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marklv

Listed below are comments made by marklv between Thursday, 16th July 2009 and Monday, 16th November 2009.

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Brazil refine tactics for World Cup 10:53am on 16 Nov 2009 Brazil's best teams were in 1950, 1958, 1970 and 1982. Of those four, only two won the world cup. The problem is that to win the World Cup you don't necessarily need to have a good team - look at Italy in 2006 or Argentina in 1978. What you do need is tactical awareness and the ability to grind out results from unpromising situations. In the past, this has been the problem with Brazil, but in recent years they have become much more pragmatic and willing to go for the 1-0 win. This approach has brought results, by winning Brazil the World Cup competitions of 1994 and 2002, but it has made the game all the poorer for it. Seeing Brazil play England I honestly didn't see much that excited me - true, Brazil was the stronger side, but the beautiful game just wasn't there. I hope Brazil do badly in the World Cup - I believe we still need the beautiful game and only the Brazil of old can deliver it.
Nick Griffin on Question Time 3:53pm on 26 Oct 2009 I reject with the strongest contempt the claim made above by the BBC that it was just a 'normal Question Time'. Do you honestly believe that people are naive enough to believe that? It appears clear to me that the audience was totally unrepresentative of a typical cross section of British population. For a start there were very few older people and also far too many from ethnic minorities to provide a balanced audience. I also suspect that a number from far-left groups managed to infiltrate the audience. In any case, it was the job of David Dimbleby, the questionmaster, to prevent the whole event from becoming focused on the BNP and Griffin. In this, he failed miserably. He allowed the direction of the questioning to be dominated by a few people obsessed with the BNP's racial policy and as a result the entire programme became a farce. I also suspect that the questioners were 'planted' by the BBC, with the backing of the government, in order to cause as much trouble as possible. I don't know why the BBC did this, but I feel that BBC management is afrid of giving someone like Griffin the opportunity to speak coherently about his policies. I find this quite sinister - who are the real fascists here, I wonder?
Question Time and the BNP 1:50pm on 08 Sep 2009 "The other parties need to make sure their representatives on the program are the best they have to rip into Nick Griffin's opinions. With Ian Hislop or Shami Chakrabarti as the non-political panelist. Nick Griffin isn't the brightest of people so the destruction of his views probably won't even register on his consciousness; but the aim should be to humiliate him and expose the lies behind the BNP's attempts to present themselves as something other than the racist, hate-filled people they are."

More rhetoric and sanctimonious proselytising. The only hate filled people I see are those who are desperate to prevent a legitimate party from airing its views on national mainstream TV. Calling Griffin 'not the brightest of people' shows how little you really know about him. He has a degree from Cambridge University and is probably more intelligent than 99% of the population; I would look forward to the two politically correct windbags named above being demolished by Griffin.
Question Time and the BNP 1:32pm on 08 Sep 2009 "Of course Nick Griffin and other members of the BNP should not be legitimised by a platform on 'Question Time' Having two MEPs does not make them a legitimate party. How can the BBC treat them as any other party when their criteria for membership is based on ethnicity and their representatives make inflammatory comment after inflammatory comment. Griifin is clever enough to say the right things on 'Question Time' but this is only a veneer. The true message of the BNP, that of division and hate, would be kept out of the arena. The BNP are dangerous and a threat to all. The BBC should not, never ever, give them a platform."

What you are saying is just empty rhetoric, not logical argument. Whether you like it or not, the BNP is a fully legal party. This is fact. How you choose to interpret the views of this party is entirely up to you, but don't try to proselytise your opinions as if they were facts.
Question Time and the BNP 1:29pm on 08 Sep 2009 "Again, I respect your right to state that you would like a debate on multi-culturalism, although I disagree with your reasoning for a few reasons:
"His views are little different from those aired by many on the right of the Tory party back in the late 1960s and 1970s - Enoch Powell most of all."
We also had Apartheid in South Africa - which most people abhorred. We also had slavery which is now seen as repugnant. The short answer is that society has (mostly) grown up and realised that skin colour means nothing - we are all humans. The benefits this country gains from the so-called "leftist propaganda" is a fundamental respect for the right of everyone to live and prosper, and contribute to the prosperity of the society in which they live."

What you are saying is totally irrelevant. You are making political statements, not arguing on the merits of Griffin appearing on Question Time. It's not an issue of skin colour, 'we are all human' etc. This is about whether the native British (and kindred) people should have a say in whether this country should become radically different in culture and ethnic composition to what it has been since pre-history. This isn't just a question of a few thousand immigrant workers, there are now an estimated 5 million non-Europeans living in the UK - maybe more. I don't question that they are human - this is hardly the point, though, is it?

"The impositions of multi-culturalism from above has been the result of the beliefs of successive governments, as voted for by the British public. Therefore there is an argument that it has been democratically agreed. If it was not acceptable then one of the political parties would have repudiated the changes at the time. The legislation has been necessitated by the attitudes of a number of people who have been unwilling to evolve their own world view to understand that difference is not something to be afraid of, or, indeed, an excuse to permit victimisation. "

