Black Brits Honored Via Post Boxes

https://www.asiaone.com/world/paint-it-black-uk-postboxes-change-colour-honour-black-britons


Good evening all,

Per ...

One matter I couldn't figure out was the negative tone toward colonialism. These prominent Brits wouldn't be living in the UK - or had lived there - without colonialism.

The Cardiff postbox features a Jamaican-born nurse.

Am guessing the Channel Islands are part of England.

 

The Channel Islands are not part of Britain. They are a "bailiwick" and, as such, they are under the military protection of the UK, but no more than that. They are an independent state.

 

Four boxes in total in the whole UK, a small but nice gesture but its ignoring the Indian heritage in the UK which I find annoying.

 

Take a knee is bollocks I'm more an 'all lives matter' bloke, there is enough social injustice in society to go round everyone and not just black people.

Announced yesterday that two Indian Brits have bought Asda supermarkets off Walmart but no postboxes to the massive contribution to the UK economy the Indian community have contributed.

Why Lenny Henry (for the American members he's listed as a comedian) was picked is beyond me, given the option of route canal surgery with no pain relief or watching him at a live show I'd take the dental work and I find his ex wife as funny as a bunion in tight shoes.

 

Good morning Brownbear,

Appreciate Channel Islands information.

Thank you.

 

And don't forget the Isle of Man, some very good banks there
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man

 

Good afternoon Max,

A couple of weeks ago I wrote somewhere at the Forum that I still don't understand the UK's "devolution".

Isle of Man doesn't fit into the same category like the Channel Islands - I don't think. I guess it's a hybred arrangement like the US's California.

I also don't know what "good banks" are. The "best" are in 2 Asian cities.

 

Oppression of elderly

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-54211420

Spanish banks healthy ... not

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/n...s-merge-in-sign-of-hard-economic-times-ahead/

 

Isle of Man operates on exactly the same principle as the Channel Islands. On a sideways note, did you know they have the longest continually running parliament in the world?

 

Good morning Brownbear,

Never clear on this and maybe never will be.

Isle of Man has a specific passport and still don't see it's similarity to, for example, an ethnic Indian of Hong Kong who holds a British travel document ... forgot name of this passport type. I'm wondered if Isle of Man's passport was different than the Channel Islands' one.

I got into this when BREXIT hit the fan. Had thought that Isle of Man had some special EU status different than the Channel Islands.

Admittedly, did not know about the Isle of Man's parliament and it's extensive history. Appreciate this info.

 

The 'Oppression of elderly'? LOL. Bank brances are closing everyday, majority of people use some form of online banking, branches are dead. They are not oppressing the elderly.

Why do you need a Branch these days? I've not been inside a UK bank for maybe five or six years, everything is done from a computer at home or a phone/tablet. If you need to speak to someone then phone the bank up. All my regular bills are paid automatically on the 2nd of the month. There will be actual branches for some years yet but most people don't need them and nor do the moaning handful on the IOM.

I did need a Spanish account a couple of weeks back to use when I buy a property there. I have a UK Santander account so found a Santander branch and opened a Spanish account in a few minutes. That night in my hotel room I transferred a few quid into the new account to keep it 'active'... banking is electronic. The UK has always been ahead of the USA in terms of personal banking (we scrapped cheque books before you, had chip and pin and contactless on a big scale before the USA) so maybe your still playing catch up over there.

 

Good morning Max,

Mixing humor with the utmost seriousness of matters is, well, mixing up important material.

In the US, because of the rapidly increasing elderly population, we have the public law "Americans With Disabilities Act". All (some few technical exceptions) must accomodate the disabled and the elderly eclipse just about every category of "disabled".

Some elderly cannot use computers or tables. Some elderly cannot use phones due hearing loss from the aging process. I lost hearing decades ago due a work assignment. Aging aggrivates the matter.

How do you say "oppressing the elderly" with a British or American accent without giggling ?

I NEVER use online banking. It's the equivalent of using a credit card at a gasoline pump in metro Washington, D.C. You can guess the rest.

Check Diners' Club and American Express cards. Then check Thomas Cooke.

Whatever is going on in the UK is going on in the US the same day or earlier.

In the US, check books are still used. They are still used in Hong Kong. Deny the elderly check book use and some enterprising bankers will fill the void by offering check book banking. Later, all this could - probably "would" stop...but not for the near future.

