Bad beat/Moaning/Venting thread - Mammy told me not to come.

[Strewelpeter]

it's easier to take the long view and note that American democracy is a highly resilient creature.

Easier is usually the wrong path

[Guest]

It's specifically Chinese demand that caused the Apple slowdown, which is due to the trade war. If it was a general problem with iPhones there would be a more widespread effect.

They allude to a drop in demand in developed markets aside from China in the letter to investors. You hardly expect them to come out and cop to their pricing strategy being pure greed handy they can blame China, I’m sure the drop in Chinese demand demand would not have been as drastic if they hadn’t pumped up the price of their new phones by nearly 50% over the past 2 years

[Raoul Duke III]

We can go blah blah blah democracy. But their near neighbour, South Korea, was in exact same boat (worse really) and once they reached a certain economic level effortlessly converted to democracy. The same will undoubtedly happen in China.

They're not the same at all. South Korea was/is an American protectorate and was pushed into semi-democracy (I use that term deliberately because even today it evinces some disturbing characteristics) by them.

China is a malevolent dictatorship. They would bomb the shit out of Taipei tomorrow if they thought they would get away with it.

Chalk and cheese.

[Raoul Duke III]

Easier is usually the wrong path

Cheese it is so.

With a diversification strategy into salumi.

[Solksjaer!]

We can go blah blah blah democracy. But their near neighbour, South Korea, was in exact same boat (worse really) and once they reached a certain economic level effortlessly converted to democracy. The same will undoubtedly happen in China.

v. wong

[Emmet]

Surely they might lean on us if we find ourselves in a bind for whatever reason in the near future. Did they not try to lean on us wrt to Corp tax after the financial crisis?

Lean all they want. A new treaty would be required. Which would require us to agree.

Its thoroughly unsurprising that the EU would want to centralise (think de-duplication) a whole raft of competencies to Brussels.

They don't have the power to do anything but suggest that the member states give those competencies to them though.

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[NewApproach]

Did we get any stock suggestions for 2019 from our resident experts?

[CHDad]

Sigh. I feel sorry for you M8.

Aw, thanks m8.

😘

[Guest]

The Government will seek hundreds of millions of euro in special aid from Brussels if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal.

Dublin has already alerted the EU Commission that it will be lobbying for emergency aid to cope with the fallout to Irish trade, particularly for the beef, dairy and fishing sectors.
With Westminster deadlocked, fears are growing that Britain will exit the EU in just 12 weeks’ time without a deal.

However, it also comes at a time when Ireland is under increasing pressure from key EU member states, such as France and Germany, to increase taxes on multinational high-tech companies in Ireland.

[Guest]

It’s grand if our agriculture sector gets wrecked right lads, cos we can just rely on companies in Dublin who specialize in financial chicanery and tech companies who abet said financial chicanery and also big tech companies who house their lower tier advertising selling jobs here for tax ourposrs and fuck everyone outside the pale!
Trebles all round!

[Raoul Duke III]

It’s grand if our agriculture sector gets wrecked right lads, cos we can just rely on companies in Dublin who specialize in financial chicanery and tech companies who abet said financial chicanery and also big tech companies who house their lower tier advertising selling jobs here for tax ourposrs and fuck everyone outside the pale!
Trebles all round!

I hate to break this to you....but that's exactly what we do already.

But you should be delighted at this as revenues from these activities subsidise everything else. Including the loss-making enterprise known as 'rural Ireland'.

[Guest]

I hate to break this to you....but that's exactly what we do already.

But you should be delighted at this as revenues from these activities subsidise everything else. Including the loss-making enterprise known as 'rural Ireland'.

Lol, do they fuck, companies that make stuff and provide actual useful services subsidise rural Ireland not the spivs in the financial services industry.

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[Guest]

Do you think its Supermacs paying the €10bn annual corporation tax?

I bet they pay more than Facebook and a good amount amount of fin tech startups.
But no I’m tacking about biomedical science and pharmaceutical companies who I’d imagine are responsible for a way bigger chunk of tax and provide a lot more use to society than spiv financial services companies.
I am as always open to correction though

[Guest]

Hmm quick google for 2016 seems to suggest Facebook paid about 20 times more tax than Supermacs.

[Guest]

Rural Ireland will be grand anyway we,We willjust shove our hands a bit deeper into our urban sugar daddies pockets

[ArmaniJeans]

Awful lot of smugness on social media/media about what a great job Leo and the boys are doing on brexit and what a mess the brits are making of things , and aren’t the EU great , they have our back etc
Still think they will shaft us in some way on the corporate tax /border when the crunch comes and we won’t be laughing then

Corpo tax discussed by others who know it better than me.

As for shafting us on the border issue, I think its highly unlikely that they will shaft a member state in order to appease an ex-Member state. It would seem to go against everything it stands for, and send a terribly damaging signal to other small EU countries. So I think that a) most don't want to shaft us and b) those who do realise they can't.

[shrapnel]

Didn't particularly rate this one.

The favorite is out now also

watched this last night.

