He was actually the nicest, most kind-hearted and generous man I’ve ever known (I am a little biased though). Everyone in the town knew him. I was known more as ‘Percy’s Grandson’ than I was by my own name. When my grandma passed away two separate mothers on the street would make extra plates for him when they made…

No, my grandma worked down’t mill though, as did I during summers and on weekends, we still had some looms that dated from the turn of the century though. My grandad worked for the RAF then the Post Office.

I’m sorry, but I don’t understand the second paragraph, and I would like to.

And to most Europeans, the Democrats would be a centrist party at most. It’s all a matter of perspective, I guess. My point being Socialism is a dirty word in American politics in a way it isn’t in most other places.

That’s just about 10 miles away. Not the worst area. But very working class, just like most of West Yorkshire.

It’s alright, I should probably have been clearer. 1950s Yorkshire is essentially Victorian London with looser child labour laws, fewer cheeky cockney chimney cleaners and more flat caps.

It may have been embellished, but in 1950s Yorkshire tithing was not uncommon for Catholic families.

Wait? There were people that didn’t realise what kind of movie this was after watching it? I think I was 13 when I saw it and it was pretty plain (though we’d been doing WWI and WWII at school, so Fascism was pretty high on my radar at the time).

Oh, oh, I have an asshole-nun story.

America could do with learning about socialism. To Americans, socialism = communism, a failed political experiment. To the rest of the world it’s a counterweight to capitalism.

You are.

Probably worth noting that this is *very* US-centric. Americans take far fewer days off per year than more or less any other country.

I guess optimism, personal experience and a belief in the regulatory structure of our educational system.

Don’t? A child doesn’t need to know about intolerance. If the child makes it to an age where the passion for tech is ‘locked in’ and you can be sure that’s what the child will do as an adult then you can prepare them. No point giving a child potentially discouraging information and setting them up with a negative…

My all-consuming stinginess (frugality?) would not allow me to do this. There’s a decent resale value on dresses, or it could be saved for next time.

In the UK, midwife-led births as the preferred option as they are cheaper for the NHS (even extremely qualified nurses/midwives aren’t paid as much as most doctors) and are generally less stressful.

Top Xmas track: Fairy Tale of New York by The Pogues.

Fairy Tale of New York

I find Shirley Bassey’s misogyny quite refreshing. Most people make at least some attempt to cover it up or add caveats, but nope... her and Janice in Accounting share a similar outlook on life.

Woohoo! We’re #18! We’re #18!