HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: preece@sbpexe.enet.dec.com (Ian Preece)
Subject: Re: Victory V lozenges
Reply-To: preece@sbpexe.enet.dec.com
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp.
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 15:14:52 GMT


> koumis@husc4.harvard.edu (Anthony Koumis) writes...
>>YOu called for some British culture by mentioning food.  Does
>>anyone know of shops around the Boston area that are accessible
>>by public transport where I can get some PIMMS and chocolate
>>digestives and some chocolate hob nobs?
>> 
>>thanks.
>

Right on your doorstep !

Try Cardullo's in Harvard Square.  My spies tell me they do such exotica
as Terry's Chocolate Oranges ( a cultural icon if ever such there was!), so 
they may well pander to your other needs.

Ian
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ObDisclaimer:

       "I wouldn't *work* for a company that held opinions like mine."      

Ian Preece,                                         Digital Equipment, UK. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: skaamjm@ucl.ac.uk (Matthew Moore)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Gerry Adams out, Good news for NI...
Date: 15 Apr 92 15:18:01 GMT
Organization: Bloomsbury Computing Consortium

D.M.Johnson@newcastle.ac.uk (Dave Johnson) writes:

>Could that fact that Gerry Adams was not elected by the people of west belfast
>indicate to the supporters of the actions of the PIRA, that this actions are
>not wanten and a peaceful solution should be used.

Examination of the voting figures shows that the Sinn Fein vote held.
(The roll was down by 5000, Sinn Fein's vote down by 36. According to
the Times, this meant that SF showed an increase of 1%).

Overall, the Sinn Fein was approx 78,000 compared to about 80,000 last
time round.
From: marcus@sun.pcl.ac.uk (Marcus Harvey)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: BRITISH CONUMER REPORTS?
Date: 10 Apr 92 15:57:12 GMT
Organization: Polytechnic of Central London

In article <1992Apr9.182617.20458@ee.rochester.edu> touras@ee.rochester.edu (Vassilios Tourassis) writes:
>Are there any CONSUMER magazines in Europe that provide evaluations of
>EUROPEAN autos?
>
>I am looking for something semi-reliable, like Consumer Reports in the US,
>highlighting the relative safety, crashworthiness and reliability of
>automobiles currently driven in Europe. Any pointers will be most welcome.
>
>Vassilios
>touras@ee.rochester.edu

The Consumer's Association conduct tests, publish reports and a magazine 
called "Which?".

Marcus Harvey, Polytechnic of Central London IRS
marcus@uk.ac.pcl.sun - JANET  marcus%sun.pcl.ac.uk@ukacrl - BITNET/EARN

                                                          ...Bubble Up!
From: Trevor.Kirby@newcastle.ac.uk (Trevor Kirby)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Bouncy Castles and Scholars
Date: 10 Apr 92 09:23:22 GMT
Organization: Computing Laboratory, U of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK NE1 7RU.


In article <685@eagle.ukc.ac.uk>, jmb@ukc.ac.uk (Mike Bremner) writes:
>calling them "bouncy castles" down here too.  Is this an example of
>"where Scotland leads, England follows"?
>
I've always heard of them referred to as "bouncy castles" up here.

>Changing the subject completely, but still on vocabulary matters: does
>my memory serve me right in bringing back an image, seen from a train
>on the viaduct over the marketplace in Chester-le-Street in the sixties,
>of a bus bearing the legend "SCHOLARS" on its destination board?  Was
>this common usage in the north-east at that time?  Is it still?

Well my school bus to Ferryhill had it on and the local Northern school bus
had it on yesterday so going form a sample of two yes and yes.

 Trev
From: limey@hri.com (Craig Hughes)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Democracy?????
Date: 13 Apr 92 20:58:59 GMT
Article-I.D.: bigbird.6275
Reply-To: limey@hri.com
Organization: Horizon Research, Inc.

In article <2093@nlsun1.oracle.nl>, mlemmerm@nl.oracle.com (Mick Lemmerman Publisher) writes:
|> The tories have an overall majority of 21 seats - seemingly large.
|> 
|> If the labour party had managed to win only 11 more of the marginals
|> they were aiming for, this majority would have been denied.
|> 
|> Many of the marginals were won by tories with a majority of around 100
|> to 200.
|> 
|> 11 x 200 = 2200 votes determining who should govern the country.
|> 
|> To quote Gil Scott Heron : 'Mandate, my ass!' (he is an American).

