Tell Me Something............Anything!

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

Strange to find myself agreeing with a Tory. Robert Jenrick saying there are "too many migrants to integrate into society". That's been obvious for an awful lot of years, as evidenced by the 'ghetto-ising' of regions to the point of creating no-go areas for anybody who doesn't fit in.

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I know right. It's ok letting in a few immigrants, but when it comes to the point that they begin to turn into a sizable minority with a birth rate which far out strips native Brits, then its time to use some foresight. The thing with Brexit is that European migrants integrate far better than Asian or African/Caribbean migrants do, so it's a bit of loss there. I should know because my last girlfriend was a lovely Spanish lass, I mean, when's the last time you went to a pub and chatted up a bird in a burqa?

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Originally Posted by Macca

There must be something in it about not having to share a room as well.

Been complaints round here that the food isn't very good and there's nothing to do. Well, yeah. Welcome to Stoke.

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You've got me thinking now, I might take the Wam to the ECHR after the Stoke show at the Britannia hotel.

Where my partner lives in London could not be more cosmopolitan. Yet I do not feel threatened, intimidated or in any a stranger there.

Last week, for example, I eat in Turkish restaurant one day, eat pizza in an Italian one, the next, had coffee in a Jewish cafe, and eat in a Burmese restaurant on another day. The nearest off-licence is run by an Indian, and we buy charcuterie from the local Polish delicatessen.

Women in hijabs or, occasionally, burkas mix with others wearing mini-skirts and braids without conflict.

Were it not for the high cost of living in London, I could quite happily live there.

Sadly that's not the case where I live. A number of cafes have been taken over and places where you used to be able to pop in for a coffee and a cake are now full of only men with beards, and lots of them now sit on the tables outside smoking. Some of them have blacked out their windows and there are stories on social media from those working in the area of cars stopping outside blocking the roads and men and women popping in the cafes quickly to hand over envelopes.

I get a newsletter from the local police. There have been about 10 muggings in the afternoon in recent weeks.

Women no longer feel comfortable meeting up with their friends for a coffee and chat. I don't like taking the children to the area any more either.

Such a shame as 5 years ago it was a nice family area.

when I moved in this street 25 years ago it was 100 percent white English. Now I think we have someone from half the countries in the world. Poland, Rumania, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Kurdistan, even French Caribbean.

I helped the South African bloke across the street to buy a car, he'd only been here a fortnight and didn't have a clue what he was doing.

I walk down to the shop and back and quite often don't hear anyone speaking in English, which is a bit weird. Can't say it bothers me but then not a lot does.

There's a Rumanian supermarket end of the street, thought I'd give it a go. But I can't read Rumanian and the pictures on the packaging are no help. Didn't know if I was looking at soup or washing powder.

Anyway there's never any bother, if anything it was a much rougher area back when it was all white British.

not a huge amount of foreigners around here. mostly poles, but some asians too(my neighbour on on side is asia although i dont know which country, and they seem very nice folk; work hard etc and always polite) and i guess romanian/albanian/turk types you seem to get everywhere too. some chinese but as i say you dont really bump into them that much so levels cant be too high.
of course scotland isnt really that high on peoples list as a destination.

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Originally Posted by struth

not a huge amount of foreigners around here. mostly poles, but some asians too(my neighbour on on side is asia although i dont know which country, and they seem very nice folk; work hard etc and always polite) and i guess romanian/albanian/turk types you seem to get everywhere too. some chinese but as i say you dont really bump into them that much so levels cant be too high.
of course scotland isnt really that high on peoples list as a destination.

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The 2011 census found that:

Scotland's population was 96.0% white, a decrease of 2.0% from 2001
91.8% of people identified as ‘White: Scottish’ or ‘White: Other British'
4.2% of people identified as Polish, Irish, Gypsy/Traveller or ‘White: Other’
the population in Asian, African, Caribbean or Black, Mixed or Other ethnic groups doubled to 4%

https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/c...ed%20to%204%25

By comparion England is 81% white British as of 2021

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Originally Posted by Mikeandvan

I know right. It's ok letting in a few immigrants, but when it comes to the point that they begin to turn into a sizable minority with a birth rate which far out strips native Brits, then its time to use some foresight. The thing with Brexit is that European migrants integrate far better than Asian or African/Caribbean migrants do, so it's a bit of loss there. I should know because my last girlfriend was a lovely Spanish lass, I mean, when's the last time you went to a pub and chatted up a bird in a burqa?

