A typical DM 'story'.

I read the lot - well, bits of them. The DM is a right wing rag, and I'm a leftie, but you have to read all points of view. At times I read the Guardian, The Australian, the Courier Mail (Queensland state daily) the BBC, Huffington Post, NY Times, Yorkshire Post. When something big happens in the Middle East I read The Jerusalem Post, and likewise I read French, Austrian and German papers when something big happens over there.

I read the article this thread's about, and had a laugh. The truth about benefits, well over here anyway and probably in the UK, is that fraudulent claims are less than 1%. So over 99% of claims are honest.

I reckon that lass in the article has a very generous boyfriend and parents! And/or has wildly unrealistic hopes and dreams.

Love it, although I will be careful who I pass it on to as nobody laughs at any reference to Ian Huntley in this neck of the woods.

If anyone in the family quotes something from the DM we shout, SO IT MUST BE TRUE. Still read it online though

That's stretching charity a bit you know!

jeni a bit more "gentle" than Chas & Dave, but I do see what you mean.

Greatnan Just knew that you would like it! I am sending it to B, who had a stroke just before Christmas and does actually read the DM (I'm prepared to make allowances for him .

I spent a few hours sitting with him today so that his wife could get out on her own, she asked me to pick up a copy of the DM on my way over, under the circumstances I agreed!

Ana , 13/12/12 Did you not know the political leanings of newspapers Before ?

Reminds me a bit of ? chas and Dave? Rabbit

So beautifully done!

This made me laugh today www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI

When my DD2 (now 42) was an adolescent, if I saw her watching an old film with gender stereotypes abounding, I would deconstruct for her, from a feminist perspective.

It drove her mad and she reacted in the opposite direction.

Ha! Years later she sees the truth of what I said all those years ago.

So did I!! I remember classifying them into:

You too can be beautiful like me.
Buy this car/shed/expensive equipment and become more of a man.
Trust us and give us your money (superan, insurance, banks etc)
Eat this crap food and feel good.

I managed to convince the lads that most ads are for something you don't need and can't afford anyway.

Joan, I used to deconstruct advertisements with my sons. I didn't like them watching TV ads, but at least they could work out what lay behind them.

Bags I didn't deliberately leave out your Christmas hat!

Joan lovely and very well put. Funny, you jogged a memory for me when you mentioned your friend teaching the children about introductions: when I was young and fair, a very charming man wanted my hand (I'm sort of going with your Pollyanna theme here - or somesuch!) He was a rising executive and he gave me a book on etiquette for the corporate wife. I did see a chapter on the 'correct' order to introduce people according to rank! The relationship didn't go any further

Bags we'd all like to think we do that, hopefully

Love it, joan! And I agree: kids benefit hugely from being able to think critically and not just accept without question bullshit that they are fed via news media.

Just read the first and last pages of this thread, and observed there is a worry among many people about kids being badly brought up and having zero manners.

Well, here in Australia a friend of mine was a 'Brown Owl' with the Brownies in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. She was forever teaching the little girls about table manners, how to say please and thank you, how to use a knife and fork, how to introduce a friend to someone, how to talk to an adult they'd just met etc etc etc. Even back then, parents were not teaching their kids these skills. Young executives often get sent to etiquette training courses here these days, to make up for their hopelessness. The problem of kids not being socialised is not new.

As for biased news in the DM and other tabloids: we have very biased telly news here too, but one day, when our lads were around 9 and 12, we decided to 'translate' the news. We stripped away the bullshit and said what was really happening under the waffle and spin. In the end, the lads were rolling about laughing, but the lesson stuck. Our eldest, now a high school teacher teaching 15-18 year olds, shows his students to deconstruct the news and get to the truth. They love it, and many parents thank him, and say their kids are teaching them how to do it.

As for us lot on here - don't despair, just keep fighting back. Deconstruct the news for the grandkids - they'll love it because it can be hilarious.

I have a feeling 'grey power' is going to be so important in the coming years, because we have so much knowledge and skill and understanding, that is lacking in some of the young.

Yeah, OK I'm being a bit of a Pollyanna here, but why not?

Anno Frost patterns and condensation on the blankets from our breath.
Off to get my hot water bottle. Night all.

Remember the frost patterns on the window panes? Our children and their children wouldn't know what we were talking about.

Petallus...like you our bedroom turned into a freezer each night. We went to bed in hats and gloves.

Jodi Rant away on that you have a point.

Some years ago, a social work friend of mine, spoke to a mum who's 13 yr old daughter was reported as being alone at home every week night when mum worked. (Its not technically illegal.) Mums response was "She's not neglected! You should see the stuff she has in her bedroom." It seems to say it all about some modern parents.
And dont even get me started about cooking individual meals for each child!

When I was a child we had icicles on the inside of our bedroom windows, cut up newspaper in the outside lavvie and no cars ferrying us all over the place.

And don't even get me started on X boxes!

Hence we developed backbone.

And baby changing facilities everywhere ?

Jodi I think you've probably given voice to what a lot of people 'our age' (presumption there) think. I find a lot of gritting of teeth is required at times. I'm not sure when the shift happened - some of the fault must be ours as we're the ones who raised the parents of today.

Personally, I think it stems from those 'Mother & Child' parking spaces

I think the problem is wider than that. When did children suddenly become the centre of the universe? Little princes and princess with parents pandering to their every need?

When mine were little, they ate what we ate, possible mushed up if very small. Now they have separate 'children's meals'. They fitted around our routine, now the household has to revolve around them. If they were in trouble at school they didn't run home and tell us as we'd probably take the teacher's side. Now parents are in at the drop of a hat demanding an explanation. They learned to say please and thank you and to stand aside for older people, especially the elderly. Now they chose their victims from this age group. They understood that learning and life weren't easy, you had to work at something to master it. Now they expect instant gratification.

Ok, not all children are like this but it's not just the ones from dysfunctional families that are unskilled, lacking in emotional maturity or good work habits. It goes across society.

Sorry to rant.

PS Incidentally, I wouldn't have my lovely GD if it weren't for immigration.