France as best place to live? I'd rather live in Ed Balls's pantry

Blackleaf

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Britain has been ranked a paltry 25th in the world for quality of life, lower than countries such as Czech Republic, Hungary and Lithuania. It's bottom of the pile in Europe, despite having won the War (but not, it seems, the peace).

But that doesn't matter too much as the rankings aren't very accurate. France, for example, was ranked at Number 1 at Australia and Number 2.

France and Australia WOULD be nice places to live in if you didn't mind listening to people speak French all day; eating things which people in other countries would fumigate their homes to get rid of; running away at the faintest whiff of sauerkraut; knowing that 99% of your country is made of sand; knowing that your ancestor was a convict; knowing that one of your greatest tourist attractions is just a rock; panicking every time you see a glimpse of Johnny Wilkinson; and you didn't care about the giant hopping mice bounding around.

But Rod Liddle would rather live in Ed Balls's pantry than live in France.

We’re all emigrating – to the countryside

From The Sunday Times
January 10, 2010
Rod Liddle



I suppose it should come as some sort of consolation to us that there are still 169 countries in the world which are less pleasurable to live in than our own, according to a recent survey.

We have some way to go before we hit rock bottom. Benin, for example, or Rwanda — countries to which the more caring and concerned of us send sponsored goats every Christmas, instead of buying presents for the kids. The goats are not always pleased about this but hell, one does what one can. You can’t please everybody, or everything.

A recent survey by the magazine International Living suggests that Britain has dropped to 25 in the list of countries in which it is desirable to live, its lowest-ever ranking.

We are below Uruguay, which is basically just a large, sluggish river full of bad-tempered fish, and the Czech Republic, the entire population of which is over in Britain working as plumbers or hotel receptionists. Perhaps that’s why the Czech Republic is so attractive — all that space.

We are virtually at the bottom of the pile within Europe, despite having won the war etc. We are below even Belgium. How does that make you feel? It is like being told that Peter Andre has a higher IQ than yours.

International Living is a mimsy, middle-class publication dedicated to persuading Brits and Americans to live abroad, and some allowance should be made for this.

Further, it suggests that the best country in the world in which to live is France. I would rather live inside Ed Balls’s pantry than in France, but I was not canvassed for an opinion.


France has been mysteriously named the greatest nation in the world to live

I suspect that International Living is using different criteria to sort out these positions in the chart than the ones I’d use. I suspect that they do not take account of things like how much you want to leg it every time a Frenchman opens his mouth, which must surely militate against a high score.

But whatever the case, we have been dropping down the lists these past 10 or so years, as evidenced not so much by tendentious analyses, but by the increasing numbers of reasonably well-off British people getting the hell out of the place every year.

This number has been increasing quite rapidly of late, but been hidden by the net figures for total population. Three hundred thousand Brits leave the place, 300,000 Somalis, Algerians and eastern Europeans come in, ergo things remain pretty much as they were.

Of course there is a net change, not least to the wealth-producing potential of the population. To be sure, some absolutely appalling people have left — you may well know them — and I’m sure some very nice people have come in; but this is not an equable change of like for like. Perhaps it should not be an exchange of like for like, either; but let us not pretend that it is.

Some people have not got the hell out of the country, they have simply got the hell out of the cities.

The latest figures suggest that the middle classes are deserting London at the rate of a quarter of a million every year, and heading for the new suburbs of Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somerset and Dorset — the existing suburbs being already full up.

They yearn for roads that are never gritted, village shops where the sell-by date on foodstuff engenders a warm nostalgia, Agas that they cannot operate and more aspirational criminals. Instead of being relieved of their wallets on the way home by a knife-wielding black teenager, they wish to be tied up with electric cable in their bedrooms by gun-wielding middle-aged white men asking them where the safe is.

They want schools for their children where the Ofsted mark is a happy parade of ones (excellent) except for the section on awareness of cultural diversity where it’s usually four (unsatisfactory). They can live with that little failing.

This exodus, too, is changing the shape of city and country, politically, socially and economically. But we do not pry too closely into the reasons, in case they upset us.

timesonline.co.u
 
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Avro

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:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

We beat the UK by miles and mile.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
 

Canaduh

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France and Australia WOULD be nice places to live in if you didn't mind listening to people speak French all day; eating things which people in other countries would fumigate their homes to get rid of; running away at the faintest whiff of sauerkraut; knowing that 99% of your country is made of sand; knowing that your ancestor was a convict; knowing that one of your greatest tourist attractions is just a rock; panicking every time you see a glimpse of Johnny Wilkinson; and you didn't care about the giant hopping mice bounding around.

