Things I wish I knew

[The Camel]

When staying at the monte carlo bay hotel they asked for a credit card, i was felling arsey so i said i didn't have one. You'd have thought the world was caving in with the amount of kerfuffle off the back of it. I was pointing out that it was only a couple of years before that the credit card scan didn't even exist as a thing, but they weren't having it. They asked the guy behind me at the desk if they could scan his card against my room!

What was the upshot?

[ACE2M]

When staying at the monte carlo bay hotel they asked for a credit card, i was felling arsey so i said i didn't have one. You'd have thought the world was caving in with the amount of kerfuffle off the back of it. I was pointing out that it was only a couple of years before that the credit card scan didn't even exist as a thing, but they weren't having it. They asked the guy behind me at the desk if they could scan his card against my room!

What was the upshot?

15 mins later and waiting for a higher power to appear i got bored of seeing people ordering gin and tonics and heading out into the sun so i caved and found the card i'd forgotten about.

[Royal Flush]

Keith - yes, you do have to leave a refundable deposit when you hire a car.

I've rented a lot of cars. Very infrequently have I left a deposit

[Graham C]

Why do we need to put car tax in the windscreen still?   The tele is normally showing adverts telling us they know where to look if our car is untaxed and it can be scrapped if we don't do it, it's all on the computer yet we still need to show a bit of paper in the window for some reason. 

My car tax has gone up £70 since 2007.

Good news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223631

[RED-DOG]

Why do we need to put car tax in the windscreen still?   The tele is normally showing adverts telling us they know where to look if our car is untaxed and it can be scrapped if we don't do it, it's all on the computer yet we still need to show a bit of paper in the window for some reason. 

My car tax has gone up £70 since 2007.

Good news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223631

I rely on expired tax discs to tell me if a vehicle is not currently in use and therefore potentially for sale.

It's a retro step as far as I'm concerned.

PS- Don't get me started on the new scrap metal laws...

[neeko]

PS- Don't get me started on the new scrap metal laws...

Interested in this, however bad they are ( and this is debatable) - doesn't seem to have lowered the number of scarp metal van running about each week.

[Jon MW]

Why do we need to put car tax in the windscreen still?   The tele is normally showing adverts telling us they know where to look if our car is untaxed and it can be scrapped if we don't do it, it's all on the computer yet we still need to show a bit of paper in the window for some reason. 

My car tax has gone up £70 since 2007.

Good news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223631

I rely on expired tax discs to tell me if a vehicle is not currently in use and therefore potentially for sale.

It's a retro step as far as I'm concerned.

PS- Don't get me started on the new scrap metal laws...

But is that only because they are bad for you?

Or do you think both these types of measures are bad in general?

[RED-DOG]

Why do we need to put car tax in the windscreen still?   The tele is normally showing adverts telling us they know where to look if our car is untaxed and it can be scrapped if we don't do it, it's all on the computer yet we still need to show a bit of paper in the window for some reason. 

My car tax has gone up £70 since 2007.

Good news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223631

I rely on expired tax discs to tell me if a vehicle is not currently in use and therefore potentially for sale.

It's a retro step as far as I'm concerned.

PS- Don't get me started on the new scrap metal laws...

But is that only because they are bad for you?

Or do you think both these types of measures are bad in general?

The tax in the window thing was just a personal thing Jon, just a tongue in cheek comment really. The second law is a real disaster for the the Gypsy community and won't do anything to address the problem of metal theft anyway. Criminals don't worry about licences.

PS- Don't get me started on the new scrap metal laws...

Interested in this, however bad they are ( and this is debatable) - doesn't seem to have lowered the number of scarp metal van running about each week.

Basically the new law says that you can't buy or sell scrap for cash, and if you do buy any and pay by card or cheque, you have to record the details of the seller. (Imagine doing that every time you pay a quid for an old fridge or gas cooker). On top of this, buyers need a separate licence for each individual authorities area, but no one seems to know what this means exactly. Alos, the cost is to be determined by each authority at their discretion.

Some of the older members of my extended familly, and many of the older Gypsies in general have been traditional rag & bone men all their lives, they are mostly illirerate and have no idea how to deal with all this new legleslation. Some of them might enter the relms of five or six 'Authority areas' in the course of a typical week.



This is a response from my good friend Isaac Blake, who is a Welsh Gypsy.

