Further examples of a country that has simply turned bad

[amateur51]

Won't firing missiles during the Olympics lead to false starts?

[amateur51]

Quite possibly because you might get mugged on the way, although with any luck CCTV cameras in the area will help the police track down your assailants.

Only MrPee could come up with this on the day when those two blokes go on trial for the murder of Stephen Lawrence. When Stephen Lawrence's memorial in Eltham was desecrated it wasn't possible to use the CCTV evidence because ... there was no film in the camera

[Serial_Apologist]

Only MrPee could come up with this on the day when those two blokes go on trial for the murder of Stephen Lawrence. When Stephen Lawrence's memorial in Eltham was desecrated it wasn't possible to use the CCTV evidence because ... there was no film in the camera

Anyone watch last night's documentary on Channel 4 - "Confessions of an Underground Cop" - about Mark Kennedy, who spent 7 years infiltrating environmental and anarchist groups before his cover was blown? Pretty eye-opening stuff, even for an ole activist such as myself.

[Dave2002]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHTT...eature=related

Still brilliant!

[John Skelton]

I'll quote an old joke. "How do you know when a British aircraft lands in Los Angeles? The whining continues after the engines have been turned off." Moaning (whining) is something the Brits are good at. Complaining implies taking one's grievances to someone who can fix the problems, rather than, as some of my friends have done in the past, using them as a means to while away time after dinner with stories about what happened or did not happen in various places. Example, rather than moan that the TV didn't work or the curtains fell down in a hotel, how many people would actually think of phoning up the hotel manager and telling him/her about the problem? In some countries (e.g USA) that approach actually works - though not all!

(I was told that one by an Australian!)

I take your point otherwise about superficial impressions of other countries; though I suspect that - as in many other countries - the things that once worked well now only work moderately well, and the things that worked moderately well have disappeared or are disappearing.

[Simon]

Leaving aside the predictable doolally responses from the usual assorted fantasists to topics such as this, Lat's first post certainly gave me pause for thought and I'm sorry to read of someone feeling like this.

It's not a world I share, living as we do rather insulated from unpleasant goings on, and I do assure you, Lat, that if you were able to come and live up here you would see a completely different side of life and you would, I'm sure, be happy as we are.

That said, I think it's important to get these things in persepective. What we read in papers and what some see on the TV is an unbelievably biased view. I don't mean politically, but in terms of what really happens in the world and the country. Most people get on with life, help each other and are decent and honest. The minority who don't are the ones that get into the news!

As for laws and suchlike - it's a shame that such things as CCTV in taxis is thought necessary. But it won't have been done on a whim - there will be some reasoning behind it. We may not consider that reasoning to be sound - I don't know - but I'd bet that part of it is tied up with a desire to avoid legal expense: the compensation culture is so insidious, with the idea of always trying to blame someone else for anything that goes wrong in life. There will be a safety angle, too, I suppose. Some seem to have the idea that the job of government is to make life completely risk-free...!

[Mr Pee]

Only MrPee could come up with this on the day when those two blokes go on trial for the murder of Stephen Lawrence. When Stephen Lawrence's memorial in Eltham was desecrated it wasn't possible to use the CCTV evidence because ... there was no film in the camera

I don't know what the Stephen Lawrence trial has to do with anything, but there you go. People get mugged all the time, particularly in certain parts of South London. Perhaps we should all check the goings on in the law courts each day before we post any comments?

And from the second part of your post, you are clearly in favour of CCTV, because if there had been film in the camera, then the vandals responsible might have been caught. Correct?

Oh no, wait, the lack of film was all part of a conspiracy wasn't it?

[MrGongGong]

Leaving aside the predictable doolally responses from the usual assorted fantasists to topics such as this,

Welcome back professor
funny thing though living in Derbyshire and more particularly Rural Derbyshire
" if you were able to come and live up here you would see a completely different side of life and you would, I'm sure, be happy as we are."
ooops

this is Simon's "neck" of the woods , as they say !!!

http://www.matlockmercury.co.uk/news/local-news/murder_trial_for_stepson_of_former_wirksworth_teacher_1_866714

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/man-who-beheaded-father-gets-eight-years-1416637.html

But great gigs at the Fishpond eh prof !!

[teamsaint]

So not only were the CIA behind the murder of JFK, but they and Mossad started the First World War as well?? I didn't think either of these two organisations even existed in 1914....

And erm...here's what it was "about".... http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm

You really think it more likely that an attack will come from a Western Intelligence agency? Seriously? No doubt you also think that 9/11 was carried out by the US Government........

Keep taking the tablets.

have you ever considered actually reading other peoples posts, instead of being abusive about what you think they might have written?

What is hard to understand about "the people at the top".
And remind me, what caused, and who benefitted from WW1?

