Paul Brownjohn @Paulos_the_fog@social.cleverlibre.org

@futurebird

I remember when the the publisher, Penguin Books, of the classic "Lady Chatterley's Lover" by DH Lawrence, was taken to court for obscenity. The case was decided in favour of Penguin Books which was crucial step in liberalising the country’s cultural landscape, encouraging frank public discussion of sexual behaviour that meant sex was no longer a taboo in art and entertainment. It also shifted views on major human rights issues including the legalisation of homosexuality and abortion, the abolition of the death penalty and divorce reform.

It is widely believed that the real outrage was the idea that a titled woman of the upper classes could possibly fall for a lowly working class gamekeeper and have a torrid sexual relationship with him! Outrageous at the time!

Seems like the USA is going backwards.

@lpackard

...and looking well!

I simply don't understand the US attitude to universal healthcare. Where I live in Luxembourg, a government department, the CNS, acts as the health "insurer". The 'premiums', a percentage of your salary, are deducted from your monthly pay-cheque. When you need medical treatment, you have to pay for it then send the receipted bill to the CNS who refund most or all of what you were charged.

For inpatient hospital treatment, the bill is sent directly to the CNS by the hospital so the patient never even sees it. I had major abdominal surgery the Christmas before last and all I had to pay was 20€ a day for "board and lodging" at the hospital. Despite what GOPers in the US claim, there are no waiting lists here worth mentioning!

The tumour was found late one Thursday afternoon during a routine colonoscopy and a biopsy sample taken. Analysis of blood and urine was done Friday morning and the results delivered to me on Friday afternoon by email. I had to stop some medication to prepare for the CT scan so that was not done until the Monday morning; I then had to wait in radiography for 40 minutes to get the results. The biopsy came back on Wednesday morning and on Wednesday afternoon, six days later, I was sitting with the surgeon discussing how the tumour would be removed.

My tumour had been diagnosed as non-cancerous before I went in to have it removed but the surgeon said that if there had been any doubt, I would have been on the operating table that same week!

I'd call that a damned good service!

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."

That was Plato!

@tomjennings

I have no idea what an LLM is, or stands for!

@paulgarrard
Must be frightfully exhausting!

@paulgarrard

FFS, you don't have to pedal! You just have to pay a bit more for your ticket if you don't!

@paulgarrard

I sleep like a baby on long haul flights but then I always travel business class so I get a lie flat bed!

@Stoned_Deva_

One I have never heard before or since was one used by Capt Mathews who taught me latin when I was about 11 (and who was not entitled to use the honorary rank of Captain as he was ex-army not ex Navy; officers of the rank of Major and above are entitled to use their honorary rank upon retirement but Captain is one rank below Major and thus it's use is not permitted as an honorary rank in civvie street). When we were not reaching his fairly high standards, he used to say
"Come off the grass, laddies" - I was never quite sure what that meant but he used to say it a lot.

@lpackard

Yes, but guns are more important!

@thelaughingmuse

Yes, "Ta gueule" is not at all polite; in fact it's difficult to think of a more abrupt and vulgar way of saying shut up in French!

The Fedora

@paulgarrard

Not too bad if you get an overnight bus and manage to sleep on it for a bit.

I used to be a courier for weekend trips to Paris by bus for 'Sun' readers who had paid £5 for the privilege. Believe me that was some special sort of torture when wedded to the fact that I was the only courier of about a dozen who spoke French fluently so when the shit hit the fan which it did fairly frequently , it was me who always had to shovel it!