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Thibault

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Everything posted by Thibault

  1. All the CCTV cameras in the world will not prevent crime.  There is so much footage now, no-one can moniter it properly.   It is only in hindsight, when the crime has been committed, that the authorities can look at a specific sequence to see if they can identify anyone (and most of the time, they cannot). Were I a cynical person, I would think that the cameras are there to give the perception of safety...........[:)]  
  2. [quote user="sweet 17"] So, you can be "involved and passionate" but, in my day and, dare I say it, my "type" of person, we do not make a spectacle of ourselves.  We nurse our little triumphs and disappointments in reserved fashion and it would be completely infra dig to have so exposed our partiality. [/quote]   I watched the Murray match and although I don't care for him particularly, I think he has to be congratulated at turning it around so sucessfully.  I watched Henman all those years and it seems to me that he lacked the ability to fire himself up when he was in a losing position. Perhaps it's Murray's fist movements at the crowd and his bellowing shouts of "come on!!!!!" which enabled him to get from 2 sets and a break down, with his opponent serving for the match, to the winner. [:D] How would a French crowd have behaved, if that match had been played in Paris?  Not quietly clapping the British player's winners, I'll bet.
  3. Louis Napoleon was a rather fascinating character - perhaps it was part of his inheritance from Josephine [:)].  It is interesting to see just how many building projects of all shapes and sizes throughout France were undertaken during his reign.  For example, the promenade around Lake Annecy.
  4. Absolutely fascinating and full of unusual facts. The author travelled over 4000 miles by bicycle, visiting out of the way places to interview the locals.  He describes talking to a mother in Alsace who was saying that only the "old" people still spoke the local language, yet the author noticed that she called to her child and spoke to her in Alsatian (?? spelling??) without any conscious thought. It was interesting to read recently that local languages were to make a comeback in France and be taught in some schools.  
  5. Well, now we know.  A government with a 66 seat majority got the Bill through with the help of 9 Democratic Unionist MPs (who'd been bought off with promises of financial aid to Northern Ireland), one conservative and one UKIP MP.  A sort of Pyrrhic victory methinks. It was interesting to hear the parents of one of the victims of the Underground bombing say how much they supported the Bill when it would not have prevented the July attacks as no-one appeared to suspect any of the bombers and only realised with hindsight that they had filmed some of them as part of general surveillance. I'm afraid I share the opinion of the Director of Liberty (have't a hope of spelling her name, but you know who I mean) who puts forward a compelling argument for the consequences of this proposal.    
  6. I thought that the rules of THIS forum forbade the discussion of other forums, regardless of their content.  I remember well that this rule was invoked when all the hoo-har about Thatsfrance forum was exercising people's minds on here. Perhaps someone could clarify why it seems now possible to discuss other forums without the Mods invoking this forum's rules.       oops, sorry, correcting spelling error! [:)]  
  7. My great great grandmother was called Lettice (according to Parish Records) but by the time of the later census records had moved to Letitia via several other spellings.  Was that name inflation?
  8. [quote user="Dick Smith"]"Sorry sir , I did not realise I was in the presence of a cultured, educated, intelligent person." Yes, actually you are. Why should I be ashamed of it or hide it, so as not to be ridiculed by posts like this? That is exactly the sort of attitude I was referring to. (And yes, before anyone needs to point it out, I know what a split infinitive is, and that certainly is one.) Is it a peculiarly British thing, that we can take advice from someone who tells us about plumbing, and show respect to that person, but someone who has any form of 'academic' knowledge is instantly ridiculed? To what inadequacy does it speak? [/quote]   Hear, hear, Dick
  9. Yet there are very large sections of Indian society who are very, very poor.  I support a charity which tries to give so-called "slum" children the opportunity to attend a free school until they are 16.  The reports I received on my sponsored child's family circumstances would have made a stone bleed.
  10. It's always difficult producing a "follow-up" to a highly successful "cult" series.  As John Simms didn't want to make any more, it was always going to be awkward introducing a new "time traveller" with a credible back story.  First episodes are also notorious for packing in a lot of detail to bring viewers up to speed. The big joke for this series is that Drake knows all about Sam Tyler's adventures and I love lines such as "Good morning, imaginery constructs"  etc.  I think this joke will develop over the series with some excellent opportunities for good, snappy dialogue [:D]
  11. [quote user="Gluestick"][quote user="jon"] And why not.....what is wrong with romance. Why all this negie stuff again.People do fall in love and its not all about trophies. Thats a very grumpy attitude Maybe they are happy...that is possable [/quote] No; there is nothing wrong with romance. However, in this case, the lady is reputed to have enjoyed dalliances with at least some of the following: Kevin Costner; the publisher Jean-Paul Enthoven, whom she was living with: And then "Falls in love" with his son! Raphael Enthoven (10 years her junior) and they had a son: he divorced his wife  Justine Lvy to marry Bruni.. She is also alleged to have enjoyed arrairs with Louis Bertignac, Mick Jagger (Jagger's wife acknowledged his affair with Bruni was one of the reasons for their separation), Eric Clapton, Donald Trump, Léos Carax, Charles Berling, Arno Klarsfeld, Vincent Perez, Guillaume Canet, and former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius. [/quote] So are you saying that a woman who has lived with or been in a relationship with other men, cannot fall in love with another one?  Would it make a difference if the above related to a man (in relationships with well known women)? 
  12. Some of the responses on this thread demonstrate once again that there are some subjects on which it is almost impossible to have an objective debate.  This, perhaps, is why governments of various colours over the years have shied away in the end from tackling the problem.  Thus, it seems, there are no solutions because the issues become mired in subjective responses.  A similar type of issue is immigration.