Or to look at it another way entirely:

80% of the people that could vote, did. That mean 20% of the people didn't
get off their bottoms and exercise their right to choose their
Government. Even if a fraction of 1% of these people voted for Labour
(or the LDP etc....), then the results would have been quite different.

Yes, it was a record turnout, but I still think 80% is pathetic.
Millions of people didn't vote! Couple that with the lunatic
"first-past-the-post" method that's used to choose the government and
you virtually guarantee _never_ having a mandate. More's the pity :(


================================================================================
| Horizon Research, Inc.		E-MAIL:   limey@hri.com
| 1432 Main Street			PHONE:	  (617) 466-8300
| Waltham, MA 02154			FAX:	  (617) 466-8323
================================================================================
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:6382 alt.society.civil-liberty:3444 misc.legal:9267 talk.politics.misc:18165
From: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,alt.society.civil-liberty,misc.legal,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: British Bill: of Rights? of Goods?
Date: 13 Apr 92 22:56:15 GMT
Reply-To: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

In article <jg1c8oc@zola.esd.sgi.com>, livesey@solntze (Jon Livesey) writes:
>I realise that in theory this is so, but the longer I stay in the
>US, the more I doubt it in reality.    I think that first, you have
>to admit that *simply* having a written Constitution isn't enough.

Yes - still, there are the checks and balances in the U.S.
Constitution, so I don't think it's just a matter of a simple written
Constitution.

>to deal with perceived threats, the IRA, say, or Gen. Noriega.   In 
>extreme cases, such as the imprisonment of the Nisei, the US 
>government can drive a coach and horses through the Bill of Rights, 
>and as long as the mass of the citizens agree, even the Supreme
>Court goes along with it (actually twice, in that case). 

But do the citizens really agree?  And why do they agree that the Bill
of Rights can be thrown in the trash?  ie. What went wrong, is it that
everybody has been brainwashed by too much television and too little
information, too little education?  Or is it that nothing went wrong,
the people just did not like the system as described in the U.S.
Constitution?

>Secondly, it's often not the rights of the citzen that are the
>whole story, but rather the limits that can be placed on the
>actions of Government.   A Government that can finance some of
>its operations outside the normal legislative channels can do 
>whatever it wants, Constitution or not.

I suppose that's why the U.S. Constitution enumerates the powers of
the government, and a power to finance covert operations is not one of
them.  (I'm a bit in the dark here, where's that asbestos suite..)

>Once again, I don't see much difference between a country with 
>a Constitution and one without.

>Finally, I think there is something to be said for knowing that
>ones liberties are uncodified and constantly liable to revision 
>unless one is careful.   I often feel that the US citizenry lives 
>in a kind of cloud cuckoo land in which, if it waves the Bill of 
>Rights vigorously enough, and is sufficiently scathing about 
>countries which don't have this wonderful Constitution thingie, 
>then everything will be all right.

Yes, I suppose that's the idea in the culture ;-)

I do think I would perhaps feel happier with a Constitution (I suppose
Finland is closer to a system with no carefully drafted Constitution
in contrast to the US system, though things like privacy from
surveillance are guaranteed in Constitution) - it's really not quite
easy to argue for one's position when there's no document at all to
really support the position and the mindset of the system seems to be
that the government can decide almost anything for the citizens.  But
in practice it does seem to hold that for some reason it might not
matter that much.

//Jyrki
From: nickh@CS.CMU.EDU (Nick Haines)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Budmouth
Date: 9 Apr 92 21:59:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: VOILA.NICKH.92Apr9165949
	<1992Apr9.105605.7576@rz-berlin.mpg.de>
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Originator: nickh@VOILA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU

In article <1992Apr9.105605.7576@rz-berlin.mpg.de> gray@rz-berlin.mpg.de
explains very clearly the difference between the two sorts of Wessex.
Thanks. But:

     Sorry about the vagueness, but most of my books are in store so I can only
   pontificate from memory.  If you want a treat investigate both sorts of
   Wessex.  Hardy's writing is magical, and the history of Britain pre-conquest
   is fascinating.  Examples?  The most sensuous and involving piece of writing
   I've ever read is the Swordplay scene from Far From the Madding Crowd.  Some
   of the most beautiful art ever produced in Britain is in the Lindisfarne
   Gospels.  Go See.

Of course, Lindisfarne was never in any sort of Wessex. But I can
recommend going to see the place, as well as the Gospels.

