are women losing their sense of feminity?

[Lote-Tree]

So a mans aspiration in life is to be molly coddled. It all makes sense!

It's our birthright

(i think i'll become a hermit)

[/quote]

It's your loss Princess Elfinore

[Scheherazade]

Really? Surveys are meaningless. That just reflects people's frustrations, which are always there. People physically moving is a whole different real matter. Check this out:

You check this out:

The French embassy says there are 270,000 French people living in the UK, though others say there are many more, perhaps as many as 350,000.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5048428.stm

In fifteen years the number of British people who have their main residence in France has multiplied tenfold, from 50,000 in 1990 to 500,000 in 2006.

http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/fra...ance_9434.html

[Riesa]

Men are not that bad - all they want is to be loved
Like the way their mothers did

Okay, here's the deal, a lift up in exchange for a little "molly-coddling" as Niamh so delightfully says. It is my nature to nurture, but it does get old nurturing large, hard-of-hearing, stubborn children with fussy attitudes and five o'clock shadow.

Don't worry the world be a peaceable place if it was like this

Here's to peace between us. I don't doubt that the world would be a better place with a few more like you, Lote-Tree.

[Virgil]

You check this out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5048428.stm
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/fra...ance_9434.html

Well perhaps you should read it more carefuloly:

The English in France
The British have been coming to France for a long time now. This transient population from across the Channel is very familiar to the French - with the holidaymakers and retirees who have set up second homes in the South West of the country. But in recent years, it has been whole families that have come to settle and work in the French countryside.

It is an accepted fact that France is one of the world’s top holiday destinations. Its climate, lifestyle, culture, architecture and tourist facilities make it a very attractive country. It is more surprising to find an influx of Europeans coming to settle here, whether in the major cities or in the countryside. A significant number of Germans, Dutch, but above all English people, are now to be found all over the country.

In fifteen years the number of British people who have their main residence in France has multiplied tenfold, from 50,000 in 1990 to 500,000 in 2006. Until the end of the 1990s, these were mostly wealthy retired people coming to spend their twilight years in the south of France. Today, ever more middle-class families are moving here with their children, mainly to Périgord, Dordogne or the Côte d’Azur.

In most cases, they sell the property they own in the United Kingdom, buy a property in France, and use the surplus to do it up or take early retirement. The South West remains their favourite place, in spite of a rise in prices which is the result of the increase in property demand that they themselves have helped create. According to José-Alain Fralon, in his book “Au secours les Anglais nous envahissent” [Help, the English are Invading Us], 1 % of the population of Dordogne, nicknamed “a little piece of England in France”, is now British.

Sounds like it's people who have made their money in the Briitsh economy and buying up French property. The French going the other way are going to England for jobs. Sounds like the British going to France are enjoying their British prosperity.

[Scheherazade]

Well perhaps you should read it more carefuloly:



Sounds like it's people who have made their money in the Briitsh economy and buying up French property. The French going the other way are going to England for jobs. Sounds like the British going to France are enjoying their British prosperity.

I am reading rather carefull, Virgil:

...But in recent years, it has been whole families that have come to settle and work in the French countryside... Until the end of the 1990s, these were mostly wealthy retired people coming to spend their twilight years in the south of France. Today, ever more middle-class families are moving here with their children, mainly to Périgord, Dordogne or the Côte d’Azur....

Guess, we all interpret things differently.

Have a nice day, Virgil.

[Riesa]

egads! have you two learned nothing from Lote-Tree's and my exchange???!!!!

[Virgil]

I am reading rather carefull, Virgil:Guess, we all interpret things differently.

Have a nice day, Virgil.

You forgot the last paragraph:

This peaceful immigration crosses another flow of migration, that of young French people who are leaving in increasing numbers to settle in London to look for work, which is better paid than in France. Even if the English are fond of making jokes about the French and vice versa, it seems that between the two peoples, it is - more than ever - a time of entente cordiale.

Good night.

egads! have you two learned nothing from Lote-Tree's and my exchange???!!!!

No, I guess not. Scher and I share a particular characteristic, an internal drive to never lose a debate. I know it drives my wife nuts, and I wonder how Scher's husband handles it? I don't have any grudges toward Scher, and I hope she doen't have any toward me. Actually I respect that type of gumption.

[kilted exile]

A quick comment. Too much credit is being given to the parasite for the current UK position economically. Any effect of the thatcherite govt on the economy was wiped out by Black Monday in the early '90's. They gave us boom & bust, things have gotten progressively better under the chancellorship of Brown (who is by no means a thatcherite) to the extent that people from other countries now want to follow the UK way of doing things & move there (only moving to certain areas however - industrial cities are still bearing witness to the evil ones policies) If Little Miss "There's no such thing as society" was so great, they wouldnt have waited until 15 years after she left to start moving over.

