Latest Leaders Meeting a Flop

[Dominic]

Let's get this clear. . . . . . . I think you are intelligent too. Do you know why???

You have got the POWER to ban any member from any topic at any time AND, whenever you feel like it. I think that is clever and hilarious. And, I now feel the need to post a big face. Sorry.

That makes Mr. Trump the most intelligent man in the world then...?

No, he can get blocked by the courts.

[cyprusgrump]

With regards to the swear filter though, there isn't one, as you yourself have demonstrated when you sallied forth with the F word a few days ago. I told you to grow up, but the word still remained.

Well, there is a swear filter - you just haven't added the F word to it - unlike the other word you don't like or my user name...

...or at least it used to be called the swear filter in phpBB and still is on SMF - perhaps it is called word exchange mechanism or some such now...?

[Dominic]

With regards to the swear filter though, there isn't one, as you yourself have demonstrated when you sallied forth with the F word a few days ago. I told you to grow up, but the word still remained.

Well, there is a swear filter - you just haven't added the F word to it - unlike the other word you don't like or my user name...

...or at least it used to be called the swear filter in phpBB and still is on SMF - perhaps it is called word exchange mechanism or some such now...?

Ok I will rephrase that. There is a swear filter, however it is empty.

[keving]

I AM NOT BEING PC GEOFF. The derogatory word you used was DISGUSTING !!!!

Trev..

One of the Chinese guys I deal with addresses himself as "Chinky John" ....how do you think I should address him trev ?

Do you have a problem addressing him just as John?

[geoffreys]

I agree. What a terrible phrase to use Geoffreys

Trev..

Getting this thread back onto track, Trev you did not answer my 2 questions:
1. Do you want Chinese (and indeed other aliens) people obtaining an EU passport by purchasing a Cyprus property for at least €1 million?
2. Do you want to see a re-unification of Cyprus?

For clarity I would answer: (1) No (2) Yes
Geoff.

[Conoflex]

Oh dear. The passport selling scheme in Cyprus is a jobs for the boys carve up

It raises huge amounts of money but does not create real employment and does not reduce the national debt- it simply keeps the usual suspects in new Mercs and other than reinforcing Cyprus' status as a cash strapped banana republic serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

I also suspect that the Chinese investors who paid the millions to get a passport are going to feel a bit short changed if they find out it does not entitle them to set up in the UK in the way they would prefer.

The EU is looking to shut the whole dodgy business down, but in typical EU fashion can't move quickly enough to do so

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27674135

Cyprus is the other EU nation to offer a direct citizenship-by-investment route.
The cost of the programme was slashed to 2m euros in March, partially in an effort to placate mostly Russian investors who lost money when Cyprus was forced to accept a strict European Union bailout.
(The 2m euro figure applies when one invests as part of a larger group whose collective investments total more than 12.5m euros; an investment of 5m euros in real estate or banks is still required for an individual.)
But Mr Kalin cautions against a Cypriot investment, noting that the programme initially cost 28m euros, then 10m euros, then 5m euros.
"It's a good example of how not to do it - you bring a product to market and totally misprice it and it gets cheaper every six months. It is ridiculous," he says.

[Dominic]

I have to ask, if you hate it that much, why do you stay here?

[Conoflex]

I love Cyprus and it's people, it's the people running it that ruin it , primarily to the detriment of their own less affluent countrymen

[ApusApus]

I love Cyprus and it's people, it's the people running it that ruin it , primarily to the detriment of their own less affluent countrymen

Has it ever been any different!


Shane

[Conoflex]

No - but it doesn't mean to say it always has to be.

I live here very well and at times I am embarrassed about how easy my life is compared to many who have worked a lot harder than I ever did but can't appreciate the quality of life this country has to offer as readily as I can

Regardless of the ethics and right and wrongs of all that, selling passports to rich people who won't be living here and giving the money from those sales to those who did the selling and not the country itself is not an acceptable state of affairs as far as I am concerned

[Wallace]

No - but it doesn't mean to say it always has to be.