  13. When we stay with our friends in Marseille, it is always a shock to be woken up EVERY DAY at 4.30 - 5.00am by the rubbish collectors.  They are not subtle about it.  The first time we heard it, we thought there was a terrible accident in the street, all that banging and the sound of metal dropping from a great height together with shouting.
  14. We used the high speed service from Portsmouth to Caen when it was operated by P & O.  We travelled in early May and on the day of the return journey, the crossing was cancelled because of the weather.  P & O re-accommodated us on their Le Havre-Portsmouth crossing and gave us a free up-grade to club class (which included free glass of champagne, free tea and coffee and free chocolates and biscuits [:D]).  So we were relatively happy. I am not sure what BF's policy is, but I guess it would be something similar.
  15. [quote user="Deimos"][quote user="Thibault"] However, an evening spent with an alcoholic does not mean you and your clothes stink of alcohol the next day.  Nor does it mean your health is affected by "passive drinking". [/quote] True, but your health might be affected by the ever increasing violence accompanying the excessive drinking. Ian [/quote]   Perhaps I've been lucky, Ian.  I have experienced passive smoking and also the smelly clothes and hair, but haven't been affected by alcohol-fuelled violence (nor any sort of violence, come to that).  One can steer clear of the troublesome drunk in the corner of the bar, but cannot escape the smoke and fumes.[:-))]
  16. [quote user="You can call me Betty"] [quote user="Marton"]    Don't you believe that there are some of us who care about the UK, care about traditions, care about quality of life....we care because although we don't bl**** well live there, we have family and friends who do!   [/quote] Sorry if this seems a bit harsh, but obviously the deep care you're so fervently expressing seems a bit forced. You don't care enough to stay and do anything to support the family and friends who are obviously suffering so badly from all the ills you're so keen to list. Neither do you care enough to stay yourself and make any tangible contribution to changing the things you so passionately care about. Whinging on about how terrible it all is does absolutely nothing to improve the situation, and at least, whatever you may think of the UK, there still appear to be a few people around who are proud of being British and proud of their country of birth.There are even some who are quite prepared to extend that national pride to living there. Something, regrettably, that could not be said of you. I live 16 miles outside central London. I have a 20-year old son who lives on the borders of Peckham and Camberwell. You may have read about Peckham and Camberwell in the papers or seen recent references to them on the BBC websites you frequent. Oddly, neither I nor my son nor any other member of my family feels "afraid to walk the streets day or night", I've worked in over 40 countries worldwide, mostly travelling alone, and I've lived in several, including France. I'm fairly streetwise....and the only place I've ever been mugged in my life was in Paris. [/quote] ] I couldn't have put it better myself, Betty.  When I am in France, I make a point of buying the local/regional papers and they are full of reports of vandalism, attacks, theft, drug problems, poor educational standards, etc etc etc.  They even report murders sometimes.  We have a house in what is regarded as a "...calm, rural location....".  The local papers in my UK area (busy South East England) seem to report the same problems in about the same degree of magnitude. It is possible to love the UK and to love France.  Living in one does not prevent love of the other.  Some of the arguments seem to represent the childhood "....my Daddy is bigger than your Daddy..." approach.   [:(]
  17.   Regarding Jura's post - This argument has been used before.  Yes, alcohol addiction is a terrible thing for the individual and for his/her family.  However, an evening spent with an alcoholic does not mean you and your clothes stink of alcohol the next day.  Nor does it mean your health is affected by "passive drinking". It is the extreme unpleasantness of spending time in a smoke-filled area which I have always hated.  At least with the ban in place, eating out is much more enjoyable.  [:)]
  18. He was also excellent in Cranford, recently.[:)]
  19. I have been having the opposite problem.  I can send emails via Outlook but cannot access any incoming emails.  I get the following error message (I have taken out the actual name of my email account) There was a problem logging onto your mail server. Your Password was rejected. , Server: *************, Protocol: POP3, Server Response: '-ERR Login failed.', Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 0x800CCC90, Error Number: 0x800CCC92 I have worked through and reset the passwords but nothing seems to work.  Does anyone know how I can fix this?
  20. Interestingly there was a pub/restaurant in Horsham which went non-smoking before the UK ban came in.  Every time we visited, it was always full.  The smokers sat at outside tables, whatever the weather.[:)]
  21. I am a non-smoker.  When I was a child, every adult in my family smoked so I spent my life in smoky rooms.  It was foul.  It put me off for life.  As an adult, I hated going into pubs and restaurants where, despite any attempts at air conditioning etc, smoke would find its way everywhere.  The next day, my clothes and hair stank of the stuff. In more recent years, I have found it really horrible to be half-way through a meal and to experience people at the next tables lighting up between courses and blowing their smoke over my meal. I am really looking forward to the freedom of eating/drinking in smoke free environments.  I know there are arguments put forward regarding the health implications of smoking in public places, but for me, regardless of that, it is the foul smell which is really off-putting. Smokers talk about their freedom to smoke in public, but what about the freedom of people to have a smoke-free environment? Although the notion of a "smoking room" where people could smoke if they wished sounds attractive, it is impossible to prevent smoke from "travelling". So, perhaps, smoking should be an activity between consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes.  [:D]
  22. [quote user="Anton Redman"] watts = volts times amps. Kilo watts = 1000 watts.  Amps = watts devided by volts. 6.0 Kilowatts ( at 2220 volts) = just over 27 amps [/quote]   Thanks Anton. 
  23. I find this electricity stuff rather confusing.  Can anyone tell me how many amps one gets with a 6KW supply?
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