Ok, politics over for the week.

[Lote-Tree]

It is my nature to nurture, but it does get old nurturing large, hard-of-hearing, stubborn children with fussy attitudes and five o'clock shadow.

We suffer in our natures

Here's to peace between us. I don't doubt that the world would be a better place with a few more like you, Lote-Tree.

Bueno! And it is very important insight to be able to see your own inadquacies and flaws and it is a noble goal to try to better yourself

[Virgil]

A quick comment. Too much credit is being given to the parasite for the current UK position economically. Any effect of the thatcherite govt on the economy was wiped out by Black Monday in the early '90's. They gave us boom & bust, things have gotten progressively better under the chancellorship of Brown (who is by no means a thatcherite) to the extent that people from other countries now want to follow the UK way of doing things & move there (only moving to certain areas however - industrial cities are still bearing witness to the evil ones policies) If Little Miss "There's no such thing as society" was so great, they wouldnt have waited until 15 years after she left to start moving over.

Ok, politics over for the week.

I couldn't find the Black Monday scenario Kilt. I assume you mean this Black Wednesday of 1992 as described in Wiki on Britain's economy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economi...he_Major_years

In 1990 Margaret Thatcher stood down from the office of Prime Minister after not getting the political support she felt she needed to continue. John Major was elected her successor.

The British pound was tied to EU exchange rates, using the Deutsche Mark as a basis, as part of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM); however, this resulted in disaster for Britain. The restrictions imposed by the ERM put pressure on the pound, leading to a run on the currency, initiated by George Soros. Black Wednesday in 1992 ended British membership of the ERM but also brought about a deep recession, affecting many who had benefitted from the economic boom of the late 1980s. It also damaged the Conservatives' credibility of economic management, and contributed to the end of the 18 years of consecutive Conservative government in 1997.

If that is so, then the Black Wednesday described there had nothing to do with Thatcher's freemarket reforms. It was a currency problem linked to continental europe exchange rates. I don't see how you're blaming Thatcher for that. The fact remains, before Thatcher British government own most of Britain's industries; after Thatcher it owns very little and neither Major or Blair changed that. In fact both supported it whole-heartedly.

[Shalot]

I haven't really been following this thread at all but i thought Black Monday was the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. The people who don't go Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving will log on to the internet Monday at work and start buying Christmas presents online. or those who forgot someone during their mad shopping on Friday will make online purchases on Monday. Or maybe I am misaken.

[Virgil]

I haven't really been following this thread at all but i thought Black Monday was the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. The people who don't go Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving will log on to the internet Monday at work and start buying Christmas presents online. or those who forgot someone during their mad shopping on Friday will make online purchases on Monday. Or maybe I am misaken.

No, no, you're not mistaken. That's the Black Monday.

[papayahed]

your correct but it's called Black Friday:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)


Or s it a Steely Dan song?

[Shalot]

Okay I am not going crazy then -- there is another Black Monday other than the what kilted is talking about which is this (I think):

Black Monday is the name given to Monday, October 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped dramatically, and on which similar enormous drops occurred across the world. By the end of October, stock markets in Hong Kong had fallen 45.8%, Australia 41.8%, Spain 31%, the United Kingdom 26.4%, the United States 22.68%, and Canada 22.5%. (The terms Black Monday and Black Tuesday are also applied to October 28 and 29, 1929, which occurred after Black Thursday on October 24, which started the Stock Market Crash of 1929.)

The Black Monday decline was the second largest one-day percentage decline in stock market history....

I was talking about this Black Monday (from the Wall Street Jounal):

Online Retailers Gear Up For Busy 'Black Monday'
By Mylene Mangalindan Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

This coming Friday is one of the year's biggest days for shoppers and retailers. But for many, the Web has made the following Monday just as crucial.

With the rapid expansion of the Internet, the Monday after Thanksgiving has grown to be the all-important kickoff of the online holiday shopping season. On that day, consumers head back to work -- and their computers -- ready to shop after the long holiday weekend.

Last year, the Monday after Thanksgiving was the peak day for online transactions, according to VeriSign Payment Services, a unit of eBay Inc.'s PayPal that processes electronic payments ...

Now that I have it straight in my mind you can continue with your debate/discussion

[Niamh]

It's our birthright

It's your loss Princess Elfinore

Not at all! more like relief!