A.J.Rimmer

Sorry. Double posted.

Agreed. I've been saying for years that drugs should be legalised. The advantages could be enormous compared to the downside. Some time back, I tried to get a thread started on drug legalisation. I think it would be a good subject for a poll. I've never really been into illegal drugs. Apart from alcohol and tobacco (now stopped), I was an occasional/social pot smoker in my youth and tried coke once, but was too pissed to notice any effect... just as well... I understand it's an expensive habit.

Good question, I think he believed unending economic growth really was achievable, hence 'no more boom and bust'. That fundamental incromprehension of our economic system (combined with the evidence of the current situation) should disabuse people of the notion that he is the man to fix it. I agree with both of you here. The fact is that politicians, by their very nature, both borrow and spend all they possibly can in order to 'buy' the next election thus further feathering their own beds. If we believe and accept that the old left/right economic arguments are largely defunct, we are going to need some new ideas for a financially stable and ecologically sound future, which does not rely on never ending growth. Won't be easy. One wonders what people are actually prepared to give up?

Bahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa No one will believe me, but I thought of that myself when I saw the BBC headline... trouble is I don't know how to do short links. What's more you missed out Agnes the Goat.

I read something that made me laugh today: "If clairvoyants are any bloody good, then why does one have to make appointments?"

Industries... I agree with you. As for banks... I'm not so sure. A little economic revolution occasionally is a healthy thing. I just wonder if the decision to bale out the banks is for our good, or the good of the already haves... I'll take my chances... let them collapse.

Perhaps this has already been done, but have we had a poll on whether or not these large institutions should be bailed out or thrown to the wolves? I certainly agree with Branson that General Motors and their like should go to the wall; and that all this money should be used to kickstart the electric car industry. Personally, being a free marketeer, I think the banks should be allowed to collapse as well.

Tell me quick what are the other 15 ? I'm off to book my flight.

I don't know how many of you have seen the film 'Sideways'. The pirate dvd was given to me by a visitor from Russia and I have no idea if it is famous or not. I thought it was very funny. One of the characters has written a novel, and someone says to him something like "Why make things up? There are so many fascinating facts to discover, I would never waste my time reading fiction". That rather says it for me too. Perhaps it's a function of age, but I stick mainly to history and biography. I just love all the micellaneous facts one discovers... I've just finished a history of Indiamen in the Indian Ocean in 1809/10... extraordinary.

ahh , just noticed a slight flaw in your claim there if you didn't pass through Immigration and leave the airport in Egypt and (Addis ?? ) then technically you are "In transit" and you've not actually entered the country ... it may have to be referred to the claim to fame panel for a ruling :-) Spoilsport.

You wouldn't be able to do that in a day , no flight connections .. It would more likely be .. England , Egypt , Ethiopia , Eritrea ... do I win a prize ? Yes you do.... though it was the other way round. Early morning flight from Asmara to Addis. Change planes for Cairo refuelling stop.... and finally London.

I've been dying to get this in somewhere and at last here's my chance: I have been in 4 different countries, all on the same day, and all beginning with the letter 'E'... It will be easy if you look in an atlas... try and guess. CLUE: one of them was England.

With reference to the above poll, we would do well to remember the voters decided differently and Thatcher swept home in the 1987 election. Before going to Smith Square that night, I almost got arrested on the Walworth Road for taking the mick out of the Labourites as they skulked out. 'We can see you We can see you We can see you Sneaking out We can see you Sneaking out"

So show me where it was legal to use the army in Police Uniforms (with No Collar numbers) as policemen at places like Orgreave? It wasn't legal then as it isn't legal now but it happened and the large organisation that did this was Thatcher's govt Just because you are in a position to change the law does't mean you are permanently outside the law.You still have to adhere to it Regarding your first statement, I couldn't say whether or not this was the truth. I really don't know. I thought the lack of identification numbers started when some of the police and their families were targeted at their homes. If however your facts are right, I'm unaware of what laws were being broken. I'd have thought there were emergency powers that would authorise the police to draft in 'special constables' or somesuch in time of need. I would also imagine that in the case of widespread civil disobedience, when the police are under a sustained and mass attack, there are laws which alllow the government to call upon the army for asistance. I remember that during such events as the ambulance driver's and firemen's strikes the use of the army was considered acceptable... at least by those who wanted to get to hospital or whose house was being burned down.

