Harold Jones Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 They were brewing all the time, just not for them imperialists. Actually Bud Light was a Commie plot to subvert the USA by making the Yankees drink piss, unfortunately they seemed to like it In the late eighties we could buy Czech made Budweiser at the liquor store on post. It was a little pricey compared to German beer though. I liked it enough that the standard price for me to pull a motor-pool guard or CQ shift was a case of it. As I recall, the agreement at the time was that US Budweiser was sold under that name in the North and South America plus the UK while the Czechs had Europe. Czech Budweiser is sold in the US as Czechvar, I don't think it's as good as what I drank in Europe but it could just be that my tastes have changed over the years. It may be the way that its transported. Even Scottish Whiskey is, to a certain degree at least, moved by tanker and then bottled at destination. I cant help but think the bottling process might be a prime reason for why it might taste differently as a result.http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2013/06/tanker_truck_full_of_scotch_wh.html You would think producers would oversee bottling or canning processes, but one can imagine situations when for reasons (such as another company owning the bottling plant) they might not. I think at least part of it is that beer that is actually imported rather than produced under license is that it's just older. Some beers improve with age but lighter beers usually don't. I think the whole local food movement to be a silly affectation but I do make a point of buying locally made beers since they tend to be fresher. It doesn't hurt that I live in a state that is second or third in US for the number of craft brewers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Stuart - on the M4? I know about the Gloucester services owned by the Tebay owners (on the M5) because I was re-routed that way once and they are a delight (!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swerve Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 If only they were on the M4! When we drive from Reading to Swansea, we have a choice of poor or crap services en route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swerve Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 They were brewing all the time, just not for them imperialists. Actually Bud Light was a Commie plot to subvert the USA by making the Yankees drink piss, unfortunately they seemed to like it In the late eighties we could buy Czech made Budweiser at the liquor store on post. It was a little pricey compared to German beer though. I liked it enough that the standard price for me to pull a motor-pool guard or CQ shift was a case of it. As I recall, the agreement at the time was that US Budweiser was sold under that name in the North and South America plus the UK while the Czechs had Europe. Czech Budweiser is sold in the US as Czechvar, I don't think it's as good as what I drank in Europe but it could just be that my tastes have changed over the years. It may be the way that its transported. Even Scottish Whiskey is, to a certain degree at least, moved by tanker and then bottled at destination. I cant help but think the bottling process might be a prime reason for why it might taste differently as a result.http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2013/06/tanker_truck_full_of_scotch_wh.html You would think producers would oversee bottling or canning processes, but one can imagine situations when for reasons (such as another company owning the bottling plant) they might not. I think at least part of it is that beer that is actually imported rather than produced under license is that it's just older. Some beers improve with age but lighter beers usually don't. I think the whole local food movement to be a silly affectation but I do make a point of buying locally made beers since they tend to be fresher. It doesn't hurt that I live in a state that is second or third in US for the number of craft brewers. Budvar ages pretty well, so it's probably transport rather than age. I agree that age could be a factor in some other beers deteriorating far from home, though. There used to be a mostly family-owned brewery in Henley, about 7 miles from here, which did some very fine beers. The company still exists, but it sold the brewery for redevelopment because it was worth far more as land than as a brewery, due to its location, & the beers are now brewed under contract 45 miles away. I'm not sure how much is due to brewery & how much to transport & freshness, but the beer's not quite the same. I once had an evening in that brewery's hospitality suite, drinking with my bike club, which had just been shown round by the managing director (ah, happy days!). I remember it largely because the beer was superb. I didn't know how good it could be until that evening, when I drank it 50 yards from where it was brewed. The look on the MD's face when he tasted his first pint told me it was how it was supposed to taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzermann Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Nice that they still deliver with horse cart. And still use wooden barrels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BansheeOne Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Britons, they turn being punch drunk in the street into an art form. https://twitter.com/hughesroland/status/682916583073779712/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw https://twitter.com/DeepForger/status/682963731035353088/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw https://twitter.com/DeepForger/status/682999333340463104/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr King Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 I thought this was amusing. It popped up on your last link Stuart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzermann Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Britons, they turn being punch drunk in the street into an art form. