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Thats ok, my relatives gave the redcoats a warm reception on some earthen levies just outside New Orleans. A good time was had by all...oh wait by us anyway.

Moral of the story: never mess with crazy Louisiana gator people

Ok here's a Q: does Big Ben still work?

The Bell inside the Clock Tower of Parliament is indeed still in fine working order.....

And the clock works as well (Big Ben is the name of the bell, not the Clock!)

yup. In case you didn't know , Big Ben is actually the name of the multi ton bell inside the clock tower. Even kept working during WW II.

Cool. Didn't know that.

And please stop confusing London Bridge with Tower Bridge.

Most embarassing for you!

Whats the difference again? Which one has the secret alien landing pad-thats what I want to know. Also, which one would stand up better to Godzilla. These things are important bits of information

London bridge is the one in America, Tower bridge is the one in London.

Wolfstan wrote:I always find that if you get collared on the 4th July by an American, harping on about beating us... just ask them why the Whitehouse is called the Whitehouse

We have references to it being called the White House before the burning. It may have been because the White sandstone made it appear white before the burning ever occurred. MYTH BUSTED

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Well, we burnt it down. Must have been quite funny.

Legend has it that the Septics were about to sit down to a nice dinner, saw the Redcoats coming, and stegged it. So the Redcoats helped themselves, burnt it down, and then went back to Canadia.

Septics?

Word was sent to Dolly Madison to bugger on out because soldiers were headed that way. There was a reception planned and a full table laid out for 30~40 some guests. The British soldiers arrived to a nice dinner waiting for them, ate, and then torched it.

Cock-er-nee Rhyming Slang.

Septic Tank - Yank.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Cock-er-nee Rhyming Slang.

Septic Tank - Yank.

Ah, I'm not used to seeing outside Guy Ritchie movies.

Did someone say Geordies?

We don't have a constitution (the British, not the Geordies I mean). Well, not a codified one like America's. Ours is the sum of our laws and institutions, it is constantly evolving. Plus it's superceded by the EU now anway.

The treaty hasn't been ratified by all member states, and therefore can't be finalised unless some can persuade the Irish to vote again and "get it right" the next time.

Hey, it worked with Nice...

Ah yes. The EU Consitution.

So dangerous, so perilous to our sovereignty that neither side, for or against, is willing to actually bother explaining it to the masses.

It's been defeated twice now. First by the Frogs, then by the Bog Irish. Surely it's time to give up and just accept it's just another daft idea?

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:First by the Frogs, then by the Bog Irish. Surely it's time to give up and just accept it's just another daft idea?

Could you tone down the Sun-style racism a bit! We cant mock the tabloids in good faith when your post reads like one

It was a cunning attempt at Irony!

So the American music charts : these are based on airplay right ? Do you have a national number single/album or is it all regional/genre defined ?

Just why do the British believe we are superior to every other nation on the planet, yet fool ourselves that the evidence to the contrary is simply because we're too cool to try, or because we didn't have the right weather / nuclear weapons / nobby parents?

At least we can laugh at ourselves, am I right?

I'd like to see another pissant Island from the arse end of nowhere dominate the Globe!

Thats why. What he had, we can regain, and then some.

Shame our navy isn't up to the task these days eh? Why is that the case?

We're skint!

Thats basically it.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Ah yes. The EU Consitution.

So dangerous, so perilous to our sovereignty that neither side, for or against, is willing to actually bother explaining it to the masses.

It's been defeated twice now. First by the Frogs, then by the Bog Irish. Surely it's time to give up and just accept it's just another daft idea?

(Not adressed to Doc)

The thing that pisses me off about the EU constitution debacle is the constant calls for a referendum on it. Not one single person calling for a referendum has read the damn thing or even a summarised version of it, all they're going on is tabloid fear-mongering and backwards xenophobia perpetuated by people with craniums packed with mud and gummi bears. I have no clue on the fine detail of the document, so I don't want a vote on it cheers, I have no sodding clue if it's a good idea, that's why I elected someone else to read the thing for me in the first place. People who despise Eastern Europeans coming to this country to find work, but simultaneously employ them to build their kitchen deserve to be hung upside down from a lampost by their testes and made to sing 'I'm a little teapot' untill they go so mad they piss out of their eyeballs. Tossers.

