大象传媒

TABOO IS LIKE VIRGINITY

Once a prohibited 'area' has been violated, there is no possible reinstatement. We hear mention, often, of the 'last taboo', but the actual TALLY of dead-and-buried constraints - once vital to the fabric of viable culture - is not inspected. The English language is so good at pointing out the obvious - hidden in full view. We live in an age of LICENSE.

Only if we can 'seed' the newborn with a wisdom THEIR PARENTS DO NOT POSSESS, can our decline be halted. I have suggested one way this might be achieved (more than once) but, in the current self-defeating ethos (and lacking megalomania myself) I doubt it will come about. If only Tony Blair were hawking wisdom round the globe! However, where you can, I suggest it is a good idea to:

WISE UP THE YOUNG

LETS START AT THE VERY BEGINNING.........


"....Tonight we'll consider if time should be called on greed culture across the board in banking."

Why STOP, or even START, at banking?

Chapter 2?
"....And Peter Marshall has an report into the world of football finance."

Then 'Entertainers', followed closely by Artists, reviewers and anyone seen in 'Celebrity' programmes or magazines.

Perhaps if the tiniest fraction of Footballers salaries (replace with your chosen overpaid profession) were paid to social workers we wouldn't still be discussing the Edlington two.

Interesting, I know it as an ocean away but how come it didn't take very long for Britney Spears to have her children removed by order when she descended into drink and drugs life style.

That is So very sad. Everyone screams and bleats and pleads the case for the children when you are in the public eye. If you live in a hell hole in ordinaryville, we wait until murder, or nearly, has been committed before we decide to act.

Wonder if any British Newspaper or Broadcaster will pay for the parents of the Edlington Two to attend the priory?

A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START BYT (#2)

"Wonder if any British Newspaper or Broadcaster will pay for the parents of the Edlington Two to attend the priory?"

ONLY IF THEY CAN MASSIVELY INCREASE CIRCULATION, OR MAKE A BLOW-FLY ON THE WALL - EDGY - DOCUMENTARY.

IRONIC THAT A ONE-MAN-WAR-SCAM IS UNDER SUCH SCRUTINY (bomb detector)

The one man scam that all capable British minds registered from its inception, was the GREAT TONY BLAIR WAR-SWINDLE. There is every chance he will slither under the net of Chilcott. Will Newsnight then do the job properly? No need for 'new lines' just pull the glaringly obvious existing threads together - plait - and form a noose.

OK, I know it's not on the current NN themes, but perhaps more important than a report of football finance?



鈥淎lani has spent the past 19 years in a secure hospital after he killed two NHS consultants in a frenzied attack because he said he had received a 鈥渃ommand from Allah" and has been living in a residential care home for people with mental health problems for the past three years. He could be set free as early as next year."

My post today included the Tory electioneering letter and pamphlet. Not a mention of Immigration or EU control, just brief items on Backing British Food and Law & Order:
"we'll make the police accountable to local people....and restore honesty in sentencing.....".

How are these manifestly possible whilst we remain in thrall to EU and the Human Rights Act?

Barrie鈥檚 previous post referred to 鈥榳hite water rafting鈥�, and we have certainly been rafted over the past decade by government LACking* a viable opposition. We need to Spoil Party Games and Wise up the Young, but the imminent task is to find MPs who will look after the interests of the indigenous population.

Perhaps extreme measures are called for to rid us of this LAC: Lethargy, Apathy and Complacency and Extreme Tolerance Discriminating against our English society and culture.

#5 There's another little thing not mentioned about keeping this man here Indi. MONEY

He will never work, has probably never contributed anything to our society, but will cost us a MINT of money to now keep until his death. Will it be paid for under the prisons contract, or local council, or will the NHS pay for his care. Probably all three. It won't be a case of just giving him the pills and he will take them. He will have to have close care and supervision, probably by doctors and skilled mental health staff for ever. That will cost US hundreds of thousands of pounds. Hey but never mind, we are so extremely rich these days we can pay for the worlds mentally ill to all live here free! Isn't it strange how these judges seem to live in cloud cuckoo land, pity they don't live with the rest of us!

#6 ecolizzy

"Hey but never mind, we are so extremely rich these days we can pay for the worlds mentally ill to all live here free"

Mental health issues afflict one in three at some point in their lives. Therefore its to be expected that some immigrants will have some mental health issues. Immigrants have and will contribute much to our culture.

