pap

Dunno, Trusted Reviews gives this a 9 out of 10, with a user score of 7.7. Must be something else. Perhaps top level Google executives descended on the houses of Nexus 10 customers and engaged in a massive "dirty protest", thereby causing said customers to return their Nexus 10s in a sort of "revenge" protest. (Hey, if I'm going to make you feel bad about your purchase, I feel you're owed a bit of creativity, at least. Dirty creativity, granted )

We've got some South African friends, despite never having been to South Africa. Most turned up in our lives in the early 2000s. I know a couple of people from work, while the missus has a good friend from Cape Town. First mate of mine came here to work, is still here, and will likely go back. My former apprentice met a black South African girl here, married her and has a couple of kids with her now. They were out there for five years, but are back in the UK now. ms pap's mate has been back and forth for years. I'd expect that she'll be making the return trip to the UK anytime soon. Verbal is trying to spread the violence about, although I'm not sure I buy it. The specifics on this thread are about black-on-white violence in South Africa. Is he trying to say that there are groups in South Africa committing white-on-black violence? Historically, this has been the case; it probably fuels a great deal of the enmity now. White-on-black violence is by no means irrelevant, but I doubt it as a current concern. It's telling that the top results for Google search "white-on-black violence South Africa" are a load of stories about what we're talking about now, black-on-white violence.

The wonder of being anonymous is that it covers you for things like this. I've no reason not to take Verbal at his word, but he'll likely be unable or unwilling to provide anything in the way of photographic proof. Of course, the beauty of not being anonymous (and having a relatively contemporary camera phone) is being able to produce such evidence at will, much as I did when Verbal suggested I was too stupid to be yanked over to the States on the whim of my clients. I expect those "pap in skyscraper" images still burn to this day

The OP is just fine given the context. Even the term white South Africa ( small 'w', ta ) is readily understood, even if too often, outsiders tend to lump the settlers of English settlers and Afrikaaners into one. Start a thread of your own, Verbal. The world is your oyster. Prove to me that you're not just a guest star in the threads of others. Then we can talk about relative extremes of care in OPs.

I think that might be a generational thing. I'm aware of Brand's proclivities, but that doesn't necessarily invalidate everything he has to say. Johnson is a wolf in buffoon's clothing. If the man is "in character" for most of his life, you really have to ask why. I think Boris' true colours might be closer to the bloke who accosted Livingstone in the lift with a raging f*ckstorm. I don't necessarily agree with every life choice Brand might have made, but whatever else the bloke is, he has a refreshingly honest perspective on himself and others. It's immaterial anyway; no-one but me has suggested Brand for PM. My overall point is I think he'd cause less damage than Boris in office, who has the ring of bumbling humourous dictator-to-be. The bloke doesn't really stand for anything. He's just about ten times more interesting than any of the other politicians doing the rounds. Not necessarily the best qualification for government, especially when a teeny bit of scrutiny reveals that, if nothing else, he's a very poor judge of character. He's had a few people washed out of his administration due to scandal. The fact that he didn't have people he could trust 100% tells its own story. He took the reins of office taking a punt on his own administration. That all said, Boris has a genuine shout. Most people don't see past the buffoon, don't see enough of him to know that he isn't straight-talking, and isn't as harmless as the character he carefully cultivates.

Russell Brand is a very decent writer; his piece after Thatcher's death was excellent. His opinions on Boris' happen to segue with a lot of mine. I've heard numerous reports that Johnson is an aggressive d!ck, seen a couple of them too. That's enough for me, ta. Johnson employs a likable flawed character to mask a less likable one. I'd genuinely sooner have Brand as PM. At least his flaws are front and centre, his genuine problems out in the open and there's a fair chance you'll hear him telling the truth.

Holy chronological calamity, Batman!

More disturbing news from South Africa in today's Mail (I know, I know). This was a subject that was briefly discussed when St Chalet announced that he may be moving to South Africa, and I'd already seen a few things about murder running amok in the Rainbow Nation. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2351339/Mandelas-passing-looming-threat-race-war-South-Africas-whites-widow-mourns-latest-murdered-white-farmer-chilling-dispatch-nation-holding-breath.html#ixzz2XbqM9As7 The Mail article reckons that Mandela's presence as a figure has held a lot of people back, and that new political parties emerging after this death might not have reconciliation at the top of their policy agenda. Interesting subject because of the history; genuinely shocking reports of children being raped or murdered in front of their parents. Apparently, being a white South African farmer is the most dangerous job in the world. Very much interested in the accounts of those with personal experience of contemporary life in SA. Is the picture as bleak as the one the Daily Mail paints? (hey, it is the Daily Mail). Other than that, very much a free-for-all. Where is South Africa headed post-Mandela, and do white people have a future in it?

