Read your history of British Car manufacturing in the early-late 80's. A succession of poor quality cars from some of the bigger makers (Austin - Maxi, Allegro) and Morris (Marina, Ital), Triumph (with the Acclaim - correct me if I am wrong it was a rebadged Honda) lead to a rationalisation of the UK Car industry.
Hence the big 4 came together under British Leyland to became Austin-Rover-Morris-Triumph. However this couldn't stop the rot and 3 of them died off at various times. Rover has limped on but is continually posting losses.
My post was not meant as a troll. Read up on the history of these cars and you will see they were slated across the board. Austin limped on with the Metro and Montego but eventually these disappeared. Austin tried revitalising the MG marque to stop their irreversible decline and failed. Note the only car BMW wants to hang onto was the Mini - Austin's finest hour.
I don't mind being marked down when I am wrong. However perhaps in meta-moderation this will be corrected.
I am no troll. I try (try, anyway) to think before I post. I am not always succesful but I try.
No not at all, no borg at all for me. That is why I said we must celebrate our differences as well as our similarites. Please, don't twist my words....;-) No I'm not being funny, I do grok what you are trying to say. I came out a little harsh in defending my corner with my first post.
Let me just re-iterate - my problem is those who seek to impose uniformity against peoples wishes. I can honestly see English being "the" international language. However let us not abandon our roots, English or non-English. I could be pedantic and point out large tracts of England spoke Welsh until quite recently (cumbria for example) but you'll only hit me;-)
I for one have no problems with "English" as a language or a "nationality" - my wife is from the north-west, and when we met we needed a translator even though we were both speaking English (ehh -up whats wrong with ya... and so on)
History as taught in British schools is quite odd in that it misses chunks out. I never learnt much Welsh history - only about Chartism (as my particular area of Wales was heavily involved with it) and about our involvement with the Lancastrians with the War of the Roses (so I then marry one!!!). But again... that is past.
And the EU? I think it can solve other problems, not this one. I am really hopeful for devolution to actually fix this problem. My ideal is a self-governing Wales, England, Scotland, perhaps even N. Ireland (a situation I don't comment upon as I am not qualified enough to speak on such a delicate topic) working together in a fedral framework - a new UK.
Thats my view anyway - YMMV. Thats the beauty of discussion and argument. Thank you MR AC, you have proven that AC's aren't all hot gritz and Natalie Portman!
1) Well I AM Welsh so I will answer your comments for the AC - but my family comes from Europe, Poland in fact;-0> . Those funds are because Wales is officialy bi-lingual - WELSH AND ENGLISH. Thats the way it should be. Your countries official language and a language for Europe.
2) Some Welsh do not speak English as a first language. In fact 20% of people speak Welsh, with increasing numbers every year. There are areas of North Wales which are still Welsh monoglot.
Are they to be forcibly re-educated? No - but give them a choice.
Welsh is becoming a regrown language again after the near destruction of it as a spoken language. I can speak from experience here as a dysgwr/learner.
However that wasn't the point. The point was the arrogance in that people should speak English over and above their own - by external pressure. No "Prime Directive" here then. Cultural pressure globally to acquiese to a lowest common denominator. We should be celebrating and rejoicing our differences as much as our similarities. I do not want to be part of a borg collective.
3) Yes and I am all in favour of the EU. The whole ideal of European integration is to strengthen the member states through co-operation, not the creation of a mammoth superstate. I do not want a United States of Europe - rather a Europe of the Nations.
4) Balkanisation? Perhaps one should read your history books my friend - are you from the UK?Wales/Scotland did not join the UK voluntarily - read your Act of Unions 1536/1707. By the way, Ireland is not part of the UK. It seceded in the early part of the last century. But that has gone, it is past.
The new Britain, with devolved power to Wales and Scotland has an opportunity to recreate itself through co-operation on a higher level. Through de-centralisation it is working stronger.
Europe should be de-centralised also. It is the Swiss model of Cantons which form an ideal.
In fact what the goal of the Welsh nationalists (I won't speak for the scots as I am not Scottish) is a federal Britain in which the regional govts work together. In fact, we fight also for the WAR - close integration with Europe is a great idea, and helps protect the smaller nations via the Objective One/Two projects. This is where the EU recognises that power and money migrates to the centre of power, and schemes such as Objective One exist to help poorer economies overcome that barrier.
5) We're not citizens we're subjects technically. But personally, I care little for a "privileged" royal family - so I think of myself as a citizen.