I want a referendum on it.

And I've read the thing too. Didn't get all of it-- a lot of it is just procedural or admin changes but there's steps in there I don't want taking and Europe isn't ready for at all.

Combined European army ? Err.... no thanks, not like this anyway. For example we got £$%^ all support from out European "friends" when the Falklands were invaded-- the Belgains who were were buying opur bullet from went on strike in protest. Yeah thanks ! And frankly the support in current military actions is pisspoor you'll note.

The concept of the euro state is a sensible and marvellous idea. The hegemony we're being given makes me wonder why more people are screaming that this is wrong.
I don't want an Inquisitorial legal system thanks. I don't want political leaders immune to prosecution

-- you'll note France already has such a system set up, one of the reasons Chirac hung on for so long. have a dig around at all the powers and immunities the commissioners have. Terrifying. Unelected and unaccountable.

Did you see what Cresson got away with ?

" While a European Commissioner she was the main target in the fraud allegations that led to the resignation of the Santer Commission in 1999. Subsequent to a fraud inquiry the European Commission said that Cresson in her capacity as the Research Commissioner "failed to act in response to known, serious and continuing irregularities over several years". Cresson was found guilty of not reporting failures in a youth training programme from which vast sums went missing.


[edit] Appointing a friend

Prime Minister CressonWhen Cresson took up her functions, she wished to appoint one of her close acquaintances, Philippe Berthelot, a dental surgeon, as a "personal adviser". Because he was 66 years old, Berthelot could not be appointed as a member of a Commissioner’s Cabinet, and Cresson was advised accordingly. Moreover, when Cresson took up office, her Cabinet was already fully staffed, as far as personal advisers were concerned. She asked the administration to consider how it might be possible to appoint him. Berthelot was then engaged as a "visiting scientist" from September 1995 until the end of February 1997.

Although appointment as a visiting scientist implies that the person concerned is mainly to work either in the JRC or the services dealing with research, Berthelot worked exclusively as a personal adviser to Cresson. On the expiry of his contract on 1 March 1997, Berthelot was offered another visiting scientist’s contract, for a period of one year expiring at the end of February 1998. His appointment as a visiting scientist thus lasted for a total period of two and a half years, whereas the rules specify a maximum duration of 24 months.

On 31 December 1997, Mr Berthelot requested the termination of his contract from that date, on medical grounds. His application was accepted. Following a complaint by a Member of Parliament, a criminal investigation concerning Berthelot’s file was opened in Belgium in 1999. In June 2004, the Chambre du conseil of the Tribunal de première instance de Bruxelles (Court of First Instance, Brussels) decided that no further action should be taken in the case, taking the view that there was no ground for continuing the criminal procedure.


[edit] European Commission vs. Édith Cresson
On 11 July 2006, in a judgment by the European Court of Justice on Case C-432/04 (Commission of the European Communities versus Édith Cresson), the Court declared that Édith Cresson acted in breach of her obligations as a European commissioner. While the breach of the obligations arising from the office of Member of the Commission calls, in principle, for the imposition of a penalty, the Court held that, having regard to the circumstances of the case, the finding of breach constituted, of itself, an appropriate penalty and, accordingly, decided not to impose on Cresson a penalty in the form of a deprivation of her right to a pension or other benefits.

Cresson claimed that where the conduct complained of in criminal and disciplinary proceedings was the same, the findings of the criminal court were binding on the disciplinary authorities. However, the Court held that it was not bound by the legal characterisation of facts made in the context of the criminal proceedings and that it was for the Court, exercising its discretion to the full, to investigate whether the conduct complained of in proceedings brought under Article 213(2) EC constituted a breach of the obligations arising from the office of Commissioner. Accordingly, the decision of the Chambre du conseil of the Tribunal de première instance de Bruxelles that there was no evidence of criminal conduct on Cresson’s part could not bind the Court."

