Steven P

Take a look at the stats. the number of arrests, the damages caused and so on. The numbers which do not have opinions. 3,000 (?) National Guard and 700 Marines and the order of arrests and damages is to be honest on a level of a nasty old firm game in Glasgow. Hardly needing to send in the troops for that, the Californian authorities have stated that they have the resources and ability to do the job. I'd be far more inclined to believe those with local knowledge than Trump to be honest where his assessment on Sunday was "they are nasty people, they are spitting at the police"... which shows how out of touch of the situation he actually is. Sending in the troops is symptomatic of something else, not crowd control.

Are you distracting here to avoid talking about the issue? Trump is acting in an authoritarian way, reminiscent of the 'great' fascist dictators and unable to defend the man (?) you are instead picking up on which press have right wing and which have left wing political views and whether there are videos out there showing Obama is married to a man (go on then, post it). I think that while the views of the press we view are an important consideration to form an impartial view, current events in the US with Trump sending troops to the streets to quell what are small scale 'riots' are a far more important consideration... which you have bypassed to talk about whether Obama is gay (which TBH is an irrelevance, he is still a successful and respected statesman).

Go to the relevant thread and ask there and then we can all ignore you and your incessant trolling.

You have 3 answers about the coal. Check out that thread instead of trolling every other thread on this forum.

Ash has a lust for life so will probably bounce back OK, but not this year. They will be in a cycle of reductions though, so expect them to come back and do similar in few years time

So apart from the history lesson, is there a fundamental reason why they are a bad thing? Noting that there is no single universally accepted identity document for all UK people, every organisation appears to have their own requirements and not everyone has those documents anyway, what is the fundamental problem with them? I am assuming here that they will be issued and used along the lines of other official documents such as the drivers license where you don't need to carry that to drive a car, a passport where we don't need to carry them to travel around the country, NI cards where we don't need to carry them to our daily work, all backed up with a database so that we can be found on there as required if we care not carrying ID card. So is there a fundamental problem that you are seeing that 50% of the worlds countries are not seeing?

Well, my mum does not have a firearms license if that counts? 30% do not have a drivers license 15% do not have a passport 99% do not have a firearms license. Does that help?

...but not out of the ability for the LA authorities to deal with considering the scale of them (they arn't big 'riots' but more isolated pockets)... noting that in many cases there are more reporters than rioters!

I am surprised though, thought you'd be all over this thread this morning, not fussed whether he drinks or not or picking up semantics but bigging up his no noncense approach to civil liberties, to send in the Marines to quell some civil disorder along with the threats to arrest the democratically elected government officials. Not seen heard of deaths yet, unlike January 6th. Thought that would be this mornings hero worship of Trump.

Just said what he should do didn't I "Maybe he should (start drinking)"

Maybe he should? Not drinking or drinking does not indicate a worse or better person, but he might chill out once in a while, and drunken Trump Twatterings would be even funnier!

Yup, however many do not have drivers license, HSE card, firearms license (especially in the UK), passport - no requirement to hold any of these

See I'd go the other way Mark that we carry so much personal information about in our pocket - but your mobile isn't accepted as proof of ID. So many thing need us to verify who we are - work, banks, the dole, bus passes, mortgages and loans, work and volunteering and each wants a different set of documents (1, 2, 3 paper bills, photo ID, birth certificates, NI cards... all sorts)... so why not verify who we are once, present the ID card and job done? ID card can be digital or physical (same as not everyone has a drivers licence and passport, not everyone has a (working) smart phone). The likes of France it is voluntary to carry it (? have to check this), so why not do the same... along the lines of not needing to carry drivers license as you drive. I am not convinced on the being pulled over "show me your papers" thing though, think that is Daily Mail fantasy land paranoia filtering through to the main stream.

