Elfin doesnt win because there’s too many long words and not enough pictures in the Guardian for him.

See? Even though I’ve had as good an education as Stoner, he still feels the need to denigrate me in some manner; still trying to assume some superior position over someone he feels he has a right to be ‘better’ than. Interesting, because such behaviour surely stems from some sort of deep-set insecurity and jealousy perhaps over the apparent social freedom and confidence enjoyed by someone else.

And it’s also interesting to see him try to turn defence into attack. Pity he lacks any real firepower in this respect though.

today’s breakfast for me was this tofu omelette:

also, i once sold a pair of howies jeans to stoner.
just so you know.

not arsed about the subscription though ta!

recycling clothes – truly liberal 😉

EDIT: just looked down, Im actually wearing those jeans now XhX! 😉 They are a little knackered now. Pockets have torn, theres a hole in one knee. How long have I had them?

dunno, couple of years at least, i’d say.

Yes it may be legal stoner but that doesn’t make it right. Philip Green is the obvious example, paying £1.2 BILLION of profit EARNED (wow that really works doesn’t it!) in the UK to his WIFE in MONACO to avoid paying tax on it.

Love the old ‘Trying so hard’ line, just because I have a different opinion on it to you doesn’t mean I don’t understand your argument.

I also note that you omitted the people who are short paid/refused benefits through error. But then people on benefits are always getting more than they’re entitled to, eh?

Elfin doesnt win because there’s too many long words and not enough pictures in the Guardian for him.

There you go, it’s back to the common room.

Maybe you’re right elfin, maybe he is jealous of you.

Maybe it’s because he can’t buy it. Even second hand trousers aren’t helping
😉

Maybe you’re right elfin, maybe he is jealous of you.

Well, I’m certainly a better dancer than him, so I can understand such jealousy. 😀

Maybe it’s because he can’t buy it.

Trouble is, that he’s so out of touch and narrow-minded, that he doesn’t even know what the ‘it’ he can’t buy even is…

All very enjoyable, but Im off for a Nutroast with Tofu jus and mung bean stuffing.

One lucky winner has been selected by the Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue computer list of tax dodgers and been emailed.

Rich boys are always shit at dancing, easy win there.

Edit : gods, it’s so easy to see stoner off, wasn’t debating actually on the agenda at hogwarts?

Mass debating, surely?

Goes without saying elfin, show some class 🙂

Edit: although I reckon until he left school his understanding of TUC was different

I’m familiar with tax evasion, know what benfit fraud is, have been known to read the Guardian headlines but what’s tofu?

Its something you have at bonfire night. Sticks in your teeth I think.

I have heard you can knit with it too.

Its a bit like Soylent green, only made with vegetarians.

is it worth me giving a sensible answer, or am i still way too naive/optimistic about this forum?

You might be thinking of Quorn, you eejit.

Oh, and i’m off to VegFest this evening in Bristol. Stoner/Zulu-Eleven/GashFeart et al would shit their jockeys if they even had to walk past.

In answer to the original question- Yes

There’s massive jumps in morality and legality between each of those, and the tired argument comparing Tax Avoidance with Fraud is so clearly spurious that Im surprised some people still cling to it.

I think there is a difference in legality. Tax avoidance usually involves using a legal loophole [ that indeed HMRC may have not realised but they may later close] in order to maximise what you have and minimise what you pay in tax – legal yes moral no but I accept most people would do it. Green is the classic example. I am not sure why you think it is morally defensible when done on the scale of someone who generates his wealth from folk who actually pay tax.
It is nothing like an ISA as that is an attempt by the govt to encourage me to save by offering me a tax break/incentive to do so. IIRC they dont incentivise tax avoidance. I suspect quite a lot of tax legislation is designed specifically to prevent this. I am surprised you would compare it to an ISA tbh.

DD, i was considering going there yesterday. it looked like there was gonna be some good stuff going on, but in the end i decided it was a bit far to travel just to try to nab some freebies!