SPOILER

such a good first half to the movie, only to be let down by the 2nd half, which completely ran out of ideas, and went nowhere. Brilliant acting performances all round, especially queen Anne

[Raoul Duke III]

Hmm quick google for 2016 seems to suggest Facebook paid about 20 times more tax than Supermacs.

Not to mention employing all those high earners.

Top 5% of earners pay >55% of income taxes.

Your apology is accepted.

[Guest]

I hate to break this to you....but that's exactly what we do already.

But you should be delighted at this as revenues from these activities subsidise everything else. Including the loss-making enterprise known as 'rural Ireland'.

What would happen if all rural Ireland or a large percent of it would move to Dublin. The transport system is creaking as it is. People cannot afford to live in Dublin so live in commuter towns. Spending long hours travelling to and from work. They barely see there kids it's no way to live to be honest. I know you simply can't ask an Intel to create 5000 jobs in Longford they need infrastructure and people who are skilled to do jobs. Rural Ireland is dying a slow death economic reality or not I find it sad.

[Solksjaer!]

I blame the accordion.

[Strewelpeter]

Not to mention employing all those high earners.

Top 5% of earners pay >55% of income taxes.

Your apology is accepted.

Was told recently that the average salary in facebook ireland is 180K, could that possibly be right

[Tar.Aldarion]

Have a look at this video on a new Google tech: Soli. Wow! - I'd say this will go from 'oh that's kinda cool' to 'did we once use to press physical buttons on things like cavemen?' mega quickly. The chip is already ready.

https://youtu.be/0QNiZfSsPc0

They demoed this around 2 years ago and are still hanging away at it. I think it will be in the new pixel watch.

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[Ed]

Was told recently that the average salary in facebook ireland is 180K, could that possibly be right

Heard a pretty big number recently too, though not that high. Will consider a role for half that

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[Raoul Duke III]

Was told recently that the average salary in facebook ireland is 180K, could that possibly be right

Wouldn't surprise me tbh. Maybe that includes non-pay incentives.

Paging RichieM.

[RichieM]

I bet they pay more than Facebook and a good amount amount of fin tech startups.
But no I’m tacking about biomedical science and pharmaceutical companies who I’d imagine are responsible for a way bigger chunk of tax and provide a lot more use to society than spiv financial services companies.
I am as always open to correction though

Plenty of pharma and bio tech companies dotted around rural Ireland providing jobs for the locals. I’m from Sligo and Abbott is and has been one of the biggest employers for decades.

[RichieM]

Was told recently that the average salary in facebook ireland is 180K, could that possibly be right

Most people are on 11 month fixed term contracts

[coillcam]

Most people are on 11 month fixed term contracts

The reality now appears to be that google/fb employ hordes of contractors from 3rd parties on short term contracts typically based on 25k-28k annually with only some benefits of the regular staff. Tough to get by in Dublin on that salary. A lot of them have a 2nd language and work on content review and support type roles.

[6starpool]

They demoed this around 2 years ago and are still hanging away at it. I think it will be in the new pixel watch.

It's all very Minoity Report, albeit without the bints in a bath.

[Goodluck2me]

What would happen if all rural Ireland or a large percent of it would move to Dublin. The transport system is creaking as it is. People cannot afford to live in Dublin so live in commuter towns. Spending long hours travelling to and from work. They barely see there kids it's no way to live to be honest. I know you simply can't ask an Intel to create 5000 jobs in Longford they need infrastructure and people who are skilled to do jobs. Rural Ireland is dying a slow death economic reality or not I find it sad.

I think there are a few issues at play here.

The closing of hundreds of bank branches, post offices and pubs are pulling the heart out of many communities and and makes it harder for people to find good jobs back home, so they typically find work wherever they’ve gone to college.

Ways of reversing it would be to ensure broadband connectivity around the country in the same way electrification was done so that companies whose staff predominantly work remotely can live anywhere, thus taking the pressure off major cities. I would also encourage more incentives for people to set up their own business, we still have a perverse stigma with people who try and fail. If there were better supports and education around it in rural communities I think that would also help.

The irony on your point on the transport system in Dublin creaking is that the more people live in and around Dublin the more cost effective investing in the network there becomes and the less viable public transport in rural areas also becomes. If most people lived in Dublin Kildare and Meathh we could have regular high speed trains with the a population density to support it.

[Strewelpeter]

I think there are a few issues at play here.

The closing of hundreds of bank branches, post offices and pubs are pulling the heart out of many communities and and makes it harder for people to find good jobs back home, so they typically find work wherever they’ve gone to college.

I agree with most of what you say but this bit is the wrong way around. The banks and post offices are closing because they are not really needed, there simply isn't the business to sustain them. Despite what you will hear from campaigners there are very few areas in rural Ireland where people cannot get enough connectivity to do the basics of online banking, tax returns and most public service transactions.
The kind of connectivity that is required to run a business is a different matter and I do agree that it is a key requirement for allowing people to be able to live in rural Ireland. But beyond having large numbers of people telecommuting in rural areas with the families and spending power they bring into rural communities I find it very hard to see how we can actually ever get the central focus of the businesses they work for to move out from the cities.

