[richdraws]

What about all the poor Scottish policemen whose Jedi religion demands justice be met with a light saber. Surely the Home office needs to implement this technology in order to protect their human rights.

[Sloper]

It's such crap. Why should anyone get special dispensation from abiding by THE LAW just because they choose to say they believe in one version or another of the flying teapot? Fucking bullshit.

Sorry Jasper but I totally disagree, not because I think that religion is anything other than a load of bollocks and to be disregarded but because of the need for the police to represent the communities it serves and the policing culture where specialist branches are, with a few very minor exceptions, almost solely comprised of white officers.

As such providing specialist equipment, training and development opportunities to ethnic minorities, women etc is more about allowing equal access to all roles within the police service and so better allowing the police to reflect and therefore serve their communities.

Similar arguments were advanced with regard to other equipment to prevent women from serving in some roles and while religion is more easily put aside than gender, equality is for all or it is nothing.  

The PC PC

[slackline]

need for police so serfs the communities they serve

To be honest I very much doubt the "communities" will give two shits what the ethnicity of armed response officers is as they are far more likely to have more pressing matters at the forefront of their mind like "fight or flight".

Admittedly there is the patrolling aspect but there are very few communities where there are regular armed patrols, and even less in communities which have a higher proportion of any given ethnic minority.

[Sloper]

I'm not having a pop, but if you have 'whites only' jobs in the police (dogs, firearms, diplomatic cp etc) and I think that these are (I'm a little out of touch) still at least 99% 'white' then the message is heard wide and clear: the police does discriminate on the grounds of race.

The oath one swears says 'without fear or favour' and the police have a heavy burden to discharge showing that they uphold the spirit of that oath.

Now I have to go prepare a beurre blanc with lime and pink pepper.

[lagerstarfish]

Usual Sheffield anti-climax.
Not very interesting, but I feel robbed. If I had not been on paternity leave I could have used this as an excuse to turn up late for work. I'll pop round later and see if they can do it again in a couple of weeks.

One unfortunate neighbour was sent out to work early while police marksmen used her attic to get a good potential shot lined up - she looked well pissed off.

Front page of The Sheffield Star today. Trees died for this  

Is it possible for The Star to ask the Mother why someone with her name in Sheffield who looks like the same person is wearing the exact same dress on Facebook? Surely her Mum didn't spend £300 on a dress for her daughter's prom if she's worn it before the prom.

[slackline]

I'm not having a pop, but if you have 'whites only' jobs in the police (dogs, firearms, diplomatic cp etc) and I think that these are (I'm a little out of touch) still at least 99% 'white' then the message is heard wide and clear: the police does discriminate on the grounds of race.

The oath one swears says 'without fear or favour' and the police have a heavy burden to discharge showing that they uphold the spirit of that oath.

Now I have to go prepare a beurre blanc with lime and pink pepper.

Apologies for the poor quoting, was on the phone.

Its not that the police are discriminating, but that the Sikh's are actively excluding themselves by choosing to wear turbuns, at least thats the way I view it.

Using my (poor) analogy of "models", would you really expect Jason to be a model on the grounds of equal opportunities?  He doesn't meet the pre-requisite, which for models is a degree of beauty (in the arbitrary eye of some beholder).  In the police a pre-requisite for being an armed response officer is being able to wear a protective helmet.  If these don't fit over a turbun, simply take the thing off, or (and here's a really good business opportunity) go and design your own alternative and sell it to the police.  Don't sit and whinge about discrimination and expect others to make the changes for you, be pro-active about change.

Besides, who said anything about the degree of melanin in Sikh's skin (viz. "whites only")?  Your religion (although often correlated due to geographical location and "social inheritance" for want of a better term) is not caused by your skin colour.  Its bad to confuse the colour of someone's skin with their religious beliefs and only serves to perpetuate unfounded prejudices (not that I'm accusing you of being so though).

Hope dinner was good

[slackline]

Hold onto your teaspoons

Really, what the fuck is going on here 

Its not just Asda either, Tesco's too now require proof of being >18yrs old to buy a fucking spoon!!!

 

[lagerstarfish]

I bet teaspoon sales have rocketed due to inquisitive/mischievous purchasing 

I know I'm going to try to buy one at the self service till. Lagers Jr MK1 might enjoy a test purchasing exercise too.