Not sure on that - all mine took about 5 years to start fruiting well after planting at mine, got one that is about the same as this, due to blossom next year I think (snapped off at ground level, has regrown so is taking a while to develop). Maybe the OP can say whether there were blossoms this year or not? I wouldn't add another stake, unless it is going to get abuse from day toddlers I'd be thinking about when to remove the existing one

Now back to the topic you posted earlier, any thoughts on National ID cards, as a man who has worked all over the world and with any nationality we care to mention on these threads, do they work or not. Anecdotal evidence is good, little funny stories that your colleagues have mentioned that might help the Arbtalk hive mind collectively come to a shared opinion. Or are you just going to continue to avoid the topic that... checking.. ah yes, the topic that you posted about.

FFS your from Blyth or somewhere, if you are too dense to work out where coal comes from it is a sad show isn't it? Here is a really handy link where you can get quick answers to all sorts of stuff: Google WWW.GOOGLE.CO.UK Now, can we go back to the pertinent question, ID cards, what is your fundamental objection to them?

That sounds like a massive paranoia that the UK will somehow overnight turn into a police state with the issue of a national ID card. If you look at the list of countries that have national ID cards, some carry them voluntarily (if you want to, else you leave them at home) and some you carry them all the time. Consider the UK and the countries that align closely to our values and way of life, such as France and Germany, their ID card systems it is voluntary to carry them. If you ever get to a situation where you need to produce them they are like old school days here where the traffic police gave you a producer, 14 days to pop in and show ID. Didn't hear much whinging about that system. Would all be computerised, much like the traffic police can check drivers license, MOT, Insurance. So the only time in countries similar to ours where the police challenge you for ID is where they have a reason to and not for shits and giggles. Again paranoia, an accident and you're left to die cause your pockets are empty, feck off, no, that would never happen. Other countries very similar to ours do well with them. So lets get to it and ask what your fundamental problem is?

However the LA Mayer said he had it under control, had not requested federal support, Trump over ruled him, sent in the military because the protestors were protesting against Trump mostly. 4 days of localised protests is not something out of the ability to control of any state. Noting also that in many of last nights news reports there were more reporters covering the 'riots' than there were actual protestors! Note here a comparison might be that Trump was notoriously quiet on January 6th when protestors (on his side) were tearing up the Capitol Buildings, it was left to local government to request National Guard support.

Ahh, right so avoiding the current discussion on Labours plans for ID cards to try and have a cheap dig? OK.

Like him or not, Musk has some great come backs!

... Putin doesn't put up with protests and dissent, Trump shouldn't either! They spit at the police so send in the military.

Never realised I had to submit a holiday request to this forum, if JohnsonD can update my holiday tracker for me, pop it down to "Community Engagement" if you could? I am surprised a you though. A national ID card which can be available for all as a form of ID - under 15s without NI, and all those without a passport - is one of the tools that can be used to prove entitlement to services (doctors are a good example). I would have thought you'd be all over that idea to reduce the number of migrants accessing services that they are not entitled to, save the UK a few quid. Government websites already have a single log in for access don't they so why not just extend that idea a little further to allow easier access to real life services? You all ready carry your phone with you 24 hours a day, have an option to pop the ID details on an app, and access will be the same as paying for your Scotmid shop. Or is this just another case of whatever Labour do = bad.

Jesus, you are a stifling bore. There is a reason I left that unanswered and that was to avoid another thread becoming another Johnson D'Senior Dating hate fest like so many threads you are 'contributing' to. Better off ignoring you to be honest. Now back to the headliner... Trump and Musk, what do you reckon?

Ahh, distractions, but any thoughts on the headliner, Trump, his latest news is his implications in The Rapist Epsteins files, or are you just going to keep distractions with attempts at insults and attacks on all other members? There will of course be more Trump news today, suspect him banning travel to the US (again, because that appeased the baying MAGA mob last time). However still think that Musk publicly coming out with the Epstein stuff is more damaging for his presidency and the mid term elections. Any thoughts?

Anyway I digress, Trump (this threads current headiner), bestie of the child trafficker and rapist Epstein has been outed as being in the 'Epstein Files'. At the very least an enabler of Epstein with his inaction allowing Epstein to continue, I am not sure if this would affect his presidency, what do you reckon? Your thoughts bypassed the forum I think