Pebble thats Stubby

I have much sympathy for the workers. to be honest I've had loads of sympathy for those who work in Weatherspoon's for years, I doubt its somewhere most people choose to work if they have much choice.

But thats the whole point of it all.

I think Ukraine 20 only has 2 posts..... Starting Ukraine 21 is a bit premature. ;P

Unless we are going to have Universal Basic Income, then I think everyone agrees that at some point if you earn over a certain amount you no longer should get benefits. The big problem is people loosing benefits at a faster rate than they earn more money (working more often has additional costs - eg extra transport or child care). I think a fair way to do it is for every £1 you earn over a basic amount you loose lets say 20p of benefits (including any extra tax you might need to pay for earning more). exact amount can be worked out. This way you will always get a reasonable extra bit of pay for doing more. I remember when I was growing up, my Aunt received several benefits while also working almost full time job. I remember her boss wanted to give her a pay rise, but unless it was going to be a really big rise (and not just a very good one) she would actually loose money as she would loose all the benefits she got at the same time. In this scenario My Aunt was punished if she worked any overtime. Doing work has to pay. but equally not doing work for whatever reason should be more than just survivable. The moment you start saying well a lazy person could benefit you will stop someone that has genuine reasons not to take work. Its impossible to create a system that can separate the "lazy" from those "in need" 100% accurately. Well I suppose it might be possible but the cost of implicating such a system would be far far more than any potential saving as every case would need to be fully accessed and repeatedly assessed with compassion.

I don't think there is enough time to announce work out the exact wording, and hold a referendum in both Rep. Ireland and N. Ireland. and then implement the result before the end of 2024 even if they started the process today.

Ice Cream Wins. Cake does not have regular roadside deliveries in vans that play crappy tunes.

I am of the opinion that we really should not have a Monarchy, while also having a positive impression of Queen Elizabeth's reign. I do think the Monarchy has been a net positive for Britain and has given us a lot of soft power in the world. This does now mean we can't achieve the same via something other than the Monarchy. As people I wish them (mostly) well as I would anyone. However before we get rid of them can we at least wait till the coronation? let us get that extra bank holiday. Yes money will be wasted on the event itself, but that should mean there is less money available for this government to syphon off to their mates.

When you shake that many hands some people are always going to be missed out. I may be wrong but I this is the first time I can remember people claiming he didn't shake a hand due to skin colour and given how many hands he has shaken over his life time I think there would have been an obvious pattern by now if that was the case. 2 mins on google and I can find these examples of King Charles shaking non-white hands. although most of the what I searched though where links to the same video of him not shaking a black hand. video Link and Photo link I am not saying he is not racist, the video does look bad, Once incidence could be coincidence. - I have seen plenty of times in the past where white hands have been skipped. will however keep an eye out from now on and see if there is indeed a pattern, but I won't condemn him for this one time.

but what if you are talking about the left or right bank of a river in Naboo where the water flows illogically and often against gravity? how would you tell from looking at a map which way is downstream?

Unless I've misses a scandal I believe those on 4 legs are safe from unwanted affection. I mean its always possible with Andrew I have missed a scandal or two. they also get the plus side of no matter how much they make him run around he will never get sweaty.

I could understand kindof if they closed the facilities and restaurants for the day or even just the for the hours of the funeral. But to kick people out of their self catering cabins and make them sleep somewhere else? is stupid, cruel and unnecessary. Butlins is remaining open, however Monday's arrivals have been asked to arrive later. Butlins will win the PR for this.

That's nasty. and really nasty if Monday was the middle of your stay. This could cost them a lot of future bookings.

hmmm I guess the proper British thing to do would be to cut the Dimond in half before handing it back.

What I don't get is why so many people feel the need to buy more flowers to place at the gates or in parks. I mean once a critical mass has been reached a few thousand more is not gonna make any real difference. - I am sure its great business for the florists, but it just seems such a waste of money. I get the need some feel to pay their respects but why not donate to a charity she was Patron to about 600. This way it can do some good instead of just being turned into compost. They have asked people stopped sending stuffed toys (although these could be collected and given to children's charities) and people remove all non compostable materials before laying flowers. - I imagine there is a lot of plastic flower wrap waste being created from this.

How long before we have to change all our money? Does each note/coin get gradually phased out or do we do them all at the same time?