Birthday!

[Digit]

It gets worse Jonny. My mother died under the wheels of a double decker bus, as a result of this I had to identify her body then give evidence in a Coroner's Court of that fact.
Whilst I was giving my evidence the question arose as to my mother's age as the bus company's legal team attempted to try and establish that she was a doddery old fool who shouldn't have been allowed out!
The Coroner asked me how old she was and I replied. Under cross examination I was accused of lying and attempting to suggest that she was in fact younger than she was. The bus company's team then produced a copy of her birth certificate, showing that was born in 1887.
I was staggered! That means that she was 53 yrs old when she gave birth to me!

Roy.

[Minimalist]

the bus company's legal team attempted to try and establish that she was a doddery old fool who shouldn't have been allowed out!

So....what? That means its open season on pedestrians? Don't you just love lawyers?

[Digit]

Don't you just love lawyers?

No!!
The 'implication' resulted in me becoming very angry, I didn't lose my temper 'cos you don't in court, but the guy questioning me made a mistake when he made that suggestion.
In a Brit Coroner's court the rules are much relaxed compared with Crown Court, and due to his age I guessed that his mother would be of similar age to mine, so I challenged to produce some evidence rather than insulting remarks and asked him how he would feel if the situation was reversed.
The Coroner admonished him.

Roy.

[Minimalist]

He should have been flogged. Do you guys still do flogging over there?

[Digit]

Unfortunately not. We're not even allowed to hurt their feelings. And that is NOT a joke, a Magistrate has been suspended this week for referring to a defendent as 'scum!'

Roy.

[Minimalist]

Perhaps you have gone too far in the other direction.

[Digit]

Yep!

Roy.

[dannan14]

Oh how the pendulum swings!

[uniface]

Back to coyotes now for a bit :

The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks his dog.

California:

#1. Governor starts to intervene, reflects upon the movie 'Bambi' and then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural.

#2. He calls animal control. Animal control captures coyote and spends $200 testing it for diseases and $500 upon relocating it.

#3. He calls veterinarian. Vet collects dead dog and spends $200 testing it for diseases.

#4. Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting bite wound bandaged.

#5. Running trail gets shut down for 6 months while wildlife services conduct a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is clear of dangerous animals.

#6. Governor spends $50,000 of state funds implementing a "coyote awareness" program for residents of the area.

#7. State legislature spends $2 million investigating how to better handle rabies and how to possibly eradicate the disease.

#8. Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack and for letting the Governor intervene.

#9. Cost: $75,000 to train new security agent.

#10. PETA protests the coyote relocation and files suit against the state.

Arizona:

#1. Governor shoots coyote and keeps jogging. Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge. Buzzards eat dead coyote.

http://www.rense.com/general90/coyote.htm

[Minimalist]

What they really want is to do the same with Mexicans, Uni.

[Digit]

Sounds a bit like the UK Min. We have a problem with Bovine TB. On of the major vector animals is the Badger.
Logical solution, eliminate BTB reservoirs.
Logic left by rear entrance.
Do gooders solution, elimate infected cattle, protect Badgers.
We have people running around like headless chickens raising funds to stop Badger killing whilst paying taxes to provide compensation to farmers who stock are killled.
I'm thinking of starting a cattle protection society as these people seem totally unpeterbed about cattle dying, only Badgers.
I don't get it.

Roy.

[Johnny]

What they really want is to do the same with Mexicans, Uni.

Ouch! The past few arguments I've had on facebook would lead me to believe that's exactly the case. I had one woman from AZ actually tell me she wanted to start shooting illegals at the border because that's what they do in Afghanistan. I kindly asked her to go live there if that's the way she felt about it because my ancestors have been migrating in and out of that area since hers were busy deforesting Britain. Sometimes they moved freely, legally and sometimes illegally but either way, I didn't want to hear some gabacha clinging to her 1/64th Cherokee ancestry spout a load of racist b.s. about shooting brown people at a made up, artificial border.

[Digit]

Aren't all borders made up and artifical, and does that fact give people the right to ignore them Johnny?

Roy.

[Minimalist]

We have a lot of problems in the US, Dig. The absolute least of them is that there are hard-working people who are willing to pick lettuce and empty bedpans. Johnny is right. There are some racist bastards who would be perfectly happy to shoot Mexicans on sight.

I wonder what would happen if they managed to evict every Mexican? Do they think their lives would dramatically improve or would they start looking for another group that was the cause of all their problems? Blacks and Jews come to mind....in that order.

[Digit]

We have a group here in the UK and in Europe Min who propose, often violently, that all borders should be removed, that people should be able live where so ever they wish.
Like most lunatic groups thay have failed to think through the end result of their ideas.
We have in Europe an artificial, indeed, invisible border.
Predominantly north of that border we have Germany, France, UK, Nederland, Begium etc.
To the south we have Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.
The divide is relative wealth to the north and relative poverty to the south. With the exception of the UK all are locked together by a common currency and common fiscal laws, and the south is broke!
North America has three international borders, removing them would probably bankrupt Mexico, Columbia and Nicaragua within months!
When Poland joined the EU so many of her people left for the wealthy parts that the country's economy faltered and the people had to be bribed to return.
A report from Turkey suggested that if they were allowed entry into the EU 70,000,000 people would leave for the wealthy parts. I leave it your imagination the effects that this would have.
Some years ago, under pressure from the IRA, funded in part by idiots in your country, the British Government offered to re-unite the country.
The Irish government were horrified, they simply could not afford the cost of maintaining the standard of living of those north of the border, neither would they have dared to lower it, neither could they raise their own to the same level.
Borders have two sides!

Roy.