HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rwe11@cl.cam.ac.uk (Richard Earnshaw)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: dweeb?
Date: 14 Apr 92 13:21:08 GMT
Reply-To: rwe11@cl.cam.ac.uk (Richard Earnshaw)
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK

In article <1992Apr14.050708.22079@cs.yale.edu>, horne-scott@CS.YALE.EDU
(Scott Horne) writes:
|> In article <NICKH.92Apr13123607@VOILA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU>,
nickh@CS.CMU.EDU (Nick Haines) writes:
|> <In article <1992Apr12.002852.21905@cs.yale.edu>
horne-scott@CS.YALE.EDU (Scott Horne) writes:
|> <
|> <   Fortunately, not everyone in this country fits that
characterisation (note
|> <   the correct spelling--no `z'). 
|> <
|> <Read a dictionary. I suggest the OED.
|> 
|> I never have bought the _OED_'s line here.  Most of the _-i[sz]e_ words
|> came into English through French, not through Greek.
|> 
|> 					--Scott
|> 

Then I suggest that you go and read Fowler "Modern English Usage".  It 
explains that the  'ise' ending comes from the French; and that to adopt it
here, when the pure ending is ize is grammatically incorrect.

Richard.
From: smith@canon.co.uk (Mark Smith)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Emmigration after the Tory win on April 9th
Date: 12 Apr 92 20:39:40 GMT
Organization: Canon Research Centre Europe Ltd

pac9897@zeus.tamu.edu (THEY SENTENCED ME TO 5 MORE YEARS) writes:
> You obviously have no idea how heatbreaking a system where even state
> universities charge so much is - there are plenty of gifted people here
> who have had to forgo University education or join the military to
> get it free, simply because their parents could not come up with the readies.
> The American University system is brilliant, but rather unjust in some cases.

Actually, I know exactly what it's like, because I did my degree
under a similar system north of the US border, where many of us
weren't even eligible for loans until our last year of university.
I don't think for a second that the average student is a "sponger",
but I find the arrogance of a group of people who equate "the party
I voted for didn't get elected" with "democracy has failed" more 
than a little irritating.  Threatening to eventually leave the 
country -for the same reason- once they've gotten what they can 
out of its educational system hardly improves things.  If you can 
only view reactions to that attitude as stereotypical "Sun reading 
Daily Express right-wing cracks", then you're not being much more 
perceptive than the people you despise.

---- Mark Smith ---- Canon Research Europe ---- smith@canon.co.uk ----
 i'm a guardian man myself                    but only for the comics
From: 00rdharringt@bsu-ucs.uucp (Rob Harrington)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Why should Libya hand over the PanAm bombers?
Date: 16 Apr 92 23:33:34 GMT

In article <1992Apr7.003006.28205@wam.umd.edu>, spinoza@next03wor.wam.umd.edu (Prince Lev of the Domovoi) writes:
> I'm not a lawyer, but I remember reading somewhere that US flag carriers,  
> of which Pan Am was one, are considered US territory, or that the US has  
> jurisdiction over crimes committed on US flag carriers.
> 
> 
> lev

Which brings up a question... (don't know how valid it is or what relavance
but I thought of it after reading the above...)

If a man stands on one side of the border and shoots someone on the other
side where is he tried for murder?  The country where he shot from or
the country where the person he shot was in..

-- 
/---------------------------------------v-------------------------------------\
|  Rob Harrington                       |              Ball State University  |
|  Department of History                |               Muncie, Indiana, USA  |
|  Vax--00RDHARRINGT@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu  |       Unix--herring@bsu-cs.bsu.edu  |
>---------------------------------------^-------------------------------------<
|  "It is good fortunes for politicians that people don't think."- A. Hitler  |
|                       Aoibheann beatha an scol/aire!                        |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:6067 soc.culture.celtic:3479
From: J.W.Harley@newcastle.ac.uk (Jon Harley)
Newsgroups: uk.politics,soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic
Subject: Re: Polling and newspapers request
Keywords: April 9th and April 11th
Date: 10 Apr 92 11:01:32 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

miriam@legs.gps.caltech.edu (Miriam Jackson) writes:

>The big news is that Chris patten, the conservative party chairman
>is out, Lynda Chalker is out and Rosie Barnes is out (i.e. the SDP
>have gone).  Glenda jackson for labour in Hampstead and Highgate and
>Seb Coe is in for the Tories in Tynemouth (makes me ashamed to be a
>Geordie, but at least it's not my constituency).  