6) Oh yes I agree a common language is a wonderful ideal. Just don't let it be used as a vehicle for cultural conquest - or denigrate people who choose to use their own language.
A universal language is a perfect ideal - just don't expect people to give up their languages and cultures. For example how would you decide which is the standard? Fancy telling 1.2 billion people their language is wrong? (That figure is a guesstimate on how many people in the world wouldn't speak language 'x' - where 'x' is your chosen global language)
Make it a choice. Let us remember that we don't know where we are going until we know where we have been.
A fair wage is ensuring you can eat. Your family can eat. You can pay your debts. You can afford a place to live. You can save a little for your old age. You do not have to live in fear of losing your property, or your life.
Its called having a basic regard for your fellow man. Don't forget a lot of your basic principles in the US are based on a form of socialism. Equality for one.
Only in the minds of cowards is socialism a dirty word. Come back when you have learnt something. I'm not holding my breath you'll be back shortly.
IIRC what you are saying is called Maslow's Triangle.
He postulated that human needs were pyrmaid shaped, with the baser ones at the bottom and the higher ones at the top. In order to fulfill the higher needs (self esteem, confidence etc) you have to fulfill the lower ones first (food, shelter, safe living conditions).
So yes, as you said - what us is Java programming if your farmland is sterile.
Why do all these Linux/*BSD arguments make me think of the Monty Python film "Life of Brian"
Judean Peoples Front/ Popular Judean Front..
Explanation for the humour impaired - the above "skit" pointed out mankinds singular biggest failing.
Take 'x' small groups with a roughly similar agenda. Pit them against one large group with a polar opposite agenda. (x >= 3).
Together the 'x' groups have a similar size to the larger group (and for this argument, we could include the commercial *Nixes).
Watch as the 'x' groups bash each other without ever uniting to promote their common agenda.
Linux/*BSD doesn't need a Microsoft to wipe it out - these pathetic arguments will do it for them. The OpenBSD trolls shout "Security", the Linux Trolls shout "Popularity", the FreeBSD trolls shout "True Unix" while the NetBSD trolls shout "Availability of platforms" without ever getting together to declare as one voice... Open Source - Security by Visibility
Surely the true point of Open Source is to allow and nurture a degree of deviation.
A Linux user who has no problem with the *BSD's - Every product has a natural place, evolution in action.
Its a subject very close to my heart (if you can't tell). A Welshman, with an English Wife, Polish Father and Welsh Mother.
THe thing is that a lot of people round the world see the UK as fairly homogeneous. It is not. Dig back through the history books and you will see fairly sweeping changes over the last 1000 years. Look up "the Welsh NOT!" and "the Treason of the Blue Books" to see an example of how shameful the past has been to Wales in the UK, then look at how the "Chartists" essentially redefined our government. Both movements affected Wales deeply.
Welsh NOT! was when schoolchildren in Wales (not that long ago (60-90 years) were forced to abandon Welsh for English. Remember at this time even in the now-anglicised areas of South Wales 90% of people spoke Welsh only. If a child was heard speaking Welsh in school, he wore a "Welsh NOT!" sign round his neck. If he heard another child speaking English, he passed it to him. The child wearing it at the end of the day was beaten!
The Treason of the Blue Books was a UK report of ~100 years ago that recommended destroying the Welsh language completely in schools.
So remember this, the UK has just a bad a history of destroying cultures. The effect of the above has to leave the people of South Wales alienated from their culture and language, some to the point of hatred of it.
I was the same till about 7 years ago when I started reading into my own history - something we are not taught in schools.
A lot of people would say "ah, thats just history isn't it" but there's always the old aphorism about people who ignore the past....
Wales and Scotland are going through some pretty trying times at the moment. There are people in the UK who see this modernising of our government as a threat.
The USA has had decentralised government for a long time. I know there are plenty of issues about the US that Americans debate but be thankful that you have a Bill of Rights and a Constitution.
I am part of a pressure group calling for those for Wales.
Another example of how both sides can learn from each other, of course. After working through the S/N ratio on/. its cool to see how different cultures debate the legal issues affecting the US right now.
It may seem off-topic but the point is, it is very difficult to predict how legislation affects cultural development.
Hence I try to keep a close eye on these sort of threads to gain a more global perspective of it all!
What is correct is that only Scotland got a "Parliament", Wales got an Assembly. The difference seems small, but is very telling...
