Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[47p2]

pigtin.....No his name does not start with an R I really am not that sad As for the RSPCA....I never thought about that, maybe I should remove the clip

Brian M, The weird thing is he only howls at the end credits, never at the beginning or the interval.
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[Old-Nail]

[Penman]

Hi ON
Your comment about reinforcements reminded me of the story about a message supposedly sent durng WW1.

"We are going to advance, send reinforcements." was supposedly received as "We are going to a dance, send three and fourpence".

[Old-Nail]

There's also the one about the optimistic general that said in his telegram;
"We are completely surrounded... situation excellent we can attack in any direction!" NuLabour would have been proud of him!

[pigtin]

You guys are into some pretty heavy reading, thought I was bad enough. Last year, (in an attempt to try to make some sense of our current situation) I bought Marx’s ‘Capital’ and discovered my concentration and stamina were no longer up to it. I only managed a few hundred pages before starting to lose the will to live.
Seems his theories about fewer, and richer, people controlling the world are still roughly correct (but for ‘people’ maybe substitute organizations)
And while there may be fewer controlling things: I think there may be more actually screwing us.
The internet (if it manages to stay uncontrolled) could well be the greatest force for justice ever… but I fear that many organizations employ hundreds of people to moderate, muddy the water, and even intimidate people posting the truth. I’m particularly worried about the ‘Dunblane (alleged) whitewash’ as a case in point.
Remember… just having a computer can make you vulnerable: be sceptical when something incriminating is found on someones hard drive. They may not have put it there. Perhaps I’m getting paranoid in my old age and need to do more fishing?

[Old-Nail]

Marx is heavy going I'm afraid Pigtin, as are many of the philosophers.
The afore mentioned Thomas Hobbes was a great thinker for his time, and he accurately ascertained that no matter what the current or prevailing political philosophy, or theology, the nature of man is base and thus corrupts it.

The greatest, fairest, system on earth could theoretically be devised to ensure true equality and social justice. The worlds resources could be distributed in such a way as to include all, and no man could in law be deemed more worthy than another... but it wouldn't work because it is a system that relies on the participants adhering to it in good faith, and men don't do that.
Instead they look for loopholes, they attempt to gain advantage or dispossess others of their share, in short because of the nature of man systems and philosophies fail!
Mankind is the raw material we have to work with to build such a eutopia, and as Hobbes recognised, in his raw state man is a very poor substance indeed with which to build anything.

One of the best books I have ever read on the subject of Socialism was written in 1904 by a chap going by the nom-de-plume of Robert Tressel. Robert Tressel was the name chosen to indicate that the author was actually a joiner (hence tressel) and his book, although a novel was actually a thinly disguised autobiography detailing the life of a group of workers in England at the turn of the century.
The fascinating thing about this book is that if you were to read it today...and I wholeheartedly recommend that you do, you will 'recognise' each of the characters in the book as someone that you have actually worked with or known!
The book is called "The Ragged trousered Philanthropists", if you read it I guarantee two things, firstly you will find it hard to put down as you get to know the 'gang' of painters and decorators the book is based upon, and secondly it will give you a clear insight into the minds, experiences, and working practices of people at the end of the Victorian age...and although we may think otherwise you'll find that when compared to today surprisingly little has changed!
Other essential reading is 'The Crowd' by Gustave le Bon, The pamphlets of Thomas Carlyle' , and an up to date one which is 'The retreat of reason' by Anthony Browne. The latter is available at Civitas, which do some excellent and easily digestible books. http://www.civitas.org.uk/books/whatsnew.php

[pigtin]

I seem to recall reading it, either as an excercise at school, or it was part of my fathers book collection. My father, in his time, was accused of being to the left of Marx, it was the sort of thing he would have had.
Realization came to him with age and, too late, he moved a little to the right.

[Old-Nail]

With me also...but not too late I hope.
In this era where the perpetrator of a crime seems to have more effort expended, and care taken to understand his 'problems', while the victim has little or no comfort I now consider the quip made buy Samuel Johnson to be very appropriate to modern living;
"If an armed lunatic were to attack me then certainly I should feel sorry for him... I should knock him down first, but then I'd feel sorry for him!"
Now that's a more useful philosophy!

[pigtin]

I think it may be the weather that's causing our misery and introspection.
Our central heating has just 'kicked in' down here in Herne Bay.
Maybe when the sun shines we'll feel better. (How's the weather with you Greeney, you lucky chap)

[Greeney in France]

Its been absolutely persisting it down today like stair rods all day although temperature is 22° Now though the sun is out at the end of the day
I cant complain though as we live in a very beautifully lush green area and you only get that with a fair share of rain
Its been one of those days for me though a case interview online this morning, French lesson this afternoon and visitors so hardly any work done apart from sorting lights for fourgonette and painting a few odd bits of metal
Oh well "tomorrows is another day"
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www.OldFrenchCars.com

We do these things not to escape life but to prevent life escaping us

[peter scott]

[pigtin]

Quote: "If an armed lunatic were to attack me then certainly I should feel sorry for him... I should knock him down first, but then I'd feel sorry for him!"
Most people of that sort were from the lower classes and smaller and weaker than the likes of Samuel Johnson. Nowdays the armed lunatic would be large, muscular and from an ethnic minority... We are not allowed arms and have to treat ethnic minorities with respect... good on you Sam, things have changed though.

[62rebel]

Mister Kipling said it all rather well in one of his "poims", IIRC; one that sounds rather politically incorrect today (as does much written in that era) but still apropos.
i wonder, curiously, exactly what culture traits are to be celebrated and which are to be ignored? perhaps a deep appreciation for Eastern ways could explain away the wholesale murder of newborn girls? perhaps one from the vast tribes of Africa could explain away genital mutilation of young women entering puberty? perhaps, but i think not. it's all very good to hide behind a curtain of immunity based on religion or culture but when all is said and done there is no denying the responsibility and culpability of those in power.
when women and children are targeted for rape and murder on a country wide basis as in Darfur and the Sudan, and nothing is done about it because we're afraid to OFFEND someone (yes, the USA too)from a Muslim background, we lose the right to be excused from responsibility.

[Old-Nail]

Hi Peter,
I use the term 'Christian' to indicate that although no longer a particularly practicing nation, our values and morality can be said to have stemmed from Christian teachings.
If one takes note of the number of churches being closed due to lack of congregations (quite a few actually) which are then sold and converted to Mosques you could perhaps take that as indicative of a future trend. Poignantly, L.S.Lowry painted a picture called "A street in Accrington" which showed a typical northern view with a church and his famous matchstick men. Today that church still stands...but it's a Mosque and the matchstick figures have been replaced by veiled ones.
Add to this the immigrant birthrate is four times that of the indigenous population, all Muslins are encouraged to have large families, and in time the demographic change will ensure that a democratic vote will be all it takes to put this country under Sharia law.
Would it surprise you to know that the most popular newborn boys name in the UK for the last few years has been Mohammad?...do the maths.

Hey Greeney I think your rain has come this way, it's been sunny but windy all day long but now the skies are taking on a stony grey cast

[Penman]

Hi