ChavWivaLawDegree

Some bloke I know who works in the city (boo hiss!) had a very serious drink problem and nervous breakdown that affected his work, so his bank paid for him to get counselling from The Priory. He went in thinking it would be a pile of crap. He came out the other side a changed man. The counsellor was a no-nonsense scouser who wasn't fluffy and didn't pull his punches (wierdly I'm not related). I think that was what worked for my know-all mate, but like MP said above, it's horses for courses.

I find bribery the best option - but this only works if they are totally cash strapped and dependent on parents largesse! You have to be tough though and not give in to begging.

"Let's also not forget that men's sperm quality declines as they get older too." - especially after a all the binge drinking and partying in their 20's!

I think there was a f"(K up with getting the papers in on time! The person who was going to stand was unable to because of some techincality or timekeeping something like that, but you should join up and stand yourself! Democracy should be about participation, instead of being the spectator sport it is at present!

I'm crap with names, but obviously McNulty is great. Omar is sexy in a scary ugly way - the dumb mixed race detective who works with the white cop is pretty hot too! I loved the female cop character. Very stong. I feel sorry for DumbAngelo! And Bubbs, I hope he stays clean! They are all very deep and believable characters. I love their complexity. No 2D goody v baddy lazy cliches here. Brilliant stuff.

SimonM - Thanx so much for letting me borrow this. I've had a Wire-fest this weekend and have 2 more episodes of the first series to watch, but I'm scared. What will I do when it's all over. I can't imagine life without them. They have become my family. Compulsive viewing.

I think he is just someone who wasn't going to be spooked into doing anything in haste. I don't trust the guy, but he is not Tony Blair. Tony would have read the papers, opinion polls and panicked. Gordon never seemed the panicky type to me. Plus if he had gone for an Autumn election, everyone would have panicked that it was cos the economy is about to tumble and all the city tw@ts would have dumped sterling and brought a downturn on.

Women get broody, it's natures/God's way of ensuring we procreate. I have 4 kids and I was still getting broody until my granddaughter was born in January. The optimal time for conception and pregnancy for the health of the woman and the baby is when the woman is in her mid 20's. Again not much we can do about that. Medical advances have made it possible for women to delay childbirth while they concentrate on using their energetic 20's and 30's for other things, eg building financial security. Women's pay is reduced significantly in comparison to men's with every child they have, so delaying childbirth in this society may seem like a sensible thing to do for any woman who wants financial independence. But, IVF does not match natures natural selection race of the sperm to get the strongest and healthiest embryo, and the quality of women's eggs rapidly decline after the age of 30. The procedure itself may have other hidden long term health consequences for children conceived this way, and for any children born to them. This will not change any time soon for the mother's of ED or anywhere else until we address the gender pay gap, and the financial disincentive to have children early. Our peak in fertility coincides with our peak in energy for a reason, but in this society, employers want to suck all that energy from you and when you start slowing down, then you can go and try to produce the next generation of workers. I don't think we can blame mothers of ED for wanting to have children at any age. It is one of the strongest drives we have, but we can blame this society for making it so difficult to do it the way nature intended.

You lot have to admit the article was pretty spot on though. I'm a newcomer in a council house, not a house or flat I had to buy, I'm not a material person and don't feel the need for the 'benefits' of gentrification. I find watching this older mother/silly shops/self-concious bars & cafe's phenomenon amusing. I'm not criticising it, but it is there and I find people's (trendy) herd mentality funny. Just like my strong accent and chavvy way of behaving is there and probably amusing to others. I did choose to move here, rather than somewhere else owned by Southwark Council, because I'd had enough of living on a rough, high crime housing estate, but it was the good schools and open spaces and hight above sea level (climate change!) that attracted me. It wasn't until I got here that I became aware of all the other stuff, and like I said, as a newcomer and outsider, I think what Turner has identified is real, and it is funny but there is no need for anyone to get defensive about it. Each to their own.

I think my mate Jenny Jones will be standing against her for the Green Party, so you could always vote Green you know! Actually i think she might be standing in Camberwell and Peckham, but don't let that stop you voting Green.

Brendan, we did get about cos I took the old Volvo estate my dad gave me to bring all the camping gear in. I managed to cram 9 people, a baby and 2 dogs into it on our day trips. Not very legal, but it was either that or stay on the campsite and miss the beautiful Cornish sights.

Oh yeh, ok

Just bought a massive, funky trailer to pull behind my bike (and a set of waterproofs) so I don't need to use my car, which I am still trying to sell. My daughter and granddaughter love being pulled along in it and it's firming my arse up a treat! For any long journeys I'll try to use my family railcard and book cheap tickets in advance on the train (it cost abot ?80 in total for 4 adults and 4 kids to travel to Cornwall and back by train this way this summer)or as a last resort if i really did need a car, I'll rent one. Weaning myself off my car, has been a long process though, one which poverty has speeded along!

Nero - What pin?

Sorry - that's not my doing fish!

I think cognitive therapy, learning coping techniques, that kind of thing is a lot more useful than poring over your childhood and inadequacies for months on end. Which ever way you have learned, through your childhood experiences, to react to stresses in life, is an important issue, but only so you can understand how to adjust those responses, or be aware when you are responding what it is you are actually reacting to and move forward.

People I call on you to put down your pens, discard those redundant desks, learn to build your own houses and grow yoor own food. Let us walk into the sunset, and head for them thar hills.

It might be the perfect spot for the much needed ED sex shop.

Where's Stumpy gone?

I've had my fair share of counsellors, probation, NA etc and I thought most of them were well meaning but pretty useless. The only ones I found any good though, and please don't laugh because I'm being deadly serious, were the people I spoke to in sex addicts anonymous. I expected it to be full of dirty old men in macs jacking off, but it was surprisingly moving and informative. Helped me deal with some self-esteem issues, and now I only get dangerously rampant when I'm on heat, mid-cycle.

Haha, no i'm on the legal drugs nowadays - Gin & Tonic to chase away my nightmares!

Thanx Jah - I edited mine because I needed to say it at the time, but was not very comfortable about it being on permanant display on a public forum. I'm standing as the Green Party candidate against the rightious Mr Hughes in the next general election, after all! Green Party know about dodgy past and think it's great, by the way.

Terrible crime and all that, but laughed my tits off at the posts! I remember being a little tw@t of a teenager, in a gang of other little tw@ts of teenagers destroying other people's stuff for a laugh after a night on acid or after doing loads of hot knives, or draught sherry. That was quite a long time ago, so methinks this is not a new phenomenon.

Stumpy - wasn't it insured? I am not someone with strong attachments to things, so I suppose I'm a bit surprised by the strength of your feelings towards a car.

Keef - "the person should get their bloody stuff out of a place where they no longer live" - what if they have no where to live, and therefore nowhere to take their stuff to?