Rayvin

Indeed. I recall reading a truly surprising comment on the Guardian from someone who identified as a paedophile, but had never acted on it and understood that it was wrong to do so. This individual also talked of their despair at how society closed doors on people like him at every turn, making it very difficult to get help or assistance, psychologically. Then again, I remain amazed that anyone would even make that confession, even anonymously, on a public forum - so maybe society isn't as closed off to them as it once was. As adios says, I think we're on the cusp of discovering just how prevalent a mindset it is.

Oh really? I thought it was the latter. Fair enough - still though, it's a far more widespread issue than it should be.

I wondered about that point too but then I struggled to think why there would be multiple phone calls on the same claim... fully appreciate I could be missing something though.

I think it's an area that could do with more study altogether given that the research seems to suggest that there might be a genetic component to being predispositioned to sexual urges in this sense - If this is true it would explain its prevalence I suppose; I think Germany has a voluntary chemical castration process for people this way inclined - and while that's uncomfortable for us to think about, I'd far rather these people were open about their urges and able to get help for it than the risk of leaving them to their own devices. That said, I'm struggling to believe that the issue for a lot of the perpetrators here isn't just that they're opportunistic and depraved. I guess it's worth keeping in mind though that, especially in this case, the perpetrators likely had many victims - which makes the problem look more severe (in terms of the number of perpetrators - clearly it remains severe in terms of the number of victims) than it actually is.

28/35. As with everyone else, some obvious ones missed as well.

860 (presumably) footballers have contacted them over the past few days. That's a fucking mental number. What on earth has been going on?? It's starting to look like this is an endemic problem in British organisations of days (not so long ago) gone by - football, the BBC, the fucking government - seriously, what the fuck?

I wouldn't be overly surprised if the rich outlived us all. Full on conspiracy mode, they could get robots into the workforce to cover 99% of jobs carried out by people around the world, and then look for a global cataclysmic event (water shortage, food shortages, etc) to wipe out those of us who are no longer needed. Subsequently they can restore balance to the world using their robot slaves, ensuring a high quality of life for themselves. That's what I'd do, anyway

I agree with this. Part of the reason it's so difficult to come to a unified perspective on these matters is that there are so many forces with competing narratives at play. I actually don't really understand why the authoritarian left (I heard these people labelled as the Ctrl-Left as opposed to the Alt-Right which I think is fantastic and will now start using) is so wedded to Islam. It's a regressive, right wing ideology. It's a million miles away from their position on most other factors. I've no problem with giving Muslims or even extremists a fair hearing to understand their motivations, but the Ctrl-Left's dedication to the cause on that front is beyond concerning and at best just muddies the water.

Ah yeah Maybe Trump is considering that he's unlikely to make the same mistake twice.

The only remaining argument in favour of our species IMO is that we tend to do well under pressure. When the shit hits the fan, we'll respond effectively - we're just going to be oblivious until that point. And obviously, it's a high stakes game.

What was he in for again? I remember him having affairs but not anything criminal.

The loss of the great barrier reef should be something of intense sadness for most people but it'll just be shrugged off as everyone decides either that someone else will do something about it or that actually, they can tolerate looking the other way. We're too stupid and lazy as a species to handle this issue.

Don't do it to yourself man..

Why did you tell them you'd dropped it..?

I love it when they talk apologetically to me Tbf, by current government censorship standards, I'm definitely a deviant. For normal people, probably not.

Will be interesting to see what effect that has on May...

:lol: Um, why?!

Wait, so is it Katie Hopkins or someone else?

Remarkable to see the gloves come off in the PC stakes at the moment mind you. I think I always had this impression that not saying things like that was legally enforced; very much does seem to be a social thing though. I can see why people think it's liberating to shake it off, but can also see why BAME people are concerned!

Holy fucking wow. Edit - wait, is that a parody?

Fucking hell Glad I missed the 80s...

I wonder which way he voted in the referendum. I notice Abi Wilkinson getting a barb in there though. She penned an article in the Guardian about the suffering caused by the laughing emoji with tears that is used on Twitter. I mention that because it disqualifies her from having an opinion on anything else whatsoever.

This guy sounds like a monumental fuckwit. So much so that I'm a bit surprised that this sort of thing hasn't happened to him previously.

I'm shrugging off quite a lot of the whole Trump presidency given that I feel that this was an unavoidable end point, albeit an undesirable one. These things don't just happen and the established order set the scene for it. Like the effects of climate change, I'd say the whole thing was unavoidable with the mindset that has dominated Western thinking for the past few decades. However, I do think that it will shake more people into thinking that actually, we need better solutions. I think Trump might be the great evil that unites the lower and middle classes around a common cause again, if the left can get its game face on and drop the divisive rhetoric. EDIT - along with Brexit here, hopefully.