Wales got an Assembly because it is a nation, but its powers are weak in case it acts like one. The Act of Union 1536 was an act of annexation, an attempt "to utterly extirp" the customs of Wales, to wipe out the language and the customs - in effect the first colony of the British Empire. Fortunately it has failed.
Scotland's Act of Union was passed by their own parliament (through corruption IIRC) and so they kept some of their independent bodies (i.e. legal system etc). Part of their Act was that the names "England" and "Scotland" would cease to be used and they would be known as "Britain" - however that agreement was soon broken. Hence the creation of a "Parliament" there to reflect the "different" status.
The first elections were thought to lend themselves to a more shock result in Scotland but it was Wales that gave the ruling Labour Party a bloody nose where Plaid Cymru (Lit: "Party of Wales", a political party espousing self-governance for Wales) came through with shock breakthroughs in traditional Labour Strongholds.
Britain itself comes from the Celtic name which survives in Welsh as Prydain - mutates (Celtic languages mutate their form in certain circumstances) to Brydain - given that the "d" is pronounced fairly similarly to a "t" it corrupted to Britain.
Re: English Parliament. Since Westminster still holds sovereign over the Assembly, giving England a legislative Parliament would create a democratic deficit in Wales - hence the increasing view of people is that some sort of federal system will be in place in the UK within 25 years. The view is that as Wales and Scotland evolve their systems to self-government then the regions of England will gain legislative regional Assemblys and England itself will become federal. This is a very desirable system - in that as Wales and Scotland have become focal points for constitutional change in the UK England is being left behind.
THe UK is decentralising slowly - finally joining the 20th Century! Hence it is only fair that all of the nations of the UK share in this.
England's historic regions have a lot of cultural differences. Indeed some are seperate Celtic countries in their own right (Cornwall : Kernow in their own language), while others such as Lancshire and Yorkshire have different needs and foci then for example, Kent or Wiltshire. Cumbria for example had its own celtic dialect.
The most cheering fact of this silent revolution in the UK is that we are learning to live with our cultural differences in a peacable fashion. Wales and Scotland are growing up, and I sincerely hope that the old rivalries will be forgotten as we enter this century as friends bonded together by choice.
The hope is that either the "Council of the Isles" (a body of representatives of the Wales/Scotland/Westminster/N Ireland/ Ireland/ IOM etc etc) or the House of Lords becomes the "federal parliament" and that the other bodies send representatives to them. As Europe evolves such a system would see all parts of the UK sending direct representatives to the EU, as opposed to now where the UK government makes decisions for Wales/Scotland etc in proxy.
The main difference is that the Assembly has no fiscal or primary legislative power - it can only amend existing legislation without being unable to create new laws.
The upshot though is that treating "England & Wales" as one entity will become increasingly inaccurate. Hence issues like this become of interest to us in Wales as we see the opportunities to make our own law. Already the moves towards a "Welsh" legal system are starting.
If you haven't already guessed, I support Wales having full self-government;-)
The Europeans have the right idea. Certain parts of England, e.g Wales have BANNED LINUX COMPLETELY, due to its incomplete support of the Welsh language. (In Europe, no software product may be shipped, unless it will display its text in all 22 "official" languages of the EU, including Icelandic, Catalan, Ebthaar (Latvian dialect), Gnrdhtplag, and Welsh). I would not normally advocate copying Europe, as it tends to be a breeding ground for destructive ideas (communism, nazism, The common market etc etc) -------------------------------------------------- ---
OK DMG OK I'll bite - just a little - if only because you are such a moron.
1) Wales is a completely different nation to England - we are part of the UK but still a seperate nation. We existed before most of Europe was civilised. Your ignorance is unbelievable
2) Wales hasn't banned Linux you klutz! And before you ask how I know - Rydw i'n byw yng Nghymru - yn y dde. Dydw i ddim siarad Cymraeg dda ond rydw i'n dysgu!
3) Europe has no such legislation. In fact Iceland/Latvia aren't even EU members. Sheesh
4) You are a twat - end of story
OH Im waiting for YHBT HAND but assholes like that need a good whupping
Plus dont get me started on the rest of your inaccuracies - work for Microsoft marketing do we?
I must admit I don't care how sad it sounds, I'm really interested in this.
I owned a seriously souped-up 1200 for years before I bought a PC - and thats only because I fried it with 240v up the audio ports - OUCH!
I used my Amiga for loads of serious stuff.
The Amiga is dead - so hopefully long live a new platform.
I hope that they do something this time - I'm just concerned its too little, way too late. The idea of "multimedia hardware with a multimedia OS" fell by the wayside with the BeBox. I don't know how they would market such a device in these times.
