Hamilton Saint

Some observations about your posts on this thread. 1) You criticise ex-pats choice of handle with the assumption that they wear their handle as "some badge of honour". This assumption (like so many of the assumptions you have made) is incorrect. I chose my handle in order to put up-front that I'm located in another country. In that way, if I make a comment that seems surprising or strange, you can immediately keep it mind that it's coming from someone overseas, and you can treat it with a little more understanding and sympathy - which I'm sure you would be likely to do, given how empathetic you are with other people. (Or maybe not, maybe condescension is your modus operandi.) 2) You, on the other hand, chose the handle "Guided Missile". And you refer to the object of the current thread as your "target". Says a lot, eh?! 3) You make gross generalisations about a vastly different group of people. That wouldn't be so bad, I suppose, if it weren't done in such a sneering and condescending manner. For example, I am an ex-pat (who grew up in Hythe and went to Grammar School in Southampton). I didn't choose to emigrate; that decision was made by my parents, who moved the family to Canada many years ago. So, my feelings about my new home and my old home is more ambivalent than that of someone who made the decision for himself (herself). This is the kind of nuance that your generalisation misses. 4) I'm not sure what you mean when you say that my handle "signifies where (I'm) at value wise". That is a very unclear statement. Maybe you'd like to clarify it, and justify it. By the way, I don't think you're particularly in tune with my values - at least based on the content and tone of your posts here. 5) I'm not looking for you to provide me with any "small feeling of belonging". It's obviously something you are totally incapable of doing - what with you being so insensitive and rude. 6) You finish with the justification that we don't "have any real form of relationship". This is an interesting and very debatable point. I'm not a believer in the view that message board anonymity gives me the opportunity (and certainly not the right) to insult, deride or abuse other posters. I also don't believe in adopting an entirely different persona on the internet, just because I can, or because it's fun, or because I need to bolster my own lack of self-esteem. I'm happy to be sincere - although I can be ironic, sarcastic and critical in many of my comments, when the situation seems to warrant it. If there is no form of relationship, by the way, what's the point of posting here? 7) As far as your accusation that the postings of ex-pats are generally boring and irrelevant, that's merely your (limited) point of view. I find huge amounts of stuff on here irrelevant and boring, but I don't feel the need to vilify a whole sub-group of the members on here. If you find ex-pat comments to be generally boring and irrelevant perhaps it's because of a pre-conceived prejudice you have. And, of course, you are free to ignore them. 8 ) Finally, I assume you believe it's fine for Southampton residents to make inane, uninformed and bigoted comments or judgments of North American society, with no experience of life, or conditions, over here. But it's not alright, apparently, for ex-pats to make comparative judgments from the other direction, even though they have experiences in both societies. They call that a double-standard. I have been supporting Saints for almost 50 years. I relish the opportunity to read the thoughts, opinions and judgments of people who are so much closer to the action. I envy them their chance to be at the stadium regularly. I also think that locals (i.e., So'ton residents) might find the opinions of outsiders as an interesting, alternative point of view. That you would insult and condescend fellow supporters who now have the opportunity to keep up with their team, thanks to the marvels of the internet age - regardless of where they are located - is just rude and bigoted. And, by the way, I defy you to find a single post over the past 8 or 9 years where I have criticised the club, the city or the country. I am proud of my heritage.

Absolutely right!

I'm not sure if this has been highlighted elsewhere on this forum, but SaintsPlayer has the entire 90 minutes of the games versus Huddersfield and Millwall on their site. They say they plan to have the entire game on-line (not live, of course) for all home matches; they also hope to do the same for away matches. This is fantastic - especially for those uf us who are unable to be at the games. :smt038

"... pure socialism"? You might want to do a little research into political philosophy. Hint: find out what the term "mixed economy" means. Hint: find out what the term "social democrat" means.

Well, he does have a good pun in there. But there's no escaping the judgmental tone and the condescending insults. If it's meant to be humourous and tongue-in-cheek, a smiley or two would be very useful.

Socialism? Do you know what socialism means? You sound like those ultra right-wing Republicans in the US who think right-wing Democrats are dangerous and frightening "liberals". And that lefties in Canada are "communists".

Yes, that's it. He tells them to win cup games, but lose league games.

Pardew didn't "prioritise" the cups. Whatever that means. He just had the nerve to encourage the players to win their cup games. Unfortunately, the team took him at his word and kept winning. Everyone knows that if they hadn't won all those cup games, they'd be in an automatic promotion position by now. Pardew out.

Why bored? Lots happening. If you can't cope, do something else (to put it politely).

La La Na Na La-la-na Hey, hey, hey Good-bye! Or something like that!

No problems today, apparently.

Indeed - weird, isn't it?! Confidence in the team; confidence in the supporters!

OMG! We concede from a set-piece.

Let's go, Saints!

The ambition is shown in what he actually does, not in just what he says. Pardew's ambition is evident with what he has done in developing his team and improving the situation at the club. He is doing a fantastic job. Why do people insist on looking for negativity?

You don't think the players understand the difference between what Pardew says to them in the privacy of the dressing-room, or on the practice pitch, and what he says publicly to the media?

I think it is so refreshing to have a manager who is articulate, thoughtful, honest and forthright. But so many supporters seem to prefer hearing a load of guff, or a bucket of cliches, or smart-aleck jokes. I really appreciate hearing Pardew's opinions. They always make sense to me and they reflect the actual situation at the time they are given - not a load of meaningless drivel that tells you nothing.

You lucky fella! I saw Jackson Browne accompanied by David Lindley at The Riverboat in Toronto in the early 70s (1973?). That was a great concert. Lindley plays on most of the early Browne albums. He's superb in his own right. I have three of his albums: Win This Record, Very Greasy, and El Rayo-X. All are excellent. That should be a superb show!

You lucky fella! I saw Jackson Browne accompanied by David Lindley at The Riverboat in Toronto in the early 70s (1973?). That was a great concert. Lindley plays on most of the early Browne albums. He's superb in his own right. I have three of his albums: Win This Record, Very Greasy, and El Rayo-X. All are excellent. That should be a superb show!

Edge of the Earth? :confused:

A general degree here takes three years; an honours degree takes four. Generally, if you plan to continue your university education beyond the B.A. level, you would do a four-year degree.

No, it doesn't. All map projections distort the layout of the Earth's surface, because they are attempting to fit a curved surface onto a flat sheet. Specifically, the Mercator projection exaggerates the size of countries that are far away from the equator. Greenland, for example, in the Mercator projection, looks like it is as big as Africa - in fact, Africa is about 14 times bigger than Greenland. And so on.

... and putting the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the Word Map, instead of the Pacific Ocean.

You really mean "me", don't you? To have an "us", you need society. To have a society, to have a civilsed society, you need taxes to pay for those services that create a civilised life. Taxes, therefore, are not a "burden"; they are the necessary price for a civilsed life. If you don't believe in society (sound familiar?), you think of tax as a "burden".