kevinjohnsonmbe

Without opening "that" particular can of worms.... Aren't there "issues" with road miles / legality of transiting with a tractor? I know it's generally ignored (and hardly ever enforced - particularly out in the sticks).... In fact, I'm already wishing I hadn't asked

All fair points! Scale/size/weight were strong “pull” factors for me towards MO. 2,6 - 3t mini digger, you’re going to be flying on the seat of yr pants every time you tow behind a pick-up. Not such a problem if you’ve got heavier transport perhaps?

The 14:00 factor! Definitely something to keep an eye on!

..... and goes to answer phone!

You are such a..... (Phone rings)

What have "we" become? What has happened to the freedom of choice that we all supposedly treasure so much? There's outrage in Bodmin (fair shout if you had to live in Bodmin) but the latest iteration is over the 'confusion' imposed by new road layouts and shared space. Personally, I rather like the freedom to choose - I liked it when I saw it in effect in Poundbury, no road markings, no signs dictating who had right of way, no lines to park within. The choice, responsibility and liability was passed to the users and what I saw was people behaving as they might expect others to behave towards them - it was a pleasure to be there. Arguments happen when a 'sign' tells you you have right of way (a sense of entitlement) and somebody infringes upon it. When there's no state imposed dictation of priority, people are forced to interact on a personal level and consequences might be attached to actions - just as courtesies might be expected in return for being courteous. There's no need for an 'ignore' button - each of us is personally empowered to do just that without the need for a 'button' that grants us some greater power than we were already granted at birth. 20:27 on a Friday and I'm already burbling - that's what happens when you go to the pub at 17:00! Where's the 'ignore' button???

https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/16/16667366/tesla-semi-truck-announced-price-release-date-electric-self-driving Maybe the battery chipper / grinder is a possibility.... (obviously, it's a possibility, just not sufficient scale to make it viable..... Unless..... The tech is advanced in other sectors first?)

That was just the early stages of the nano-chip malfunction.... Don't panic, there'll be a software patch available very soon. Have you taken the meds today? 2 Blue 1 Green...

There was a fantastic interview with General Sir Mike Jackson on LBC this afternoon. Unfortunately this clip (http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/shelagh-fogarty/general-sir-mike-jackson-warns-of-putins-plans-for/) as anyone that heard the entire conversation - in context - would recognise, does no justice to the broader context in which he described the former Soviet Union, the Russian people and more specifically Putin. The clip paints a rather dark picture whereas what he said - in context - was that it was likely the failings of Western democracies, post WWII, to more enthusiastically embrace and engage; preferring, in his view, to portray the USSR as the bogey man and route of all evils which may well have accelerated the self fulfilling prophecy despite there being much to respect and admire and much in common with the people of the former Soviet block countries. Looking back at the recent history and diplomacy between the 1989 fall of the Berlin wall and the 2014 Russian annexation of the Crimea, it's easy to see how none of the lessons that could have been learnt post WWII viz-a-viz potential relations with Russia have been applied within the EU which has maintained it's determined, insidious creep East engulfing (and emasculating) weaker economies in order to subjugate them, addict like, to reliance and dependency upon EU funding to survive (bribery and extortion by any other name) whilst simultaneously antagonising the Russian state by creeping ever closer to it's national borders. EU = peace and stability in Europe? Pull the other one!! It's the most destabilising factor for peace and stability in Europe and you didn't see that on the side of a bus! General Sir Mike addressed a course I was attending in 2006, been a big fan ever since.

Yessum.... Will call tomorrowisho'clock (dreckly is the Kernish translation) Events moving faster than I can keep up at the moment This is an old blast from the past thread! Was just thinking the other day Mull hasn't been sharing his rays of sunshine with us for a while...?? And TCD has dropped off the plot too.... Not sure that bodes well for the rest of us on this thread??

A madman and despot confined to house arrest - decades overdue.

Odd! Only half the post and 1 of 2 pics!! Won’t make much sense as is, I’ll have a look on PC

Poor pics (and I forgot the before and after shots) but these paths were completely covered

Slightly tangential (but following the education part of the thread) it’ll be interesting to watch the Panarama documentary about private college degree fraud on BBC 1 tomorrow.

New York might be able to lay a fairly legitimate claim to that..... Given the breadth, variety and actual diversity of immigration. And perhaps there in lies a part of the solution - (controlled) breadth, variety and diversity are notable advantages of immigration - rather than overwhelming a defined area with narrow sourced input that has no desire or need to integrate.

