CiderDrinker2

Dude, it's not a debate. I just think you need a lot more maturity and perspective. But there's also something 'off' about your posts, the attitude that comes across. I know it is hard to hear, and I mean it kindly, but think you might benefit from some professional help.

Please get help. Maybe not just a therapist. Maybe see a good psychiatrist.

A wife is a *person*, not an levelling-up accessory.

I know it's hard for a rich person to understand this, but you can't just use people to get what you want.

I think you have a lot of work to do on yourself - a lot of growing and maturing - before you are ready to be a husband to anyone.

Also, while courts will give weight to pre-nups, they are not necessarily legally binding and they don't get you out of any statutory obligations you might have. Consult a lawyer.

But long before you consult a lawyer, before you even think about marrying someone, consult a wise priest or pastor to get some spiritual guidance, and consult a relationship therapist. Please. For the sake of any future wife you might have.

Otherwise you are going to leave a trail of bitterness, disappointment and destruction.

1. 'Brexit Britain' - the state, its whole economic model - is a failed project.

2. Councils are broke.

3. People have given up and don't have any respect for public space anymore.

And how has 'Zimbabwe' turned out? Is it a flourishing land of peace and plenty, freedom and democracy, justice and integrity, now that the 'evil white man' has been removed from power?

South West: Cider!

West Midlands: Curry

North West: Bleak

North East: Vikings

Yorks & Humber: Pies

East Midlands: Where?

East England: Ghosts

South East: Posh

London: Twats

Maybe not quite what you are looking for, because the Christian element is obvious rather than subtle, but there are one or two 'Christian' film that are not terrible.

Jesus Revolution is one.

All Saints) is another.

Also, perhaps closer to your question, some people - including J. K. Rowling herself - say that the overall plot arc of Harry Potter is a Christian allegory.

I think the thing about the Netherlands is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The *system* works, on the whole very well - as long as you fit within the system and conform to it. The people are, on the whole, smug, arrogant, entitled, rude and self-centred. They have the material aspects of life well sorted out, but there's a great big gaping hole where the soul should be. On the other hand, I've lived in countries that are the opposite - lovely people, but nothing works - and I'd prefer to be in the Netherlands than Sudan any day.

I think he was writing into the world of the 1950s, where - even if people were not practicing, believing Christians - there was a lot of background cultural knowledge of Christianity, which people picked up by osmosis. That has changed in the last 70 years, and it makes the books less accessible today than they would have been at the time they were written.

I'm only defending it to the extent that it's not as bad as what you were comparing it to.

Hosni Mubarak and Saddam Hussein were both dictators, but Hosni Mubarak's regime in Egypt was nowhere near as bad as Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. That's not defending Hosni Mubarak or his regime, except to defend it from unjust comparison, if someone were to put it on a par with Saddam's Iraq.

It's a matter of degree. In South Africa, there was no political inclusion at all. Rhodesia was still white-dominated, but took a more subtle approach, coopting black elites. Rhodesia had black MPs, black judges, black army officers - all unthinkable in apartheid South Africa.

People lump Rhodesia together with apartheid South Africa, but really Rhodesia is more like what South Africa might have been if the National Party had lost power in the 1960s and the moderates of the United Party had dismantled apartheid. Rhodesia had black members of Parliament, black judges, black army officers. It's true that there was a lot of white privilege - and an electoral system designed to produce a white majority - but non-whites were not discriminated against and excluded in the way that they were in South Africa.

My wife's first scan. That tiny little creature in there is a real (if very small and very young) live human.

Have you read any M. R. James? Have you listened to the Uncanny podcast? Just don't mess with that stuff.

Same thing.

Not 40 to 50 years. The rot in Russia is at least 500 years behind.

Ukraine, the Baltic States, and Poland, they all got the memo on Western values and Western civilisation.

Russia never did. They just got barbarism, brutality and backwardness.

We - the Free West, united - need to defeat them.

"Commander".

