RuamRudy

I must admit, I did see a lot of expats who would not have looked out of place in Makati Avenue so I guess there is a feral side to it too. But it sounds like @simon43 is similar to myself in not chasing the nightlife so I think these aspects would be easy enough to avoid. Another thing I liked about it (the Scotsman showing in me) was the prices - for example we had lunch in Fibber Magee's in Dumaguette City, a good, nicely decorated Irish pub in Dumaguette City with excellent service. I had a excellent plate of fish and chips, a generous portion and freshly prepared, for the equivalent of 290 baht - and it came with 2 free bottles of ice cold San Miguel beer.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zout by David Mitchell A novel set in late 18th century Japan and the involvement of the Dutch East India Company there. I am really enjoying it, although i have yet to read a David Mitchell book that I didn't enjoy.

We took a short trip to Dumaguette last week - my first time there but it definitely won't be our last; the island was stunning, the people friendly, Dumaguette city pretty developed and in good condition. I think I could easily live there. To add to this - the level of English across the Philippines is impressively good, especially with those under around 40.

Tagaytay's proximity to Manila makes it a nightmare for getting anywhere: most days, every weekend and all during the holiday period Tagaytay is gridlocked. I was there yesterday to pick up our new puppy (a great animal sanctuary, Biyaya, there if anyone is looking for a new dog from a good, reputable source) and getting back to Manila took close to 3 hours.

Better to do good than do bad. You should try it sometime.

Please stay on topic - this one is about the corrupt and incompetent Tory government's humiliating failure to implement their flagship policy.

I think those getting houses are the ones who pocketed the hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money squandered by our useless, corrupt government. Big, big houses...

It a outrageous that he has been allowed to resign the whip - a pitifully weak Tory party has stood by after he has admitted to creating a national security incident. He should be immediately suspended as an MP and his constituents given the opportunity to initiate a recall petition. At the same time, a thorough police inquiry at the very highest level should be undertaken to assess just how much damage he has done. William Wragg resigns Tory whip after divulging MPs’ phone numbers

My mates and I went to the Glastonbury festival in 1994 (I think) - there was a buzz about some new band called Oasis that were playing one of the smaller remote stages but I convinced them that it would be better to go to see The Sandals who were playing the funk stage at the same time. I think some still haven't forgiven me.

The issue not about those who are uncertain about their gender, it is about those who are certain but that gender is not the one they had at birth...

I find that a Tinto de Verano is always a nice way to set up for sundowners.

Cracker formed from the ashes of Camper Van Beethoven - they are still on the go but never really hit the highs that I thought they deserved when I first started listening to them in the mid 90s.

There have even been some of them here boasting about doing so.

Those who were physically born male should not be competing in women's sporting events, even if they have fully transitioned. Most likely they will have retained the physical traits of being born male, giving them a genetic advantage over those who were born female. This should be adopted as a universal ruling by all sporting bodies and this stupid and divisive debate put to bed once and for all.

Tommy Robinson is a hypocrite when it comes to opposing child sexual exploitation "... he himself has an appalling record of confronting paedophilia and abuse within his own team and amongst his supporters. Lennon has consistently ignored or even defended occurrences of these crimes in his own ranks, proving that he is more concerned with attacking Muslims than actually combatting CSE or challenging sexual violence. "It is now also clear that he has no interest in calling out child abuse amongst his own supporters. "

I don't think that there are any states which execute homosexuals specifically because of their sexuality. Generally, there would be other factors at play...

You didn't ask a question. You made a fatuous statement and ended it with a question mark. But you seem to be struggling with your comprehension so let me make it simple for you. That Yaxley Lennon is a drug dealing, wife beating, fraudster, peado supporting racist is irrelevant in this case - even if he was a decent, honest and honourable bloke he still broke a court imposed restriction on reporting a trial when it was in progress. That is why he was justifiably charged with contempt of court. On the other hand, there was no restriction on making jurors aware of points of law. And nor should there be. Every one of us should want that everyone involved in our justice system should be as aware as possible of the law and it's limits. When you start to restrict knowledge and awareness of the law, you are on the road to fascism.

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Why do you feel the need to twist points? Surely if your words had merit, you wouldn't need to twist them so?

Indeed - one was deliberately flouting a court order, the other was highlighting a published point of law.

Are you normally so quick to resort to insulating those whose opinions you disagree with? She was not trying to put pressure on anyone. She was making a point of law. What she said was absolute, recorded fact, nothing more.

Fully agreed, but totally irrelevant to my post.

I don't think anyone would disagree that the charge against the wife beating fraudster and drug dealer, Yaxley Lennon, was justified. But in the case of the retired social worker, I would happily argue that the law, if applied correctly in this case, is an ass. In fact, it's a dangerous ass.

Evidence - they are instructed only to take into account evidence presented to them in court. The accused in this case was not providing any comment on the facts of that particular case. She was making clear an aspect of the law.

No, he was deliberately flouting a reporting ban by live streaming the events and aggressively filming the defendants when he already knew that there were restrictions in place against doing so. He was not holding a banner which stated a fact of law; he was holding a camera contrary to an earlier ruling by the judge. So you see, you are still wrong.