The more I see of it the more I think she was well aware of what she was doing. That being the case 8 months is extraordinarily lenient.

Demonstrates the Fraillty of the jury system. Defo would go for citzenship as a qualification for voting/breeding/serving on a jury etc, i.e a demonstrated ability at basic concepts like reading, writing, comprehension etc before being allowed too much freedom.

I have absolutely no idea what that statement means.

I think this says more about you than it does about the actual statement. Could I suggest the following might be a useful addition to your book shelf?

Incidentally could I just add for the sake of the hard of thinking that IMHO suggesting that the North East is racist is about the same as saying all [pick your own minority] are lazy/steal/smell etc etc . Any comments I’ve made are general and not intended to be specific to that region.

Yes binners, we see your point. For those who experience racism, your trivialisation of it isn’t anywhere near as funny as you think it is.

binners please tell me you’re not attempting humour…. I’d accept self medication, or something like my mum smoked when she was pregnant as a reasonable, but not humour FFS !….

Binners you never fail to amaze me….

To quote a wiser man than me:

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Sir Winston Churchill

..and that is the point, not the imminent rise of the Fourth Reich in Gateshead. The point being that it is best and easiest challenged when weakest. Sorry if they didn’t teach you sufficient logic at Art school.

Can you point me in the direction of any resources that support this???

Yes, can you point to any that don’t?

Are you familar with the growth of facism in the 20th century? In the main it came about in drinking establishments with a rise to aggressive and intimidatory behaviour from what might be called passive or non violent “Gobbing off in a pub”, which was at the time treated as probably “no more than bluster”.

Regretably, the view taken at the time with some justification was to leave it be as “challenging it has the potential to cause more agro”.

They weren’t wrong, by the time the main, working class, protagnist was the same age as your 50-odd year old working class Geordie, he’d started World War 2 and upwards of 40 million people lost their lives as a result.

Since then in this world, we’ve continued to experience a series of racially aggreivated wars and ethnic cleansing activities continuing right to this day.

So run it past me again, why precisely should any of us tolerate this sort of gobbing off and allow it to go unchallenged??

So binners and shibboleth, tell me at what point you would think it appropriate to challenge racist behaviour, and why you would chose that moment. I’m really interested to hear your views.

isn’t the worst thing in the world

Maybe not, but the reality is that it is an insidious process which starts with small issues and eventually ends up in things like ethnic cleansing. Its much easier to challenge it when its not “the worst thing in the world”, and before its escalated into what potentially is the worst thing in the world. Similar really to the dog name thread. thats also not the worst thing in the world, but denial leads to the errors of history getting repeated through ignorance IMHO

I managed a business a few years back where the Chairman of the group actually told me not to employ any Asian staff as it would upset the workforce. At the time I was really shocked and seriously considered jacking the job in over it. I spoke to my older brother about it, on the basis that he had a good deal of experience in the field of race relations, and was a bit taken aback to get lambasted about my soft liberal attitudes. Basically telling me to get a grip and that the only way to sort it out was from within, so take the opportunity and do something about it.
So that’s what I did, and went off and simply recruited whoever I felt best for the job. Shockingly the first person I employed was an Asian lady.
Sure enough, some gorilla from the shop floor came to me saying that he and the lads weren’t prepared to work with her. I responded by telling him that I was very sorry to hear that, but in the circumstances I had not choice but to accept their collective resignations. Strangely I never heard another word on the subject from either the shop floor or for that matter further up the ladder.

I’ve also had a similar experience with a riding buddy who was prone to racism. Simple solution being that I choose not to ride with him, and when asked why I will tell him.

I don’t think there is any need to lead the charge of the Light Brigade, but I do think you need to get a grip of the reality, i.e. do you want to be complicit in racism. The fact is currently you are.

Singlespeed with appropriate tyres for the mud if its wet. No question. I’ve never seen so many mechs ripped off in one place at one time before, the bike shops did a roaring trade on bearings and pivots afterwards, so winter bitch it is if you’ve got any sense. Take a length of rope so when the bike wash is overwhelmed you can throw yer bike in the lake to get the worst off it before your next lap.

