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Post by mrpastelito on Nov 19, 2024 14:39:19 GMT
Come friendly bombs and fall on Appalachia. It's not fit for Democrats now. It's more a problem of Democrats not being fit for Appalachia now. |
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Post by aargauer on Nov 19, 2024 14:48:11 GMT
Anyone who thinks American food is bad is off their trolley. They have the best food in the western world. Followed by us. Other Europeans haven't yet twigged their native food sucks. Although most of all that great food is a consequence of immigration. Fixed |
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Post by riccimarsh on Nov 19, 2024 16:22:55 GMT
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Post by stodge on Nov 19, 2024 17:18:31 GMT
I find myself intrigued by the thinking behind the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Is this (or could this be) a new policy area for the Opposition in the UK to explore? The simple question is - do we have too much Government and if so, which bits could we live without? The truth however is the relationship between the State and the individual citizen in the US isn't the same as in the UK let alone Europe. There has always been a tension if not outright animosity between the "Government" and the citizen in the US (probably due to the origin of the country itself) which isn't quite as overt here. Nonetheless, in a time where there seems to be a growing mistrust of the role and scope of Government, is there any scope for asking the searching questions about the role of central Government, local Government and the relationship between the State and the individual (the obligations and responsibilites on both sides) ? It’s just buying into the same old fable that you need to bring in ‘a business man’ to ‘run the government like a corporation’ for maximum efficiency. The problem is the private sector makes money by running everything at the tightest possible margin. It involves risk. It involves the possibility of going under. These are risks we cannot afford to take with government administration. Say you run a government department with 360 hours a week of work with 10 full time staff. You could remove one member, stress people out with overtime or drop some less essential tasks (perhaps the harder cases just don’t get done), you now have 9 staff and are only a couple of sicknesses away from critical failure. Government needs slack. And I am taking an extremely charitable version of Musk and Ramaswamy’s ideas here. They have talked about ‘taking all federal employees, if your social security number ends in an odd number, you’re fired’. This is crackpot stuff. Not at all. I've seen this from both sides and it's my experience most private companies should be kept as far away from the provision of public services as possible. DLOs aren't too bad though not without their faults. The example you give is typical - many private sector companies took on local authority work in their sector thinking it was a licence to print money. They considered the local Government staff to be inefficient and once relieved of the burdens of local Government inefficiency would be able to do plenty of fee-earning work for the company. Unfortunately what happened was the local Government work expanded to fill any gaps so yes arguably the staff were more efficient but there was nothing in it for the private company and you ended up with the grotesque situation of the private company either having to charge £125 to change a light bulb at a residential care home or basically begging the Council to pay them more as they couldn't provide the service for the amount they had bid to win the contract. In essence, private companies have profit margins, local authorities have budgets and it's less a case of never the twain shall meet as unless you want to run the service as a loss leader (larger companies can do that) you won't be able to compete with the local council. Yes, the career prospects for the staff in the sector are better and the private company cherry picks the best and brightest for their in-house fee earning projects leaving the local authority work to be done by the lesser qualified and less able staff so the public gets an inferior service from the private operator. |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Nov 19, 2024 17:34:58 GMT
The French invented Native American restaurants, just like they invented tacos.  |
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Post by therealriga on Nov 19, 2024 18:43:27 GMT
I suspect you'd be unimpressed with all three of these if you came to Germany. Anyone who thinks American food is bad is off their trolley. They have the best food in the western world. Followed by us. Other Europeans haven't yet twigged their native food sucks.Most Balts and Scandinavians I've met are fully aware of it. |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Nov 19, 2024 19:39:42 GMT
Anyone who thinks American food is bad is off their trolley. They have the best food in the western world. Followed by us. Other Europeans haven't yet twigged their native food sucks.Most Balts and Scandinavians I've met are fully aware of it. Norway. Find a place in Europe with worse food. |
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Post by finsobruce on Nov 19, 2024 19:55:09 GMT
Most Balts and Scandinavians I've met are fully aware of it. Norway. Find a place in Europe with worse food. But very large wine cellars. |
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Post by aargauer on Nov 19, 2024 19:55:18 GMT
Most Balts and Scandinavians I've met are fully aware of it. Norway. Find a place in Europe with worse food. Been there. Iceland. |
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cathyc
Non-Aligned
Posts: 1,101
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Post by cathyc on Nov 19, 2024 20:05:23 GMT
Norway. Find a place in Europe with worse food. Been there. Iceland. It may not be good food at Iceland but it is good value. |
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Post by aargauer on Nov 19, 2024 20:24:21 GMT
It may not be good food at Iceland but it is good value. I don't think I've ever been in one 😂. |
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Post by timmullen on Nov 19, 2024 20:49:29 GMT
It may not be good food at Iceland but it is good value. I don't think I've ever been in one 😂. You don’t need to, there home delivery service is excellent, we used to have a very nice man who used to make us a cuppa while he was putting the food in the fridge/freezer. |
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Post by riccimarsh on Nov 19, 2024 21:12:19 GMT
Dr. Oz is back:
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Post by timmullen on Nov 19, 2024 21:14:48 GMT
He really is testing his Senate caucus - that’s one that could be problematic as it’s below Cabinet level so the procedural nicety that a President should be able to have the Cabinet of his choice won’t apply. |
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Post by manchesterman on Nov 20, 2024 0:26:52 GMT
Seeing reports that Trump may consider using the National Guard from neighbouring Red States to enact forcible deportations from within Blue States. Pritzker said this wont be happening under his watch in Illinois. This could get ugly.
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Post by timmullen on Nov 20, 2024 3:12:24 GMT
Seeing reports that Trump may consider using the National Guard from neighbouring Red States to enact forcible deportations from within Blue States. Pritzker said this wont be happening under his watch in Illinois. This could get ugly. AFAIK the Federal government can only use the National Guard with the permission of the State, Bush 43 had a major falling out with Katherine Babineau Blanco, then Governor of Louisiana, over her tardiness in deploying the Guard in New Orleans post-Katrina, and if you go even further back it’s why Eisenhower had to deploy the regular Army in Little Rock to enforce the SCOTUS school desegregation ruling and there was a potential standoff because the Arkansas Governor had deployed the National Guard to enforce the ban. It’s also how the Governors of Virginia and Maryland were able to send elements of their Guard to Washington on January 6th without Trump’s approval. |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Nov 20, 2024 7:40:00 GMT
That bloke is unflushable. |
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Post by markgoodair on Nov 20, 2024 8:19:16 GMT
Trump has nominated Linda McMahon founder of World Wrestling Entertainment as Education Secretary.
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Post by timmullen on Nov 20, 2024 8:45:15 GMT
Trump has nominated Linda McMahon founder of World Wrestling Entertainment as Education Secretary. On paper she seems an ok nomination, was a quiet Administrator of the Small Business Administration during the first Trump term, but she and her husband, and WWE, are facing what could be damaging sex abuse allegations. |
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Post by riccimarsh on Nov 20, 2024 10:09:28 GMT
Trump has nominated Linda McMahon founder of World Wrestling Entertainment as Education Secretary. She and her husband, and WWE, are facing what could be damaging sex abuse allegations. Seems like a prerequisite to be nominated for Trump’s cabinet. |
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