Ex Lion Tamer

Listed companies have a responsibility to their shareholders to make as much profit as possible, so you can say it's immoral all you like, but really company bosses have little choice. After all, how can any retailer compete with Amazon unless they adopt the same methods? A question to you all - do you know where your pension is invested? You are probably contributing to the problem in your role as a shareholder. Ultimately we need to pressure our governments to tighten the rules, but there is also personal responsibility. How many of us complain about tax avoidance but then still buy from amazon? Tax avoidance by individuals is a bit different and less defensible, but unfortunately it's human nature that people will convince themselves that things that are in their personal interest are actually OK. The onus here is on us as voters to pressure governments to tighten to the rules, as human nature will never change

But how do you set up a system that punishes the idlers without accidentally hurting vulnerable people? Any rule you lay down will have unintended consequences and when you're taking away people's ability to live and eat it's a very dangerous game to play. Cant you imagine how soul destroying it is for essentially well meaning people to have to make application after application, receiving rejection after rejection, in a marketplace where there simply aren't enough jobs for everyone that needs one? It's inevitable that some people on benefits with barely any disposable income find they have no joy in their lives, get ground down by the enforced application treadmill, and make bad decisions like missing appointments. They then suffer sanctions that actually make it harder for them to turn things round. The mistake that right wingers make again and again is thinking that because they themselves have made sensible rational decisions in their lives then everyone else can and should. The reality is more complicated - people do illogical, dumb things, often with tragic consequences, especially if they are young, haven't had a stable upbringing or have undiagnosed mental health issues

You said that people need to be encouraged to get jobs, within the context of a discussion about benefit sanctions. That surely means you think sanctions are necessary because otherwise people won't try hard enough to get a job?

So you think all people on benefits are workshy and just need to be hit with a stick until they try hard enough to find a job? The fact is that most people on benefits want to work but can't find a job, or they've lost confidence in themselves, or they have mental health problems that stop them holding down a job. Forcing them further into poverty does nothing to change their situation. You think it's all like the people on benefits Street, and some are like that, but they're the minority. In the mean time you have good people suffering, like this guy : http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/03/victims-britains-harsh-welfare-sanctions

This is what it always comes down to on this forum, you think that because the mega rich have a job which pays them a high salary, they have "earned" their money. I say no one can work hard enough to "earn" those enormous amounts, and it's quite right that the state takes a large proportion of it and gives it to others who aren't blessed with the same intelligence, luck, family connections, stable mental health etc, not to mention pay for roads, infrastructure etc that the wealthy themselves benefit from

So you think that when the economy starts growing, all unemployment is immediately eradicated?

Regardless of whether tax avoidance is moral, the point is the government needs to do something about it instead of focusing on people who can't find a job during an economic downturn

Read the link that bridge too far posted

So what you're saying is he's a poor man's Jeremy Clarkson

I'm not convinced he had the intelligence to make the most of his obvious ability

He's always been an excellent reaction stopper but wait till the near post shots start sneaking in

Seems like Big Vic had made a big difference

Kelvin!!!

I'm giving Bear the all clear, he's much more creative and varied

I wonder if he has OCD? His relentless need to poke fun at the same targets again and again was quite obsessive

Don't forget that this is still his first season after stepping up to the premier league. I think he deserves another year. At the very least he's a good squad player, no reason to get rid

There's so much more to penalties than having a hard shot

Either that or they checked the web hits and went with what people were clicking on

My understanding is you have psychopaths and sociopaths (its possible I'm wrong but I think that;s what I remember). So psychopaths have defective brains so they don't feel empathy. Sociopaths do bad things because of their upbringing. Ian Brady was a psychopath, Myra Hindley was a sociopath. They both did evil things - Myra because her violent father had made her believe violence was ok at a young age and Ian because he just enjoyed it. Jon Ronson's book the Psychopath Test is very readable if you are interested in the topic

I'd like the speaker to have the power to step in if a question isn't adequately answered

He was certainly the best striker at the club when fit, but you could always be sure he'd be back in the treatment room before too long

Won't there?

But nothing would make a Scottish breakaway more likely than another Tory government. A Labour - SNP coalition could be the only way to save the union

It's actually all about the SNP, Labour are going to be decimated in Scotland

Has he said exactly what happened with the collar bone incident? Was it some tough guy wanting to stick one on a legend?