Of course it does, whoever suggested otherwise?????

That's not my argument at all......not in the slightest. All I am saying is that some people leave these shores under their own steam and for their own personal reasons, that is their choice. That presents these people with a whole host of new problems that require negotiating. We, who are left, have the problem of negotiating our way through life here. We really don't need the opinions of people living thousands of miles away in order to live our lives. I am not having a go at people who emigrate, far from it but if you are offended by my comments then maybe I am hitting a nerve or two. I respect your point of view, I just don't agree with it but I doubt you'll lose sleep over that.

Me? Offended? Believe me, I've been insulted by the best.

Again, what you're saying is, people who live outside the UK are not entitled to an opinion. Therefore people who live outside Hartlepool are not entitled to an opinion on Pools.

You miss the point completely.

Then please enlighten me.

In my subjects (both very academically challenging and two 'traditional' subjects) pupils have actually been given the chance to take them even if they do not meet the course requirements. On the other hand, in certain subjects, such as Science, it is felt that if you don't get at least a B at GCSE then the chances of you passing an A Level course are slim. Diverting the student towards a different subject is not necessarily about maintaining a high CVA score, but pointing a student in the direction in which they have a better chance of succeeding. I saw plenty of low-grade GCSE students last year who took academically rigorous courses only to come out at the end with a U or an E. Is that really beneficial to them?

Where do I say that people outside of Hartlepool are not entitled to an opinion on Pools???? There are quite a lot of people who live outside Hartlepool who are season ticket holders at Pools. Members of my family included.

I have never said that emigrants aren't entitled to an opinion.........what I said was I am not interested in that opinion. Stop trying to twist things and read what I said.

... so why should they be interested in your opinion....?

I don't do enlightenment, I could be accused of crimes against academia.

Why indeed ???
That doesn't stop me from giving it, surely????

I'm not accusing you of anything, academia or otherwise.

You said I missed the point, I asked for clarification. That is all.

Do you know, I'm beginning to agree with you.

Hark at her!

Po faced get

Come, Come Chip, that never happened!

The horrible BBC made it all up to feed us left wing junkies

No, it actually didn't. They shot a few people was all. Maybe even in the face, eh Chip?? 20 years ago in much less enlightened times.

But enough of China, I like it, the Western press don't. You read the Western press. Quid pro quo. As you say Chip. you've never been.........

Mr Derwent, I'm glad to listen to what you have to say but as en ex-pat I couldn't disagree more. You either stand there and take the custard pie or you move. I moved as have several others on here, and several million over the last few years. Have you ever lived overseas?? Nowhere's perfect, but can I ask what you get in return for your 176 days of toil.

Hang on Chip.....

There you go.

While we're on about the hospital Mr Fireball, are you aware that there is now only a pretendy maternity unit at Hartlepool General and that folk have to travel to Stockton if they don't want to be treated like a dog knocking puppies out on a rug in the kitchen?

Progress eh? Isn't Labour brilliant.

Your not wrong there, and it isn't cheap parking there too!!

Yup, the boys certainly know how to show solidarity.

Take your point.
We all have different views and won't always agree.
To answer your questions.
No I have never lived abroad and have no inclinations to.
On taxation, I choose to live in this country and for that privilege I get taxed on the going rate of the day and by the government of the day. Up to now it has never caused me to want to live elsewhere. I have travelled in every continent on the planet and, as far as I am concerned, there is no place like the UK.
I'll also bet you a pint that you return to this country to live.

" Po faced get" from Frodraff made me laugh. My great grannie used that expression.

Just out of interest Mr Derwent, are you a born and bred Poolie who still lives in the town?

No particular reason other than I'm a nosey get.

You're right you are a nosey get.

Not as good as me though because I'm a po faced get.

Howay then, are you gonna tell me, you po faced get?

Not saying I agree with him just hought this from Jeremy Clarkson was funny.

"Moving away is where you go when you’ve made a mess of everything. That’s why the 1.3m Brits who live in Australia are known as whingeing Poms. Because they’re all failures"

You'll be wanting to come round for your tea next.

Well if you're offering...

Clarkson can be funny, but I weouldn't take advice off him.