Nick Haines nickh@cs.cmu.edu
From: albion@bnr.ca (Alan Buchanan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Rampant paranoia (was Voting slips: what happens to them,DANGER!)
Date: 11 Apr 92 17:27:42 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada

In article <1992Apr09.211140.11573@robobar.co.uk> gtoal@robobar.co.uk (Graham Toal) writes:
>In article <1992Apr8.165248.3518@bcrka451.bnr.ca> alanbu@bnr.ca writes:
>>Noone has stated that they modify their voting because of knowledge of
>>such things.
>
>Sorry - allow me to be more explicit.  When I first started working I
>worked for a military supplier, and expected to continue finding
>contracts for which I would have to keep a security clearance.  Until
>I decided that the work I was doing was against my conscience, I
>did not vote and never posted any political views on the net.
>
>Since then I've decided I will not work on military projects again
>and have started exercising my democratic right to vote.  I believe
>most people working in defence in Britain who would not wish to
>vote for one of the three mainstream parties behave similarly.

OK I'll accept the point but I put forward this one.

If I appeared negative it is because I was disturbed that noone
picked up on the obvious question of whether anyone had the
right to stop employment simply because you legitimately held
certain views. The first and most important principle involved
was not one of democracy but one of the individual rights of the
person.

If people concentrate on the democratic question they simply
push for more secrecy. If however they recognise the other issue
they push for a reformation of the principles allowed in the
process of 'vetting' or any other such persuit.




                                  Alan
>
From: albion@bnr.ca (Alan Buchanan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: The Vogon News Service: 10-Apr-92
Date: 12 Apr 92 20:11:43 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada

In article <1992Apr10.174421.15683@morrow.stanford.edu> francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir) writes:
>Craig Cockburn writes:
>
>	VOGON announces:
>
>		In Scotland there was a 3% swing to the Conservatives. The 
>		turnout was ~80%.
>
>Better get up there, Craig, it sounds as though Scotland needs talking to.
>
>							Francis Muir



 Perhaps, but knowing the perversity of our people, that might be the
  cause.

 I imagine lots of people brought up on old Presbyterian rhetoric saying
 "Jings, I'll show you people something about certainty!"


                              Alan
From: tgg@otter.hpl.hp.com (Tom Gardner)
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 16:37:06 GMT
Subject: Re: Mortgages (was Re: Simple message)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british

|BUT the worst bit is that the INSURANCE company can now try to recover
|the ammount they paid to the bank from YOU!

This is true, and ought to be WRIT LARGE across the forehead of anyone who
has to take out mortgage indemnity insurance.

That's an even worse situation that a clause added to my car policy when it was
renewed. The insurance company confirmed that (under this fully comprehensive
policy), if my neighbour stole my car then I wasn't covered! And this was with
a reputable company.

Moral read the small print, and understand it's implications. The buggers'll
squirm out of anything if they can...

Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,uk.politics
From: baker@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Andrew Baker)
Subject: Re: political parties
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 14:24:52 GMT

In article <STEVEW.92Apr15144648@mushroom.cs.man.ac.uk> stevew@cs.man.ac.uk (Steve Wallis) writes: ...
>As for what Militant (and Scottish Militant Labour) stands for, here is a
>summary taken from the "Militant" newspaper: ...
>*	Nationalisation of the 200 largest companies, including banks and
>	insurance companies, under democratic workers' control and
>	management, with compensation only for any shareholder in genuine
>	need.
>
>*	A democratic, socialist planned economy to end the chaos of the
>	profit system.
>
>*	No return to capitalism in the former Stalinist states.  Establish
>	workers' democracy and genuine socialism.
>
>*	A socialist world where hunger, poverty, the threat of environmental
>	destruction and world war can finally be abolished.

Lucky for Hong Kong, it will be safe in Chinese hands!
From: kemnitz@netcom.com (Greg Kemnitz)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Thoughts on Election Results
Date: 10 Apr 92 17:57:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: netcom.n_tjzbj.kemnitz
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

In article <1992Apr10.140104.164652@cs.cmu.edu> goddard+@cs.cmu.edu (Nigel Goddard) writes:
>Woe unto us!  I spent the evening listening to the results on 
>the World Service with a group of fellow Brits.  Stunned disbelief,
>followed by gnashing of teeth.  One woman announced she is no
>longer British.  Those who had thought of returning from exile
>will remain abroad.  Those who had thought they were abroad
>temporarily will reconsider.



