adrianc
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May 17, 2024 15:14:11 GMT
Post by adrianc on May 17, 2024 15:14:11 GMT
Wha...? Sorry, you've lost me. In case you've forgotten, it's been publicly listed for north of a decade. Can any publicly listed company really have a nationality ascribed to it? The single largest current shareholder, 28%, is a Luxemburgish asset management house, Vesa Equity Investment, which is the vessel for Daniel Křetínský's investments. He's merely buying another 42% of equity from the other global investment houses that form the rest of the top ten largest shareholders, and the remaining 30% from people like me... I hope a change of ownership (if that's what it is, from 28% to 100%) feeds down into management and they become more competent. Beyond that... <shrug> It was you that highlighted that Royal Mail will be under foreign ownership. I was wondering what you'd like to see eventually? Perhaps no countries and a united states of the world ? Or what ? It will be. It'll be 100% privately owned by a Czech billionaire, via his Luxemburgish investment firm, instead of publicly listed. Simply statement of fact. I'm really not sure what else you want me to say here.
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adrianc
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May 17, 2024 14:08:31 GMT
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Post by adrianc on May 17, 2024 14:08:31 GMT
Something I sent out to a (as it turned out, incomplete) UK address in March was returned as undeliverable yesterday. The return sticker is dated 19/3... Hey-ho. Royal Mail is going to be Czech-owned soon. The 2013 floation price was 330p. The offer price is 370p. But I thought you're quite happy for companies based or doing business in the UK to be owned abroad? Or is it only the staff you're quite happy to be from Europe but you'd rather the companies themselves were British owned? I just want to understand what it is you would like to see? Wha...? Sorry, you've lost me. In case you've forgotten, it's been publicly listed for north of a decade. Can any publicly listed company really have a nationality ascribed to it? The single largest current shareholder, 28%, is a Luxemburgish asset management house, Vesa Equity Investment, which is the vessel for Daniel Křetínský's investments. He's merely buying another 42% of equity from the other global investment houses that form the rest of the top ten largest shareholders, and the remaining 30% from people like me... I hope a change of ownership (if that's what it is, from 28% to 100%) feeds down into management and they become more competent. Beyond that... <shrug>
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adrianc
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May 17, 2024 13:55:32 GMT
Post by adrianc on May 17, 2024 13:55:32 GMT
Something I sent out to a (as it turned out, incomplete) UK address in March was returned as undeliverable yesterday.
The return sticker is dated 19/3...
Hey-ho. Royal Mail is going to be Czech-owned soon. The 2013 floation price was 330p. The offer price is 370p.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 17, 2024 9:31:42 GMT
What the hell is this pile of emails I've got in my spam folder every day, each one has criminal intent.
I've often wondered why they don't charge for sending emails. 1p a time and mass spamming would disappear overnight. Who? How?
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 17, 2024 9:02:19 GMT
Whatever it takes to change things and for governments, people to wake the f**k up and laws made or changed. The Internet is literally the electronic version of the lawless Wild West, anything goes. What the hell is this pile of emails I've got in my spam folder every day, each one has criminal intent. Lovely, but which government? You can't prove there's any UK jurisdiction at all. Is there any global appetite for cooperation? They're coming by email, so there's no social media companies to blame. The US and UK both have long-established anti-spam legislation. All these already come under fraud etc legislation. There's no point in having an unforced and unenforceable law.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 17, 2024 6:38:20 GMT
Greedy talentless f**ks, social media influencers, reality tv nobodys do know how to make money and where to get it. The never ending supply of gullible morons providing a never ending supply of money.
The stupid getting the stupid to market to the stupid.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 16, 2024 11:22:18 GMT
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 16, 2024 8:47:09 GMT
This morning I see that the apparent assailant - unconfirmed - is "an amateur poet and former supermarket security guard said to have links with a pro-Russian paramilitary group, Slovenski Branski, also known as Slovak Conscripts." I also noted that "According to unconfirmed reports, SB received training from Russian Spetsnaz instructors and members are said to have fought for Russia in Ukraine."Given Fico is probably considered to be Pro-Russian (by the standards of the EU and US) that makes no sense what so ever*. But then again you believed what the main stream media in this country told you about the Russians blowing up the Nordstream when they could just switch the gas off and were dropping shells on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after their troops had captured it *- unless he is some kind of deep state asset. There's a bit more to it here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Robert_Fico#SuspectThe putative assassin is clearly not of sound mind, and his primary motive appears to be Fico's gerrymandering of the media. Dementia?
