flatnose

Yup, Six months full pay then 6 months half pay....and it is abused by some but, in my experience, the minority.

I concur.

Indeed, anxiety can be diagnosis of a mental disorder, however that is when the emotion has become uncontrollable to the point where function is impaired. For example anxiety is what makes you look left and right every time you cross the road just in case the No6 bus is coming, its functional purpose is to keep you safe by looking out for future threat. Fear on the other hand is where the danger is present and immediate... Oh crap I am in the middle of the road and there is a No6 bus headed straight for me. Fear drives us to leap out of the way. It triggers a separate behaviour to anxiety. Our levels of anxiety, not fear,(we need to differentiate between these two emotions) are dependent on how well we manage uncertainty. If we have an intolerance to uncertainty we have more anxiety, if we have more tolerance to uncertainty we have less anxiety. It follows that the more certainty we perceive the less anxious we are which is interpreted as confidence. So yes one way of putting it is confidence is a reduction in doubt. Techniques like positive visualisation can really help with this reducing anxiety. Instead of holding a -ve vision we hold a +ve vision and the evidence shows that performance in athletes is enhanced when they do this. In sports psychology, these are called performance enhancing beliefs. However, as you point out, at what point does this become blind faith, denial , illogical, irrational and dysfunctional. With the Titan Sub Billionaire, he started to take any suggestion that his craft was not up to the job as: " a personal insult" This is a telling statement, for me this is an indicator that his sense of self is too intertwined with the success of his mission and he cannot accept any criticism that may cast an uncertainty or doubt on his venture. Fear can also be managed with reason but again it takes practice, I can remember when I was free soloing a route in the Lake District, Slab Route 2, White Ghyll, Langdale a 42 meter pitch. At one point I became very fearful as I thought I was in immediate danger of falling, the fear was certainly justified as you can easily find photos of the route on the Net. however I used breathing exercises to lower my heart rate, was able to manage the fear and top out of the climb. Did the technique increase my confidence? To be honest I am not sure. In the moment It certainly stopped the fear overwhelming me into inaction and probably saved my life. Its interesting stuff to be sure....Indeed perhaps to synthesise there may be after all, like you say, an emotional element of confidence. In that confidence is not just a reduction of anxiety but also an embracing of the emotion hope. Thanks for sparking my grey cells into life...

Interesting point but I would disagree. Confidence is a lack of the emotion anxiety rather than an emotion per se. Anxiety is driven by uncertainty and has been given to us by nature to trigger the cognitive behaviour of worry (ie to look out and prepare for potential threat, and avoid if need be.) What we call confidence is actually a common term for reduced anxiety due to having a experience of meeting similar challenges in the past and overcoming them. Hence confidence grows over time. Increased confidence can also be attributed to having a more rational mindset involving accurate observation and logic. For example if we are aware that we are anxious in a particular situation and we are aware of how it affects us, physically (dry mouth, butterflies in stomach) we can learn how to manage it rather than taking those physical symptoms as oracles of doom ( a process known as emotional reasoning). The psychological element of extreme sports (climbing, caving, scuba, mountaineering, aerial sports) involves being able to reduce your anxiety via rational thinking without ignoring it to the point of recklessness. This is a rational skill that can be developed via regular exposure to these hostile environments and by taking on risk in a measured way, as we can never get certainty, attaining goals. On the other hand, the caveat to the above is irrational confidence demonstrated so well by the billionaire behind the Titan submersible disaster. (RIP) The bible proverb akin to this behaviour is perhaps: " The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit." In short his previous success blinded him to what others could see clearly. Yup, totally agree with this.

Both these views have some truths in them. The fact that women are able to provide for themselves means they do not have the same necessity to marry as they would have in years gone by. However, women do have a tendency to find men who they regard as having a higher status than themselves attractive. As a result, when women become more successful with their careers, their pool of what they find attractive eligible men shrink. Also after their "party years" (18-28) they are often faced with the dilemma of "settling" for less successful partners when their biological clock starts to kick in with a vengeance. This is often argued as one of the main reasons for divorce. The women settles to get some sperm, have kids, then divorces: "I love you but I am not in love with you". There is an old saying: "Men are disposable; women are perishable." Indeed it doesn't matter if 40,000 men go over the top at the Somme if there is some half decent male breeding stock left. (One bull serves 50 cows). For women, as they get older their fertility reduces resulting in difficulty attracting high status men and getting pregnant. To sum up, Each sex carries a different burden and for that reason equality between the sexes is an impossibility. Edited for spelling

Broke: Britain's Debt Emergency | Dispatches Tough watching

Property Prices Are Collapsing.. It's Not What It Seems UK House price have started falling for the first time in 12 months. With the average asking price down 1.3% and actual prices down 0.1%. Mortgage rates are shooting up and affordability has never been more stretched.. Has the housing market bubble just burst? Hi all, I would be interested in your opinion on the above video,. He is offering a slightly different take...

Today I favour the rich yet delicate aroma of Evostick, highly hallucinogenic with a comedown like being battered with a large Haddock...

Peter Shiff's goldbuggery does give him a vested interest in stirring up fear and panic...

I would disagree, if there has been any suppression of wages it is due to our governments immigration policy not by the Polish worker. I cannot criticize anyone willing to move and work hard in order to raise their standard of living and to just point a generalised finger at Johnny Foreigner appears xenophobic. Indeed implying that they should stay at home and improve their country assumes that they are able to. How successful have we been in improving this country through our hard work? How have you improved our country? I certainly think that my influence has been negligible regarding current housing policy? Personally I lay the blame directly at the foot of the banks and government. Not at the door of an immigrant who is trying to better themselves. I would be doing exactly the same if I was in their shoes. If they are prepared to learn the language and are able to work hard in a required skill I have no issue with immigration. If they just want to come over and sit on the dole that is another issue.

Why do you ask? Are you unable to compete against them?

They have been forged in a culture that does not rely on benefits.

I would agree. The Polish work ethic is very strong.

I repost from an earlier thread "Not so in the NW, M6 north of Lancaster, Kendal, Carnforth etc. On right move there have been a number of reductions in asking price recently on properties under 300,000...many with no chain https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77842101#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78748794#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78015153#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89193112#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/93422408#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84146291#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74700963#/ Also some half decent houses have been on the market for a while... https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/50636370#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/71066389#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/64472932#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/66768375#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76131586#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/96801098#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/73137651#/ https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76131586#/ Market appears rather stagnant up here..."

Yes they could but kinda defeats the object unless they are forced sellers...