21st Century hero

[Blasphemous]

I hope we aren't adding the two car families who are just moaning because their £300,000+ house has lost a few grand off its price into the equation.

Errrrr, I'm in that group Tim! I'm not moaning though mate.

As for Vince Cable being a '21st Century Hero'..... 'HERO' NO! A 'Hero' to me is someone who does something that is beyond what most of us would want/consider doing. Someone who has acted with courage and/or selflessly. We hear daily about the heroism of the armed forced in Iraq and Afghanistan, as able as Vince Cable may or may not be, I DO NOT put him into the same category as the Armed Forces or any other 'Every Day Heros', for asking a bloody question of Gordon Brown!

 

[NS215]

IMHO this came about due to the prolonged period from the mid-nineties to the middle of this decade when interest rates were held down to levels that stifled the banks' profits.

I disagree. Bank profits come not from high interest rates, but from keeping the reserve ratio as low as possible and maximising the gearing on liabilities.

Well if you disagree it must be wrong



Where does the buck stop?[/quote]
with the banks who lent money to people who couldn't pay it back

 

[NS215]

I hope we aren't adding the two car families who are just moaning because their £300,000+ house has lost a few grand off its price into the equation.

Errrrr, I'm in that group Tim! I'm not moaning though mate.

A 'Hero' to me is someone who does something that is beyond what most of us would want/consider doing. Someone who has acted with courage and/or selflessly.
Quite right too
We hear daily about the heroism of the armed forced in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Armed Forces or any other 'Every Day Heros',

I'm sorry but I don't understand why people think all the armed forces are all heroes, they do a job the same as anyone else and chose to do such a job, sure there are acts of heroism but day to day i don't believe this to be the case
And what qualifies someone as an everyday hero ???

 

[Softus]

Well if you disagree it must be wrong

Maybe you could take time out of being weakly sarcastic to suggest a better way of indicating disagreement than saying "I disagree", and a better way of explaining why I disagree than explaining why I disagree.

Where does the buck stop?

with the banks who lent money to people who couldn't pay it back

I see.

So it's not the fault of the people who borrowed money and didn't pay it back?

And it's not the fault of all the people who took glee in property prices rising faster than inflation, without stopping to think why it was happening and whether or not it could be sustained?

 

[Blasphemous]

I'm sorry but I don't understand why people think all the armed forces are all heroes, they do a job the same as anyone else and chose to do such a job, sure there are acts of heroism but day to day i don't believe this to be the case
And what qualifies someone as an everyday hero ???

I give up with this effing forum I really do!

 

[confidentincompetent]

There must be different levels of reality I personally have not felt any problem with the present credit crunch, yes i paid more for diesel but it didnt leave me destitute and with the fuel going back down and mortgages rates dropping three times in the last month or two i'm far better off than in the 80's when i really struggled with the rate going up to 15% under the tories inept policies.

Personally I think Gordon Brown's government are doing a fine job in coping with what is in fact a global problem.

Hmmm but this is never never land surely? at least savings in the 80's were giving good returns which got the retired/ well off with savings, spending. This got me plenty of work even though my mortgage was high (not 15% for long was it ?)
On one hand I'm glad for the mortgage payer's getting their reductions. But am worried when these people lose their jobs (a slow process but will come) they wont be able to pay even the reduced rates, the elderly will be more worse off with interest free savings (even though your hero gordon insists they are getting 10% interest...

 

[tim west]

your hero

He's not my hero, he's my Superhero!

 

[Norcon]

When people come to their senses and realise (like me) that they don't need two long haul foreign holidays per year,an X5 on the drive,the latest 10sq feet plasma tv, 4 ensuites and two baths delivering niagra falls to each one simontaneously with the equivalent of half the suns fission energy needed to heat it up then we wouldn't be in this pickle IMHO.

 

[gant]

your hero

He's not my hero, he's my Superhero!

I can see that your protesting days are over

 

[confidentincompetent]

your hero

He's not my hero, he's my Superhero!

Thats what ex civil servants say.. OR!!! even more gold plated.. EX BBC

 

[kevnurse]

Softus:

So it's not the fault of the people who borrowed money and didn't pay it back?

Yes, of course, it is the fault of the individual who signs up to a loan he cannot afford. That person must accept that there is nobody else to blame for his/her person financial failings. However, that individual can never be responsible for the bigger problem that he is one of hundreds of thousands of people borrowing money that they cannot pay back at all, or pay back quickly. The banks knew that they were committing vast sums of money, that they did not own, to long term mortgages, at best, or risky credit cards, at worst. They made the mistake of believing that the money supply was going to continue. So, yes, individually we made mistakes, but at the centre of the problem are the banks and they should have managed the bigger situation better.

 

[noseall]

Given that the purpose of a bank is to securely store money for savers and responsibly loan money to borrowers, why do you see the eagerness of a bank to loan money as an act worthy of criticism?

listening to some of Robert Prestons' interview dialogue (Panorama) it was suggested that many large financial institutions were well aware of their bank's irresponsible lending and that many insiders were nervous about their vulnerability.

it kinda makes you wonder whether the executives were aware of their important position within the countries' financial well being and that a government bail out would be imminent. it grieves me to think that their arrogance allowed them to ruin certain people knowing the safety net was always there to catch them.

probably.

 

[NS215]

I'm sorry but I don't understand why people think all the armed forces are all heroes, they do a job the same as anyone else and chose to do such a job, sure there are acts of heroism but day to day i don't believe this to be the case
And what qualifies someone as an everyday hero ???

I give up with this effing forum I really do!

Why give up ???

Are you seriously telling me that you think a soldier stood outside Buckingham Palace in a century box is a hero ??????

 

[kevnurse]

Are you seriously telling me that you think a soldier stood outside Buckingham Palace in a century box is a hero ??????

The soldiers on duty at Buckingham Palace are the same soldiers that are sent to fight the Taliban and the Iraqi insurgents. As part of the Household Division, they stand in the sentry boxes when they return to UK. Ceremonial duties play only one part in the soldier's life.

I'm not suggesting that they are heros because they choose to sign up and fight wars. I simply want to inform you that they don't just stand in sentry boxes for a career.

 

[Blasphemous]

I'm sorry but I don't understand why people think all the armed forces are all heroes, they do a job the same as anyone else and chose to do such a job, sure there are acts of heroism but day to day i don't believe this to be the case
And what qualifies someone as an everyday hero ???

I give up with this effing forum I really do!

Why give up ???

Are you seriously telling me that you think a soldier stood outside Buckingham Palace in a century box is a hero ??????

Read what I wrote...

As for Vince Cable being a '21st Century Hero'..... 'HERO' NO! A 'Hero' to me is someone who does something that is beyond what most of us would want/consider doing. Someone who has acted with courage and/or selflessly. We hear daily about the heroism of the armed forced in Iraq and Afghanistan, as able as Vince Cable may or may not be, I DO NOT put him into the same category as the Armed Forces or any other 'Every Day Heros', for asking a b****y question of Gordon Brown!

The main part of the quote being... 'the heroism of the armed forced in Iraq and Afghanistan'... I never mentioned guards outside of Buckingham Palace did I? I specifically identified our armed forces 'in Iraq and Afghanistan'. I'm not arguing the wrongs and/or rights of those conflicts. Would you want to be out there doing ANY job in the Armed Forces? I certainly wouldn't. Yes it's their job and yes they signed up for it but that doesn't make them any less heroic for being out there does it?

Anyway, I don't want to get into ANY arguments on Christmas Eve! So Merry Christmas from the grumpiest git I know.... ME!