Birkenhead-lovely place! Just the right place to raise 2 boys.

http://bit.ly/laRe4b

Happy Birthday my son

After trying to call my son all day, i have had to give up, it appears all the phone numbers have changed.

Where's the dosh?

Donald Tsang.....Where's my 6 grand?

Normality

Normality doesn't work-for me! I wish it did, I wish it had. I wish it would.

Normality is not the same as mediocrity(I will possibly always be stuck in mediocrity), I still believe being normal is something to aspire to.

I tried, I was a fucking civil servant for 2 years, I went to an office everyday and interacted quite happily, I even amazed myself and fitted in. I went home everyday and did normal shit, I loved it. Yet, the more normal I became, I found the more I was condemned. I tried again and became a normal guy looking for a job, that didn't work either. The more I did normal shit, the worse my life became, being teetotal was bollocks, staying home was bollocks, it was easier doing what the fuck I wanted, but I didn’t want to do what I wanted, I wanted to not do what I wanted, or what I was expected to want. The more normal I became, the worse my life became, the worse I was treated. I had no problem being normal, I loved it, and hoped I could settle into a happy state of normality. It was not to be, even now when I try and be normal, normality seems to punch me in the face and say, normality for you my son will be a life of madness and abuse-fuck normality, it's not for you. As I said, normality was something I aspired to, but no more! How many times do I need to put my hands in the fire before the message gets through?

Classic front page from The Star.

Bullying blast for McDonald's in wage rumpus

Shame on Mcdonalds! They have already begun to punish the weak for improved labour laws.


From The Standard
http://bit.ly/iNRJTd
Samson Lee

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

ADVERTISEMENT

McDonald's has become embroiled in the minimum wage row following a complaint that a handicapped worker was asked to work fewer hours.

A caller to an RTHK program said although the hourly wage of her mildly mentally handicapped son is HK$28, his working hours were cut from four to 1 hours a day after the minimum wage was introduced on Sunday.

"He only worked for an hour and a half and then was asked to leave," she said................

update

Received an e-mail from my son, which was lovely, and for which I am thankful.
People have asked me has full contact now been established?
No, Grandparents(who moved home to be close to them) simply the best possible influence in their lives have also been banished. They(the kids and my wife) have left their school and lovely house in lovely Southport(money was no issue).My eldest son must now complete his final year in Primary school in smack city, Birkenhead! He told me(in his e-mail) they are staying at My wife's cousins. From the best school with the best results in Merseyside they have gone to the worst.There is absolutely no rhyme or reason in this. my youngest son loved his school, and was soaring. Full contact? No, phone calls, e-mails etc ignored, not surprising really as I have spent the last 5 years trying to keep my kids away from the shithole, where they now are.She made the decision and obviously cannot face telling me why.

lantau days

Royal Wedding fever?

My son will be 10 next week.

Exactly ten years ago next week, I flew to the Philippines for the birth of my eldest son. My wife was in the Philippines because she had been told to leave Hong Kong when she was 5 and a half months pregnant by immigration, because of her previous domestic helper visa..That problem took me a year to resolve, but resolve it I did. I had to choose when to leave Hong Kong carefully as I didn't want to miss the birth, but at the same time it was difficult running 2 homes at the same time. I flew out on Thursday, my wife was taken into hospital on Friday and my son was born on Saturday, not bad timing. It was a long difficult labour, 14 hours followed by an emergency caesarian, which I had to sign for, as my wife was determined to have a natural birth even if it killed her, which the doctors assured me it would.

All of this was relatively easy for me compared to my wife, but it was stressful nevertheless.

I was the first to hold our son after the nurses as my wife was too sick. That moment was by far the best moment of my life, two years later I only got to meet my second son the morning after he was born, as I was taking care of the eldest.

The moment I held that little alien in my arms, my life felt complete. It was a good 48 hours before my wife was able to hold our son properly, although we did lay him on her whilst holding him. I had bought a number of 'guide' books to help us, but of course Lola(grandma) was also there to guide us. I stayed there for a month HANDWASHING nappies, shopping, cooking and cleaning. It broke my heart when I had to return to Hong Kong, and I returned twice more during the coming months.

6 months later I managed to bring us all back together in Hong Kong.

During these 10 years I believe I have been as doting and loving a father as any father can be. From nursery rhymes, songs, dancing, playing to hiking, camping, swimming, football, homework reading and of course discipline. We have lived in many places and wandered too much, but I have always worked except for a few months in the UK. My son was put through 2 private kindergartens and even a year in a private school, which I admit financially was a disaster, but worth it in the end. Life can be a struggle with 2 young kids, which it was at times, not because of the kids, but because of the usual financial pressures, which in the end were just as bad as anyone else's. I am not perfect, but who is, but my devotion to my boys has never been questioned.

