Brendan

Ooh err.

Yup, halfway through and this series is just starting to get interesting. The psychological (or is that mental) game is getting going. I must say I?m pretty impressed by Johnson. If he hadn?t come back like a man possessed this match would have looked very different.

Lambrini. Now there's a thought.

What are you having a go at god for?

Nope. The X is an old Latin use of the Greek X (chi) to abbreviate it.

Wendy says hi.

You can probably stop worrying about that now. Nobody has a VHS player anymore.

Yep. Just quickly drinking lunch at my desk then I have to triplicate the final post run for the invoiced treasurers or something to do with my budget befroe the end of the day or Wendy isn't going to to pleased. Then I'm going to the pub.

Why do you assume we know so much about your radio listening habits?

SeanMacGabhann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Isn't Xmas the name used by non-Christians who > celebrate the holiday? Otherwise you would go with > Christmas No it was an old Christian Greek abbreviation. Midwinter festivals probably go back to the beginning of agricultural societies where it was important to mark points in the calendar so you knew when to plant your geese and kill your apples. The tradition of bringing trees inside is in evidence going back to Roman times. Father Christmas is actually the Germanic god Woden (or Oden in North Germanic). Ironically today his image is probably more prolific and universally recognisable than Christ?s. The truth is no matter which religion had chosen to piggyback on it we would still be celebrating Christmas or something like it at this time of year. And really, what the fuck else would we do for the last week of the year? Work? Stuff that.

I'll bet.

Work paid. It was proper posh. I got snotflying drunk and stuck me nob in the mashed potatoes.

Filth complete filth. Someone starts a completely innocent thread about using processed meats as a cutting agents and it descends into puerile filth.

Fair enough but right now my liberalism is waning somewhat and I don?t feel generous enough to take responsibility for everyone else being a fukwad.

Wait until they leave their desk to go to get a coffee or have a wee. Get up and take their laptop off their desk. When they return beat them to death with their own laptop. This obviously doesn't work if you use PCs in your office in which case you may have to send them a polite note.

bit harsh.

To steer this off in a different direction, in this article, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/14/student-protesters-british-left , Bill Bragg puts the current student protestors on a pedestal by saying this about them; ?This is the first generation to have the opportunity to create a form of socialism that is not tainted by totalitarianism.? My question is, philosophically like, can any form of socialism function without totalitarianism. Does socialism not require centralised organisation which by its very nature means centalised power which once again by its nature becomes totalitarian? (Just to preempt the predictable let?s assume that ideological capitalism enforced by a wealthy elite is just as objectionable a form of totalitarianism.)

eh?

Oh yeah and I suppose you'll have to find some money there to pay back a student loan.

tog_in_sox Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks Huguenot for digging up the numbers. So > basically on ?30k a yr (or future equivalent) > I'll be committed to the "crippling" sum of ?68 > per month with no real lender expectation to pay > off the debt in 30 yrs so I just "tough" it out > and have it written off? I can still save money > in the meantime because as I understand it there > will be a penalty for early redemption to > discourage the wealthy from playing the system. > > So to bring in figures from another story: > * Income: ?25,300, rising to ?33,000 in coming > year > * Giving to charity: Everything above ?18,000 > * Outgoings: ?5,000 rent, ?4,000 living > expenses, rest on savings for house and holidays > * Plus: Eating out twice a fortnight, coffee > once a week > * Interests: reading, listening to music, > photography, meeting friends > * Gadgets: Apple Mac, iPhone, no television > > I could be on ?21k, give away ?3k pa to charity, > never have to repay my loan, enjoy the above > limited lifestyle and still be putting aside money > for a deposit on a house. > > Methinks the protesting youth of today are beyond > rational thought and I'd like my tax money back > please! Yes we all read the same article. The problem is that the sums don?t add up. Even if you assume that you can only pay ?416 a month rent and ?333 a month ?living expenses? which could only just cover bills, phone, insurance, transport and such (not sure if this guy eats and wears clothes) they still don?t add up. Firstly you have to deduct 10% pension contributions which are a necessity for any new graduate who would like to avoid spending the last 20 years of their life living in a one roomed flat, eating dog food and being labelled a scrounger. Then income tax. We?re already down to under that ?18K Then at least ?1000 a year council tax. Which brings us to ?16077.50 Then assuming this guy wants to buy a house in 10 years time he will have to be saving at least ?4000 a year. So he now has ?12077.50 a year minus his ?9000 rent and living expenses which is a whopping ?3077.50 p/a or ?256.45 a month which probably just about covers his 2 dinners, 4 coffees and the payments on his Apple Mac. How much was he giving to charity again? And all this is working off rents that are comparable to those of someone living in a shared house. What if this person would like to get married, have a family etc? Or don?t they get to do that? But all in all I?m sure people out there working every hour god sends and still not being able to make ends meet appreciate your self-righteous opinions on the reality of their lives.

Ah yes a sort of, buy now pay later arrangement then. Maybe I could get my son a better Christmas present this year if we sort something like that out. He can start to pay me back a portion of his pocket money every week when he reaches 6.

Gosh, I didn?t know that medical care, legal representation, housing and food were discretionary? I best tell my wife when I get home. Anyway I just hope that with all these loans to pay back the dirty petulant students who don?t know what?s good for them have a little money left over to pay my pension.

The smug, self-congratulatory point is aimed at politicians and holds very true to the way a lot of them have approached this if you?ve been reading the press. Mostly, to my mind, because it wins favour with a certain kind of voter. Another question though. If your outgoings go up by ?300 are you not going look for an additional ?300 income somewhere? So in a lot of situations isn?t this going to end up just passing the cost on to the consumer or the tax payer?

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This show has > nothing to do with creativity - hell, it has > precious little to do with music at all. Duh.

Although the same guy has said the same thing to me before about the Lib Dems, Labour Party and the Greens on different issues and I?m beginning to suspect he just thinks shit up as an excuse to use rugby metaphors.