The ignorance runs pretty deep in you eh?. I cant speak for france but for Australia. 99% of the country sand? funny I thought 100% of all countries are made up of sand of one kind or another. Not to mention the fact that most of Canada is just as uninhabitable as Australia.

The greatest tourist attraction isnt Ayers rock, hell I don't know a single person thats visited it. Without a doubt the biggest tourist trap is the Opera house.

Personally I'd say france is too high, Canada is too low, England is about right (have you ever tried to live there? its a dump and an expensive one at that.) Finland, Austria and Norway should be above the US or at least Italy. The biggest mistake though is no Sweden.
 

AnnaG

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Britain has been ranked a paltry 25th in the world for quality of life, lower than countries such as Czech Republic, Hungary and Lithuania. It's bottom of the pile in Europe, despite having won the War (but not, it seems, the peace).

But that doesn't matter too much as the rankings aren't very accurate. France, for example, was ranked at Number 1 at Australia and Number 2.

France and Australia WOULD be nice places to live in if you didn't mind listening to people speak French all day;
Not everyone speaks English either.
eating things which people in other countries would fumigate their homes to get rid of;
.... or throw away because the food has lost its flavor? I mean what's with the idea of boiling onions before sauteing them?
running away at the faintest whiff of sauerkraut;
Too much flavor for you people? Not enough sugar in it?
knowing that 99% of your country is made of sand;
... and you can swim in the ocean any time of the year without freezing your danglers off. And you can go diving in one of the most spectacular scenaries on the planet.
knowing that your ancestor was a convict;
Really? There were no people in Oz before the English sent their downtrodden there? There are no other immigrants there?
knowing that one of your greatest tourist attractions is just a rock;
Like Gibraltar?
panicking every time you see a glimpse of Johnny Wilkinson;
It'll pass.
and you didn't care about the giant hopping mice bounding around.
8O That coming from someone living in a place where the rich and titled treat their horses better than the lower classes? lol
 

AnnaG

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The ignorance runs pretty deep in you eh?. I cant speak for france but for Australia. 99% of the country sand? funny I thought 100% of all countries are made up of sand of one kind or another. Not to mention the fact that most of Canada is just as uninhabitable as Australia.

The greatest tourist attraction isnt Ayers rock, hell I don't know a single person thats visited it. Without a doubt the biggest tourist trap is the Opera house.

Personally I'd say france is too high, Canada is too low, England is about right (have you ever tried to live there? its a dump and an expensive one at that.) Finland, Austria and Norway should be above the US or at least Italy. The biggest mistake though is no Sweden.
Blackleaf's a Brit, not a Canuck.
 

Canaduh

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Blackleaf's a Brit, not a Canuck.

Makes more sense. Most British hate Australians because we have become a far better country than they ever could (hint. theres a reason so many immigrate there every year). Must be sad being beaten at every sport you invented by a bunch of convicts eh?...

Picking on other countries culinary offerings is about the funnies part though. What has Britain offered the world?. Bangers and mash, english breakfast and ?. All of which are pretty much guaranteed to cause a heart attack or type 2 diabetes.

While I agree it should be rated higher than 3rd world countries like Malta, Uruguay, Lithuania and Hungary. Most of the UK is living in 3rd world conditions anyway so not far ahead. For anyone that disagrees try going to Leeds, Birmingham or most parts of London will change their mind.
 
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Cliffy

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Yes, in the good old days in merry old England, being poor was an indictable offense. I guess they shipped them half way around the world thinking they would never find their way home. Yes the Brits have a lot to be proud of besides inbred royalty and greasy food.
 

Kakato

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blackleaf posts these same topics on every web forum that hasnt banned him yet for copyright infractions.
He also go's by the name "Great Briton" and bangs off these topics 24/7 on forums all over the world.

I think he works for British tourism or something but if you google some text from his posts you will see for yourself.:cool:

Mention bad British teeth and you may actually get a response from him.
 

EagleSmack

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blackleaf posts these same topics on every web forum that hasnt banned him yet for copyright infractions.
He also go's by the name "Great Briton" and bangs off these topics 24/7 on forums all over the world.

I think he works for British tourism or something but if you google some text from his posts you will see for yourself.:cool:

Mention bad British teeth and you may actually get a response from him.

Blackleaf has for some time just filled the forum with brit news and useless brit info with very little input to the forum itself. He used to actually participate...now he just spams the forum.

But yes...mention the crooked and yellowed teeth of the brits and he may chime in.
 

Kakato

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Hes not promoting Britian as much as slagging every other country and I've known him for years on another forum,what he posts here would be posted there soon after,we even had a pool on how long it would take him.
 

karrie

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I stopped paying much attention a while back, after the 50th post about how Brits are better than Scots.
 