Not the last one - Neville Trotter remains the Conservative MP for Tynemouth
(by the skin of his teeth), the only Tory MP in the area.

Such slips are understandable when you've been up all night!


/jon
   _________________________________________________________________
  / -- Jonathan Harley  ____   One cannot be precise and           //    //  //
 / J.W.Harley@ncl.ac.uk \bi/  still be pure.      --Marc Chagall  // // //////
/_x8504_____B2t+w-g+svrp \/ __________________________________///////////  //
From: marcus@sun.pcl.ac.uk (Marcus Harvey)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Gas stoves
Date: 8 Apr 92 17:33:26 GMT
Organization: Polytechnic of Central London

In article <1992Apr7.142945.11348@ssd.kodak.com> dj@ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones) writes:
>In article <pwe.702655289@slipknot> pwe@slipknot.mit.edu (Paul W. Emery) writes:
>>
>> In the UK the thermostats on  gas stoves (ovens)are calibrated in"Gas
>>marks"can somebody give me the equivalent of this in degrees
>>fahrenheit.My Mother's coming over here and if I'm going to get any
>>Yorkshire pud she's going to need to know.
>> 
>>               
>Unless your Mum is way out of date, she should already know the
>equivalents as they've been routine in recipes for decades now. 
>She'll have bigger problems with the flour, which never seems to
>be quite right in the US - different kind of wheat or something.
>
Why? I don't know the equivalents in fahrenheit to Gas marks! Recipes
always give centigrade,farenheit and gas mark but I just read the gas mark!
If his mum's always had a gas cooker why should she have learnt to convert?

I'll tell you what really bugs me - the American 'cup' measuring system!

>And shame on you for not knowing how to make your own Yorkshires anyway!
>
Agreed!


Marcus Harvey
marcus@uk.ac.pcl.sun - JANET
marcus%sun.pcl.ac.uk@ukacrl - BITNET/EARN

                                                          ...Bubble Up!
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,rec.arts.books
From: kamorgan@athena.mit.edu (Keith Morgan)
Subject: Re: ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE
Followup-To: rec.arts.books
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 02:34:56 GMT

I just want to add my comment to this thread that in Western Canada,
where I grew up, all soft drinks were also "pop" and they came out of
a "pop machine". When I moved to Massachusetts I was pleased to be
offered "sodas" but always wanted some scotch with it.
Parenthetically, the other regionalism I noticed here was that nearly
everyone in stores asks you if "you're all set" when you approach a
cash register.

Keith
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british

A sponge bag is a small waterproof bag for holding a soggy washcloth, soap,
toothbrush, etc.
From: matthew@ntl02.decnet.nokia.fi (Matthew Faupel)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Election stats (4/5) Women candidates & MPs
Date: 13 Apr 92 23:04:41 GMT
Organization: Nokia Telecommunications, Cambridge, UK

Women candidates and MPs
Source: The Independent 11 Apr 92

                     1987                         1992
Party          Candidates   MPs             Candidates   MPs

Conservative           46    17                     62    20
Labour                 92    21                    134    35
LibDem (Alliance 87)  105     2                    139     2
SNP                     6     1                     14     1
Plaid Cymru            37     0                      7     0
Others                 41     0                    192     0
Total                 327    41                    548    58

My apologies for mis-remembering these figures in an earlier post.

--
---* Amnesiac the Wizard *------------------* matthew@uk.tele.nokia.fi *---
 Opinions expressed here are not those of my company.    | NB. ntl02 is EN
 They're not even my own; I plagiarised the lot of them! | TEE EL ZERO TWO
---* matthew@ntl02.decnet.nokia.fi *------------------* Matthew Faupel *---
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: givati@odie.ee.wits.ac.za (Ofer Givati)
Subject: DOCTOR SEEKING GP LOCUM WORK IN THE UK
Summary: Seeking 5 month GP locum work in the UK
Organization: Wits Electrical Engineering (Novell Users).
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 14:06:03 GMT

CAN ANY OF YOU DOCTORS, DOCTOR'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS HELP ????