Fairly comprehensive.... But missing 1 vital comparison factor to give it balance.... What will the state of the EU be in the coming 10 years, 10-20 years? It ain't looking too chipper at the moment and I'm not sure the forecast is rosy either. So if we want to make a valid assessment of the UK's potential outside of the EU it should be measured against the current and potential future assessments of EU viability. And whilst the subject seemed to be focussing on the benefits of higher & further education, I wonder if the yoof of the countries highlighted below feel suitably empowered by their access to further education? https://www.statista.com/statistics/266228/youth-unemployment-rate-in-eu-countries/

I'd nominate Lord Kerr as being eligible to state a reasonably professional opinion on the matter.... https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/10/brexit-date-is-not-irreversible-says-man-who-wrote-article-50-lord-kerr Or at least I might if he wasn't a prime example of the type of career diplomat that has made a very comfortable and profitable life suckling at the teat of EU breast milk... Those so intimately and advantageously inculcated into the death cult are hardly likely to be impartial commentators / contributors to the debate surrounding the process of extrication. But on a lighter note, and to continue the Harry Enfield theme, just replace the word "women" with "Brexiteer" and you will have a brief insight into a dinner party at the Vesp residence :

It cannot be overlooked that the (apparent) single most important UK factor in the EU referendum was immigration. Without wishing to focus solely on that point - it cannot be overlooked since it touches so much of what follows. The 'people' of the UK (and several other EU countries) found themselves out of kilter with Merkel's (i.e. the EU) policy of open doors. For balance - I am not fundamentally opposed to immigration (a good man once described a points based immigration system thus: "...a nation where they (immigrants) will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character...) and it's as relevant now as it was then. But we still haven't done it. Negotiation with the EU is an impossible dream - it simply will not happen. Imagine trying to quote a single job for a dozen different customers that don't actually like or want you to get the job, dislike you for their perception of you having previously 'got one over on them' despite the reality that all their asses would be in a sling if you hadn't saved them from unimaginable disaster (at immense personal cost) AND that if you did get the job, it would encourage others to recognise how disorganised, inept and corrupt the 'customer coalition' was and not wish to be associated with them in the future thus accelerating the implosion of the 'customer coalition.' Can you imagine trying to quote for work under those circumstances? Just wouldn't happen. This talk of the 'need' for the migrant labour is a nonsense whilst there are +/- 2 million current UK residents not in work. As we move towards the deadline it will be increasingly apparent that there is no chance of any form of sensible negotiation - the Left will use the situation to call the Right inept and incapable but this is playing politics, a Corbyn government would be equally (considerably worse) at the task. Time to stop pretending that it will ever reach a satisfactory conclusion, time to stop wasting time and money trying and to recognise the inevitable. Just walk away, tell them we'll have a chat when they're ready to behave, until then - do one.

Gove confirms continued ban on neo-nics post Brexit - Good man! https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/09/the-evidence-points-in-one-direction-we-must-ban-neonicotinoids

Just unloading pellets, only brief and quite mundane - but much quicker & easier with MO!

You’ve been quiet for AGES! Or I’ve not seen where you’ve been posting? I had some tax questions that would have benefitted from your wisdom. Hope you’re back ‘with a vengeance!’

I go nuts if someone stands on a rope - maybe a bit precious, but why can’t people just step OVER them instead of ON them??

Paint it blue! There's a hammerite blue which is a decent match

The discussion ventured out of the realm of useful / realistic into the realm of academic accuracy back at the point where Ed suggested checking everything with the TO. Meanwhile, the debate will rage on trying to find the elusive finite and definitive position on a circumstance that may (or may not) arise once in a blue moon. It would take longer to read and consider this thread than it would to say "...I'll pass on that job and find 2 others that are likely to pay better than the time this one would take up..." And (as if it needed an and) you'd probably take even longer than the time it took to read and consider this thread to get a definitive answer out of a LA.... (whoops, dropped my axe ) My proposal - Sack the job off, go for a fat boy breakfast, watch daily politics then have a kip on the sofa, job done!

Ah Mr E, good question!! And well remembered!!! I suppose there are (at least) 2 parts to consider... What was she actually doing there, and whether he should have said 'anything' about it.... I haven't bothered to try and understand much about it, tragic for that family no doubt, but it's 1 person incarcerated overseas where as many UK families are equally, or to a greater degree, affected by road fatalities every day, similarly many 1000's will die of cold related poverty in the UK this coming Winter - just 2 examples that happen year on year, so I'm kind of ranking the tragedy of 1 family according to a wider scale of hardship in my 'compassion calculator' (not overly generous at the best of times.) All of that considered, what was she actually doing there? If a former Iranian national ex-pat in UK just visiting home, surely a keen awareness of the potential consequences of sticking ones head above the parapet in a country not unknown for draconian sub judicial procedures would be paramount in every waking moment of consciousness? I would very much like to visit Iran, but if I ever did, I wouldn't so much as J walk or 'look' at an official in what might be interpreted as a quizzical manner (both would take a herculean effort probably beyond my mortal capability!) So what was she 'actually' doing there? Either (a) as an 'unofficial representative' of UK gov, in which case - perks of the job, or (b) a UK citizen innocently on holiday in the homeland and genuinely, unfairly incarcerated by a foreign government, in which case - it's 1 person in the greater scale of things. I guess that's a long way round saying, I couldn't really give a monkeys. The crux of it though.... Should Boris, as Foreign secretary, have blundered into it.....? Probably not his finest moment I'll concede! If only 'knowing when to say nothing' was that easy... But if it was, this forum would be dull as Guinness!! I'm guessing, what you really wanted to ask was (without wishing to preempt)..... "...Come on then, 2 Ministers fired, 1 under investigation and 1 negligently shooting his mouth off, what sort of shower of sh1te is this...?" (side note - would very much appreciate a chance to talk PC again soon)