NJS

Typical of the man but true at the same time.

Far too much red and white in those photos.

Keane will fucking love spoiling it - had a feeling it might turn out that way.

I agree it has to be a voluntary "corruption" as I referred to it and I think the driving force is a natural desire of all humans to be "free" from the shackles which repressive regimes whether religious or not impose. At a base level I think religion's classic mistake throughout history has been sexual repression rather than any other kind and I think that will be its "downfall" in the Muslim world. Of course some aspects of this in the western world could be argued to have gone too far but I think a middle ground is the way forward. I think this also applies to Catholic third world countries just as much as Islamic ones.

What industry do you work in? If you don't mind me asking. Banking - I work in IT for the London branch of a German Landesbank (regional state bank). The bank asked its shareholders for a capital injection to cover toxic losses and a condition of that was an EU backed restructuring.

Confirmed today that our branch is going from 129 > 65 staff by the end of 2012 but mostly through wastage - one lad on our team left today so no great pressure but only "guaranteed" a job until the end of the year but should be okay beyond that. There's the option of voluntary redundancy but it has to have a business case as well. They really fucked things up in head office in Stuttgart by announcing stupidly generous packages which loads applied for only to find out there was no chance for most of them so they had to go back to the drawing board.

Can I just verify that shagging pensioners is a no no? Out for a birthday with a lad from work last week and he was telling me how when his brother turned 32 he vowed to shag a 16 year old and a 64 year old in the same week to celebrate - and supposedly succeeded.

Brought back from the edge of lunacy by that clause.

Suggestions I've read this week are that he was either from Palestine or Asia Minor but this was before the Turks as such arivved from an ethnic pov.

I agree with a lot of what you say but the problem as I see it is that English patriotism is almost defined by the "upper class" stuff you mention which I tend to dislike rather than a pride in a shared sense of community I would be happy to embrace.

I don't mind if people want to celebrate or have an excuse to get pissed but I'm sick of this victim myth that nobody can do it. Patrick's day is generally a marketing ploy by Guinness in this country which people have embraced and there would be nothing to stop anyone doing the same for this day. I was just talking to a lad last week how overall the English have been the biggest cunts in human history and my reaction to that falls somewhere between pride and shame depending on the subject/mood but I have no real objection to any celebration of this kind.

Despite my view about toddlers I think caning 6 years olds is wrong but then again I think corporal punishment if any should be only available to parents. The bloke didn't deserve the payback but his remarks about christianity and the creepy way he sounds proud of his stance loses him some sympathy with me. My experience of Catholic school was I think a little fortunate in that it was towards the end of corporal punishment being seen as "okay" but looking back the teachers who did relish using the cane and the strap definitely had something wrong with them imo - and that's not speaking as any kind of regular victim with a grudge.

I've said before that I see the best hope for Muslims in the west at least is for them to be "corrupted" by more modern values - I honestly don't know if the same process can work in Islamic countries. Having said that I was in Morocco just over 3 years ago and though I could see a lot of the traditional culture, it was apparent in the big towns that the youth at least were embracing Westernism to some degree.

As I've said before I'm anti-war and the biggest war-mongers aren't Muslims.

"Members of the human race" - "this applies to other alliances and religinos just as much as Islam" They are hijacking planes full of people and flying them into building where decent people are working for a living. They blowing up trains full of people going to work. They are fighting a crusade, not a war like men in the open but hiding like cowards with a capital C. There's no shaking hands and living together with these scumbags they want us on prayer mats 5 times a day or dead. Excuses excuses excuses. Wise up man. And the Americans are bombing the shit out of people and torturing them around the world. Lots of them want us praying or dead.

Great photos but the comments are a fuckwit's paradise:

I've said many times that I see the main problem with religions is the gang forming side of it - which I accept is a very human trait. On the one hand I don't see why an Indonesian should ally himself with a Syrian just because they notionally believe in the same God but on the other a sense of universal brotherhood works as a concept for me but it should be based on simple membership of the human race rather than another conceptual layer of identity. Of course this applies to other alliances and religions just as much as Islam but I think there is a sense of paranoia running through Muslims which can only lead to problems.

Correct - I get a bill for the house and then get a discount.

Anyone mentioned how abysmal the ref was? Also Beagrie: "A monumental achievement" - monumental my arse. I'm still happy honest

A tribute to ignorance and bigotry - just what I'd expect.

The problem with the debates is the restrictive rules - not sure if there's a way around it that would generate a proper argument though - maybe they should get them all pissed on Stella and let them go at it.

Same for me really. Well the only time I ever swore at me dad I was about 7 or 8, I asked him if I could help him in the garden and he said no because it was dangerous with the lawn moor being on, and I called him a fuckin cunt, I don't even know where I got those words from, he smacked me hard and I never did it ever again. I was smacked and I don't think it's a bad thing really but I was very rarely smacked over that sort of age. I think my parents got it right. There shouldn't be legislation for it though ffs. I mean, any excessive smacking / hitting kids should come under existing laws anyway. Similar to the example you give, I don't think it's a bad deterrent to have in a parent's locker, so to speak. And you could just imagine kids threatening to phone the polis if they're going to get hit for doing something wrong. I can't remember being smacked but my Mam told me I was as a toddler which I guess is where my boundaries come from. I'm in two minds on the law angle - of course kids should have recourse to the authorities if parents go too far but I can see it causing problems as you say - theres a story at the moment about the head of Manchester council stepping down after his step-daughter called the police on him for what sounds like just a slap - though I think she's 16 or 17 so would fall into my general rule I still wouldn't prosecute for that if no real harm was done.

I keep getting leaflets from the liberals telling me only they can prevent a Tory victory in my seat - I looked at the figures from the last two elections and it's a blatant fucking lie (which they tried last time) but the boundaries have changed and it's now pretty much true. I'm loathe to vote Liberal but I'm actually starting to think of voting to get the Tory twat out - Its taken the thought of them actually getting into power to rekindle my hatred.

The get-out clause is that they've named one trader - he'll carry the carry if there is one and the management will escape as usual.

I would be the first to admit that despite my feelings on this subject, I've always found that there is a natural affinity between Geordies and Scousers - doesn't mean I like or trust them but it exists. Never had a problem with "proper" fans of any club though - including Londoners.