I am interested in doing a locum in General Practice in the UK for 5 month
(May 92 - Sept 92).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dr. LL Sirkin
102 Lafayette
11 Corlette Drive
Illovo
Johannesburg
South-Africa

Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: livesey@solntze.esd.sgi.com (Jon Livesey)
Subject: Re: The Decline of Britain (was Re: Great Britain as a malfunctioning democracy)
Organization: sgi
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 21:51:38 GMT

In article <1992Apr15.134250.27544@bcrka451.bnr.ca>, albion@bnr.ca (Alan Buchanan) writes:
|> 
|> Although I cannot comment on the validity of the argument, one
|> report I read suggested that Italy had been fairly stable in the past 
|> few decades.

What kind of stablity are you talking about?   Italy has a stable
and highly inequitable disparity in wealth between North and South,
far worse than the UK.    It has a stable tradition of the Mafia
"helping" the government to run the country, including executing
judges and policemen when they try to decline the "help".   It has
a stable tradition of public "servants" going on strike whenever 
they feel like it.   A while back, the postmen went out for so long
that when they came back, the government decided that the accumulated
mail was so old that it was probably of no use to anyone, so they just
burned it.   It has a stable and growing public debt, the worst in 
Europe.

It's a nice country for a holiday, but I don't think I would want
to exachnge probelms with them.

|> 
|> The view expressed was that although there had been many changes of 
|> cabinet, including prime minister, the political view had remained
|> relatively constant.

That's probably the problem, right there.

|> 
|> Perhaps a country that invents the Mafia can tolerate the cutting of
|> deals that was involved in forming coalitions.

If there is a connection, it escapes me.   I think it's far more
likely that Italian politics has simply settled into a vicious
cycle.    (A) Multiple small parties make it less likely for any one
party to form a stable government.  ->  Majority parties have to
appeal to small parties to form alliances.  ->  Small parties can 
extract concession from large parties as the price of joining in
coalitions.  ->  Leaders of small parties can promise benefits to
their members out of these concessions.  ->    People continue to 
support small parties that can promise them benefits, win or lose.
  ->    Small parties continue to take a share of the vote. ->  
Multiple small parties continue to survive.  -> Goto (A).

jon.
From: matthew@ntl02.decnet.nokia.fi (Matthew Faupel)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Election stats (5/5) Proportional representation
Date: 13 Apr 92 23:05:35 GMT
Organization: Nokia Telecommunications, Cambridge, UK

Predicted results under various alternative voting schemes
Source: The Independent on Sunday, 12 Apr 92

                     Actual           AV            STV             AM
Party   % votes   Seats      %   Seats      %   Seats      %   Seats      %
Con        42.0     336   51.6     323   49.6     275   42.2     346   45.9
Lab        35.4     271   41.6     261   40.1     237   36.4     283   37.7
LibDem     17.9      20    3.1      39    6.0     102   15.7      89   11.9
SNP         2.1       3    0.5       6    0.9      17    2.6      10    1.3
PC          0.4       4    0.6       5    0.8       3    0.5       4    0.5
NI parties  2.2      17    2.6      17    2.6      17    2.6      19    2.5

AV = Alternative Vote, STV = Single Transferable Vote, AM = Additional Member

These figures are based on calculations carried out by the Independent on
Sunday in association with the Electoral Reform Society.  Needless to say,
all the projected results are arrived at by making certain assumptions.
Briefly, these are:

AV: Assumptions on use of follow on votes are based on poll data.  Example
assumptions for 2nd preference:

          Con   Lab  LDem  Not used
Con         -    10    70        20
Lab        10     -    70        20
LDem       45    35     -        20

STV: Votes cast for all candidates in the last election aggregated on an area
basis to form multi-member constituencies and then divided by the number of
votes required per seat in that area to calculate the number of seats.  This
is not an ideal method of calculating seats, but then if the last election
was held under an STV system, the votes probably would have been cast
differently.

AM: The current 651 constituencies are preserved and have the MPs as voted
for in the election.  100 extra seats were added to the house and these are
divided up according to votes cast over and above those needed to actually
elect MPs.

All these results should be taken with a pinch of salt in that, if Britain
had any of the above electoral systems, the voting proportions may have been
quite different.

