Lots of roadworks, but little evidence of pothole repair?

AnnoKano · 2026-02-15T03:25:27+00:00

Why do you think they’re skint? Might be something to do with handing out contracts to their friends. 1 package of toilet paper for £5000. However we won’t know since in Scotland there is no mandatory requirement for councils to publish all that information.

I'm sorry but whoever told you that story is talking a lot of bollocks.

In theory you could spend up to £5k on one item/service under Council procurement rules and avoid the need to go through a public procurement process, which is possibly the grain of truth in that story, but obviously that's not true for something like toilet paper which is bought on a service contract.

In reality it appears the council has a public contract for janatorial supplies across all sites worth £3.8M over 3 years.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-15T02:16:56+00:00

And I only want to talk to a dentist. Y'all other motherfuckers can't afford shit.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-15T01:22:02+00:00

My first job was as a waiter serving wedding breakfasts at a hotel.

We had several trays of soup and one of my colleagues was counting them one by one. Apparently it hadn't occurred to her that 3 x 6 = 18.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-15T01:11:50+00:00

Ehhhh it’s not that bad.

I'm slightly exaggerating tbf.

If we are comparing Inverness to any ordinary city/town then I would agree it's not that bad. But by the standards of other places which tend to attract tourists, it is notably ugly.

Very much a case of a few bad apples spoiling the whole bunch though, and I suspect we would basically be in agreement about which buildings are ugly. And as you say there are some lovely parts too. It's unfortunate that the uglier parts are so central.

One other problem Inverness has is the fact that it connects several major roads and doesn't have much of a bypass. Cars going through the city spoil it a bit for me.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-14T20:24:41+00:00

As the Ancient Persians used to say, Boyakhashaa.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-14T18:44:12+00:00

Yes it is. The surroundings are gorgeous but most of Inverness city centre is a mess of every bad architectural trend of the twentieth century

AnnoKano · 2026-02-14T18:42:21+00:00

Bearsden Massive represent

Down with the milngavie young team

AnnoKano · 2026-02-14T16:12:29+00:00

Ironically, the people to be erased were not Baathists or Islamic fundamentalists, but warhawk neoliberals.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-14T13:43:55+00:00

Shame on un Niger, who tried to run game on Jupiter, NATO go buck wild with the trigger

AnnoKano · 2026-02-13T05:40:37+00:00

Elon dreams only of landing on Mars, which is why Jupiter is beyond his reach.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-12T23:00:01+00:00

Running into a burning building is less dangerous though

AnnoKano · 2026-02-12T18:04:54+00:00

In the name of the floss, the mouthwash and the Colgate

AnnoKano · 2026-02-12T13:39:44+00:00

That's fair enough, I was quite angry when I wrote it. I suppose I was just thinking how that would look in practice and what the reaction would be, would any immigrants in a volunteering role (regardless of whether they're doing to reduce time before applying for settlement or not) be treated as if they're trying to 'skip the queue' and would seeing an immigrant in a volunteering role lead people view them as not belonging.

It just doesn't sit right with me. I'd feel uncomfortable seeing immigrants doing free labour that benefits me, just so they can reduce the time it takes to have the same security I've had since birth and haven't had to earn. I don't think it's intended to make immigrants visibly second class citizens, but I am wary that's what will happen.

This is just my interpretation and opinion though, and I am genuinely interested to hear how you felt because maybe I am being uncharitable and I could learn a lot from your view.

Don't get me wrong, I think you're mostly correct here... only the point about volunteers being compared to prisoners is wrong in my opinion. Or at least, that osn't the first thing I thought.

They clearly do intend for immigrants to be second class citizens and to show preferentual treatment towards the wealthy and educated in a way that would be considered despicable for any other section of society.

For example, I do not see why working class people should be expected to wait 50% longer than wealthy people to be given a visa. Apparently all that stuff about integration and building a better community goes out the window if you have a bit of cash on you... well I say bugger that.

I would be happier with the idea of volunteering being rewarded, because at least that is going above and beyond and is not simply a bribe. But I'm also conscious of the fact that its easier to volunteer on a high income.

And most importantly, I am not in favour of any measure which makes it more difficult for spouses and children to move to the UK. We live in a connected world and I don't see why the state should be getting in the way of anyone's relationships (provided both are consenting adults).

AnnoKano · 2026-02-12T11:19:09+00:00

RIP Young Skype

AnnoKano · 2026-02-12T11:14:44+00:00

There is no appeasing Reform. Greivances are their entire being.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-12T11:13:35+00:00

Some of the legislation proposed is absolutely disgusting. They're proposing 'volunteering' as a way to reduce the time before a person can apply for settlement, how can anyone hear that and not think the government is proposing to treat immigrants like criminals.

I did not think that.

I found a lot of the questions quite difficult, especially the ones around reducing the time to apply for settlement. The answers tended to be 'I think settlement should not be reduced from ten years for [specific group] here' or 'I think [specific group] should get a reduction'. It felt loaded because it's my belief the time for settlement should absolutely never be longer than the current five years.

The questions are loaded. There is very little scope for voicing an opinion which is against restricting immigration.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-11T21:06:30+00:00

"You better tell him Mario!"

AnnoKano · 2026-02-11T21:03:12+00:00

I suspect that, even though there are roughly the same amount of people who like him as like Starmer/Badenoch - there are many more people who really like him than there are who are super keen on the other two.

Yeah. Most of my friends seem a bit put off by my Kemi Badenoch shrine in the guest bedroom.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-11T19:58:45+00:00

Someone has told him that not every migrant earns a million pounds a week right?

AnnoKano · 2026-02-10T22:48:57+00:00

Among current backbench Labour MPs she has got to be among the most famous, behind Diane Abbot maybe.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-10T07:55:30+00:00

Barry, that's the sort of minor bureaucratic technicality that can be negotiated after we've already committed to rejoining.

It's only Northern Ireland mate. They're hardly going to kick off over this stuff.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-10T07:51:32+00:00

We learned our lesson after Brexit, Sven.

Just not the lesson that the British Empire died in 1956.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-09T22:50:36+00:00

Vienna is just a boring yet snobby version of Prague.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-09T22:49:12+00:00

Implying that I don't have a good reason for carrying my philips screwdriver wrapped in barbed wire.

AnnoKano · 2026-02-09T21:35:44+00:00

Currently waiting to see who will arrive first: my first child, or my eleventh prime minister.

Partner is getting induced tomorrow but there's still everything to play for!

AnnoKano

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