I actually liked it, and wanted to answer with another one. Just couldn't think of of a good one yet.Originally Posted by wiggin
I actually liked it, and wanted to answer with another one. Just couldn't think of of a good one yet.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
Hehe, good story. Not sure what a sort number is. Over here you'd need more to use things like internet banking, and if your card is lost that card will be blocked if you need it for access (even though the card alone isn't enough). For direct debit your account number and name is enough, but that's relatively easy to come by - dodgy store keepers, etc, hell, companies usually have it on their website and stationary. You can really easily cancel any of those payments though, without giving a reason. Plus I think it can only be used from your own country, so you're actually safer from that when you're on vacation.
Account Number and Sort Code are your two identifiers your account has here. Sort Code is a 6 digit written as 3 sets of 2 digits which identifies which branch of which bank your account comes from (eg mine 20-91-48 identifies it as the Warrington branch of Barclays Bank). The account number is an 8 digit number for the specific account which for obvious reasons I'm not about to put online. Both these numbers are printed (not raised) on the bottom front of the card normally.
To make a payment into someone's account you only need those two numbers, not even their name. To take money out requires extra details normally except in the case of a Direct Debit it needs just name and address which are easy to find as Clarkson found out.
As you said though Direct Debits here too are guaranteed against fraud so had Clarkson wanted to he could have got his money back. Still a pain though and not something you want to happen.
I know, there have been months where I renewed all my cards twice. On the flipside, I have my bank on speeddial and am absolutely ruthless if I can't find my card within 5 minutes after noticing it's not in its place in my wallet. In the years I have been using plastic I have had only one single contested transaction caused by a malfunction in the card reader and never did I have any money taken out of my account by somebody who wasn't supposed to do so.
To my partial defense, I may point out that in Turkey you first get your money, then have to state you are done with your business to get your card back. When you're in a hurry at an airport that can easily result in a card being forgotten inside the ATM.
PS; overhere the card itself has a 'serial number' too. Once the card with that number has been blocked, you can no longer gain access to the account with that particular card and the information contained in it.
Congratulations America
I'm not sure it's quite anal to blow through cards at that rate and call your bank twice a month, but it certainly doesn't seem pleasant.Even though I've never lost a card, so far I see no downsides to my system and have spent zero time on the phone with a bank over lost cards over the past few years.
Ruthless; I don't take risks with cards I can't locate. It hardly ever happens that a card shows up again once I have decided 'its not where it should be'. Why should being on the Phone with your bank be unpleasant? I tell them my name, tell them I have lost my card and want to cancel it. They ask me some additional info and end the conversation with the question if I want to have a new card sent to my home. I have had times that the card was delivered before I was back home.I'm not sure it's quite anal to blow through cards at that rate and call your bank twice a month, but it certainly doesn't seem pleasant.
Congratulations America
I had my Tesco credit card blocked for "suspicious activity" last month while trying to pay the florist for the wedding. What really irritated me was I had loads of such payments to make and had informed the company I was getting married that month and had a lot of payments to make (and sufficient funds to make them). Despite that they blocked the card anyway without calling. I now have 2 credit cards so I just used my other one but after the wedding while in a shopping centre while Amanda and my new sister in law were clothes shopping i called and let rip at them over the phone and got an apology, the card unblocked and £50 as compensation. Been irritated in the past at rude card blockings for "suspicious activity" but this was the first time I'd ever asked for compensation over it.
I then took the girls out for lunch to be spent "on Tesco's" only at the end of the meal discover the card was missing. While arguing with them on the phone I'd taken the card out to read out the details and must have misplaced it. So had to call back again to get it cancelled. A bit embarrassing timing lol. First time I've lost a card in about 5+ years.
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Back on topic seems things are escalating in Istanbul. Probably won't book an expedition to there.
"On Tuesday, police detained two lawyers who allegedly protested the police clampdown at Taksim, the private Dogan news agency reported. Colleagues rushed to a court house to protest their detention and they too were taken into custody for demonstrating, Dogan said. The state-run Anadolu agency said some 50 lawyers were detained."
"The demonstrators, he said, “ are being used by some financial institutions, the interest rate lobby and media groups to (harm) Turkey’s economy and (scare away) investments.'"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...5_story_1.html
Hope is the denial of reality
Yeah, but it all took place in the biggest courthouse in Europe so it must be good.
Just in case you didn't know; Erdogan's core voters abhor interest as it is considered un-Islamic. How convenient he found out about the 'interest lobby' (Jews anyone?).
I smell elections in the air; Erdogan seems to have given up on being a prime-minister for the nation. He's merely a party leader now, playing every dirty trick Turkey has seen over the last 50 years.
Congratulations America
Hm, I thought he was appealing to the lefties, who buy into all the banking conspiracies. But I suppose the un-Islamic angle makes sense, too.