--
---* Amnesiac the Wizard *------------------* matthew@uk.tele.nokia.fi *---
 Opinions expressed here are not those of my company.    | NB. ntl02 is EN
 They're not even my own; I plagiarised the lot of them! | TEE EL ZERO TWO
---* matthew@ntl02.decnet.nokia.fi *------------------* Matthew Faupel *---
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: dj@ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones)
Subject: Re: Gas stoves
Organization: :noitazinagrO
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 21:03:47 GMT

In article <NICKH.92Apr9143654@VOILA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU> nickh@CS.CMU.EDU (Nick Haines) writes:
>
>Ever since I arrived in America I've been wondering why they (you?)
>put sugar in bread. It really does make bread unpleasant to eat. I've
>been a bread fan all my life; the way my parents tell it, I was given
>a hunk of bread when I was first brought home from the hospital. It's
>a wonderfully versatile substance for small children: you can squash
>it into interesting shapes, you can insert these shapes into any
>orifice, you can throw it across the room, you can use it as
>scribbling paper, or make masks out of it, and when you've finished,
>you can even eat it.... But American mass-market bread is disgusting.
>Most bakeries here do _some_ sorts of bread without sugar, and these
>taste great (or at least acceptable). So why do it?
>
Does molasses count as sugar?  I'm rather fond of the recipes in the
Tassajara breadbook, and they all call for molasses or some equivalent.
I thought it was necessary to feed the yeast.

As for why sugar, I think a previous poster fingered it when he/she said
sugar acts as a preservative (or at least it makes old bread taste and
feel better).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Deliver yesterday, code today, think tomorrow."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 
||Dave Jones (dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com)    ||-------------------------------|
||Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY 14653-7300|-------------------------------|
|| If Unix is a computer system            ||-------------------------------|
|| then a pile of bricks is a house        ||-------------------------------|
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: cthorne@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Charles E Thorne)
Subject: Re: British Bill: of Rights? of Goods?
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 17:11:57 GMT

In article <ji6pdvk@zola.esd.sgi.com> livesey@solntze.esd.sgi.com (Jon Livesey) writes:
>In article <1992Apr14.111556.8141@CSD-NewsHost.Stanford.EDU>, baker@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Andrew Baker) writes:

>|> If you are "arguing against the notion that a written Constitution
>|> immunizes you against such high jinks", then I am not necessarily
>|> disagreeing with you.  I was just referring to one aspect of a
>|> Constitution: election rules.  I think it makes sense to say that
>|> simply winning the election does not give you the right to modify
>|> the election rules in a fundamental way.  On the other hand, if the
>|> U.S. Government *does* want to modify the rules, there is a well-defined
>|> (and arduous) procedure to follow.

>Yet you are forgetting that the US does change the rules.  One of
>the current scandals in the US is the way that boundaries are changed.
>Too often, boundary commissions are dominated by a single party, which
>then goes ahead and changes boundaries to favour the election of the
>incumbent, or of a particualr racial minority, or whatever.   Quite
>often it's done with the best of motives, but it leaves to election
>districts which are clearly very peculiar, and I think most people
>would admit that the motive, one way or another, is to influence the
>election result.

Although that has been true in the past, present redrawing of district
lines is very strictly controlled by Federal law.  We're losing two
congressional districts this year and in redrawing the lines (which is
done by a commission of the governor, attorney general, secretary of state,
and representatives of each legislative house--all of whom are elected
independently) there are very definite rules which must be met.  The
commission cannot automatically move lines just to make it easier to defeat
an incumbent--even if they must move lines to make the districts equal in
representations.  They also cannot move lines in such a way that would
make districts less able to elect minority candidates.
From: w.p.coyne@newcastle.ac.uk
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,uk.politics
Subject: election 92: LORD SUTCH'S RESULTS
Date: 14 Apr 92 16:15:55 GMT
Reply-To: w.p.coyne@newcastle.ac.uk
Organization: Chemical & Process Engineering Dept, University of Newcastle, UK.

Screaming Lord Sutch of the Monster Raving Loony Party stood against 
all three party leaders here are his results, with a few other candidates
thrown in for comparison - notice how bady the Greens (a serious party) do.