The role of a father pails in comparison to that of a mother, and the amount of work and the relationship a mother has with her children is immeasurable. Due to the limited work opportunities available to Filipinos in Hong Kong, and the lack of decent childcare, it was necessary for my wife to be a full-time mother, except for a 4 month period in 2009.

What I never ever dreamt of happening on that day 10 years ago was that the day would come when I would no longer be able to hold my son, or hug him or kiss him, see him or even speak to him.

As I have found though, a father's position is a precarious one.

I find it astounding that because of a breakdown in the relationship between my wife and I, my role as a father can be taken away. Although those same problems were minor ones as problems go, differences in opinion about work and money, (who is right is irrelevant , the main thrust simply being who should work? With both of us wanting to work) the consequences have been dire.

My sons being 7,000 miles away in the UK doesn’t help, but with today's technology, continued contact should not be a problem.

I have lived in Hong Kong for 18 years, I met my wife here, and my youngest son was born here. My work, my career is here. There had never been any agreement to relocate to the UK permanently, I left the UK because I couldn't stand living there. I have lived longer in Hong Kong than I have in England.

At this time I only know, my sons are in England, where I don't know. All contact has stopped. My wife took the boys out of their school, to god knows where. The boys were very happy at that school, and I had always agreed that they should stay in England until they had graduated from that (primary)school. They have been there almost 2 years, and my son only has one more year before he goes to secondary school. Now he has to complete his final year in a new school. I am 7000 miles away. I am powerless.

Never could I have foreseen this day 10 years ago.

Marriage

Kung Fu Fighing

Happy Easter

F-word teacher wins case against sacking

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=110134&sid=32020944&con_type=1

Thursday, April 14, 2011

A British tutor fired for teaching a class of adults in Sydney about the F-word has won a case of unfair dismissal and could be compensated.

English teacher Luke Webster was sacked for misconduct after Mercury Colleges discovered a worksheet featuring the expletive in an unedited form in every sentence.

Students were encouraged to discuss whether the word was used as a noun or a verb in each instance.

"We are not in the business of teaching profanity," read a college dismissal letter to Webster, who had to go back to Britain soon after being fired as his visa became invalid.

He told a Fair Work Australia tribunal that the exercise explained how the F-word can be offensive but also be more benign - such as being used as an expression of surprise.

Third Bar

the Mercers on the move: collide

You say "I love you boy"

But I know you lie.

I trust you all the same

I don't know why.

'Cause when my back is turned,

My bruises shine.

Our broken fairytale,

So hard to hide.

I still believe,

It's you and me

till the end of time.

When we collide we come together,

If we don't, we'll always be apart.

I'll take a bruise i know you're worth it.

When you hit me, hit me hard.

Sitting in a wishing hole,

Hoping it stays right.

Feet cast in solid stone,

I got Gilligan's eyes.

I still believe,

It's you and me

till the end of time.

When we collide we come together,

If we don't, we'll always be apart.

I'll take a bruise i know you're worth it.

When you hit me, hit me hard.

'Cause you said hello,

It's where the going get's hard,

Our future is far,

Many of horror

Our future's far,

Many of horror

Our future is far,

Many of horror

I still believe,

It's you and me

till the end of time.

When we collide we come together,

If we don't we'll always be apart.

I'll take a bruise i know you're worth it.

When you hit me, hit me hard.

the Mercers on the move: collide

Shootings in Liverpool, so far this year.

View Liverpool shootings 2011 in a larger map

Click on the link for details.

To boldly go......nowhere!

On the anniversary of mankind's first flight into space, the homes for the retired shuttles is announced. The UK and France retired Concorde, the UK the Harrier jump jet, and its last aircraft carrier. Juri Gargarin must be spinning in his grave.Why are we going backwards? To boldy....go nowhere!

The UN should pick up the baton, and the world should unite in a common quest to go ever further into space.We will have to leave this planet one day.



http://bit.ly/g7fBND

Nasa has announced where its iconic space shuttles will spend their retirement.

Endeavour on the launch pad

Twenty-one museums and visitor centres around the United States had been involved in a frantic lobbying campaign for the right to be a new home for one of the shuttles.

The space agency has confirmed that Discovery will go to the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum in the Virginia countryside near Washington DC.

Sunny weekend

Divorce in Hong Kong? Here's how!

1) What are the grounds for divorce? Must I explain why I want
a divorce?

In law, there is in fact only one ground for presenting a petition for divorce, namely, that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

Under section 11A of the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance (Cap. 179 of the Laws of Hong Kong) , except in the case of a Joint Application for divorce, the Court shall not hold the marriage to have broken down irretrievably unless the applicant for divorce (i.e. the petitioner) satisfies the Court of one or more of the following facts:

• that your spouse has committed adultery and you find it intolerable to live with your spouse;
• that your spouse has behaved in such a way that you cannot be reasonably expected to live with your spouse; Usually it is a series of misconducts or intolerable behaviour. However, a single incident of grave misconduct is enough;
• that you and your spouse have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 1 year before filing the petition and that your spouse consent to a divorce;
• that you and your spouse have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 2 years immediately before filing the petition for divorce (in such a case your spouse's consent to a divorce is not required);
• that your spouse has deserted you for a continuous period of at least 1 year immediately before filing the petition for divorce.

