Moan, moan, moan----get it off your chest or have a chat

[Gerry Webster]

A very difficult issue.

As far as I am concerned, it is a very simple issue. Some - carefully vetted - professionals may need them to do their jobs but there is no justification whatsoever for any private individual owning a firearm. Yes, they should be denied their sport.

[J.B.Wyllie]

I was among one of the 1st Mums to have contact with Thomas Hamilton. My son Stuart when aged about 8 brought a letter from school about a club he was setting up for young boys. Luckily a friend who was in Scouting advised us not to let him go. I was the worst mum for about a week before other who had enrolled their boys withdrew them. All hell broke loose he went round each family and was not pleasant.This was the start of his hatred of Dunblane.
The junior police in the area knew what he was like but Senior Police would remove his guns.Even if they had he could have got what he wanted in any sleazy pub between here and Glasgow. Guns are only dangerous in the wrong hands.

[Lesley Cox]

Perhaps this is a subject we should all drop before it becomes too heated. There are pros and cons and each of us is entitled to an opinion. Obviously those who have been closer to the results of irresponsible firearms use will have stronger views. Perhaps in the long run, Society itself is to blame for such incidents, for its treatment of the mentally ill and other vulnerable people. Maybe there ARE people who are quite simply evil, but first they need to be identified and then, how does one deal with them? Our civilization would not permit the out-of-hand slaughter of such people. No more from me here.

[Paddy Tobin]

Just picking up on a phrase in Lesley's posting, "Maybe there ARE people who are quite simply evil".

Last week we had a report here in Ireland on the abuse of children in residential care over the years. It was the most horrifying reading, truly upsetting. I'm sure some of you will have heard of it and also heard of similar abuse in your own country.

It seems that evil is an unfortunate aspect of humanity.

Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

Yes Paddy, I guess the report went around the world and yes, it happens everywhere. We in NZ are not exempt. I agree that the abusers in cases like these are evil in the beastliest way. Here we have a dreadful record of physical abuse against even very tiny children, and at the risk of being called "racist", I have to say that the large majority of cases are perpetrated by Maori or Pacific Island people - not exclusively, of course. While there is absolutely no excuse for such things happening, it seems to me that in most cases the level of intellegence of the abusers is not high, and perhaps this, combined with a lack of compassion and of imagination, may be a factor. But in the cases where priests individually and the Church as an institution are the abusers, this cannot be so. One is therefore left with the concept of evil.

[rob krejzl]

Lesley,

Perhaps it would be a good idea to drop this topic.

[David Nicholson]

I agree.

I hate hot weather, I also hate cold weather. Why can't weather be more like me-middle of the road, conventional, normal(!?)

[Carlo]

Guess you'll just have to stay in bed David...

[Maggi Young]

I KNEW IT!! We've had nearly a week of good, nay, fabulously hot and sunny weather...... I was even getting a bit fed up of being so hot......  don't moan, I told myself, because this may very well be what we get as SUMMER..... and today it is much cooler, overcast with something of a coastal fog....I KNEW IT: those few days WERE SUMMER!!
On the bright side... my primulas are sitting up and looking much happier!
Now it is cooler, though, there is no excuse to just laze around in the shade and watch the garden birds..... some work may HAVE to be done  

[Martin Baxendale]

Still SCORCHING

[Martin Baxendale]

Why does the post reply feature keep prematurely posting my posts when I hit and un-hit Caps Lock?!!! I think it must be if I inadvertently hit caps lock and shift at the same time. As I was saying....still SCORCHING here but at least my Lilium chalcedonicum seem to like it and look like they may actually flower this year instead of getting botrytis. I can't wait (been waiting for years for flowers). This is in the wrong thread. We need a new thread - the I'm Just About To Be Happy thread.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I have the distinct impression that people in other parts of the world (Paul T and Fermi down under for examble) -  might not be able to suppress a sympathetic smile when they read these "complaints" about the scorching heat in Britain... 
 

[Lesley Cox]

I'm not moaning here but my poor Teddy is. He goes this morning to the vet for removal of two small parts, and also to be microchipped. Of course he doesn't yet know about this, but he knows he didn't get his supper last night and hasn't been given breakfast this morning.

[Maggi Young]

Poor little Teddy... never mind, I bet he'll be ready for a good supper tonight, which is all he really cares about anyway!

[David Nicholson]

I'm not moaning here but my poor Teddy is. He goes this morning to the vet for removal of two small parts, and also to be microchipped. Of course he doesn't yet know about this, but he knows he didn't get his supper last night and hasn't been given breakfast this morning.

They may be small to you mate, but..........