Make sure your backup regime is solid too. You really don’t want to be cold, wet, muddy and without hot food etc etc

Drac – Moderator

perhaps a bit like denying the holocaust?

Yes changing the dog’s name is exactly like that.

Hoy mod, go boil yer head will yer? Airbrushing history thats inconvenient to your belief system is exactly what we are talking about here. If you care to read up on the growth of anti semitism in Nazi Germany you will find it started with very small untruths, nurtured over time, so yes exactly like this. You may care to read up on the work of Leni Riefenstahl in this context.

My daughter bought me a DVD of the original for fathers day a while back…. thought she was going to pass out when the name first came up…Very funny in retrospect

but bit of a strange one really, is it rewriting history and surpressing the truth to change it, perhaps a bit like denying the holocaust? Or is it simply sensitive to changes in society?

Personally I’m a bit uncertain about it.

Been there done that and am in possession of a rather fine tee shirt.

From my experience..

1) Treatment will vary hugely according to how switched on your GP is. If you haven’t got anywhere first time go back and if at all possible see someone else. Took me 3 visits before I found one who took me seriously.
2) It can be sorted, but there are no magic bullets. My personal experience is that a combination of drugs and talking therapies have made a huge difference, but it takes time. so beware any physician who says “take these and you’ll be fine”
3) It is an ailment with causes which are as physical as heart disease or toothache. It is most definately not a sign of weakness or anything like that.
4) Be open and honest about it when you feel confident enough. You will be amazed by how many people are in the same boat.
5) Keep the exercise going. It won’t cure you on its own, but it definately makes you feel better.
6) Don’t continue to suffer in silence

Hope that helps

You seem to fail to grasp the concept of how a city works

…..and you seem to miss the concept of irony/pish being ripped 😉

most of those in the third world apparently

Most of the supply infrastructure needs to be close to where people live.

Is that why they build nuclear power staions in the middle of nowhere?

Anyway that wasn’t my point, my point is rather more selfish thatn that. This country needs to be successful into the foreseeable future, otherwise we won’t be able to pay for the frigging infrastructure wherever it is! So how does that happen?

We educate properly and to the highest possible standards. Thats why its as important and in reality much more so than water supply systems, electricity or pretty much anything else in long term……. unless of course you aren’t worried about things like turning the place into a third world economy, the value of your pension, etc etc you know little things like that!

Isn’t the point here the fact that we need our teachers to be highly qualified, competent and well motivated people. They are after all whats shaping the future for us all whether we like it or not.

Surely cutting their pay by 50% is devaluing is demotivating, let alone the constant buggering about that goes on with the curriculum every time you get a new half wit like Gove in.

………… bugger 😳

Serioulsy go and try it and see how easy it is.

You’re never a teacher…surely

“All those present who aren’t taking the piss take one pace forward”

“Hey **** where do you think you’re going”

Gets em everytime

Oh….. 😳

1 – 0 to the God botherers IMHO…… and that really pisses me off.

Glass half full kind of a guy IMHO. Top bloke

140 miles single speed while a bit pissed.

Last years Dunwich Dynamo I got grounded by the fun police due to a family BBQ. About 9:30ish everyone had gone home, so a cunning plan formed up in my beer addled brain in the way that strange things make sense when you are a bit bevied up. That was to ride from my gaff to Sudbury to meet the lads at halfway. Suffered a puncture enroute and while fixing it the lads whistled past unbeknown to me (as they were unexpectedly leading the pack). Carried on to Sudbury and a bit beyond, eventually realised I’d missed them so turned round and rode to Dunwich, then the lack of planning started to kick in when I realised that I’d got to get home too, so then rode back to the far side of Ipswich.

Can’t claim it as non stop, as I stopped and waited at Sudders, then called in at Puddledodgers place at Hemingstone for bacon, and frankly had a few moments considering the widsom of my decison making sitting on barrier on the A12 somewhere between Dunwich and Ipswich….but thats furthest to date, and its not recommended.

Simon Cowell is a slick sophisticated money maker shocker!

Who would have thought it? And guess what? His tawdry little empire has managed to get us all talking up his business for him yet again. Same old same old, (to be fair multi layered and quite skillful) manipulation of the media by a media mogul.

