Britain For Sale.

[happy daze john in oz]

Au contraire,Jim, Gulliver loves Britain and everything about it.............

Your problem Gulliver is that you live I believe in a part of England that has not been flooded with the 'undesirables' many spaek of. The England of leavy lanes, and magnificent woods, the England of the country village with it's own quaint life style. The England where once the people stood proud and free.
It is the England I grew up in and loved so dearly, it is the England I would love to see free again, it is the England that so many gave for but is now being slowly destroyed from within. It is the England that has on so many occasions been sold for a mess of potage, it is the England so many crave for. Will it ever return, that my friend is in the hands of the people, the people who now in many cases think are no longer free.

[John Pruden]

i was surprised when my brother in law bought a lada i had heard all the old jokes about them but most people that take the p... out of them have never traveled in one his was not the tin box that i thought i think any continental cars that have severe winters are well built and very reliable. i have a qashqai {Nissan} this years but its not a patch on the Audi?JP

[Gulliver]

Your problem Gulliver is that you live I believe in a part of England that has not been flooded with the 'undesirables' ...............

I don't have a problem John. And I really can't help sounding sarcastic here-but Do you really think I stay closeted in my little ivy-covered cottage in leafy Middle England? I lived and worked in London for twelve years and although there were many foreigners around the City, including many I worked with,and lived amongst many in my neighbourhood I never saw them as' the enemy' like some of you do with 'hinted at 'racist posts ' on this site. .There are good and bad in every race.I'm from Manchester which had started accepting immigrants in the fifties-Now their grandchildren feel justifiably proud to be British and are rightly shocked at the degree of racism(in many cases thinly disguised,but still racism) that is increasingly prevalent in our society today.
I've said it before,but I would rather have a religious hard-wearing family of another race living next door to me than some of the scrounging,illiterate white trailer trash that are dragging this country down just as fast as you infer the immigrant is doing.

Practice spouting your ethnic-cleansing spiel in Australia John,I don't want want to hear it happening in my country,whether I live in Little Piddle on the Wyre..or inner city Birmingham!
Regards
Gulliver

[Gulliver]

i was surprised when my brother in law bought a lada i had heard all the old jokes about them ...........

Despite all the Lada jokes(and Skoda) I admit they weren't too bad at all really,and certainly a good deal tougher than BL..It's just that,at one time,it was more than life's worth to admit that you drove a Lada ! They always conjured up visions of rednosed Vodka -fuelled Russian peasants in fur hats driving them..but I'm no snob!
Skoda eventually metamorphosed into some damn good cars made by Volkswagen,not sure about Ladas...There seem to be many Soviets these days (and Chinese !) driving round in Range Rovers and Bentleys(the BMW manufactured variety).
Lada Riva.jpg No,not bad at all !

[stewart morrison]

theres no suitable reply to that one, very witty, cheers.

[john sutton]

try driving in spain WHEN IN SPAIN
Many people come and live in Spain, learn some Spanish and are surprised when things they don’t understand happen. Let me help.
Manana..This is a word that is absolutely misunderstood by brits.Basicly,it means definitely not today.End of story.
Manana,tarde.Some afternoon in the not too distant future.
Caro.Something your selling.
Barato.Something they are selling
Driving.Indicator lights are to make the corners of cars look pretty or to indicate a direction that the driver of the vehicle concerned has no intention of taking..
Always give way to the vehicle on the roundabout,unless it looks like a rental car full of tourists who have left their credit card details with the rental company,or you are driving a 4wheel drive with bullbars.It, s more fun on a roundabout if you start on the right-hand lane when you intend to take the third or fourth exit off it.It helps develop other drivers mind reading skills
One way streets are for foreigners,or locals who are not in a hurry.
Red traffic lights are optional with caution. Flashing amber lights with an arrow pointing right means that its ok to stay and chat to your pal in the next car until his light turns red.
Pedestrian crossings are merely a device to test the nerves of pedestrians or their faith in fellow man.From a motorist point of view it is a place that you can usually find to park.
Double parking.This is usually a bone of contention for non Spanish.It,s a wonderful Spanish tradition,because we can do it as well.Try double parking in a city in the UK and you,ll have a ticket before you have closed the car door.How civilised,you want a pack of cig,s or a postcard, double park the car and go and get it
I should mention that roundabouts are traditionally the place for two vehicles to stop and exchange pleasantries.
Signs that say “no left turn” onto a main road are placed there by an official with a wicked sense of humour.
Two wheeled motor vehicles are for people who have very little road sense and they ride them until they have lost this small amount of knowledge and can move onto a four
wheeled vehicle or have put themselves out of the picture altogether.
Occasionally you will see letters in English speaking papers asking whether Spain has heard of European directive blablabla, they probably have and decided that applied to other countries and good luck to them.
The peseta used to be the currency of Spain before Euro MPs started interfering and the Spanish people are loath to give it up.That is why some prices are still quoted in pesetas and if you are buying or selling something privately the Spanish want to discuss the price in their proper currency not some made up rubbish that they don’t really want to be part of.
So there you are. A short roughguide to living in Spain.Many foreigners(especially brits)will want to change things.I don’t,if it’s good enough for the Spanish then its fine by me.
John Sutton
Colina blanca

