The Anything Thread that is Never off subject.

[MikelBikel]

It does sound fraudulent to call it Council Tax, when only a fraction goes to the ... Council.
Does it sound more like obtaining money under false pretences?

Ex police CID explains fraud of #council #tax Part 9 #viral #shorts #fraud #wealth #lawofattraction

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[MikelBikel]

Y, sounds like fraud?
You can challenge it.
y, try it, in their court, If you're given "leave" to submit a case. ;-)

Only 30% of #council #tax and 18% of #business #rates goes back to local #government #fyp #shorts

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

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[Tony1951]

to be fair, dodgy boundaries are a UK staple. two tier keir celebrating his friendship with the former best friend of a pedo after firing another bloke for being friends with the same and using charlie, father of another best friend of the same as a royal stamp of approval for the entire lovely spectacle comes to mind.

Hamlet's "the murder of Gonzago" has absofuckinglutely nothing on the parody life in the uk has become

Yes - you are right there. I've posted many many criticisms of Trump, but to be fair, he did break with Epstein well back and unlike Mandelson, he did not as far as I know engage in an email exchange advising him to fight the conviction, denying that he did what he did. I must say - I am not absolutely on top of the details of the relationships between Trump and Epstien and Mandelson and Epstien, but Mandelson is I think up to his neck in the sycophantic adoration he sent Epstien's way.

But there is another dimension. A more important one, I think. Starmer REALLY does have to maintain a good relationship with Trump, not on his own behalf, but because of the impact on the UK of a deterioration in relations. That - given Trumps crazy emotional nature, and violent mood swings, and his penchant for executive orders could land us with massive tariffs, withdrawal of military and intelligence support and a whole array of other damage. He's like the Queen of Hearts - 'Off with his head!'

I think Starmer has no option but to try and appease Trump. The alternative is too damaging otherwise.

 

[MikelBikel]

3 MILLION , release the sausages , nuff said

Release the Gammons

Is this true about Sky News

@SkyNews @TommyRobinsonOnline #london #viral #tommy #tommyrobinson #peaceful #march

youtube.com

 

[Woosh]

Yes - you are right there. I've posted many many criticisms of Trump, but to be fair, he did break with Epstein well back and unlike Mandelson, he did not as far as I know engage in an email exchange advising him to fight the conviction, denying that he did what he did. I must say - I am not absolutely on top of the details of the relationships between Trump and Epstien and Mandelson and Epstien, but Mandelson is I think up to his neck in the sycophantic adoration he sent Epstien's way.

I wonder if Trump reported Epstein to the FBI and if so when?

 

[MikelBikel]

AI knows where you were today..
Hope you weren't doing anything it "thought" you shouldn't.
err..

 

[Woosh]

AI knows where you were today..
Hope you weren't doing anything it "thought" you shouldn't.
err..
[MEDIA]

AI is much bigger than just facial recognition. It's education, reasoning, healthcare, jobs, civics and support for loneliness.

 

[jonathan.agnew]

Yes - you are right there. I've posted many many criticisms of Trump, but to be fair, he did break with Epstein well back and unlike Mandelson, he did not as far as I know engage in an email exchange advising him to fight the conviction, denying that he did what he did. I must say - I am not absolutely on top of the details of the relationships between Trump and Epstien and Mandelson and Epstien, but Mandelson is I think up to his neck in the sycophantic adoration he sent Epstien's way.

But there is another dimension. A more important one, I think. Starmer REALLY does have to maintain a good relationship with Trump, not on his own behalf, but because of the impact on the UK of a deterioration in relations. That - given Trumps crazy emotional nature, and violent mood swings, and his penchant for executive orders could land us with massive tariffs, withdrawal of military and intelligence support and a whole array of other damage. He's like the Queen of Hearts - 'Off with his head!'

I think Starmer has no option but to try and appease Trump. The alternative is too damaging otherwise.

It's the kind of collusion that goes with censorship, as in usa, a slippery slope

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/sep/18/abc-barred-from-trumps-uk-press-conference-after-clash-with-australian-journalist-john-lyons

And of course not allowing the public more knowledge of Trump, or his friends' "business dealings". Each to their own, but i prefer not to live in too much of an oligarchy.

 

[Tony1951]

It's the kind of collusion that goes with censorship, as in usa, a slippery slope

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/sep/18/abc-barred-from-trumps-uk-press-conference-after-clash-with-australian-journalist-john-lyons

And of course not allowing the public more knowledge of Trump, or his friends' "business dealings". Each to their own, but i prefer not to live in too much of an oligarchy.

Some people are involved in the Epstein scandals right up to their necks. Others were I think simply taken in by a smooth tongued villain. Some criminals are instantly obvious to anyone who meets them, but others can be difficult to spot unless they reveal their villainy. I am quite prepared from personal experience to believe that sensible people can be taken in by practised deceivers. I have been.