No! The argument has never been democratically agreed because there has never been a referendum on the issue. Voting for a party does not automatically mean that you agree with 100% of that party's policies. Indeed, the issue of immigration remained highly contentious with the Conservative Party right up to the Thatcher era, so there was never agreement even within at least one of the main poilitical parties. And what is this nonsense about needing to evolve one's world view? People are entitled to have any views they like, or are you saying we need to have only one world view? This sounds vaguely like Stalinism.
Question Time and the BNP 3:39pm on 07 Sep 2009 Of course Griffin should be allowed to take part. His views are little different from those aired by many on the right of the Tory party back in the late 1960s and 1970s - Enoch Powell most of all. All this talk of racism and neo-nazism is merely leftist propaganda to deflect attention way from the real and fundamental issues that the BNP is trying to address. It should not be taken for granted that Britain is a multi-cultural country; after all have the native British people ever been consulted as to whether they wanted this? The truth seems to be that is it is something that was imposed undemocratically from above, by successive governments since 1945. Delicate issues need to be debated with careful thought and diplomacy, but they need to be debated nevertheless.
Is Italy better than Britain? 11:41am on 17 Jul 2009 "State salaries are incredibly low - many people work for 1200 euros a month - but the jobs are totally protected and have great benefits, so they give security. But then promotion is by length of service or "recommendation" (nepotism), never by merit, so it leads to massive inefficiency. There is no incentive to perform well.

However all that said I would say Italy is by far the more pleasant place to live. The town and villages are vibrant and lively. The food is of course excellent. There is little delinquency or alcohol abuse.

And if you have children you can take them anywhere at any time and everyone will be wonderfully helpful.

Italians by and large seem much happier in general.
I think they see the chaos ans corruption and problems around them and then think "Va bene. Andiamo mangiare" and suddenly everything is better."

You've probably hit the nail on the head here. However, I woudn't say 1200 Euros a month after tax is 'incredibly low' - most admin grade civil servants in the UK earn roughly the same, plus in Italy you get a thirteenth month of salary at the end of the year - and I believe civil servants of standard grade get a fourteenth month as well. Pay IS relatively low, but it's a job for life and carries a pension of 80% final salary, teacher levels of annual holiday and an 8 till 3 working day. Not a bad life! As for the UK meritocracy culture, this is just an illusion, often manipulated by managers who like to build themselves a cosy little empire full of 'yes people'. It sounds good in theory but doesn't work in practice because of office politics. You can't change human nature.

I think the key cultural difference is that in the UK there is an obsession with making money and materialism in general, while in Italy people work to make ends meet, to to try to get rich.
Is Italy better than Britain? 11:20am on 17 Jul 2009 "If there is anything in particular that makes Italy a better country than the Uk it is their treatment of children.
I think we have to acknowledge that we the British and the English in particular do not like children.
How many times have we heard the comment from parents that they can't wait for their children to grow up (16 years old) and leave the family home.
What other country in the world sends such a large propotion of its children to boarding school?
Where in Europe are the children as badly behaved as they are here?
Why does this country produce so many paedophiles?

I think English children when they are badly behaved are simply demonstrating the fact that they are not cherished."

Erm, nope. British children are badly behaved because they have nothing to fear any more. All this Marxist nonsense from 'New Labour' and the EU has taklen away the right of teachers and parents to use corporal punishment. Italian children are no better behaved than British ones, just less prone to drinking maybe, because it's not in the culture. And they are the noisiest brats anywhere in Europe!
Is Italy better than Britain? 11:15am on 17 Jul 2009 " 'Made in Italy' world's leading label'? Possibly. Amongst chav filth who wouldn't know any better."

Really? I thought Burberry was favoured by chavs!
Is Italy better than Britain? 1:24pm on 16 Jul 2009 "The rubbish collection is appalling - Where my house is, we pay 70euros a quarter for rubbish collection, and the bins are emptied twice daily. 300yrds down the road, they are lucky to be emptied twice in a week.....But this does have it's advantages as the refuse will find it's way into the holes and administer a slight bit of relief to the wheel and tyre damage for a coupe of days in the week!"

AHEM!! I pay £1,300 a year in council tax and bin is emptied once a FORTNIGHT here in the UK. Consider yourself lucky!

"Work colleague got stopped for speeding - couldn't pay the on the spot fine - no money handed over with the driving license - so was taken by the police to a bar and was told to buy them breakfast and that would be the end of that! He was escorted in the police car to the nearest bar and paid for breakfast, then was left there as the officers had almost finished their shift and didn't have tome to take him back to his car!"

So what's wrong with that? OK, not by the book, but what the heck......

"The main thing that has to be addressed is that the media is controlled by Berlusconi - therefore, what the world sees is very much filtered down and screened so as not to make the place seem like it is a dreadful place to live."

OK, well in that case the UK the BBC is controlled by whichever party is in government. It's currently very pro-Labour. And Berlusconi only controls certain TV channels and newspapers, not all of them. He is no different from Murdoch, who controls Sky, The Times, The Sunday Times, etc. Who are you trying to kid?

"Salaries in Italy are criminal. My wife works for a decent American pharmaceutical company and even by the current exchange rate being almost 1:1, she is on below minimum wage, and that is still considered here good! Plus the fact they get taxed for everything - I think the tax if it was paid properly for everything would mean that the Italian workforce would be paying the employee 17% of the salary they don't have because of the taxes they have already paid so therefore 117% tax!"

Horses for courses. I know for a fact that skilled professionals in Italy are paid as much, if not more, than in the UK. They also work fewer hours and get more holidays (including bank holidays). Taking three weeks off in August is the norm. In the UK you are lucky to get 25 days a year plus an insulting eight bank holidays a year - less than any other country, including the USA. And don't forget that in Italy the government pays out a state pension quite substantially higher than in the UK. As for taxes, we are taxed to death in the UK as it is and have little to show for it.

One thing I do agree with you about is the driving in Italy, which is absolutely diabolical. And the parking issues as well. I've also noticed, like you, that graffiti is everywhere and public toilets are almost always never cleaned. This is the one big negative in Italy - public services.

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