Huntingdon:  10 candidates
            1st John Major (Conservative) 48,662
            5th Deborah Birkhead (Green)     846
            6th Lord David Sutch (Loony)     728
            8th Lord Buckethead (Gremloids)  107
           10th David Shepheard (natural law party) 26

Islwyn: 5 candidates
            1st Neil Kinnock (Labour) 30,908
            5th Lord Sutch (Loony)    547 

Yeovil:  6 candidates
            1st Paddy Ashdown (liberal Dem) 30,958
            4th Jay Risbridger (Green)      639
            5th David Sutch (Loony)         338 
-----------------------------------------------------------
...........................................................................
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Election Fraud by the Conservatives
Date: 10 Apr 92 16:34:41 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <1992Apr10.130407.29177@cl.cam.ac.uk> jlb10@cl.cam.ac.uk (John Beaven) writes:
>I wonder if that might be a reason why the polls were so wrong. Perhaps
>pollsters managed to get trough to the "disappeard" (how are their samples
>selected?) who expressed some voting intentions rather than admitting 
>that they had become disenfranchised to avoid the poll tax?

Plausible.  Our local political pundit came up with yet another
possibility, that there might have been a sizeable number of people who
were planning to vote Tory, but didn't want to admit it, for fear it
would be seen as a selfish 'I'm all right, Jack, and sod the poor
people' vote.

The paranoid theory is that a lot of Tories claimed they were going to
vote Labour, to make it look like they were doing better than they
really were.  Both to make them a bit complacent, and to scare waverers
who might have voted Labour to 'send a message to the Government', but
not if they thought it would actually result in Labour winning the
seat.

The Tory theory seems to be that all the would-be Labour voters were
suddenly overcome by a fit of responsibility when actually faced with
the blank ballot.

You pays your money, and you takes your choice...

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
From: Steve.Varty@newcastle.ac.uk (Steve Varty)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Thoughts on Election Results
Date: 13 Apr 92 13:59:10 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

mmh@cs.qmw.ac.uk (Matthew Huntbach) writes:

>The Conservatives go on about how their cuts in higher rate
>income tax are going to encourage top scientists to stay in the
>country. All I can say is ha-ha ha-ha - wouldn't it be nice to
>have a salary high enough for higher rate income tax to be
>something to be concerned about.

And the poor below pay for the rich.

I will miss the NHS; it too expensive for me now, so things can only get worse.

Steve.


   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
   =   From:                                       |      The Alarm      =
   =   Steve Varty  (steve.varty@uk.ac.newcastle)  |  Unsafe  1981-1991  =
   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: dpl@aber.ac.uk (David Philip Langstaff)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: News from Ambridge (was Re: Gas stoves)
Date: 16 Apr 92 15:01:38 GMT
Organization: University of Wales, Aberystwyth

In article <1231@lysator.liu.se> ceci@lysator.liu.se (Ceci Henningsson) writes:
>dpl@aber.ac.uk (David Philip Langstaff) writes:
>
>>In article <7535@uqcspe.cs.uq.oz.au> colin@cs.uq.oz.au writes:
>>>Can I add my lone cry to this appeal? 
>>>	- Are Sid and Kathy still in flagrante? 
>>>	- Has Mr. Archer's pig (Freda?) popped her clogs? 
>>>	- Is Ruth still sexually discriminated against by her hubby?
>>>	- Has Mrs. Snell been the victim of a serial killer yet?
>>Sadly, no.
>>>
>
>Could someone please explain this to me and all the other people who
>are totally at a loss about what this is all about? Some kind of a
>TV-series is my guess. It seems to have more to do with
>soc*culture*british than the political discussions.
>

Sorry if you felt left out, we were discussing "The Archers", BBC Radio 4's
daily story of country folk. Its being going on for years (does anyone know
exactly how long ?) and rates alongside cricket, the house of lords, and the
game of Mornington Crescent in being a very British insitution.

To explain all would take a vey long time, maybe the world service could
help out or you could try 200kHz 19:05-19:20 BST Mon-Friday, 10:15-11:15
Sundays.

pip pip


-- 
Dave Langstaff | Janet:dpl@uk.ac.aber.cs | Disclaimer: All my own work. 
Any views expressed are those of the author alone. | Phone:(0970)622838 
After-life, After-shave, don't hold with any of it, bleugh! - Sir Henry 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british