We have to spend a lot of money, I assume, keeping an eye on the crazy far right who always are strong on rhetoric and then go AWOL when it comes to fact. People like Lewington and that ex-BNP member who was caught with all of the bombs and guns and got eleven years recently. There are many similar cases of late.

Do you know many of those far right dullards actually believe that Hitler and National Socialism are desirable!

How crazy is that?

THE INEXPLICABLE PLEASURE OF JUDGES (#6)

I forget the program, but I recently heard a Judge positively exulting as he recounted KNOWING, in the circumstances of a particular case, that while his judging was perverse (not his chosen word) his compliance with Law, was absolute. This cannot be justice (and it is why I don't want legal minds in Parliament!)

The arbitrary nature of that Goldman Sachs one million bonus limit does say a lot, in my view, about why bonuses are only a symptom of the financial problems and not a cause as such.

The Lib Dems idea of breaking up the big complex banks and ring fencing "the riskier areas" is very good but even that does not go far enough. Did the banks know what were the risky areas as the anecdotal evidence seems to be that they often did not understand their own trades that well? If they don't correctly identify the risks how can the regulators and do the regulators have the ability to spot things like the CDS-AIG-Lehman Brothers build ups of risk based on paper money rather than real money?

Did the bankers do anything illegal? Are all bankers greedy and what would be the right bonus size? Did the governments who should have regulated them encourage their greed implicitly? Were the latter therefore as responsible or more responsible for the former destroying financial liquidity?

That said at this time when the bankers are generally getting bonuses based on public money they don't have very good PR and really thought nobody like Obama would dare take them on.

In fact dare we not take "them" on?

#5 indignantindegene

"My post today included the Tory electioneering letter and pamphlet. Not a mention of Immigration or EU control, just brief items on Backing British Food and Law & Order"

I am no Tory but when you have all of these far right head bangers wondering about with guns and bombs like the ex-BNP chap who got eleven years recently and Lewington before him its hardly surprising that people are looking at Law and Order.

You know the far right have generated more would be bombers and terrorists than al Qaeda of late. Given that they are ideologically aligned with traitors like Lord Haw Haw who was hung and of course Hitler whose murderous racial policies they would no doubt imitate you can see why people are concerned about Law and Order.

Take all of these English Defence League types that Newsnight showed not so long back with their hoods and suchlike. There were 1500 of them recently causing trouble and injuring police officers unlike the peaceful counter protest.

They are very very nasty people and if we have to spend the money keeping an eye on them so be it.

On bomb detectors I know its not an British army responsibility but I am surprised that they did not take an interest in the design of the gadget themselves as I assume the Iraqis using it must have often been guarding British interests.

Did they ever raise any concerns and if so did anybody quash their concerns?

#1 barriesingleton

"WISE UP THE YOUNG "

Hmmm do you mean they should be "wise" - a relative term anyway - like your old pal Jaded_jean who was forever ranting on about alleged racial differences in genetics relating to intelligence; complaining about the post WWII de-Nazification of Britain(?); praising Hitler's policies; suggesting the Holocaust was "made up"?

Surely not as all of the science and history points to those ideas being utterly stupid.

Only people devoid of critical intelligence and with bizarre psychological defects would swallow such tripe.

Oh dear, Newsnight. What was that you put out on Saturday night? A very sad programme.

It needed a better producer to make an appreciation of how Newsnight has made an impact on British Tv. No mention of how the programme has changed with advances in technology. It looked like something which 大象传媒 Three had put together.

No interviews with past staff? Why not?
Some of the best film makers in the business have passed through your doors and you
didn't acknowledge any of them.

It was just a programme of VT clippings.

Maybe next time ask Noel Gallagher to give you an opinion of how much
British youth culture changed in the 90s. Pulp's front man is a good musician but a bad pundit.

An opportunity missed.

---------------------



___________

"WHAT I SAY TO PEOPLE IS" (Tony's favourite phrase.)

"And, when Labour came to power Tony Blair said his party would be judged by how it dealt with the poorest people in Britain."

Tony had so much to say. Much of it meaningless. (Print out his speeches - I have - hunt the meaning.) He was a vacuous orator - 'never mind the meaning - feel the presence'. Now the world has Obama - oh dear.

And what did he do for the poorest? Well, I suppose some signed up to his wars. But mainly, he has demonstrated that megalomania pays - not much help really.