Don’t worry, I can use Google, Xherbivorex. I was just intrigued what something that comes up as a protein supliment had to do with liberalism. My wife’s in now and whilst she’s never eaten tofu either tells me her American colleage does which does seem to confirm the OP’s liberal link.

youre just jealous I can shit when I want to, fibre-boy! 😉

DD, i was considering going there yesterday. it looked like there was gonna be some good stuff going on, but in the end i decided it was a bit far to travel just to try to nab some freebies!

If I’m honest dude, we’re stuck in Brizzle without much to do this evening and the wife is pretty much veggie, with me almost, but not quite, there.

I’m not sure it would have been worth a long journey, but we’ll get to see Aswad 😀

ah, well not so much a supplement as an ‘alternative’ source of dietary protein to the generally accepted traditional western ones, and the liberal link is a tired cliche/stereotype really (but i suppose probably quite valid in some sense).

aswad a poor mans JSL

Tax avoidance usually involves using a legal loophole [ that indeed HMRC may have not realised but they may later close] in order to maximise what you have and minimise what you pay in tax

rather caught up in a myth there JY.

Tax planning arrangements have to be pre-approved with HMRC, you cant just invent a dodge in a sandbox, deploy it and then plead it’s all kosher because it isnt outlawed. Tax mitigation structures are usually there to either encourage certain behaviour (for example capital investment in business assets) or protect over taxation of other things (like the tax relief a company owner gets when they sell up their company to retire for example).

There will be abuse of the system, even Guardian’s holding group is offshore to mitigate transaction tax when it was bought out, which is hardly going to lead to great advocacy, but there’s usually more good done by fiscal relaxation than harm.

aswad a poor mans JSL

JSL, a dyslexic mans JLS.

I could of course just claim a typo what with it being me 😉

to be fair, most soya consumed in the world is not hippyapproved.

Most soya is grown in a mono culture desert, is genetically modified, takes a lot of fertiliser and isnt outstandingly good for you.

Its also like eating a tasteless mushy white emulsion 😉

Alpro do a supposedly OK one with bean tracability, sustainability [ no GM] and no deforestation ….like dolphin friendly tuna.
Your are not wrong though tastes of nothing and is soft and mushy – I tend to deep fry it to make it crunchy for stir frys but not the best thing in the world and not ahuge fan. My kids wont eat it all.I am always amazed at what they can get from the humble soya bean though.

aswad a poor mans JSL

You’re not wrong 😀

Sometimes I’m really thankful I do my shopping in France.

Sometimes i am glad I have morals That stuff is bad I know meat eaters who wont eat it. Force feeding an animal so you can have a tasty by product of over feeding is a touch OTT , but we all have our own moral compass.

JY +1

one day I shall hide my moral compass and partake of some Ortolan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortolan_bunting#Gastronomy

The birds must be taken alive; once captured they are either blinded or kept in a lightless box for a month to gorge on millet, grapes, and figs, a technique apparently taken from the decadent cooks of Imperial Rome who called the birds beccafico, or “fig-pecker”. When they’ve reached four times their normal size, they’re drowned in a snifter of Armagnac.

Cooking l’ortolan is simplicity itself. Simply pop them in a high oven for six to eight minutes and serve. The secret is entirely in the eating. First you cover your head with a traditional embroidered cloth. Then place the entire four-ounce bird into your mouth. Only its head should dangle out from between your lips. Bite off the head and discard. L’ortolan should be served immediately; it is meant to be so hot that you must rest it on your tongue while inhaling rapidly through your mouth. This cools the bird, but its real purpose is to force you to allow its ambrosial fat to cascade freely down your throat.

When cool, begin to chew. It should take about 15 minutes to work your way through the breast and wings, the delicately crackling bones, and on to the inner organs. Devotees claim they can taste the bird’s entire life as they chew in the darkness: the wheat of Morocco, the salt air of the Mediterranean, the lavender of Provence. The pea-sized lungs and heart, saturated with Armagnac from its drowning, are said to burst in a liqueur-scented flower on the diner’s tongue. Enjoy with a good Bordeaux.

You probably already have. It wouldn’t surprise me tbh.

seen the price of ortolan?

Funnily enough, it’s not on my aspirational compass. How much?

1x Ortolan = 5l Osmo hard wax oil

****, if you’re using multiples of Osmo Oil, then that really is pricey 😯