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I tried that once, the women all gave me a wide berth. Admittedly I did look a bit sinister.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I tried that once, the women all gave me a wide berth. Admittedly I did look a bit sinister.

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How many women wearing burkas do you see in pubs? :scratch:

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Originally Posted by Barry

How many women wearing burkas do you see in pubs? :scratch:

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:doh: Should I point out that it was me wearing the burka, or just get me coat?

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

:doh: Should I point out that it was me wearing the burka, or just get me coat?

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or your burka.

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Originally Posted by Macca

or your burka.

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Got rid ages ago, bloody useless thing. It even got my passport photo rejected, though the passport office wouldn't admit it, said it was the sunglasses :(

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

:doh: Should I point out that it was me wearing the burka, or just get me coat?

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Just imagine where you could go dressed as a letter box.

It's quite apparent that European leaders have been ignoring their indigenous populaces feelings about immigration for too long, the rise of far right parties across Europe is testament to that, I suppose when we vote with our feet, they may start to listen, Until then its more of this Rwanda panto. The crazy thing about Brexit is that the shortfall from European immigration is made up by Asian/Black immigration, the exact opposite of what many voted for. And as I said earlier, I would much rather share my country with Europeans than people whose culture is very different, even alien to ours, it just makes no sense. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a caliphate stretching from Pakistan to Ireland by the year 2100.

Is it true what I heard, that the money that was going to go on HS2 will now be spent fixing all the potholes? Not seen any sign of it round here, just a lot of 'pop up' road works with the attendant maifunctioning temporary lights, making every journey like a giant version of whack-a-mole.

With all the rainfall we've had, and the flooding, I might consider flogging the van and getting a boat instead. Or for best of both worlds, a hovercraft. 7am every morning, neighbours will love that, though I bet you can get electric ones.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

With all the rainfall we've had, and the flooding, I might consider flogging the van and getting a boat instead. Or for best of both worlds, a hovercraft. 7am every morning, neighbours will love that, though I bet you can get electric ones.

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Wouldn't work, all the potholes would disrupt the air cushion.

electric 4x4 is the future

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Originally Posted by Macca

electric 4x4 is the future

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I thought garlic bread was the future. It's hard to keep up.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I thought garlic bread was the future. It's hard to keep up.

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I think that's what they use to fill the potholes.

Got a police helicopter circling round and round about four hundred feet above my house at the moment. Noisy bugger! No idea who they might be looking for, it happens quite often.

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

Got a police helicopter circling round and round about four hundred feet above my house at the moment. Noisy bugger! No idea who they might be looking for, it happens quite often.

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Very low now, maybe 200 feet. Could be looking to land nearby.

if its a dawn raid they have kinda given the game away;)

It's gone, police cars cruising the area now.

Many years ago I taught science in a secondary school in a pretty dodgy area. After a lesson on heat transfer one of the lads asked whether holding a dustbin
lid over his head would stop police helicopter thermal imaging from being able to “see” him.

I was pleased that he was trying to apply some Science to his everyday life (I did tell him that the dustbin lid would make him stand out a bit though :doh:)

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Originally Posted by guy

Many years ago I taught science in a secondary school in a pretty dodgy area. After a lesson on heat transfer one of the lads asked whether holding a dustbin
lid over his head would stop police helicopter thermal imaging from being able to “see” him.

I was pleased that he was trying to apply some Science to his everyday life (I did tell him that the dustbin lid would make him stand out a bit though :doh:)

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i suppose it might depend on if the lid was hot or warm too:eyebrows:

Some aluminised wrapping paper over a cheap duvet would work better.

cant find my address book for cards. bought the stamps as well :doh:

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Originally Posted by struth

cant find my address book for cards. bought the stamps as well :doh:

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Hope you find it Grant, bit late now though.

Just found it. No wonder I couldn't find it it was in a box hidden doh

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

It's gone, police cars cruising the area now.

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It probably ran out of petrol. Those buggers cost about a thousand quid an hour to put in the air to chase after scrotes arseing round in uninsured 'pool cars'. And at the end of it all the above mentioned scrotes are arrested then get kicked to the kerb due to lack of evidence.

Pointless waste of police money.

They could just use drones, much cheaper, but then they wouldn't be able to give their mates rides at the weekends.

start sending them to africa too.. probably worse than the ones trying to get in.