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXo0_ZsWAAAeCUm.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXo57HFWEAAhRe0.jpg https://twitter.com/hughesroland/status/682916583073779712/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXqBJLBWcAA1TIe.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXpf5M3W8AAByZx.jpg https://twitter.com/DeepForger/status/682963731035353088/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXqARixWsAQTPra.jpg https://twitter.com/DeepForger/status/682999333340463104/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw Well people gravitate towards the golden rule when selecting detail from photographs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Alymov Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 "From Russia with Cash": Dirty Money Unchecked in London http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/from-russia-with-cash-dirty-money-unchecked-in-london The numbers are staggering. Annually, $1 trillion is stolen by corrupt officials from countries around the globe. That money needs to be spent, or laundered, and much of it goes into big anonymous real estate deals in the United Kingdom, which is seeing £1 billion in unrecorded capital inflows per month. The main source of that money? Russia."From Russia with Cash," a new documentary that aired at the Newseum on December 15, focuses squarely on the phenomenon. It examines up close British real estate agents' willingness to overlook a deal's potential illegality in the hopes of a big commission. Wearing hidden cameras, Russian government minister "Boris" and his blond girlfriend "Nastya" tour five palatial apartments in central London, accompanied each time by a different real estate agent.The movie captures the interactions. We watch Boris buttonhole each realtor to confide that he is a government minister with a "very small salary," adding, "Needless to say, the money for this flat comes straight out of the Russian budget." He explains that his name cannot be connected to the property in any way.Despite having just heard that their client is a crook, the agents invariably continue the deal. Several refer him to a lawyer; one says, "You shouldn't be telling me anything about any of these things," but doesn't cut the conversation short.In the United States, that behavior is fine: real estate agents in the United States aren't obligated to report on clients whose legality is in question. But in the United Kingdom, an agent who thinks a potential client might be laundering money illegally is required by law to file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with the country's National Crime Agency.In the movie, the agent showing the ritziest apartment— an ornate five-bedroom flat selling for £15.8 million (and potentially fetching a £315,000 commission for the agent)—does seem to have second thoughts after Boris' speech; there's a moment where it looks like he might turn the Russian down. But then he says, "No one will find your name on this," and proceeds to explain how that can work.None of the deals go far beyond the initial conversation, but the movie is a powerful, if repetitive, illustration of how corruption flourishes. Corrupt officials from around the world need safe places to park their money, and real estate deals are currently the vehicle of choice—as long as the bureaucrats' and oligarchs' names can't be traced to the purchases.London is the most popular spot for international investors, followed by New York and Miami; one of the real estate agents in the movie mentions that "80 percent or more of my transactions are international [buyers], and 50 or 60 percent of those are in various stages of anonymity." Often, the owner will cloak his or her identity by using an offshore shell company.These deals raise the price of homeownership for the cities' local residents, but perhaps more important, they allow corruption to continue unchecked. Which is what makes British real estate agents, given their SAR requirement, so critical: they can stop illegal money from finding a safe harbor in London.In a question-and-answer session following the showing, Roman Borisovich, who played Boris in the film and is a Russian anti-corruption campaigner, explained in more detail. "This is about the gatekeepers," he said. "We can't stop Russian elites from pillaging their own countries, but we can stop the money from coming in."Ben Judah, the movie's creative consultant, compared today's situation to that of London during the Victorian era, which was plagued by street crime. When the handling of stolen goods became strongly regulated, crime