Dear all,

As you are aware, the Scrap Metal Act came into force Sunday (1st December 2013) with most Gypsies and Travellers not knowing about or understanding the implications. There was no consultation with the Gypsy and Traveller community in Wales prior to this act coming into force. Gypsies and Travellers form a 'protected characteristic' group and are clearly vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation, if only because of poor literacy and low standards of basic skills.

The Scrap Metal Act due to it's dramatic negative impact on Gypsies and Travellers constitutes undeniable 'cultural discrimination', with this minority group being clearly overrepresented in the numbers who have become criminalised over night and who are now prevented from maintaining cultural patterns of working. This anti-gypsyism is clearly institutional and threaded throughout politics and the public sector supported by evidence today in Cardiff. Today, police; unannounced, targeted a Gypsy and Traveller site - looking to enforce the Scrap Metal Act and catch out any residents not complying. The very fact that police targeted the site underlines the fact that local authorities and the police are intending the law to penalise and impact on Gypsies and Travellers.

There are already not enough Gypsy and Traveller sites within Wales, with some community members regarded as homeless by the state as they are forced to live 'by the roadside'. The Scrap Metal Act; along with other recent legislation, now means that many people from this 'protected group' are now jobless, as well as homeless. Events in Cardiff today prove a very real situation for Gypsies and Travellers in the UK. They are marginalised, penalised by mainstream politics, public services and society because of their cultural choices and ethnicity. We are now seeing this blatant discrimination being supported in legalisation. This should be uncomfortable for us to read and digest - unfortunately, too many people in positions of authority are justifying what is happening, and not seeing the bigger picture. Every Gypsy and Traveller in Wales is somehow affected; be it directly, or indirectly, by the Scrap Metal Act.

Gypsies and Travellers are now more frightened about their futures.
Gypsies and Travellers are now more likely to be living in poverty.
Gypsies and Travellers are now more likely to be criminalised.

What anti-gypsy legislation is next on the horizon?

What else will be justified by the state?

History has shown the very subtle but determined way governments can directly penalise 'unwanted groups' through targeted legislation.

I now need an urgent follow-up meeting to discuss the very real situation for Gypsies and Traveller in Wales. We are getting daily updates from across Wales and the UK on the impact of recent anti-gypsy laws.

We need to move forward and acknowledge the reality now for Gypsies and Travellers in Wales.   

[ExiledDub]

Why does it take 3 weeks to get a company registered for VAT? Surely with a company already registered and the particulars of its directors provided it should be straight forward to process/generate a number?

[Graham C]

When you've been captured by your enemies and they hand you a shovel and tell you to start digging (your own grave obv), why would you? 

[Tal]

When you've been captured by your enemies and they hand you a shovel and tell you to start digging (your own grave obv), why would you? 

I expect it's the psychology of hoping they'll take pity on you if you are compliant.

[RED-DOG]

When you've been captured by your enemies and they hand you a shovel and tell you to start digging (your own grave obv), why would you? 

It's not done as calmly and stoically as it is in the movies, with a few wisecracks thrown in here and there, but by and large, people under immediate threat of death do as they are told.

Witness this footage of Jews lining up to be shot.

WARNING! UPSETTING SCENES.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ParxL_mmi-Y

[bobby1]

Is there a minimum amount of chocolate needed in a piece of confectionery for it to be classed as a chocolate bar?

Is a Twix a chocolate bar even tho about 45% of it is biscuit, 45% of it is caramel/toffee and about only 10% of it is chocolate**

** not official amounts btw.

[RED-DOG]

Is there a minimum amount of chocolate needed in a piece of confectionery for it to be classed as a chocolate bar?

Is a Twix a chocolate bar even tho about 45% of it is biscuit, 45% of it is caramel/toffee and about only 10% of it is chocolate**

** not official amounts btw.

If the outside of the bar is completely covered in chocolate, it qualifies as a chocolate bar.


** not official answer btw.

[taximan007]

Is there a minimum amount of chocolate needed in a piece of confectionery for it to be classed as a chocolate bar?

Is a Twix a chocolate bar even tho about 45% of it is biscuit, 45% of it is caramel/toffee and about only 10% of it is chocolate**

** not official amounts btw.

If the outside of the bar is completely covered in chocolate, it qualifies as a chocolate bar.


** not official answer btw.