VILLAMARV

I'm not that old I just like the string and horn arrangements!

70's for me. I think film and music wise it's my favourite decade. So much diverse creative stuff about.

That's handy advice.

It feels a bit like thread necromancy day

This album Burton's voice and the booklet that accompanied it with all pictures of streets on fire and rivers of blood etc. The famous 'duh duh duh' still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

It was, absolutely outrageous stuff from Dwr Cymru. I've just been reading a few articles on it this morning. There's an ongoing battle round me about new licences for intensive chicken farming. As NRW seem happy to quote negligent testing figures to greenwash what's going on in the rivers - notably in the press with the Wye - citizen science groups have set themselves up all over the place to test their own rivers and waterways. There are many treatment plants along the tributries and rivers that lead into the severn estuary and out into the sea. They'd better be working from Dwr Cymru and NRW's point of view. The people are starting to hold both of them to account.

as an update its bloody raining now jeebus. Thankfully for me it arrived just before I left the house and the added bonus is we're working on a place about 6 houses up the road from me at the moment so a nice bit of lie in.

No, of course not - but your response highlights a massive problem with discourse in the modern age imho. And it keeps cropping up in this thread. If we start with a preposition that is so nonsensical it is easy to refute it frames the argument, often into a binary choice - this side/that side, good/evil etc. It's a form of strawman argument and it boils my piss. We end up playing tit for tat over which violent act 'trumps' another violent act. I know people have been (rightly) outraged by Hamas killing children in premeditated acts of violence this week, but people were also (rightly) outraged when the UN reported that IDF soldiers on duty had killed children, women and reporters in premeditated acts of violence in another week. Weird though, isnt it, that that point has not been made as the counterpoint in the argument. Often pitting murder of children against acts like collateral damage, death through sanctions or in one chat this week (although not in the same context - but still about strawmanning) having a car accident. It's more worthwhile comparing apples to apples rather than apples to oranges. As someone else rightly pointed out upthread ideas are impossible to defeat with violence. So the suggestion that Israel are off to free Palestine of Hamas by dropping bombs on them and kettling them into less an less of their own country is just nonsensical to my mind on so many levels. The way the conflict is framed is a massive problem for a lot of onlookers who have genuine sympathies with all the human beings caught up like pawns in the horror that has been unfolding for decades. I appreciate there may be posters who have English as a second language and sometimes things get lost in translation. It's a complicated, nuanced language like all of them. We ourselves mess up sometimes as most regular posters would probably admit. It's not about demonizing the individual behind the posts imo - especially in topics as deep, complicated and triggering as this one. It's hard for us supporters of Aston Villa to have all the answers to solve the problems in the middle east and I'm no zealot, but I think we're able to comment on the framing of the debate as it is presented to us.

It's not raining. The weather said it would be hammering down today, all day. Now it's hammering down all morning and drizzly afternoon. Yet outside, not a drop. Todays work is weather dependant so it will be annoying to get ready for work and leave only to end up back home in a few hours if it waits until we get there before the heavens open.

fair enough but add it in and I'll stand by my quote.

As for the Israelis 'freeing Palestine' I mean it's offensive to anyone with half a brain.

'all the evidence' is the least troubling bit of that tweet imho. Strawmanning through fallacy of relevance. It's easy to attack an oversimplified position.

In a possibly contentious week on the message boards you've found the real low. For shame. No need for this sort of language.

Yeah this

That's easily rectified at source by using a qualifier like 'some'. Then it would be misplaced. I think we are able to complain about lawlessness without racist statements.

Tesco actually bought Bookers a while ago, and you're right. In fact Supermarkets were often a bit cheaper on spirits last time I did a bar and had to stock up. As you said, freehouses still have some autonomy, but not the buying power or influence of the big pubcos. I get very misty-eyed when I think back to my time as a publican in the 90s/00s. As I've said on here before, I think 3 things changed the trade forever. The smoking ban obviously, the birth of the pubco and their business plan of routinely bankrupting the unsuspecting mugs who sign up with them, and the most important/damaging of the lot to the pub trade was doing away with the off licenses and allowing the supermarkets to sell alcohol. I mean if they're selling it cheaper than you're allowed to buy it.....

I think from the stories, it's criminals people don't like, not entire communities of people. It's the last bastion of acceptable racism in our country imho. Still got a long way to go aint we?

MrsVM is off to a conference at Edgbaston soon. Anyone got any shout outs for drinks in the area afterwards?

like this?

Few that I don't think have been mentioned from my collection that probably deserve a shout out and immediately spring to mind. Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle Fat Freddy's Drop - Based on a True Story The Specials - The Specials Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood

yeah, but years later the youtube link isnt working so you get my like

I think the question is, would we have caught the likes of Shipman if part of his job is killing people? Euthanasia is one of those topics for me where I think there are good points on both sides of the argument but I've never come across one that convinced me fully either way.

My heart goes out to you both MNV. It's one of those things that's not supposed to be in the script. That it is a fairly common occurrence and has no bearing neccessarily on whether you can conceive again and have healthy babies are good things to keep in mind. Still a massive kick in the hopes though. Help her through it like I'm sure you will, but also don't ignore your own grief. Big Hugs.

Massive game this side of the border today. I'll be joining in and watching for a change. I always consider myself an Englishman because I am, but I do always hope Wales do well, it cheers the whole nation up it really does. Off to the next town along the road which is more rugby mad. Lots of pubs in a small street. The atmosphere if they beat Argentina will be great tonight. Good Luck to Ireland too later. It would be quite something if the All Blacks went out in the Quarters. Even if they aren't at their imperious best.

@Panto_Villan Rather than reply to each point I'll just say I find your reply rather disingenuous but I'm happy to leave it there and on the record.