[andy popp]

I find myself in agreement with Sloper (I think this is the second time quite recently, a worrying trend!)

[chillax]

Hold onto your teaspoons

Really, what the fuck is going on here  

Its not just Asda either, Tesco's too now require proof of being >18yrs old to buy a fucking spoon!!!

 

I worked in Tescos for a couple of weeks last christmas. Nearly pissed myself laughing when informed I had to ID people for spoons! Its supposedly to make it more difficult for underagers to get into hard drugs, the logic being if you don't have a spoon then you can't cook up smack or some other such nefarious substance. Because of course junkies go into tesco to get their spoons as every restaurant, cafe and coffe shop in the country keeps their cutlery under 24 hour armed surveillance. The idiocy is enough to make you weep.

 

[Sloper]

I find myself in agreement with Sloper (I think this is the second time quite recently, a worrying trend!)

Be very afraid, there's no cure.

[SA Chris]

Hold onto your teaspoons

Really, what the fuck is going on here  

Its not just Asda either, Tesco's too now require proof of being >18yrs old to buy a fucking spoon!!!

I have just acquired a cutlery safe, as you can't be too careful. Can't think of a worse way to die than someone using your own spoon on you. It's Health and Safety gone mad.

[lagerstarfish]

Any aspiring IV drug user who has gone to the trouble of getting a clean pin and barrel for free from their local needle exchange will also have been offered cooking up pots/spoons for a similar price. Anyone who is going to use a spoon for cooking up is not going to pay for it.
I suspect that the supermarkets are using the "authorisation for spoon purchases" as a way of balancing the number of alcohol sales with the number of age confirmation checks.

[Houdini]

Good Lord, all this spoon business is so Little Britain it's untrue. 


FFS I had some woman who was probably younger than me, ask her fuckwit till partner in Somerfield, East Dereham, if she should ID me or no for the claret I was buying.  I leaned forward, gave her the full benefit of my crows' feet and Silverback markings and asked her where her Labrador was.

This is one of the reasons Bosnia has a more advanced society than the UK.

[lagerstarfish]

Spoonguard!

Spoonguard!

Spoonguard!

If you don't know Spoonguard, you can SUCK MY FORK!

Spoonguard!

YAY!

[GCW]

Not had Spoonguard for a while.

Although, ASDA have taken it too far.  Ban Spoonguard!

[lagerstarfish]

Don't

Don't
 
Don't

Don't believe the hype

You need S P O O N G U A R D !

[GCW]

An argument for compulsory sterilisation?

[Sloper]

An argument for saying, if you are on benefits, after child number one (or birth of twins etc x1) you don't get additionall benefits / allowances for further children.

Sadly cases such as this are numerous but lack the news worthy element of the wealthy background of one party.

[Jaspersharpe]

Certainly an argument for the Luton Forced Labour Camp.

[slackline]

An argument for compulsory sterilisation?

  (although more with Sloper or Jasper than sterilisation).

What I want to know though is how she was allowed to smoke inside the hospital, given that all hospital sites have been smoke free for some time 

Puffing on a cigarette, she added: 'I'm a natural with the twins because I'm more grown up. I can't wait to take my babies out of the hospital to show them off.

Reading further though, this surely has to be a joke...

The couple compare themselves to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

 

[butters]

"At the Scott family home, Catherine's sister Charlotte, 20, said: 'What has she done now, for God's sake? We do not want to talk about her.'"

Strange that....

bluebrad

[tomtom]

An argument for compulsory sterilisation?

What reading the daily Mail? Absolutely!
 

[matthew]

"The former builder pays no maintenance for his children as he has been unable to work since suffering a groin injury when he was impaled by a steel girder in September 2006."

If only that steel girder had been a bit more central then compulsory sterilization wouldn't be needed...

[GCW]

An argument for compulsory sterilisation?

What reading the daily Mail? Absolutely!
 

Nah, that would require sterilisation of your parents at Birth

I agree that limiting benefits is more humane, but (correct me if I'm wrong) this has been tried before and has failed because "people have a right to have as many kids as they want".
We've got 2 kids, and I would never consider having a third if I couldn't afford it.  However, the benefits people get almost act as an incentive so they can't be fully blamed for taking advantage of what's available.