Not a tax haven.

[Kopek]

I remember that battleaxe on Spitting Image but who's this Maggie?

[ManxTaxPayer]

It's been around since Churchill's day.

[NoTail]

Correct - it was Churchill who first talked about the "special Relationship" - long, long before Maggie.

[woolley]

In fact, despite the War of Independence, to all intents and purposes it goes back to the earliest days of the founding fathers. The USA grew out of a collection of British colonies largely of British stock to become the most powerful country on Earth. How could we not have a "special relationship" with such cousins?

[Lxxx]

 

 

Chief Minister appears to have said the unsayable & told the Yanks they're the absolute pits when it comes to tax dodging etc

 

Wonder if that greaseball Kerry was still in the room?

I think almost everyone would back him for what he said. It won't do any good though having a dig at the most cynical, corrupt, two-faced, morally bankrupt country in the world. I can see regime change coming soon.

In the Isle of Man , certainly. I think Bell would be well advised to keep his mouth shut, the English and Americans are big mates one week , can't stand each other's guts the next. Tying your colours to either is asking for trouble from one or both. It would seem that Bell yet again is getting told that he is an ' International Figure ' in Politics, by those on the Island who stand to gain most. For the sake of the rest of us, come down to earth Bell, keep a low profile, and spare the Island some of the the mess that is coming by just leaving quietly to where- ever you plan to retire. Make no mistake about it, those who you think are your Political friends will have forgotten you before the plane takes off and will be in pursuit of another gullible ' Yes Man ' with an ego for them to massage

 

 

Harsh.

[GD4ELI]

 

 

 

Chief Minister appears to have said the unsayable & told the Yanks they're the absolute pits when it comes to tax dodging etc

 

Wonder if that greaseball Kerry was still in the room?

I think almost everyone would back him for what he said. It won't do any good though having a dig at the most cynical, corrupt, two-faced, morally bankrupt country in the world. I can see regime change coming soon.

In the Isle of Man , certainly. I think Bell would be well advised to keep his mouth shut, the English and Americans are big mates one week , can't stand each other's guts the next. Tying your colours to either is asking for trouble from one or both. It would seem that Bell yet again is getting told that he is an ' International Figure ' in Politics, by those on the Island who stand to gain most. For the sake of the rest of us, come down to earth Bell, keep a low profile, and spare the Island some of the the mess that is coming by just leaving quietly to where- ever you plan to retire. Make no mistake about it, those who you think are your Political friends will have forgotten you before the plane takes off and will be in pursuit of another gullible ' Yes Man ' with an ego for them to massage

 

 

Harsh.

 

 

But true.

[Barrie Stevens]

In fact, despite the War of Independence, to all intents and purposes it goes back to the earliest days of the founding fathers. The USA grew out of a collection of British colonies largely of British stock to become the most powerful country on Earth. How could we not have a "special relationship" with such cousins?

 

And we set fire to the White House etc! (Mind you they invaded Canada and set fire to the Canadian version of the White House)...

[GD4ELI]

In fact, despite the War of Independence, to all intents and purposes it goes back to the earliest days of the founding fathers. The USA grew out of a collection of British colonies largely of British stock to become the most powerful country on Earth. How could we not have a "special relationship" with such cousins?

 

It's really when the UK / Empire passed on nuclear research information to the Americans in the early days of WWII. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_Alloys .

[manxie44]

 

 

 

Chief Minister appears to have said the unsayable & told the Yanks they're the absolute pits when it comes to tax dodging etc

 

Wonder if that greaseball Kerry was still in the room?

I think almost everyone would back him for what he said. It won't do any good though having a dig at the most cynical, corrupt, two-faced, morally bankrupt country in the world. I can see regime change coming soon.

In the Isle of Man , certainly. I think Bell would be well advised to keep his mouth shut, the English and Americans are big mates one week , can't stand each other's guts the next. Tying your colours to either is asking for trouble from one or both. It would seem that Bell yet again is getting told that he is an ' International Figure ' in Politics, by those on the Island who stand to gain most. For the sake of the rest of us, come down to earth Bell, keep a low profile, and spare the Island some of the the mess that is coming by just leaving quietly to where- ever you plan to retire. Make no mistake about it, those who you think are your Political friends will have forgotten you before the plane takes off and will be in pursuit of another gullible ' Yes Man ' with an ego for them to massage

The 'special' Anglo-American relationship has been around since Maggie's day - remember her, Reagan and Spitting Image? Hardly an on, off relationship. Whether it is good or not for us is a different matter.

' Us ' being the English I assume - ref your remark on Thatcher ( ugh ) feeling sick now

[Gladys]

'Us' are those on this island, not the English. Perhaps you should read with an open mind.

[BernieWaffle]

'Us' are those on this island, not the English. Perhaps you should read with an open mind.

What's an open mind?

[MacGyver]

Oh come on. That isn't even an original sockpuppet. Bernie Fatmuff was on here first.

[BernieWaffle]

Oh come on. That isn't even an original sockpuppet. Bernie Fatmuff was on here first.

Who is Bernie Fatmuff? Is he Freeman or slave, patrician or plebeian, lord or serf, guild-master or journeyman? In a word, is he oppressor or oppressed? Is he stood in constant opposition to everyone, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes?

 

The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. And what has Bernie Fatmuff to say about that?

[MacGyver]

Bernie is a typical bourgeoisie. The Communist Manifesto even goes into this, how one element of the bourgeoisie perpetuate their own class dominance by taking up proletarian causes. If ever the proletariat were to be emancipated, these same people would be out of the job. Their role is to keep up the bourgeois patriarchy by appointing themselves 'leaders' or defenders of the proletariat. The proletariat must never be allowed to speak for and represent themselves. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of manufacturing disease and monopolising the cure.

[BernieWaffle]

Bernie is a typical bourgeoisie. The Communist Manifesto even goes into this, how one element of the bourgeoisie perpetuate their own class dominance by taking up proletarian causes. If ever the proletariat were to be emancipated, these same people would be out of the job. Their role is to keep up the bourgeois patriarchy by appointing themselves 'leaders' or defenders of the proletariat. The proletariat must never be allowed to speak for and represent themselves. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of manufacturing disease and monopolising the cure.

So you're Bernie Fatmuff?