He-hoo pays the piper

Romania has been kicked out of the eurovision song contest! Will the UK be kicked out if we go independent, probably not, ah well.

Prince is dead. I found his music completely uninteresting, and am puzzled why people liked it so much.

According to David Icke, Prince was "tuned into something beyond this reality."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDwTJQuB_WI
Maybe so.

Romania should pay its bills and stop relying on us to fund their extravagances. Nobody will be kicking us anywhere. We fund too much other peoples economies. Euro-vision is like a rash. Difficult to get rid of.
Prince was never my cup of tea either. Some say he was brilliant. I do think he was a nice bloke and kept himself to himself and didn't flaunt his talents (or otherwise for the most part) like some cheap hooker. Apparently he was extremely talented with musical instruments of all kinds. Shame to go so early - but then - who's to say what the future might have brought. Could have been miserable - who knows?

Funny stuff, musical ability. Does having musical ability really make someone a better and more admirable person?

It's certainly a highly marketable item:    Tra-£££-la-£££-la-£££.

Not more so than any other 'talent'. I know dozens of talented musicians and in touch with some even today ((after 40 years out of the business). They are no worse or better than say a brilliant mathematician or talented stone mason. Each to their own and each to be lauded for their application to their trade/profession. Everybody has talent. Some are better equipped to 'cash in' on their own particular gift than others. T'is the way of life.

As well as he-hoo, we now have hoo-ha to cope with. For those concerned about financial uncertainty associated with Brexit, the more hoo-ha there is, the more volatility there will be. Best way forward is keep calm and carry on, then all those international traders will think, crikey, the Brits are keeping a cool head, looks like they know what they're doing. It's about confidence, resilience, dependability. No amount of shouting and flapping of hands is at all helpful.

Yes. We know that. But the 'losers' will want to cry over their spilt milk until they get fed up with it and so we will have an ongoing 'moan' until they realise that moaning is not going to get them what they want - another referendum.

As for the future. That's Orange - only - from Australia.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2017-03-27/the-pothole-that-cost-a-council-10-000/

This chap driving an expensive ferrari 'supercar' hit a pothole, damaged his car and was given ten thousand pounds compensation by the local council.

His neighbours might be pleased to see him driving up and down the road going brumm-brummm, knowing they have paid for the spare parts from Italy with their council tax.

Haymakers make hay whilst the sun shines - what else would they do. A change in the law might be the best answer along with bigger speed restrictions inside town boundary. Just when does personal responsibility become everyone else's responsibility. You couldn't sue the council in my day as it was considered that 'holes' in the road were the responsibility of the road user to negotiate - large holes to be reported for attention or fencing off. Suing the council for anything was almost impossible - until we arrived at our PC/compensation mode of lunacy and slick lawyer syndrome. At the same time the council had its own 'works dept' and could attend to things quicker should the need arise. I remember my old man being called out during the night from Princess St yard to rope off areas that had become dangerous etc etc. Different world out there lass -. And not for the better in many respects.

Upgrading the suspension on a Ferrari can be an expensive business, Ferrari owners can now be seen racing around the streets of Peterborough in search of potholes.

It's everyone else's fault. It's everyone else's responsibility. It's got to be worth suing someone.
Fetch me, bring me, carry me. And where's my share of the world that owes me a living?

And you know what I say - - - ? Go get stuffed you lazy pathetic excuses for human beings.

Sounds a bit harsh that doesn't it. See if I care - - - - . The people get what they deserve - especially when they don't make the effort.

Ten thousand pounds is a life-changing amount of money for many people, and a bill for a car repair to others. Whoever decides how this compensation system works is moving money in the wrong direction, away from those who need it and giving it to Ferrari owners. Not everyone will be best pleased with this arrangement.

He who shouts the loudest and he who has the money - gets the prize. There's nothing new in any of that. It would have been cheaper to pay up than to be sued by someone who can afford to do so. It doesn't make it right - but that doesn't alter the way things are. Either we go down the road of total liability, total council responsibility, or zero liability - the motorists responsibility. 40 billion collected last year in road tax and other fines and costs - half of which was spent on other things -. So - you decide. Put a stop to the name and blame and shame as somebody else's fault - or what???? The local councils cannot repair and maintain their own patches as monies are desperately needed elsewhere. You decide - End the compensation culture and remove the legal liabilities - you decide.

If someone chooses to drive a car constructed of icing sugar and manufactured by mongolian maidens, they should not expect the taxpayer to buy them a new one if it crumbles.

The compensation a motorist can claim for damage caused by a pothole should be limited to set, realistic amounts, according to the depth of pothole and speed restriction on the road, not the value and fragility of the vehicle.

And now you know how the EU was formed and why it will inevitably crumble and fade away -- too much legislation, red tape and trough-fed bureaucrats to manage it all. No we do not want to go along the path of blame and percentages of the same etc etc etc etc -. Who sets the standards - who decides the % claims - who does all the paperwork - who gets paid for sitting on his butt pontificating the legislation ad infinitum - - - . Dump the compensation / claim industry back to where it is supposed to be - duty of care not 'money for old rope'. Make the driver responsible for his own care and that of the road and its other users when on roads under 50 mph - perhaps then they won't have time to text each other, phone each other, make-up faces, read books for having to concentrate on where they are driving and on and in what conditions. The sooner we have the driver-less car the better as the computers will detect anomalies long before they 'fall' into them - unlike stupid humans.

Sorry guys, the principle is clear:

Driving a car complying with all aspects of construction and use regulations at legal speed on the public highway, taking reasonable care (all clearly defined legal terms) the vehicle suffers damage, the council, who have a statutory responsibility to maintain the highway such that it can be used in the manner described above, have an absolute legal responsibility to make good the damage.

If a vehicle complying with "all aspects of construction" is going to suffer ten thousand pounds worth of damage from driving over a pothole, those "aspects of construction" need reviewing. The Ferrari in question would seem to be an expensive and fragile vehicle.

Whilst taking on board your fair argument, the reality is that the result is socially divisive, with the hard working poor paying for the luxuries of the well off. That is not what we want, need, and pay for from our legal system.

A system which penalises councils for the extent of their neglect of road surfaces, rather than for the number of expensive and fragile sports cars using their roads might be fairer.

I will have a plateful of principles please. Strange - the plate arrives empty -.

My argument was johnb - change the legislation -. I do know what the present legislation is.

As for Ferrari's etc - I had the Stingray and the Elan 2+2 - and so I know the repair costs of such vehicles - and their limitations on British roads. There is no way the repair costs were commensurate to the damage caused unless the idiot driving it was in some maniacal brainstorm at the time. But like I said - cheaper to pay up than go to court -. It's the system that's wrong -. Driver-less cars and trucks etc is the only answer to sanity for the future when travelling by 'road'.