For a lot of people, unfortunately the Amiga name may be a millstone. After COmmodore, Escom, Gateway et al it may be seen as an "unlucky" brandname.
Port BeOS to a seriously multimedia G3/G4 own design hardware standard and then you just may have something worthy to carry on the legacy of the Amiga (as a Linux user, did I just say that...!!;-) ) But at the end of the day the Amiga AS IT WAS is a dead platform, Yes it did have an elegant design, an elegant OS and was miles ahead of its day - but that was then.
Imagine how much more difficult it is today to resurrect the Amiga identity, in the niche it left behind. Multimedia on PC's and Mac's is simply light years ahead of where it was the day that Commodore died.
I loved my Amiga, but can you really bring it back - and would you want to? Would you want some second rate imposter, like an aging beauty queen desperately slapping on the makeup and slinky clothes and just ending up looking like an old slapper.
Smartsuite and Corel Draw are the only apps I keep a WIn9X machine around - personally. I've got 5 years of work in WordPro and 123 format and I don't fancy converting every file piece by piece!
I liked WP8 for Linux but I didn't think it was a "killer" app - it was nice, but didn't really fire me up (personal opinion) - plus with no Lotus import filters I was stuck.
I think before long Lotus will have to look at their market share in the WIN market and do something to make a real difference.
When parent company IBM is falling over backwards for Linux surely Lotus (who have ported Domino) cannot be far behind with Smartsuite.
Perhaps that could be a good campaign to start - Smartsuite Millenium for Linux. Again, I don't mind paying for software if it helps further the Linux cause.
Not in the slightest - I merely pointed out that with the two programs **available** for Linux a lot of the "apps" FUD is made redundant.
I also never suggested they bundle them. I only merely pointed out that Draw and WP Office combined together make an excellent tool for businesses.
You're right in a way that a bundle wouldn't work. But give people the choice of buying the two.
I would buy both WP Office and Corel Draw. I'm also sure that a lot of people out there would find a cut-price linux Corel Draw **very** attractive for their businesses.
And forget the old AC's who can only spout venom behind the cloak of anonymity.
I've used Corel Draw since v2 and it is simply one of the best programs ever put together.
It also could put paid to the "no time travel as we haven't seen visitors" as these travellers would have to backwards down the chain. They may then end up in a past that we are not part of.
All the possible futures branch off, therefore going backward (into the past) means the traveller may indeed end up in the past, but not the past they wanted.
QM says that for every event the universe branches off, one where it did happen and one where it didn't.
Therefore it is possible to say we do indeed have free will, and we merely percolate down the chain branching off our own futures till we die. That way, we have free will.
All futures are possible, and by our actions we define which one we end up in.
You can create energy/matter out of nothing, the amount will be inversely proportional to the time it can exist in this universe.
Quantum Mechanics say the universe is a seething quantum soup of virtual particle pairs appearing and disappearing constantly over time
Therefore the energy will appear, hang around a periond inversely proportional to h bar / 2 (as I recall) then disappear.... The less energy, the more time it will *appear* to violate the CofE law.
You've got someone openly displaying swastika's and I'm the one who's FLAMEBAIT?
Well well well. Moderators are scared that I said something against the rules huh - or perhaps someone out there thinks that opening being anti-semitic/pro nazi is acceptable huh?
MMM Says a lot. Wonder if the moderator will have the guts to tell me why he did it - I guess not.
Slashdot Mirror
To the moderator who marked me down as a troll
Read your history of British Car manufacturing in the early-late 80's. A succession of poor quality cars from some of the bigger makers (Austin - Maxi, Allegro) and Morris (Marina, Ital), Triumph (with the Acclaim - correct me if I am wrong it was a rebadged Honda) lead to a rationalisation of the UK Car industry.
Hence the big 4 came together under British Leyland to became Austin-Rover-Morris-Triumph. However this couldn't stop the rot and 3 of them died off at various times. Rover has limped on but is continually posting losses.
My post was not meant as a troll. Read up on the history of these cars and you will see they were slated across the board. Austin limped on with the Metro and Montego but eventually these disappeared. Austin tried revitalising the MG marque to stop their irreversible decline and failed. Note the only car BMW wants to hang onto was the Mini - Austin's finest hour.
I don't mind being marked down when I am wrong. However perhaps in meta-moderation this will be corrected.
I am no troll. I try (try, anyway) to think before I post. I am not always succesful but I try.
