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IS THERE VAT ON THE BLOG? (#1)

In a passing 'authoritative' reference to climate science, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio characterised the position as a massive consensus FOR global warming and a few (albeit creditable) voices against.

I suggest the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ should abandon the internet and use the money saved for better-informed journalism.

HOMEOPATHY

I heard a farmer on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio, not so long ago, saying his cows were on homeopathic prevention (I forget what for) and that his neighbours all had vets bills for the condition, but not him. Farming being a business, on the face of it, it speaks for itself.

The trouble with any orthodoxy, be it cosmology, medicine, biology etc, is it is taught in a very Left brain way so it gets a Left brain rigidity.

Corpus Callosum rules - OK.

And here's a few far more important, IMHO that NN could be dissecting.







Particularly the latter, we are heading for a lot of unrest here with so many young people unemployed.

I have been trying to find out the following from either the government or the opposition:

Will the VAT rise be permanent?

For the government - if it is permanent (as it sounds like it might be) what is the justification for keeping it at 20% should they succeed in reducing the deficit? If they will not consider reducing it, then they cannot reasonably claim that the rise is needed directly because of the deficit. (Note: this also applies to other policies such as child benefit)

For the Opposition - Since you oppose this rise so much, will you pledge to reduce it to 17.5% should you return to power? If the opposition cannot promise to do this, then their complaint about the rise is baseless.

Although Labour have never increased the rate of VAT (except for returning from the temporary 15%), I notice looking back that they have never permanently lowered VAT from the rises made by Tory governments. This is despite complaining about every rise made.

For a chart showing the history:

On Homeopathy, I find it disturbing that although Homeopaths in this country when questioned officially will say that it is no good for the treatment of Malaria, Homeopaths seem still willing to go to Africa peddling their false claims.



TO make things worse, some publications have tempered their criticism of homoeopathy because the industry has started to use Libel Laws to silence criticism.



Oh, strange new world....

AT WHAT POINT DO I BREAK THE LAW? (#4)

HNY Liz. I am still trying to puzzle the fact that a 'Briton' who speaks no English gets an interpreter in various circumstances, but if an indigene can't understand the doctor, and asks for one they can understand, it is probably hate crime or Manglophobia. But then - what the hell - if you are in the hands of bogus doctors and nurses using stolen identities and credentials, what's it matter if you have no idea what they are saying?

This is what we get for voting in politicians to the work of governance. All they know is POLITICS.

SPOILPARTYGAMES

Millionaire ministers tell us VAT is the 'best tax'. But for whom? Why has Osbourne not closed the Channel Island VAT loophole that allows supermarkets to import goods at VAT discounts? If you can avoid a 20% tax you make your goods much cheaper. So higher VAT is more likely to increase fraud?

...As well as Tesco, other big name retailers to exploit the loophole include Amazon, HMV, WH Smith, Play.com and Asda....

7

given the chemist warehouse system has been compromised who knows what is in the expensive pill anyway?

...Fake pharmaceutical drugs - whether sold directly over the internet or infiltrated into the neighbourhood pharmacy or local hospitals - have become a huge and fast-increasing threat....

SCAM BRITAIN (#8-#9)

HNY Jaunty. What a hoot: an ad in the middle of 'The Simpsons' for the Commandos. Not a hint of death and destruction, just a lot of macho strutting. And the subject of the Simpsons episode? Tricking your fellow man.

Re fake pills: are our aircraft still fitted with bogus parts slipped into the supply chain?

What is it about islands? Wasn't Ireland found laundering corporation tax or some-such, when the tide went out? AH! Maybe that's OUR problem too. Would being att he heart of Europe cleanse us of corruption? Yeah right.

George'll fix it.

MISLEADING THE BRITISH PEOPLE - I SAY, WHAT ROTTER WOULD DO THAT?

Limited Ed says George Osborne should apologise for MISLEADING THE BRITISH PEOPLE. Why do we let these pathetic ciphers of Westminster, peddle such claptrap? Westminster's RAISON D'ETRE is to mislead the British people - 'twas ever thus!

At least he didn't say it with a straight face - small mercies.

Politics is truly 'the art of self deception, wrapped in the craft of deceiving others for their own good'. If you have a strong stomach and dependable ribs:

11

remember according to the Govt the market has the only wisdom and the market says fake pills, clothes, food etc is best.

BRINGING ME DOWN MAN (#12)

Hey jaunty - you know my all-year depressed state. I am a lone bloke crawling away from Christmas, cheer me up. Tell me the asteroid is coming.

13

i think its rather comedic.

'Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think'

Why should anybody go out of their way to help the police anymore after this Corporate Nazi inspired case ?

/news/uk-england-humber-12115179

THE APHORISM IS THE DEFINING UTTERANCE OF A SCOUNDREL (#14)

Politics is the triumph of those who neither feel nor think.

And all Singletons are liars.

BE FAIR BRO - THEY NEED ALL THE FINES THEY CAN GET (#15)

They dropped so many, potentially lucrative, cases under Interfaith Tony (he slipped down the crack) that the coffers are bare.

