kevinjohnsonmbe

Realist!

The annual rush to call for bright ideas from the promotion hungry (who will likely be promoted before the true implications and ongoing liabilities of thier ineptitude is exposed) to spend other buggers money on rash projects and half baked ideas so as not to show budget underspend.

Phenology has no place in this decision cycle (it's just a convenient coincidence.) This'll be Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB.) Getting close to end FY with too much money left in budget = make rash decisions to exhaust in-year finances so as to avoid potential cut to budget next year... Classic!

It's quite (superficially) clever really... - Mock typo's, spelling and grammar that appears to subtly change in each post; - Creating a victim virtue signalling persona; - Posting a ropey old video and claiming to be outraged by comment; - Linking (after some considerable time) to what appears to be a well established and reputable outfit; (that's where it might fall apart for you "Mark") - They may well be really pissed off with you highlighting their work practices (I bet Techie Paul is like "...I'm not getting sucked into this one...") I'm in with another guess.... Have you recently been given your cards by this outfit and this is some form of petty revenge? I had a walk down the coast today, passed your holiday home and looked to see iffum ewe were home:

Detractors? To summarise the thread thus far: A new member excitedly posted a video which illustrated a notably routine task being undertaken in a rather cavalier fashion which gave rise to some prudent, relative and constructive comments presented by experienced operators. (And therein lies my understanding and appreciation of the popularity and ‘strength’ of the combined knowledge, experience and wit of the forum) OP donned hairy shirt and proceeded with princess tantrum whilst simultaneously hurling generalised insults and avoiding any invitations to quantify wild claims. Some members have been duped into thinking this is anything other than a wind-up whereas the more discerning observers can see it for what it is. What is it? It’s no longer worthy of any considered contribution since the OP is quite obviously beyond reason.

HNY Mark! Yes man for the establishment? You must, at least have an inckling, that that is about as far from the reality as could be possible? Had it been true I’d likely still be “in” and playing the game at a much more senior level. It is precisely my anti-establishment, dare to challenge, direct and undiplomatic nature that contributed to my early departure from Service under the voluntary redundancy scheme. We’ll have a beer and I’ll spin some dits one day. As to politics, or more precisely, pre-programmed political allegiances, here too we have a very early indicator of this deeply engrained anti-establishment tendency I’m trying to illustrate to you. By all of the ‘traditional’ levers of political allegiance (from a simpler, earlier, more binary era) I should, absolutely be like a stick of Blackpool rock, cut me in half and you’d find Labour written through the core. I vividly remember a conversation with father prior to the first election in which I was able to vote - “...this is a Labour house, I expect everyone to vote Labour...” In that respect, I can thank him for causing me to read all the manifestos prior to voting (a rather tedious and time consuming habit which has stuck with me.) And that brings us neatly back to the point under discussion, playing the ball rather than the man. Personally, I can’t bear Corbyn but it’s not just him, it’s the more lunatic, more dangerous, more radical cronies that elevated and surround him. Your article presented the case that people are blinded by party allegiance rather than policy - and I TOTALLY agree, but the point I was seeking to highlight is that it is exactly that point which applies across the ENTIRE political spectrum but that the article failed (intentionally?) to highlight this. I mentiined BNP & UKIP (not to illustrate any personal allegiance) because the argument being presented in the article is perfectly illustrated when “blind tasting” of policies (most notably foreign aid, foreign policy, military) are measured against those 2 parties policy positions. So, in many respects, I agree with the over-arching concept of the article - people are stupidly aligned to political ‘colour’ rather than political promises. What I found objectionable however was the lack of balance, nefarious misdirection and blatant bias. It was, in that respect, an almost PERFECT example of the fake news and influence ops that it sought to denigrate. I would have thought you’d have seen through it rather than flag it for broader consideration.

The theory in the article - if people voted according to ‘policy pledges’ rather than party bias, falls over (and reenforces the ‘threat’ of biased reporting that it purports to expose yet entirely falls into its own claims) when it suggests that Green & Lib Dem should have done better - but COMPLETELY fails to recognise that actually, the same could be said for BNP and UKIP. Its a self fulfilling example of the danger it claims to be exposing.

He shoots.... He scores! Geddin ??s

Who's Spartacus....?

? I've got it! Nice one.... You done me up like a kipper! It's P70ggs innit? I see you Jon ???????? ewe peaked early for April ??????

You 2 are funny - there's love there I think.... ?

No, it's not. There is a massive delta - Vesp spends a long time thinking about his posts.

Mark, yeah, you got me.... I feel a right plum! I don't care how your spelling is, it's what you say, not how you say it, that is marking you out. Listen mate, I try really hard, every new year, to be polite, less direct and less judgemental. I never manage to sustain it very far into the new year but you are testing my f*cking (there, (*nervous twitch) I'm loosing it already) patience beyond reason. Wishing you a happy, prosperous and most of all safe 2019. Maybe we'll recommence later in the month and I can be a little less restrained.