 

No, pretty much gone now LW, lot of places don't want cheques anymore and you need to ask for one off most banks these days.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money...who still wants a cheque book must now opt in.

I think I still have one in a drawer somewhere but like most people I've not written a cheque in years

 

Remember, the internet has been around for over 25 years, a lot of todays 70+ years olds have been online for two decades and do online banking, its rather insulting to say that older people can't use technology.

Diners' Club and Am Express are a real blast from the past, used to see their stickers on every shop door in the UK years ago but not now , Thomas Cooke as you know went bankrupt but I think the travelers cheques might still be available, again these obsolete, just no need these days. Go to a foreign country and put your debit/credit card and it will ask you if you want your transaction in English sort of thing.

"Whatever is going on in the UK is going on in the US the same day or earlier." Not always and not always for banking, I remember showing an American a chip and pin card years ago, he said they would be introduced to the US, same with contactless, and Brits took both onboard very quickly on a mass scale. I don't use cash very often; In Spain I took €250 cash I had at home but never used cash at all during my visit and bought the cash back home with me and same for the UK, cash is dead now pretty much, I keep about £100 cash but its not used. I did pay cash for a van back in March, got a good discount for cash buy. The USA has still not switched to polymer notes yet (I don't like them).

If your old and or disabled the support you get thanks to universal health care means help with banking is available.

 

Good morning Max,

Please reread what I wrote.

I explicitely wrote the DISABLED with a large chunk of the elderly being disabled at some level of disability.

Using a credit card in a foreign country might be appropriate for some. For others it is not.

Re "cash is dead now pretty much,";

Perhaps in Spain, the rest of the EU and portions of the UK, it is gone. I see FOREX notes - and gold bars ... the cufflink size ... still getting plenty of use. Later, all this could change but so far, it's still around. With $100 airline tickets, I already guessed there was no cash in Spain - unless IATA makes the carrier charge some of the flight to a British company.

The good news is that if FOREX and gold leave the scene, I know how to use my nails to determine real pearls from the cultured, mass production ones. I'll treat all the Forum members to a meal around the camp fire - presuming we're all still here having survived global fads of the day.

I and others are old and have disabilities - I still have mobility - and enrolled in US national health care systems. We don't have universal health care as of now. With the 2 major national systems I'm in, help for those with banking needs ... and related such as real estate problems needing some assistance ... is for those designated with 6 months left. They they can get a "care giver" who can help arrange for matters like someone helping with the banking transactions. These second tier helpers are usually volunteers.

 

"Using a credit card in a foreign country might be appropriate for some." How would it be inappropriate?

I never said there was no cash in Spain, I said I had no need to use cash because e-payment is so common.

Cheque books are still used in the UK but less and less, you can ask banks for a cheque book, some charge you for them. Pay bills by cheque? Makes no logical sense, having to go and post them or stand inline to pay them in, sod that, tap tap tap and click job done.

 

Good afternoon Max,

Two examples for when foreign use of credit cards is not appropriate:

1. Personal use; Fraudsters know how to get the card info and exploit it to the fraudsters' benefit. You know the rest.

2. Corporate use; A corporate aircraft was refueling in a N.I.S. - Newly Independent State, one of the former Soviet's spin-off republics in central Asia. The FBO - Fixed Based Operator - the fuel seller (the fuel was relatively cheap in the NIS) charges the corporate card for the pumped fuel AND ALSO blocks off a large amount of additional funds in case aircraft owner defaults in some way. Your correspondent and bro' in arms recommended - and it was accepted - that planned routes have a hired agent to complete the transaction and we pay our local agent. Everyone was happy in some sort of way. If the fuel cost plus the blocked off additional funds is a large amount and the card already has some charges on it, the next fuel stop might find the corporate aircraft party having problems and much communications with the home or regional office.

Now, darn it, Max, ... you know I was being sarcastic in saying there's no cash in Spain. The place is drained of much wealth but it's not like the destitute countries.

Yes, eventually, financial transactions will be cyber-oriented but not yet.

It does make logical sense to sometimes - in my case: always - pay bills by check. If records are immediately needed, the pulp documents are the best and fastest to establish a ... may I ? ... paper trail. Cyber banking, at least here, might mean an unverified statement in the future. Web connections are required constantly to meet this need.

 

"Personal use; Fraudsters know how to get the card info and exploit it to the fraudsters' benefit. You know the rest." I do know its a lot easier to steal/forge cheques than it is cards, and loose your card etc abroad and you get an emergency card very quickly.

