On Thu, 27 May 2010 09:02:34 -0700 (PDT), allantracy
wrote:

Over in Ireland, they've already reached the point of closure
proposals.


The poor Irish. They were the first Euro zone country to hit severe
problems as a result of the credit crunch.

Their courageous government brought in a severe austerity programme
with massive cuts in public spending and huge rises in taxes. This
stabilised their economy which is just seeing a return to growth and
beginning to climb out of recession.

Then along came Greece, whose economy was in an even worse state. But
the Greek government did almost nothing, continued to borrow more and
more, and eventually got to the point of no return.

Then the whole of the Euro zone got together and gave Greece a very
generous bail-out package.

Poor Ireland, who had already gone through hell to put their own
economy back into shape, could only look on in amazement as Greece got
major hand-outs from other Euro member states. Ireland got no help at
all.

And, to add insult to injury, Ireland had to pay some of the bill to
bail out Greece!


The joys of Euro membership ...

And, to add insult to injury, Ireland had to pay some of the bill to
bail out Greece!

The joys of Euro membership ...

The Euro must now surely collapse.

Maggie’s economist of choice, that arch monetarist, Milton Friedman
predicted it would be so.

He always argued that a single currency with a central bank could
never succeed alone without centralised fiscal responsibility across
the whole of Europe.

His advice was for Europe to adopt the best practice of the
Deutschmark and the Deutsche Bank to set Europe wide interest rates
and Europe wide spending levels.

Pity now also the poor Germans who must be appalled to be once again
experiencing fiscal irresponsibility of a sort they must have thought
they had so carefully left behind.

Credit where it’s due to Gordon as well who effectively overruled Tony
to delay our entry further into the Euro, not a difficult choice
though when you consider the mess the Tories had got themselves into
previously with the Euro.

I don’t know why we bother with Europe, the whole thing is flawed, we
would be much better off with the dollar and become the 51st state and
we could go back to Imperial measurements far better than all this
foreign muck that no one wants.

On Thu, 27 May 2010 11:55:59 -0700 (PDT), allantracy
wrote:

And, to add insult to injury, Ireland had to pay some of the bill to
bail out Greece!

The joys of Euro membership ...

The Euro must now surely collapse.

Maggie’s economist of choice, that arch monetarist, Milton Friedman
predicted it would be so.

He always argued that a single currency with a central bank could
never succeed alone without centralised fiscal responsibility across
the whole of Europe.

His advice was for Europe to adopt the best practice of the
Deutschmark and the Deutsche Bank to set Europe wide interest rates
and Europe wide spending levels.

Pity now also the poor Germans who must be appalled to be once again
experiencing fiscal irresponsibility of a sort they must have thought
they had so carefully left behind.


But the proposed Treaty changes will do just what you say. Every EU
country would have to submit its draft annual fiscal budget to the
European Commission who may demand modifications before returning the
proposals to national parliaments to be voted into law.

Of course there is no reason for EU countries outside the Euro zone to
do this, which is why David Cameron quite justifiably threatened to
use the UK's veto if the UK was going to be compelled to take part.


Credit where it’s due to Gordon as well who effectively overruled Tony
to delay our entry further into the Euro, not a difficult choice
though when you consider the mess the Tories had got themselves into
previously with the Euro.


Yes, that was one of Gordon's better decisions, made in the era when
he was known as the "Iron Chancellor" and before he began to play fast
and loose with public spending and taxation. He went rapidly downhill
after that.


I don’t know why we bother with Europe, the whole thing is flawed, we
would be much better off with the dollar and become the 51st state and
we could go back to Imperial measurements far better than all this
foreign muck that no one wants.


Until that paragraph you were making a lot of sense, then you went and
spoiled it.

The US doesn't want us. The "Special Relationship" died years ago.
There is no way that a US Administration would tolerate our high taxes
and dedication to services delivered by the public sector. Equally,
there is no way that the British people would tolerate the US attitude
to welfare and healthcare.

Britain's political ideology, even under a Conservative government,
has never been closer to American than mainland European ideology. So
being the 51st state would be unworkable. The US realises this, and
wants us to be part of a united Europe.

The only possible way to extricate the UK from the EU is for the UK to
revert to being a member of EFTA/EEA as we were before 1973. However,
in order to gain access to EU markets, we would need to comply with
almost as many EU directives as we do now.

I read an article which included a comment from Norway's Prime
Minister in which he said that he received a fax every Monday morning
from the European Commission in Brussels. He said that it contained a
list of the laws that the Norwegian parliament needed to enact that
week.

It was a tongue in cheek comment, but one that made a serious point:
If we want to trade with the EU while only being a member of EFTA/EEA
then we must comply with regulations over which we have no control. At
least as a member of the EU we do have some influence over those
regulations, although exactly how much is a moot point.

