Andy D

About that democracy… you mean Gove et al are going to start campaigning for an elected head of state and second chamber? Nah thought not…

This is an interesting read from someone inside the negotiations on the Greek side (so obviously comes with a bias) http://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/international/080715/we-underestimated-their-power-greek-government-insider-lifts-lid-five-months-humiliation-and-blackm?onglet=full Shows how unfit for purpose the EU is…

Don't agree with Lords and all that other titled crap, but I'd argue anyone who's non-dom shouldn't be able to hold a title or position in politics. And if you were born in the UK you should be able to hold non-dom status either.

Bristol letting agents CJ Hole are busy writing to landlords encouraging them to extract more rent from their tennants… https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-cj-hole-exploiting-the-housing-crisis-in-bristol

Why should you pay tax if you're expected to fund others during their hard times but get f'all in yours - welfare system is broken for people who are net contributors and then lose their jobs

This section had me a bit confused for a while, then I twigged

Yup it's Deloitte, on of my daughter's friends is on the apprenticeship scheme, basically do paid work, get accountancy qualifications and a degree in the process and free to walk away at the end. Yes they're going to work bloody hard but they get qualifications that may be of use and no debt

I'm surprised it's kept going this long given both Manchester and Liverpool airports are around 60 miles away

The EU referendum is a trap - if we vote to stay in the EU then the pro-integrationists will treat it as an OK for further integration - if we vote to go out then our economy is going to suffer as less people will want to trade with us over time I'm broadly in favour of an EU that's a free trade area with free movement of goods and people, but without all the political United States of EU that comes with it, and don't like the likely outcomes of either a yes or no vote

Motorola had $2.9bn (?) in cash when bought, they sold the home unit for $2.35bn, are keeping 15,000 of the 17,000 patents and some of the staff so a loss overall (depending on value of patents) but perhaps not as bad as the headlines suggest

The Mrs has a pair and I doubt she be buying another pair as they're not the greatest knickers in the world - think they're trying to charge a premium over normal knickers but not delivering the quality / style of the more expensive ones e.g. Marie Jo at 26 quid a pop

It's pretty shocking that once you reach state retirement age you don't pay NI even if you have a job. Employers still have to pay it for people working past retirement age so why shouldn't employees? Age discrimination case in the making for someone but who represents the young's interests?

The certificate the site is serving appears to be OK (https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=ibank.barclays.co.uk) Of course this may not be the certificate you're getting - may have been a config issue first thing, or someone trying to 'Man In The Middle You' i.e. impersonate ibank... Andy

Yes but I'd argue the neo-liberals aren't really 'small staters', they just want to use government spending to syphon other peoples tax money into their businesses - arms companies, oil producers, agri-businesses etc. The US defence budget is bigger than the next biggest 10 spenders combined, if they need to reduce government spending surely there's one place to start.

The interior decor is interesting - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43207013.html