Canny lass

Thanks HPW. He made a good recovery and his face looks as good as new but under the skin there are a lot of metal pieces holding things together. When it's cold, which is very often here, he gets a lot of pain - the type you get when cold ice-cream touches the roof of your mouth. During the winter he has to cover his face as much as possible but he can't cover his eyes and a lot of the metal is holding his eye sockets together. It means that a lot of sporting activities are now 'off the menu' for him. There were plenty of witnesses so the court case was a doddle. The laser was confiscated and the lad got 18 months community service. He was also ordered to hand over his savings, all but 1 000 crowns (75 pounds) to my grandson. His savings were 16 000 crowns so my grandson got the princely sum of one thousand, one hundred pounds. It just about covered the cost of return visits to the facial unit for a year.

Denmark is still supplying plenty of pork to Germany. I wonder what they are doing with it?

That's the way I Heard it too! As you say, pity they don't do real history in school these Days.

Sir Walter Raleigh didn't actually bring pizza back from America! He only brought the concept. The actual pizza would never have survived the journey. I thought everybody knew that.

Maggie, it's difficult to be lighthearted about something that has 349 calories, contains 25 g fat and 1,8mg sodium per roll! I have a Dutch friend who swears that Holland is the homeland of the sausage roll.

Why not, Mercury! There's many a good idea that started out as a bit of a joke.

Don Lynn could probably knock up a 'Gooch Pie'. Greggs might be interested in doing a 'Gooch scone' and the Red Lion might like to serve 'Gooch Hooch. - only in the month of August of course!

I like the way you're thinking Malcolm!

I Think they look good too. I like the way they are sticking to a grren/gold colour scheme for the town.

Not before time, Maggie! It wasn't looking good.

Happy birthday 'youngen'. May there always be lead in your pencil! (not a euphemism).

In thwe wrong hands these lasers can do other sorts of damage. Two years ago, the oldest grandson (19 years) approached some idiot, who was having fun, in a crowded dance hall, playing with an illegal laser purchased while on holiday in Thailand. He politely asked him to put it away as it was dangerous. Did he switch it off or put it away? No way! He was so annoyed at having his fun interrupted that he smashed the laser into the face of my grandson causing a great deal of damage to many of his facial bones. He required extensive surgery, including a zig-zag cut from ear to ear over the top of his head to enable them to peel back all the skin on his face in order to get to the damaged bones in his nose, cheeks and eye sockets. He now has metal plates holding most bits together and at this time of year he's in agony because these metal plates get very old in minus degrees.

Not enough parking outside of Morrisons and the Church. You know how crowded both these places can be!

Thanks from me too Eggy! You do a great job! The research must take hours and every minute is appreciated by me.

Did they get paid?!

I'm sad to say your spot on there, Maggie. Psychopaths are known to show a callous lack of empathi. Psychopathy is, however, no longer classified as a mental illness and is not thought to be treatable because their own emotionai coldness is even directed towards themselves, making any improvement in the condition impossible. It's a Life long condition. But I Believe one or two euphemistic names have crept into the language - ant-social personality disorder is one I've Heard a few times. What's that saying about a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?

I thought it was intesting that WT mentioned this type of experiment as I'd only recently given Vic a clip (Lovely Word clip!), albeit totally undeserved, when I failed to see his subtle sarcasm. Masserman's observations are still used today in psychiatry as he was one of the first, and probably the most widely acknwledged, within the field of empathy research. Up until he started his research it was widely believed that empathy was the main distinguishing factor between animals and humans but his findings proved otherwise while at the same time giving a degree of support to the theory that humans have evolved from primates.

The guy kneeling on the right is the only vaguely familiar face but I can't put a name to him. The photo's taken15-20 years Before my memory would contain anything at all, but even when I try to envisage the younger ones 20 years on it doesn't get me anywhere. Bluebarby. do you recognise anybody?