I can't help speculating that Ed Millipede in his claim that the new 2.5% increase in VAT will impact the poorest the most is in grave danger of being open to the charge of being a hypocrite. I just read Steph Flanders blog where she had calculated that genuine poor people will only be 68 quid a year worse off. Of course you get stung on your phone bill ( probably an essential these days ) but if you don't drive you can theoretically avoid VAT if you stay off the ale.

This is in stark contrast to Ed's 2008 Climate Change Act, which he knew full well would cost poor people 760 quid per household per year just to retain the basic human right of being warm in winter. In a rough calculation it works out at the equivalent of doubling the current income tax rate on the minimum wage.

Clegg often bleats that the Lub-dims have got the Tories to increase the threshold where people start paying income tax, but again any theoretical gain here is more than wiped out appeasing the eco-fascists and their Climate Scam. Alleged " Climate Skeptic " UKIP could have made a big deal of the Climate Scam, but apparently not, its alleged that UKIP activists are running round Oldham East bleating about immigration. Perhaps Paul Nuttall is content to fight the BNP and other joke parties for fourth place, after all, if he has to give up his MEP job he faces a large fall in his income. However, perhaps the truth is that Nigel Farage has been " got at " by his stock market parasite buddies to stop the general population waking up from planet Coronation Street to realise what is likely to hit them in the pocket in the near future.

What a fine start to 2011 - another hatchet job on homeopathy. Let's note that:

(a) homeopathy is a major part of the Indian healthcare system -- I believe they have malaria and other diseases there;
(b) homeopathy has been in use for more than 200 years and if it was so lacking in efficacy it seems unlikely that it would have survived;
(c) some homeopathic practitioners are fully qualified medical doctors - is there an implication here that they are dishonest or stupid?;
(d) homeopathic remedies are very cheap to produce unlike the products of the large vested interests that are the pharmaceutical business;
(e) the fact that we cannot currently explain why something works does not imply that it does not work - that is frankly rather more dogmatic than scientific thinking.

It would appear the pharmaceutical industry and their agents protests too much. Well they would wouldn't they. Alternative non-chemical, non synthetic and non-patentable drugs dispensed by homeopaths that threaten the big pharmas high profit margins are always getting the usual charge of quackery..whats new in this report? Go and have a look at the death stats attributed to intervention by orthodox medicine and let your reporter try and spin out of that one...go on, i dare you.

This was very sloppy journalism.

ENHANCED MARK URBAN AND UNDERWATER KIRSTY - THE MIXTURE AS BEFORE

Poor Mark Urban. I really cannot believe he is delighted with the enhancement applied to a crafted piece of gravitas.

Is it me, or is the Wark-band transmission even more degraded than pre-Christmas? When I submerge in my bath, while listening to the radio, the effect is similar.

I hold no brief for homeopathic prevention of tropical diseases. However, I do wish orthodox practitioners, who talk as if products of Big Pharma are 100% effective and 100% side-effect free, could be challenged. One might typify the two camps by saying they are both disingenuous about their products, but only one kills you by DIRECT EFFECT, and then pretends they had no idea!

HEAR HEAR (#19 and #20)

Had I known you were in there, and so cogent, guys, I need not have bothered!

Now stand back and watch ace science sleuth Susan, take this subject by the throat and - er . . .

#19 homeopathy is a major part of the Indian healthcare system -- I believe they have malaria and other diseases there;

Doesn't look as though homeopathy is very successful at combating malaria.

AgRG wrote:

What a fine start to 2011 - another hatchet job on homeopathy. Let's note that:

(a) homeopathy is a major part of the Indian healthcare system -- I believe they have malaria and other diseases there;

There was an Estimated 21.9 Million cases of Malaria in India in 1995. Recent reports suggest that there are a minimum of 125 thousand deaths a year there from the disease.

An interesting note is that Homeopathy was introduced to India in the Mid 19th Century by a Romanian. Another fine western export then.

(b) homeopathy has been in use for more than 200 years and if it was so lacking in efficacy it seems unlikely that it would have survived;

Astrology has been around for at least 2000 years - does that make it good for predicting the future?

(c) some homeopathic practitioners are fully qualified medical doctors - is there an implication here that they are dishonest or stupid?;

Yep. There is a rather interesting myth that if someone has a medical degree they are somehow magically unable to lie or be dishonest. There are plenty of cases of doctors being gullible, dishonest and even criminal every year. My GP back in 1983 told me I had been tested to see if I was a carrier of Cystic Fibrosis. That test was not available for another 15 years. He either lied or was stupid.

(d) homeopathic remedies are very cheap to produce unlike the products of the large vested interests that are the pharmaceutical business;

Water is even cheaper, and since that is basically what Homeopathic solutions are, you wonder they dont give it away. There is the cost of the bottle, I suppose.

(e) the fact that we cannot currently explain why something works does not imply that it does not work - that is frankly rather more dogmatic than scientific thinking.