#10 Back to your cut and paste routine Go1?
Once again quoting a phrase from a post, making no response to any of the issues raised therein, but merely using it as a warped springboard to mention Hitler and BNP, neither of which was the subject of my post.

Allow me a similar cut and paste on one of my themes:

"why is it always considered necessary to mention that a person was a member of BNP? The media doesn't quote the political associations of others mentioned in any incident or crime? eg " Here is the news - A man was knocked over in the middle of a road - he was a member of the Liberal Party. And we have just heard that there has been an arrest in the recent bank raid - by a member of the Labour Party"

I see you introduce a new character in your attempt to dismiss any voice of protest against the blind tolerance wrecking our society:
"Given that they are ideologically aligned with traitors like Lord Haw Haw...."STOP RIGHT THERE. The 'far right' for all their faults, are not the traitors; that label is appropriate for the politicians who have ignored the growing public frustration of having little voice in this democracy.

Many of us are becoming 'radicalised' by this subjugation to EU and the stupidity of judges, who scrutinise the minutia of the Human Rights Act and favour the rights of criminals and lunatics rather the rights of our society. That is what drives support for BNP and other parties which may be the only way to rectify this imbalance.

#2

Brightyangthing

Greed can be found at any and every level and not only financially, which does not mean that everybody is greedy, whatever 'class' they may come fron or whatever profession they represent.

mim

#13

Mr Taylor

I thought something was missing and that the clips were somewhat ad hoc, etc, but you being a media person yourself, obviously recognise the difference.

I suspect that Newsnight are working on some project or other which they cannot, or would not, openly specify.

I would agree with you that there seemed to be quite a bit of sadness about the programme which intensified with its 'progress'.

By the way, apologies for the 'I' appearing at the beginning of every sentebce but I am tired, etc

Monika

BYT - it is perhaps a sweeping generalisation, but do celebrities not tend to make poor parents? It is something to do with wanting to be the centre of attention all of time. Where do the kids fit in in all of that?

It is one of the problems that I see with the emphasis in today's society on people being the best they can be, reaching their full potential. Raising children requires a lot of self-sacrifice. It is of course well worth the sacrifice but I'm afraid it seems to me that there are less and less self-sacrificers in the world - it is all about entitlement and less about sacrifice.

#18

"....it is perhaps a sweeping generalisation, but do celebrities not tend to make poor parents?"

Easy ASS U M ption to make but and there are plenty who do their damnest to show the worst of the species at every opportunity, yet I suspect the overall majority are perfectly reasonable Mr or Mrs Average as parents or anything else.

For every Amy, Britney, Michael etc, there will be a dozen perhaps, just being 'ordinary' outwith the day job.

They are just not 'good' NEWS.

Now, define Celebrity?

And now, fill in the missing word "....Raising children _ _ _ _ requires a lot of self-sacrifice."

Then I agree.

BYT - I think you are being very kind to a lot of celebrities. It doesn't just stop with attention seeking celebrities - what about all of the "wannabees" out there trying to copy the lifestyle? Too much me, me, me in my view. I know lots of parents who need "time for themsleves" or need "their own space" because without this, they can't be good parents. What a cop out. It's all a process of justifying to themselves why going out on the lash every weekend, waking up with a hang over the next morning and shouting at the kids is in fact good for their children.

#20
That's getting into much broader territory Nedafo, and even further from the NN brief.

Essentially, I am NOT in disagreement with you but suspect it would take up far too many column inches to expand on in depth.

For those regular posters that might just have taken the necessary time to read my ramblings fairly regularly some might recognize that I 鈥榖ang on鈥� about a fairly limited number of issues. One, not as commonly voiced as others, is audience stroke public participation in the news of the night (day, if you prefer?)

Imagine my utter delighted when last Thursday, in a semi-dystonic state of thought exhaustion (mainly resulting from an horrendous battle with the complexity of the TV remote.) I focus in on an extended series of interview with the GBP in all their unique and near unquantifiable glory! Ah ha, methinks, an Intellectual Rights fee will surely be winging it鈥檚 way pretty soon.

I struggled to tag what was the theme of the interviews but eventually settled to the belief that with the Nn team introducing such a new, provocative and edgy idea they, the N鈥檔鈥檋ood, were attempting the honourable thing and introducing the interviewees to their 鈥榝ifteen minutes鈥� , and us the viewers to them, gently so that they - when sitting for their first nationwide broadcast of the 鈥淧ublic鈥檚 Panel鈥� slot - would not freeze in the lime-fed glare and we, the viewers, would not overwhelm the Nn Server with generous, gracious and praising posts on how informed, incisive and relevant the 鈥楶ublic Panelists鈥� had been!