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 16, 2024 7:53:06 GMT
Fico is not a Russian Puppet any more than Orban, he is just an independently minded politician from a country with historical links with Russia who is acting in the best interest of his country. "Ostalgie" is a thing, especially amongst the hard-of-thinking and elderly. We can, of course, recognise strong parallels in our own recent political divisions. There we agree. Fortunately, it appears he is doing so. Violence has no place in politics, and is the last resort those without any valid argument - and the desperately oppressed. The latter does not appear to be the case here.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 15, 2024 7:28:42 GMT
It seems there’s more story about the council meeting and councils than the “criminal” damage. From the council chief:I guess they want the chief out as soon as possible and can’t stick up for another few years. Town councils are the same tier of local government as parish councils - but, obvs, in towns instead of villages. They work the same way. So, as a parish councillor, I can perhaps clarify the background to this a bit... There has to be an official council noticeboard for posting agendas, minutes, the like- and the law sets timings over that (agendas have to be up three days before the meeting, etc). It should be secure and only available for official communications - we have one on the village hall with two halves, one locked, one open for the public. Sounds a lot like somebody's taped an unofficial communication over the secure official side... The criminal damage is the least of it - although "but it'd clean off" is irrelevant to whether it's criminal damage or not. www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/criminal-damage"Damage is not defined by the CDA 1971. It should be widely interpreted to include not only permanent or temporary physical harm, but also permanent or temporary impairment of value or usefulness - Morphitis v. Salmon [1990] Crim.L.R. 48. Any alteration to the physical nature of the property concerned may amount to damage within the meaning of the section. The courts have construed the term liberally and included damage that is not permanent such as smearing mud on the walls of a police cell. Where the interference amounts to an impairment of the value or usefulness of the property to the owner, then the necessary damage is established - R v Whiteley [1991] 93 Crim. App. R. 25."So if that unofficial notice impeded the use of the board for official business, which was very likely the whole intent, that'd seem to qualify... We *can* hold meetings without the clerk present, so long as we're quorate, but we really *shouldn't*. We do need to have a clerk - which is a role that requires professional competence - and if we don't have one, we should be using the locum clerks from our NALC (National Association of Local Councils) branch - they're expensive. While the CiLCA qualification isn't *necessary* for a clerk, it's highly recommended - and there's various powers that a council doesn't have without a CiLCA clerk under the Powers of General Competence. www.slcc.co.uk/qualification/certificate-in-local-council-administration-cilca/I don't see the clerk identified on their website, but they do have one named on the minutes - they SHOULD be the main route of contact and communication with the council - are they using a locum? <googles> Aha... leigh-on-sea.news/town-clerk-suspended/www.echo-news.co.uk/news/23925380.leigh-town-council-lost-way-says-former-chairman/General Competence also requires a certain proportion of councillors to have been in place since the last election, rather than merely co-opted. If a vacancy occurs mid-term, a councillor can be co-opted. Come election time, the only time an election is needed is if there's more candidates than seats - because you can't vote against people... Even if everybody bar one abstains, that one vote is enough. Elections are expensive. Our ENTIRE Parish Council budget is £11k/year - election expenses would be about £2-2.5k. Obvs, somewhere like Leigh on Sea is going to have a bigger budget than our tiny slice of rural nowhere... This seems to be the pressure group in question... www.facebook.com/groups/1537079576830673/"Since May 2023, we have seen the local Conservative group cause damage to the reputation of the council and a lack of respect for Leigh’s residents. Our ambition is to restore LTC to a non-political basis that has the best interests of Leigh-on-Sea at heart."Leigh on Sea Town Council councillors... www.leighonseatowncouncil.gov.uk/councillors - 16 seats in 8 wards May 2023 Leigh on Sea Town Council election results... www.southend.gov.uk/elections-registering-vote/election-results-1/3 - 7 seats elected in 4 wards, four Tories elected. Three of the others mention Tories in their bios - so that's 7 of 16 declared as Tories, including both chair and vice-chair, with a few other possibles and at least two very likely (including a woman who shares the chair's unusual surname - wife?). Looks like the issue isn't one of non-election, but one of not liking the people who stood then got elected... Seven seats in four wards were contested, nine seats in four were not, probably Tory majority.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 14, 2024 15:29:15 GMT
