|
Car Stranger posted:If you don't care about the ceremony, just get it done as cheaply as possible. Not many people can really afford to spaff away what could be a housing deposit on one day (though they often do so anyway because social expectations, conspicuous consumption etc.) Not directed at you, just irks me to see people start married life by acquiring a load of debt because they feel like they have to have fancy place settings and other daft poo poo. Yeah, the wedding itself, we'd be happy going down to the courthouse and paying whatever modest fee there is, then going to a slightly-better-than-usual restaurant and spending the rest of the night watching Netflix, max price probably £150 or something like that. She and I totally agree that getting into massive debt for your wedding day is weird and unwise, which is good because my previous girlfriend wanted all the works and was very displeased whenever I made noises about being satisfied with much less. hookerbot 5000 posted:I had to go to Glasgow airport today and saw a couple of police officers wandering about with massive guns. Is that normal now? I think that's literally the first time I've seen a gun in real life. When I had arrived from visiting said ex at Heathrow a few years ago I was waiting with my mum for our coach up home, and like a dozen coppers armed with semi-automatics went by. Nothing came of it (or if anything did it was resolved quietly enough that nobody saw or heard anything) but despite growing up partly in Northern Ireland where the peelers are routinely armed, it was kind of unsettling.
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 21:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 20:45 |
|
|
Police have been armed for nearly 10 years in major transport hubs and it's funny that goons would only just be noticing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:08
|
|
|
Mister Adequate posted:Believe it or not it's only one tooth. Unfortunately it's a front one so she can't really go without. Tom Cruise only has one front tooth. Mister Adequate posted:If she was here and had a decent dentist then yeah we'd probably have a case, but... If she was a unicorn...
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:11
|
|
|
hookerbot 5000 posted:I had to go to Glasgow airport today and saw a couple of police officers wandering about with massive guns. Is that normal now? I think that's literally the first time I've seen a gun in real life. It's been common at airports with international connections for years now. I've seen tooled up coppers at Waverley in Edinburgh a few times too. Dunno what that's about.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:12
|
|
|
hookerbot 5000 posted:I had to go to Glasgow airport today and saw a couple of police officers wandering about with massive guns. Is that normal now? I think that's literally the first time I've seen a gun in real life. It's new in Scotland. Last time they properly armed the cops was when the Pope was over.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:12
|
|
|
Total Meatlove posted:Police have been armed for nearly 10 years in major transport hubs and it's funny that goons would only just be noticing. I remember seeing submachine guns in the hands of security at Manchester Airport and that was more than 20 years ago.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:14
|
|
|
Aliginge posted:I remember seeing submachine guns in the hands of security at Manchester Airport and that was more than 20 years ago. Yeah, it was routine from the mid-80s after the Italian airport attacks. We even had tanks patrolling Heathrow occasionally as far back as the 70s sparking all sorts of conspiracy theories. I agree though that it's still unsettling to see armed British police.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:17
|
|
|
Tortuga posted:Tom Cruise only has one front tooth. And that's because once a year he has violent sex with sexually violent black dudes on his island. Tom Cruises dentist usually whimpers a little every time Tom BASE jumps into his surgery window. And all because of the above.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:19
|
|
|
My parents live in Mark Simmonds's constituency and I can confirm that he is, in fact, a wanker. Although this probably makes it more likely that UKIP will gain a seat there next election.  Simmonds also used a photo of my mum in some of his campaign leaflets without asking permission and she's still pissed about it, 10ish years later.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:33
|
|
|
Total Meatlove posted:Police have been armed for nearly 10 years in major transport hubs and it's funny that goons would only just be noticing. I remember seeing two sub-machine gun armed police do nothing but stare at a Brazilian TV presenter's arse for about 20 minutes during the Olympics (her kecks were painted on). Bin Laden's corpse could've wandered past them with a ticking briefcase and they wouldn't have noticed. On the bright side, at least they didn't shoot her.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:39
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:I agree though that it's still unsettling to see armed British police. Speak for yourself, I had to see the Civil Nuclear Constabulary every day
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 22:44
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:
Remember the "ring of steel" round London in the early 90s? I got stopped on Blackfriars Bridge because I was in a transit full of building materials, pulled out at MP5-point and held whilst the van was searched. They actually had two guys with their guns pointed at us rather than just slung, whilst the other two rummaged about in the back of the van. It was a fairly tense five minutes for me and my mate. I think the RoS checkpoint boxes are still there, albeit unmanned, in lots of places. e:Oh poo poo, I just remembered almost giving a policeman a heart attack. Same job, but an Astra van, with a third mate asleep in the back. Police stopped us, got us out, and then begin searching and mate wakes up and policeman freaks out from the shock of another guy. Thank goodness they weren't armed that time. Got off with a warning about carrying passengers in the back of vans. HortonNash fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Aug 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 23:06
|
|
|
