Points to Ponder

[Ian]

The biggest problems we face today are segregational religions. The Exclusive Brethren are one such of the Christian groups, but the Witnesses are not far behind. It's both interesting and worrying that if you examine the historical examples of Genocide, torture, mutilation and execution the roots of most of these pastimes lie in organised Religion.

[Michael]

 Its about the different degrees and/or classes of Jews. You quoted the different sections, I don't recall the names never had to study the subject. I understand that the type or shape of hat tells the onlooker what section they believe in.
  But correct me if I am wrong. Your point was why not encourage a bit of Jewish financial investment in the area. But only from "moderate" Jews. And that was why I wrote how can you tell one group from another?

[Ian]

My concern was more that we were separating out Judaism from Christianity and it concerned me that extremists exist in all religions. You can't usually tell if someone's from an extreme branch of Christianity or Judaism, purely from looking at them (I suppose white hoods and burning crosses might be a clue in the case of the KKK) and we can't stop minority sects from buying property. We can, however, make mainstream religious groups welcome and actively encourage them to invest, in much the way the Methodist Church has invested in Colwyn Bay over the years.

[SteveH]

House prices: Renting to overtake home ownership among young, says PwC

More than half of the under 40s will be renting homes from private landlords in the UK in 10 years' time, accountancy firm PwC has predicted.
It suggests house prices will rise at an average of 5% a year, pricing the typical home at £360,000 by 2020.
Industry figures show that first-time buyers typically need to find a deposit of 18% to secure a mortgage.
Using PwC data, that would equate to a requirement for £64,800 in savings to get on the property ladder in 2020.
"Driven by a decade of soaring house prices before the financial crisis and lower loan-to-value ratios post-crisis, the deposits needed by first time buyers have risen significantly. As a result, a generation of private renters have emerged and this will increasingly be the norm for the 20 to 39 age group," said Richard Snook, senior economist at PwC.
"There is also a rising dichotomy in the market between those - mostly older - households who own outright and those - mostly younger - households who still have a mortgage or rent to pay."
MORE and House price calculator......http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33621047

[SteveH]

Welsh Tories call for major overhaul in Welsh tourism

A new Tory-led government would get rid of Visit Wales, the Welsh Government’s tourism team charged with promoting Welsh tourism, and replace it with an arms-length body.
Welsh Conservative AM Suzy Davies says it was a huge mistake to have scrapped the Wales Tourist Board in the first place.
The party says if it came to form a Welsh Government, it would abolish the Visit Wales set up – which is a part of the civil service – and would replace it with an organisation staffed by industry experts.

Businesses 'do not feel they are consulted'
It cites its own research in the industry, claiming businesses have told it that they do not feel they are consulted on decisions made by Visit Wales.
Some have raised concerns with the body’s alleged “uninspiring, unimaginative” TV adverts.

RELATED: 'The worst advert for Wales I've ever seen': Veteran tourism boss hits out at Visit Wales commercial
'Huge mistake to scrap Wales Tourist Board'
The Tories claim a return to an arms-length body like the Wales Tourist Board would see a “shift of culture” and would embrace the industry-elected representatives.

However Ken Skates, the Welsh deputy minister for culture, sport and tourism, said getting rid of Visit Wales would cause chaos.

MORE....http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-tories-call-major-overhaul-9776801

[Ian]

The thrust of that 'message' is to 'let industry take control', as though that will automatically make things better. I always find it curious how the Tories place such absolute confidence in the ability of industry to do everything correctly. It's this adherence to the political line I find so depressing; do they not remember it was industry - in the form of the banks - that nearly brought the world economy to its knees?

[Merddin Emrys]

On the other hand, compare Porth Eirias to Snowdonia Surf!

[Bosun]

'to let industry take control' would at the ultimate, mean a return to poor working conditions, a lack of attention to health and safety and an increase in pollution, all in the quest for more and more profit.

I am thinking of the conditions in coal mining in the last century, slate mining and the mills of the north of England when 'industry' was in control. (There has to be a sensible balance, just remember the fiasco of the Millennium Dome at a cost of £789 million.)

Besides which, it was 'orrible going up them chimneys as a lad.......

[DaveR]

In this particular case, we're talking about letting experienced business people have a say in how Wales in marketed - seems like a good thing to me.

[Bosun]

In this particular case, we're talking about letting experienced business people have a say in how Wales in marketed - seems like a good thing to me.

In this particular case, I wholeheartedly agree, however my post was a more a generalisation about industry, and industrial manufacturing processes and production practices.   

[Ian]

In this particular case, we're talking about letting experienced business people have a say in how Wales in marketed - seems like a good thing to me.

Remind me;  wasn't Sir Fred Wood an experienced businessman?  WWW WWW

[DaveR]

In this particular case, we're talking about letting experienced business people have a say in how Wales in marketed - seems like a good thing to me.

Remind me;  wasn't Sir Fred Wood an experienced businessman?  WWW WWW

Who? 

[Ian]

       

In this particular case, we're talking about letting experienced business people have a say in how Wales in marketed - seems like a good thing to me.

    Remind me;  wasn't Sir Fred Wood an experienced businessman?  WWW W

WW

Who? 

Oops.  My mistake.  Fred Goodwin...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Bank_of_Scotland_Group#History

[SteveH]

Are our schools/teachers just to soft these days..?

Military ethos schools have 'real positive impact' on primary and secondary education, university study finds....
A study carried out by Swansea University suggests providing a military ethos in schools can provide a positive impact on primary and secondary education in the UK.

The study is the first of its kind and is due to be published in the Journal of Behavioural Education.

It looked at the results of intervention by North of England headquartered military ethos provider Commando Joe’s which was set up five-years-ago by Mike Hamilton, a former bomb disposal expert who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/military-ethos-schools-real-positive-9805061

[DaveR]

Are our schools/teachers just to soft these days..?

Military ethos schools have 'real positive impact' on primary and secondary education, university study finds....
A study carried out by Swansea University suggests providing a military ethos in schools can provide a positive impact on primary and secondary education in the UK.

The study is the first of its kind and is due to be published in the Journal of Behavioural Education.

It looked at the results of intervention by North of England headquartered military ethos provider Commando Joe’s which was set up five-years-ago by Mike Hamilton, a former bomb disposal expert who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/military-ethos-schools-real-positive-9805061

Education in the UK (and more so Wales) certainly has big problems.Discipline is certainly one of them, as is the poor level of basic literacy/numeracy education provided in primary schools. Sadly, another major problem is the ethos of a lot of the pupils - one that no longer believes hard work is necessary to achieve success in life.