Blimey whatever next?

Presumably yet another case of selfish dog owners with the “Oh hes only playing with you”/”he won’t hurt you”/”hes just soft and cuddly and wouldn’t hurt a fly” attitude to their dog crapping/slobbering/biting/leaving ticks,fleas,shit all over the place as if that resolves them from their responsibility for complying with the law or others wishes.

Ring your insurer and ask the question. If they so no tell your company that you can’t use your own car as you are not insured for business use. Unless you ride/walk to work extend your cover to include commute.

God forbide something horrendous happens and you end up in a multi million pound litigation but if you do they will find out what you were doing, and they will whinge on the deal if there is a way out!

This is what I meant when I said

i.e. you have to get thick twunts to elect you.

ALL of the evidence strongly indicates that current practice doesn’t work. ALL of the evidence indicates that prohibition has the reverse effect to that which is required, yet you’ll still get people getting right up on their high chairs trying to defend the indefensible.

heuer27: I live in Ipswich where the prostitutes, (all victims of drugs) were murdered. Nowadays the Police and local authority will claim they have solved the problems that led to that. Have they? Have they bollocks..all they’ve done is successfully swept it under the carpet. So now instead of having prozzies openly plying their trade in and around Portman Road they advertise “services” in the local paper. So please show me your proof of successfuly winning the war on some drugs, when you do I’ll show you a similar bag of hot air.

Sorry, can’t see the point in your comparison. How can it be blatantly wrong?

Try a little harder ? 🙄

Myth alert: the world series is NOT so named because the original sponsor was the New York World

sorted …… now then about us winning stuff what else can we make up? Cheese rolling, Dwile flonking……that’ll show the podgy arrogant Swiss bastard!

Relaxing the licensing laws was mean to turn us into a country of red wine drinking open air cafe loungers like the French (or Portuguese?). We just seem to be putting more people into A&E on a weekend instead.

British drinking culture is the result of the best part of 100 years of uber tight licensing laws. Blaming the current situation on the very recent relaxing of those laws is a bit like blaming a new born child for its parents behaviour. Blatantly wrong.

Do an America and have our own world championships with just us in it…then we might win! We could start our own sports and everything….. 😯 … Oh yeah we already did that didn’t we 😕

I know its not what you meant, but the onsale in Tescos argument is the one that blows me away. The Daily mail brigade always assume that this will be the outcome, whilst completely missing the point that its already generally easier to get hold of than buying booze in Tescos,(at least they check your age).

This is a total no brainer, and in one go also explains the fundamental flaw in democracy. i.e. you have to get thick twunts to elect you.

Prohibition didn’t work in 1920’s America, achieving the exact opposite of the expected outcome. You will never get a bigger and more obvious negative proof in respect of a policy than that. Illeagl drugs are no different. The only caveat I’d do differently to how alcohol is treated would be to prohibit all bar the most basic forms of advertising and all promotional activity.

I’d think you’d done the Sustrans route 🙄

Actually 36 seconds is quite a long time. In my experience this sort of work would have entailed a sack coming down a chute onto the shoulders. At which point the labourer would have walked across a loading bank and onto the bed of the vehicle being loaded, dropped the sack and than walked back for the next one, say a total distance of between 4 and 10 metres at the very most or a top end average of 7 metres covered (all dependant on how the load was progressing). I’m pretty sure you can easily cover that distance in 18 seconds, and cover it in a very leasurely fashion in 36. So I’m not sure that the 130 tonnes figure is so unapproachable. It was definately the case that there was a real chance of injury through working like this and personally I’m very glad its gone in this country at least.

For example fraud stops you being an accountant or a compaany director

you obviously don’t know the ones I know!

Its the whole issue with the class system. It all relys on the concept that the hereditary lot and those at the pinnicle are in some way special. The validity of the whole system collapses when it becomes self evident that they are not.

Personally I think to err is Human, so to pretend to be infallible should therefore automatically disqualify you from high office. So in a roundabout sort of way I’m getting to the point where I think our top people should really just be treated like everyone else, otherwise its perpetuating the myth.

I think Jeffrey Archer is a very good example of British nobility and suits his peerage very well.

Surely that should be nobility with a “k”?