My sympathies.  On this side of the pond, I am getting ready to pack
my bags for points unknown--I had hoped it would have been Britain.
Just so you know you're not alone in kindred misery, it seems pretty 
certain that we will be going for a renewal of Republican rule through
sixteen years--and if you forget the brief post-Watergate aberation of
Carter, make that 24 going on 28 years. :-( :-( :-(



		Jon Rhein
		jon@postgres.berkeley.edu
		from a friend's account
From: EY28@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Rampant paranoia (was Voting slips: what happens to them,DANGER!)
Date: 7 Apr 92 11:39:35 GMT
 <4521@m1.cs.man.ac.uk><1992Apr5.125422.24318@bradford.ac.uk>
Organization: University of Liverpool

Interesting stuff this voting slip scam.

Anyone care to comment how the introduction of PR in whatever form would
interfere with this alleged tracing of votes?

My guess is it would make the task somewhat harder. Now lets see which parties
are totally against PR.........

Hmmmmmmmm!

Never mind the Ballots, here comes the rest of your life!
                               Chumbawumba.

Andy Calder.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: horne-scott@CS.YALE.EDU (Scott Horne)
Subject: _OED_ (Re: Is Holohan a dweeb?)
Organization: Computer "Science" Dept, Yale University
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 22:34:07 GMT

In article <1992Apr15.152528.16154@morrow.stanford.edu>, francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir) writes:
<
<I cannot believe that Mr Scott Horne of Yale has ever opened the Oxford
<English Dictionary.

I have, many times.  Unfortunately, the example I gave wasn't correct;
I was thinking of something else.  Sorry about that.

<If he had he would know that the OED has no interest
<in "correctness." It does not pontificate, but merely examines use.

Not so.  See entry `-ize', where they argue against `-ise', saying something
like "`-ise' came from French and there's no good reason not to go back to
`-ize'"--true, but nor is there any good reason to switch to `-ize'.

					--Scott

-- 
Scott Horne                               ...!{harvard,cmcl2,decvax}!yale!horne
horne@cs.Yale.edu      SnailMail:  Box 7196 Yale Station, New Haven, CT   06520
203 436-1848                Residence:  Rm 1848 Silliman College, New Haven, CT
Shao2shan1 sheng1 de tai4yang2 yong3 bu2 luo4!
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:6712 rec.arts.books:8143
From: smckinty@sunicnc.France.Sun.COM (Steve McKinty - Sun ICNC)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE
Date: 17 Apr 92 17:37:54 GMT
Organization: Sun Technologies Enterprise Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: hardy.france.sun.com

In article <1992Apr17.104030.6643@bsu-ucs.uucp>, 00rdharringt@bsu-ucs.uucp (Rob Harrington) writes:
   > In article <kujhdnINNtd@early-bird.think.com>, wark@think.com (Mark Warkentin) writes:
   > > Here in beanytown lots of the locals use the word "tonic".  Anyone heard of
   > > the usage elswhere?
   > > -- 
   > 
   > For pop????
   > 
   > never... heard it used in terms like "gin and tonic" or "vodka and tonic"
   > but never as a word for pop...
   > 
And then there's France, where if you simply order a "Schweppes", you'll
get a tonic water...
From: cc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Chris Cooke)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Sponge bag
Date: 15 Apr 92 12:13:28 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
In-reply-to: frankm@microsoft.com's message of 13 Apr 92 15:57:52 GMT

In article <1992Apr13.155752.2014@microsoft.com> frankm@microsoft.com (Frank R.A.J. Maloney) writes:

   In my favorite novels, Forster, Sayer, Wodehouse, et al., I
   run into references to sponge bags. What are or were they?

A bag which you keep your (bathroom) sponge in.  And presumably shaving gear
and the like too.
--
	-- Chris. 	cc@dcs.ed.ac.uk   (on Janet, cc@uk.ac.ed.dcs)
From: cmorris@Ingres.COM (Colin Morris)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: The Decline of Britain (was Re: Great Britain as a malfunctioning democracy)
Date: 16 Apr 92 18:08:08 GMT
Reply-To: cmorris@Ingres.COM (Colin Morris)
Organization: Ask Computer Systems Inc., Ingres Division, Alameda CA 94501

