silverfox

The Greatest Ever Race......? The Tortoise and the Hare

Handing over a nice crisp ?20 to buy some drinks in a pub and receiving a torn, dirty, limp note back with your change. When you refuse to accept it the bar person sulks and puts it back on top for the next customer. Put it on the bottom of the notes and get rid of it at the bank for God's sake

I can't imagine the Irish set dancing crowd and others generated enough money to cover the operating and maintence costs. I suspect the former Father John kept it going as a pet project. That place could be a gold mine given it's position and size.

Interesting points. The security isn't just the military protecting people from terrorist threats though. There's also security protecting the Olympic brand and the sponsors' hefty financial support. Woe betide the small cafe that arranges five onion rings on your steak into the Olympic logo pattern and tries to sell you an Olympic special platter. The brand police will be storming the cafe faster than you can say KGB.

Know what you mean Carter. If you flew to the moon and lit up on the Sea of Tranquility within seconds you'd have people like these feigning death rattles. Why don't they just walk around in bio-hazard protective suits and be done with it?

Isn't this all getting a bit silly? A warship, no-fly zone with jets ready to be scrambled, missiles on council flats. In short the biggest security operation since the Second World War. Why don't they just ban spectators altogether and make everybody watch it on telly? Personally I think this puts Britain in a bad light and gives the impression we live under military law.

John Terry not guilty.

"...Of course I provide them with a moral framework and guidance, the point is i present it as what I think best, but if I get it wrong, and god knows I'm only human, I'm willing to roll with it. In fact I'll be delighted if they can argue me into changing, it's called interaction..." Of course you do El Pibe, indoctrination was the wrong word. So do religious parents present it as they think best and they may well get it wrong, especially if too strict or fanatical. To get back on topic, the judgement appears to have been made on the basis of physical harm or even mutilation. However, this particular religious ritual has been unquestioned, or a least tolerated, for millennia. So, to come back to my earlier point where will this interference in the rituals or practices of religious or other value systems stop. What about emotional or psychological harm? For example, are vegetarian parents who deny their children meat denying them a basic right to enjoy a juicy steak and also hindering their social and career development when they come to dine out with friends/business contacts at top restaurants?

Posted by El Pibe Today, 01:44PM "It's unavoidable that all parents indoctrinate their children, whatever the value system." Actually that's utter bollox. Indoctrianation is instilling unquestioning acceptance of beliefs... Surely vegetarianism does this? - 'meat is murder' 'eat less meat and save the planet'

"...ha - from most interviews I read and saw those kids came from very religious families - "I didn't bring him up this way" "he comes to church with me" etc etc ..." Even if that were true, which I doubt, you only have to do a simple analysis of the shops that were looted to see the real influences on their life - bars, tobacconists, shops selling trainers and mobile phones etc. I didn't see any Job centres damaged and looted. Advertising values rule ok.

Omission, in the sense of failing to provide guidance, can be equally damaging. If parents do their utmost to avoid providing a moral framework until the child is old enough to decide themselves lest they indoctrinate their children, the children will only absorb values from elsewhere, television, advertising, Facebook 'friends' etc. We saw the results of that with feral children rioting and looting last summer.

It's unavoidable that all parents indoctrinate their children, whatever the value system. However, if you're going to start interfering in the rituals or practices of particular religions/value systems on the basis of human rights where will it stop? Will vegetarians/hindus be required to serve their children meat dishes as to deny them is unjust?

Will you sell those helmets with horns?

Good question. Could it be the ruskies or the Chinese testing their cyber war capability. Or could it be the British secret service testing their systems before the Olympics in case there's a cyber attack during the games? Something appears to be going on that would question whether it is a mere coincidence. I've still got my suspicions that more was known about the 7/7 terrorist attacks before hand, as the day before I was out of the office and couldn't contact base as the Vodaphone network went down for two or three hours. could the security services have been testing what was about to happen the following day or was it just a coincidence?

You could always the remove the dog's teeth and give them doggy dentures. Might save the life of the dog and save many a child a facial mauling.

Afternoon tea at Le Chandelier, with cucumber sandwiches cut into triangles and the crusts removed. Hope it's not crowded.

My first is in salon de th? but not in caf? My second is in tisane but not in rosy lee My third is in gateaux but not in cakes My last is in gag but not in feedback Who am I?

Such lightfittings can get dusty over time affecting the luminosity. As any proud housewife will tell you, the solution is rolling your sleeves up and giving the said lightfitting and all those crystal baubles a good spring clean. The sparkle is soon restored.

The business in question does make an illuminating point however: how does a business, especially a small business, respond to the rise of social media? Twitter, Facebook and online forums allow for instant feedback, positive and negative. In the negative sense the post/tweet has often been sent in haste and anger and would have been better advised not to have been sent immediately, but after calm reflection. Many businesses now have social media units which, while good for job creation and beneficial as an additional route to receive and process new orders, it can also be a strain on the resources of small businesses with employees monitoring comments about the business rather than serving tea and cakes for example. The ability for a customer can complain about an issue and within a few minutes share his or her complaint with several others who then decide to withdraw future custom from that business, often without the benefit of the full facts, is a worry for any business. HOWEVER, this is the modern world. It is up to a business to improve its PR and find ways to deal with this. A company cannot silence free speech. If it feels it has been libelled there are remedies under Civil Law. I doubt the request published in full by Admin has any legal standing. It would be a bit like saying disgruntled customers cannot complain to BBC's Watchdog or Rogue Traders. On the other hand I understand that the forum does not wish to become embroiled in possible legal litigation and being held liable for 'repeating the lie' as libel laws would have it. If the EDF needs to start a 'Goldenballs' type fund, count me in for a contribution.

Ear plugs may be cheaper

Beggars, lawyers, bankers, estate agents and Euro MPs for starters

Time to bring back stocks and lock these pests up (Goose green roundabout would be a good place).

That's nothing. I bought a colander from the DKH store - liquids run right through it!

I agree. What you say is quite sensible. The G20 meeting is showing the strains. The Brics are asking why should they pump billions into the IMF to help out European countries that enjoy a better standard of living than their own people?

This is what I make of it: He was being defensive because the rest of the world are giving him and his cronies a kick up the ass and telling them to get it sorted as they are endangering the world economy.