You have made an excellent point and yes agree about scape goats but in the USA under Biden / Harris who I voted for it became so much that hospitals were in dire financial pain .
In UK it has drained their health care but again your point is Spot On as we pretend Londoners like to say however in this particular case illegals as we call them in USA was just to much .
I had no idea Campbell had basic training , It is a huge fort as you know 1/3 or so in Tennessee rest in KY .
When I was there , there were infantry platoons from 3 other European countries but not sure why as again they had same schools we had .
Those tank tracks were always the weakness of the tank and weighed a ton to repair , I think tanks now different but it has been decades for me . I was artillery 102 howitzers which now archaic . I was over seas but did time at Campbell for Air Assault school which was easy when I went as goal was to teach you for Hueys but they made it way harder like every school they had think mid 70s.
101āst is like the Big Red One as far as plenty of everything .
Your brother was a Tanker ?
Iām not convinced this Labour government is the worst - but it is the most disappointing. They were voted in on the promise of change and rectifying the years of austerity. Thus far they have failed on both - and then got stuck in the Reform attack on their view of non-British.
But Trussā government was an idiot premise and implementing that badly - much worse than anything in living history and not in power for long enough to need to deal with issues other than the crisis they created.
Surely though we are seeing successive governments having to deal with incrementally worse and more complex versions of the same problems. Ever increasing national debt. Seemingly unaffordable social & health services. Privatised companies abusing their monopoly position and the weak regulation. Ever increasing numbers of people coming into the country (without sufficient integration) to address gaps in skills and willingness to work. Poor education standards and low productivity. All of which results in low GDP growth.
The one answer to most of the above is a significant hike in taxation (especially for those who most can afford to pay more). But, and its a big but, this would need to be orchestrated by an administration capable of organising the spend in a way that works short and long term.
The problem for this and recent past governments is that the establishment do not see tax increases as acceptable.
how would a tax hike help when so much money is wasted?
Yeah brilliant, and the few remaining employers would scoot off to far off lands and take their business with them, The Truss way would have rewarded the rich and it would have filtered down to the workers. I hate to say it butā¦In a capitalist country you need your rich folks, they are the ones that will invest in industry and employment. The only other way is to become a socialist or communist country and nationalise everything.
I think the time has gone for either philosophy, time for a world party.
Weāre setting sail to the place on the map
From which no one has ever returned
Drawn by the promise of the joker and the fool
By the light of the crosses that burned
Drawn by the promise of the women and the lace
And the gold and the cotton and pearls
Itās the place where they keep all the darkness you need
You sail away from the light of the world on this trip, baby
You will pay tomorrow
Youāre gonna pay tomorrow
You will pay tomorrow
Oh, oh, oh
Save me, save me from tomorrow
I donāt want to sail with this ship of fools, no, no
Oh, save me, save me from tomorrow
I donāt want to sail with this ship of fools, no, no
I want to run and hide right now 
The trickle down effect is a myth. It never happens in practice. Ever. Give the rich more money and they invest it - in assets (property, shares, etc.) which makes them even more money. They do not suddenly go buy more stuff. They can afford any stuff they want already.
I cannot believe that a proudly ordinary bloke from the north is recommending policies that solely benefit the rich.
Well Jeff Bezos has just set up two massive warehouses here in Doncaster employing hundreds of people, Graham Kirkham set up and was the CEO of DFS also providing hundreds of jobs for local peopleā¦To name just few rich blokes who have provided jobs locally. All those thousands of workers would have probably been on the dole and claiming benefits.
I donāt like it either Lincs, but in a capitalist country thatās how it works.
Titus Salt and Joseph Rowntree set up communities for their workers with housing and medical care.
Sometimes the rich are more sympathetic and caring than you seem to make outā¦
Yeah but Truss should have proposed more āSupportā for the working class 
She was supporting the working classes Spitty, but in a roundabout way. Sometimes help is not always obvious until later down the line.
H
Starmer promised to get things done
I see in media his ministers saying what they have done
Itās all spin
Pensioners are going to be over 500 a year better off under Labour some will not all
The NHS is improving treatment is quicker staffing is better.
Iām in hospital cardiology itās a nightmare last night one nurse for,12 patients day shift today, ,3 staff down.
They are leaving ,worn out and going to Agency, more pay and can pick the shifts
I know that Foxy, I was just being facetious, but, the reality is you and I are quite happy with our lot, regardless how we arrived here, the problem for successive governments is appeasing the vast percentage of the population who are less happy with their lot, that is the tricky bit.
Yes I see your point Spittyā¦
It depends on your perspective.
I think we are all unanimous when we think this government is the worst in history.
We are just encouraged to expect a bit too much sometimes
You are mixing up rich people with the businesses that made them rich. Bezos is not opening the warehouses with his own money. Amazon is making the investment. Kirkham set up DFS and it was DFS that invested in factories and outlets, not Kirkham digging into his bank account.
Then I would note that Bezos has become rich by suppressing the worker rights and the worker wages in his businesses. But his wealth could not come without these workers. Do they get a share of profits? No, they get zero hour contracts which most probably mean they also need welfare payments to top up their income. Which means our government is subsidising Amazon. Good grief man, its not difficult to work out that the rich are bleeding the country and that Truss was only going to accelerate that. Why on earth are you supporting the rich getting richer through government support?
I used to order directly from sites as things I buy are not sold in local pet stores but in my area Post service is a disaster so tried Amazon due to their direct amazon delivery ( I do not use Prime ) and loved it so stuck with them .
I make sure what I want to order is shipped via them not postal and yes Amazon devours small businesses but in my case things I wanted like high output white led fish tank plant hoods are not sold in local pet stores add their selection is not much while Amazon has it all
Edit . Ebay not bad at all in fact I sold freshwater shrimp and killie fish eggs via them but they use Postal and I had enough of postal in South Florida but if your area postal is good , ebay is good .
The rich are in a different category , Bezos lives in Floridaās " billionaire bunker " and from what I heard from cops I know they like Fisher island get 24 / 7 Coast guard and Police water patrols outside their docks via tax payers but perhaps that is included in their property tax .
Check >> āTITULARā.
I donāt agree that ref trickle down economics is a myth. Itās a thing, but it is limited in its scope. Wealthy individuals create a whole industry of demand for services, entertainment, high end goods, manufactured items etc etc. The scope is limited to the geographical areas they inhabit. While it leads to gentrification of the areas they frequent, it isnāt an economic miracle to solve all ills in our society.
But you do need wealth to create wealth. You mention that the rich will invest, well there are ways to encourage them to invest in the areas that benefit the poor if you create tax efficient ways to make such investment attractive. Thereās a lack of government vision (or perhaps vested interests) preventing any such progress.
The current government seems to have zero vision in generating economic growth. They seem to be relying on a madcap build baby build policy which is permanently ruining vast swathes of British towns.
In my opinion none of them have been any good, from the 80ās up. I still take no interest in politics, our country is broken, all of it. I am thankful I wonāt live long enough for it to get even worse.
Just MHO.