But then ..... Wait!

Titles, Link, Intro, Opening Titles !

Newsnight starts!

Nine, nine, nine call. Ambulance, Admission, Examination, Treatment, Discharge, Targets met, Bus ride home!

Oh well, I thought, 鈥淣n at 30鈥� will have some input from the GBP won鈥檛 it?

After all, where would Nn have been for the last three decades without ....

it鈥檚 audience!


Oh Yes!

Mr Cohen. It is hard to establish any sympathy as he has already had 65k plus 5k on top so he is not actually being 鈥榩unished鈥� stroke losing out.

Hopefully the CPS and the CPS will have some input!

Oh Yes .... again.

No response from Muslimah yet then! One post, notably asking for special treatment from the Moderators and ...... nothing!

Could it be a case of .....

鈥楲isten to what I say and then I will close my ears.鈥�

So much for understanding and social interaction.

Oh Yes .... again

A conference begins as to how to deal with the discovery of alien life forms.

Is there any truth to the Agenda supposedly set for one of the 鈥榝ringe鈥� meetings?

i.e.


Making it work.

Immigration status ... A policy made on the hoof!

2. DNA Profiling ... Ignoring the political dilemma.

3. Surpassing the 70 million mark? ... A win win situation?

4. 10 clever ways to conceal increased welfare spending.

5. Government Department translation service provision ... A 鈥榠deal鈥� document of complexity for Civil Servants and necessarily far too complex for the public.

6. Expert thoughts on the provision of New Towns.

Desirable outcomes ... Sensitivity to newcomer demand. An empowerment guide.

PC in the education system ... Maintaining the present for the future.


Have no fear peeps.

If the discovery is made chances are these Alien Life Forms will all live in a ....

Petri Dish.


The penultimate 鈥� Oh Yes 鈥� ....


Oh Yes ....

Big Con himself fully supports Faith Schools .

So much for social integration & community cohesion.

And the final鈥� Oh Yes 鈥� for today ....

There are still many good female candidates that have yet to be selected says Mr Big Con himself.

And presumably these are are all local candidates then are they?

Re: 22 above ....

Oops!

Hopefully the CPS and the CPS will have some input!

should read

Hopefully the CPS and the SFO will have some input!

#21 & #22

Brifhtyangthing and Nedafo2

I should imagine there are celebs who are very reasonable parents, so to speak, and plenty of non-celebs who couldn't possible match them.

It all depends really and quite often it is not the amount of time that the parent spends with his/her kids but the quality of time spent with them, as well making sure that they knnow that they are loved and obviously showing them affection as often as possible, even if only by telephone or e-mail, or whatever.

It is the knowledge of being loved that matters most and making sure that the kids are encouraged in pursuit of self-fulfillment and their own happiness as independent human beings as sooner or later they do have to start their own lives and thus know how to cope with it.

mim

I thought Saturday's offering was superb....and brightened a dull day

#25

stevie

Are you referring to the special edition of Newsnight?

From my own perspective I did find it interesting as per my numerous posts on the subjects touched in the programme but I can also see the reasons for Ron Taylor's criticism and indeed it would have been good to have a few cohesive interviews with former presenters, learn about all those apparently amazing people who passed through Newsnight on to other areas, like film making apparently, and perhaps a historical perspective of the biggest social issues in the last 30 years.

mim

Gong of one wrote: (somewhere up above)

"We have to spend a lot of money, I assume, keeping an eye on the crazy far right who always are strong on rhetoric and then go AWOL when it comes to fact. People like Lewington and that ex-BNP member who was caught with all of the bombs and guns and got eleven years recently. There are many similar cases of late"

As far as I am aware the ex-BNP member you constently mention never actually killed any one. Whilst Tony Blair (socialist) is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands.

Bonus culture needs to change. the bonus should not be a divine right. the salaries are very very good [despite what many in the city may think]
if excessive risk taking is the problem; this needs addressing.
they can keep their bonus's.... BUT.... surely they need to be PERFORMANCE RELATED. and by this I mean positive and NEGATIVE. All participants should be liable for their mistakes/poor performance- just like 'normal' people are. Investors money will then have a double insurance policy, first the more careful attitude of the city folk and the knowledge that their bonus pool and salaries can contribute to losses.
This may seem harsh, but it does point out the fact that much of the city鈥檚 work is to a greater or lesser extent gambling, albeit with vast sums of money and with the odds stack heavily in their favour thanks to access to large quantities of relevant data and information. If one can gamble without fear of personal loss, a resulting recklessness is not to be unexpected.