dropped. The West, he said, should consider luxury residences purchased with stolen funds as "blood mansions," like the "blood diamonds" that fund wars in Africa—because the money can be equally destructive over the long term.Natalie Sedletska, a Ukraine-based investigative journalist who played Nastya in the movie, agreed. Referring to money stolen by Ukraine's former President Viktor Yanukovych, she said, "Not a dollar has been returned to the Ukrainian budget. There have been sanctions on Yanukovych, but our law enforcement agencies didn't want to cooperate. And so much money that was laundered through the US banking system is not recoverable." She added, "We see why our countries are still so poor."In an effort to change things, Borisovich, Judah, and Sedletska are part of a new anticorruption campaign that includes Transparency International and Global Witness; it aims to push governments outlaw anonymous property deals.But the team has already made a difference. "From Russia with Cash" created a big splash in the United Kingdom; according to Borisovich, the movie's conclusions made the front pages of British newspapers.Amanda Abrams is a freelance writer in Washington, DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzermann Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 And your average Londoner cannot afford living in his city anymore. Dubious money from Russia is buying real estate at ridiculous prices all around the world. Rocking the local housing market in Berlin or Latvia or where ever. Only chance I see is cracking down on the corrupt government officials. In the Ukraine I see no chance for that and in Russia most of the cleptocrats seem well entrenched and connected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Alymov Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 And your average Londoner cannot afford living in his city anymore. Dubious money from Russia is buying real estate at ridiculous prices all around the world. Rocking the local housing market in Berlin or Latvia or where ever. Only chance I see is cracking down on the corrupt government officials. In the Ukraine I see no chance for that and in Russia most of the cleptocrats seem well entrenched and connected. There is huge anti-corruption campaign now in Russia, with mayors, Governors and top MoD officials arrested - luckily Western sanctions are preventing them from fleeing. Still it is interesting everybody speak freely about Russian money in West, but when it comes to Chineese money (much bigger volume, proportional to economy size) - journalists seems silent .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonJ Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 And your average Londoner cannot afford living in his city anymore. Dubious money from Russia is buying real estate at ridiculous prices all around the world. Rocking the local housing market in Berlin or Latvia or where ever. Only chance I see is cracking down on the corrupt government officials. In the Ukraine I see no chance for that and in Russia most of the cleptocrats seem well entrenched and connected. There is huge anti-corruption campaign now in Russia, with mayors, Governors and top MoD officials arrested - luckily Western sanctions are preventing them from fleeing. Still it is interesting everybody speak freely about Russian money in West, but when it comes to Chineese money (much bigger volume, proportional to economy size) - journalists seems silent .... There are even reports recently of corruption in Roscosmos that they are trying to clean up. Corruption in Roscosmos makes sense giving that their budget has almost been the size of ESA, about twice that of JAXA, yet comparatively, they don't get as much done. China has become a critical part of the world economy now. Since the CCP is hyper sensitive about criticism towards its awfulness, it adds an element of risk, to not rock the boat to much to anyone's giving economic interest. Although, because of CCP's ways, and consequently to some extent, the general culture perhaps, China's potential is limited. They have some high tech business that is in cooperation with outside companies such as Taiwanese, Japanese, or American companies in the manufacture of high tech. But overall, it is still low to average level mass scale manufacturing. Chinese workers put in lots of hours making all of our cheap stuff, in the western leaders see that as a good thing probably, and may want to preserve it, which means a very short stick to those in Xinjiang and Tibet. Some of that hard earned money is wasted for CCP related propaganda and their necessity to have a massive police, censorship, and surveillance force. So in order to keep the Chinese workers working hard in making a lot of everyone's goods at low cost is to not upset sensitive CCP. What is needed is to just keep CCP antics within China borders, thus the security agreements are necessary by neighboring countries to do that. With that said, in western media, particularly American, AFAIK economic ties is generally portrayed as good and friendly aspect in relations with China. However, negative coverage has grown in the last number of months. The large amount of a new wave of hacking and stealing of intellectual property which rekindles the older stories of the stealing, but now the South China Sea has added a new amount of