So.... getting foound out or caught.... is sufficient punishment ! What ? Seriously ?

Frankly I'm amazed the USA wants anything to do with us/europe, we're about to make Soviet Russia look like a free society.


Hooray for democracy right ?

reds8n wrote:So the American music charts : these are based on airplay right ? Do you have a national number single/album or is it all regional/genre defined ?

Sorta. There is an airplay chart but what gets played is usually controlled by the corporate masters. Something like 99% the Radio stations in the country are owned by like 4 companies. Many of these companies are owned/own or in collusion with the RIAA. That makes it sound more sinister than what it is, but it you do generally get a limited representation of available music. Satellite radio and now "HD" Radio may have an impact.

There are different charts for sales of records with an overall, then genre. Whichever makes an album look best will be the one that is mentioned. If R. Kelly releases an album, oh, lets call it "Hot Water Pedophile" and it doesn't crack the overall top 10 but is number 1 on the R&B charts it will be advertised as the #1 R&B album. It's mostly marketing from RIAA.

reds8n wrote:The concept of the euro state is a sensible and marvellous idea. The hegemony we're being given makes me wonder why more people are screaming that this is wrong.

Well it hasn't been a collective group for much much longer then the idea of an Euro state. You aren't going to change hundreds of years, if not a longer, of cultural bickering and stone throwing in just a few decades. Give it time.

reds8n wrote:Frankly I'm amazed the USA wants anything to do with us/europe, we're about to make Soviet Russia look like a free society.

We have to have someone to tell our stories about how awesome we were in WWII. Plus a lot of ancestors from the area. Even so, you are still getting on our nerves.

We have to have someone to tell our stories about how awesome we were in WWII

Actually we usually just joke about your cute insistence that it started in 1941. Timekeeping isn't a national strong-point we gather.

But, hey ! You got here. Much appreciated. You might win a war without our help one day now too ! Where there's life etc etc eh ?

So... we sent you Mr. Beckham and a few other washed up looking for a pay... I mean talented sportsmen at the peak of their careers to try and get you lot to play real football. We hear reports that it almost seems to take off and then dies away. Is this true or do you think this is perhaps mainly due to the increasingly dominant Southern American influence upon your culture-- "soccer" as you so embarrassingly (but understandably I hasten to add) call it being bigger down there than in the Northern part of the continent.

Or do you think that your own homegrown sports ( stolen as they might be.. mutter grumble) will always be more popular ?

reds8n wrote: Actually we usually just joke about your cute insistence that it started in 1941. Timekeeping isn't a national strong-point we gather.

I don't know what you are talking about. :S

reds8n wrote:Or do you think that your own homegrown sports ( stolen as they might be.. mutter grumble) will always be more popular ?

It does rise and fall (soccer) but I don't see it ever reaching NFL/NBA/MLB levels. Women's soccer has a better chance because of their success and not having MLB/NFL equivalents to contend with and can set it's own path. In the end with the "homegrown" sports being so popular and American Exceptionalism being what it is I doubt Soccer will ever be as popular here as it is, well, everywhere else. Same with F-1. We like Rednecks in sorta fancy cars, not Europeans in marvels of engineering. Also Rally is not as popular as it should be. We love offroad, but we don't love offroad racing. Ok we do, but since it is timed (skill) instead of all the cars going at once to create massive accidents, it limits the fanbase.

reds8n wrote: I want a referendum on it.

Me too. To vote against it and make them come back with something the man in the street can understand.

reds8n wrote:

reds8n wrote:

We have to have someone to tell our stories about how awesome we were in WWII

Actually we usually just joke about your cute insistence that it started in 1941. Timekeeping isn't a national strong-point we gather.

So when did it start?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II

Is even cuter when they claim they won it!

Russians got there first I'm afraid, and pretty much stomped all over the Nazi Warmachine in doing so.