monkeyseemonkeydo

Fair enough. I'm kind of only thinking in terms of what it was like when I was at school and kids can be mean!

Following a post by Rich P on Facebook, what are people's views on same sex parents bringing up kids? From a equality point of view I have nothing against it but I do still feel that society isn't at the stage when a kid won't be bullied like crazy when people find out that he/she has two dads/mums. I'm not sure it's fair on the children if it will have a detrimental effect on them having a fair crack at life.

I think in general the Brits aren't overly extrovert so I can understand why we may appear less 'happy' from the outside and why our cities looks more boring. We also tend to play by the rules more making us generally more 'serious'.

Marriage is a way of formalising a relationship (and in a way conforming with society I guess) but not necessarily 'in the eyes of Jebus'. Neither my wife or I (or either of our families) are religious but it just seemed to be the right time to become Mr & Mrs (I guess both coming from stable families with both (original) parents etc. can't have hurt). For things like bank accounts, mortgages, pensions, life insurance and all that jazz it just seems to make things easier. Now we've got a son as well again it makes sense I think, while being complete separate from religion.

So basically it's something they can get over? Good to know. On a similar but different note, it's commonly accepted by most sane people that homosexuality is something that is determined at birth, like being transgender or whatever. With that in mind could it be that the likes of paedophiles are also born that way and for some biochemical/physiological reason they are attracted to children in a sexual sense in the same way heterosexuals are attracted to the opposite sex and homosexuals the same sex? Socially and morally unacceptable at present, as was homosexuality in the not too distant past.

There was a case recently about a B&B who asked a gay couple to leave because of their sexuality but I can't actually remember the outcome...

I think that may start to change. With the £9k fees it wouldn't surprise me if a lot more apprenticeships and in-job training schemes start popping up in many industries that until recently have required a good degree. Equally it appears that universities are changing how and what they teach to try and make things more applicable to the real world and offer more to students than just the ability to learn past exam papers.

From what I understand it is not necessarily the church wedding bit they're after but the ability to be legally married. I detest all things religious with an absolute passion but was quite happy to get married in a civil ceremony to my wife. Made sense in a few ways with no religious undertones. I know marriage is traditionally a religious thing but I guess men and women have been pairing up since the Flintstones so the ability for a same sex couple to be joined in marriage from a legal standpoint makes sense. In the same way I wouldn't like to tell people 'actually we're in a civil partnership' I can understand why a gay couple want to be able to say they're married. Officially you can. Any business can reserve the right to refuse to serve whoever they want (or don't want). That's not to say they won't get into shit for it in the papers etc. but it is at their discretion I believe.

Are you sure you're not thinking of Harry Potter?

The problem is that (without wanting to be too condescending) so many people do stupid, pointless degrees for the sake of it. How many people have degrees in psychology, sociology, geography, art etc. etc. with absolutely no intention of ever using what is basically a waste of space degree unless you plan to be a teacher in the subject or continue in academia? I would hazard a guess that if 80% of all sociology graduates are in mundane jobs only 10% of engineering graduates (say with a 2:2 or better) will be in a crappy job.

I hope you're not insinuating that a certain member has been stretching the truth are you?!

*Sigh*. Don't come to Britain it's full of f**king grammar Nazis. Edit: But actually reading Nick's post that's quite a depressing view of life. It depends who you are, how much attention you paid at school and how hard you're willing to work. England has a lot of idiots? Sure but so does every other country in the world. The lazy buggers who play the system and sponge off the government are annoying but they don't affect me and I don't worry about them. Improving means testing and getting people back in work won't lower taxes so what does it matter? Buying a house- if a couple are on minimum wage and struggling to make ends meet then they either need to accept that it's unreasonable to be able to buy a £250k house ever, try and get a better paid job or look for support from the government through the system that is there to help them. My wife and I both have pretty good wages but still don't have masses of disposable income after paying income tax, a good sized mortgage, council tax, national insurance etc. but we will still take over 15 years to pay off the mortgage even with regular overpayments. We both worked hard both academically and professionally to get there though and I'd do it all again if I had to. Overall I think Nick's got quite a low view of the UK when it's not that bad. It just depends where you live I guess. Move somewhere reasonably nice and people will make eye contact, say hello and be friendly guaranteed.

Agreed, far from proper old school.

This exactly. Frame looks exactly like every other plain 24" pure trials out there. Onza really should look into a dual disc Limey 324...

To be fair, the quality of metal used in the older levers (looked like an aero inside for anyone who's never broken one) I'm quite glad they went to techy plasticy stuff.

White forks though... That makes me sad.

Lol, yerp that'll be me. Still got a 2011 Fourplay Team and ride when I can but not as much as I used to!

Yeah, took a few attempts but I got up it- straight up to both wheels too, none of these cheaty hooks .

Really? Damn.

But you still need to carry a tube and pump in case of punctures. All seems a bit pointless to me.

Is that because of the cool name?

I'm going to go ultra cool and run a 29er front with a 650b rear, so there. Not really.

Who are you telling to chill out? ()