Packet of dry roasted peanuts and a pint of fosters.

There will be a UK house price crash, starting in London.
And like Brexit, it will be magnificent.

Sounds like you kept your calm quite well. I once chased a bloke in his car on my bike after he called me a dickhead for no reason, I was planning on smashing his car window with my bikelock. Now Im rather glad he drove off quickly.

Staying in.
I don’t think the singletrack forum is renowned for it’s love of nightlife.

I’ve noticed a few 27.5 bikes heavily discounted in the sales.

A revolution where I can finally use my pitchfork

Very stylish hammer.
If I’m ever murdered, I want that to be the weapon.

All being well job-wise:
– trips to Prague and Budapest
– new mtb and rediscovering my mojo
– getting a czech gf with big jugs

Take some skills courses or do less extreme rides, but don’t give up, oohh, don’t give up.

@Merak normally it would be best part of £5k but I’ve thrown in the bike so the restoration job is £2.5k. The bike cost me £1k.

The motorbike is a restored Yamaha 250 from the early 80s. Company is called Mokka and based in Budapest. I’m getting a different exhaust put on it mind…

Although I have to wait 2 months for the build…

The woman on the radio from the organisation responsible for this report is called Penny.
Rest my case, M’lord.

The key to social drinking is to only drink with people who themselves drink sensibly.
I used to hang out with some binge drinkers and accordingly I started binge drinking too (without really noticing it). One has cut down due to health reasons, the other has stopped completely after his mrs threatened to leave him, so now I hang out with a couple of old geezers once a week, who stick to 3 pints per session and I’m starting to do the same thing…my issue like a lot of people is I then start to relax and sometimes I go off to another pub and it ends up as a session. I also like being in pubs.
Alcohol – a cheap form of transcendence.

Isn’t his part time job the whole problem?

Most of the dealers I knew at uni were supported by their parents. There’s also a book, Freakanomics, which demonstrates that most dealers live at home with their parents.

So unless this guy is the next Pablo Escobar (plus not getting high on his own supply), I’d bet his little enterprise is being subsidised.

Physio to help rebuild my knee and hopefully get back on the mtb in 2017, along with better time management and less time down the boozer.

I think the big factor is you are financially supporting him, and therefore basically paying for his drugs. A living allowance? That’s really generous and I didn’t know too many people who had that at uni unless they were fairly well off. If you cut him off financially he might have to get a part-time job and that’s the main thing which stops hedonistic lifestyles – look at the rockstars who die due to drugs, basically because they can afford to.

@squirrilking, I see you are based in Scotland. Now there’s a surprise.
Anyhow, its clear this chat is getting rather nasty, so I’m off, I’m sure if we we’re chatting in the pub, this conversation wouldn’t end up getting so bitter.
Have a good evening all.

If I had some kind of obsession which requires me to blame everything on the PC brigade, I probably wouldn’t bother checking what’s being reported though.

Very well put, I have to say. I’ve already booked myself into therapy. Hopefully I will be reprogrammed to blame all the world’s ills on the English.

@squirrelking, how exactly do you “close ranks” when the police are firing tear gas at you, and Russians are picking you off?

You’ve simply cast those who “retaliated” as villains, I’ve noticed you haven’t said anything about Russian culpability either.

The Russians also attacked Welsh fans in Moscow a few years ago in their hotels.

England has historically had problems with hooliganism, but the main hooligans arent there, and it was basically a bunch of drunk england fans retaliating after being attacked. The vulgar songs are vulgar, the drinking is excessive, and people like your good self I daresay get a self-esteem boost from telling your friends how ghastly they anyone in an England shirt is.

My main point remains: the English fans were for the most part victims, and the media refuses to accept this as it goes against the politically correct narrative that white english men are basically the scum of the earth.

It comes down to ease of doing violence.
Most lone gun attacks would not take place unless there was easy access to guns (esp high powered ones).
The perpetrators wouldn’t have the know how to make a bomb, for example, or would probably blow themselves up trying to make it.
It is quite difficult to do, but walking into a gun shop, paying your money, doing some practice in the woods, and you are ready to commit mass murder.

The only long term answer is gun control. The old argument, that it is the last protection against the government taking all your liberties, doesn’t work anymore, as the sophistication of modern weaponry means Mr Government can vaporize your town in a blink of an eye.

