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Posted by meridianday on 06-12-2004 at 07:59:
Jerry Springer the Musical
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What a lot of F and C words! It will surely improve my scrabble scores.
Jerry Springer the Musical is old news, admittedly, but who'd have thought it'd end up on the BBC? I think I'll be recording it anyway, since it's supposed to be very entertaining.
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Posted by Elvin Ruler on 06-12-2004 at 14:31:
Ok, question. Why does it matter to people whether or not the BBC shows something with language or not? If you know that a channel is going to show something that will offend you (and if you don't know by now that Jerry Springer is going to offend you...) there's a simple solution: Change the channel. Heck, turn the tv off.
It's just...come on. If you watch it, just to see how offended you should be, then you support it by raising its ratings. It's like all those people who went out, bought Pokemon products, and then burned said products in protest. Like the companies care. You already gave them money. They don't care what you do with the product. Likewise, if you watch something you *know* is going to make you mad...then too bad.
Seriously, are people this dumb? Unfortunately, I think they are. Sorry about the rant. ^_^ Serious tangent there. I just don't understand how people can sit there and watch something, just so that they can complain about how terrible it is. *rolls eyes*
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Posted by CricketBeautiful on 06-12-2004 at 17:48:
Elvin, normally I would agree with you 100%.
But, Meridian, isn't BBC2 tax-supported, to some extent?
Cricket
__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
- Viktor E. Frankl
Posted by Tengu on 06-12-2004 at 19:52:
<nods>
And just about everything else on TV/Radio/sattelite
Thats why we have TV licences....
Thats why I dont have a TV....and the TV licencing company (a bunch of tyrants who obviously have nothing to do with Gallactor; they are too efficient) is dead mad at me.
Aint it so, Meridian?
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Posted by Elvin Ruler on 07-12-2004 at 02:28:
TV licences? What the...
What the heck are TV licences? Why do I get this odd feeling that I'm glad I don't know?
I guess if it's tax-supported, then they definitely have the right to complain.
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Posted by Tengu on 07-12-2004 at 10:39:
<shakes head> Best you never know....
How much are they these days, Meridian, is it £112 or £118?
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"If you think I am a Condor, you may keep that opinion;
Though I am no Condor, my Skylines rusty enough."
Posted by meridianday on 07-12-2004 at 14:20:
A colour TV Licence costs £121.00 and a black and white licence costs £40.50, and has to be renewed annually. Everyone who has a tv has to have a licence, even if they don't watch terrestrial channels (such as BBC 1 and 2).
My view is that it's an acclaimed show and it'll no doubt be on after the watershed. I'm looking forward to seeing it, since I had been wondering how else I was going to get to see it (unless it comes to a theatre closer to where I live, of course...).
On the other hand, there is plenty of stuff that goes on before the watershed that really needs reining in. I'm a grown-up, I should be free to watch what I want after that time. But before 9pm, tv targeted for adults to watch should still be child friendly. Regardless of the channel or how it's funded.
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Posted by Elvin Ruler on 07-12-2004 at 16:51:
Holy cow. That's ridiculous. Methinks I shall stay in America. Yep.
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Posted by CricketBeautiful on 07-12-2004 at 18:47:
Also, don't get Brits talking about the telephone (pay per minute, even local calls) or the postal service (which, to be fair, used to be incredible). Internet is another verboten topic.
Much as we in North America complain, we've actually got it pretty good.
__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
- Viktor E. Frankl
Posted by meridianday on 07-12-2004 at 19:05:
Yeah, taxes too.... Sales tax at 17.5%, income tax starting at 20% and going up to 40%. But at least we don't have to pay for healthcare unless we go private.
There are phone schemes where you pay a fixed rate and get local calls free, which I think most people must be members of now. And mobile phones usually come with free minutes, which in some cases must make them cheaper than land lines. Broadband internet averages out around £25-£30 per month.
(on the tv licence front, it's one licence per household, not per person)
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Posted by Elvin Ruler on 07-12-2004 at 21:39:
O_O
The UK scares me. I thought an 8.75% sales tax was bad! Phones here have competitive rates (yay!), and cellphones are great deals (my family's main phones are cellphones because we can talk to any Cingular or AT&T cellphone user for free).