Mizter T wrote:

[x-posted to uk.transport.london]

On May 27, 3:23*pm, kev wrote:

The government is considering making £4-5bn of cuts to the £16.9bn
Crossrail scheme, as the scale of capital spending cuts starts to
emerge.
An internal Crossrail team, under instruction from ministers to save
money on the scheme, is understood to be considering dropping either
the planned Tottenham Court Road or Bond Street station.

If cuts that deep are really on the cards, then as Steven Norris says,
they might as well not bother.

Surely deep cuts always were inevitable with Crossrail...

--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9632988.html
(43 184 at Exeter St Davids, 1985)

On 28 Mai, 10:06, Chris Tolley (ukonline
really) wrote:


Surely deep cuts always were inevitable with Crossrail...


Really? I thought they were going to use a tunneling shield?

I'll get my trenchcoat.

On May 27, 11:55*am, allantracy wrote:
And, to add insult to injury, Ireland had to pay some of the bill to
bail out Greece!

The joys of Euro membership ...

The Euro must now surely collapse.

Maggie’s economist of choice, that arch monetarist, Milton Friedman
predicted it would be so.

He always argued that a single currency with a central bank could
never succeed alone without centralised fiscal responsibility across
the whole of Europe.

His advice was for Europe to adopt the best practice of the
Deutschmark and the Deutsche Bank to set Europe wide interest rates
and Europe wide spending levels.

Pity now also the poor Germans who must be appalled to be once again
experiencing fiscal irresponsibility of a sort they must have thought
they had so carefully left behind.

Credit where it’s due to Gordon as well who effectively overruled Tony
to delay our entry further into the Euro, not a difficult choice
though when you consider the mess the Tories had got themselves into
previously with the Euro.

I don’t know why we bother with Europe, the whole thing is flawed, we
would be much better off with the dollar and become the 51st state and
we could go back to Imperial measurements far better than all this
foreign muck that no one wants.

You really want to live under our Constitution? What will you do with
your Head of State? Will your fellow Commonwealth countries agree to
Her Majesty’s dismissal?

Can you handle our First and Second Amendments? Will the Church of
England be disestablished in England? Will the Presbyterians be
disestablished in Scotland?

Will we see gun store selling semi-automatic weapons on High Streets
around the UK? I don't think so. May I refer you to my response
here?
http://groups.google.com/group/uk.ra...7161887fce266f

On Thu, 27 May 2010 11:55:59 -0700 (PDT), allantracy
wrote:

much snipped

I don’t know why we bother with Europe, the whole thing is flawed, we
would be much better off with the dollar and become the 51st state and
we could go back to Imperial measurements far better than all this
foreign muck that no one wants.

But British Imperial measurements aren't always the same as the US
Imperial measurements,the gallon for example.

would be much better off with the dollar

Nay nay and thrice nay.

We should go to Galleons Sickles and Knuts

which with 29 Knuts = 1 Sickle and 17 Sickles = 1 Galleon will really
raise arithmetic standards.

..

But British Imperial measurements aren't always the same as the US
Imperial measurements,the gallon for example.

nitpcik

Are US measures ''imperial'' ?

I think not.

1 US pound and 1 US foot are the same length and weight as British
imperial - various standards agree on this - but surely not use of the
term imperial in US ?

/ nitpick

--
Nick

E27002 wrote


You really want to live under our Constitution? What will you do
with
your Head of State? Will your fellow Commonwealth countries agree to
Her Majesty’s dismissal?

You mean "Republican form of government" ?

Easy, we just elect Liz for life (like William, William and William &
Mary). She can carry on being Queen of Canada, New Zealand etc.

Can you handle our First and Second Amendments? Will the Church of
England be disestablished in England? Will the Presbyterians be
disestablished in Scotland?

The Welsh solution works fine.

Will we see gun store selling semi-automatic weapons on High Streets
around the UK? I don't think so.

You mean "self-loading" ?

We just need to revert to 1990 laws. These would also allow our Olympic
pistol team to practice at home.


--
Mike D

On Fri, 28 May 2010 13:59:30 -0700 (PDT), D7666
wrote:

would be much better off with the dollar

Nay nay and thrice nay.

We should go to Galleons Sickles and Knuts

which with 29 Knuts = 1 Sickle and 17 Sickles = 1 Galleon will really
raise arithmetic standards.

.

But British Imperial measurements aren't always the same as the US
Imperial measurements,the gallon for example.

nitpcik

Are US measures ''imperial'' ?

I think not.

1 US pound and 1 US foot are the same length and weight as British
imperial - various standards agree on this - but surely not use of the
term imperial in US ?

/ nitpick

Ah, the US liquid measurement isn't the same as Imperial.

I stand corrected, but I believe that's why an American quart of booze
is known in Canada as "a fifth" in slang terms.

One American gallon: 3.785 litres

One Imperial gallon: 4.546 litres

(roughly)