Otta

Thank God for that!

The Boxer is another favourite of mine. There was a documentary about the 25th anniversary of Graceland in which some black South Africans told Paul Simon that they'd been angered when he made it because it ignored the international cultural boycott against the apartheid regime. He seemed genuinely upset about it and I got the impression it had never dawned on him, he just liked the music and wanted to make an album with these musicians.

My daughter refused outright to be an angel with the other little girls, and instead will be a shepherd. Part of me is very proud of that, whilst part of me wonders why she always has to be the odd one.

We had "America" at our wedding. Beautiful song. Paul Simon really got jealous of Garfunkle getting all the praise for Bridge over troubled water (which he wrote), so much so he even left the stage for that song when they had their reunion.

Plus it was after world war 2 had finished. Fair points about Twitter and celebrity.

What *bob* said. MP your posts seem full of genuine vitriol towards these 2 chumps who you've never met. I remember hearing a prank call years ago when a DJ (I think it was on Radio City, which is Liverpool's answer to Capital) called the Eiffel Tower and asked about admission prices and opening hours, before asking whether there was fencing around the top, he went on to basically tell the receptionist that he was planning to throw himself from the top of the tower. I remember thinking this was a pretty funny call, and in all honestly, had I heard the call we're all getting so upset about now (I haven't so much as heard a clip yet) and there were barking "corgis" in the background, I'd have thought it was pretty funny. Stupid but funny. Then someone kills themself, and suddenly it wasn't all that funny after all. But basically they could never have predicted this, and Marmora Man's earlier comparrsion to an arsonist starting a fatal fire just doesn't work for me. Arson is still a serious crime commited by a nutter whether there is a death or not. Making a prank call may be immature and stupid, but there was nothing psychotic about it. What they should have done, and probably wish they had done was to have ended the call themselves when it was clear they were getting further than they'd expected, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. At the end of the day, it was a joke! A really crap joke, but a joke nonetheless. Should it have been broadcast? Well not the bit that revealed ANYTHING about the state of the patient, but the bit that showed the hospital up as being a bit crap, well why not? Lots of businesses get tested by undercover shoppers and if they fail to act professionally, this gets exposed. At the end of all that a woman killed herself. That is undoubtedly the real tradgedy in all of this. Why did she do it? NO ONE KNOWS! Are the DJs secretly loving all this? It's possible, I'll give you that. Are the DJs absolutely shocked about what has happened, and wish they could rewind time and not make / air the call? I think that is more likely. Either way, are the DJs responsible for this woman's death? NO.

No there isn't if you're in to pure flesh. Seriously, I'm not suggesting it's morally questionable or anything, just that I can't see why anyone would fancy it. I like a bit of extra flavour added and some crispy fatty bits.

But the DJs wouldn't have made the decision to broadcast or not broadcast. Point your anger at the radio station if that's how you feel, but I think you are putting it all on these 2 people who were basically just larking about in typical crap radio fashion, as is their job. Michael Palaeologus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "Shattered AND Gutted" You seem to have missed "heartbroken" but I suspect that was deliberate. > Lets save our concern and sympathy for the family > of Jacintha Saldanha. I hadn't realised sympathy had to be exclusively used on one or the other parties. Of course everyone would sympathise with the family (the DJs included). But I feel sory for these 2 who are no doubt feeling pretty shitty over the whole thing.

If that is true, then that is disgusting from the station. But probably a mistake rather than a decision. Surely no one would be stupid enough given the international feeling.

My Missus (a vegetarian) once worked as an au pair for a French family, and she was horrified that she had to give the small child (think she said he was barely more than a toddler) steaks that she was told to touch the pan for 5 seconds either side before serving. That to me is basically raw.

Yes, but the fact remains that 1 minute either side is still rare.

Exactly Chillaxed! People who want meat pretty much raw are for me, in the same category as blokes ordering vindaloos for some macho reason. A steak cooked for a minute either side will still be plenty bloody and pink.

