badgerx16

As an infrequent ( ) visitor now, I find some of the 'familiar' road layouts from my younger days have been obliterated. I have had particular problems with Thomas Lewis way, Lances Hill ( and whatever the new bits at the top are called ), and Six Dials, ( changed a lot since I used to visit my Grandad there ).

As a 'spud', I held an antipathy towards Bellemoor

Or sometimes just inventing myths that appear on balance sheets as fact :smt017

Now this truly IS a good post !! :smt041:smt041:smt041

Problem is, does George Osborne have it ?

It is certainly the coldest.

From my position, Oldham is technically south. Just don't fall into the trap of assuming 'oop north' is a single entity; on the dark side of t'Pennines you get the Yorkies, Mackems, and Geordies, on God's side you get the Lankys and the Cumbrians. In my judgement, start at the Dee, follow the Mersey before skirting south of Manc and across the Peak District, ( Cheshire and southern Derbyshire are part of the Midlands ), and then take a line across the south of Tykeland to the southern bank of the Humber to mark the 'border', keeping Lincolnshire as the northern part of eastern England. Here endeth the lesson.:cool:

The taint is always with you, it can never be expunged.

Cafe Direct coffee, FairTrade tea ( 'normal', green, and roibus ), free range eggs ( during the shorter winter days when my own hens don't lay ), and free range chicken meat. Also, my wife won't buy New Zealand lamb due to the fact that a lot of it is butchered in Halal style, which she feels is unnecessarily cruel. If I do buy bananas they will be fair trade also. I also do not hug trees, ( though I have several in my gardens front and rear, hopefully got enough space that I don't need an allotment ), my wellies are black, and I use rechargeable batteries wherever possible - for which I would choose a supplier with hydro-electric generating capacity if I could get it. ( And I drive a diesel; good or bad you can decide, but that was a purely economic decision. Wouldn't have a Prius if they were giving them away ). Wish I did have a ( Welsh ) Cob ( or 2 ), and at the same time wish I didn't have my mortgage.

Over 20,000 lower grade NHS staff are from the Philippines, and approx 35,000 are from the eastern EU states, probably all doing the 'dirty' jobs that the "workshy" think are beneath their dignity, or paid less than they are willing / able to accept.

But what would happen to all those offenders who are being sentenced to 'community service' by the courts, particularly now as there is a recommendation that anybody whose offence carries a tariff of less than 12 months should be kept out of our overcrowded jails ?

Watched Alan Johnson on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday, of all the Labour front benchers, I think he is the best and most credible by a long way; and it's a hoot every time he says he has absolutely no interest in the party leadership.

Luvverly

Because, if you are in a car or train crash, they will take you to an NHS hospital.

:smt038:smt038:smt038 May I suggest we replace our political system with benevolent despotism, with me at the helm

Well, at least 48 million died in a war the Fascists started, plus about 500 thousand in Spain, so you are a bit short there. Both political extremes are equally malign and destructive.

But I thought that the capitalists needed cheap foreign labour so that they could cut staff costs to the bone ?

Presumably the vegetarian option ( Lib-Dems ) just doesn't do it for you ?

Curved Air - Back Street Luv

David Cameron is a sham, a veneer laid over the true face of Conservative dogma. Elections these days are not about politics, they are about image, and as it looks like the Labour Party will persist with GB, the Tories will win hands down.

So, as someone with an obviously 'informed' opinion, is cutting the numbers down to 3 a false economy, in that it means the deterrent could no longer be effectively maintained.

Churchill was a maverick, who had the luck that he would be remembered for leading a coalition war cabinet, and "crossed the floor" between the conservatives and liberals several times as he saw fit. For what good points he had, he made many poor decisions and held many dangerous opinions. He was directly responsible for the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in WW1, led the demands to extend British involvement in the Russian civil war, including sending arms to Poland to help support the anti- Bolsheviks, which did not really count in their favour when the Poles needed Russian help in WW2. He advocated the use of gas bombs against Kurdish rebels, ( wonder where Saddam Hussain might have got that idea ? ). His appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer enabled him to return Britain to the Gold Standard, which was a major causative factor in the depression and General Strike, ( this was later admitted by WSC himself as probably his greatest mistake ). He also, at this time, gave great praise to Mussolini, as an example of how countries ought to be governed. He opposed granting independence to the colonies, and was on the 'wrong' side of the debate when King Edward VIII abdicated. There is no doubting he had the 'right stuff' when it came to leading the country in WW2, and was certainly the "right man. at the right time", but his crushing defeat in the post-war election shows how the country at the time rated his politics.

"AT SEVENTEEEN" By Janis Ian I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired The valentines I never knew The Friday night charades of youth Were spent on one more beautiful At seventeen I learned the truth... And those of us with ravaged faces Lacking in the social graces Desperately remained at home Inventing lovers on the phone Who called to say "come dance with me" And murmured vague obscenities It isn't all it seems at seventeen... A brown eyed girl in hand me downs Whose name I never could pronounce Said: "Pity please the ones who serve They only get what they deserve" The rich relationed hometown queen Marries into what she needs With a guarantee of company And haven for the elderly... So remember those who win the game Lose the love they sought to gain In debitures of quality and dubious integrity Their small-town eyes will gape at you In dull surprise when payment due Exceeds accounts received at seventeen... To those of us who knew the pain Of valentines that never came And those whose names were never called When choosing sides for basketball It was long ago and far away the world was younger than today when dreams were all they gave for free to ugly duckling girls like me... We all play the game, and when we dare We cheat ourselves at solitaire Inventing lovers on the phone Repenting other lives unknown That call and say: "Come on, dance with me" And murmur vague obscenities At ugly girls like me, at seventeen...

The truest sentence on this entire thread. Sums up politicians of all persuasions.

For all those berating Gordon Brown for committing public money in bailing out the financial institutions, read this - from The Times, ( hardly a 'Red Top' ), and work out what alternatives, and potential consequences, there might have been. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6860385.ece Look at what happened to Iceland, so nearly happened to Ireland, and the rest of the mess that unfettered Capitalist greed caused. What would the Tories have done differently ?