SeanMacGabhann

mm - did you have a word with something like ci-a-lis in it... say "special-ist"?

you are not alone Keef - that sound you hear is me slapping my forehead as well!

as I take a hankie to my face... Seriously Jah... Y'all are better than to be comparing her to those named

That's pretty much what I was getting at in my post Keef. Thanks to huncamunca for digging up the words, and they did take me back, but now the moment is closer and she is clearly a frail old bird - I just don't have the hate any more Many countries have gone through monumental changes since the 70s but many of them didn't require the same levels of masochism the English seem to have enjoyed with the grocer's daughter. However at the moment I'm not really keen on re-fighting the old wars

Now that the elvis costello moment is upon us (that one from spike) i feel strangely subdued. . .

I'm in

When he's good he's good

How odd - I was going to post the very same thing - great name (and nice gaming reference too MP) Those of us with real names are never going to stand a chance with this tho' Oh I think HonaloochieB is a good un too

ha - well that in itself was the subject of some debate JMI ;-) It usually rotates around the various bars in ED (or nearby) - the next one is off the main drag in the CPT (Crystal Palace Tavern) on (I think) the 4th April Coincidentally the CPT was the location for my first attendance at the forum drinks and I was very very nervous - so don't worry if you are. Once I said hello I was welcomed like family oh and that main thread about muggings in the area - you can read it here Muggings in ED -have you been affected? Edited because I can't seem to type "the" - it always comes out as "teh" PS I agree with what Sue just said too (and Sue was a 1st time attendee at last drinks so might offer newbie insight)

I don't think anyone HAS been banned around here. If you were going to get banned I imagine the rant against Nuala would have done it (I still think that was using the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a nut)

If it's any consolation (and it won't be for a while) have a look at the other muggings threads - somany people have lived here for years without any trouble at all. Having lived in many different parts of London and the UK I can say that ED is the safest place I have lived - it being part of a major world city muggins will happen and some people seem to be disproportionatly affected compared to others but on the whole I wouldn't live anywhere else Here's hoping things look up for you both soon (and if you are feeling all alone in the area, why not come along to the next forum drink up - usually about 20-30 of us with at least 2 or 3 fresh faces every time. It should help you feel more at home)

I feel the need to point out once again that if people are going to refer to "Sean" and it's not me they are irked with can they spell out Seanmlow please... I keep getting palpitations "who have I upset now!?" But bignumber5 (as opposed to the other bignumbers on here ;-) ) - great post . Obviously opinions are different but to have a go at someone like the wardens it's important to have some context and not to just play the victim (see also parking wardens, smoking ban etc) It would be great if these things weren't needed but they haven't come out of thin air - there is massive support for an aggressive litter campaign. There has been "no litter" signs up for donkeys years - people don't pay heed. Ther have been signs warning of fines for years - still behaviour doesn't change. And when a fine does materialise it's all "where was my prior warning?"

that's an awful thing to happen if you've just moved to the area - hope your flatmate is ok

Gig girl if its any help bush hall is a great venue. Trek king over to that part of london for the empire is no fun but bush hall is a treat.

well if he was from Somalia or Ethiopia he either was or was a smart guy getting out I agree re: Oz/African/US friends having to return home being a Bad Thing - I don't believe anyone should be forced to leave the country. Ditto if I go to any of those countries

How does this thread prove his point - who is calling anyone "brutish, coarse, ill-educated bigots"

Interesting story Atila - and I can only imagine how it felt. But looking at it objectively you haven't just fled from a war torn country in crisis. You have a home (albeit with a mortgage needing paying - you might even have insurance for that) With your track record in work and the fact that you are an intelligent bloke I dare say you found work fairly quickly and moved on? What chance did the other guy have? If I HAD to choose only ONE of you to give money to I wouldn't see who lived in the country the longest as that big a factor - sorry As we look back on "the olden days" with fond memories, bear in mind that welfare didn't even exist until relatively recently - You lost your job you got another one or that was IT. And without the cushion of equity in your home should it be required.