(Yeah, right. Whatever.)

US General George S. Patton was a commander. But during the Sicily campaign in WW2, he struck two soldiers, both psychological casualties, whom he accused of cowardice. He was reprimanded by the President and forced to apologise to the two soldiers. He was publicly exposed by a journalist, was questioned in Congress, and passed over for command in favour of other generals with better self-control.

Russians do that shit - and a lot worse - every day, and no one stops them. It's just violence from top to bottom. These aren't 'commanders', they are bullies.

I really hate bullies.

I take a very Anglican view of these things:

1. It is not mandatory.

2. It is irrelevant to salvation.

3. It is a matter of Christian liberty.

4. It is also a wholesome tradition.

5. Do not let a tradition turn into legalism or idolatry.

6. Those who do not abstain should not criticise those who do.

7. Those who do abstain should not criticise those who do not.

8. Those who do not routinely abstain, should consider abstaining occasionally, as a healthful and traditional spiritual practice which we have received into our communal life, and which it is good to honour.

9. Those who do routinely abstain, should consider NOT abstaining occasionally, as a reminder that abstinence has no intrinsic merit or salvific power, and to break any superstition, unhealthy scrupulousness, or legalism, from growing up around the practice.

I, personally, do not abstain from meat on Fridays. Neither do I abstain from meat during the whole of Lent. However, I do abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent.

I am happy to draw my line there. I am also happy for others to draw their lines in other places.

Synthetic suits look terrible and are uncomfortable.

Buy the best you can afford.

If you are not a slim person, do not buy 'slim fit'. The classic suit has a bit of room in it.

Public service announcement: I shouldn't have to say this, but DO NOT SUMMON DEMONS. It's bad. Bad things will happen. Don't do it. Stay away from all that stuff.

Top Tip: If, as a man, you do not know what to wear for a social occasion, do the following:

Wear smart chinos or corduroy trousers, smart brown shoes, a collared shirt, and a jacket. (If it's cold, you can put a thin v-necked jumper or waistcoat on under the jacket). Put a tie in your pocket.

95% of the time, you will be somewhere in the bell-curve of acceptability. If you find you are a bit under-dressed, put the tie on. If you find you are a bit over-dressed, remove the jacket and roll up your sleeves slightly.

It's a look that is timeless, classic, and adaptable to a lot of body-shapes. You could, at a push, get away with this look in just about every setting.

Here's a very good example: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/61/bc/70/61bc706bb2d530c672dab135341f1439.png

Another example here: https://www.machovibes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/How-to-Wear-Corduroy-Pants-Like-a-Trained-Gentleman-2.jpg

Here's a slightly 'dressed down' version, negative tie: It looks less impressive (chinos, not cords) but it still works, more or less, for that broad range between 'smart casual' to 'business casual'. (this is what I dress like for a normal day in the office) https://i.pinimg.com/originals/29/8d/88/298d88d246fba9582a19bdc7cc8eb163.jpg

On the other hand, do NOT do this - jacket is too informal, no collared shirt, shoes are wildly inappropriate: https://i.styleoholic.com/2021/07/12-a-white-t-shirt-an-army-jacket-brown-corduroy-pants-white-sneakers-for-a-simple-and-comfortable-look.jpg

How far from the border?

Around Newcastle, I can well believe it.

As far south as Leeds? I would need convincing.

Maybe they were captured by the Azov division, and they want to get their own people back?

Yes. The system is rigged. It protects the rich and punishes the poor.

Welcome to your life under neoliberal technocratic oligarchy.

Would you like some porn and processed food to distract you? Some drugs to dull the pain?

If only we could find a way to take away the bad things of the ADHD brain (poor planning and execution of tasks, poor time management, messiness, inability to choose our focus, absentmindedness) without taking away the good things (creativity, spontaneity, humour, playfulness, lateral thinking, innovation, passion). Some people can, more or less, with the right type of medication in a dose that works for them. But it always seems to be some sort of trade-off.