negativity. And the pollution and bad quality air adds to it. Overall, the coverage image of China is getting worse. Maybe it could have started sooner, but it's happening. Of course when saying western media, the tends to often by the US and Europe. Europe is not bothered as much by China for geographical reasons. The US has been getting more negative as I said. It's fairly negative in Japan for some time already. Although, Japanese media has balancing stories as well that take a humanistic case such as the following story about Japanese actor Kouji Yano. Widely known in China as the “riben guizi” (Japanese devil) for his portrayals of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in local TV dramas, Koji Yano has become a popular emcee on a variety show watched by around 300 million Chinese. It was a dream come true for the native Osakan, after a decade of ups and downs in Japan. Many consider Yano, 42, a trailblazer for the 20 to 30 Japanese actors and entertainers who have since pursued careers in China. But despite his successful career, Yano has higher aspirations. The actor hopes to use his popularity to facilitate people-to-people exchanges and promote greater understanding between Japan and China, whose ties remain strained by historical grievances and the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands. Yano landed his first role in a Chinese TV drama in 1999, after spending eight frustrating years trying — and mostly failing — to build a career in Tokyo. Viewing the offer from China as “something that could change my fortune,” Yano took the biggest gamble of his life and headed to Beijing. Unfortunately, the drama flopped and Yano found himself out of work. His breakthrough came six years later, when he was asked to play the role of an Imperial army soldier in a Chinese period drama set in the years before and during the war. “Until then, Japanese had always been simplistically depicted as monstrous and power crazy,” Yano said. “I wanted to promote a more realistic view” among Chinese. The drama aired as China was undergoing rapid and profound social changes in the runup to hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympics, allowing TV producers to include a greater degree of diversity and realism than before. Yano’s nuanced acting in the popular 2005 drama put him on the map, but his career really took off after he was tapped as an emcee for a variety show three years later. His witty and smart presentations on the show, produced by a TV station in Hunan Province, made him an instant hit with Chinese viewers. But he then made a huge faux pas: On one show he lightheartedly paraphrased a Chinese idiom, but the attempted joke backfired and instead infuriated a guest big-name singer with ties to the People’s Liberation Army. What Yano had intended as a play on words was interpreted by the visibly outraged singer as a reference to the 1931 Manchurian Incident — the Imperial army’s pretext to invade China. However, Yano said that after he apologized on his blog and various TV channels he received a lot of support from viewers, with some even blaming the singer for misinterpreting his comment. “The magnitude of hostility (after the blooper) made my hair stand on end, but thankfully I also received help and support from many others,” he said. He is less optimistic over bilateral ties, which have shown no sign of improving ahead of the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations later this year. “Despite being neighbors, distrust between the two countries just keeps on intensifying,” Yano said. “I keep thinking about ways I can help to promote deeper mutual understanding.” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/05/29/national/actor-hopes-popularity-can-ease-mutual-distrust-with-china/#.VogCklIXXKA It was just yesterday that I watched this story on TV. In addition to that article, from the show yesterday, he married a Chinese woman in 2009 (2011? I forgot) and was ranked most popular Japanese male actor in all of China for 2013 and 2014. During difficult times in China, such as in 2012 during the large scale anti-Japanese protests, the people that he worked with, as well as his many fans, remained supportive of him. Well anyway, I've gone and made another big derailing post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 The nationalities of the cash purchasers of London (and home counties) properties is well known in the UK, and there has been plenty of talk about both Russian and Chinese "investment", particularly as it tends to involve properties being bought and left vacant, which exacerbates the housing shortage nationally. If most of it seems to be about Russians, that probably because they've been doing it for longer and tend to be much more flamboyant figures, particularly in that they are associated with football club ownership, for example. The Asian owners of similar assets tend to be more securely hidden behind company fronts and don't appear on the TV every week as their football team sinks or swims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason L Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) I am dying laughing at all of these "drunk UK" pictures. I feel like I haven't truly experienced NYE until I do one in the UK or Eastern Europe. Edited January 2, 2016 by Jason