He's alright.....goes too far sometimes...the racism thing is an example..but no doubt we all do occasionally...I sometimes think Nick thinks he's Heath Ledger's Joker chucking in 'stir up' bombs to stir it up.

He's good for Hol in a round-about way. Every yin needs its yang and he's apart of that. He has his own sense of justice and that's alright.

Edited by Stirlingsays (21 Aug 2017 1.47pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Really?

There are plenty of people on here who present very reasonable arguments from all sides of politics and can write very impressively on a number of subjects.
Nick and a few others I could mention are not among that number.

I wouldn't take my 'ad hominem' attacks too seriously....let's say I'm a critical person...too critical sometimes...it's a character flaw...I can't help it...see I'm even criticising myself.....Being a teacher doesn't help....being an arsehole is almost a part requirement (though there are lovely teachers as well).

For me, I take the position that opinions are opinions and actions are actions....don't get me wrong, we know where are overlaps and that cause and affect are realities but I step very carefully on that minefield.

Sometimes people say 'sh1t' and it isn't nice but doing stuff about it ends up causing more harm than good long term.....I think we are on that path at the moment and I'm most definitely 'tutting' about it.

Recent movements towards 'hate speech' ....which I initially had a little sympathy for but have since become a critic of.....Well, those movements are worrying to me. I'm a believer in the restrictions on libel, violence and obscenity....but setting these restrictions lower rather than higher....because society contains very different groups and I'm more socially liberal than not.

If people are banding together to cause violence I most definitely want the Police to intervene in that....that's what taxes are for.

If people are banding together to protest something then I have zero problem with that.....as long as they aren't smashing windows or physically involving themselves it's a healthy display of democracy.

Of course if one group of morons rush you then self defence is valid. However, placing yourself in their path is deliberately setting up a fight.

I'm aware that my stance kind of inhibits revolution....it's essentially protecting the establishment when sometimes the establishment is far from ideal.

However I watched a clip on TV a while back where they were in Russia interviewing some guy on the street about revolution and he said, 'good rarely comes from revolutions'......he's right...normally you are replacing one set of arseholes with another set of arseholes with different priorities....It's just a different set of people lined up against the wall.

Better to reform the arseholes you have.....though I recognise that this isn't always possible....so context for every situation is relevant.

Edited by Stirlingsays (21 Aug 2017 3.43pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I agree with you Stirling. Revolutions almost inevitably set back populations and destroy value. But it isn't revolution I was talking about, it was controlled pressure brought to bear to prevent an opposing viewpoint from rolling out unassailed. Goodness knows this has currency right now. You have to avoid unaligned people from tacitly supporting extremists and making them ever bolder. I watched Harry Potter last night, I know what I am talking about.

I worked in Romania just after Ceausescu was shot. It was weird how, having 'terminated' his family the population voted in his old cronies. When I asked why I was told because they were the only people who had a clue how things worked. They were tolerated for a while in the name of reconstruction.

Edited by Mapletree (21 Aug 2017 4.02pm)

Indeed.

Therein lies many a tale.

Due to fog, the one and only modern Tarom plane got stuck in Romania so they flew in an old Ilyushin from another airfield. It seems they also flew in the normal air stewardesses. Far more impressive moustaches than I could muster and meat with the texture and taste of Doc Martin's boot tongues after a four day festival.

On the other hand Romanian girls had a habit of wearing incredibly short skirts and many were really attractive. None as attractive as Slovakians though, they are truly the chosen race.