dune

2. The problems in Africa are not caused by the previous colonial powers. The Empires of the past did a lot of good in raising living standards and building infrastructure - basically we superceded the tribes and proved that Africa could work. The problems in sub saharan Africa would exist today whether we had been there or not due to the nature of the tribal culture. I agree with you about the map of Africa, and it's a sad fact that stability is still tenuous, but in the modern world tribal enclaves cannot exist alongside prosperity so in effect there is no map that could fit and sadly therefore no solution. 4. Since when has the NHS been "free" unless you are on benefits or a newly arrived immigrant? I pay my taxes so I can assure you it is not free and I also pay for private health care although this policy is only applicable for jumping the queue for operations and such like, not bog standard treatments, so the money I pay into the NHS is more of a gift anyway. 5. The AIDs epidemic is not my problem. Don't get me wrong I feel for those with the disease (particularly children born with it) but America should be held to account for this disease because I believe it was the American millitary that developed the disease and distributed it through WHO vacinations when communism was on the rise.

I don't know why I decided to transfer the balance over tbh because i'll be paying if off before the end of June, so before I use the Santander Zero it'll be paid off in full and in the black (enough to cover potential car hire costs + more if I find that it's an economic method of spending) as i'm only going to be using it on holiday. The 0% spending is for 3 months on the Santander Zero, but as I say the 18.9% interest rate doesn't bother me as it'll be just to use abroad and as soon as I get the card i'll register it online and do a credit limit decrease (should it let me) to about £500 anyway. Do you know whether in lieu of 0% foreign exchange fee it'd be more economic to use the credit card as a debit card rather than taking cash sterling and hunting for a local exchange in the resort (these usually give a better rate than banks in the UK i've found)?

I'm cancelling my BarclayCard and taking out a Santander Zero Card as the Santander Zero card has no foreign exchange loading anywhere, so you get the best possible exchange rate, and uniquely it doesn't charge a fee for withdrawing cash. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#topcards Does anyone have any experience of using credit cards abroad and if so will I get a better exchange rate by using it than by changing real money in the UK or abroad? I've applied to transfer my £400 balance from the BarclayCard over to the Santander Zero, but i'm a bit confused by this comment: This card also has a decent balance transfer offer; 0% for twelve months with a 3% fee. However, if you're using it for spending abroad, don't do a balance transfer too, as this can end up costing you big. When they say it can cost you big does this mean if the card stays in the red? I'll be loading the card with money before I use it abroad (so using it more as a debit card) so does this mean i'll be ok? These might seem stupid questions but i'm very wary of credit cards as the devil is always in the detail.

Some people enjoy moaning.

The same applies to the Battenbergs becoming the Mountbattens.

My test would be. 1. When did England win the world cup? 2. What percentage of the world did Britain rule at the the height of the Empire? 3. What is the 6th verse of the national anthem? 4. Why is the Welsh flag not incorporated in the Union flag? 5. Who has the biggest chip on their shoulder - the Welsh, the Scots or the Cornish? 6. What was the capital of England before London? 7. Give a Churchill quotation? 8. Which national hero said the following “Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life”? 9. What do you call an Irish spider? 10. "________ is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel or envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." What's the missing word?

Stupid test.

If you're going bald it always looks silly trying to disguise it.

Chris Marsden.

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=22702

Rhodesia wasn't ready for black rule. The Wilson government wanted to rush things through, but Ian Smith knew that because of the tribal differences between the Matebele and the Shona the country wasn't ready for majority black rule, a gradual transfer of power was needed.

Are you descended from a convict by any chance?

International aid should be scrapped. You only have to look at countries such as Zimbabwe to see that such countrys are only poor because of poor governance. When Ian Smith was PM in Rhodesia the country was a model African state and no-body went hungry.

I bet the mother voted Labour.

Given that you are a member of the Labour party I would have thought you'd be an expert in this.

I can think of much more deserving charities than one which supports the familys of murderers and rapists.

I ignored your question because the answer is so obvious and I didn't want to call you thick for asking such a dopey question. You'd make a great Labour MP.

I had to laugh at the woman Labour MP making some boring drawn out point that nobody was interested in hearing. I don't mean this to be sexist but every female Labour MP i've ever seen has come accross as being thick. It makes me think that the only reason half of them are there is to make up the numbers, certainly not on merit.

This is precisely the point I keep trying to make. The raving left wingers will have a collective fit of the vapours when cuts are made to public services, but it's the Labour party that have put the country in this position.

The reason there has to be cuts is because of 13 years of a Labour government riddling the country with debt. As for pensions who was it that took £150 billion out of them?

Ken Clarke's policys set Labour up in the early years.

And the same Royal Mail with a £10 billion black hole in it's pension fund. Did you mate Gordon Brown plunder this pension fund like he did so many others?

Don't blame the Tories, blame the Labour scum.:mad: Gordon Brown's economic blunders have cost every family in Britain £50,000, the Tories claim today. The party says Mr Brown is personally responsible for a series of mistakes that have shattered the economy. They include selling Britain's gold reserves at a record low, raiding pensions for up to £150billion, making catastrophic tax credit errors, racking up over £1trillion in debt, and giving up our EU rebate. In total, the Tories say, the blunders - which they call 'Gordon's greatest hits' - added up to a total loss of £1,287billion. The sum is equivalent to £50,000 per family, or more than £3,000 for every second of every day since Labour came to power. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255305/Gordon-Brown-blunders-cost-family-50-000-PM-blame-ruining-economy-say-Tories.html#ixzz0osCuPeie