Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

It seems to me that cynic's parents did an excellent job with him. He seems to have a pretty balanced set of opinions and uses logic to form views on difficult subjects. He also seems to be pretty mild in putting forward his views.

Who rang your bell, I was addressing Cynic not you.

This is a public forum. You have to put up with people posting for whatever reasons they choose.

Thats only true if the poster does not use a name, which I did, so it seems that your parents also didn't do a very good job with you either... Your not related to Cynic by any chance are you H/S?

Haystack 9999999999999999999 Stan -500

People on here can contribute anyway that they wish. They can interrupt, make comments, join in conversations whether invited or not. There are no rules here. It is very difficult to insult me. I only regard myself as insulted if I have a good opinion of the person attempting the insult.

.

Yet again you have chosen to miss the point.. And not for the first time.

There is no point. What you are suggesting is just plain stupid.

So how are you two related then?

It looks like The Royal Mail is at last being privatised. Apart from train drivers, it is one of the last bastions of union trouble making.

Yes, we could do with 25 years of Conservative government to rid the country of trade unions once and for all!

Cynic,

The choices you offer seem to be those defined by many of the occupations chosen by psychopaths.

Is this your natural tendency?

Which of course you would resist.

Or would you, if the balance was seemingly in your favour?

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Hays,

Your remark, "It is very difficult to insult me." seems be very true and surprisingly self perceptive of you.

Are you a self made man?

Hairy one,

You hope.

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did i have wonderful parents?
no
did i have bad parents?
no

my parents did what they thought best, as do most (certainly not all), and after that is is very much down to the individual what he does with the hand he has .... and i'm afraid an awful lot of people from all sorts of backgrounds will not accept responsibility for their own actions and similar

===========

fred - is it "unfair" that i created a business that happens to have worked, at least to a modest extent, and that i draw a salary and dividends considerably in excess of what i pay my employees?

of course it isn't ..... i benefit from the risks i have taken and pressures i have accepted, and conversely, my employees don't have the worries of what happens if the biz goes belly up, taking me with it

"my parents did what they thought best, as do most (certainly not all), and after that is is very much down to the individual what he does with the hand he has .... and i'm afraid an awful lot of people from all sorts of backgrounds will not accept responsibility for their own actions and similar" Agreed.

Ed: But how are you related to H/S then -):

Cynic post 29315 - Very well said..

Cynic,

But they had to put up with you.

Surely, they are worth more than you pay them?

Reward for endeavour is reasonable, if proportional.

I tried to look after my staff, in the hope they would look after me.

I had no complaints, other than from one secretary occasionally asking me, "who has rattled your cage to-day?".

-----
"i'm afraid an awful lot of people from all sorts of backgrounds will not accept responsibility for their own actions and similar"


Agreed, but that is where "education" comes into play.

I don't mean the 3Rs , that seems a basic necessary in "modern" society or at the least it enables individuals to "expand" themselves more easily.

But part of "self responsibility" is introjected from other at an early age.

Those who don't exhibit these tendencies may not have, or had exposure those who did.

To get change, especially where the parents don't exhibit it, an effort could be built into the early on education "process".

(If you don't know, how this is done, have a look of the parents of those children who are succeeding and copy.)

Generally, by encouragement and reward without condemnation.

======

Anyway simpler.

Where is Syria going to be into 12 months time?

(You don't get points for "in the M.E..)

Depends if Syria is liberated ... think Afghanland, Iraq and Libya

fred - i can't remember when/how i learnt about responsibilities/actions, but i don't think directly from my parents and nor consciously, from a young age

however, there were certainly two gems from my father (he always denied it!) that i often talk about ......
you can't be given initiative
making decisions is easy

================

Syria
assad will be booted out, but the next bunch will not be much if any better, if not from the outset, then within 5 years

the whole of m/e will remain a tinder box to be played with and manipulated by assorted external parties

i don't expect it to explode, as amis, russians, chinese and the arab world in general know that would be a total disaster