blue.

I've been on a couple of football trips to Merthyr. It's not my favourite place in the whole wide world.

So, you're telling me that millionaires are moaning about a tax they don't actually pay? There is absolutely nothing new in this world.

A little tip for poor people with no income and woefully unable to pay the mansion tax, living in a two million pound property in London. Sell up. Buy a £750,000 house on the coast or in the country, somewhere really nice. Perhaps a yacht and a flat in a marina complex. Use the remainder to live like a millionaire. Or work out how to pay the tax - spongers.

Better than asset stripping the nation, I reckon. Brighton is clearly unsuitable, Merthyr is a better match I was in Merthyr at the weekend, think I'd rather be sent to Kobani They actually sent an initial fact finding party across to Kobani about a month ago. Three of them decided to stay.

Although in all fairness I knew he was in hospital and I knew he was older than moses, so it was low hanging fruit. I did a list of the 5 oldest people in Britain as a sure fire points winner. Oldest one, Ethel Lang, died about 4 or 5 days ago. But I didn't transfer it to the new thread - I decided it wasn't fair on 'civilians' to list them.

Mansion owner says 'Mansion Tax is Bad' - shocker!

sorry about that, I thought you were all asleep

they are 6 places below us we should still beat them, I really really want to beat them but they are 6 places below us

We don't have chimpanzee ancestors. no, apparently we 'evolved' from fish ridiculous

Is it possibly a speech impediment? How would you pronounce thauthageth?

BBC she was believed to be the oldest person in europe I had her in my deadpool list and then decided that wasn't in the spirit of the thing

about £60 an hour

We only ever went to one party where everyone through their car keys in. I came home with a Peugeot Bipper.

I'm clearly missing out on Setting Sons, I've had this conversation elsewhere and it's highly regarded and I've just googlied it and it's described as being one of their finest, bringing them critical acclaim. But I'm still right! I think I liked the immediacy of the first two albums, there was a story about In The City being 35 minutes long and having taken 40 minutes to record, or something like that. Once you get to All Mod Cons, wonderful as it is, it's clearly being thought through and produced. All good though. I've got an old box of albums out on rotation at the moment and it's got The Creation, The Chords, The Jam etc. Blondie (plastic letters) in there. So it's all a bit up and at 'em. To counter this, I've been belting out 'Best of the Stylistics' too, for much of the day. You Make Me Feel Brand New Betcha By Golly Wow You Are Everything Karaoke classics

For me, it's the oddity of offering a savings plan to people perceived as 'struggling' - and there's a whole conversation to be had there anyway. To get any real benefit from the plan, to do better than getting £14 interest after a year, or £1.17 a month that you can't access until month 12, you need to invest a substantial amount. But if you have a substantial amount available to invest, in what way are you struggling? Why should a relatively wealthy pensioner have access to an interest rate 'hard working' types don't? It just has the feel of a plan that allows people with money to make a bit more money. Not automatically a bad thing. But just don't try and sell it as something it isn't. Somebody struggling to make ends meet or worried about their future with good reason due to a lack of income will not be helped in any way by this scheme. Wealthier, older people will be helped. How do we think they might be voting in a few months time?

yep

yes, you can invest £500 for 1 year but at the reduced interest rate of 2.8% or to put it another way, £14 after not touching your money for a year I'm not sure £14 with a 12 month wait for it is going to make or break someone's circumstances

The bit you seem to miss is the part about needing to pay £20,000. The application process is open to all. It's the £20k that many will find more of a problem. Which takes us back to the question why it is in any respect a reasonable use of public money to pay artificially high interest rates to those least in need of the extra payments. And of course the only sensible answer is, it's not. Lots of left-leaning institutions concerned with the welfare of the elderly have pointed to low interest rates as being a cause of pensioner poverty, and this is a measure designed to alleviate that. A retired couple can invest up to £40,000 jointly. The higher 4% interest is only available on a 3 year bond with interest paid annually and it cannot be drawn down as income in the interim. So, all those poor pensioners struggling to pay the bills, problem solved! Just stick £40k away for 3 years without touching it and jobs a good 'un. I know some already comfortably off pensioners will probably also access this scheme, but hey, that'll probably just lead to trickle down anyway, so win win.

it was bananas that taught me to control my gag reflex