Local Politics

[Fester]

Personally I think these Litter Wardens look more like Pub Bouncers.  Maybe they should be given a litter picker and a bag so they could clear up as they go about the town! 
 :rage:

Agreed,  they look like poorly dressed, unregulated pub bouncers at that.  Not too bright either.

REMEMBER.... if approached by them, never comply or engage them, there is nothing that they can do about a non-compliant person.  Not without massively inconveniencing them and preventing them earning money for the rest of the day.

They are Scum actually.... and we have a thread designed  just for them!

[Merddin Emrys]

As I commented here ages ago, I wouldn't tell them my name and address! I don't drop litter ever, but it is possible to drop a shop till receipt without noticing and then they could pounce!

[born2run]

Personally I think these Litter Wardens look more like Pub Bouncers.  Maybe they should be given a litter picker and a bag so they could clear up as they go about the town! 
 :rage:

Agreed,  they look like poorly dressed, unregulated pub bouncers at that.  Not too bright either.

REMEMBER.... if approached by them, never comply or engage them, there is nothing that they can do about a non-compliant person.  Not without massively inconveniencing them and preventing them earning money for the rest of the day.

They are Scum actually.... and we have a thread designed  just for them!

For once we agree  Walking on the road by Bog Island (KFC side) I walked the whole road looking for a bin to put my rubbish in, didn't find one bin and had to cross the street but did walk past four of these goons. Must have to collect a lot of fines to pay them all

[DaveR]

I saw a comment on Oscar's Blog that Guto Bebb is 'on an all expenses paid trip to Israel paid for by the taxpayer, Conservative group friends of Israel'. Is this true? If it is true, what relevance has it to his Constituency? He could spend the time more productively by trying to push the Pavilion issue to the fore, I'm sure that's what local voters would prefer?

[Merddin Emrys]

I've not previously heard of 'Conservative friends of Israel' whatever is the point of that?

[norman08]

That is why he couldn't,t attend the civic Sunday bash to go with the other freeloaders ,amazing where they all come from when the free food is  on offer

[Yorkie]

I've not previously heard of 'Conservative friends of Israel' whatever is the point of that?

Lots of freebie trips and bacon sandwiches!     

[Ian]

Conservative friends of Israel: all explained here...

http://www2.cfoi.co.uk/

[Merddin Emrys]

Amazing! Can't see the point of it! What has it got to do with the UK?

[DaveR]

Conservative friends of Israel: all explained here...

http://www2.cfoi.co.uk/

Friends of the biggest warmongers in the Middle East? Nice... 

[Merddin Emrys]

Conservative friends of Israel: all explained here...

http://www2.cfoi.co.uk/

Friends of the biggest warmongers in the Middle East? Nice... 

Not just me that thinks that then! 

[Fester]

One man's 'Warmonger'  is another man's 'Defender'

I happen to agree with Israel's robust defence of it's border area.

I have visited and worked in Israel, and the constant threat from all sides is palpable.

[Ian]

This is an incredibly thorny issue and I doubt there are any clear-cut answers. You can - as Dave says - suggest the Israelis are "the biggest warmongers in the Middle East", and with some justification.  The State of Israel was born in blood through terrorism in 1948, but that makes it much like any other state and country in the world.

But the Arab nations have taken an interesting position towards Israel. By publicly and openly denying its existence and refusing to recognise it they make negotiations extremely difficult. In addition all Arab states are officially dedicated to the destruction of Israel - another aspect which makes negotiation a tad tricky. Finally, the extreme elements in Gaza are using exactly the same tactics on the Israelis as the latter did on the British in 1948, so defeating them will be impossible. All in all it makes the 'nest of vipers' analogy almost tame by comparison.

This last confrontation was started by the murder of three teenage Israelis and Israel's leaders had little choice but to respond aggressively.  But none of this addresses the Conservative friends of Israel's relevance. The thinking is probably because so many banking and major business interests are in the hands of the Jewish, and some of the biggest party donors are Jewish. But that fails to take into account that leading Labour party politicians are and always have been Jewish.

As I said, no easy answers but I don't think - on balance - that they're actively warmongering.

[DaveR]

I don't think - on balance - that they're actively warmongering.

Opinions vary on that one...

"In a report published in February 2014 covering incidents over the three year period of 2011-2013, Amnesty International asserted that Israeli forces employed reckless violence in the West Bank, and in some instances appeared to engage in wilful killings which would be tantamount to war crimes. Besides the numerous fatalities, Amnesty said at least 261 Palestinians, including 67 children, had been gravely injured by Israeli use of live ammunition. In this same period, 45 Palestinians, including 6 children had been killed. Amnesty's review of 25 civilians deaths concluded that in no case was there evidence of the Palestinians posing an imminent threat. At the same time, over 8,000 Palestinians suffered serious injuries from other means, including rubber-coated metal bullets."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict

To pick out just one example...

"On 13 January 2009, 47-year-old Rawhiya al-Najjar was shot in the head as she walked ahead of a group of women carrying a white flag near her home in the village of Khuza’a, in the south of Gaza. Her 14-year-old daughter Heba, who was next to her when she was shot, told Amnesty International:

At about 8am we decided to leave and go to the centre of the village where we would be safe. My mother gave people white cloths to make flags and she also had a white flag and was at the front of the group… We walked a few steps and [another young relative] Yasmine said she saw soldiers in houses nearby. My mother turned her head to talk to the neighbours, telling them not to be afraid, and at that moment she was shot in the head, on the left side, and the bullet went through and out from the right side. She fell, and Yasmine tried to help her; she was also shot in the leg. Everybody ran back. Nobody could go to help my mother or to recover her body and she lay there on the road till the evening, when the soldiers left.

Amnesty International’s delegates examined the house where the soldiers who shot Rawhiya were reportedly stationed, and saw the hole made by the snipers in the wall of the house, which faced the spot where she was shot about 100m away. At least two human rights organizations, one Israeli and one Palestinian, submitted complaints in 2009 about the killing; in early 2012, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem was informed that the criminal investigation had been closed and that no charges would be filed."
http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/BB8473D094BDB49485257C91005359E4

[Ian]

I know and I agree that both sides have committed some unbelievable atrocities. But the fact that one of the complaints was from an Israeli Human Rights group does suggest that there are significant factions within Israel, and that makes it as difficult to describe the Israelis as 'warmongering' as it does to describe the Arabs as savages.

And the aggressive expansionist policies of one Israeli faction doesn't help. But all too often this is what you get, when you're dealing with a conflict that goes back more than 4000 years.