Sounds like the Outer Hebrides, where virtually the only places that open on a Sunday are the churches and the ferry terminals.
I am forced to respond otherwise you might think everyone agrees with you. Every word of this post is poppycock. 1) There is a huge difference between disagreements over budgets, policies, and a belief in the fundamentals of the system. France is not eurosceptic.It was noticeable over the whole of the UK departure negotiations, that the EU project was protected and France led the way, with Germany in maintaining that status. The Uk's departure has not led to any sense of fragmentation.. 2) The EU is not a sinking restrictive trading club. It's collective strength has improved standards in all sorts of ways that wouldn't be possible otherwise and improved trading - something recognised by most UK trading operations. 3) The UK has so far not managed to improve its terms of trade with any other significant country whatsoever. There is no evidence that the UK will improve its trading relationship (i.e. mutually improve) with any other significant country. 4) I have never detected any sense that France feels subjugated by Germany. They have 2 completely different cultures and disagree on many tactics, but to say that France doesn't feel a free nation just beggars belief. The myriad distinctive ways that France retains its unique character whilst remaining within the EU shows the strength of France and the EU. I shall not respond again. I would much rather discuss the ways and cultures of nations, peoples groups with those who inform and enhance, rather than with those who hector and sneer.
In trying to improve my French, am reading - very slowly - a book about the Ligne de Demarcation, , principally in Vienne. The first chapters are taken up with a description of the chaos of the fleeing of 3 groups, the Northern & Parisian group, the Belgians, and those from alsace lorraine, all of whom converged - and overwhelmed the Charente region. It describes one family, a doctor, his wife 3 children and a maid. The children get separated, found, lost again, turn up in Bordeaux, Angouleme. No film could ever depict the anguish. It describes the Germans with dispassionate accuracy - their attempts to get cooperation, their responses to protest, ther understanding if sullenness, but their rigid discipline underneath. The attempts to negotiate the production of food are almost comical, until the underlying realities come to the fore. In the horrifying ruins of oradour is an interesting observation. The 3 (at least) days that the German regiment spent planning and executing their destruction delayed their arrival in Normandy by 3 days, which significantly helped the allies advance.
Unfortunately the state sponsored practice of creating banlieue slums is spread right across France in all major cities. The French are quite happy to practice a form of aparthied which keeps immigrants and those of a certain colour apart from the indigenous population. Indeed the former French President described the use of these slums as "territorial, social and ethnic apartheid" Nearly 5 million people live in these conditions that Hollande also described as "unbearable discrimination" Nothing has changed since to improve life in these slums.
Did you not notice the eurosceptic National Rally won the 2019 French European Parliament election? This recent poll across Europe shows France is the least satisfied with the EU, more so than the UK. Views on the European Union across Europe | Pew Research ...www.pewresearch.org › global › 2019/10/14 › the-eur... The EU as a trading block is actually designed to suit the Germans. They profit from the many struggling Southern members by having a lower value currency for their exports. The poorer countries are paying the cost of this over valued currency in which they are prisoners, Italy has had no growth since 2008. France has now aligned itself with the hard up countries by begging Germany and the 'frugal four' for handouts. In the last couple of weeks Germany has declared it is above EU law and will decide unilaterally how it will behave. It is important to see things as they really are, to pretend otherwise is just fooling yourself.
This coronacrisis is showing up many of the raw nerves of Western societies. It is not just the old who are most at risk, but also the poor, and ethnic minorities. Horrific details coming out about the working and living conditions at Tonnies - meat processing and abattoir near Gütersloh. As is to be expected working in an abattoir is not everyone's dream job - even less popular than fruit picking, and so it comes as no surprise that workers there are, in most cases, not actually employed by Tonnies but by 'leasing firms' for casual labour. Mostly coming from Rumania and Bulgaria they live together in worker hostels and work in close contact to each other, without the normal safety rules, and also when they are sick - because they don't get sick pay ! This is also done in cool rooms where the temperatures are regulated at about 4 degrees above zero - ie. the optimal conditions for the spreading of the Coronavirus. Of the 900 workers tested over 600 tested positive ! As a result the authorities have now needed to test a further 7,000 people and also close the local schools again. It really is time that we use the lessons which have been forced on us by Corona, and start to stamp down on such naked exploitation of one human by another. It is the State's job to ensure that all workers - whether casual, seasonal or whatever, are working with the full protection of the state, and for rates of pay which Germans would also work for. Up until this case most people only ever thought about the meat industry in connection with being able to get their steaks cheap from the local supermarket - and gave little thought to the dreadfull working conditions behind this. Apparently chicken wings just appear out of nowhere - but behind them is someone working for the lowest of low wages hanging them up to be stunned - and doing this for 8 hours per day. If the corona crisis can go on showing up the raw nerves of our society, and can lead to action being taken then something good can come out of it.
Yesterday Hancock had to stand in front of the nation and admit that his much vaunted app didn't work. He went on to say that that they had been working on a second app using the Apple/Google platform that other countries are successfully using. Within hours Apple made a statement to say that this is just not true. Far too often now things said have been proved false, so how does anyone know what to believe anymore? Graeme Fowler the England opening batsman sums it up very well. "I’ve never been interested in politics until now. Two things I hate, lies and injustice. These people provide both in huge amounts. I can’t be uninterested any more. They are ruining my life and the country I represented." Today the government say they are reducing the threat level down a notch because they have things under control. How do we know that this is right? Is it the truth, or is it just more spin to divert attention away from the disaster yesterday?
That's a roughly similar rate to one of the worst 'Covid-19 clusters' in Australia. Cedar Meats in Melbourne employed 300 workers and 111 of them tested positive. That was as of a month ago - I haven't heard any news of it since then. I spent many years working in an abattoir in Queensland, and you're right - the working conditions were the pits. The very nature of the business mostly required a temperature controlled work area, and the nature of the jobs required workers to have close contact with each other in less than endearing surroundings. The big difference back then though, was that the workforce comprised of around 95% local people with their own homes - no cramped, shared living quarters. Surprising really, given that the business was owned by an English lord. The ownership of the abattoir changed hands a few years ago and the workforce now comprises mainly of cheap, imported labour - from Brazil of all places. Knowing the mindset of many of the locals, I suspect those Brazilians will be having a hard time at the moment.
It's bugbear of mine that he, and plenty of his colleagues, continually refer to the app as the NHS app. It quite clearly isn't the NHS app - I suspect that they anticipated failure and wanted the public to link that failure with the NHS rather than themselves. As a sort of 'virtual' statue, perhaps it should named in honour of those who were behind its creation - the Tory app or the Cummings app. Better still, in view of all the virus-related deaths, the Domsday app.
An unbelievable, but entirely unsurprising, move from the government. Student nurses who in April had answered the plea to work on the Covid frontline until September are having their contracts cancelled next month - and are apparently expected to work unpaid. This in spite of the fact that they still had to pay for university tuition that they weren't receiving whilst placing themselves at risk. How low can a government go? https://www.standard.co.uk/news/hea...-fighting-on-covid19-frontline-a4471936.html?
Todays EU long term and pandemic recovery funding meeting was acrimonious and finished without any agreement. There is now a well publicised regional split in the membership.
I gave up fishing years ago because fish had learned to ignore my bait. I'd suggest to others that they all become fish...
Well at least everyone on here agrees you only seek to tirelessly troll members of this board... I suggest you take your games elsewhere.... there are many other groups where you would be at home...
They would love you.... Little Englanders... on the right..not happy with bending the knee etc...just your sort... would you like the link? It would be a great swap eh..... win win