The people who need tablets are the ones out there who think that the real terrorists are scary unknown types in funny foreign clothing, when the REAL bigtime terrorists using endless resources and causing tens of thousands of deaths are people like bush/blair/dave etc. (iraqi WMD anyone?)

the people at the top will and can do anything to maintain their position. If you don't believe that, you are deluded.

But you don't need to worry in lovely cozy Mr Pee world, because , well, thats for other people to do.

Need to edit this, missed the lazy link in red !!
WW1. an imperialist economic war. Caused by greedy, pathologically dangerous people at the top. Those who benefitted? banks, arms industries, those with money and power who accumulated while the world was torn apart. An unnecessary war,like so many others.
and the question remains, who do the people at the top use to do their work?

[teamsaint]

Leaving aside the predictable doolally responses from the usual assorted fantasists to topics such as this, Lat's first post certainly gave me pause for thought and I'm sorry to read of someone feeling like this.

It's not a world I share, living as we do rather insulated from unpleasant goings on, and I do assure you, Lat, that if you were able to come and live up here you would see a completely different side of life and you would, I'm sure, be happy as we are.

That said, I think it's important to get these things in persepective. What we read in papers and what some see on the TV is an unbelievably biased view. I don't mean politically, but in terms of what really happens in the world and the country. Most people get on with life, help each other and are decent and honest. The minority who don't are the ones that get into the news!

As for laws and suchlike - it's a shame that such things as CCTV in taxis is thought necessary. But it won't have been done on a whim - there will be some reasoning behind it. We may not consider that reasoning to be sound - I don't know - but I'd bet that part of it is tied up with a desire to avoid legal expense: the compensation culture is so insidious, with the idea of always trying to blame someone else for anything that goes wrong in life. There will be a safety angle, too, I suppose. Some seem to have the idea that the job of government is to make life completely risk-free...!

Just because someone with power has thought about something, and has enacted a change for a reason, doesn't mean its a good thing !!
as for your view of a media driven world.....i would agree with you. Problem is the mainstream media mostly ignore all of the really bad stuff going on, (war , famine, economic exploitation,) and concentrate on the stuff that the politicians feed them, and princess middletons latest dress.

[MrGongGong]

Could someone who our esteemed academic is actually talking to and not IGNORING (let me make a SONG and DANCE about that , you all know WHO i'm IGNORING ...........etc etc )

ask him whether its a quaint rural custom to murder you father, put his severed head in a bag and take it round to show your relatives ?
or is this some kind of Biblical tradition that the faceless bureaucrats of Brussels want to stamp out against the will of the British people ?

[hackneyvi]

Don't be daft mrP
the Americans have solved the problem of terrorism by killing Bin Laden
in the same way that Christianity was wiped out by killing Jesus

Oh....please......you're accusing ME of being daft?????

Of course the problem of terrorism hasn't been solved by killing Bin-Laden. There are always going to be nutters who will follow his murderous, hate-filled doctrine, but by removing the figurehead of the organisation, there is no doubt that it has been considerably weakened. Or perhaps we should just roll over, say we'll never defeat terrorism, and give up, allowing Bin-Laden and his psychopathic cronies to live out their days in peace and comfort?

I think you two should just yield to the inevitable.

Exchange phone numbers, book a nice room and have sex.

The unspilled passion is becoming unbearable.

[Mr Pee]

I think you two should just yield to the inevitable.

Exchange phone numbers, book a nice room and have sex.

The unspilled passion is becoming unbearable.

Ooh dear....I'm feeling quite ill now.......

[hackneyvi]

Ooh dear....I'm feeling quite ill now.......

I seem to have brought this thread to a queasy halt.

Sorry, P and GG. I had one too many ports and Aero's last night.

Mind you, I can't absolutely guarantee that a sugary, alcoholic fever won't strike again in future ...

[Flosshilde]

Do you have any figures for the number of taxi drivers who are assaulted, or robbed, in the course of their work? I should have thought that if this measure helps prevent that, then it is to be welcomed. As the article says, only footage relating to police matters would be reviewed, and if not needed after 28 days then it would be destroyed. Sounds fair enough to me.

And as for your second link, we live in a post 9/11 world, and I would expect my government to take all necessary measures to prevent a potential massacre at the 2012 Olympics. I am glad that such measures are being implemented. This is the world we live in, and emigrating won't change that.

Where were you thinking of going? La-La Land?

Good grief, Mr Pee - what sort of cloud-cuckoo land do you live in?

I would like to know how the police are going to identify the footage they are going to review? Is it going to jump up shouting 'yoo hoo, I'm film of a criminal act'? Or perhaps the police, not having second sight, are going to view it all to find the footage that might be relevant to whatever it is they are investigating.

As for the Olympics, if the USA athletes are too feart to come to the UK without the protection of ground to air missiles, perhaps they'd at least like to pay for them? I don't see why I should.