seamusmac

This man is bringing about the greatest change of the 21st century and has never raised a fist in anger. "I have no enemies, and no hatred. None of the police who have monitored, arrested and interrogated me, the prosecutors who prosecuted me, or the judges who sentence me, are my enemies. While I?m unable to accept your surveillance, arrest, prosecution or sentencing, I respect your professions and personalities, including Zhang Rongge and Pan Xueqing who act for the prosecution at present. I was aware of your respect and sincerity in your interrogation of me on December 3. For hatred is corrosive of a person?s wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation?s spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society?s tolerance and humanity, and block a nation?s progress to freedom and democracy. I hope therefore to be able to transcend my personal vicissitudes in understanding the development of the state and changes in society, to counter the hostility of the regime with the best of intentions, and defuse hate with love.... I do not feel guilty for following my constitutional right to freedom of expression, for fulfilling my social responsibility as a Chinese citizen. Even if accused of it, I would have no complaints." ? Liu Xiaobo, 23 December 2009

Portlaoise (day release circa 1988) Clapham Turnpike Lane Fulham Regent Sq Muswell Hill Pimlico Crouch End Earls Court Muswell Hill Little India Battersea East Dulwich Shanghai East Dulwich

What time are you meeting at the CPT tomorrow? (dad of 2 girls and back in the country and always up for a pint)

I'm not an economist by any stretch of the imagination but this seems to nail the real reasons behind the tax hike. Desperate Brown

I have been following this thread and am surprised that people have been drawn into an argument instigated by a shit stir masquerading as a forumite AKA Felicity Normal, postmodern, moving2dulwich and halal face. If this is going to be the subject matter for an ES article then it will be a sad indictment of British journalism.

Check this out

Constantly - Nina

Rattle and Roll

Negative 3 - Marilyn Manson

Milk

Ruins

People who in one post defend paralympians from foul mouthed Australians and then go on to pan a whole nation with one word.

How many of the good people posting here can say that they have never shoplifted, even a sweetie as a kid. Nicked the apples from an orchard or grazed on grapes in the supermarket.I am not condoning crime but Snorky makes a good point and some people are just a little too quick to point the finger.

You know what Loz, you should send a letter to the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, I'm sure they and the families of other victims of such crimes would find your insight into 1984-like,borderline fascist country most interesting. Prevention is far better than the cure in this case.

I must take issue with Loz, either you don't have children or you live in blissful ignorance of the lengths some perverts will go to these days. As for the children in the holiday ad you mention they are paid actors,extras and therefore have consented to having their image put on TV. Children are to be protected as they cannot defend or speak for themselves and therefore for someone to find it acceptable to invade their personal space for their own gain/pleasure is totally unacceptable. Well done Jimbo's mum in law for doing the right thing.

Reservoir Dogs Pulp Fiction True Romance Killing Zoe Repo Man Straight to Hell King of New York From Dusk Till Dawn Be Cool Silence of the Lambs

Haute Tension- I caught this once on late night TV and some scenes terrified me. Well worth catching if you ever have a chance. For sheer violence the opening 15mins or so of Irreversible, not for the faint hearted.

My defenses are suffering a major war of attrition brought on by interrupted sleep due to guests' children screaming, puking at all hours, slamming doors, toilet seats and the laissez-faire attitude of the parents throughout. All this punctuated by an intrusion into our private bathroom at 3am to BORROW a nappy!!!!, (which they ran out of two days ago and have not bothered to purchase more despite the fact that we have a convenient store 20 steps from our flat!) who in their right mind does not have the good sense or maternal instinct to make sure their rugrat has these basic necessities. Father is now in the kitchen eating us out or bacon,organic eggs,orange juice,organic milk etc and has not had the courtesy to once offer to replenish any of these groceries (Huguenot will understand the difficulties in purchasing such things here). He even went so far last night to help himself (uninvited) to a tipple of the single malt they had brought us as a gift on their arrival. Now Mrs Mac and I have had ample time in the wee hours to discuss all these events and we have come to the conclusion that some people are just not socially integrated and therefore haven't got a f***ing clue how to behave in normal society. But then as LuvPeckham suggests, if the highlight of you life is waiting for the day that you top yourself then I can probably suffer a little bit more of this before they are ejected to a nearby hotel. Got to keep positive the Olympics kick off tonight!!!!

nice one Moos but we don't speak of such things here

Don't worry Moos all this drama is unfolding many many miles from ED in the PRC. But it helps a homesick family to get feedback from home. I would never encourage these folk to live in ED. There are somethings that are just too precious to promote to any tom,dick and ericsson.

Thanks for all the support, it's just one of those situations that makes you wonder why you bother!!!. Maybe I will invite my hard drinking brothers over from the emerald isle and relegate the ungrateful buggers to the floor. Oh did I mention that the guests are Swedish? I am not anti Swedish as I always felt that Henrik Larsson was a good footballer....

Its pretty much open ended as we never set a time limit and as I said they are acquaintances through my work, so calling them good friends would be a bit too strong.

Sorry I have moved this to the lounge but in answer to your question we never set a time limit :-S

This is my plight. I wisely or unwisely invited an acquaintance who is looking for a flat to come and stay with us rather than have he,his wife and their two young boys stay in a hotel. I thought it would all be fine as our kids love visitors and we have the room to accommodate them but within 24hrs things are beginning to disintegrate. Their boys are unruly, the husband is loud to the point of waking our kids from their oh so precious afternoon naps, they spend all day sprawled over our sofas and his wife has had the gall to dump their laundry on our nanny along with requesting that she prepare her some lunch. Were she not two months pregnant I could have asked them to leave there and then. I am not the best person when it comes to confronting people when their behavior irritates me as my Gaelic temperament quite often boils over rather rapidly and to be blunt, I loose it!!. Question for all you forumites is what would you do in this situation, I have had a quiet word with the husband but I think I have probably offended them by requesting they respect the routines of our house.

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