3. The UK isn't a "lone wolf". We ARE part of a team. We aren't even *that* generous by the standards of the rest of the team. www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/UK is the 15th largest overall donor country, by % of GDP and 3rd by € value. US is top by €, 7x the UK's value. Germany is second, 1.5x. Top donors by % GDP are Estonia then Denmark. For humanitarian donations, we're 21st by % and 6th by € For financial donations, we're 5th by % and 3rd by € For military donations, we're 17th by % and 3rd by € - top donors by % are Estonia then Denmark again; and US (obvs!) then Germany by €. Germany's military donations are twice the UK's, and the US's are 4x Germany's. 4. No, we can't guarantee to stop Russia winning. But if we don't even try, we guarantee they DO. Think the numbers only tell part of the story ... the UK is maybe seen as more significant than that ... early backer, provided the MANPATS & significant training, tactics to blunt the initial attack, first to provide Western MBT (not tanks as ex-Soviet stuff), Storm Shadow gives significant capability, and now can be used extra-territorially, and we have been prominent in political support, visits etc. I suspect the above is what Mc is alluding to ... we are certainly amongst the most prominent in setting a direction of travel, even if we arent in the biggest or flashiest car. The UK certainly always likes to think the UK is somehow globally more important than mere statistics imply... <coughbrexitcough>The simple fact is that the UK's military contribution is about 6% of that of the EU and US combined, and about 5.5% for all contributions. That does not make us anything even remotely close to a "lone wolf" as michaelc suggested. Was our speed of initial response important? Perhaps. But that was two PMs (soon to be three) ago.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 14, 2024 14:58:34 GMT
1/ So yes, it IS your concern.
2/ Yes, they will push further into Ukraine given the opportunity. 3/ Yes, we need to continue providing weapons for as long as Ukraine want to continue.
4/ Yes, russia cannot be allowed to "win" 5/ Yes, russia needs to be held accountable and slung out of of every international group, committee, council, organisation. 6/ No, we dont need russia.
rant over .. That (bolded) is an obvious but good point IMO. I agree with point 2 also but think that would be based on opportunism rather than something they would seek in an eventual settlement. i.e. if they broke through the lines and there will little more defences they'd march on.... 3 probably but as part of a team not a loan wolf waiting for its head to be struck off On 4, we can't stop it. 5 agree 6 agree 3. The UK isn't a "lone wolf". We ARE part of a team. We aren't even *that* generous by the standards of the rest of the team. www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/UK is the 15th largest overall donor country, by % of GDP and 3rd by € value. US is top by €, 7x the UK's value. Germany is second, 1.5x. Top donors by % GDP are Estonia then Denmark. For humanitarian donations, we're 21st by % and 6th by € For financial donations, we're 5th by % and 3rd by € For military donations, we're 17th by % and 3rd by € - top donors by % are Estonia then Denmark again; and US (obvs!) then Germany by €. Germany's military donations are twice the UK's, and the US's are 4x Germany's. 4. No, we can't guarantee to stop Russia winning. But if we don't even try, we guarantee they DO.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 14, 2024 13:26:36 GMT
Great, so we agree on something. Pointing fingers at Zelensky for corruption whilst standing next to Putin is not a good look.
Sunak's not that wealthy in the grand scheme of megawealth. It's not even his - it's his father-in-law's, via a pile of shares he gave his daughter. Estimates are "only" about half a bill, not even top 250 in the UK, about a third of Lord Ashcroft's wealth, about the same as Crispin Odious before his fall from gracelessness. Even the UK's wealthiest (Ratcliffe/Hindujas), with 50x Sunak's worth, aren't top 100 globally.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 14, 2024 13:14:30 GMT
I do not really have any strong opinions on Zelensky - other than he is a bit corrupt Unlike Putin? Who absolutely hasn't robbed his country blind to feather his own nest. He's got himself into a position where he simply can't have the nice wealthy retirement that he may well have been looking forward to (but probably wasn't, because he's a megalomaniac who can never switch off), because wherever he goes in the world, he's going to be looking over his shoulder for the next bus to the Hague. www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-ukraine-icc-judges-issue-arrest-warrants-against-vladimir-vladimirovich-putin-and
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on May 14, 2024 9:57:45 GMT
But equally, parts of Germany have indeed been given away for political reasons ie not having another war, Kalingrad being the most pertinent example. I was thinking 41 years of DDR, but... Can't imagine they'd look too fondly on the East asking for it back.
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