I live here very well and at times I am embarrassed about how easy my life is compared to many who have worked a lot harder than I ever did but can't appreciate the quality of life this country has to offer as readily as I can

Regardless of the ethics and right and wrongs of all that, selling passports to rich people who won't be living here and giving the money from those sales to those who did the selling and not the country itself is not an acceptable state of affairs as far as I am concerned

I agree in principal with you canoflex, however, at the moment, it is Chinese investment that is keeping the building trade from collapse.
What I fail to understand is why developers are getting away with selling 70k apartments for 300k to Chinese investors.
A total unsustainable rip off!

Wallace

[Conoflex]

It is because it's keeping that side of the economy from collapsing (and taking a lot of other bits with it) that the EU is tolerating what is going on

The 300K sell was a complete scam- that just buys residency, which many Chinese have been mislead into thinking was citizenship, but that con has run it's course, so it's now hi ho for the now vastly smaller numbers but much more expensive passport scheme (until the EU shuts that down, because residency and citizenship are two totally different things and selling passports that gives the buyer legal access to any EU country makes a complete mockery of the alleged aims of the EU )

Such schemes might even be behind Trumps reasoning on EU issued passports

[Wallace]

It is because it's keeping that side of the economy from collapsing (and taking a lot of other bits with it) that the EU is tolerating what is going on

The 300K sell was a complete scam- that just buys residency, which many Chinese have been mislead into thinking was citizenship, but that con has run it's course, so it's now hi ho for the now vastly smaller numbers but much more expensive passport scheme (until the EU shuts that down, because residency and citizenship are two totally different things and selling passports that gives the buyer legal access to any EU country makes a complete mockery of the alleged aims of the EU )

The Chinese will be pretty p.....d of when they realise they have been misled.
They are not people to mess about with!

[Wallace]

I should add that I live here permanently, pay tax on my pensions, spend all my income in Cyprus, have private medical care and am not a burden on Cypriot healthcare, and thus
support the local economy!
Do these Chinese, and other foreign investors do the same?

[Conoflex]

"The Chinese will be pretty p.....d of when they realise they have been misled.
They are not people to mess about with!"

I don't know about that- maybe the Cypriot grand masters of the the business black arts have found a chink in their armour

ps to your above, ditto

[Dominic]

There are a fair amount of Chinese kids at the ISOP, so some of them definitely do stay.

[Wallace]

The ISOP which is owned by Aristo?
(We seem to be playing ping pong at the moment Dominic)

Wallace

[Lofos-Jan]

I have several Chinese neighbours who live here permanently. One visiting Chinese couple told me last week that an equivalent house in Shanghai to the one they bought here would cost millions - they live in a small high rise apartment in Shanghai. They absolutely love it here, their house, their garden, the air, the space and the climate and are planning on retiring here.

Jeanne

[Jersey]

The difference between "Chink" and "Yank" is that Americans don't find the latter offensive whereas Chinese people do find the former offensive. Like the "N" word, it's use says more about the person using it than anything else.

I bet you Chris Rock uses the N word 100 times in his stand up ...so why the problem ??

So what if he uses it - which by the way he's cut down on as he says he realised it was
giving an excuse to racists to use it. Plenty of other black comedians don't use it and there
is an explicit and historical difference in the way it is perceived. I mean it's not like it originated
as a term of endearment is it so not really sure what the desire is to use it.

Wasn't Chriee Blairs father in one of the 70s sitcoms which ridiculed darkies ??/

Is that your favourite word of the month or something? Not sure what the question has to do with
anything but things have moved on since the 70's.

Cheers

Steve

They are being ironic to the left wing lesbian lentil scandal mob ...

[Steve - SJD]

They are being ironic to the left wing lesbian lentil scandal mob ...

I am sure that means something to you but you've lost me...

Cheers

Steve