Stop the country - I want to get off.

[JasonP]

We all have bad days!

He seems to have more than most.

Ban the Daily Mail and all its vile headlines for a start and things just might start to look up in this country.

Absolutely. Censor the press. That'll make the place better.

Jason

[chrisch]

He seems to have more than most.

...

Never get too much of a good thing

Chris

[Darren A]

Bastard Brown.

toffee nosed shit bag Cameron

Twat head Boris

Blair was an arsehole

The prick that has replaced him is no better.

What a shame you felt so keen to personalise things.

Sorry, couldn't resist :-} . For the record, I agree with Chris on these points. - yuk, I'm off to wash my mouth out with Swarfega

[mark g]

Are you rich or just stupid? The Tories reduce tax for the rich (fair enough rich person - your point is valid) at the expense of the rest of us. Get rid of red tape too. The kind of dumb arse legislation that stops banks lending money to no-hopers and then wrapping the debt up into a bond to sell to another twat that lands against the "asset". Wouldn't want that kind of thing - who knows where it might lead, even stupid rich people might lose money....

If only the pricks in government were any different.......

Wonderful thing the market economy.

Chris

actually chris i am not rich i just believe that working peeple should not have to pay tax to support a non productive layer of civil servants and folk that live on benefits thier whole life, i believe that benefit payments should reduce by a small amount each month to reduce the attraction of a life on benefits and thus reduce the tax burden on folks like myself,
earnings currently 12k per annum council tax 2k per annum so if you would like to believe i am rich also you are somewhat deluded
skint yes, but not rich and definitely not stupid enough to vote labour
ever.

[mark g]

What a shame you felt so keen to personalise things. The main reason we came back was for me to see more of my parents (my father having just had a heart attack and being in recovery and Chris gave me the option to return which f*cked up many of his personal plans). He was venting his spleen when he wrote his post because he had sat through vast quantities of sh*tty news, listened to the w*nkers going round the gyratory with their big pipes etc... etc... etc..... We all have bad days!

But in terms of the UK, his rant is mainly because he'd like to see it work, he'd like to see things improve for everyone. He gets ticked off with everyones laisez faire attitude. It seems so many people in the UK just want it to turn into America and take on all those wonderful American values that we know work so well (my best friend lives there, on her last visit she saw the similarities increase tenfold since her previous visit 5 years before - she was truly saddened and had no intention of returning).

Ban the Daily Mail and all its vile headlines for a start and things just might start to look up in this country.
Dizzy

all of us would like to see the uk run slightly better than it is but you two blame the condition of the whole country on the daily mail , if anything the entire media is at fault it really makes me chuckle to hear the likes of jeremy vine et all saying that house prices are dropping whilst you know the numpties are driving down the price of thier pad as well
fecking idiots
lefties are always after banning something lets try banning the murdoch group papers eh?

[mikecsmith]

Absolutely. Censor the press. That'll make the place better.

I hate any form of censorship and would like to think that I lived in a country which has free speech but in all seriousness - fcuk the Daily Mail. Hate mongering, sensationalising piece of tripe.

[ridge]

I think the Daily Mail headlines are actually quite accurate as up market tabloids go.

Among the up market tabloids, I would point the finger more at the Daily Express for serial exaduration and scaremongering.

I'm also interested that the Daily Mail comes in for this criticism, as I quite often see people from the left (including much loved members of my own family) tending to single it out, in my view quite mistakenly, perhaps as an extreme right bugle which clearly it isn't.

Is it just that it leans in that direction and is apparently successful, with a large circulation, so an easy target for "over" stereo typing (if there is such a thing) and demonizing?.

I don't think the press is either at the heart of the problem or the heart of the solution , although it is the frequently biased messenger.

Our energies on forums such as these might be better spent in productive discussion and argument on topic.

If we wish to benefit from a retro Great Britain environment we need to at least attempt to act the part, almost as though we are in our parents time. (anything to validate my silk stocking fetish)

I'm certainly not going to preach whats right and wrong (not on this thread !) , but here are a few litmus paper questions - in each of the following situations ask yourself as honestly and laterally as you can:

a) What would you do now?
b) What would your parents have done in a similar situation in their time?
c) How would other members of the community and police respond now ?
d) How would other members of the community andthe police have responded back in your parents time?
e) What do you perceive as the risks involved in a) to d):


1. A couple of 11-13 year old are kids swearing profusely using the F and the C word on the street as you are going shopping with your elderly and infant members of your family.