How very pleasant. :cry: Getting **** is better than those bastards deserved. I witnessed their intimidatory and violent behaviour with my own eyes. I'm delighted they lost and we'll never know how much better off we are for it. Not very good at urls

I remember we all used to sing to the music from Snow White: Hi ho, Hi ho It's back to work you go With your shovel and pick You'll be down that pit Hi ho Hi ho Hi ho...

I missed this thread. I know little about coal, but I'm proud to say, I did my bit to assist in the defeat of the NUM.... a story for another day. Quite apart from the democratic issues involved with union power and their use of force to prevent others going to work, for me there was a much more important issue: In modern society it is absolutely intolerable that any large organisation should operate outside the law. Companies cannot do so and neither should unions. Or, and let's not go down this road; there should be a total free for all, which as a free marketeer I would accept. The 1984 conflict could have been avoided had the NUM followed the balloting rules and eschewed secondary picketing... which was illegal. Scargiill didn't have a ballot for fear he would lose the vote and embarked upon secondary picketing because he thought he would lose the strike. Scargill incidentally, apart from getting all chummy with the Gaddafi and the Soviets, also offered to sell out Gibraltar in exchange for a small peseta mountain. ( What a pity we no longer use the treason laws.) As a lover of freedom, I wanted no part of Scargill's version of 1984 totalitarianism. **** Scargill, **** the miners, **** their communities.

^^^^ Brilliant

VATICAN HOSTS DARWIN CONFERENCE Amazing 3000 years of lying and now they are seeking "compatibility" with Darwin and Galileo. NO... Feck off the lot of you and keep telling your stupid fairy tales.

I'll probably regret posting this but here goes: I hate this **** Goodwin as I had a major row with him some 7 or 8 years ago. I used to receive a lot of letters of credit (export payment guarantees) from Natwest's international division, and they had been after my account for years. When my 'house' bank was swallowed up by Citibank, I gave them their chance. The first deal we agreed was the discounting of a 30 day draft I had drawn on some Korean bank in London. The draft had been 'clean' accepted by the Koreans and returned to me. In effect this piece of paper had become money, just as is any banker's draft. It was exactly the same financial instrument as the banker's draft with which someone buys your car. As the draft was for a large sum, about a million bucks, before paying me the discounted value (ie less interest), Natwest checked the authenticity of the draft with the Koreans who told them it was genuine. However, sometime previously I'd had a dispute with these Koreans over some bank charges, about seven thousand dollars worth, which I claimed were for their client's account and their client claimed were for me. Whatever the truth of it, the Koreans had no right to deduct their claim from their accepted draft. It would be like taking your car buyer's draft round to the local bank, and being told that they would like to pay you, but unfortunately their client's overdraft would not allow it. I believe it was Natwest's DUTY to pay me in full and protect me by insisting the Koreans honoured their signature and paid their draft at face value,.... but Natwest didn't want the hassle. Finally, Goodwin and I had quite a row which ended in my telling him he was an incompetent idiot who did not understand the underlying principles of banking. I closed my account and instructed my clients that I did not want any more letters of credit coming through Natwest. I hope this greedy, unprincipled, incompetent **** loses his pension... nobody is more deserving.

No.

Mad as a hatter.... not you, Brumerican

Can we please move this thread on to something more important. I want to know if Noddy & Big Ears indulge in anal sex when the cameras are switched off. Can anyone please enlighten me.... or better yet has anyone got an photos??

Smoked a little pot in my youth, but never habitually. Tried coke once but was too drunk to notice any effect. Oddly enough my worst habit was large Havana cigars... and I'm talking real penis extensions here. I was spending around 2k per month... a true addict always finds the money for his addiction... but fiinally they had to go. Now I'm strictly alcoholic... but as a true libertarian I think all drugs should be legalised.

As a raw youth, and by pure coincidence, I happened to be at the Royal Society the day Emperor Hirohito of Japan picked up his honorary fellowship. (He was a moderately eminent marine biologist). The emperor gave me a very polite Japanese bow, to which not having a clue how to respond, I returned the compliment with a very slight inclination of my head.... not the done thing at all. If anyone is in any doubt how important this makes me, you should know he used to be a God!