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.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15688354

There is only one reason why we are pulling out of Afghanistan , and that is we have been defeated. How long can the Afghan government survive when we leave ? The best they can hope for is a stalemate.

Who, What, Why: Which countries wear poppies?

The practice of wearing a poppy at this time of year is not solely a British one. Indeed, the adoption of the poppy had a very international birth.

Shurely shome mishtake?

S&P accidentally announces downgrade of French debt

Standard & Poor's accidentally released a message to some of its subscribers on Thursday saying that it had downgraded French debt from its top AAA rating.

.

I guess they will need compensation.

Repeat offenders appear to have worse health in middle-age

A life of crime appears to damage offenders' health once they reach their 40s, new research suggests.

Researchers from Cardiff and Texas universities looked at data on 400 men who have been followed since childhood.

They found offenders were more likely to be hospitalised and were 13 times more likely to be disabled.

.

Police raid anti-poppy protest group

(Reuters) - London counter-terrorism officers said on Friday they had carried out a raid on three premises linked to a radical Muslim group, shortly after the organisation, which had planned a demonstration to disrupt Armistice Day ceremonies, was banned.

Fred - one for you - An Intelligence Squared Debate


:-)

Skinny,

No won't be attending.

Even though I think the British have been responsible for many problems in the "Empire" and "Commonwealth" and indeed are less than clean with many of their ongoing "interventions" in some countries, it is time that the relevant countries accept responsibilities for their own problems. That does not mean that support from other countries should not continue.

But it is also time Cameron accepts responsibility for the numerous policy failures he and his "merry men" have introduce over the last 18months and stops blaming previous governments's actions, the Euro-zone, or the World economies

Also, it would be wiser if Cameron stopped bleating at euro-zone members and sort out the UK's problems..

Over the next five years the UK will be more dependent on the rest of Europe than Europe on the UK.



I was let out this morning and only just got back, which U-turn is introducing to-day.

I am glad the Cameron is worried about the UK economy. I am worried that he is supposed to be in charge of it.

A life of crime appears to damage offenders' health once they reach their 40s


So how old is Mad Frankie Frazier now ?

On that same flyer is an evening with Tom Paxton. which should be good - also it is a very nice venue.

What with home visits (OK by that I mean the prison doctor and dentist) and almost instant treatment when attending hospital, plus the access to therapists, both mental and physical, without having to pay, I would have thought they would live years longer.
Must be the culture of committing crime either tanked up on booze or/and drugs, that does it.
I wonder if the research results give them justification for compensation!

greekman

It must be the food they get ........ Porridge is very healthy

Go the Dutch

The Netherlands, where six per cent of the population is now Muslim, is scrapping multiculturalism:

The Dutch government says it will abandon the long-standing model of multiculturalism that has encouraged Muslim immigrants to create a parallel
society within the Netherlands.A new integration bill, which Dutch Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner presented to parliament on June 16, reads:
"The government shares the social dissatisfaction over the multicultural society model and plans to shift priority to the values of the Dutch people.
In the new integration system, the values of the Dutch society play a central role. With this change, the government steps away from the model of a multicultural society." The letter continues: "A more obligatory integration is justified because the government also demands that from its own citizens. It is necessary because otherwise the society gradually grows apart and eventually no one feels at home anymore in the Netherlands..."

The new integration policy will place more demands on immigrants. For example, immigrants will be required to learn the Dutch language, and the
government will take a tougher approach to immigrants who ignore Dutch values or disobey Dutch law.The government will also stop offering special subsidies for Muslim immigrants because, according to Donner,
"it is not the government's job to integrate immigrants." (How bloody true )

The government will introduce new legislation that outlaws forced marriages and will also impose tougher measures against Muslim immigrants who lower their chances of employment by the way they dress.

More specifically, the government will impose a ban on face-covering Islamic burqas as of January 1, 2013.

Holland has done that whole liberal thing, and realised - maybe too late - that creating a nation of tribes will kill the nation itself.

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you ?
Have you always turned the other cheek ?
To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'

Author Unknown~

This video from the small Yupiq Eskimo Village of Quinhagak, Alaska , was a school computer project intended for the other Yupiq villages in the area. Much to the villagers' shock, almost a million people have viewed it.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=LyviyF-N23A&aq=f

This is me,

From your Netherlands post 'It is necessary because otherwise the society gradually grows apart and eventually no one feels at home anymore in the Netherlands"

Funny, that's how I already feel about the UK. I feel little as regards pride and do not feel it is my country anymore.

Re the soldiers prayer.
Even as an atheist, the sentiments are very well stated.

Daftland

We live in a country called Daftland
The Britain we knew is no more
Where sensible people do ludicrous things
Or risk breaking some Daftland law.
In Daftland we've police dogs with muzzles
Lest the villain has cause to complain
And to steal from a shop and say 'sorry'
Means your free with no stain to your name.

You had better leave lights on in buildings
When you lock up and go home at night
'cause the burglars might hurt themselves entering
And there's no way you'll be in the right.
When speaking be wary in Daftland
As some terms that you've used all your life
Now have connotations unintended
And you'll end up in all sorts of strife.

We elect politicians in Daftland
To give us the laws of the land
Yet eight laws in ten now come from abroad
The whole thing has got out of hand.
The borders are open in Daftland
And of migrants there's no keeping track
Just a few of the thousands illegally here
Will ever be caught and sent back.

The exception to this is the hero
Who fought for this land in the war
He's old and he's sick, he might cost us a bit
So he's not welcome here any more.
When the history is written of Daftland
Historians may just recall
That the craziest people in Daftland
Were the public who put up with it all.

This is me,

Again.
Spot on.

Mind you, I doubt you will be elected to Poet Laureate!

I have to say there are some incredible writers on here.......very entertaining at times....