L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPMG Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 And your average Londoner cannot afford living in his city anymore. Dubious money from Russia is buying real estate at ridiculous prices all around the world. Rocking the local housing market in Berlin or Latvia or where ever. Only chance I see is cracking down on the corrupt government officials. In the Ukraine I see no chance for that and in Russia most of the cleptocrats seem well entrenched and connected. There is huge anti-corruption campaign now in Russia, with mayors, Governors and top MoD officials arrested - luckily Western sanctions are preventing them from fleeing. Still it is interesting everybody speak freely about Russian money in West, but when it comes to Chineese money (much bigger volume, proportional to economy size) - journalists seems silent .... Here in New Zealand Chinese money laundering is a concern and the effect on Auckland house prices. Either Russians aren't active down here or the media hasn't noticed it yet.https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/stolen-chinese-money-likely-spent-on-auckland-property-little-6198588 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunday Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 So, two Russians supposedly named Boris and Natasha went to shop for real estate and none of the agents suspected anything? Perhaps if those two told they were acting in behalf of the Fearless Leader, and demanded a property without flying squirrels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Alymov Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 So, two Russians supposedly named Boris and Natasha went to shop for real estate and none of the agents suspected anything? Perhaps if those two told they were acting in behalf of the Fearless Leader, and demanded a property without flying squirrels..."In the movie, the agent showing the ritziest apartment— an ornate five-bedroom flat selling for £15.8 million (and potentially fetching a £315,000 commission for the agent)—does seem to have second thoughts after Boris' speech; there's a moment where it looks like he might turn the Russian down. But then he says, "No one will find your name on this," and proceeds to explain how that can work." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunday Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 So, two Russians supposedly named Boris and Natasha went to shop for real estate and none of the agents suspected anything? Perhaps if those two told they were acting in behalf of the Fearless Leader, and demanded a property without flying squirrels..."In the movie, the agent showing the ritziest apartment— an ornate five-bedroom flat selling for £15.8 million (and potentially fetching a £315,000 commission for the agent)—does seem to have second thoughts after Boris' speech; there's a moment where it looks like he might turn the Russian down. But then he says, "No one will find your name on this," and proceeds to explain how that can work." Pop culture reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Badenov But yes, real estate agents could be the most unethical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzermann Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 But yes, real estate agents could be the most unethical.pecunia non olet Real estate agents are in the making-the-most-money-possible-out-of-real-estate business. And what people do with apartments and houses sold is non of their business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzermann Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 The nationalities of the cash purchasers of London (and home counties) properties is well known in the UK, and there has been plenty of talk about both Russian and Chinese "investment", particularly as it tends to involve properties being bought and left vacant, which exacerbates the housing shortage nationally. If most of it seems to be about Russians, that probably because they've been doing it for longer and tend to be much more flamboyant figures, particularly in that they are associated with football club ownership, for example. The Asian owners of similar assets tend to be more securely hidden behind company fronts and don't appear on the TV every week as their football team sinks or swims. Not entirely. There are plenty of houses out there, in pit villages or former steel towns. I was looking up the other day at a former Station house on the Carmarthen line. Not very big, but only 130 grand and comes with its own signal box. But who other than anoraks like myself would want to live there? Its not like there are any decent jobs nearby.http://www.vebra.com/property/653/25741533 This is the problem with making the Southeast the centre of the British economy, rather than spreading the wealth out among the regions as logic would dictate. London is atrophying by being unable to sustain itself. People who work in the service industries have to live further and further outside the city, and they are making the costs of travelling in the city sky-rocket.Which is so dumb on so many levels. The city centre is dead at night and the people have to commute for a long time to get to work. What a waste. As for buying up propery, Its a LOT of money to spend on a city that in the end, love it as I do, is doomed to be the next Atlantis. One good flood and you wont see the hills for dust as everyone ups sticks.