Interesting discussion on Newsnight, Jan 25 2009. The Witch Hunt against Bankers continues unabated.

Let it not be said that being obsessed with bankers cannot generate positive results, but.... honestly. The UK has experienced the worst economic downturn in ages, not created by bankers, but essentially down to a financial and regulatory system which was never fit for purpose in the first place.

They do say that the best form of defence is one of attack.... and so it is quite understandable why Gordon Brown has wished to defend his lack of economic competence.


But, please...... let us stop blaming the Bankers, shall we. The biggest Rogue Trader of them all is, you guessed it, Gordon Brown.

I wish these figures had been explained a lot more...


So child poverty has gone up a lot more, why?

Would it be because we have had mass immigration, so wages have been forced down, so making people poorer? Would it be because of mass immigration there is a lack of jobs for poorer unskilled people? Would it be because of mass immigration there is a shortage of council housing? Would it be because people have too many children they can't afford? Contraception and abortion are freely available if you can't afford to pay. When will we understand that these poor children will never lead happy and successful lives?

Are these children British, or are they new immigrants to our shores? How can we know who is who here anymore, and who these poor people are, when we keep importing millions from the poor countries of the EU and the poor from around the world? How are we going to cope with the problems all this is going to throw up of miserable deprived adults?

Can the working people of this country afford to pay more taxes to help the poor children improve their lifestyle. I just wish these figures were gone into in a lot more depth, and we were told the truth.

Perhaps the term Nigel Privaro needs to describe what has happened during the alleged regeneration of Salford is Corporate Ethnic Cleansing. A neat little scheme to ensure those prudent working class folk who had saved for and paid for their house in full to be left as slaves to the Banks in their retirement. Thrifty local folk replaced by ten bob fat cat slaves to the financial system living permanently on the " never ", net result even more people can look forward to a retirement in destitution. No wonder why apparently so many feel the need to keep working after age 65 ?

The Tobin Tax time has come.

How can these massive bonus payouts be justified when the taxpayer will be picking up the pieces of this banking incompetence, although a truer description would be fraud, for years to come.

The argument is that we will lose banking competency if the bonuses aren't paid, but don't we want to lose these people who are so motivated by greed. Wasn't it greed that caused the dodgy investments and trading in dodgy loans and debt in the first place.

Let the job be its own reward like it is for everyone else. Surely 100 000 a year is enough for anyone to live a life of luxury on. What do bankers do with all this money? Don't they just leave most of it in the bank. How does that help the economy?

Where we went wrong and started the process which gave the banks all the power, was when we stopped getting paid in cash, when our wages were paid directly into bank accounts. Should we all demand to be paid in cash again? Would that help redress the balance?

I despair of any sense of justice in the way the government is dealing with the banks. Would I get to keep my job plus a massive annual bonus for nearly bringing the economy down through, putting it nicely, institutionalised dodgy business practise? No I don't think so.

Doing away with bonuses would mean that we would lose the current bunch? Wouldn't that be a good thing? From the description on Newsnight tonight the bonus awards are bitterly contested 'with a lot of anglo saxon language' banging desks shouting etc. It sounds as though our banking system is run by a lot of spoilt brats! Should we bring in a corporate supernanny?

Get rid of them and let some new graduates in, with a bit more conscience and imagination, who would almost certainly be more than happy with 100 grand a year.

Almost everyone I know has been affected financially by this incompetence. One friend's life savings have been halved. Anyone with an endowment mortgage has lost hugely. Several friends are now facing up to having to take out a second mortgage to cover the shortfall.

Never mind, the bankers will be bathing in champagne tonight! I hope my anger is coming across here because no-one seems to be listening to us, who after all are footing the bill as usual.

HOW FORTUNATE THAT THE POOR IN SPIRIT ARE BLESSED! (#30)

Look - you've set me off again!