No not at all, no borg at all for me. That is why I said we must celebrate our differences as well as our similarites. Please, don't twist my words....;-) No I'm not being funny, I do grok what you are trying to say. I came out a little harsh in defending my corner with my first post.
;-)
Let me just re-iterate - my problem is those who seek to impose uniformity against peoples wishes. I can honestly see English being "the" international language. However let us not abandon our roots, English or non-English. I could be pedantic and point out large tracts of England spoke Welsh until quite recently (cumbria for example) but you'll only hit me
I for one have no problems with "English" as a language or a "nationality" - my wife is from the north-west, and when we met we needed a translator even though we were both speaking English (ehh -up whats wrong with ya... and so on)
History as taught in British schools is quite odd in that it misses chunks out. I never learnt much Welsh history - only about Chartism (as my particular area of Wales was heavily involved with it) and about our involvement with the Lancastrians with the War of the Roses (so I then marry one!!!). But again... that is past.
And the EU? I think it can solve other problems, not this one. I am really hopeful for devolution to actually fix this problem. My ideal is a self-governing Wales, England, Scotland, perhaps even N. Ireland (a situation I don't comment upon as I am not qualified enough to speak on such a delicate topic) working together in a fedral framework - a new UK.
Thats my view anyway - YMMV. Thats the beauty of discussion and argument. Thank you MR AC, you have proven that AC's aren't all hot gritz and Natalie Portman!
1) Well I AM Welsh so I will answer your comments for the AC - but my family comes from Europe, Poland in fact ;-0> . Those funds are because Wales is officialy bi-lingual - WELSH AND ENGLISH. Thats the way it should be. Your countries official language and a language for Europe.
2) Some Welsh do not speak English as a first language. In fact 20% of people speak Welsh, with increasing numbers every year. There are areas of North Wales which are still Welsh monoglot.
Are they to be forcibly re-educated? No - but give them a choice.
Welsh is becoming a regrown language again after the near destruction of it as a spoken language. I can speak from experience here as a dysgwr/learner.
However that wasn't the point. The point was the arrogance in that people should speak English over and above their own - by external pressure. No "Prime Directive" here then. Cultural pressure globally to acquiese to a lowest common denominator. We should be celebrating and rejoicing our differences as much as our similarities. I do not want to be part of a borg collective.
3) Yes and I am all in favour of the EU. The whole ideal of European integration is to strengthen the member states through co-operation, not the creation of a mammoth superstate. I do not want a United States of Europe - rather a Europe of the Nations.
4) Balkanisation? Perhaps one should read your history books my friend - are you from the UK?Wales/Scotland did not join the UK voluntarily - read your Act of Unions 1536/1707. By the way, Ireland is not part of the UK. It seceded in the early part of the last century. But that has gone, it is past.
The new Britain, with devolved power to Wales and Scotland has an opportunity to recreate itself through co-operation on a higher level. Through de-centralisation it is working stronger.
Europe should be de-centralised also. It is the Swiss model of Cantons which form an ideal.
In fact what the goal of the Welsh nationalists (I won't speak for the scots as I am not Scottish) is a federal Britain in which the regional govts work together. In fact, we fight also for the WAR - close integration with Europe is a great idea, and helps protect the smaller nations via the Objective One/Two projects. This is where the EU recognises that power and money migrates to the centre of power, and schemes such as Objective One exist to help poorer economies overcome that barrier.
5) We're not citizens we're subjects technically. But personally, I care little for a "privileged" royal family - so I think of myself as a citizen.
6) Oh yes I agree a common language is a wonderful ideal. Just don't let it be used as a vehicle for cultural conquest - or denigrate people who choose to use their own language.
A universal language is a perfect ideal - just don't expect people to give up their languages and cultures. For example how would you decide which is the standard? Fancy telling 1.2 billion people their language is wrong? (That figure is a guesstimate on how many people in the world wouldn't speak language 'x' - where 'x' is your chosen global language)
Make it a choice.
Let us remember that we don't know where we are going until we know where we have been.
I'll bite because I am a socialist.
A fair wage is ensuring you can eat. Your family can eat. You can pay your debts. You can afford a place to live. You can save a little for your old age. You do not have to live in fear of losing your property, or your life.
Its called having a basic regard for your fellow man. Don't forget a lot of your basic principles in the US are based on a form of socialism. Equality for one.
Only in the minds of cowards is socialism a dirty word. Come back when you have learnt something. I'm not holding my breath you'll be back shortly.