I once went to court to give a character reference for someone in the neighbourhood who had been a passing acquaintance for many years, but I now believe him to be a liar and probably guilty of the crime he was charged with. I regret supporting him when I did. He assured me that he had not done what he was accused of (a threat to kill) and I believed him. I asked him if he had ever been in trouble with the police and if so what he had been accused of and he assured me very convincingly that he had never been in any trouble at all. After I had given my evidence, he was found guilty and then the district judge asked about his previous record. He had been found guilty of assault and had been sentenced before, so he lied to me and I had believed him. Had I known of his record, I would never have spent days waiting in court to give evidence on his behalf.

 

[Tony1951]

I wonder if Trump reported Epstein to the FBI and if so when?

You assume that he saw something to report. I have no idea and neither do you about what he knew. If the birthday card thing is genuine, its cryptic language might be thought to involve him in dubious 'secrets'. That needs to be established.

My point was that Mandelson seemed almost to be in love with Epstein, judging by the language used in his emails. He was certainly infatuated by his wealth and power. It also chimes with his strange remark, for a Labour figure, 'New Labour is intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich.'

“Intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich”

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Thursday, 14 February 2013 at 9:55 pm Following my post on Tuesday about the etymology of some of the Sayings of Mandelson, a correction. The earliest instance of Peter M…

independentblogposts.wordpress.com

 

[Woosh]

My point was that Mandelson seemed almost to be in love with Epstein, judging by the language used in his emails

You could have said the same thing about Trump and Epstein. I don't try to see into their bromances, other than Trump was friend to Epstein a lot earlier and longer than Mandelson. Michael Wolf who wrote a series of books on the life and work of Trump spent an awful ot of time (he's got hundreds of hours of recordings) interviewing Epstein because he was about to write Epstein's biography before Epstein got arrested in New York and died in prison. Trump doesn't sue Michael Wolf becaue? and yet, he just sued the Ney York Times for $15 billion libel just because they published some unflattering articles and made an illegal "campaign contribution" in 2024 to opponent Kamala Harris. As yet. the authorities never interviewd Michael Wolf. Why? Could it be because Wolf knows a lot and has the tapes about the Epstein entourage?

Donald Trump-Jeffrey Epstein Allegations by Michael Wolff... - Newsweek

 

[MikelBikel]

If there was something in it Clings-on, Poopy pants or Barry O' would've used it.
Unless they were All on the island?
Together with the..
"The Senate recently voted 51-49 to defeat an amendment that would have forced the release of Jeffrey Epstein files, with two Republican senators joining Democrats in favor of the amendment. This vote highlights ongoing tensions regarding transparency in the Epstein investigation. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=senate+vote+to+release+epstein+files&ia=web&assist=true"
Very confusing, the Reps voted With Schumer to table it 51 to 49, except for 2.
Then a different 2 swing it the other way.
Is it just confused , or what?

 

[Woosh]

At all corners if France, French came out today in demonstrations of their ras-le-bol in their hundreds of thousands if not millions. We have here a new Prime Minister since not even two weeks ago, Sébastien Lecornu, 39 years old, bright, social conservative. I would say just what France needs but I don't work here. One random guy in the manif told the camera: I am 25, earn 995 euros a month and my rent is 600 euros. There isn't much left. A middle age teacher was complaining that her salary is frozen or making little progress for years, children with special educational needs that she cares for lose a bit more of the help each and every year. Pensoners complain that their state pension is not enough. Billions being given to revitalising industries without much oversight etc etc. On TV, people talk endlessly about 'la taxe Zucman', aimed at those whose fortune is at least 100 million euros, some 1800 families. The idea is simple: the minimum tax is 2% of their known fortune. If they owe less than that in taxes then the minimum applies.
The new tax proposes to raise 20 billions euros a year from next year.
I like the concept but honestly, 20 billions euros won't change much for the 80% of French who rely on earned income and feel fed up with everything. At least the weather is nice.

 

[Tony1951]

At all corners if France, French came out today in demonstrations of their ras-le-bol in their hundreds of thousands if not millions. We have here a new Prime Minister since not even two weeks ago, Sébastien Lecornu, 39 years old, bright, social conservative. I would say just what France needs but I don't work here. One random guy in the manif told the camera: I am 25, earn 995 euros a month and my rent is 600 euros. There isn't much left. A middle age teacher was complaining that her salary is frozen or making little progress for years, children with special educational needs that she cares for lose a bit more of the help each and every year. Pensoners complain that their state pension is not enough. Billions being given to revitalising industries without much oversight etc etc. On TV, people talk endlessly about 'la taxe Zucman', aimed at those whose fortune is at least 100 million euros, some 1800 families. The idea is simple: the minimum tax is 2% of their known fortune. If they owe less than that in taxes then the minimum applies.
The new tax proposes to raise 20 billions euros a year from next year.
I like the concept but honestly, 20 billions euros won't change much for the 80% of French who rely on earned income and feel fed up with everything. At least the weather is nice.

