caldrail
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Blog Comments posted by caldrail
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Yep - I know exactly what you mean. The jobseeker agency seem to be absolutely determined to push me into part-time labouring.
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Personalised Job Search Assistance Session? Yes, I did one of those a couple of weeks ago. A young woman insisting I use public transport to travel beyond the visible horizon (No, I couldn't, I just couldn't), and also going to great lengths to prove how financially better off I'll be if I sign up for a low paid job. My impression is that she has little experience of job-searching, and given she's a pretty young woman with an education she is therefore capable of getting a job almost anywhere, whereas a single white male of mature age without a vocation is actually a disadvantaged person, a statistical embarrasement, and too long in the tooth to be persuaded that the world will be his oyster if he settles for being a washed up grunt in manual labour. Not that I'm developing a chip on my shoulder you understand..
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Sharp Dressed Man? Oh that is soooo eighties... get with the times Doc. Men have moved on from texas-style beards
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And as for the nightclub downstairs...as Bugs Bunny says, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Break out that sequined shirt, grab your dancin' shoes, and go!
Sequined shirt!!???
What are you trying to say Doc??
That Caldrails fashion sense is stuck in the 70's?
Those hip and happening dudes downstairs had better watch out, Caldrail Travolta is about to crash the party!!!!
Darn... My cover blown... I surrender my medallion in dishonour.... And break out the military surplus.
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Do 100mph in england and you're front page news these days, dragged through a crowd of photographers with a towel over your head. The welsh police chief doesn't bother with that sort of malarkey, he prefers to jump out of bushes with speed cameras for a hobby, and then tars and feathers you for not being a welsh driver.
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Your corolla has an accelerator pedal? The UK spec ones don't, I think the government banned them!
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I doubt she was in control of herself to begin with. You can just see her becoming a prostitute or an addict if her life hadn't gone into music. I wonder what will happen when she gets older? Can't really see her ever being happy.
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Probably not (I'm not acquainted with Billie Holliday) but then isn't this sort of publicity and hype an essential part of profiteering from the music business? I wonder if the pressure on Amy to perform at her best is part of the reason she wobbles. A lot of time and effort has been expended by her record company to put her in the public eye - and sometimes you have to wonder if her quirks are being quietly encouraged to make her newsworthy, thus a saleable commodity. When I got involved in the music business, I knew there were sharks in the water. What I didn't know was that they'd eaten all the fish.
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Oh we did play to crowds sometimes
As for Amy Winehouse, you can't help wondering how long she's going to be with us. Its sometimes said that the greatest stars are driven by internal demons. Maybe thats not rue across the board, but it certainly happens for some people. Amy Winehouse isn't quite that. She's a girl with some talent for singing whose life is out of control because she's too emotionally immature to handle the success.
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Modern life is suprisingly cossetting isn't it? I see people wandering around at night in shirtsleeves, even in winter. To some extent, its down to age, because these young lads are behaving a bit macho and a jacket is a sweaty encumbrance in a nightclub, and in any case, being young they're better able to shrug off the cold. But its not just that. Radiation heat from asphalt and whatever other source in urban areas makes cold weather that much more bearable. Thing is, that evening showed me a startling difference in temperature gradient, plus what amounted to wind chill. Its summer for crying out loud, and there I was, pulling out a padded jacket from my rucksack to keep warm. I suspect a country dwelling person would have ensured his comfort instinctively - such concerns would be natural to him, since thats the enviroment he's familiar with. I'm a visitor to the countryside, so I need to think ahead a little more carefully. But, as they say, you can get used to anything.
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The problem is that the benefits system is being exploited by professional claimants at too high a level. There are regular tv ads designed to persuade these people to stop claiming whilst secretly working, and also the government have introduced ways of checking unemployed people actually are, and what they're doing to stop being unemployed.
One scruffy young manager at the job agency decided a few years back that I was one such professional claimant. I wasn't, but he was keen to get on and saw me as a potential victim. So he cheated me on some vacancies he'd thrown at me. He claimed there were ten vacancies, but he only gave me six, and because I hand't therefore applied to all ten, he was therefore 'justified' in stopping my payments. I had to make an official complaint about him before the payments were resumed, and I was lucky enough to find a job a few weeks afterward anyway.
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Pleased to be of service
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Its a very windy day today, the threat of rain waiting in the wings. Unfortunately I'm not able to send it your way - we receive your left over weather more often than not.
Don't worry about the Monty Python moment. We've all done it!
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Pro-european arguments carry no weight with me I'm afraid. I've told you what my nationalism is - there's no point questioning or attempting to redefine it. All those opinions about europe being a vehicle for national identity aren't going to matter one jot. You know the saying - power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Why do you think people say that? Because thats how people are. The EU is known to be fundamentally corrupt in its business dealings and just because you pwersonally haven't encountered anything you resent, that doesn't mean the EU is innocent of all charges. The fact is the EU is offering nothing more than we already have. All its doing is generating a new empire without the consent of its new citizens. It wants its own leader, its own army, all the structures of nationhood. Once they've achieved that, how will they secure the loyalty of their citizens? By reducing their national identity, or making it something quaint and containable. Our current government is pro-Lisbon Treaty and notice the lengths they've gone to to erode public opinion. On the news last night I saw a mention that the Treaty of Lisbon is to be revived, despite three negative votes for an treaty that requires full agreement from all concerned. These people aren't interested in what we think. They just don't care. They want a european empire because it represents power and status, something larger they can control. Some want their name in the history books for creating it, some want to be boss, others simply want our cash. What they don't want is anyone stopping them.