EagleSmack

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I'd say it was a 50/50 mix. Half ripping other coutries and half spamming the forum with his irrelevant posts.
 

Ron in Regina

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France as best place to live? I'd rather live in Ed Balls's pantry

I get a kick out of Blackleaf's Threads, getting a different perspective on the
world (including North America) from someone on the outside of North
America looking in. I read almost everything that he posts....

As an aside, my ancestors (some of them, directly on my Fathers side) came
to Canada from England via first Australia and then South Africa. They fought
Dutch Farmers to get out of Australia and into somewhere else in the British
Commonwealth. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if they
just stayed in Australia....especially when it's -48c with the wind outside here.
 
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Canaduh

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I get a kick out of Blackleaf's Threads, getting a different perspective on the
world (including North America) from someone on the outside of North
America looking in. I read almost everything that he posts....

As an aside, my ancestors (some of them, directly on my Fathers side) came
to Canada from England via first Australia and then South Africa. They fought
Dutch Farmers to get out of Australia and into somewhere else in the British
Commonwealth. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if they
just stayed in Australia....especially when it's -48c with the wind outside here.

Ive seen +52c so not much different I'm guessing. Trade one extreme for the other.
 

karrie

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Ive seen +52c so not much different I'm guessing. Trade one extreme for the other.

No way... I live in the North, I've seen -50C. You can dress for -50. You can't undress enough for +50C. I'll take the odd cold snap over that kind of heat.
 

Kakato

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I get a kick out of Blackleaf's Threads, getting a different perspective on the
world (including North America) from someone on the outside of North
America looking in. I read almost everything that he posts....

As an aside, my ancestors (some of them, directly on my Fathers side) came
to Canada from England via first Australia and then South Africa. They fought
Dutch Farmers to get out of Australia and into somewhere else in the British
Commonwealth. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if they
just stayed in Australia....especially when it's -48c with the wind outside here.

You should move to chinook country,-30 two days ago and today it's +4 and raining.
 

Kakato

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No way... I live in the North, I've seen -50C. You can dress for -50. You can't undress enough for +50C. I'll take the odd cold snap over that kind of heat.

You got that right.
I saw the record -80 at camp the one year,-57 ambient and -80 with the windchill.
Your dressed in so many layers that it feels the same.

Just another reason to have an extra big piss jug in the tent.:lol:
 

Ron in Regina

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France as best place to live? I'd rather live in Ed Balls's pantry

Ive seen +52c so not much different I'm guessing. Trade one extreme for the other.


+52c = 126F......that's hot, & I've also seen that (as long as you factor in the Humidex)
at the same location as I've seen -50c (=-58c) as long as you factor in the Wind-Chill.

If I take the record High's & Low's in the province I reside in, and convert them to the
Fahrenheit scale....I believe the spread is 183F....and that's without the Humidex or the
Wind-Chill.

With that in mind, I hear you....and I'll take the heat over the cold any day.

P.S.
Record High Temperature in Saskatchewan was +45c (+113F)
Record Low Temperature in Saskatchewan was -57c (-70.6F)

The Spread is 102c or 183F....and that's without Humidex or Windchill.

The most extreme Temperature Spread on the Planet is Verkhoyansk,
Siberia with 105c (from -68c to +37c) and that's only 3c difference from
the records for the Province of Saskatchewan in Canada, for perspective.
_____________________________________
 
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Canaduh

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No way... I live in the North, I've seen -50C. You can dress for -50. You can't undress enough for +50C. I'll take the odd cold snap over that kind of heat.

Couldn't agree more. I hated Australia, I always used to say the same thing, you can always put more clothing on but you cant keep taking it off. Most of the year its great but for around 2-3 months its just unbearable. Aircons and fans do nothing when its +30c at night. When its 40/45c in Aus you cant do anything, you can go to the beach or pool but then there's skin cancer etc. Sometimes it got so hot the tar literally bubbles through the roads. Give me -40, layered clothing and central heating over that any day.
 

Canaduh

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Mar 7, 2008
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+52c = 126F......that's hot, & I've also seen that (as long as you factor in the Humidex)
at the same location as I've seen -50c (=-58c) as long as you factor in the Wind-Chill.

If I take the record High's & Low's in the province I reside in, and convert them to the
Fahrenheit scale....I believe the spread is 183F....and that's without the Humidex or the
Wind-Chill.

With that in mind, I hear you....and I'll take the heat over the cold any day.
_____________________________________

Couldn't say. Never heard of it before reading your post. This was inland Western Australia, its basically desert (usually around 50-70% humidity) so I'm assuming the humidity/ moisture would have been rather low compared to a climate like Canada's. Its not a stuffy heat like Europe or western Canada its just abrasive.