The poverty in the 'West', and particularly in Britain, is POVERY OF SPIRIT. We lack positive values (I can't even bring myself to mock Brown, right now) and believe Mammon can fix everything. When Blair's ego-vehicle: 'New Labour' decides to fix poverty, it thinks in terms of disposable income, never comprehending that DISPOSABLE LIVES are the real problem. How ironic the country is howling about the effect of 'bad parenting' on vulnerable children, while the effect of BAD GOVERNANCE - to rip out stereotypes of the family that were put in place millennia ago - goes unreported. It is Westminster Governance that needs intensive therapy (as suggested for families). Westminster is mentally disturbed and dysfunctional; it should not be in charge of 60 million vulnerable individuals.

CULTURAL DECLINE MEANS ANY REPLACEMENTS WILL BE WORSE (#33)

With you all the way Lesley. But while this lot were wrecking everything, the next lot were being schooled. The conclusion seems unavoidable.

'CHEMICAL ALI' HANGED BUT 'DEMOLITION HANK' NOT EVEN BEING SOUGHT.

Sadam 'killed his own people'. Something similar happened in New York.
When the truth of 9/11 emerges, we shall witness just how adjustable Justice can be. Hold on to that phrase: "He killed his own people".

"We are almost as exposed as Iceland" - Vince Cable on tonight's edition.
I don't even have anything to add to that......

Funniest line of the night was Jeremy's "Who said Media Studies was a waste of time?" Ha ha ha ha ha

THE JOKE IS ON NEWSNIGHT 76 (#37)

I spent more time pondering the cost of graphics, musack and 'choreographing with voice', than I did attending to any purported content.

'Who said Media Studies was a waste of time?' NOT NEWSNIGHT PAXO! Newsnight is, like, top EDGY innit!

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding at the Blue Moon Pub

It is now 4.20
For me I鈥檝e had sleep aplenty
And am looking forward to the forthcoming day
Riding my bike and snapping away
Probably stopping at my favourite pub
Apparently excellent is all their grab
If had more money I would go on there on Sunday
And have roast beef and a Yorkshire pudding
Which look amazing, I saw them last Sunday
A few young lads polished their plates
Then went away probably to play

mim

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding at the Blue Moon Pub - continuation

I had a chat about the grab
At the Blue Moon to pass by soon
When I did mention their Yorkshire Pudding
A chap suggested that now we talked dirty
What has a pudding with dirt and filthing
That kind of statement is arbitrary
I would suggest quite the contrary
A pudding surely, sweet or savoury
Has associations with pleasure, maybe a story
A link in a chain uniting therein
The parties involved that friendship claim

mim

Prose musings around the subject of dirt, sex and pornography as opposed to pleasurable love making:

I could never understand the connection that is so abundant these days between dirt, sex and pornography and what kind of 'pleasure' could possibly be derived from it. I'm not even trying to be judgemental about the issue and perhaps even understand women who voluntarily become prostitutes but it beats me to comprehend why any man with claims to liking a woman could possibly wish to subject her to sex abuse by other men. And then what? Unless it is purely for the reasons of greed, unfanthomable by myself greed or need for strange excietement and obviously financial gains, as well perhaps some weird power struggle but about this some other time.

mim

Having browsed in the early hours of this morning the 大象传媒 News Front Page I came across a fascinating article about a mole hunter within the MI5 and throughout what seems like almost the whole of the British Establishment. His name is Stephen de Mowbray and here's the link:



The article and one of Jeremy's quiz questions about Gadaffi and a pie in the sky has provoked within me /is just my brain or a bit more than this?/ a spontaneous dittying reaction which reads as follows:

A spy in the sky

Is it a pie or spy in the sky
Flying well high
Or closer nigh?
Well on his bike or motor-bike
And does he like the Cornish pie?
What other pies fly in the skies?
Kidney from Sydney?
Cottage with sausage?
Pork from New York?
Or corned beef pie
High or well nigh?
There must sweet pies flying the skies
And so we have an apple pie,
Cherry, banoffee, blackberry spy
I鈥檝e even discovered a custard sweet pie!
Well not forgetting Christmas mince pies
I used to make with my own hands.
Right from the beginning with produce fresh
Fully imbued with brandy or whisky
Which I considered not very risky
But it鈥檚 all turned out to be a big mess.
However, the sun鈥檚 still there
As well as skies
And freshly made savoury/sweet pies
Well not forgetting all kinds of chutneys
Be they sweet/sour or otherwise.

I do sincerely hope that some of the readers react to it with a smile on their face/?/ Responses would be most welcome, even the rubbishing ones!

