Bassingbourne55

Looking at the UK, why do the Celts always appear to be more passionately patriotic than the English?

Genetically, the Welsh are scarcely any more ‘Celtic’ than the English. Throughout Britain, among people of longstanding British ancestry, Celtic and pre-Celtic genes are predominant. What happened in England is that the Angle and Saxon…[Read more]

Who’s to say? Some sex offenders might pose a risk for the rest of their lives, others might not. And some people who’ve had a completely clean record might become a sex offender in middle age.

The tipping point was when the flower arranging ladies at Gloucester Cathedral were made to do CRB checks and some resigned because they thought it was…[Read more]

It depends what the outcome of the revolutions is. If the democratic revolutions lead to weak governments Al-Qaeda will be able to create instability and grab power, so that Arab north Africa all becomes one huge Islamic state with a Taliban type government.

That’s what happened in Iran in 1979, although the fundamentalists were shia not…[Read more]

I don’t defend bullying but sadly it’s part human social behaviour. I’ve witnessed workplace bullying in small companies and in the public sector. I’ve even witnessed it in the voluntary sector of all places, with members of the ‘in’ clique intimidating new recruits to the extent that they give up after their first day.

when Fascism returns, it will be under the guise of opposition to Fascism

I dare say the far-left and the far-right have infiltrated each other’s organisations.

Remember there’s something that unites the far-left and the far-right, and it’s something bigger than mere political ideals, it’s extremism itself. Extremism is the driving force, people…[Read more]

I want a serious career in politics.

I think that would be very difficult for anyone who’s ever been a BNP activist!

I suppose you could always try writing to George Galloway :D

At least Elton John’s baby will grow up in a very wealthy and privileged environment!

As for gay people becoming parents or adoptive parents, many would make very good parents, probably. But the problem I foresee in many cases is that a child of two gay dads is likely to get picked on and bullied at school. So is it fair to put the parents’…[Read more]

I’m an atheist, so to me the Christmas story is the ‘greatest lie ever told’!

As I get older I find I have less and less respect for religions.

I was reflecting on a photo of ‘druids’ celebrating the winter solstice at Stonehenge, in robes and stuff. First thought is that it all looked a bit silly and contrived. But are they any different from…[Read more]

At the end of the second ‘great’ war most people had had enough and our great leader Churchill was kicked out.

Churchill did get a second bite of the cherry, as he became prime minister again in the mid 1950’s, when he was over 80. He should have quit while he was ahead and left politics as a war hero on a ‘high’ in 1945, but instead he ended…[Read more]

It seems only slang words get filtered you can say anything if you use the ‘proper’ words!

E.g horse manure, masturbate, vagina, testicles, etc etc.

So it’s all just a grammar conspiracy. :lol:

Of course, if Cher Lloyd does become famous internationally, it could lead to problems of confusion with the original Cher. But in both cases Cher is their real name.

I’ll just round this off by saying well done to Matt. I thought he and Rebecca were neck and neck tonight, I couldn’t have chosen a favourite. Personally I still think Cher gave the most captivating performances throughout X factor, I think she’s the one most likely to become known around the world.

Frankie Boyle must have had his brain out of gear with the joke he made about Jordan’s autistic son and her cage fighter husband. Had he forgotten what cage fighting was?

“Er, boss, shall I give Mr. Boyle’s face the Lucien Freud treatment or shall I give him a full Francis Bacon?”
“Neither, give ‘im a Jackon Pollock!”

But then, I suppose Boyle…[Read more]

I think I want Rebacca to win now, given that Cher’s out of the contest. Matt is excellent too, plus he plays the guitar while singing. However, he has hit a few wrong notes on off days – I haven’t seen Rebecca do that.

I never heard Cher hit a wrong note either (not counting her rapping, of course!). If Cher did have a weakness in relation to…[Read more]

Oh well, it was Cher’s turn to go in the X factor tonight. At least Matt and Rebecca are also outstanding singers and One Direction are ‘polished’, so it was probably down to style and peoples’ personal preferences rather than ability.

I see Channel 4 are now defending Boyle and the way he’s “pushing the boundaries of humour”.

So can we expect a run of shows by childrens’ shows Roy Chubby Brown, or some Bernard Manning repeats, perhaps? May be a bit of Jethro or Jim Davidson. Or possibly Billy Connolly losing it onstage and swearing at an audience member to see how many…[Read more]

Oh well, she’s still there and good for her. I will say that now Cher is up against strong competition. Rebecca and Matt are also amazing singers, while One Direction, as a group, are polished and harmonious. But it’s still Cher who sets the stage alight when she walks on (metaphorically). Even if she goes out this weekend, she’s done well…[Read more]

Following on from my original post, the boy that led the gang that bullied me when I was 8 or 9 later became a victim of bullying himself as a teenager (not by me, I had nothing to do with him) – but it did give me a sneaking sense of satisfaction!

If your dog poops on a pile of horse sh-it in the street, do you still have to pick up the dog poo and put it in a bag?

By the way, when I put horse sh-it without the hyphen, it was filtered and appeared in my post as Hot Chocolate !!! :lol:

Leona Lewis is very good, she deserved to win, I like her a lot – but she became a superstar after winning X Factor. Cher Lloyd has a quality of being something different from the usual, but still amazingly talented.

OK, one could say that about Wagner too – until his performance tonight, which fell a long way short of anything he’d done before.…[Read more]