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Fabius_Maximus

Listed below are comments made by Fabius_Maximus between Thursday, 20th November 2008 and Friday, 19th June 2009.

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Weighing up the rivals in F1 row 5:06pm on 19 Jun 2009 @22 - that's a nice list of Grand Prix races there.

And even if they only found a couple more (perhaps have two in the US and another somewhere in Europe) or they didn't, it wouldn't matter to me. I'd rather watch a 13 race breakaway series instead of lining the pockets of those two greedy dictators, and I think that the majority of racing fans would too. If they can find someone with the acumen of Bernie to negotiate commercial rights then I think that FOTA can really breakaway.
Piracy: Did someone blink? 10:43am on 16 Jun 2009 @26 ancientdream

Great post, especially the last paragraph.

In addition, if I decide to download music from torrents then I can normally expect a heavily compressed file, with significant degredation in quality compared to a cd. If I like the album then chances are i'll buy it so that I can listen to it on my high end system at a mucher better quality. Problem is, the majority if these mainstream artists whose revenue is so cherished by these leeches are often elevated to their lofty position by radio stations induced to play them. Even more often, the albums only contain two or three good songs - certainly not worth shelling out for a whole cd.

Also, there seems to be this fundamental misconception when the 'cost' of piracy is calculated that everything downloaded would otherwise be purchased. This is simply not true. I imagine that the shelves of many people with vast illegal collections would not be so full if music/film could not be illegally obtained.
1979 or 1989 - which year changed the world most? 4:54pm on 07 May 2009 1979. The year I was born. Making 1989 the better year.
Changes to our blogs 1:28pm on 19 Mar 2009 The columns are too wide. Shrink them by 25-30%.
Fred Goodwin to receive £650,000 for life 09:13am on 26 Feb 2009 The capital value of his pension is worked out using a HMRC formula that is standard for all of us. I doubt that the actuaries and trustees of the scheme are too happy about him taking it now but I doubt that they can do anything about it either.

The two questions that spring into my mind are;

whether he took a lump sum (that would have been a biggie); and

how long he'll remain UK resident for tax purposes. That's the real coup, at least he's gonna pay back 40% in tax (although no National Insurance).
Brothers in arms 1:08pm on 06 Feb 2009 I only hope that after the strikes this week (directed at the use of Italian labour in the UK market) there is a respect between the fans when the two nations meet on Saturday.
Confusion on the wildcat strikes (2) 12:58pm on 03 Feb 2009 It seems clear that if there are laws being broken then legal action should ensue.

All I see are lots of workers (white British - like me) angry with something that I doubt they fully understand. And they are not helping the situation in the long run.

My father works in Italy doing a job that could likely be done by a local from the region; presumably he is taking advantage of the same laws that these workers wish to do away with.

What concerns me at this point in time is the England - Italy Six Nations game on Saturday. Big potential for protesters and violence there. I very much doubt that the national anthems will be respected by either set of fans.
Sports Personality shortlist announced 12:32pm on 02 Dec 2008 SPOTY: Adlington
TEAM: GB Cycling

Lewis Hamilton has done something special but then he hasn't done anything except drive since he was ten, with the rest of his life being sculpted to gain maximum revenue from sponsors. Even his appearance on Children In Need was plastered with sponsor logos.

Andy Murray hasn't actually won anything. He can get it when he wins Wimbledon.

Adlington got up at 5am every day for four years, no one knew who she was, she earnt nothing and had minimal sponsorship (getting in a year what Mr Hamilton earns in about a minute(and paying tax, unlike Mr Hamilton who now gives nothing back to the UK as he lives in Switzerland - as if that has ANYTHING to do with the press intrusion!!)) and then pulled off something that hadn't been done for 100 years. There is no question that she should take the award.

Also, Chris Hoy can settle for the team award (even though his achievement was incredible, the GB Cycling team have had a truly enormous piece of the Olympic funding pie so there was an advantage over Becky).

And the comment about the voting lines was spot on - they should remain closed until after the features on each finalist have been shown. The BBC doesn't need any further cries of foul play and there can be no question that it is unfair (unsportsmanlike even) to have the lines open at the start of the show.
Citi and manic Monday 11:21am on 24 Nov 2008 The Government and local authorities have literally billions of pounds available to them - all they have to do is follow the private sector and shut down the golden final salary pension schemes. A report a couple of years ago gave a figure of about 30% of each public sector salary being paid to fund these pensions (and that by now will no longer be adequate, given the rise in mortality and the recent fall in equity prices).

The problem for the politicians is the unions and the inevitable strike action that would follow such a move. However, such a move has to come; the public sector now earn a greater average salary than the private sector and get 30% deferred pay p.a. so that they can retire in luxury. I don't want to pay more in tax to pay for their pensions than I can afford to save for my own and that is the situation that we are very close to.
Strictly Come Dancing Message Board Closing At 10 p.m 11:37am on 20 Nov 2008 Regarding Number 7's comment about weathermen/women - as I understand it those on the BBC are actually civil servants, not employed by the BBC, hence the caption 'in association with the MET office' at the foot of each weather report.

So it doesn't really matter how many of them there are, I am sure that the cost for the service provided is the same from a license fee perspective.

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