david_carnell

As an aside can I recommend the following website for anyone wishing to learn more about a GP's lot in life: NHS Blog Doctor Edit: There's even one about the Forum! Read the day to day stuff from the link posted or go to the homepage for a more varied content. I think GPs get given pretty short shrift from Joe Public in general and media-quoted salaries are often highly optimistic for all but the very few. I can't think of a bad experience I've had with a GP either in ED or where I used to live in Surrey. With the right system in place you could nearly always get a same day booking for urgent appointments and I was always treated professionally. Even the giant medical practise in Leeds Uni was successful. Oh, and I've also been twice to the drop-in centre in Victoria due to work commitments and was pretty impressed there too. A&E Depts at night on the other hand........

Not quite at fighting weight is he?! http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41507000/jpg/_41507170_naseem203.jpg I like Haye a lot. Good chin, fast hands, devastating punch power, good looking, charismatic. If he keeps his focus he could go all the way. I just prey he doesn't bulk up too much for the heavies and end up like some of the blimps currently knocking around a la: James "Who ate all the pies" Toney http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/writers/richard_hoffer/03/20/toney.rahman/p1_toney_0320.jpg

I stayed awake till 3pm and despite being steaming drunk managed to watch the whole thing. As a boxing nut and huge Calzaghe fan I spent a lot of it with my head in my hands between rounds. It was far from a classic but Hopkins has a style which tends to prevent open, exciting contests. The 1st round knock-down was an eye-opener but Calzaghe never seemed unduly troubled thereafter. Most rounds were close but Hopkins rarely seemed to want to do more than spoil and defend. Calzaghe threw the most punches and kept coming forward. Tbh, I was surprised by the result, not because I didn't think he'd won, but because it was close and with American judges in Vegas it was always going to be difficult to get a decision. The right result but the scorecard of one judge might be slightly off the mark. Calzaghe should be revered as a boxing great. He has beaten everyone put in front of him for over a decade. Boxing is notoriously political and often the fights fans want never materialise for one reason or another. Hopkins signed up to fight Calzaghe years ago and then doubled his fee overnight and the whole thing collapsed. Joe's unlucky that just as he came to his peak his division was weakened by the loss of fighters like Benn, Eubank (who Calzaghe practically retired), Collins etc. And if anyone thinks Jones Jnr or Hopkins are washed up just ask Antonio Tarver or Felix Trinidad.

boxing

Well spotted AnnaJ....a keen eye as always! Google BNP and "Tony Parkes". Seems our Tony has a lot to say about the BNP on lots of sites. Telegraph, Times, etc. What do you do Tony, hunt out sympathisers?

citizenED Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > RosieH, you have no need to take back what was, I > thought, a fine stab at redressing the balance. > Probably are too many casually judgemental > comments about the way women look. Stop flirting! ;-)

BJL - I agree that he probably doesn't get the credit he deserves. Some people give him short shrift due to the un-pc nature of his writing. He is fairly mysogynistic and a tad racist but I think viewed in comparison to soicety at the time it's nothing to get worked up over. Interestingly he was on the Nazi's Black Book list as a supporter of Jews and would have rounded up if Operation Sealion had been a success. I'm afraid I don't know the book you mean. There is a John Buchan Society that would probably have the info you need. Can you still listen to the Radio 4 broadcast online? Have you read any of the Flashman books by Fraser? They are an earlier era and of a similar ilk but I found I didn't enjoy them as much.

I'm currently reading the Richard Hannay anthology. It contains all of John Buchan's novels featuring the daring-do adventures of the eponymous hero, Hannay. The Thirty-Nine Steps Greenmantle Mr Standfast The Three Hostages The Island of Sheep I'm on Mr Standfast at the moment. Read the first two when I got it for Xams and then took a break before going back now. They're great fun in a boys own sort of way and kind of confirm my suspicion I may have been born in the wrong era. Down the Bosch and tally ho!!

James Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think it's laughable that Haberdashers' calls > itself an Academy (i.e. a comprehensive). A > percentage of the kids are getting in on music > scholarships (how fair is this to the > disadvantaged?) and rather than serving the > immediate community, kids from a wider area are > allowed in by the complex oversubscription rules > (presumably designed to limit the number of > genuinely poor kids from the immediate area > surrounding the school who might drag down the > results). Those who know how to work the system > are more likely to be middle-class, while the > banding system discriminates against brighter, > poorer kids. What an absolute mess. I'll say right from the start I don't have any children and so am probably massively under-qualified to comment on any of this but this comment strikes me as somewhat hypocritical. You said in another post that you had to resort to sending your own children to private school because the only other choice was a "sink school". I presume the use of the word "sink" suggests that they are performing poorly on league tables - the holy grail of parent choice. Yet you decry Haberdashers because they dare try and attract those children who are already bright or musically gifted in order to improve their league table exam results. If they did as you suggest and allow in "poor" children from the local area despite being an excellent establishment they would, no doubt, achieve lower results. Ergo you would no longer want to send your children there. You cannot have it both ways. I don't blame you for sending your kids to private school. It's your money. But don't chastise the system that you rely on to inform your choice. IMO league tables are themselves to blame. The lack of them in the past never seemed to hinder parent choice. We all knew good schools from bad. But at least then education could be for education's sake and not for climbing up one more notch on the dreaded league table.

Honestly, you really, really must switch. Chav gets close to the mark though. If the host knows which door has the car behind it - switch. If he opens doors randomly - it makes no difference what you do. The problem can be simplified if you increase the number of doors. Say to 100. Choose a door. The host then opens 98 other doors all revealing goats leaving one other door and your original door. The chances of you having picked the door with the car the first time round are very small so of course you would then switch. If you want the long and frankly overly complicated answer, Wikipedia (as always) is on hand. On a lighter note, why do many hands make light work and yet too many cooks spoil the broth?

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "punching above their weight" - a much more subtle > (but honest) assessment of many of us menfolk! Speak for yourself Mr MacGabhann!

Switch. 2/3 chance you'll get the car.

Bump. One of my favourite venues is the Luminaire in Kilburn. I'll kick myself if you lot get the last tickets but next month the unknown legend that is King Creosote is playing. Never seen him live before but am hoping to here. Details can be found here

I thought you meant Sophie Lawrence who plays Diane Butcher in Eastenders - that gritty urban portrayal of East-End life. >:D< I think you mean Sophie Lancaster (goth) or Gloria Taylor (mother of Damilola)

We don't have them. If we did we'd never leave the house. How you ever get any work done beats me?!

Couldn't agree more Moos. Tribalism is alive and well. This board is littered with diffferent groups of people. Some people overlap more than one. Mums; young couples; singletons; boozers; pseudo-intellectuals; nerds; pensioners; Guardian-reading, pinko, wooly, yoghurt-knitting, sandal wearing hippies etc etc I particularly agree with the "to recognise your own prejudices is the only way to overcome them." Excellent post.

This was in my work inbox this morning: The Association of Chief Police Officers has rejected claims that the surge in immigration from eastern Europe has fuelled an increase in crime. An ACPO report finds that offending rates among Poles, Romanians and Bulgarians are no higher than in the general population. So that puts paid to the swan-eating urban myth. I hope.

Cassius Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I see and understand what you are saying here Sean > - but how do you explain this concept to someone > whose only experience of 'abroad' may be somewhere > where they only came across other English people, > ate English breakfast in the English cafe, bought > a MacDonalds as soon as they got to the airport > etc etc. Or to someone who has never been abroad > and never will. How does one approach them and > sell them 'world citizenship'? I drink Belgian beer in an Irish bar, eat Indian curry on the way home. At home, I sit on my Swedish sofa and watch American T.V shows on my Japanese TV! You use and embrace world culture all the time. Sometimes you just don't realise it.