Many thanks for the attention to those who have bothered to read the whole thing from the beginning to the very end! (^_^)

mim

'THE NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION'

The NeF has declared 'WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS' (sounds familiar). They say growth is a problem - it is a cause of global warming. I have always thought the problem with growth is that it turns raw materials IRREVERSIBLY into rubbish, at an ever-increasing rate. Should NeF be renamed NAFF?

We've come out of recession!!!!!!! By the infinitesimal amount of 0.1%!!



Champagne all round? yipee!!!!!

#30 ecolizzy from your 大象传媒 link:
"The government says it has lifted half a million children out of relative poverty, and helped the very poorest, as defined by its own criteria."

No doubt the govt has lifted many out of 'relative' worse poverty in Bangladesh, Pakistan and similar countries and that has added to the increase in UK child poverty.

Helen Good(man)person, the govt's nice benefits lady, said on TV this morning that they have found that child poverty is worse in workless households - an amazing piece of research - and also stated that they have reduced child poverty - despite the news headline banner stating that it increased. She added that 'they have increased child benefits and tax credits' a catch-up game that is not addressing the causes.

The 大象传媒 online link shows a video clip of a single mother stating that the govt doesn't pay her enough housing allowance, etc., but she doesn't use some vouchers 'because that would show how poor she is!' 大象传媒 News channel chose to interview a Scottish lady instead of using their video clip, presumably realising that it would not elicit much sympathy from viewers, like myself, who are tired of paying tax on a meagre pension to support the world's immigrants.

Can anybody tell me who the Artist was playing Dirty Old Town last night on Newsnight. Many thanks

'Govt has a handle on it' - but its an open door.

I have twice 'blown the whistle' based on my own experience that Gordo's 'tough new points system' for students was a sham, and an open door for illegal immigration, notably from potentially unsafe areas.

They're still in denial



I'm becoming more radicalised every day.

Just disgusted, but not surprised by this....

#48

"And why behold you the mote that is in your brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye?"

:p @ #49 - I'm not a subscriber.

FIRST CHILCOTT SESSION TODAY DEVASTATING

Shock horror - the usual supspects are emerging as - well - THE MAIN SUSPECTS.

At this late stage, might the Olympic stadium be reconfigured as a war-crime trial venue?

#48 I expect there are many thousands like this poor young woman Mistress, this is just one story the papers got hold of.

Now what do we do, first of all complete medical care, then a new home for mum and baby, then money for essential furniture and baby equipment, and then money to live on and bring baby up. Not that I think either should suffer in any way, but how about just staying home with mum and dad, or rather the new grandparents.

#49 You don't mean Mote and Bailey do you Barrie?! ; )

Mim (#24)

BEING THERE

"....quite often it is not the amount of time that the parent spends with his/her kids but the quality of time spent with them"

I have to disagree with your rather too simplistic take on parenting. Just because something is fashionable and many buy into it, it may not actually fit or suit most people all that well.

I have always been suspicious of those who suggest 鈥榪uality鈥� which is very hard to quantify, is MORE important than 鈥檘uantity鈥� which IS quantifiable in terms of time spent with children.

I have no intention of sitting in judgement or heaping additional guilt on 鈥榳orking mothers鈥� 鈥� of itself a misnomer that sits uncomfortably in judgement on those whose 鈥榳ork鈥� gains no financial recompense and scant recognition either these days.

Few people ever make a choice in anything determined to do the 鈥榳orst鈥�. And in parenting one need look no further than Philip Larkin鈥檚 鈥楾his be the verse鈥� to understand that the best most of us can hope for is rudimentarily adequate.

The lack of a parent at home for even very young children in many communities causes many difficulties for all manner of organisations.

Take schools and nurseries as a prime example. Now being required to provide breakfast clubs and homework clubs as a child minding service; receiving seriously unwell children, or having to contain a child taken ill within a sick rooms or more often a busy reception or back of classroom for hours awaiting collection.

Also dentists and doctors who are now trying to fit children in appointments traditionally available to 鈥榳orkers鈥� at either end of the day, to name but a few I observed frequently.

It鈥檚 funny isn鈥檛 it, how child minders are exalted, whilst a mother who chooses to be at home for her children is considered a loser, or a scourge on society.