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6231334.stmfrom the article:" The new housing and businessdevelopments in the tidal floodplain..." Yes, that is smart smart city planning. And when the inevitable happens the screaming and shouting is big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T19 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 They were brewing all the time, just not for them imperialists. Actually Bud Light was a Commie plot to subvert the USA by making the Yankees drink piss, unfortunately they seemed to like it In the late eighties we could buy Czech made Budweiser at the liquor store on post. It was a little pricey compared to German beer though. I liked it enough that the standard price for me to pull a motor-pool guard or CQ shift was a case of it. As I recall, the agreement at the time was that US Budweiser was sold under that name in the North and South America plus the UK while the Czechs had Europe. Czech Budweiser is sold in the US as Czechvar, I don't think it's as good as what I drank in Europe but it could just be that my tastes have changed over the years. It may be the way that its transported. Even Scottish Whiskey is, to a certain degree at least, moved by tanker and then bottled at destination. I cant help but think the bottling process might be a prime reason for why it might taste differently as a result.http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2013/06/tanker_truck_full_of_scotch_wh.html You would think producers would oversee bottling or canning processes, but one can imagine situations when for reasons (such as another company owning the bottling plant) they might not. I think at least part of it is that beer that is actually imported rather than produced under license is that it's just older. Some beers improve with age but lighter beers usually don't. I think the whole local food movement to be a silly affectation but I do make a point of buying locally made beers since they tend to be fresher. It doesn't hurt that I live in a state that is second or third in US for the number of craft brewers. Budvar ages pretty well, so it's probably transport rather than age. I agree that age could be a factor in some other beers deteriorating far from home, though. There used to be a mostly family-owned brewery in Henley, about 7 miles from here, which did some very fine beers. The company still exists, but it sold the brewery for redevelopment because it was worth far more as land than as a brewery, due to its location, & the beers are now brewed under contract 45 miles away. I'm not sure how much is due to brewery & how much to transport & freshness, but the beer's not quite the same. I once had an evening in that brewery's hospitality suite, drinking with my bike club, which had just been shown round by the managing director (ah, happy days!). I remember it largely because the beer was superb. I didn't know how good it could be until that evening, when I drank it 50 yards from where it was brewed. The look on the MD's face when he tasted his first pint told me it was how it was supposed to taste. If you ever travel through Devizes, make sure you stop off and take a look at the Wadworths brewery. Victorian beer tech at its very finest, and they even deliver locally in traditional fashion.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadworth_Brewery Funny place Devizes. You would think taking the Army out would have killed it, but if anything it seems to have thrived. I was at Wadwoths last June. My family live around Devizes... nice brew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Alymov Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Thats less of a political rant than a reflection that the way we have been doing thing simply is not sustainable if London is continue to thrive. Yet it keeps on happening. Its bad for London, bad for the Southeast, and bad for the rest of the country. Yet still the dance continues. What you describe sounds very similar to Moscow actually - as it is transforming from industrial town into some kind of monster-size white collar \ rentier settlements, with old plants replaced by offices, trade centers, stadiums, parks and apartments...Sometimes i wonder where would 15 mln people work if customer-oriented oil profits based economy finally fail. Soviet Moscow was 5 mln with lots of industry to adsorb working hands.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Alymov Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Below is my translation of Facebook story from one of my friends in StPete, long-time historian of Soviet-Finland war: Christmas storyMy university-time Finnish female friend arrived to Christmas holiday to her native Finland. Ten years ago she married British citizen and moved to London. They live somewhere in Eastern London, their son is in local school. The only Europeans in the class are her son (half Finn, half Britt), one more Britt and one more child is half Britt, half Bangladeshi. All other kids are children of Bangladeshi migrants. On class parents meetings half of talks are not in English, so Finnish girl was not able to understand anything....Holiday time came. Ramadan end was celebrated in this school to full extent, Bangladeshi style. Well it's ok, Finnish girl thought, as