Ok Steve. Let's gloss over the whole semantic debate and move on to your other points which, I think, are worth looking at. Firstly the anecdotal evidence of two of your friends (The acupuncturist and the street-sweeper) cannot be anything more than that - an anecdote. They do not and cannot be seen to represent the wider view of their communities. It's too small a sample and none of us know the context. Secondly the idea of "stopping immigration". I presume we can continue to accept asylum seekers under UN charter? These people are ineligible for work and so cannot be scapegoated as "scroungers" or any other term that is oftern bandied about. I'm guessing you're referring to economic migrants - those who come to Britain to look for better paid jobs than they can get in their home country. A better way of life so to speak. IMO they have had a positive effect on this country. I like living in a multi-cultural society and neighbourhood. I believe that they (economic migrants) fulfill a vital role in filling jobs that 'native' workers either cannot or will not do. As we move away from an industrial to a technological and service-based society large numbers of low skilled workers are actually essential. I do no believe they pupt undue pressure on local resources. The idea that if you removed migrants from the equation you could get a hospital appointment quicker is naieve. It ignores the fact that your doctor, nurse and orderly are all likely to be from the four corners of the globe. Nor do I accept that Britain is "full". London is actually one of the least densely populated capitals in the west. Trying to put a finite number on population is foolhardy and impossible to regulate. Unfortunately my opinion would be elctoral suicide if it was espoused by a major party. Popular opinion is against me. Hence we have a battle between the two main parties to appear 'tough' on immigration. A points system has been introduced so that only skilled or needed workers will gain easy access to the British jobs market. I think this is actually the reverse of what is needed - unskilled, menial workers to do the low paid jobs that Brits seem to think are below them.

I don't know if I count as "the usual mob" but I'll add my two cents: I've met SteveT and don't wish to slander him in public (plus it would be quite embarressing at the next drinks!) but I don't agree with his remarks. Lizzy and Sean are right in their assertions as to the origin of the "n-word". SteveT, I appreciate that it was clearly different when you were a child and that sort of language could be used quite freely amongst your peers (whom I'm guessing were white) - regardless of its use in hip-hop or amongst the black community -it is now considered rather offensive and has been for all of my (25yr) lifetime. Things move on. It's not the PC-brigade gone mad stereotype either; it's civility to your fellow man. I think we'd all hope that can be understood no matter how young or old you are. Best not use that sort of language again around here, eh SteveT. Whether you didn't mean to offend or not it doesn't go down well.

Hire one of these for ?30 and chop the bloody off your car. Then let them take you to court and see how they like it. Bastards.

Maximay Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Actually think I'll do a KalamityKel backtrack on > this one, here goes:- > > I said there was nothing wrong with the BNP, > although I don't remember actually saying I > supported them, I said I would support whoever the > hell I wished, I didn't actually say it was the > BNP, there, is that better? Well, I suppose it elucidates your point a little more. Would you care to elaborate on why you think there is "nothing wrong" with the BNP? Do you mean you think they are a legitimate political party and should be given as much oxygen as the next lot OR are you saying that you think there is nothing wrong with their principles/policies which you see as eminently sensible? Or both?

MelbourneGr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's important to note that the BNP disguise > things in a very clever way. When reading some of > their points, I actually found myself agreeing and > thinking 'yes, that sounds about right and fair - > if I was white'. Could you give examples? I don't want to demonise you in any way merely seek to understand what they're saying that appeals.

As would I.....

Marmora Man Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Alan Dale Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I think a sensible vote would be one that > ensures > > our next mayor doesn't describe black people as > > picanninies. > > So you could vote for the man that calls a Jewish > journalist no better than a concentration camp > guard. Come off it MM. I've read enough of your posts on the forum to know you're not that silly to take that story at face value. Firstly, Ken was steaming drunk and we all say daft things then. Secondly, he didn't know the reporter was Jewish - how would you (unless he wears a kippah on paparazzi detail)? And thirdly, Ken was referring to the fact that the reporter worked for Associated Newspapers, sympathisers of the Nazi regime in the 30s, and so therefore he was no better than a camp guard with the "just following orders" excuse. It wasn't the cleverest thing to come out with but it doesn't really compare to the rather unpleasant undertones in the Johnson "picaninies" furore. In the article in question, Johnson mocked Tony Blair's brief visits to world troublespots, acting as "SuperTony", bringing peace to the world while the UK deteriorated; Blair would arrive as "the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief", just as "it is said the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies". Frankly I find that a lot more unpleasant and not far short of thinly veiled racism.