IIRC what you are saying is called Maslow's Triangle.
He postulated that human needs were pyrmaid shaped, with the baser ones at the bottom and the higher ones at the top. In order to fulfill the higher needs (self esteem, confidence etc) you have to fulfill the lower ones first (food, shelter, safe living conditions).
So yes, as you said - what us is Java programming if your farmland is sterile.
Why do all these Linux/*BSD arguments make me think of the Monty Python film "Life of Brian"
Judean Peoples Front/ Popular Judean Front..
Explanation for the humour impaired - the above "skit" pointed out mankinds singular biggest failing.
Take 'x' small groups with a roughly similar agenda. Pit them against one large group with a polar opposite agenda. (x >= 3).
Together the 'x' groups have a similar size to the larger group (and for this argument, we could include the commercial *Nixes).
Watch as the 'x' groups bash each other without ever uniting to promote their common agenda.
Linux/*BSD doesn't need a Microsoft to wipe it out - these pathetic arguments will do it for them. The OpenBSD trolls shout "Security", the Linux Trolls shout "Popularity", the FreeBSD trolls shout "True Unix" while the NetBSD trolls shout "Availability of platforms" without ever getting together to declare as one voice...
Open Source - Security by Visibility
Surely the true point of Open Source is to allow and nurture a degree of deviation.
A Linux user who has no problem with the *BSD's - Every product has a natural place, evolution in action.
4.72 handles my nested folders perfectly - 6 lumped them all together, duplicated folders and offered me no choice about subscriptions.
So I thought sod it - and went over to OpenMail and Outlook.
Sorry Netscape - as much as I want you to win, your handling of IMAP in 6 sucks big time!
Who in their right mind would (MODERATE ME UP) think about inserting (SEND ME MONEY) messages into peoples (BUY ME A SPORTSCAR) DVD's?
This sort of mindgame (RESPECT SLASHDOT) is disgraceful. Is there any proof (JOIN AOL) that this sort of messaging (EAT BURGERS) works?
We'd take you a bit more seriously if you had the guts to reveal who you are, of course.
Trolls amuse me, how many of them would walk into a bar and shout "you're all donkey balls"? None.
Because without anonymity they're cowards!
Croeso!
;-)
Cymru am byth! Rydw i'n ysgtifennu yng Nghymraeg yn Slashdot!
Sorry - had to add Welsh to the list......
Happy April 1st
Thanks very much (blush).
/. its cool to see how different cultures debate the legal issues affecting the US right now.
Its a subject very close to my heart (if you can't tell). A Welshman, with an English Wife, Polish Father and Welsh Mother.
THe thing is that a lot of people round the world see the UK as fairly homogeneous. It is not. Dig back through the history books and you will see fairly sweeping changes over the last 1000 years. Look up "the Welsh NOT!" and "the Treason of the Blue Books" to see an example of how shameful the past has been to Wales in the UK, then look at how the "Chartists" essentially redefined our government. Both movements affected Wales deeply.
Welsh NOT! was when schoolchildren in Wales (not that long ago (60-90 years) were forced to abandon Welsh for English. Remember at this time even in the now-anglicised areas of South Wales 90% of people spoke Welsh only. If a child was heard speaking Welsh in school, he wore a "Welsh NOT!" sign round his neck. If he heard another child speaking English, he passed it to him. The child wearing it at the end of the day was beaten!
The Treason of the Blue Books was a UK report of ~100 years ago that recommended destroying the Welsh language completely in schools.
So remember this, the UK has just a bad a history of destroying cultures. The effect of the above has to leave the people of South Wales alienated from their culture and language, some to the point of hatred of it.
I was the same till about 7 years ago when I started reading into my own history - something we are not taught in schools.
A lot of people would say "ah, thats just history isn't it" but there's always the old aphorism about people who ignore the past....
Wales and Scotland are going through some pretty trying times at the moment. There are people in the UK who see this modernising of our government as a threat.
The USA has had decentralised government for a long time. I know there are plenty of issues about the US that Americans debate but be thankful that you have a Bill of Rights and a Constitution.
I am part of a pressure group calling for those for Wales.
Another example of how both sides can learn from each other, of course. After working through the S/N ratio on
It may seem off-topic but the point is, it is very difficult to predict how legislation affects cultural development.
Hence I try to keep a close eye on these sort of threads to gain a more global perspective of it all!
Thats enough from me, I am rambling again.
O&O!