most of pupils are Muslims....It was the region where high-school female students fled to Syria Civil war via Turkey to take part in "five-star Jihad" (?)Christmas time came... Christmas tree? No, because it is not in our traditions. Guess whom was Santa Claus replaced with? By clown! We do not need was Santa Claus as it is not in our traditions...That was enough for Finnish girl, who is not religeous and comming from Finish socialists family. "What are they doing? Have we really moved to European country capital?" Rus original below Рождественская историяПриехала финская знакомая по студенческим годам на рождество в родные финские пенаты. Она лет десять назад вышла замуж за гражданина Великобритании, уехала с ним в Лондон. Поселились где-то на востоке столицы. Сына нужно отдавать в школу. В классе из представителей европейцев – ее сын (наполовину финн, наполовину британец), еще один британец, и один ребенок – наполовину бангладешец, наполовину британец. Остальные – дети иммигрантов из Бангладеш. На родительском собрании половина разговора шла не на английском, так что финка ничего не понимала…Настала череда праздников. Окончание Рамадана было отпраздновано в школе с небывалым размахом, по-нашему, по-бангладешски. Это еще ладно, подумала финка, большинство учеников же мусульмане…Именно из школ этого района девчонки-старшеклассницы убежали через Турцию на сирийскую гражданскую войну на «пятизвездочный джихад».Настало Рождество. Надо праздновать… Елку - на хрен, это ж не по-нашему. Вместо Санта-Клауса пригласили… угадайте, кого? Клоуна! На хрена нам Санта-Клаус, это ж тоже не наше, не родное.Тут даже у финки, которая ни разу не верующая и вообще из семьи финских социалистов, пригорело. Сказала, да они что там, охренели совсем? Ничего себе, переехала в столицу европейской страны.Нам в России постоянно рассказывают такие страшилки, и большая часть интеллигенции к ним относится скептически (в том числе и я), но здесь, к сожалению, услышал от знакомой, с которой вместе учился в СПбГУ.Самое веселое – еще впереди. Edited January 5, 2016 by Roman Alymov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kennedy Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Thats less of a political rant than a reflection that the way we have been doing thing simply is not sustainable if London is continue to thrive. Yet it keeps on happening. Its bad for London, bad for the Southeast, and bad for the rest of the country. Yet still the dance continues. What you describe sounds very similar to Moscow actually - as it is transforming from industrial town into some kind of monster-size white collar \ rentier settlements, with old plants replaced by offices, trade centers, stadiums, parks and apartments...Sometimes i wonder where would 15 mln people work if customer-oriented oil profits based economy finally fail. Soviet Moscow was 5 mln with lots of industry to adsorb working hands.... Exact same thing is happening in NYC and SF as well -- the wealth disparity is becoming amazing. Real estate prices in both cities have probably tripled over the past 20 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzermann Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) Royal Mail doing its job: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-35174646 Christmas card addressed to 'England' reaches right person24 December 2015 Gloucestershire A German Christmas card with just "England" on the envelope has reached the right address inGloucestershire. Paul Biggs, from Longlevens, said he was absolutely shocked when his postman arrived at his front door with the card from his friends in Bitburg in Germany.He said: "I can't believe it - it's eerie - it's just got 'England' and sent from a sorting office in Bitburg." Royal Mail said its "address detectives" were renowned but "even by their standards" it was impressive.Mr Biggs said the card had been sent by his friends in Germany on Monday and was handed to him by his postman on Wednesday morning.The postman had been carrying the letter as he completed his round, asking his customers if the card was for them.'Top of the tree'"He gave me my mail and said 'Are you expecting anything from Germany?' and I said 'I might be - we've got friends over there'," said Mr Biggs."He said 'Have a look at this letter' - so I had a look and turned it over and our friends' address was on the back of it and on the front it just said England."Mr Biggs said the card had been sent from a sorting office in Germany close to Gloucester's twin town of Trier and had not been opened."I said 'How on earth did you know it was for me?' and he said 'I didn't, I've been wandering around with this', said Mr Biggs."My wife and I are absolutely shocked but this puts posties at five or six stars and top of the tree for me this Christmas."The card, it is believed, may have originally been addressed correctly and so was sent to the right area of England - but with an address label that fell off at some point.A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Royal Mail's team of 'address detectives' are renowned for their ability to ensure poorly addressed items of mail reach their intended recipients however, even by their standards, this is pretty impressive." Edited January 10, 2016 by Panzermann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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