Well, blow me!

[johnty greentoes]

Armadillos! Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside!

Now seriously - what kind of design differences are ther between women's plots and mens?

I think - and at this point I must confess to having a few whisky's this eve - that men like rectangles, strainght lines, things that will maximise the scientific/technological impact - you know maximise daylinght etc... blah

Whereas ... women like to use curves, circles and design elements that maximise the aesthetic/sensual ... blah...

Probably totally sexist.

I remember a conversation on an archaeological dig I once got roped into where Bronze Age roundhouses had been superceded by a rectilinear Roman arrangement and it being described to me as the conquest of the male over the female (something to do with the sun and moon I seem to remember). Any way it made pretty patterns in the orange sandy soil - perfect circles and rectangles all battling with eachother.

What a night.

[madderbat]

So with no real political alternative to Thatcherism waht do all we malcontents do with our vote? I've been a member of Labour all my adult life, but I think I'm coming to an end of it.

What a depressing thread!

Down among the dead men....

BW was a party member for 25 years, and resigned before the last election. I never joined any political party, but always voted Labour.

The only thing I can think of doing is to spoil my ballot paper. I will vote, people died for my right, but I feel disenfranchised because there is no party I can realistically support.

[Two_Sheds]

Children are no longer seen as our future, but are seen as a bloody nuisance to be parked in front of the tv with a box meal when they come home from 'daycare' -

You get a few extra quid in Child Benefit though

...its paid whether you need it or not - and they think Incapacity claimaints are scroungers?

[madderbat]

I remember a conversation on an archaeological dig I once got roped into where Bronze Age roundhouses had been superceded by a rectilinear Roman arrangement and it being described to me as the conquest of the male over the female (something to do with the sun and moon I seem to remember). Any way it made pretty patterns in the orange sandy soil - perfect circles and rectangles all battling with eachother.

What a night.

Interesting thought Johnty.

I've pondered for some time about where the female gave way to the male in this world.There may be something in what you say.

Women are more curvy, men like to try to order things....

[johnty greentoes]

You get a few extra quid in Child Benefit though

...its paid whether you need it or not - and they think Incapacity claimaints are scroungers?

Very good ... and I'm one of them ... Gordon is so please to give me Tax Credits in exchange for my vote when really what I want is a higher standard rate of tax and better public services - but then that's me - old Labour.

Did you

[beefy]

Tax credits - ha ha (uncontrolable laughter) They now take twice as much off me in tax and only pay about a quarter of it back to Mrs B. Now they tell me I've been given to much and havent paid us anything for just over a year now.

Thanks Gordon not

[Two_Sheds]

Ah, poor Gordon. He'll never be Queen

[madderbat]

I ended up owing the taxman over 1000 pounds because I gave up work after my third stroke and didn't tell them immediately. We were worse off financially and I still had to pay it back because I could no longer work and therefore no longer got any tax credits. Where's the logic?

[johnty greentoes]

I ended up owing the taxman over 1000 pounds because I gave up work after my third stroke and didn't tell them immediately. We were worse off financially and I still had to pay it back because I could no longer work and therefore no longer got any tax credits. Where's the logic?

No ******* logic at all. Deeply cynical stuff.

That's it I'm off to bed, grumpy old man that I am.

Night Night.

[Two_Sheds]

I got evicted from my home when I was having chemotherapy, cos "they" reckoned I was 'housed' in hospital and therefore didn't need/deserve my house.
When I (successfully) appealed this decision, "they" then decided my home was under-occupied (being a single person in a 2 bed terrace) so they evicted me anyway.

Bitter, moi?

[johnty greentoes]

I got evicted from my home when I was having chemotherapy, cos "they" reckoned I was 'housed' in hospital and therefore didn't need/deserve my house.
When I (successfully) appealed this decision, "they" then decided my home was under-occupied (being a single person in a 2 bed terrace) so they evicted me anyway.

Bitter, moi?

Who are they - and do you know where they live - time for a little male direct action?

[Two_Sheds]

It was the Housing Benefit what done it. Trying to save the taxpayer a few quid by chucking a cancer-ridden vegetarian cyclist out on the street...

[smallblueplanet]

Thats cr@p isn't it. I hope things are better for you now 2-sheds.

[shirlthegirl43]

Children are no longer seen as our future, something to be nurtured and cherished, and enjoyed, but are seen as a bloody nuisance to be parked in front of the tv with a box meal when they come home from 'daycare' - school, nursery or after school club, or having been ferried from activity to activity.

There is little interaction between adults and children these days and we are all encouraged to avoid 'talking to strangers' 'being out on our own' 'chastising anybody'. Children are rarely allowed to 'be silly' or even play any more.

What is happening to the world I grew up in and even the world I raised my son in 20 years ago?

That world is alive and kicking here in a small square (okay it's a rectangle really) of Pembrokeshire. OH and I believe the children should do chores and be paid pocket money in proportion to the help they give around the house and with the horses. They do have computers and game stations in their rooms for when they don't want to watch / do what we are doing (they need their space too) but they are encouraged to have interests in the garden, jukeboxes, old(er) cars and we always sit as a family to have dinner and we chat about the day, news, etc. The boys have travelled a fair bit and both attended school in California and Atlanta so have their views on different parts of the world. I think it is sad when they say they enjoyed school in the States more than here as they were treated as people in America whereas here they are just an opportunity for the teacher/school to get a better grade (not teacher's fault - government intereference I think).

Oddly enough, older son keeps asking why there is the big problem over here with referring to things as they are - his question is 'who says that people with dark skin might be offended by being called black? my coloured friends in school in Atlanta referred to themselves as black, so that would mean they don't mind it any more than I mind being called white - I am white, they are black - why do people create a problem?'

[Alison]

Oddly enough, older son keeps asking why there is the big problem over here with referring to things as they are - his question is 'who says that people with dark skin might be offended by being called black? my coloured friends in school in Atlanta referred to themselves as black, so that would mean they don't mind it any more than I mind being called white - I am white, they are black - why do people create a problem?'

It shouldn't be a problem but historically words have been used in an insulting or derogatory context and therefore are perceived as being bad words themselves. To refer to somebody with black skin is obviously no more offensive in itself than referring to somebody as tall, blonde or a woman, simply a description of how they look. It is a shame that some people have (and still do) find the need to look down on people because of such differences and the issue is then made worse by people focusing on the surface rather than the route problem. Basically if every time you hear yourself described it is to use the colour of your skin accompanied by, for example a questioning of your parentage and in a "looking down on you" kind of way then it becomes offensive and, I should imagine, very upsetting. Shame it had to get this far, have never understood why anybody should dislike anybody due to their appearance / culture / beliefs etc - would have thought there were good and bad people in all areas of society and, surely we all need all the friends we can get?