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Recent Comments:

In story: 18-19 May 2013

Re: Living on the Planet
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The fanatical invading hordes will never assimilate. Never!

Etc.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on
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In story: 18-19 May 2013

Re: Living on the Planet
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...and even that 20-year prediction implicitly assumes that there won't be significant secularisation among Muslims.

by DoDo on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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Ah no. Regulating the meat industry is interfering with the functioning of the market. This is just euro bashing

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

For those unaware...
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by redstar on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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You mean like they enforced the laws about the labeling of meat?
by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Not like anyone was around
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when not the IRS but the FBI was burgling (not auditing) lefty groups.

by redstar on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

I hope the olive trees in the UK survive n/t
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by redstar on
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...was talking about the fine new EU directive on Olive Oli...

At least meant to.

by redstar on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Europe at its finest. n/t
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by redstar on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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I fully expect every other country to ignore it whilst the UK enforces it rigorously

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
( / )
How are other EU countries reacting to this?

Britain must succumb to EU's new olive oil diktat, say officials - Telegraph

Britain has no choice but to implement an EU ban on glass jugs or dipping bowls containing olive oil at the table, despite anger from restaurants and consumers, officials said today.

A European ruling that olive oil must be presented in sealed, tamper-proof packaging was today lambasted by family-owed producers and continental restaurants as petty interference that would strangle businesses.

But a spokesman for the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that although the Government had not supported the measure it would ensure it was enforced when it became law on January 1.

"While we welcome some of the new rules on improved labelling, we did not support this ban as it will likely lead to unnecessary waste and place added burdens on businesses," the spokesman said. "We will continue to work with the catering industry to help them adapt to these changes."

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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I'm SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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Cold wind, and rain this evening. The famous S of France (including Cannes and the Feria de Nîmes) are under heavy rain.

C'est la vie.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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I'm sure you'll all be surprised to hear that Joe Scarborough is a hypocrite

Salon - Joe Scarborough's IRS hypocrisy

This week, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough joined the chorus of those decrying the IRS for targeting Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny in applying for nonprofit status. "You can't allow the government to tread on political speech," Scarborough said. "The Internal Revenue Service -- the taxman -- to go after their political beliefs. ... I can't imagine much worse than this," he added.

Targeting nonprofit groups because of their political beliefs is wrong -- pretty much everyone agrees on that. So today's Scarborough must be outraged by his 2003 self, which gave this monologue on his show "Scarborough Country" on July 13, 2003:

The leader of the NAACP bashes President Bush and the Republican Party. Why is this clearly partisan group still being funded by your tax dollars? [...]

[T]he NAACP continues to get a free ride off of taxpayers because of the tax-exempt status that's conferred to them by our federal government, now, this despite the fact the NAACP produced and ran the most vicious campaign attack ad in the history of televised presidential campaign. [...]



by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on
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It is beautiful, isn't it ?

the end is wonderful

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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Being unemployed, every weekend last 7 days {grump}

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on
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In story: 18-19 May 2013

Re: Living on the Planet
( / )
Somemore data from a few years ago:
Britain's Jewish community is enjoying a demographic revival for the first time in 50 years because of massive growth in its haredi population.

Almost three out of every four Jewish babies in the UK are born to ultra-Orthodox families, who account for 46,500 out of the estimated 280,000 Jews in the UK, according to Dr. Yaakov Wise of Manchester University's Center for Jewish Studies. By the second half of this century, haredim will outnumber secular ones, he said.

[...]

"The birth rate has exceeded the mortality rate for the first time since [World War II] in each year since 2005," Wise said. "Secular Jewish women have on average 1.65 children whereas the ultra-Orthodox have on average 6.9.

Anyone want to calculate when they take over from the Muslims?
by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on
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In story: 18-19 May 2013

Re: Living on the Planet
( / )
75% increase for Islam vs 66% increase (from a much higher base) for no religion. So ok, for percentage change Islam is growing faster then no religion (but is it growing fastest? Aren't there any religions in the UK right now that did not exist ten years ago?).

Of course RT's headline is also flat out wrong. And not even backed up in the article.