I don't understand "waiting years for a council flat" as a phrase - I mean, I do, sometimes circumstances apply but as a general concept why would one write off several years without hope of finding a job and a place to live? Getting leapfrogged for council housing doesn't affect most people on this board - but I dare say man of us could easily have been in that position and the reason we didn't is because we had a look around the world, found something interesting and did it - does that make me sound like Norman Tebbit? God I hope not Polish builders coming over here? Not like English builders going to Germany then. We could write a TV show - call it Auf Whidershen Pet. And although I'm not going to expect any tears over it, white collar jobs are being decimated by off-shoring. I've lost mine twice in the last 5 years to that And speaking to the English builders I've had round my gaff, none of them want for money are most are doing better than me so....

in all but name Kel, in all but name

Fuschia there is no bullying - the only belligerent comment has come from you. The original poster asked a sensible question and reacted badly to a question back. Subsequently many people have expressed delight that the situation was diffusing You may rest your case but you have neither made nor closed any

the key words you use Atila in that post were "feel" and "believe" emotions are no substitute for facts in a rational debate. Why do people "feel" that people recently arrived from other countries have priority over them? And priority in what sense? Hearsay, rumour and malicious lies (which I hear in my own workplace) and the willingness to believe them are the rootcause here, rather than any actual bias. But let's put it open to the test - we have a broad mix on here - if anyone is aware of any situation where they were genuinely discriminated against let's here it, let's gather the eveidence and let's pool our resources and tackle the institution in question together

all true David For a group without a voice it's pretty hard to open a tabloid paper, listen to a radio phone-in and hear anything BUT the voice of someone hating someone else As you say some issues exist but trawling through more than a couple of pages of that and you realise it's got nothing to do with rights or anything else. It's raw hatred And the harking back to pre-immigration times when people was proud etc etc - most of these people would last 10 minutes in the conditions prevelant in the first half of the 20th century much less the victorian era

My favourite was Carl in Swindon "I have never even seen a slave! Enough racial guilt already! " But then why would anyone in this country see a slave as we have off-shored them to the sweat-shops of china. I find the whole thing depressing - endless stream of invective and bile. Check this guy out: "I am a white, straight, married man. I have absolutely no say in anything in this country. I am the bad guy. Apparently I am the sexist, racist opressor responsible for the slave trade, poor womens rights and un-equal pay and if I get divorced I would bet good money on my wife getting favourable treatment in court. Not only voiceless but powerless and discriminated against from all sides! Unknown Warrior, Bristol, United Kingdom " Does he sound like a reasonable man to you - or the sort you see spoiling for a fight at any opportunity. When he says he is the bad guy, who exactly is he accusing of labelling him so? And where is the proof? He seems to think that people who aren't white, straight and married man have some kind of power denied him. That'll confuse any black/asian and gay people who look at the positions of power in both government and corporations across the country. I think white, straight married men pretty much run this part of the world But wait - reason has no place here. Blind prejudice and gut feel and simmering hatred are the order of the day. sigh.. So many working-class people just do not feel this same stew of resentment. So this isn't about the working class really. It's about a loud rump of them who believe they have a right to everything. One on the radio recently complained that after 4 generations in a council house her youngest son HAD to get a job. She was outraged! All these immigrants comin over here makin us have jobs

Fuschia has a point The forum would be much improved if all we did was concentrate on selling last years lamp-shades and didn't express, like, an opinion man More seriously I fail to see how this thread was hijacked - a genuine question was asked in response to the original post - all the judgement came from elsewhere. Which post on here came across as self-satisfied or smug Fuschia? If you can find anything more smug, judgemental or self-satified than I'd be interested in seeing it - why so full of resentment?

careful snorky - that kind of phrase maybe common currency on the other forums the likes of you and I frequent, but round here.....