France spends far too much and taxes far too much. Its debt to GDP ratio is twice the maximum allowed by EU rules. People retire at an unrealistic age and fall on to state support when life expectancy is rising, and the politicians contrive a coalition to keep out what I think may be the largest party. This contrived coalition is impossible to sustain - hence the fall of the PM.

France will not prosper until she shrinks the size of the state, but as Benjamin Franklin famously said, "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." Of course - proposing the needed level of cuts will not fly with the electorate. Franklin was right. Your doomed.

 

[Benjahmin]

And here we have the fundamental problem with the deficit spending model that all western governments work on.
During election cycles appealing promises are made, of course most are not kept, but over the years there has been a gradual increase in the amount of payments made to those in need, or voting blocks large enough to influence the outcome.
For most economies this has now got to the point that exchequer outgoings are far higher than incomings. Add to this inefficient management and mal-investment and the numbers are huge.
So, either taxes have to go up, or spending has to go down. Neither are popular and governments know this. So they obfuscate, fudge and downright lie because their main aim is to stay in power.

We are living in the time of the slow, painful death of the current monetary system. Debt will continue to grow, so more money will be printed to cover the deficit. This will result in diminishing spending power (value) of each currency unit, be it pound, euro, dollar etc. So called 'transitory' inflation is here to stay - always has been, it's part of the model, it's just that now we are on the part of the exponential curve that is approaching vertical.
No government can be looked at to reliably help you out here. The best thing you can do as an individual is to put any savings into the only form of money that cannot be printed/manufactured. Gold is currently running at a sterling equivalence of £2,700/ounce, silver at £31/ounce. These 'valuations' will continue to rise (with corrections and pulbacks) for the forseeable future, until money is no longer printed and we cease this insane deficit spending model.
For UK savers Brittanias and sovereigns are capital gains tax free. Help yourself (because your government can't/won't) and transfer any savings into them.

I don't know what the final collapse will look like or when it will be. But it will be disruptive, painful and extremely volatile. I hope I don't live long enough to see it !

 

[jonathan.agnew]

And here we have the fundamental problem with the deficit spending model that all western governments work on.
During election cycles appealing promises are made, of course most are not kept, but over the years there has been a gradual increase in the amount of payments made to those in need, or voting blocks large enough to influence the outcome.
For most economies this has now got to the point that exchequer outgoings are far higher than incomings. Add to this inefficient management and mal-investment and the numbers are huge.
So, either taxes have to go up, or spending has to go down. Neither are popular and governments know this. So they obfuscate, fudge and downright lie because their main aim is to stay in power.

We are living in the time of the slow, painful death of the current monetary system. Debt will continue to grow, so more money will be printed to cover the deficit. This will result in diminishing spending power (value) of each currency unit, be it pound, euro, dollar etc. So called 'transitory' inflation is here to stay - always has been, it's part of the model, it's just that now we are on the part of the exponential curve that is approaching vertical.
No government can be looked at to reliably help you out here. The best thing you can do as an individual is to put any savings into the only form of money that cannot be printed/manufactured. Gold is currently running at a sterling equivalence of £2,700/ounce, silver at £31/ounce. These 'valuations' will continue to rise (with corrections and pulbacks) for the forseeable future, until money is no longer printed and we cease this insane deficit spending model.
For UK savers Brittanias and sovereigns are capital gains tax free. Help yourself (because your government can't/won't) and transfer any savings into them.

I don't know what the final collapse will look like or when it will be. But it will be disruptive, painful and extremely volatile. I hope I don't live long enough to see it !

Almost agree, specially with gilt yields spiking to highest level this century over past week. Something (or someone) has to give (some tax revenue), and with hospitality kier at the helm it's not going to be offshore tax havens, multinationals or oligarchs.
However, against long term debt levels, an independent observer may argue that it's always been thus. That this may be the crest of the uncertainty wave

UK government debt 2025| Statista

Public sector net debt amounted to 95.8 percent of gross domestic product in the United Kingdom during the 2024/25 financial year, or 90 percent when the Bank of England is excluded.

www.statista.com

As my uncle oswald used to point out, bull and bear market swings rely on everyone getting it wrong, sometimes it pays to do the opposite of what everyone's doing

 

[Woosh]

As my uncle oswald used to point out, bull and bear market swings rely on everyone getting it wrong, sometimes it pays to do the opposite of what everyone's doing

there are other ways to seemingly create or conjure up more wealth from the existing pool, such as asset inflation and cryptos so that there are a lot more winners than losers.

 

[jonathan.agnew]

there are other ways to seemingly create or conjure up more wealth from the existing pool, such as asset inflation and cryptos so that there are a lot more winners than losers.

It's what sweet gordon brown did when he raided pension funds and sent all that money into property inflation for new Labour.

 

[Woosh]

It's what sweet gordon brown did when he raided pension funds and sent all that money into property inflation for new Labour.

Excellent electioneering!