I noticed while idly staring out of the window on the drive to Tesco (no I wasn't driving), that most if the trees en route (that had been planted in the last thirty years or so to make the adjacent warehouses less of an eyesore) were actually dead or dying. Almost all had their trunks covered in ivy, a sure sign that death is near. I'm sure trees used to last longer than that.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I noticed while idly staring out of the window on the drive to Tesco (no I wasn't driving), that most if the trees en route (that had been planted in the last thirty years or so to make the adjacent warehouses less of an eyesore) were actually dead or dying. Almost all had their trunks covered in ivy, a sure sign that death is near. I'm sure trees used to last longer than that.

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all the pollution mate. think what it does to us

Is that right about the ivy? I don't think ivy harms trees.

Probably the trees are dying due to some sort of disease that affects that variety, whatever it is.

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Originally Posted by Macca

Is that right about the ivy? I don't think ivy harms trees.

Probably the trees are dying due to some sort of disease that affects that variety, whatever it is.

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No I don't think the ivy is actually harming them, it's more a symptom of some malaise, rather than a cause. I might have heard it wrong, I'll do some research.

ivy wont kill a healthy tree as such but will compete for the often scant resourses available. most of these trees were probably wrong type and badly planted in shit soil and then peed on constantly by pooches

Next door's large apple tree was inundated by ivy, the extra weight made the apple tree's trunk snap and it ended up leaning over my wall. Two years on, both tree and ivy seem to be surviving and annoying me. I'll chop it all back when things warm up, there'll be loads to hack off.

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Originally Posted by struth

ivy wont kill a healthy tree as such but will compete for the often scant resourses available. most of these trees were probably wrong type and badly planted in shit soil and then peed on constantly by pooches

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I think they are all planted too close together, for maximum density as soon as possible. And as you say, competing for scant resources.

Where I grew up there were woods made up of huge beech, oak and sycamore trees. I had at some point climbed all of them, even knocking in 6" nails when the lowest branches were out of reach. Makes me cringe to think what would have happened if I'd slipped off one of those nails...

Then a few years later all those trees were felled and new trees planted. What were they thinking? Now forty years on and most of those trees look sick and many have fallen over.

looking at aerial photos of my area from the 1930s through to the 1960s and there's no trees or undergrowth at all where now there are dense concentrations of both.

Big churchyard and adjoining graveyard just down the road - both full of large mature trees - 50 years ago there was nothing in either.

Back when I first moved here they planted three saplings on a wide stretch of pavement. They were little trees for years, not sure when they became the big trees they are now but it seemed to happen almost overnight.

In the street next to mine there's a massive tree growing out of the rubble of a demolished building, must be 60 foot tall. Not there in the '60s either.

Like a watched kettle never boiling, trees do bugger all while you're looking at them. Maybe they just grow at night. The part of Preston where I lved in the 70s were all demolished in about '81, and the area landscaped with new planted trees. They're all 40 footers now, and healthy. But they were planted pretty far apart, I think that is key to their success.

Got a cold, caught it from other half. I think it may be the only thing the missus will give me for xmas :D.

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

Got a cold, caught it from other half. I think it may be the only thing the missus will give me for xmas :D.

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Don't lose heart, she might get you some Lemsips in the January sales.

Hopefully different from the one I caught, it's been 2 weeks now. Started with a hacking cough and a feeling that someone had installed a house brick behind my eyes, followed by aching joints and hypersensitive skin, constant sneezing, then as a parting gift two days of doing poos that looked like oxtail soup.

Just done all my Christmas wrapping, took me just 15 minutes. I don't know what all the fuss is about. Doddle.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

Just done all my Christmas wrapping, took me just 15 minutes. I don't know what all the fuss is about. Doddle.

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beat ya..lol no wrapping this year

No wrapping for us either. We bought one another clothes, which having been chosen by the other half, wrapping them up would have been pointless.

Merry Christmas All! :christmas::christmas::cheers:

Have a good day tomorrow :).

Xmas music and announcements (terms and conditions apply ....................) unbearable in Sainsbury's, deafening almost, back to Waitrose, bliss in comparison, no music, no announcements, nothing, just fucking shopping like the good old days. ANyway, xmas is shit cos its raining and everythings fucking closed!!! Can't wait till boxing day, no rain, so me and doggo can actually fucking go somewhere. Listening to psychedelia now and getting pissed, so happy winter festival.

Merry Christmas Scrooge! ;)

Apparently today is special for some people who are believers , I am not one as we have no evidence of the elusive one.

If you are one I wish you a good festive season , If not just enjoy the days off work , Food and drinks,

Cheers one and all.