rifleman

In the UK, Scottish courts operate under a different legal code to the rest of the country. One of the major differences is that there are three verdicts available to a jury - guilty, not guilty and not proven. A not proven verdict essentially means that the jury thinks that the defendant did it, but that the prosecution didn't present enough evidence for the jury to return a definitive guilty verdict. Not Proven also allows for a retrial should additional evidence come to light without incurring double jeopardy.

Income is generally considered to be money earned from employment and dividends on shares. Investments such as stocks, bonds and property normally only attract tax when they've been realised. In the UK it's called Capital Gains Tax. Inheritance Tax covers money and property left in wills but there are quite high thresholds. Money acquired from gambling may be taxable but betting shops will generally give you the option of paying tax on the stake rather than on the winnings.

Socialism is NOT Communism Capitalism - Anyone can be rich Communism - Nobody can be rich Socialism - Anyone can be rich but nobody should be in poverty.

The current UK system is based on progressive taxation. No-one pays any tax on the first £12,500 of income. Between £12,501 and £40,000 tax rate is 20% but only on the portion of income over £12,500. Over £40,001 the tax rate is currently 40% but only on the portion of income over £40,000. There are plans to introduce two new tax bands that come into play at £80,001 and £125,001 (45% applying to that portion of income over £80,00 and 50% applying to that portion of income over £125,000). As an example, someone earning £81,000 under the new 45% band would pay approximately £500 a year in extra tax.

“Charity is a cold, grey loveless thing. If a rich man wants to help the poor, he should pay his taxes gladly, not dole out money at a whim.”

The system in the UK is fundamentally different to that in the US. Judges are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Lord Chancellor (High Court Judge Appointment). They're independent from the political process and have fought to maintain that independence against political interference. They occasionally make bad decisions but generally they try to uphold the laws (statute and common). The other difference is that we don't elect a head of state. Every constituency in the UK (roughly 650) elects a local MP and the party that wins the most seats forms the Government. Sometimes this necessitates forming a coalition with one or more of the minority parties (SNP, Plaid Cymru, Green, DUP etc). Whoever happens to be the leader of the party with the most seats (including coalition partners) becomes the Prime Minister. There are several ways to terminate a Government. The first is to force a vote of no confidence (VONC) which is hard to do against a party with a solid majority, but against a minority government or one with a very slim majority it can be effective. The second is to vote down the legislative program put forward by the Government in the Queen's Speech. The result is the same in that the Leader of the Opposition meets the Queen and is invited to form a new Government. They then have 14 days to demonstrate that they can command the respect of the House. If they can't then a General Election is called.

The man is a living, walking embodiment of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Apparently, if you say Greta Thunberg's name three times over a vegan sausage roll, somewhere in the world an angry, middle aged man's dick falls off.

What's even funnier is that Boris is pushing parliament to table a vote of no confidence in his government and if that doesn't work he may move the VONC himself, which would probably make him the first PM in history to lose a VONC in himself.

Complete and utter bollocks. See below: https://www.indy100.com/article/nazi-socialist-right-wing-white-supremacists-history-twitter-mikestuchbery-7900001

The main problem with banning abortions after a heartbeat starts is that this usually occurs 22 days after conception and most women are unlikely to know if they're pregnant until at least 4-6 weeks. What about abortion following rape or incest? Or where the fetus is diagnosed as having a fatal genetic abnormality which would result in a woman being forced to carry a dead baby to term? IMO many pro-lifers aren't really pro-life, they're just pro-birth. If they were serious about being pro-life, then they'd be working to make sure that there was provision for that child to be properly taken care of in a loving home, that they had access to a decent education and healthcare rather than washing their hands of the mother once she's given birth and calling her a scrounger.

Here in the UK our whole firearms licence system is "may issue" with the local police force having one or two specialist firearms licencing officers. Before you even apply for a licence you have to be a member of a gun club (IIRC, it's a minimum of 3 months). The club will advise on the licencing process, fitting of gun cabinets and other items that the police will check for. Firearms owners in the UK also accept that their doctor is a mandatory reporter in the case of mental health problems if a firearms licence is issued. I've had it happen to me and the local firearms officer worked with me to remove the risk while still allowing me access to my guns. The end result was that for the six months I was receiving treatment my guns were stored in the gun club armoury where I could use them if I wanted to.