What is correct is that only Scotland got a "Parliament", Wales got an Assembly. The difference seems small, but is very telling...
;-)
Wales got an Assembly because it is a nation, but its powers are weak in case it acts like one. The Act of Union 1536 was an act of annexation, an attempt "to utterly extirp" the customs of Wales, to wipe out the language and the customs - in effect the first colony of the British Empire. Fortunately it has failed.
Scotland's Act of Union was passed by their own parliament (through corruption IIRC) and so they kept some of their independent bodies (i.e. legal system etc). Part of their Act was that the names "England" and "Scotland" would cease to be used and they would be known as "Britain" - however that agreement was soon broken. Hence the creation of a "Parliament" there to reflect the "different" status.
The first elections were thought to lend themselves to a more shock result in Scotland but it was Wales that gave the ruling Labour Party a bloody nose where Plaid Cymru (Lit: "Party of Wales", a political party espousing self-governance for Wales) came through with shock breakthroughs in traditional Labour Strongholds.
Britain itself comes from the Celtic name which survives in Welsh as Prydain - mutates (Celtic languages mutate their form in certain circumstances) to Brydain - given that the "d" is pronounced fairly similarly to a "t" it corrupted to Britain.
Re: English Parliament. Since Westminster still holds sovereign over the Assembly, giving England a legislative Parliament would create a democratic deficit in Wales - hence the increasing view of people is that some sort of federal system will be in place in the UK within 25 years. The view is that as Wales and Scotland evolve their systems to self-government then the regions of England will gain legislative regional Assemblys and England itself will become federal. This is a very desirable system - in that as Wales and Scotland have become focal points for constitutional change in the UK England is being left behind.
THe UK is decentralising slowly - finally joining the 20th Century! Hence it is only fair that all of the nations of the UK share in this.
England's historic regions have a lot of cultural differences. Indeed some are seperate Celtic countries in their own right (Cornwall : Kernow in their own language), while others such as Lancshire and Yorkshire have different needs and foci then for example, Kent or Wiltshire. Cumbria for example had its own celtic dialect.
The most cheering fact of this silent revolution in the UK is that we are learning to live with our cultural differences in a peacable fashion. Wales and Scotland are growing up, and I sincerely hope that the old rivalries will be forgotten as we enter this century as friends bonded together by choice.
The hope is that either the "Council of the Isles" (a body of representatives of the Wales/Scotland/Westminster/N Ireland/ Ireland/ IOM etc etc) or the House of Lords becomes the "federal parliament" and that the other bodies send representatives to them. As Europe evolves such a system would see all parts of the UK sending direct representatives to the EU, as opposed to now where the UK government makes decisions for Wales/Scotland etc in proxy.
The main difference is that the Assembly has no fiscal or primary legislative power - it can only amend existing legislation without being unable to create new laws.
The upshot though is that treating "England & Wales" as one entity will become increasingly inaccurate. Hence issues like this become of interest to us in Wales as we see the opportunities to make our own law. Already the moves towards a "Welsh" legal system are starting.
If you haven't already guessed, I support Wales having full self-government
Well my friend - the UK is a nationstate comprised of four distinct nations - Wales, England, Scotland and N.Ireland.
There's no passport controls from Wales to France now we're in the EU - are we therefore the same country?
I suggest you learn a little about the world around you - it always helps I find.
Its Welsh
/. is an International forum...
And as I recall,
Ah diddums, did it tax your little brainywain?
The Europeans have the right idea. Certain parts of England, e.g Wales have BANNED LINUX COMPLETELY, due to its incomplete support of the Welsh language. (In Europe, no software product may be shipped, unless it will display its text in all 22 "official" languages of the EU, including Icelandic, Catalan, Ebthaar (Latvian dialect), Gnrdhtplag, and Welsh). I would not normally advocate copying Europe, as it tends to be a breeding ground for destructive ideas (communism, nazism, The common market etc etc) -------------------------------------------------- ---
OK DMG OK I'll bite - just a little - if only because you are such a moron.
1) Wales is a completely different nation to England - we are part of the UK but still a seperate nation. We existed before most of Europe was civilised. Your ignorance is unbelievable
2) Wales hasn't banned Linux you klutz! And before you ask how I know - Rydw i'n byw yng Nghymru - yn y dde. Dydw i ddim siarad Cymraeg dda ond rydw i'n dysgu!
3) Europe has no such legislation. In fact Iceland/Latvia aren't even EU members. Sheesh
4) You are a twat - end of story
OH Im waiting for YHBT HAND but assholes like that need a good whupping
Plus dont get me started on the rest of your inaccuracies - work for Microsoft marketing do we?