Jules Masserman did a similar experiment in the 60:s. Using chimps who had to pull a chain to recieve food, onlooking chimps got an Electric shock at the same time as the chain-pulling chimp got his food. The chimps starved themselves to near Death rather than let the other chimps get an Electric shock. A classic demonstration of empathi - putting themselves in other's shoes and making a compassionate decision.

Thanks Malcolm! I really believe that this is the way to go. Children are an extremely underestimated Group in society today. I also believe that getting them involved in community development at an early age, as this and the BiB Project do, will do a great deal to reduce the problems we have with the teenage population in future years. I don't think we will see dramatic results in the very immediate future but this idea is long term planning at it's best. By including children in this way we are taking the first steps in teaching them that life is not all about 'getting' it's also about 'giving', thatl ife is not just about having 'rights', it's also about having 'responsibilities' and it doesn't harm them to learn about simple budgeting either, that everything we want isn't always possible to get whether that be on a personal or a Community level..

I'd probably enjoy that, Malcolm. I have a funeral to attend in Whitley bay at 2.15 and if time permits I'll be there.

If, like me, you often have time to kill in strange places like hotels and airports wouldn't it be nice to meet up with a friend for a coffee and a natter just to help pass the time? Are you contemplating a visit to some far flung (or not so far flung, as the case may be), foreign country for holiday or for business? Maybe somebody here lives in that country, or has at least visited it, and would be able to offer tips and advice on local customs, food, or places to visit? Maybe you just want to ask a 'silly' question like do I need to bring my own toilet paper or maybe they would like to meet up just to get a bit of news from home or hear the North East 'twang' again? This could be the first stop for you! Post your travel plans, ask for advice on places to visit, things to do and things to see or simply arrange to hook up for a chat. This could even lead to a couch surfing network, who knows! As a starter, I'm at a relatively loose end in Bedlington, Tuesday and Wednesday (9-10 Feb) next week and will probably spend the evening in the Red Lion. It would be nice to meet any of you who are in the area. Do pop in and say hello if your passing that way. I'll Place a rolled up copy of an unmentionable newspaper on the table in front of me. Of course, there may be a chance , or a risk (depending on how you view things) that you encounter the odd intellectual discussion - this is the Red Lion and I am known for my enquiring mind! Favourite topics of conversation with me, just now, are: How many fish must there be before you can call it a shoal? How fast does a caravan go? Mickey Mouse: spherical or flat ears? Wednesday 11 feb, I have 3½ hours to kill in Amsterdam. Anybody about between 12 and 3 in the afternoon?

I've somehow managed to miss this, Maggie. Mankell's works are very good. One of Sweden's most popular modern day 'sons' along with Stieg Larsson.

Phew! Thank ....................................... (insert deity of your choice) for that!

I can't Believe I've just read that! You can't be serious! Those old and infirm you talk about as they they were the dregs of the Earth, could be someone's parents, Brothers, sisters, wives, husbands Children - maybe yours! Can you honestly tell me that you could put them outside to freeze to death just because they've become too old or too weak to look after themselves? Could you even allow someone else to do that to them? These are human beings you are talking about. These old and infirm are also members of the human race, a race distinguished from most of the animal kingdom by its ability to experience empathy - simply speaking the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes for a while. Empathy is the ability to understand how somebody is feeling, understand the situation they are in. Empathy is what people like HPW experience every time they help a loved one with something they no longer can do for themselves or even when they take care of a bird like Percy. Empathy is what people like Malcolm Robinson experience every time they raise there butt from an armchair and leave the Comfort of their home to attend a meeting and fight for better facilities for their Community. Empathy is what people like Mercuryg's mother experience when they fight for their child's right to the best possible education. There's nothing "soft" about being empathetic and empathy should be second nature to us all! I'd be the first to advocate the right to a natural Death but to hasten it's advent, especially in that manner, is just barbaric. Of course, having empathy for the old and infirm isn't synonymous with giving help to the old and infirm but it is a first step in doing something compassionate - even if that's just not making worse the situation they already find themselves in.