@Squirrelking, I suppose the question then is, what should they have done?
I think the English fans throwing bottles at the police were not victims.

But there were lots of England fans amid them who were victims, who were picked on, and that’s what I’ve tried to point out. It seems to me you simply think anyone in an England shirt is a hooligan and deserves what they get.

This is the PC line to take – always blame the English, and frankly, it’s boring as it is inaccurate. Infact, it arguably makes the England fans more of a target, as the attackers know they can blame it on the English.

For the record, I can’t stand football, and you’d have to pay me to attend a tournament. I’m more bothered by the way in which the mainstream media always go immediately for the anti-English angle. How we ended up with such levels of self-hatred is beyond me.

Reports now that at least 50 are dead and this is the biggest mass shooting in the US in modern history.

Does it matter that it was some religion-inspired loony or just some run-of-the mill nut-job, but that both have the access to the means?

I’ll be crucified for this, but I think it does matter. A recent poll of British Muslims showed that 80 percent strongly disapproved of homosexuality. Now that is not the same thing as committing violence against people, but it makes me understand why many gay people are against further migration from Islamic countries.

Any more detail on the shooter(s)?

Apparently he was a radicalised Muslim, who it seems did not approve of homosexuality.

Source

And as Pilate said, what I have written, I have written.

My mistake – it was reportedly a man not a woman.

Reflecting on how targeted the England fans are, I think it will be for the best if England fail to get out of their group. I imagine a number of people with plans to travel have now cancelled their plans.
Reports now that a woman in a wheelchair was attacked by Russian fans. But then again, she is English, so I daresay was asking for it.

Didn’t realise that Wales and Northern Ireland fans were involved. Shocking.

The Welsh fans will end up being attacked just like the English fans were when they play Russia. Then I think the anti-English hostility on this forum might start to change somewhat.

@Edukator, I’m not sure your average French police officer would agree.
Football tournaments are far more difficult to manage security-wise than the Olympics due to the hooligan element, which seems particularly organised this year, and heightened due to the rise of nationalism in Europe.

What I can’t fathom however is what goes through the heads of cabinet ministers sat around the table who sanction an application to host a championships. Surely it’s a headache no one sane would volunteer for.

I couldn’t agree more. This tournament is the last thing France needs given the ongoing security situation.

Professional sport has grown into a monster, the amount of money on the table is ridiculous and with that comes huge corruption.

I have no sympathy for anyone who chooses to retaliate to either the provocateur’s or police

What you call retaliate, others might consider self-defence.

This is what we know: some of the English fans, as usual, began drinking too heavily in the centre of town. They were then systematically targeted by well organised Russian and French gangs. Yet you still seem to refuse to concede that this makes them victims, when all the first-hand reports we have suggest otherwise. A man had his head repeatedly stamped on! Sorry chap, but your English, therefore it’s your fault!

I think it says more about your prejudices than the actual situation.

@squirrelking It depends how you define victim. I would define someone who has his head stamped on repeatedly a victim. I would define the England supporters who were rushed by a group of Russians in the stadium at the end victims too.

I expect however that you consider all England football fans to be the opposite of your enlightened self, and therefore undeserving of the title of victim in any circumstances.

In terms of punishment, I’m afraid it is not an equal playing field.
In the UK, you will get a prison sentence, even for a minor act of hooliganism.
In Russia, you will get a medal.

The proper English hooligans are either inside or busy making Football factory documentaries!

But you can’t say this hasn’t been expected. There have been a number of attacks on innocent English club team supporters in the last four years on the continent.

I’m just amazed at how much of the media are calling the England fans hooligans, when clearly they are the victims this time around.

In this case, the English fans have been ambused, time and again, by organised and hardened Russians (in fairly small numbers).
The blame lies with the Russians, not the English.
You could even argue that the bans on English hooligans has meant the England fans who are there are easy pickings for the Russians.

Hopefully we can get another one, put this game to bed, and get on with the serious business, rucking.

Have a meal, a big coffee, some water…don’t fall asleep!

If you marry someone you don’t like in the first place, you need your head tested surely.
The issue with “marrying your best friend” is that friends can also start disliking one another over time. People change or reveal different aspects to their personality over time.

This goes for more than marriage, but if you accept that life is basically suffering/shit, and don’t fight against it, you end up more content in work, relationships, and everything else.
Plus 1 for low expectations 8)

Separate beds.