And that 240v got up the audio ports through my arm.
;-)
Not a pleasant experience, I can tell you!
I'd rather have hot grits then 240v any day
I must admit I don't care how sad it sounds, I'm really interested in this.
;-) ) But at the end of the day the Amiga AS IT WAS is a dead platform, Yes it did have an elegant design, an elegant OS and was miles ahead of its day - but that was then.
I owned a seriously souped-up 1200 for years before I bought a PC - and thats only because I fried it with 240v up the audio ports - OUCH!
I used my Amiga for loads of serious stuff.
The Amiga is dead - so hopefully long live a new platform.
I hope that they do something this time - I'm just concerned its too little, way too late. The idea of "multimedia hardware with a multimedia OS" fell by the wayside with the BeBox. I don't know how they would market such a device in these times.
For a lot of people, unfortunately the Amiga name may be a millstone. After COmmodore, Escom, Gateway et al it may be seen as an "unlucky" brandname.
Port BeOS to a seriously multimedia G3/G4 own design hardware standard and then you just may have something worthy to carry on the legacy of the Amiga (as a Linux user, did I just say that...!!
Imagine how much more difficult it is today to resurrect the Amiga identity, in the niche it left behind. Multimedia on PC's and Mac's is simply light years ahead of where it was the day that Commodore died.
I loved my Amiga, but can you really bring it back - and would you want to? Would you want some second rate imposter, like an aging beauty queen desperately slapping on the makeup and slinky clothes and just ending up looking like an old slapper.
I really don't know what to make of this.
Smartsuite and Corel Draw are the only apps I keep a WIn9X machine around - personally. I've got 5 years of work in WordPro and 123 format and I don't fancy converting every file piece by piece!
I liked WP8 for Linux but I didn't think it was a "killer" app - it was nice, but didn't really fire me up (personal opinion) - plus with no Lotus import filters I was stuck.
I think before long Lotus will have to look at their market share in the WIN market and do something to make a real difference.
When parent company IBM is falling over backwards for Linux surely Lotus (who have ported Domino) cannot be far behind with Smartsuite.
Perhaps that could be a good campaign to start - Smartsuite Millenium for Linux. Again, I don't mind paying for software if it helps further the Linux cause.
Not in the slightest - I merely pointed out that with the two programs **available** for Linux a lot of the "apps" FUD is made redundant.
I also never suggested they bundle them. I only merely pointed out that Draw and WP Office combined together make an excellent tool for businesses.
You're right in a way that a bundle wouldn't work. But give people the choice of buying the two.
I would buy both WP Office and Corel Draw. I'm also sure that a lot of people out there would find a cut-price linux Corel Draw **very** attractive for their businesses.
And forget the old AC's who can only spout venom behind the cloak of anonymity.
I've used Corel Draw since v2 and it is simply one of the best programs ever put together.
Anyone else notice the launchdate
April 1st?
Bit sick, huh!
Add Corel Draw and you have a seriously effective system for offices...
Kudos to Corel
It also could put paid to the "no time travel as we haven't seen visitors" as these travellers would have to backwards down the chain. They may then end up in a past that we are not part of.
All the possible futures branch off, therefore going backward (into the past) means the traveller may indeed end up in the past, but not the past they wanted.
There is a way it sort of "allows" free will.
QM says that for every event the universe branches off, one where it did happen and one where it didn't.
Therefore it is possible to say we do indeed have free will, and we merely percolate down the chain branching off our own futures till we die. That way, we have free will.
All futures are possible, and by our actions we define which one we end up in.
In fact yes - it would only appear to violate it.
You can create energy/matter out of nothing, the amount will be inversely proportional to the time it can exist in this universe.
Quantum Mechanics say the universe is a seething quantum soup of virtual particle pairs appearing and disappearing constantly over time
Therefore the energy will appear, hang around a periond inversely proportional to h bar / 2 (as I recall) then disappear.... The less energy, the more time it will *appear* to violate the CofE law.
Thats AFAIRecall anyway!!
Flamebait
You've got someone openly displaying swastika's and I'm the one who's FLAMEBAIT?
Well well well. Moderators are scared that I said something against the rules huh - or perhaps someone out there thinks that opening being anti-semitic/pro nazi is acceptable huh?
MMM Says a lot. Wonder if the moderator will have the guts to tell me why he did it - I guess not.