In the UK, we were facing a complete ban following the mass shooting at Hungerford in 1987. A compromise deal was reached that has, with one exception, remained unchanged in 32 years. That one exception was the restriction placed on handguns following the school shooting at Dunblane in 1996.

In the UK, if you like the looks of the "assault rifle" type weapons (AR variant, AK, Sig Sauer, H&K) you can own a semi-auto version of it with, if you so desire, high capacity magazines and suppressor but the only restrictions are that it must be chambered for .22LR and you must show good reason for owning it. Bolt action rifles can be chambered for .17HMR up to .50 cal and shotguns of all types are limited to a maximum of 3 rounds capacity (2 in mag, 1 in breech).

The strange thing is that in my constituency we're currently fighting a by-election as the previous incumbent was convicted of forging his expenses claims and 20% of the electorate signed a petition to recall him. The poll happens on 1st August but if BoJo the clown can't command the confidence of the house we'll be facing a (very likely) General Election and whichever candidate wins, we'll be doing it all over again in about two months.

I'm not arguing against the human tendency to want things for less - I'm Scottish by ancestry and Yorkshire by upbringing which makes me one of the tightest fisted people on the face of the planet - I'm simply saying that people like Jeff Bezos and his shareholders could take the hit in reduced dividends and profits without adding more than a couple of hours to the time needed to purchase his next superyacht. This simple illustration of the differences between employees and the people running companies like Amazon and Walmart happens when you convert salaries into seconds of time. Average UK wage £24,600 pa = 6hrs 50min £1 million = 1.6 weeks £1 billion = 31.6 years

The main problem as I see it, is that corporations like Amazon and Walmart aren't paying a living wage to their employees (when they could easily do so) and are using the taxpayer's money to subsidise their profits. When employees claim food stamps and other benefits, it's not the employee that's making anything from it. If they were paid a living wage then they wouldn't need taxpayer support and might even be able to save a little. The only people who benefit from the taxpayers' support of employees are the corporations, their CEO's and their shareholders. In the UK, we're working towards a living wage but the government also has two levels of minimum wage. £7.25 ph between the ages of 21 and 25, and £8.25 ph over 25. Young people under the age of 21 have no protection and are basically at the mercy of their employers. There's also a group called the National Living Wage Foundation which offers accreditation to businesses who are prepared to meet their criteria and voluntarily pay their calculated living wage (currently £9 ph outside London and £10.55 in London). At present, they have 5,500+ employers signed up. If someone is having to work three jobs to make enough to live then something is wrong with the system.

South Pacific (1958)

Not to the Welsh, it's not. They're very proud of their flag.

Have selected United Kingdom mainly because there's no entry on the list for Wales.

Here in the UK the Royal British Legion had similar problems with dropping membership numbers. They got around it by creating two types of membership, full membership (for all veterans - regular, reserve or emergency services) and associate membership (for anyone who wished to support the aims of the RBL but who had not served). Both groups pay the same membership, roughly £18 p.a. and work to fundraise for the RBL particularly around November in the run up to Remembrance Sunday.

Welcome to Gilead.

Slavery was legal - helping slaves to escape was a criminal offence. There are at least two cases ongoing in Europe where captains of refugee rescue ships operating in the Med are being prosecuted for plucking people from overloaded boats. This is in direct contravention of International Maritime law that places an obligation on a ship's master to render all aid possible to prevent loss of life at sea.

But that's the problem. Neither Georgia or Alabama's legislation draws a distinction between a medically necessary abortion on the grounds of danger to the foetus, danger to the mother or unwanted pregnancy caused by rape/incest. It denies a woman control over her own body and treats her reproductive organs as chattels of the state on pain of imprisonment (including if she travels to a state where abortion is legal). It's Margaret Atwood's "A Handmaid's Tale" brought to life.

Georgia , another anti-abortion state, appears to be coming under pressure from companies such as Netflix, Disney etc. as they threaten to to pull filming and financing operations if the bill becomes law. I've also attached something that popped up in my FB feed that's food for thought.