I like the idea of a state bonus for a vasectomy, say £1000, but these days most are reversible. And what happens if the wife/partner dies in an accident or illness, the husband/partner may in time choose to enter a new relationship. Then you are dragging sperm banks into the picture.

Or adoption. There are 68,110 children waiting to be adopted in the UK, according to BAAF.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

But what if the state continued to pay child benefits for each child, until 18 yrs old, but the tax increase was to be a smaller amount but for whole of life?

Maybe, but then you need the desalination plants to make it suitable for irrigation and domestic use, then you also need the supply pipework from the collection points to the plants, before it can be sent to the distribution systems. If it was that economic the world would be doing it big time.

They already are in many places, and as resources get stretched further, it will become economic.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

We mentioned water shortages earlier, including those within the US. Here is the latest news from CA.

California drought: Gov. Jerry Brown declares emergency, asks public to ration water

I would that he imposes a ban on watering your lawn. Or washing your car in your driveway.

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[/quote]

Old James

One of the things i like about Farrage, he doesn't seem afraid to voice an opinion (even if that opinion may make him unpopular with some) and usually gives fairly straight answers to questions. If he's being interviewed on the Today programme i listen, because i know he'll answer the question being asked of him.
Compare that to a Labour/Tory/LD MP, trying to get a straight answer out of them is like trying to nail a poppadom to a gazelle.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Hehehe that is how it is supposed to be :-) Cameron can be asked anything at PMQ, he will always sidestep it by starting off with "What this government has done .....", then end up with "They don't want to hear it Mr Speaker. Listen to what their shadow Chancellor said last year, he said this ....". Farrage is a well meaning amusement, but he hasn't a real clue as to how politics really works.

...and he ain't the only one either, add another 99.9999999999% of the population
and well?...it doesn't look too good does it!!

p.s....you scored a full 100% regarding French grub...

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

I think at the next election i'll write all my local candidate's names on post-its, and then throw a dart.

Just wanted to save you from five...

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Chris you posted

I would be delighted to see it taken out of private hands and "nationalised" by the UN, and operated for the benefit of the people not Microsoft.

I did not know you were a socialist.

I am not. My politics are centre leaning towards centre right. I detest the left wing and trade unionists.

In a civilised western world we should be entitled to expect the following basics.

* Fresh potable water at a tap
* Gas supplies
* Electricty at a switch
* Telephones
* Affordable Public transport
* Sewage system

Unless of course you live remotely out in the sticks when you may have to use bottled gas, springs, generators, cesspits etc. In the UK at least, we also have a free at source NHS system. It is my opinion that the State should provide those services as basic requirements for modern living, and that they should be non profit organisations for the benefit of the general public. What we have at present is the whole damn lot sold of to private enterprise who are only interested in making profits for their shareholders, to the detriment of the general public.

THAT IS WRONG IN PRINCIPLE!

I would also take that one stage further and say that in the 21C the modern western world should also be able to have a computer system that works at cost price, as a basic necessity. Therefore I would advocate Microsoft being taken out of profit making private hands, and run by a world body for the benefit of the worlds people.

Well gee there is LINUX thats free to the world. Why dosent the planet use it?

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[/quote]

Old James

Well gee there is LINUX thats free to the world. Why dosent the planet use it?

Difficult to use and a lot of applications don't run on it. Or at least, thats the perception most people have of Linux.

A fascinating set of figures here on UK Newspaper readership. At first glance it would seem that no wonder the country is in the mess it is in when you see that the top three are the Sun, The Mail, and the Mirror. But look a litle more closely and you will see that their readerships have seriously declined over the last 10 years, as indeed all papers have. A lot of this is of course due to the Internet where people can get breaking world news on the move 24/7. Why wait until 9am to read what went to press at 1am?

I would also like to think that people are getting fed up with reading trashy tabloid headlines, but I'm probably clutching at straws. But the point that I want to make is that at present we have too many Newspapers controlled by one person or corporation. If the public are moving over to online news agencies, who controls all them? And how biased are they?

Newspapers

Here in the states it used to be that you could only own so many TV, radio, and Newspapers in one geograhical area. Some time in the 70's or 80's That law was changed. ( no doubt due to the politicans getting some campainge money) So the end result is big media corparations taking over whole regional markets.
Comcast is buying out Time Warner cable. I bet we dont see a reduction in the monthly bill. Or more TV channels or better internet. I do bet we see more one sided news though.
My local paper is down to 3 days a week for the printed version. Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
I dont know about anyone else But I love reading the Sunday paper.I read the whole thing. No I dont read every article, Just the ones that interest me. I like how its not just a blurb on a website but a full blown article.
I will sit and enjoy myself reading that paper for 5 or 6 hours.
internet news is still young. I do read news on my cell phone. My favorite is the BBC.

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[/quote]

Old James

Yesterdays Independent. BBC accused of political bias – on the right, not the left

I like the BBC news because they have excellent technology and sceince news.

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[/quote]

Old James

Hadn't seen that, interesting..... So it's rudderless and drifting then? Much like the Labour party .....

...much better than having a rudder hit by a torpedo and circling nowhere. With Nickerless Clegg, that's all the Lib-Dems are, Bismarck waiting to be sunk!

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Still not biting.

So see a dentist for some new teeth......

...and then a large mouthful of fluoride.....

...to make that taste even more awful, read this while cleaning your new teeth......

The man really does need to be told to STFU

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Well he can't be any worse that these pair of fools.....

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Bring it all on, Cameron has just signed his death warrant, Labour running around in circles, and UKIP becoming an even more of a joke by the day. Me? I'm looking forward to the next 18 months.

Yep, the Lib-Dems becomes the also-rans of British Politics entering the history books as the "Turncoat Party".....

Maybe they should be renamed....

"Benedict Arnold's" rather than Lib-Dems!

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Oooohhhh just love it, I shall be glued to the screen .....

Farrage getting a wake up call

Could be interesting.
I stick with what i said before about Farrage, i like him because he isn't afraid to say things (a rare quality in a politician, most of whom talk at length without saying anything).

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

I stick with what i said before about Farrage, i like him because he isn't afraid to say things (a rare quality in a politician, most of whom talk at length without saying anything).

Beware of such populists. They say things that resonate with their audience, but what they say or 'aren't afraid of saying' are just half truths or lies. And most of the time they are successful because they say the things that people 'feel' in their gut. But gut feelings are no basis for sound politics, nor are they a sign of vision and ambition on the side of the politician. All these people want is power for the sake of power, to feel justified in their existence, to stroke their own ego. They are cynical and they are exactly the kind of people that should never get a job as politician.

All these people want is power for the sake of power, to feel justified in their existence, to stroke their own ego. They are cynical and they are exactly the kind of people that should never get a job as politician.

Well that's the 650 members of the UK parliament straight out then.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.