Islam could be dominant UK religion in 10 years - census analysis -- RT News

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said to UK daily the Telegraph that the decline of Christianity is

"inevitable." "In another 20 years there are going to be more active Muslims than there are churchgoers," he said.

Which is two decads and active, not total.

by A swedish kind of death on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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Here too it's a long weekend, but it hasn't stopped raining all day.
by Katrin on
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Sounds better than being a Ryanair pilot.
Ryanair pilots have been warned not to sign a letter to airline regulators expressing concern that the airline's employment practices could jeopardise passenger safety.

In a memo staff were told they would be guilty of "gross misconduct" and "liable for dismissal" if they signed the letter to the Irish Aviation Authority that regulates Ryanair. The letter was drawn up by the Ryanair Pilot Group (RPG), which represents captains and co-pilots working for the airline but is not recognised by the company.

It warned that the "confusing, uncertain and unpredictable employment situation" at Ryanair was becoming "an increasing distraction in daily flight operations". It added that it was causing "stress and worry" for pilots and had implications for safety.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
( / )
Long weekend in Switzerland, nice weather today, but for tomorrow there is again rain anounced.
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on
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I have seen this video repeatedly and I find it amazing everytime. :-)

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on
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Well, that ploy worked so well for them with Dan Rather.

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on
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In story: Weekend Open Thread

Re: Weekend Open Thread
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Who has a long weekend?
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on
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In story: 18-19 May 2013

Maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing...
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Code of conduct (honest almost to a fault), value of family/personal life, hard work.

I can think of worse things, and I see them among the so-called "secular" (i.e., fellow atheists) among my cadre class here. "Tout pour sa gueule!"

by redstar on
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In story: 18-19 May 2013

Re: Living on the Planet
( / )
this is actually false : the second largest group is "no religion" with 14 million

But "no religion" is not a group.

but no indication of the increase in Islam between 2001 and 2011

Form another article:

Islam could be dominant UK religion in 10 years - census analysis -- RT News

the British Muslim population has surged dramatically over the past 15 years, increasing by 75 per cent in England and Wales. The 2011 census puts the Muslim population of the UK at around 5 per cent, a total that has been boosted by around 600,000 Muslim immigrants who have arrived in the UK over the past decade.

Of course, that 600,000 is still just half of the Christian immigrants.

by DoDo on
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In story: Issues don't matter

Re: Issues don't matter
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The strived for result is as always to get a deal that that enables legislation to be passed that would otherwise be to unpopular to be passed. Bundling popular and unpopular measures and claiming that we must support it all or everything goes down the tubes is apparently an effective way of twisting some arms in parliaments.

Hm, even though this is a popular mechanism within the EU (Council uses it all the time, not to mention it is a main argument for passing treaty changes), EU makes the strategy less effective in other settings as the parliament creates common place for a big enough no.

by A swedish kind of death on
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IMHO the interesting part behind the theatrics is the prospect of UKIP being the catalyst for Scottish independence (be it the result of its own conscious choice, or instrumentation by the SNP, or both).

by DoDo on
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In story: 18-19 May 2013

Re: Oxymoron award
( / )
It means there's the option to keep some content secret.

Although 'He may have been killed by Russian agents, but we can't make that fact public' possibly isn't the last word in circumspection.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on
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In story: Issues don't matter

Re: Seed comment/Tip Jar
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Isn't the big problem with WTO that BRICS has started to formulate their own proposals and getting support for them? Which completedly derailed the power structure and the way to railroad governments in signing deals that were bad for their economies.

So coalitions of the willing it is.

by A swedish kind of death on
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News and Views

 18-19 May 2013

by DoDo - May 17, 55 comments

Your take on today's news media

 17 May 2013

by In Wales - May 16, 90 comments

Your take on today's news media

 Weekend Open Thread

by afew - May 18, 18 comments

The thread for the weekend is open

 Friday Open Thread

by Fran - May 17, 8 comments

Long weekend ahead....

Occasional Series
Click for full list

 A Plague of Citrus Flavours

by Helen - Apr 18, 20 comments

Beer, like so many other consumer products, suffers from fashions. Somebody establishes a new idea that proves popular and then, before you know it, everybody is doing it, trying to cash in.