Unfortunately, he'll win the elections. I see a repeat of the Egyptian election.
Hope is the denial of reality
It is hard to tell really, last time he had 49% and 49% already wasn't enough to achieve most of his objectives. Shaving off only a few points can push AKP out of government. That is not entirely impossible because there is a type of AKP voter who's not islamist at all; they may decide that voting with their wallet in mind only might not be the smartest thing to do with a PM who shows tendencies of becoming a real autocrat.
Turkey by the way is not Egypt nor any other Arab country.
Congratulations America
What's the point in lumping Jews or Muslims within the banking industry while ignoring Christians? If it's to place blame or create enemies.....Christians are just as much to blame for cold capitalism as any other religion.
<facepalm>
Tell me you are joking.
Brevior saltare cum deformibus viris est vita
What I meant was that secular people raise a big stink, have big protests, just to go to the polls and see that most of the country is far more conservative than the secularists assumed.
Hope is the denial of reality
Remember this one ? This is what is playing out now.
You are also falling for one of the many lies Erdogan is telling Turks today; this is not a protest by secularists against islamists, it's people of all backgrounds against a leader who stopped listening.
Congratulations America
And there were Islamists at the Egyptian protests too. They still ended up voting for Islamist parties.
Hope is the denial of reality
IIRC islamist parties were repressed befire the protests, so I'm assuming that in Egypt they weren't protesting against Islamist parties.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
You recall correctly.
The Islamists in Turkey aren't protesting against Islamism either.
Hope is the denial of reality
Nope, but they do seem pretty unhappy with Erdogan.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
And who are they going to vote for in a hypothetical election? Secular socialists? The rabid nationalists? The Kurds? They'll either still vote for the AKP or abstain. And I don't think there are enough of them to make a difference in the election.
Hope is the denial of reality
You seem to think Turkey is some sort of Arab country where people have no choice and thus will go with the winner. That is not the case. The reasons why Erdogan got around 50% of the vote at the last elections were that he had succeeded in pushing back the influence of the military (something most people wanted), managed to stimulate the economy (something most people valued), had raised Turkey's status in the region (very much admired by most people) and that he seemed to stand for a moderate conservative government with some islamist touches (something most people could live with). That, combined with the fact that the opposition was in disarray or unelectable gave him the support he had.
Where do we stand now ?
1. Pushing back the military
Many voters no longer percieve the military as a threath to democracy the way they used to.
2. Economy
The Turkish economy is a fairly typical bubble economy that has sustained a good deal of damage over the last few weeks. More damage will follow, and no matter how hard Erdogan tries to put the blame on others, the shine is gone from his economical miracle.
3. Turkish international positition
From the policies of 'zero problems' wandering through the Arab street, Turkey has now arrived at a point where it has even less influence in the middle east than before. With little hope of recovering.
4. Islamism
Not only is he more blatantly islamist than before, he is so in a very autocratic way. It may surprise you, but the vast majority don't want an autocrat to rule over the country.
Last time around the AKP still was the least bad option that people could vote for amongst the parties that could rule. This time it will be one of the worse options, and that will cost them the votes of people who voted for them for lack of better. Even CHP with its backward looking policies looks better today than it did 2 years ago. But many people will simply look for alternatives in the form of parties that didn't make it last time or through independent candidates.
Erdogan has painted himself and his party into a corner, they will still get a substantial percentage of the vote, but it will be significantly less than the 50% they got last time, and this time the opposition will have a common goal before and after the elections; keep Erdogan out of government and out of the presidential palace.
Congratulations America
Joking about what?
Cool, now they (AKP) really made things even more fun. Again extreme violence in Taksim by the police and the entire city up in arms.
Congratulations America
That's what I've been hearing, too. Are we sure he's not related to Assad?
Hope is the denial of reality
This is because of Rand. He's an infection in the body-politic. Are we sure he didn't take a vacation in Greece as well?
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
I shudder to think what will happen in Canada when they move there. Zombie apocalypse? Riots spilling across the border? I think we need a fence.
http://www.economist.com/news/europe...d-be-seriouslyPro-government titles are awash with stories of the roles played by Israel and the Jews. The problem, says an AK insider, “is that the prime minister believes this stuff...”
And more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/wo...pe/turkey.html
Last edited by Loki; 06-17-2013 at 05:56 AM.
Hope is the denial of reality
He's changing into a Turkish version of Chavez. Too bad for him the numbers don't add up; he's bleeding support on a scale that will reduce his party to a core vote of 35%. A force to reckon with, but an ocean away from the power he needs to shape the state as he sees fit. It would not suprise me if Istanbul would be lost for AKP next year.
Congratulations America
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22938860
And now he's threatening to use the army...
Hope is the denial of reality
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