My financial records I keep in encrypted files, safe than cheque book stubs kept in a draw

 

Good afternoon Max,

The card info is not the plastic card.

Must disagree with ease to steal / forge a check.

Many US Government agencies use encrypted files. I know there are many because of the reports about their encrypted files being hacked into.

I am now in the mood for some banjo music.

 

The tax man LOVES plastic! They wish to track every financial activity.

The black market constitutes circa 40% of any given economy. In Russia, the percentage must be astronomic -- Russia IS black market. The black market is run by cash, precious metals, and front-companies / fake billing statements. I grew up in that world. State congressmen were paid with envelopes full of $100 bills. When a teenager, my dad died; sold his machines, got paid with a thick envelope full of $100 bills. I am bigoted. Homey likes cash, ammo, silver, fresh meat, ..., anything that is real. (I went legal. I went to university, all that sh##.)

One must, in this day, use plastic for above-board legal transactions.

Industry I was in during latter 1990s, had to work with East European programmers living in Canada. They were good, we had our issues with some of their code, however they were very good. Heard of East European hackers being good? OK, so it is true. Was told by one of these folk, "It is programming. I can do this. It will be done." He wasn't kidding. I certainly didn't like this person, however he was correct about putting their code straight and was correct about himself. Their are criminal hackers out there who are not just indefatigable, but also scary brilliant. The brilliant often live off of the weak of mind. If you have no gag reflex, why not?

Western currency hacking is going on now. Governments have entire sections of their intel military dedicated to hacking.

Russia, a gold-mining nation, is buying gold; as fast as they are able, Russia is buying gold. China, "communist" China, is buying gold. Hint-hint, nudge-nudge.
.

 

Looks like a large chess-piece to me; a black rook. Odd somehow. To glorify things African one would imagine creating an object of many colors. All of the costuming and paintings of Africa are utterly full of many, many colors. A black column? What is that? I find it lacking, even insulting.

I guess this monstrosity passes as some part of the guilt-ridden genuflections to sins past. Why not have shoe-shine booths only for Black customers in which there is forced white labor. Things are no-doubt coming to such.

Were I of African slave-labor ancestry, I would be mightily angry at the Africans who defeated my people in wars and sold them to the Muslim slave runners. The slave trade is alive and well today in Africa and is mostly being conducted by Muslims. Were I set about to seek revenge, it wouldn't just be the white folk I would be attacking. Whitey didn't get into the evil business until well over 600 years of heavy slave-trading by Africans and Muslims. How about reparations from Muslim nations! I think it only proper.
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You just can't help yourself can you old geezer, you just had to bring in those darn pesky muslims didn't ya LOL

There are only four boxes, one each in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland; I think the gold and black is a rather dashing combination.

 

Did you know there are no indigenous/historic tribes left in Natal...the Zulus killed them all when they invaded.

 

Makes you proud to be British old boy

 

But you are British. Were you born in Devon?

 

I think most people will say 'I'm English' or 'I'm Welsh' in general but we are all Brits and more so when your out of the country. At work I'm a Brit, Americans are yank, same with auzzies, kiwi's etc.

You don't hear people referring to themselves by county as you do, can't remember ever hearing that before to be honest.

 

Were I from Devon, I would be proud to make note of it.

I have been looked down upon for having a Southern Appalachian accent. Well, f__'em, I proved my intelligence and then some. (I destroyed their computer code. Found critical bugs.)

Call me a hillbilly? Good. It's true. I'd scream it from a mountaintop, "I'm a Hillbilly!" My lot survived what theirs could not. We are thought of a backward and violent. We are not backward, but we'll stick with what is known and true. Violent? Yes, that is true. Yet not violence for violence sake. We'll fight for sacred Honor and Liberty.

President George Washington mightily appreciated having us around -- we Scots-Irish. My Y chromosome has its origin in one of two counties in southern Ulster.

https://clydesburn.blogspot.com/2017/04/that-elusive-george-washington-quote.html
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LW have you done a DNA test for family history? Could be interesting to see where you actually stem from unless you are a tin foil hat wearer over sharing your DNA. Couple of minor surprises in mine to be honest, close (ish) cousins and I've no idea where they sprang from.

 

So you've not done the test then?

 

My results had a lot more detail in them so I thought you'd not bothered with the test.