Quite frankly, I’m surprised that this thread hasn’t turned green thanks to the rampant envy and jealousy on display. The talk is of “the millionaire” Andrew Flintoff, conveniently forgetting that he was treated as a hero when he was knocking seven bells out of the opposition; now we find that he has committed the unpardonable sin, not just of making money while wrecking his body at his chosen sport, but (oh, the horror of it) actually keeping some of it for himself and his family.
We also have a site moderator, who broke the law, didn’t lie in court, but had the temerity to borrow some money and use it in a gamble to employ an advocate to plead his case (it’s what they’re there for.) It worked, in a fashion, and he got a reduced sentence (but “got away with it” sounds so much better, even if blatantly untrue.) We are, of course, then treated to “what-ifs” of various scenarios/accidents (which didn’t happen,) even with drunks weaving down the road asking to be hit (on a brightly-lit motorway at 2a.m?)
In the link, so thoughtfully provided by CD, it mentions that magistrates (and judges) have the ability to use their discretion, and that’s what they did in these two cases; however much you might hate the idea, it happens, and not just to people with money (try attending courts, and see real life in action, but without using green-coated eyeballs.)

Seriously, the UK could not have won WWII on its own. .

You really should broaden your horizon beyond American history books; we had Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand (plus sundry other little countries across the globe) to help.
Try reading “Britain’s War Machine,” by David Edgerton; it’s published by Oxford University Press, in the U.S., and you might find it illuminating (if you remove your stars-and-stripes-coloured glasses, first.)

But what do I know, I only majored in American history in University

Perhaps you should have done world history?

bad mouthing the Yanks and building up the UKup the UK…jingoism works both ways.

Even though it suits you to believe otherwise, I see WWII as a partnership which actually worked, and is why I viewed with deep misgivings the idea of Scotland leaving; too many Scots seemed to have a Hollywood “Braveheart” view of independence, and couldn’t look past a repeat of Bannockburn.

Returning to Scotland, after only two days, we have the usual suspects going on about how nothing has changed/will change, and how you can’t trust the politicians’ promises made before the vote; welcome to the real world, folks, as an ex-girlfriend was fond of saying, “promises are like pie-crust, made to be broken” (and she broke hers.)

Don’t anticipate, but wait for the question, then answer it simply and truthfully, and don’t elaborate. Children can take a lot, but not lies, or being evasive; you might well find that he’s getting (duff) information from the class know-all, and your response could just get “Oh, can I go out and play football, now?” I remember talking to my godson, when he was 11, and his unhappy response “My dad won’t talk to me about it.”

I’m sure no one in the UK has any envy towards expensive German cars. Must be why you don’t see any on the roads.

Which seems to indicate that it’s a very long time since you had the dreadful experience of visiting these shores.

Who cares? A mucky “journalist,” plying his mucky trade, and catching out a mucky-minded politician. Yet another non-story, though, with your record on here, it’s perfectly understandable why you’re fascinated by it.

Brooks Newmark (I hate people who have two surnames for a name)

Perhaps you should reserve your hatred for the parents; at his christening I doubt he had much say in the matter.

spent his formative years in an all boys school, so probably isn’t that good at communicating with the fairer sex at the best of times.

He has a wife and five children, so seems to have “communicated” quite well.

Can’t you guys use proper measure units, like: litres, kilometres, … ? 😀

Yes, we can, and there’s the rub; in the 1940s/50s, British children were deemed capable of learning (and using) both systems. I was about 7, when I was taught metric (and that included decimetres and decametres,) which stood me in good stead, during my time as a stock controller and production controller, using formulae which were a mix of both.
We had a good laugh, at our grammar school, when a Frenchman (there to help us with A-level French,) admitted that the whole metric system is based on an error; he said that they’d taken the circumference of the earth, divided by a number (which I can’t remember) and came up with the metre, but got the initial measurement wrong.