Maiden22

My name is Robert as well . Robert

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Sorry, but you gave up that right when you moved into Suffolk from civilisation. Those who live by the turnip, die by it, as the Mayor of Ipswich allegedly said, on the only day of the year that he was close to sober. Now that's a funny post . Robert

Perspective indeed. Humane treatment for dogs is unlikely until they grasp the concept of humane treatment for humans. Room for a third under there Harry? Robert

Thanks chaps . Robert

Oh yes Bob and Pavman, it's easy to mock the afflicted. Probably why people do, come to think of it. The fact that it's easy is hardly a rational argument against it. Robert

Errrr,.....it's spelled P-E-R-V-E-R-T not P-E-D-A-N-T-I-C Maiden. And what about the illiterate drunkards and bone idle itenerants amongst us? This is blatant discrimination! Sorry Bob, I stand corrected. I did mean pervert of course. My spellchecker must be on the blink. It's not my fault, I'm dyspeptic. Robert

Martin, sorry if this is a dim question, but I've never used bismuth. Why is it so bad? Robert

I've been looking at your profile and, if you're not too disturbed by that revelation, please allow me to say that your personal statement is most encouraging. The usual standard around here is somewhere between bone-idle illiterate and itinerant drunkard. A fellow pedantic would be most welcome in the war against the inelegant phrase and the massacred syntax. Robert

Ice, let us know how it goes. It would be interesting to see if plod regards "Shooting Russians and Iranians" as a good reason . Robert

DF, Russia already has Europe over a barrel (boom boom) - she supplies 25% of Europe's total natural gas. Rumours that much of the rest is supplied by a certain gentleman from Essex are unconfirmed. As for oil, I would expect her oil production to rise considerably. Russian oil companies actually keep very little of what they make - around $40 per barrel. The government is likely to raise this limit to encourage further exploration and to make more fields financially viable. Putin has been very sensible with the proceeds of the oil bonanza, establishing a stability fund that means that the country is effectively debt-free. Russia is in very good shape in a lot of ways, whilst the west is heavily indebted and neutered (most of Europe) or very stretched (USA). Russia is in a great position going forward, as it has bundles of everything that the world is clamouring for, from gold to wheat. It is also in a position to rapidly expand its production. Putin himself is in a rock-solid position - he is justifiably enormously popular at home. No surprise it feels able to flex its muscles, whether that's assassination in London or war in Georgia. Robert

It's just realpolitik I suppose John. I can't see that there is much that anyone can do about it. Russia is an immensely poweful country and if it wants to throw its weight about, it will. In fairness to Putin, he's been an exceptionally good leader for the Russian people. In particular he has manged the economy very prudently (stop giggling at the back). As a consequence he is an enormously popular figure in Russia. As for the UN, well I can't see what that corrupt and useless body has to do with the moral high ground. As an aside, if anybody fancies a speculative investment Russia is in my opinion one of the most attractive markets in the world. Wel worth a look. Robert

Hope you're right old chap. I worry however that their numbers are increasing. In the old days they would usually get eaten. After we worked out how to attach sharp bits of flint to sticks this was less of a danger, but even then they tended to get conquered by people like the Romans, who sorted them out sharpish. But now? They have no natural predators. Very worrying. Robert

Not entirely true Cranners - I have been stalking (regrettably only once) and upon hearing of this, a woman that I had very recently met expressed her horror at the idea that I would "shoot bambi". The real world is brimming with people who are impressionable and stupid beyond measure. Robert

Not according to the West Mersea VD clinic records ! Robert

Try getting PGAP removed from the knucles of your left hand (ouch). And try paying for it (ouch upon ouch). Next up for the laser, an Ace of Hearts (after legendary Kiss drug addict and booze fiend Ace Frehley, if you can believe anything so ridiculous) on my right wrist. The sensation is very odd - the best way I can describe it is it's like being stabbed with a hammer. Just my opinion, and no disrespect to those that already have them, but I would advise the un-inked among us to think very carefully before getting any done. Then think again, and again, and if you still haven't come to your senses, just don't do it. Be an indidual instead. The way things are going, you'll be the last few people in Britain without a tattoo. Robert