Also like this one about teaching history (one for kosher here I think)

"When I was at school, teachers spoke with pride about how a little island in the north Atlantic turned a quarter of the world pink, but now all teachers talk about is the slave trade and how we must hang our heads in shame"

This listening to the advice of 'experts' aspect of things...if you lived five hundred years ago, you'd have the following post....
FFS... will Sir kev , Sir Snowy and Lord Cornelius get it into their thick heads that the world is flat and the Sun revolves around the earth. I've contacts at the leech breeding farm, the inquisition, the ducking stool society and the Sun is Gods Light Forum who can back me up on this.
When will these awkward sods accept the advice of the experts in our society, they go on and on questioning people who know their subjects and still ask questions. I'd rather listen to a member of the inquisition than someone who works as a knight, on the subject of burning someone at the stake after torturing them to cleanse their soul. It's been proved FFS.
Y'know those gnarled old knights who sit around questioning the fact that you'll sail off the edge of the earth if you go to far, that's them.
I'm off to the leech farm before the witch-hunt we're burning five tonight.

And the better we are for it...

I stopped reading when you wrote 'sir snowy'

Who is better off for what?

So....?

Is it not true that the certain tribes supplied most of the slaves that where exported themselves and therefore complicit in the crimes themselves?

Is not also true that our little island fought hard and long to banish this trade from the earth (although slavery hasn't gone away at all)?

Is it not also true that the Americans (well not the REAL Original Americans) fought with the UK because they wanted the right to keep their slaves?

I may be a simplistic or even incorrect with these statements but I'm sure we've got MORE to be proud about in our history rather than a few years spent in the slave trade...

How far back do you go...I think the whole point of it is that we all acknowledge slavery to be wrong, but to expect the average person to be tarred with the same brush is unreasonable unless their ancestors profited from the slave trade. In all truth, our ancestors will have had lives marginally better themselves at the time.
We acknowledge it was wrong and move on.

Well said.

If I found out that lilyliveredliberaltosswits were teaching bolox to my kid at school about being ashamed of our past then I would proper kick off.

Don't know about leech farms, but if you're not a candidate for the funny farm....................................

..not according to my psychiatrist, but what does he know.

Point #1 - I don't neglect this point when teaching
Point #2 - I don't neglect this point when teaching
Point #3 - No, they fought with the UK because they wanted their independence; 'no taxation without representation' and all of that. The war ended in 1781, slavery wasn't totally abolished in the UK until 1833.

However, we were guilty of taking part in one of the most shameful episodes of modern history. All to line the pockets of the British Empire. Children need to know both the good and the bad aspects of history, and by teaching them say WWII and the Atlantic Slave Trade we do that.

I once read an article entitled, 'How the earth is flat and not flat at the same time.'
Apparently it all depends on the paradigm.

Come in and kick off then hard man

I'm sure that we got taught at school about William Wilberforce and his efforts to abolish slavery, although it's a long time back?

I certainly don't remember it being rammed down my throat about it being a shameful episode designed to line the pockets of the British Empire and such like and nor should it be.

I also know that the British didn't invent slavery or the slave trade. Do history teachers bother telling that to the kids when they're looking to impart their morals on impressionable youngsters?

Point 3... we abolished the slave trade and vesels sailing to the Americas were intercepted by the Royal Navy... the troublre is every power in the world has practiced the practice of slavery since time immemorial, we lead the way in banning it, we need a bit of balance.

Hard man?

I think that you misinterpret my intention of kicking off. I'd be wanting to know off the head and other management types what they thought they were doing and what rights they thought they had to do it.

In my humble opinion teachers are there to teach kids facts, not to impart their own morals on them. Unfortunately too many teachers today think that they are there for the latter and I'd cause a stink if they were stepping outside of their remit and preaching.

Do you tell them that the Brits invented concentration camps as well

I am all for that lets ban RE then

We got taught that in A-Level history.

I can't imagine today's teachers are taking the opportunity to let it pass, however we were merely told the facts about why it was done rather than them trying to convince us of how shameful it was.

Also, I don't think slave trade mentality is a thing of the past at all. Most of us still use other people and races to sustain our own standard of living, with hardly a second thought.
Cheap clothes in the West, for instance, usually mean £1 per week sweat shop workers are being 'used' somewhere else.

At the other end of the scale, there is the casual 'use' of scapegoats on message boards, for communal entertainment.

The balance is there - William Wilberforce and Granville Sharp are dedicated a lot of time in Year 9. I know because I've taught it. However, the problem is when we gloss over the bad bits and concentrate only on the good, and that is what has happened in the past. 'the troublre is every power in the world has practiced the practice of slavery since time immemorial'? That's why I wrote 'modern history'