2. You see a young person drive up at speed, nearly knocking down an elderly person and park in a disabled parking space, they are clearly not disabled. There is no apparent emergency, the person gets out and enters the shop

3. You are standing in a queue at a takeaway restaurant and a middle aged person cuts in front of you apparently quite deliberately.

4. Your young 11 year old nephew is taking a trip down the park with you and while off playing suddenly he finds himself in amongst a couple of boys of his same age who are threatening some older boys and chasing them with a large knife.

5. Extend these same questions into other personal situations where either yourself or other people are suffering different forms of injustice whilst at home, at work, at leisure or whilst travelling.

Understanding that nothing is 100% in human behaviour, and there will always be notable exceptions as well, generally however:

Do you put your moral money where your mouth is?

Do you participate, implicate, or just abdicate and pontificate?

Well my son was seriously threatened, attacked and had his mountain bike robbed in Victoria Park, central Haywards Heath last year - in broad daylight - but I really don't think the same would happen in El Gouna.....all aboard the Egypt express, front four coaches for Abu Tig Marina.

And if you all think we're really in the shit more than others, you should feel lucky - follow this link

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060901-sewer-video.html


And if that doesn't make you feel better there's always the lithium..................yeah..................... .nurse.............


Ding Ding




“Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others.”
Groucho Marx

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."
Mario Andretti.

[ridge]

FACT: There is not complete freedom of speech in this country, and freedom in this context is either complete or it isn't freedom.

And this is rather important to your or anyones argument irrespective of whether we may agree or not

Oh and if you are going to rant or bully as so many people seem sadly to do on this site, perhaps do it less like an online British football hooligan abroad, and try a sense of humour, then although I completely disagree with you, I might even be moved to make a contribution to your worthy charitable cause

Peace and Love you miserable bastards..................nurse they're picking on me again........


Ding Ding

[mikecsmith]

I think the Daily Mail headlines are actually quite accurate as up market tabloids go.

Among the up market tabloids, I would point the finger more at the Daily Express for serial exaduration and scaremongering.

I'm also interested that the Daily Mail comes in for this criticism, as I quite often see people from the left (including much loved members of my own family) tending to single it out, in my view quite mistakenly, perhaps as an extreme right bugle which clearly it isn't.

Is it just that it leans in that direction and is apparently successful, with a large circulation, so an easy target for "over" stereo typing (if there is such a thing) and demonizing?.

You're right, my hatred of the Daily Mail is irrational and I will admit to having seen more headlines in the Daily Express which have made me mad of late - the Daily Mail is an easy catch all for the umbrella of tabloid papers which express similar views, it's an easy target and it's the people reading it (and its cohorts), who go about expressing some of their more extreme views as if they're gospel, which make me cross.

I'm a 22 year old student who reads the Guardian and sometimes the Independant - I tend to lean towards the left in my political views but not always and I have a pretty irrational dislike for the Tories which I'll freely admit too.

I don't have many qualms with the labour government (although they are having a few issues right now - no denying that) because as far as I'm concerned my standard of living has improved year on year since I can remember. I come from a very working class background but I've still managed to spend time travelling and working in SE Asia and go to Uni.

I spent 18 months living in China and whilst I had a brilliant time out there and would go back in a second, I lived in a world pretty much reserved for expats. If I'd been a member of the general population in the PRC with the same civil liberties, access to medical care, access to education and government as them I'd have a hell of a lot more reasons to moan than I do right now.

Things may be a little bleak at the moment but its all swings and roundabouts - the bubble had to burst and the past 10 years have been pretty good, from my point of view anyway, hopefully it won't be too catastrophic when it finally goes - but we're still a hell of a lot better off than most.

Now I've spent the vast majority of this post being rational - I'd just like to add that the Tories are all a bunch of lying w4nkers and I really hope they don't get into power at the next general election.

Mike

[mikecsmith]

Can I also add I particularly liked that poem by Rudyard Kipling you posted - and I'm normally not a fan of poetry.

As to your freedom of speech point, I fully agree with you, we don't have it. I think that's a problem and the large amount of acts passed in the recent past which curtail civil freedoms are also a massive problem - the current government needs to bear a large portion of the blame for them as they're the architects but they certainly weren't the only ones to vote in favour of them.