Mister Adequate posted:Yeah, the wedding itself, we'd be happy going down to the courthouse and paying whatever modest fee there is, then going to a slightly-better-than-usual restaurant and spending the rest of the night watching Netflix, max price probably £150 or something like that. She and I totally agree that getting into massive debt for your wedding day is weird and unwise, which is good because my previous girlfriend wanted all the works and was very displeased whenever I made noises about being satisfied with much less. I vote you go on Don't Tell The Bride, with the only proviso being you let the thread organise the wedding. What could possibly go wrong? (Or, go on DTTB, use as much of the Beeb's 12 grand as you can to buy expensive rings, after the wedding sell the rings, use the money for your wife's teeth. Bosh.) Pork Pie Hat fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Aug 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 23:19
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:I agree though that it's still unsettling to see armed British police. I see them pretty regularly round here, I think the policy is to have an armed squad out on regular duty just so they are readily available, but then there have been a few shootings in the area this year- they just carry a pistol though, if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't know. Always remember seeing them at airports/london with mp5/rifle and the big body armour though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 23:20
|
|
|
No More Toast posted:My parents live in Mark Simmonds's constituency and I can confirm that he is, in fact, a wanker. Although this probably makes it more likely that UKIP will gain a seat there next election. Neil Hamilton is apparently "a dead cert" to be the UKIP candidate there in 2015. This may, of course, just be Hamilton and UKIP talking out of their backsides.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 23:26
|
|
|
Mister Adequate posted:That's true, except we live on different continents and we need to pay for a visa if we want to actually live together. Neither of us care much about the wedding ceremony, we just want to be married and live together. poo poo, I remember how that feels. Spent months in 2002 waiting in misery over here for my US fiance visa, then months in 2010 waiting in misery over here for her UK spousal one. Wife's going for citizenship soon just so we have one place in the world where we can both live and not be kicked out of. Hope you get through it all right.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2014 23:35
|
|
|
Obliterati posted:It's new in Scotland. Last time they properly armed the cops was when the Pope was over. They had them at Glasgow Airport at least as long ago as 5 years ago, I can say that for sure. There is a bit of a scandal going on now though. Since the 9 polices forces in Scotland merged into Police Scotland people have suddenly noticed police officers just wandering about in their normal line of work, with sidearms, even to situations where they aren't required. Whereas until 2013 firearms officers kept their weapons in a locked box in their car, only to be used when given specific authorisation from a senior officer. It's been a relatively big story in the local press here in Inverness because nobody seemed to notice it happen until May this year, which you could argue is a poor effort from Highland Council's Community Safety, Public Engagement and Equalities Committee. Regardless, the local MP Danny Alexander has railed against it (one of the few worthwhile things that shite has done in 9 years as MP here, as well as independent MSP (& former copper) John Finnie. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has been remarkably tone deaf on the matter though, insisting that the public understand, but I think there's very little evidence of that. There is just no need for armed police roaming the streets of Nairn or Ullapool. There's not much need for it in Glasgow or Edinburgh to be frank.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 01:34
|
|
|
hookerbot 5000 posted:I had to go to Glasgow airport today and saw a couple of police officers wandering about with massive guns. Is that normal now? I think that's literally the first time I've seen a gun in real life. I use to go through Victoria station every day and see police with sub-machine guns every couple of days down in the underground by the ticket barriers. I hate guns and it always used to freak me out. Now I travel from Heathrow every few months and it's not uncommon to see them strolling around either. And yet when I saw a guy get arrested back in April none of the police ( of which there were many) were armed, or at least not with giant guns.and tbh you would expect to see them by security, rather than in the check in area.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 06:10
|
|
|
Obliterati posted:It's new in Scotland. Last time they properly armed the cops was when the Pope was over. Nonot isnt. They have had armed police in glasgow airport for years.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 06:31
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:Yeah, it was routine from the mid-80s after the Italian airport attacks. We even had tanks patrolling Heathrow occasionally as far back as the 70s sparking all sorts of conspiracy theories. To be fair, this conspiracy does have a lot going for it. Just as well the IRA did Mountbatten really.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 06:43
|
|
|
If Mark Simmonds is bitching about working in London then maybe he shouldn't have planned his whole career around it. You don't accidentally become an MP, usually it is a decent chunk of your working life focused on it - let alone the effort to become a minister. Cry me a loving river mate. It's like wanting to be a city lawyer (like a lot of my classmates) and then bitching about the London rent despite the £40k starting salary (like a lot of my classmates)
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 07:31
|
|
|
In the early 2000s I used to see coppers with submachine guns just standing around Birmingham centre, protecting oasis market from terrorism.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 09:01
|
|
|
I once ran through Ted Heaths garden for a drunk dare. The cops guarding him had guns. ( this was early 90s)
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 09:04
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:Yeah, it was routine from the mid-80s after the Italian airport attacks. We even had tanks patrolling Heathrow occasionally as far back as the 70s sparking all sorts of conspiracy theories.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 09:19
|
|
|
Security theatre
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 09:26
|
|
|
I've never understood why white people feel skittish around guns, but the UK having its officers not carry them - successfully, as far as I can tell - is one of the things this country can be really proud of. I don't understand how it works, but it does, and good on you.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 09:42