[happy daze john in oz]

Oh Dear Gulliver, it would appear I may have offended your good self, not my intention. As for racial speil as you put it, I speak as i find and yes there are good and bad in all nationalities. But there are many such people who refuse to assimilate with the local community, they then accuse the locals of racial discrimination. That is why so many people get upset with them.
I do not know the area you live in, but I have a sister in East Grimstead which years ago was one of those leafy suuburbs you speak of. Now she tells me English speaking is in the minority, so as I said the England I grew up in is in decline.
The average Australian is so laid back that slowly we are being taken over, mucch as other countries, by incoming who hate their country of origin but want to bring with them all the customs and laws that are very often the cause of the problems in the countries they leave. We have no problem with migrants coming here, the nation was founded on such, all we ask is that they accept the conditions and laws of this country. Something many find hard to do.

[Tony Morcom]

Over the past few weeks I have been going through all the threads in the Off Topic forum, sorting and editing where necessary. A large percentage of the threads decry the break down of their society and wanting to change what is currently going on as a result of perceived governmental failures. Ironically there is also a huge percentage decrying the fact that others move to their country and try to change their society. Funny old world isn't it. It seems some are not happy whatever happens.

Yes the world is full of illegal immigrants who move from their own country because they were not happy with the way things were, for what ever reason, but usually governmental failure. However in most cases the immigrants are legal (ish) and have moved to the respective country for a better life.mmmmm bit like ex-pats??!! In most cases they blend in the best they can, get themselves jobs doing that which the locals simply won't do, and try to make the best of things. Yes it is annoying when they speak their own language and you can't understand them, but I dare say that originally the Spanish, Australians and Americans, Canadians etc, etc were just as peed off when the Brits first moved in speaking in accents or a language that they couldn't understand. Often the Brits then did the jobs that the locals couldn't or wouldn't do. A lot of similarities there then.

Yes there are the extremists and the illegals but in the main the majority of these immigrants are not bad people, they are just a little different, just like the ex-pats ( don't take offense guys as none is intended) The point is they are here and there is little we can do about it. Most of us frequent the hospitality industry in one form or another, whether it be take-a ways, hotels, cafes etc., but guess what, remove the immigrants and there wouldn't be a hospitality industry because there would be no one to run it. The locals have been proven to be not interested. There would be no one to pick the crops, because the locals simply won't do it. Its been proven time and again. the fact is these immigrants will come and work for a pittance and form a valuable part of our communities. Go to your local hospital ~ if you take out all the doctors and nurses who aren't from that country and you would have to wait a very long time to get treated.

However the overriding point I guess I am trying to make, is rather than moaning and complaining about the way things are, maybe our energy would be much better used just accepting it and trying to make the best of it. Life isn't long enough for all this doom and gloom.

Well that's my rant over for the day. No doubt the flack will start flying but before you start punching those keys on your computer just take a minute to think about what I am trying to say. Maybe I'm right ~ maybe not.

Oh and bye the way good luck to the two guys vying for the world's top job today ~ because one thing is certain, who ever wins, they will probably end up regretting it one day

[Jim Brady]

Tony.quite a long post but I will just pick out one thing where you hit the nail right on the head with these people coming here.[Quote] it is a fact that these immigrants will come here and work for a pittance [unquote]Surely that is what is wrong with the country the employer will use these people for cheap labour so the British person is priced out of a job.If the migrant workers were'nt here the employer would have to up his hourly rate the job would be more attractive to people on the dole and result in our unemployment figure coming down.Is'nt this what happened to the British Merchant Navy???
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Keith Tindell]

Hi Tony,
I think thats the point made. We need to toughen up our border control, and regardless of where illegals come from, to deport them. That is the main problem, proving where they come from, as until we can prove via a passport or some other means we are stuck with them. But as you say, if they are here legally, they have every right, if you watch the programme on Border Controls you can see what a problem it is, having been caught, what do you do with them if they have no documents to prove where they are from, regards KT