Your broadband sounds normal...if it were US dollars. But there's enough of a difference in the two currencies to make that a bit high.
Heh. If more Americans knew this, they'd be more patriotic on the whole. ^_^
Healthcare here can be a pain. Especially HMO's. My family is *finally* getting off an HMO. But I've yet to see a healthcare system that works flawlessly. I think you'll find complaints and compliments for all sides.
I'm still glad I live in America. ^_^
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Posted by Cep on 08-12-2004 at 13:00:
Hehe I saw this on the Tele! 
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Posted by Tengu on 08-12-2004 at 15:52:
Yes, you enjoy more freedom in the states.
Wealth here is compulsory (as are indoor loos) you are not allowed to be poor like many in the US are.
(its not as compulsory as in places like, Japan, Iceland and Switzerland though)
No wonder so many foreigners (some of them from the US) want to live here! There is so much to moan about!
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"If you think I am a Condor, you may keep that opinion;
Though I am no Condor, my Skylines rusty enough."
Posted by Elvin Ruler on 09-12-2004 at 15:26:
Sorry, didn't mean to offend. I was just saying that a lot of my pastimes would cost me more than I could probably afford.
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Posted by Tengu on 09-12-2004 at 16:51:
I dont know what you mean; I cannot afford any pastimes.
__________________
"If you think I am a Condor, you may keep that opinion;
Though I am no Condor, my Skylines rusty enough."
Posted by meridianday on 09-12-2004 at 17:23:
The way it works is, you get paid more to account for all the extra tax you have to pay back. It all works out in the end.
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Posted by CricketBeautiful on 09-12-2004 at 17:40:
Like Americans supposedly pay less income tax than Canadians to compensate for having to pay more bills -- like their own health care and such. From what I can gather, it might work out overall, but the grass always looks greener. It's impossible to list everything that has to be compared, even if you stick to easily compared stuff like money or loaves of bread.
__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
- Viktor E. Frankl
Posted by Elvin Ruler on 09-12-2004 at 18:42:
Ok. I think I understand. I shouldn't try to comprehend things when I'm studying for finals. o_O Of course, that defeats the purpose of studying.
But if I understand this, you get paid more because you pay the government more...whereas Americans pay the government less because they have to pay more private companies. In other words, a lot of UK things (such as telephones, tv, and other thigns) are government controlled - so the bills come from the government rather than a private company. So it's really not different financially. Just writing checks out to different entities. For instance, an American family would pay a cable company (such as Time Warner) a certain monthly amount for certain channels. In contrast a UK family would pay the government for this tv licence thing.
Ok. I think I understand! Thanks for explaining.
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Posted by meridianday on 09-12-2004 at 20:29:
Welllllll..... it's a little bit more complicated than that.
We pay the government more in the expectation that we will get some back if/when we need it - if we can afford to pay the taxes, we hope of course that we never will need it. The government pays us a state pension when we retire; gives us a weekly allowance towards feeding our children (not much but some); gives us money towards nursery care for pre-schoolers; gives us money if we're ill and can't work or are disabled and willing to work; gives us money if we're unemployed and looking for work; gives us money towards caring for disabled relatives; gives us healthcare although there are of course those waiting lists.
None of the benefits are for large amounts (except for free healthcare, I can't emphasise enough what a great benefit that it, it's just a shame it's not better run) but at least they exist and they apply to everyone.
On the TV front, we pay our tv license, and there are some satellite channels which are free, but we also have to pay the satellite/cable company for extra channels too.
Likewise, if I want to be able to pay my mortgage in the event of losing my job, I have to buy an ASU (accident/sickness/unemployment) policy from an insurance company. The benefit I'd get paid by the government while unemployed wouldn't be enough to cover my mortgage. On the other hand, if I then lost my house, the government would find me a place to stay - not a nice place, by any means, but hopefully better than a cardboard box.
The taxes we pay go towards everyone's basic wellbeing, rather than just our own. I think that's the deep down difference - in the US you buy policies and save money to protect you/your family from bad things, whereas in the UK and much of northern europe there is a government safety net for everyone, which is kind of saggy and droopy but better than falling on concrete.
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Posted by Elvin Ruler on 11-12-2004 at 21:54:
Hmmm...Ok. I *think* I understand (still finals, so no telling for sure, though). Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me.
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