In article <1992Apr14.220357.213802@cs.cmu.edu> goddard+@cs.cmu.edu (Nigel Goddard) writes:
>In article <14APR199216300953@zeus.tamu.edu> pac9897@zeus.tamu.edu (SMELLS LIKE JOHN MAJOR....) writes:
>>In article <1992Apr14.133600.10682@CSD-NewsHost.Stanford.EDU>,
>> baker@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Andrew Baker) writes...
>>>Do you consider the magazine _The_Economist_ to be a "tabloid" or
>>>"tory propaganda"?  Do you consider its editors and writers to be "morons"
>>>and "bigots"?
>>
>>I think it probably fits into the group of Tory propaganda, since you ask.
>>Whilst I think it is a good magazine, I really do not think it is
>>worth the orgasms that so many Americans seem to have at it's mere mention.
>
Even though the Economist often diverges radically from my own views,
I subscribe to it because it's usually well written and
thought-provoking. Living in the U.S., it's also one of the relatively
few sources of reasonable analysis of wordwide political and economic
issues. Interestingly, a couple of U.S. citizens I work with subscribe
to it because of the content of its "American Survey", which tends to
put a rather different (and often more cynical) slant on America than
the mainstream American press.

>The Economist is a pretty good indicator of what the business community
>in Britain (and increasingly the US) want.  Since the Tories hew closest
>to business interests, the Economist line and the Tory line are often
>similar.  But I don't think the Economist pushes the Tory line.  Rather,
>both the Economist and the Tories push the business community line.
>Calling it propaganda may or may not be enlightening.  And of the two,
>the Economist is more loyal to the business community; the editors are
>quite willing to criticize Tory policy if it is not good for business
>interests.  American approval of the magazine is due to the incredibly
>strong identification of educated Americans with business interests
>(often to the point of equating "democracy" with "free markets", for
>example).
>

I agree with this. Although the Economist will often agree with
Conservative Party policy, it disagrees with it in certain critical
aspects. For example, a leader in the March 28th issue states "There
are other constitutional changes the Britain badly needs: fixed-term
parliaments, a freedom-of-information act, reform of the House of
Lords." The same editorial also strongly supports some form a
Proportional Representation for the United Kingdom. Hardly the Tory line...

--
Colin Morris       Ingres, an ASK company       cmorris@ws2s.ingres.com

"Clive Thomas' decision was the watershed when we realised that referees
 were crazy egotists and mad people" -- Six-O-Six
From: anw@maths.nott.ac.uk (Dr A. N. Walker)
Newsgroups: uk.politics,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Simple message
Date: 7 Apr 92 09:01:29 GMT
Reply-To: anw@maths.nott.ac.uk (Dr A. N. Walker)
Organization: Maths Dept., Nott'm Univ., UK.

In article <1992Apr6.071030.29606@rtf.bt.co.uk>, traub@rtf.bt.co.uk
(Michael Traub) writes:

>This is an invalid assumption. If person B earns ten times as much as
>person A do you seriously think person B will consume ten times as much???

	Easily.  [Assuming that you aren't talking only about quantity of
food.]  If my income were multiplied by a factor of 10, I'm sure that I
would spend *more* than 10 times as much on holidays, cars, hi-fi and video
equipment, restaurant meals, ....  In addition, I would employ at least 10
times as many maids, gardeners*, ....  Come to think of it, this would be
such a boost to the economy that I wouldn't mind trying the experiment.

	I'm also pretty sure that I spend at least 10 times as much on
these things as the vast majority of people whose income is only 1/10
as much as mine.  For a more reasonable factor, substitute 2 or 3 for
10 in the above -- the conclusions still hold.

>Person B will probably be spending the extra money on a mortgage, something
>which has no VAT levied on it.

	He or she may well be spending a lot more on a mortgage, but only
the interest on 30K is tax-free, so the chances are that person B is
paying more than 10 times as much tax on this spending.  [You're right
in that it isn't actually VAT, of course.]

------
* This point is not meant to be flippant.  We *do* employ a cleaning
lady for a short time each week, and gardeners for a short time each
few weeks.  If we were wealthy, and had a much larger house and garden,
these times would certainly expand to match.  Conversely, in hard times,
we would have to do it ourselves, and cleaning ladies and gardeners
would presumably find employment much harder to come by.

-- 
Andy Walker, Maths Dept., Nott'm Univ., UK.
anw@maths.nott.ac.uk
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:5946 soc.culture.celtic:3452
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
Date: Thursday, 9 Apr 1992 08:51:36 EDT
From: <SNEWMAN@auvm.american.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic
Subject: Election results and newspapers

Could somebody please post election results from the UK and Scotland
in particular for people in foreign lands who have trouble getting the
complete results? In addition, if anybody is willing to send me
an issue of the Scotsman or the Glasgow Herald with the election results
please contact me. I will reimburse you. Thank you very much.

Saul Newman  SNEWMAN@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
The American University
School of Public Affairs
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20016-8130
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british