It's got all lively whilst I was making the gravy. Mark, I'm all in and I'm calling you.... Come back and play when your voice breaks.

Bloody hell Stubby, you're crashing my basis for questioning the age based on grammar! "Wear off" - I'm gonna put that one down to alcohol though.... ??

It's called sarcasm and its derived from your previous posts. Can't believe I'd have to explain that to a man of your experience and years. I'm happy to fold, on a compassionate basis, if Dave's earlier diagnosis is accurate, otherwise cocker, I'll raise you.

Fair play to you Mark, if I ever make a 100 million tree fells and/or the ripe old age of 65 (and there's no expectation or desire for that since to do so would be a lamentable ecological cost to the nation - probably on both counts but more so the first since I might like to see 60 if not 65) but if I did, and after that I was STILL able to be so demonstrably excited over a routine task undertaken in what appears to be a fairly cavalier and sloppy fashion (noting that there wasn't a catastrophe, nobody got hurt and everyone got paid - which, I suppose, is a reasonable, if rather lame benchmark to aspire to) at the 100 million tree mark, I shall remind myself to think back to this thread and take an example from your unconstrained enthusiasm. Much like the pub, if someone spins a tall story there'll likely be a miserable bastard in the corner that calls BS! So here's the thing, and I stand to be corrected of course, but I don't think your grammar and presentation are that of a 65 year old with a life time of tree felling under his belt who has just suddenly taken to internet forums. The image I have generated is closer to a much younger person, possibly new to the industry sector or aspiring to enter it with a propensity for over excitement whilst witnessing something for the first time. Let's call it a poker game since I can't see your hand and you can't see mine. If you've been in the game +/- 50 years you'll be able to name-drop quicker than those boys topped out that tree. Your call.....

Wishing it would all be over and back to routine - load of old bollox

Why aren’t you down t’pub yet?

It's a vid that might be well received on a local FB page where potential customers might be impressed by the action but blissfully unaware of the sloppiness... Don't take it the wrong way, worth posting, but maybe just consider the audience and the potential to have alternative views presented.

Me neither.... This apparent obsession with ‘luck’ rather baffles me. I feel no guilt, nor shame, for the history of the nation I was born into. Nor do I consider it as particularly ‘lucky’, it just is what it is. I certainly feel no guilt for being born in the Northern hemisphere. I feel no jealousy towards those that enjoy a warmer climate when I’m labouring over the log splitter. I feel no jealousy towards those that have snow when I don’t. I feel no compulsion, nor duty, to self flagellate until the whole world has reached a level of common misery. Even the great Socialist maxim 'to each according to his contribution’ clearly promotes a ‘reward’ based system rather than opening the way to the parasitism and perpetual alienation which is already evident within the perversion of the UK welfare system (as a simple example of how this well intentioned theory of redistribution of wealth might have (entirely predictable) unforeseen circumstances.)) Some misplaced belief that all people can be equal (given equal access to opportunity) is shot to pieces by the very basic observation of sibling differences. People ARE NOT all equal, there is no way to change that. These theories of ‘free money for all’, despite all of the best academic studies and research, cannot remove from history the too many to list examples where such doctrine (and let’s not delude ourselves that it is too far removed from Marxism) has catastrophically failed, often with immeasurable misery, death and desperation as a side order. As another aside, it seems to be the case that those that proclaim to support the EU (and so often seem to denigrate the Brexiteers as “Little Englanders” or post colonial romanticists seem blithely to gloss over the historic colonial histories of the majority of European Union member states and the current (and future) effects of the EU in perpetuating those colonial exploitations, most notably within the the African sub-continent which directly contributes to the economic suppression and stagnation >90% of thereof.) I don’t mean to be overtly confrontational Chessa, it’s easy to appreciate that you put huge effort (and passion) into research and presentation, and that you truly believe in a utopian society, I just don’t buy it I’m afraid - I do like that your posts tend to encourage TVI to break cover though ?

There was a much more scientifically reputable social experiment directed by John Landis in early 1980's Philadelphia, USA where the contrasting effects of nature v nurture were explored by fundamentally altering the social circumstances of 2 wholly unrelated individuals living in the recessionary circumstances of post 1970's Federal fiscal incompetence and the after effects Reaganism. Not a new experiment however, the above is often considered a modern representation of the much earlier (100 years earlier) work of Mark Twain - funny old world where fact becomes stranger than fiction!

There are some uncomfortable truths / logic in yr previous couple of comments Vesp. Never catch on given the current state of society where everyone seems determined to find someone / something other than their own shit choices for their own shit circumstances.

And not constrained by any elements of a so-called social construct: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6373485/Daughter-Marquess-Queensberry-18-died-heroin-cocaine-binge-inquest-hears.html

Moody post that Ti (and Gary’s earlier one about personal efforts to help someone) Maybe the ‘answers’ don’t come from central government but from personal actions.