It’s also just commonly done in UK newspapers. Age and familial status is always given. Terry Pratchett made a joke about it in one of his books, though I can’t remember the quote.

Edit: found one (not exactly the gag I wanted but CBA to look further)

‘Exc–’ he began. But the citizen’s eyes had already detected the notebook. ‘I saw it all,’ he said. ‘Did you?’ ‘It was a ter-ri-ble scene,’ said the man, at dictation speed. ‘But the watch-man made a deathdefying plunge to res-cue the old lady and he de-serves a med-al.’ ‘Really?’ said William, scribbling fast. ‘And you are–’ ‘Sa-muel Arblaster (43), stonemason, of The Scours,’ said the man. ‘I saw it too,’ said a woman next to him, urgently. ‘Mrs Florrie Perry, blonde mother of three, from Dolly Sisters. It was a scene of car-nage.’

There’s a pretty obvious difference between a kid who’s 12, and someone you could reasonably mistake for being an adult (UK age of consent is 16).

Dunno about you, but when I was 19 the thought of raping a child never crossed my mind. He’s spent less than a year in prison, and hasn’t repented for what he did. Redemption has to at the very least come with an understanding that what he did was wrong.

Edit: slightly more than a year; 13 months

This is a part of the SNP’s manifesto already, FYI.

Someone read the prince :P

Username checks out.

Now I want to try making corn bread with cider

FUCKING DOING OUR JOB AS TRANSPORT MODELLERS AND DOING A FUCKING COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS THAT SHOWS YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO GET FUCKING MODE SHIFT FROM RURAL USERS UNLESS YOU RUN A FUCKING METRO STYLE 10 MINUTELY SERVICE WHICH IS FUCKING UNFEASIBLE WITH THE FUCKING RESOURCES WE HAVE AVAILABLE.

IN THE FUCKING UK WE HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF FUCKING ABANDONED RAILWAYS FROM THE PERIOD OF FUCKING COAL MINING THAT WOULDN’T HAVE ANYWHERE NEAR THE FUCKING DEMAND NECESSARY TO JUSTIFY SETTING UP AN EXPENSIVE AS FUCK SIGNALLING SYSTEM TO BRING THEM UP TO MODERN FUCKING SAFETY STANDARDS, ALONGSIDE REPLACING THE FUCKING RAILS, SLEEPERS AND BEDS.

IF INSTEAD YOU CAN HAVE A FUCKING PUBLICALLY OWNED FLEET OF FUCKING ELECTRIC ‘MINI TRAINS’ THAT PEOPLE COULD USE FOR INFREQUENT BUT NECESSARY TRIPS, THAT COULD REMOVE A FUCKING SIGNIFICANT BARRIER TO MODE SHIFT, WHICH WOULD BE PRETTY FUCKING RAD

Also leeches are used to help veins heal after reattaching fingers/ears/other dangly bits, which is a form of bloodletting

I just find it really funny that they’re named after the place Portishead, which isn’t really much to look at as small towns go, and yet they’ve achieved international success.

The incongruity is amusing to me for some reason.

My personal sign off is :)

I’m not arguing that secular people (or, indeed, nations) can’t be evil. While you bring up China, though, it’s a bit of a myth that they’re not religious; approximately 80% of the Chinese population practise cults of gods and ancestors or belong to folk religious movements.

My point was that it’s a bit odd to pick the US as your example of a secular country when it is at the moment de facto Christian.

With regards to Bush being ‘as religious as Trump’, that’s just simply not true. He’s a pretty devout Christian, and has put it in a prominent position in all his campaign rhetoric, more than any other president of this generation. If you just Google George W Bush religion you’ll find plenty of news articles from a variety of sources saying that (e.g. this or this).

America is not a secular nation lmao. The entire language of the Bush administration during the Iraq war was one of a ‘holy war’ – they wanted it to be a new crusade.

The one positive aim he had in the Middle East, driven by religion, was achieving a state for Palestine and security for Israel, so he’s at least 0 for 2

It’s just a form of citric acid – if you put lemon juice or wine in (which a lot of recipes, including the one my swiss grandfather uses, do) then you get the same result.

Babes, the Swiss love a bit of fondue.

And what’s interesting is that the suffragists (Millicent Fawcett chief among them) were at the same time working to peacefully lobby for suffrage, and yet they are not remembered remotely as much as the suffragettes.

What I personally believe is that the more militant wings of movements work best when they are bringing into focus something that the public already broadly believes. When people say ‘I agree with their point, but not their methods’, they’re doing a whole lot of discussion of your issue, and agreeing with your message.

At the same time I think you do need the quiet lobbying to be done to effectively push for specific legislation. Both a carrot to offer government an easy path, and a stick to keep it in the public spotlight.

The suffragettes put acid in postboxes, chained themselves to railings, and bombed the Chancellor of the Exchecquer’s house.

When will chess add jiggle physics for the kings smh

You’ve got the wrong post link, I think

Damn, I know the original bit near by heart. I thought it was just going to be a remix, but they actually got Stewart Lee in! Great track