|
|
|
Well it avoids scenes such as going on in St Louis right now I guess. Looks like an occupying army there
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 09:53
|
|
|
There were cops walking around Glasgow city centre during the games with SMGs too. You could tell exactly where they were, because people gave them a wide berth.Ddraig posted:While minorities obviously have more reason to be concerned about armed police (or just police in general) it is really, really unsettling to see armed police in the UK regardless. It's just something we're not used to. I had never even seen a gun in real life until I was 25 Yeah, it's hard not to be kinda antsy around them, just because we're so not used to being confronted with the prospect of armed police. Like, in America, it's not a big deal, but here there's a kinda Pavlovian conditioning of "Police are armed = bad poo poo is going down". Gyro Zeppeli fucked around with this message at 10:25 on Aug 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 10:12
|
|
|
freebooter posted:I've never understood why white people feel skittish around guns, but the UK having its officers not carry them - successfully, as far as I can tell - is one of the things this country can be really proud of. I don't understand how it works, but it does, and good on you. While minorities obviously have more reason to be concerned about armed police (or just police in general) it is really, really unsettling to see armed police in the UK regardless. It's just something we're not used to. I had never even seen a gun in real life until I was 25
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 10:16
|
|
|
Fun fact: the police cars with the yellow dots on them are the ones with the guns in.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 10:19
|
|
|
Yesssss the recovery is here, great work Gideon http://news.sky.com/story/1317852/wages-fall-for-first-time-in-five-years Sky News posted:Wages Fall For First Time In Five Years 
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 10:21
|
|
|
The ONS has released its quarterly labour market survey: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_372372.pdf Graphs! This one looks kind of encouraging:  Lloyds: a government-owned private enterprise! Also, the royal mail: a private enterprise with a government-run pension scheme!  Five years of below-inflation wage growth:  Like the first one, this looks quite good by itself:  The TL,DR seems to be "plenty of jobs, not much money" e: the thing about wages falling that Mahmoud linked is a bit misleading. As shown by the wage growth graph above, regular pay actually increased year-on-year over the last quarter (albeit by much less than inflation). The fall in overall wages is entirely due to a year-on-year drop in bonus payments, which in turn is due to "tax management" by high earners, who deferred their bonuses until the 50% tax rate was repealed and then took extra-large payouts in 2013. The 'fall' in bonus payments this quarter is just things returning to normal after that little exercise in mass tax avoidance. LemonDrizzle fucked around with this message at 10:33 on Aug 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 10:29
|
|
|
freebooter posted:I've never understood why white people feel skittish around guns, but the UK having its officers not carry them - successfully, as far as I can tell - is one of the things this country can be really proud of. I don't understand how it works, but it does, and good on you. Actually not that different from most countries. There's specialized Firearms Units that can be called in to deal with someone when a weapons involved, which is usually what happens in countries where all their police officers are armed anyway. With the low amount of firearms in the UK it's incredibly rare for an unarmed officer to respond to a call and have a gun pulled on them, normally they know a gun was involved and the Firearm Unit would be the one responding.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 10:36
|
|
|
Meanwhile 622,000 people are on zero hour contracts, with 37% of them being between 16 and 24. There were 1.4m contracts that did not specify a minimum number of hours too. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_373757.pdf But they all have 'jobs' so unemployment is falling and the Tories are wonderful!
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 10:37
|
|
|
No zero hours contracts are great you see they allow employees the flexibility to...  ...suck it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 11:05
|
|
|
No base rate increase this year: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/bank-of-england/11030408/No-interest-rate-rise-this-year-as-BoE-slashes-wage-growth-forecast.htmlquote:The Bank of England's interest rates are set to stay at their historic lows until next year, after the central bank signalled that it does not expect to see strong growth in earnings. Cheap money and mortgages for everyone forever and ever amen.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 11:18
|
|
|
You have to correlate the relative employment rate with the number of people who are leaving the job market. As Mitchell & Webb would have you know, you can just kill the poors and boost the employment rate.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 11:22
|
|
|
LemonDrizzle posted:No base rate increase this year: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/bank-of-england/11030408/No-interest-rate-rise-this-year-as-BoE-slashes-wage-growth-forecast.html
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 11:25
|
|
|
ufarn posted:You have to correlate the relative employment rate with the number of people who are leaving the job market. As Mitchell & Webb would have you know, you can just kill the poors and boost the employment rate. The inactivity rate is close to an all-time low, so people leaving the job market isn't really a significant factor:  Of the ~8.9m working age individuals who are economically inactive, 2.3m are students, 2.3m are home-makers, 2m are long-term sick, 1.3m are retired, 0.2m are temporarily sick, 39k are "discouraged" (not looking for work because no "suitable" jobs are available), and 0.8m have "other reasons" for inactivity.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 11:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 20:45 |
|
|
LemonDrizzle posted:The inactivity rate is close to an all-time low, so people leaving the job market isn't really a significant factor: That's pretty good. Rate's sitting at 6.4% and wages excluding bonuses rose 0.6%. Not great but certainly not bad. However youth unemployment is at 17% 
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2014 11:33
|
|