Michael Palaeologus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "The DJs were devastated", actually "Gutted" was > the elegant phrase that they used. > > Of course they are gutted, their career is at an > end and they have to answer questions about their > conduct. Gutting indeed. I think you are being very harsh. From the BBC In an interview for Channel Nine's A Current Affair programme, Mr Christian told presenter Tracy Grimshaw: "When we thought about making a call it was going to go for 30 seconds, we were going to be hung up on, and that was it. As innocent as that." Ms Greig said: "We thought 100 people before us would've tried it. We thought it was such a silly idea and the accents were terrible and not for a second did we expect to speak to Kate - let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on.'' The pair said they had heard about Mrs Saldanha's death in the early hours of Saturday morning. "It was the worst phone call I've ever had in my life,'' said Ms Greig. Asked what his immediate reaction had been, Mr Christian wept and said: "Shattered, gutted, heartbroken and obviously you know. Our deepest sympathies are with the family and the friends. "Prank calls are made every day, on every radio station in every country around the world, and they have been for a long time and no-one could've imagined this to happen.'' Ms Greig said they had expected to be hung up on and she said: "The accents were terrible. You know it was designed to be stupid. We were never meant to get that far from the little corgis barking in the background - we obviously wanted it to be a joke. "If we played any involvement in her death then we're very sorry for that. And time will only tell." Asked about whether she felt there was a "witch hunt" against them, Ms Greig said: "There's nothing that can make me feel worse than what I feel right now. And for what I feel for the family. We're so sorry that this has happened to them." I hardly think they're being blase about it.

I don't really blame the restaurants for getting people to sign things, in this day and age, you can bet your house that there are plenty of poeple out there who wouldn't hesitate to try and claim compensation from the restaurant if they got food poisoning after demanding nearly raw meat. You can't blame them for protecting their business, and they are not refusing to give you what you want. It is common for people to have to sign waivers before parachute jumps, or bungee jumps. Now I know that the potential dangers are much larger, but effectively it is a business protecting themselves. Besides, these days people are signing waivers ahead of kids parties and playdates. It's a crazy messed up world. Anyway, I hardly ever eat a burger or high or low quality except at a summer BBQ, so doesn't really matter what I think, but the thought of a bloody burger makes me feel a bit gippy.

Jahmene singing Angels & Let it be done nothing for me. Hope he makes an album of soul type stuff. I still wouldn't buy it, but may download a track (for free). James a deserving winner, but I still want to slap his face and tell him to stop with the pained thing, it's fecking annoying!

I like my steak bloody, but burgers? I just find that a bit nasty. You should move to France, they don't give a shit.

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200279/parenting_support_and_courses/2481/contact_a_family_drop_in-under_fives/1 Good luck!

Absolutely, they'd have been slaughtered!

I suspect the Queen does make some calls herself if it's about close family. I don't think the DJs ever actually expected for the call to go that far. From what I can tell (and yes I could be wrong) they were probably looking to get a laugh out of a receptionist, I doubt they ever thought they'd get as far as a nurse directly responsible for the patient's care.

Haha, touche. Seriously, I thought Tevez was great when he came on. Should have started. In other news, great win for Liverpool yesterday, in a game that many (myself included) thought they'd struggle in, and that is out of respect to the way West Ham have been playing. Good to see 3 goals scored without Saurez on the pitch, and well needed.

the-e-dealer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are you a financial adviser? No, but I'm also not qualified to advise people to end their lives.

I guess what I am saying is that you can't blame anyone for a suicide. The person who kills themselves makes a decision to do that. There may be factors that contribute, and the hoax call may have been a factor in this case (or for all we know she was going to do it that day anyway). So, at most, the DJ's actions were a contributing factor to this woman's decision to end her life. The DJs are not responsible for the woman's death.

Riiight, so if I tell you to sell your house and invest everything in RBS Shares, am I to blame for you losing everything, or should you take some responsibility for yourself.

The "prank" was inappropriate, and not funny. And they should have thought about what it means to call a hospital trying to get info about a patient. I'm not so sure they should have thought about whether the person answering the phone would have mental health issues, and kill themselves as a result. If I am in a heated argument with someone and I say "just fuck off, you're not worth the air you breath, why don't you do us all a favour and kill yourself"*. And then they go and kill themselves, I I to blame for that death? * I'm not actually in the habit of getting in to heated arguments and advising people to end it all.

I still think it's pretty convenient for the hospital to try to lay the blame completely at the feet of the hoax callers. In the NHS both nurses would have at least been disciplined. I find it hard to believe that the hospital didn't take any action and that she wasn't at least verbally roasted for her part in it. Of course after she's gone and killed herself the hospital aren't going to say "hmm perhaps we were a bit hard on her".