What if you've just robbed a bank?

If I have a gripe with the kit, it's basically charging £30 for a badge and a logo. I've seen majority polls on here before; the majority are usually grumpy old men who've been looking for a reason to kick off or have a moan.

I do quite like the away kit, and look forward to our more racist fans shouting "Blacks, blacks, blacks" at away games.

...

I used to wear red and white stripes when I worked behind the deli counter in ASDA. One of the reasons I'm not precious about them. This kit has loads more white on it than last year, is better than last year and looks better on than it did laid out across a piece of cardboard (who knew, eh?)

I am crap at this.

I disagree, Whitey Grandad. Even before this range of cuts, we've seen some of the fallout from other ideological cuts, like the caps on Housing Benefit or the "dodge it if you can" bedroom tax. These are crude implements wielded by a government that has no business being in power. The long term costs are impossible to quantify. More prisoners, probably. More opportunities for private industry! Trebles all round, as the Private Eye people like to say.

It's not about making the system fair, though is it? Fair costs too much money, so the politics of envy is applied expertly to get the monkeys to throw their sh!t at each other. No-one will notice the grossly damaging results of these cuts if everyone is looking over their shoulder and moaning about what someone else has got. I don't buy economic climate as a reason for your erstwhile colleague's sacking. Even in the good times, we all operate in a competitive market. A company can be in relative recession when others are booming, for many reasons. A good scandal or bit of bad publicity will keep people at bay, as will poor internal management decisions or technical implementations (but even then, manager shoulda caught it). Cashflow drives it all, and if you're actually telling me that your company accumulated enough evidence to go through the process of sacking someone (and I mean sacking someone, not just letting a contract expire) just because of the economic climate, just to save on redundancy cash (which implies long service), I'd looking for a move if I were in your position.

We're very good at making video games.

I do find the criticism of teachers to be unwarranted, especially Tokyo's mischievous suggestion that because he knows a teacher off to have a good time of it, all of them are going to be feckless layabouts. I've no doubt some are, I took the register for three years at Cantell because our form tutor was off for three years, before finally leaving. Utter p!sstaker. On the flipside of that, there were a lot of dedicated teachers who helped me a lot. I've also got no doubt that the job must wear you down. At least when I get orders from on-high there's a fair chance the person giving the orders knows what they're doing. Incoming governments? Noobs, the lot of them. Gove is especially unconvincing.

Amazing that the politics of envy works so well, isn't it? Shame no-one really follows the threads. Didn't know about the HS2 budget increase, but I'm entirely unsurprised. Winter fuel payments going to ex-pats is the sort of anomaly that is created when you have a very simple bar for qualification; the same thing is happening in reverse with Child Benefit. If you don't have proper tests, then you will always have them. If you do have proper tests, the testing regime could end up costing more than the anomalies you're looking to avoid. What really irks me is that cuts are not inevitable, yet people think that they are. They're ultimately a sign of bad management over successive governments.

Who are the bishops?

I'm a little disappointed MLG hasn't gone in with a few more posts. I've checked out that Pantages Theatre. It's tiny. It holds only 3,000 people. Surely SMS, with over 10x capacity and nearby catering facilities at the King Alfred, would be a better fit than that sh!thole.

Nah, piles.

Ha, ms pap got her first true taste of middle age a few months ago. She had to buy some of the aforementioned product. I trailed her around TESCO repeatedly saying the word "Anusol" in her shell-like. She wasn't happy by the time we'd reached the tills, or indeed, chilled foods.

Still think there is an outside chance, but looking less likely while the agents are holding out for this sort of cash. Shame really; would have been a very good fit for the club and made a massive impact on his own career. As it is, I don't see him moving at all - and if he does go to Cardiff, he only kicks his chance of a big move further down the line. As many others have said, perhaps there's a reason for big clubs staying away. Can't see this latest episode helping Wanyama too much with that.

I like how almost everyone else on that thread mentions a venue with a corporation's name in its title. This is perhaps where MLG and Cortese are going wrong. I think we'll all agree that as a moniker, St Mary's Stadium isn't quite as catchy as "Target Center" or "HP Pavilion". Maybe corporate re-branding is the way forward. Would Jonas play St Mary's if it was called the McDonalds Chicken McNugget Center (sic)? I think they would.