Indeed. I have spent many thousands of miles on the road and agree with you, that, in general, East European drivers are no worse, and sometimes a lot better than some homegrown drivers.

Except the Pole in an artic this morning who is obviously oblivious to the priority rules at roundabouts. Phew, it was veeeery close!:mad:

Why? Did copenhagen solve it?

No, thankfully, the opposite. The edifice of MMGW is cracking and with any luck will have been discredited within two years.

Religion is very important, in the US it underlines much foreign and domestic policy and in the current religiously fuelled conflicts your cultural understanding of words like “crusade” are very pertinant, Europe pretty much jumped ship when Bush used the term. The UK would have too but we had the Archbishop Sedgefield as our PM who understood and admired the US religious perspective a little too well. I bring it up as well to underline that culturally we have more in common with our atheistic cousins across the channel than the Bible thumpers across the pond. I worked in North America on both sides of the 49th P and found both countries more alien and incomprehensible than I have ever found Europe.

In this sense, you are correct. As exemplified by Islamist extremism, arguably the most serious threat we are dealing with.

You are correct, but they seem to be entangled in the EU debate. Whats wrong with sharing many soveriegnty issues? Its cheaper, more efficent, more practical. No one is going to take “being British” away from you, Nick Sarky and Angy Bruno are not going to force brie and weiners down your neck.

The entanglement is because it is a part of the EU debate. It is precisely what the argument between Eurosceptics and Europhiles is all about.

Well it depends if you feel that is a bad thing I suppose….:) I personally don’t, I still feel British, and i’m pretty certain I won’t spontaneously burst into a rendition of the Marseillaise if we ever switch to the Euro.

Which I do and I don’t see any likelihood of the UK joining the Euro in the next decade, if ever.

True, mainly down to one man who could never forgive us for helping to liberate France. As it happens France offered to set an “EU” with the UK shortly after the war but it was us who refused. We set our stock by the empire/commonwealth but we read the wind badly and most of the commonwealth went its own way.

That is partly true but that foetal offer was rapidly superceded by the Schumann plan which started life as the Common Coal and Steel Pact, I believe, which then became the Common Market, of which I may say I was a fervent supporter. I fell out of love with it as it gradually turned itself from a community of trading partners into the monolith which it now is.

I think our debate is turning itself into another thread!!

You are right. Some of us are guilty of pre-judging enquiries and incidents before all the facts are known. It does not help and spleen is vented often on incomplete and/or erroneous information.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/02/haiti.border.arrests/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Seems to me that both sides were not quite doing right. The paperwork should have been in order, but it sure doesn’t sound like a case of intentional kidnapping…
It must be pretty bad for parents to intentionally give up their kids like that. Seems to me it would be far better use of resources to try and improve the parents situation with some better tools and training. I can sympathize with the US group that appears to be in pretty hot water, but I think it would’ve been better for them to make an effort to make the village more sustainable – and leave the kids with their parents regardless of the parents apparently sending them off with them.

Ryan

Except that, if substantiated, as some of the children were asking for their parents they were, presumably, being taken against their will. That is kidnapping.

Not entirely no, but the UK is much closer to Europe on many issues such as climate and trade for instance than the US and the whole religous aspect certainly pushes most Brits firmly into the Euro camp, we see the world quite differently from the US in many ways temporal and spiritual. I personally feel closer to Germany, France, Holland and scandanavia than I ever do to the US or most of the commonwealth.

I suspect we can forget the whole climate debate over the next year or two. Trade has already been discussed and as for the religious connection I cannot see any relevance whatsoever.

What is soverignty anyway? Nationalism is a modern idea born of the 19th Century, Eurpoean alliances, politics and loyalties were very fluid and dynamic for years. look at the make up of wellington’s army or Marlborogh’s a hundred years before.

Sovereignty and nationalism are two quite separate things. The EU is turning itself into a republic of semi-independent nations, which are ceding much of their sovereignty to the EU, constitutionally under the Lisbon Treaty. That’s what it is designed for.

Our alliance with the US is much weaker than you think, look at the row over F35, in many ways its an alliance of conveniance and the UK is tossed aside when its no longer suits the US.

Yes undoubtedly our alliance is a bumpy one but then we have hardly enjoyed an seamlessly smooth passage with France since the war.

Perhaps you have not heard the great humorist Gerard Hoffnung’s account during his speach to the Oxford Union in 1958. I had the record yers ago but it is now long gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZUJLO6lMhI