Agree with all of the above really, especially with regards to dried parsley and basil. They seem to be very disappointing. The one exception to the "fresh is best" rule is, I believe, oregano, which seems to imptove for being dried. Robert

Well well well http://www.flashyourrack.comuser=bob300w :blink: Robert

I hope that you're right, and I agree that the British possessed astonishing qualities. But I think that these evolved from indistinct intangible things - our history, our culture, our strange mix of tolerance and bloody-mindedness, our reckless adventurism and our love of the small, the homely and the familiar, our remarkably law-abiding nature and our extreme suspicion of all authority, our passion for fair play and our unshakeable conviction in our own superiority. Our society evolved, it wasn't and couldn't be created. But it needed nurturing by tradition, history, family, religion - all things that have been systematically destroyed over the past decades. We have no sense of identity or meaning, and all we know of our history is the lie that it was shameful and best forgotten. It is true that there may well be a nasty backlash, and in fact this is already happening in unlikely places around Europe. I can think of few things more unplesant, or less British. Robert

LOL Bob, I'm only a Northener because I discovered Donny girls . By birth I'm half dago and half Wulfrunian, although the latter part would still qualify as Northern in your book . My Mother is Queen of the Roast Dinner, despite hailing from a far away shore. I know everyone's Mother is, but mine really is - I've dined on roast beef at Simpson's In The Strand, and it's absolute muck in comparison. A Sunday Roast in her book involves at least two beasts (or more for special occassions - for my birthday lunch recently she did pork, beef and chicken) accompanied by bucket loads of Yorkshire puddings (far better than anything you get in Yorkshire) and vegetables. The left-overs last for days, and potatoes, like women and fine wine, get better with age. The best bit is all the black gloopy stuff in the bottom of the roasting pans - wipe around with a bit of bread (****** the arteries, who wants to live forever?) and the world seems bright again. Probably miss those dinners more than anything else :blink: . Robert

Good evening Archbishop . Robert

Two words for you LV, that cannot be repeated on a public forum such as this. Robert

I would like to have it done, but overall I agree with Stuart and Martin. Contacts for me. Having said that, the few people I know who have taken the plunge have had no problems. One had it done many years ago. Robert

Can't speak for Harnser Bryn, but for me it can be pretty much anything LOL. The revolution has already happened - the liberal revolution that has brought some benefits and also done such terrible damage to this country. It was a slow-motion revolution that was never approved by the people (they were never asked, because they would have given the wrong answer). I think that many if not most of the architects of the liberal revolution were well-meaning if terribly naive people, many of whom would be or are horrified by many of the effects of their actions. The liberalisation of the abortion laws is a case in point. When this "reform" was passed few desired the situation where nearly 200,000 babies are aborted annually in Britain, and the total number aborted since then has surpassed the numbers killed in the holocaust. Others, such as Woy Jenkins, are probably burning in hell as we speak. The permissive society is the civilised society? Oh ******* really? The truth is that many of them are rich and powerful enough to be insulated from the worst effects of their folly. Like Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice who thinks that burglars should not be jailed. A reasonable position if you happen to have 24hr armed police guards. Rather less appealing for the rest of us. Crime doesn't affect them, poor schools don't affect them, mass immigration doesn't affect them, a squalid NHS doesn't affect them, their ivory towers are built far above such things. There will be no further revolution. It must be hard for older people to accept, because they lived through a different reality, but the fact is there is no way back. This should not be surprising - it has happened to many before us, and will happen to many in the future. Our country was special - the best the world has ever produced in my opinion, although few any longer know this or why it was, or even care that it was so. Uniquely civilised, ordered and free, the world had never seen the like, nor will again for many years. The conditions that made us were unique, and the process was necessarily slow and measured. Harnser, this doesn't end in revolution and a long overdue reckoning. It ends where it always ends, in the gutter. Perhaps when historians look back they will wonder how we allowed it to happen, as they have for centuries wondered about Rome and its destruction, marvelling at how such a light was permitted to be extinguished. Robert

You must meet a lot of "interesting" people in your line of work ! I'm the same with the toe thing, although sometimes I can't resist kicking the thing that I've stubbed my toe on. Doesn't normally make me feel better . Robert