Also I'm talking about the kind of work and jobs that we have now and as Hitch often reminds us that is all going to change radically in the near future.

[Lazare]

So great to be back at work and normality. Just want routine back. Was thinking this morning of a friend who's off until Mon and all I could think was 'ha, sucker'

Have never felt that way before.

[Solksjaer!]

So great to be back at work and normality. Just want routine back. Was thinking this morning of a friend who's off until Mon and all I could think was 'ha, sucker'

Have never felt that way before.

I envy that sucker plus I want to drive the car of your happy pill supplier . Worst day of the year today.

[eamonhonda]

So great to be back at work and normality. Just want routine back. Was thinking this morning of a friend who's off until Mon and all I could think was 'ha, sucker'

Have never felt that way before.

Coming back from a break to a 5 day week is amateur stuff. Quick week to break ya in eases any pain. Tomorrow's Friday weekend again.

[Guest]

Fantastic to see that if brexit does lead to long term disaster in rural Ireland that there is another generation of Healy Rae’s getting going in politics who will be around to fight the good fight

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/healyrae-sons-to-face-assault-charges-37675138.html

[Zod]

Not even the degens in here would do this.

[Zod]

Fantastic to see that if brexit does lead to long term disaster in rural Ireland that there is another generation of Healy Rae’s getting going in politics who will be around to fight the good fight
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/...-37675138.html

You'd wonder if the person they attacked was the "bull" that "ran over" Michael in that "field" that time.

[SatNav]

Could someone direct me to a laptop for Mia. She plays sims and old laptop doesn't really work for it anymore. Harvey Norman or pc world preferly, don't really mind online either.

Budget max 400

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[DeadParrot]

We can go blah blah blah democracy. But their near neighbour, South Korea, was in exact same boat (worse really) and once they reached a certain economic level effortlessly converted to democracy. The same will undoubtedly happen in China.

That is a remarkably naive position to take.

[Ed]

5 + 9 + 11 = 25
5 + 9 + 1 = 15

the zodian marxist empire won't be run on numbers anyhow.

A9 got dealt first

[pokerhand]

5 + 9 + 11 = 25
5 + 9 + 1 = 15

the zodian marxist empire won't be run on numbers anyhow.

Wrong way around, the A came first and then the 9. Then the player asked for a double.

[Zod]

5 + 9 + 11 = 25
5 + 9 + 1 = 15

the zodian marxist empire won't be run on numbers anyhow.

What casino puts cards dealt under the preceding card? For Shame Hitch, the chicago school has beaten the degen out of toi.

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[Guest]

Groundbreaking stuff, google not the only ones trying to free us from the barbaric practice of pressing switches and buttons

https://www.techradar.com/news/this-bike-comes-with-amazon-alexa-to-give-you-directions-and-traffic-updates

These are set to be the world's first bikes that include Amazon's voice assistant, and it's there so you can interact with your bike without being distracted when you're meant to be concentrating on the road in front of you.

For example, if it's starting to get dark on your way home you could have smart lights set up on your bike that you can ask Amazon Alexa to turn on using your voice rather than having to reach to hit a manual switch.

[Zod]

Wrong way around, the A came first and then the 9. Then the player asked for a double.

I could be wrong, but if they doubled would they not only get one card, and here the dealer is clearly asking if they want another.

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[DeadParrot]

Is it. The fact that just about every other country in history (that isn't a religious nutjob country) has converted once reaching a decent level of wealth doesn't seem just a teensy bit convincing?

No need to emulate the big boys if they are trying to emulate you.
There's a few factors here that needs to be picked apart.
I'm in the doctors atm (hello Xmas gout!) but China isn't a western state, don't expect it to act as such. SK is GREATLY influenced by us and a bad example to hoist your petard upon.
Belt and Road for soft power internationally. Internly China is much more culturally different where the power of the individual isn't seen as important than family, town, state. That isn't a communism thing, it's largely why China took to communism so well.
Again in docs so it's not really fleshed out but that's the bones of it

[Raoul Duke III]

Is it. The fact that just about every other country in history (that isn't a religious nutjob country) has converted once reaching a decent level of wealth doesn't seem just a teensy bit convincing?

I think you might be putting the cart before the horse.

Democracy and openness lead to wealth, not the other way around.

[Zod]

the big mistake is regarding China as a country and not a civilisation.

[DeadParrot]

the big mistake is regarding China as a country and not a civilisation.

Civilization state. That's the phrase I was looking for

[Guest]

So great to be back at work and normality. Just want routine back. Was thinking this morning of a friend who's off until Mon and all I could think was 'ha, sucker'

Have never felt that way before.

GFYL
Thought I’d get in early and hit the ground running. All I’ve done is increase the dread for the proper return next week

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[Keane]

I assume we're all fairly on board with calling America a malevolent democracy for comparison with the malevolent dictatorship of China?

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[Guest]

And if you had to be born in China or India today where would you choose to be born?

For the purpose of answering this question, please assume that you will grow up indifferent to cricket.

China’s Creepy Social credit system swings it toward India for me , that plus the curry