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But thats just it. Politicians loved the Treaty of Lisbon because it gave them a higher level of power of attain, a new arena, not to mention whatever promises, deals, or agreements had been made behind closed doors - you can't tell me that politicians don't do that.
The people however are nationalistic. We like being whatever nationality we are, and after all the struggles of the past to achieve the peace we have in europe, why should we be willing to sit there with fingers in our ears, eyes closed, while politicians take away our national identity?
Sorry, I just can't accept it. And if giovernments have a mandate from the people, why was it necessary to hold a referendum at all? I notice that the promised referendum in britain is being swept under the carpet and forgotten. Someone wants me to forget I'm british. Sorry, no, no politician has the right to do that unless he asks me for my permission. Thats my my view on it.
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If you let politicians make 'important' decisions, just wait and see how many decisions become 'important'. In no way whatsoever do you let a politician make decisions without accountability. Thats the whole point of democracy. The people have a part (at whatever level) in the decision making process. It seems the europeans are more amenable to dictatorial government. I certainly don't want some arrogant idiot in London telling me my country doesn't exist anymore, that would I please carry an ID card at all times, and could I explain why I'm so unhappy about our glorious leader.
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such an ambitious transnational treaty is not something the uneducated masses can vote on
Thats exactly the point. The people building this new superstate aren't interested in the welfare of the masses involved. They're just plebs. The 'bread and circuses' syndrome has already taken root in britain, where we see the government sponsoring public entertainment and going to such great lengths to bankrupt the country staging the olympics. Europe has functioned on a similar principle to the roman repubic - power is temporary, shared, and by consent. We now seem to be approaching a 'triumvirate' stage, where influential people are seeking personal power on a larger scale.
You can smile if you wish - I hope you're right. The greatest disadvantage to national size and strength is that it provides a strong base for those who wish to exploit. Six million jews can't be wrong, and French/German ambition has always been for a european empire.
Switzerland, the only country in the world where direct democracy has ever worked.Democracy is not a fully defined 'thing'. Its not that a country is either democratic or not. Its not a black or white issue, its shades of grey. How democratic is a country? Switzerland is a rarity but they'd be reasonably happy whatever their politics - its their mindset, their way of life, its just how switzerland is. The british are more bolshy and stubborn, quietly and sometimes intensely patriotic, and certainly less amenable to USofE. Its something much deeper in our psyche. Being an island, having fought off continental aggression, and so forth. Nonetheless, once the USofE is a reality, what can stop its president from personal ambition? At the moment, an individual leader who gets ideas above his station is held back by the others. Once he is in sole charge, that check is gone. People use to think Hitler was an ok guy.
Also, I find quite diverting and amusing the fact that Ireland is one of the countries (if not THE country) who benefited most from EU membership.Yes. EU membership. Part of a co-operative group. But they don't want to lose their own self determination. They want to be irish. So they said No.
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It has been said that the artificial borders the europeans foisted on africa in colonial days have caused conflict and misery after they left, and you can't help but think there's some truth in that. Nonetheless, I notice that conflict in africa is still taking place irrspective of boundaries, in that tribal issues and argumentsresult in antagonistic behaviour that sometimes boils over. These old tribal issues run deep in the african psyche - we see the hatreds bubble to the surface when conflict breaks out. Would things have been any different had we not been there? no, not really, although we gave them some extra arguments to fight over. However, what exacerbates the african situation is modern commercial and political pressures. There are ideological issues as power blocs seek third world allies, and indeed, the cold war was largely fought on neutral territory, but al;so because the third world has natural resources. China for instance has made huge inroads in african politics bcause they want oil. Badly. Gold and diamonds have also been the cause of miltary action. The abortive coup in Equatorial Guinea was for no other reason.
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Well.. regarding my drag coefficient, it was a little obvious. Funny thing was I hadn't realised how much my fitness had declined. Believe me, I'm only too aware now!
As for Zimbabwe - its all going to end in tears. Mug has already declared that if he's replaced in power his followers will take violent action. Think I said something like that was going to happen...
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More like Mr Sulk...
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Doc.. no... don't do it! Please! Resist, you must resist.
In any case, it appears that a decent diesel hatchback will get better fuel economy.
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What? Gordon Brown? Mr Family Man and your neighbourhood caring sharing Prime Minister with an ear for the needs of his adoring low paid public?
You've got to be joking. As soon as he discovers people enjoy themselves he'll slap a tax on laughter.
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Yeah, I sort of know what you mean. The original screenplay for Rambo 1 had the colonel shoot Rambo dead right at the end, on the basis he realises that this guy coming to pieces in the wreckage of the police station will never adjust to civilian life and he feels responsible for training the man to that state. Stallone however had some creative influence (he's listed in the credits as such) and demanded his character survives, so he could make two (sorry, three) sequels that are teeth clenchingly awful. A shame. The original really isn't a bad film at all.
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Calm your enthusiasm Doc - they are now officially declared dry. My rucksack is still damp at the bottom though if you want to keep celebrating. Whilst I'm waiting, lets play that CD again....
Another Foreign Legion
in caldrail's Blog
A blog by caldrail in General
Posted
Ask Britain for theirs.