The problem is that we cannot prove that Homeopathic remedies work at all. At best they seem to work as a placebo. Not a bad thing, actually, if that helps, but a far cry from being a cure for a serious condition. One of the most popular remedies is a dilution of duck liver for treating flu. The vast majority of people recover from flu just by taking a couple of paracetamol to keep the temperature down. So a bit hard to prove that the duck liver works anyway.

Incidentally, a solution of 200c (recommended for the poor duck liver) would mean you would need about 20 universes to have just one molecule. So, you are probably buying water unless you were the lottery winner who got the one molecule, of course.

USA OFFICIAL: 'LEADERS MUST BE ABOVE REPROACH' (Carrier 'Enterprise')

What will they do about a President who plots false flag atrocity, or one who connives, and conceals it?

A message for Chilcot perhaps?

Homeopathy has cured many people of many conditions. I have sometimes chosen homeopathy instead of conventional medicine. I don't always want to fill my body with chemicals, which also may or may not work. Certain conditions of mine have responded better to conventional medicine, others to alternative medicine. This interview was very disappointing. It was not impartial and did not give the lady practitioner an opportunity to explain what she believes are the benefits of homeopathic treatment and the process by which the homeopath decides on a patient's remedy. The latter would have enabled her to respond to the accusation being levied. Not good and not fair ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳...

'But before all of that we begin with a look at the political row behind the rise in VAT. David Grossman will report on the clash between Labour and the coalition over whether the increase from 17.5% to 20% is a "progressive" or "regressive" tax.'

So good... er, bad... it is worth repeating...

'And as the top rate of VAT rises from 17.5% to 20% we'll consider the political row [when does one lot getting free rein to slag off the highly publicly unpopular measures of another lot escalate beyond political opportunism to a 'row' outside the mindset of the WUVI bubble sensing ratings blood?] surrounding the change and the economic implications.'

WHAAAAT? VAT has gone up!? I did not know. This was complete news to me. And when taxes go up, things get more expensive?... the horror! Good job that 50" LCD and boob job is bought and paid for. But... how will I afford bread and kids' clothes???! As a poor person, that is?

Thank heavens for a media totally on top of this, calmly looking at the background causes (well, maybe, eventually?) and at the forefront of giving the 'public' a pulpit to be vocal in the criticisms and other opinions...

/news/business-12112972

I don't know where such souls are found, with their heart-wrenching stories. It must be so hard to decide which to select. Take that of poor James...

'It is obvious that the VAT rise will hit families like ours the hardest especially based on our modest income level.... We are very grateful that the working tax credit and the child tax credit, established by Labour, are helping us to stay afloat.'

Indeed, yes. But for Labour, things could have been... now... what again?

With crafting like that I think he may soon find gainful employ, as there are sectors (albeit mostly public) where not generating any income for the country but talking about how bad things are can turn a nifty few quid. Plus pensions.

No wonder the shadow chancellor has been quickly and quietly sidelined, as his competence levels and degree of... in hypocrisy cannot be smoothed over even with a pliant interviewer and skilled edit suite.

If this is the standard of 'reporting' and narrative-enhancing one can expect as a unique licence fee funder, it is going to be a very. long. year.

Not even counting the level of competence and integrity in science reporting.

With such dedication to heat exclusively over light sorry, no, I am not expecting much 'illumination' at all. At least, not of the radiant variety, as spotlights get shone in certain quarters whilst other dark segments remain curiously out of the limelight. Like some overseas tennis courts.

Unique. But hardly high on integrity.

The BNP were talking about this years ago, strange how the police and main stream news are just catching up with them. All this political correctness didn't help these young white girls did it???!!

world leadership

is through the possession of good ideas?

petty prejudice backed up with violence [west] or immorality [china] is in not the class of good ideas.

28

the pig philosophy that denies the good as the highest idea of the mind lobotomises its victims into incoherent mumbling and unjust acts. Not all sub cultures have equal weight in respect of the good. Those closer to the qualities of the good have more good. Thus all acts can be ranked with regard to how much good they have in them. A rational person should then choose that act which has more good. This causes hysterics in the pig philosophers who scream 'discrimination'. The seemingly philosophical illiterate Yapparrazzi join on this bandwagon blowing their vuvuzelas drowning out any reasoned dialogue.

If law applied without fear or favour is an expression of moral character then the absence of that implies a very real loss of morale?

and people claim skill in philosophy is irrelevant to a functioning well ordered society. People unskilled are not likely to spot the common errors and would have no means with which to articulate the eloquence that comes with right mind?

So the false beliefs of the pig philosophers creates very real human sacrifice. Real victims. In this case girls being abused by paedophiles.

ABUSE OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN (#29&30)

Is this not typical behaviour for ARMIES OF OCCUPATION? All that is needed to bring out the animal*, is some perceptible difference. Victory only heightens the effect. We have been invaded - and WE HAVE LOST.

This concept is way beyond the intellect of politicians; they are not chosen for competence, and Dave's Wellbeing mentors won't have a clue.

*We always make the mistake of thinking non-whites see white as 'best'. We are simply different.