I am glad (and lucky) that I got to choose, and chose to be the person who: took my children to school and collected them (or was there when they came home 鈥� this to my mind became MORE important as they got older and influences on them became more confusing and demanding) ; the one they shared the hopes fear joy and tears with FIRST; bathed the knees and dished out kisses interspersed with discipline and life鈥檚 little lessons, hard or soft; I watched them play sport (took them to hospital!) fed them sensibly , listened to them (and their music!) , answered their questions, (aargh) heard their jokes....... , even laughed. And all this, mostly WHEN they wanted and needed it. You can鈥檛 timetable that on a family calendar.

I welcomed their friends in, chatted (usually far too long) with other parents on drop off or collections or took their friends to activities, often feeding them too, because I was THERE!

And I am glad I was. I LOST nothing. I GAINED respect as they were growing up and warm loving trusting and open relationships of parent and child, not FRIEND (as I believe is right) now. It did not necessarily make me a better mother, but made my being a mother better. I earnestly recommend the experience to the house.

This post is in response to JAperson:
Excuse me for the delay in responding, I have other matters of importance that are first in priority, and forums and such are not in my list of interest. The purpose of my post was specifically for news night as they held the hijaab on the agenda of the programme.
If your question was truly in search of an answer than hopefully this should clarify for you the question about shari鈥檃h. If your intent was otherwise than regardless whether the truth comes to you or not, you鈥檒l be closed to it. I answer your question upon the bases of the first.
Shari鈥檃h is: the commands and prohibitions, the permissable and the impermissible.
With every nation came a shari鈥檃h 鈥� if you are a Christian or a Jew, you would have no objection to this, as Moses (peace be upon him) and Jesus (peace be upon him) and all the prophets (peace be upon them all) came with a different law for their people. They differed from nation to nation in accordance with their requirements, until the final of these legislations was Islam. Allah (PLEASE NOTE: It is an Arabic word that means: The one who is worshipped) legislated a shar鈥檌ah and abrogated it with another shar鈥檌ah until the Shari鈥檃h of Islam came. As for the foundation of the religion of the Prophets, they were one 鈥� submitting to Allah, acknowledging Him as One, Perfect and flawless, that He created, maintains and controls the affairs of whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. Thus they were from those who submitted to Him (Arabic. Muslim 鈥� one who submits).
When we perform our obligatory duties as Muslims i.e. praying, giving in charity, fasting, performing hajj, obeying our parent, those in authority etc, we are abiding by the shar鈥檌ah. However this obedience to the creation is limited to if it is in obedience to Allah. So if our parents command us to stop worshipping Allah, intoxicate ourselves with alcohol or drugs, there is no obedience to them in that matter, but obedience to them in other matters is obligatory. Someone who does not believe in Allah and tries to uphold the observance of the shar鈥檌ah (commands and prohibitions, the permissible and the impermissible) then there will be no benefit. A clear example can be taken from January 16, 1920, when 鈥楢mericans raised their glasses to drink one last time before the 18th Amendment was put into act. This Amendment banned the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the United States鈥�. However the affects were devastating, in contrary when this prohibition took place at the time of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the people spat out the beverages, many vomited upon consuming it and hearing the prohibition, and the streets of madeenah were flowing with alcohol as the people sought to rid themselves of it. Please refer to the History books. Their hearts were attached to obedience and submitting to Allah.
What you may be referring to is the hudood - penal law, which is only one part of the whole shari鈥檌ah. Britain and other countries have already taken and implemented parts of it into the system 鈥� such as the benefit system - this is something from Islam (bait al-maal 鈥� the treasury house).
Harsher punishments act as better deterents, and this is why if you research into countries which implement shari'iah they have a far less crime rate. This is what it has to offer. But it is not and should not be forced upon anyone.
We will see the outcomes of our deeds on the Last Day.
Please excuse me from this 鈥榝orum鈥� as I will be removing myself to preserve my time. If you need further clarifications or have any othe queries. Its easy to type islamqa into google and you can have the opportunity to get your questions answered by scholars, rather than a layman like myself.
Thank you

HAS SHE GONE? EVERYONE KEEP YOUR KEYBOARDING DOWN.

Psssst. The Archangel Eric called on me in the night, he left these CDs made of a mysterious plastic. I have to copy them to file and then he will take them away for recycling. Eric says this supersedes all the other religions (he wasn't very complimentary) and I am your new Messiah. I'll be in touch - no schisms now!

okay, i urge you all to watch the report on Salford and look at the sky when it comes to the shots of the streets, there is one atreet the appears several times, and in the sky there is, well, something! i dont know what it is, but if anyone can maybe shed any light on it, i would be greatful, its been bugging me for days, i just can not figure out what it is!