Jeesie J

Jessie J-proof that real talent doesn't go on The X Factor, American Idol etc to find fame.Real talent shines through, as does real coolness.

Wanted for horrific crimes, may be in Hong Kong

His name is Ian Griffiths
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3505234/Brit-Ian-Griffiths-on-run-for-killing-Ellah-6.html

Grandparents will get legal right to see grandchildren after divorce battles

It is a moral crime to use children and make them suffer by keeping them away from their grandparents. Kids grow up wih so much respect and love for their grandmas and grandfathers. Too many women decide to deny them access to a loving, stable, positive relationship just to inflict more hurt on their ex-partners.
At last, this is now being dealt with legally. This is from today's Telegraph.

Grandparents will get legal powers to guarantee them access to their grandchildren after divorce battles under proposals to be announced today, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

For the first time, separating parents will be expected to ensure grandparents continue to have a role in the lives of their children after they split up.

Parenting Agreements will be drawn up that explicitly set out contact arrangements for grandparents. These can then be used as evidence in court if a mother or father goes back on the deal.

The recommendation is part of a sweeping review of the family justice regime commissioned by the Government and led by David Norgrove, a former civil servant.

The Government is likely to accept the recommendations after Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said last year that it was “crazy” that millions of grandparents lost contact after separation and divorce. He said that they played a vital role if relationships broke down.

In 2009, 113,949 divorces were registered in England and Wales. Currently, one in three couples divorces before their 15th anniversary, compared with one in five a generation ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/8417354/Grandparents-will-get-legal-right-to-see-grandchildren-after-divorce-battles.html

Lockhart Rd 'The Musical'

Pretend you're an extra in Michael Jackson's Thriller and head out for a drink in Wanchai at 9am, especially on a Saturday.

Stay till lunch for Night Of The Living Dead, another night for A Clockwork Orange, still there on Sunday then it's Fame or Grease!

A reading.

Summer is coming

BBC websites are down-aghhhhh!

Tear down the walls!

Half a million expected on the streets of London today, alarmed and disgusted at the government's dismantling of basic services and increased taxation of the poorest and vulnerable whilst protecting corporations, banks and the tax dodging filthy rich.Tear down the walls!Tear down the bastards, Hit them where it hurts, up the revolution, power to the people!
How about Hong Kong?

Livin the life

the Mercers on the move: Distances

I wrote this a while back;
Distance is no obstacle, but time is. The time between the past and present grows ever further minute by minute, day by day, month by month. The gulf widens like a boat setting out to sea, there comes a point when the distance is too far to swim back.The chasm widens, the point of no return is reached.The distance becomes absolute in space, time and ultimately emotionally.


That time is now! It is too far to swim back, the point of no return has been reached, I have tried again and again to throw a lifeline, to find a way back, but it has proven impossible. 4 months and not a single word. 6 months and not a single expression of love. A year and the boat has been adrift, lost in purgatory. I have to stop drifting and get my feet back on solid ground. Time to let go! Not a good day.


the Mercers on the move: Distances

Salt mountain

This is so funny, (stupid)greedy fucker ends up with salt mountain in his flat! LMAO Hahahahaha!

Speculator ends up with salt mountain
RTHK
25-03-2011
A mainland man who bought six-and-a-half tons of salt in the hope of profiting from panic buying, spurred by fears of Japanese radiation, is now stuck with the entire amount. The China Daily says the man bought the salt in Wuhan and transported it to his apartment in three trucks. But after the government urged consumers to stop the panic buying, the price fell and the man is now unable to sell the salt, which cost him 27,000 yuan and takes up half the space in his apartment.

Boring father

Becca Moody to Hank Moody:

I live in the real world where I need a fucking father. You're so proud of yourself for being such a cool Dad, well look where it fucking got you!

You know that I pray sometimes Dad? You know what I pray for the most? That I wake up one day and you've become a total bore. The kind of father who gets up every morning puts on his suit and tie drives to some lame office and comes home at 5.30 on the dot, has a drink and hangs out with his fucking family.

How hard would that have been for you Dad? To just be like everyone else!

Shine on

Hugh Pool at The Wanch

Saw these guys at The Wanch on Sunday......Brilliant!

Update on missing woman

Very sad ending to case of the missing woman on Lamma Island.

The Standard

The man who allegedly murdered a British woman on Lamma Island breached an order banning him from going near the home of his ex-wife.

The woman's aunt, 64-year-old Janet Gilson, was found stuffed in a couch at the flat four days after going missing.

Three weeks before the tragedy, the 29-year-old suspect, who was arrested on Saturday, was held for breaching an order banning him from visiting the home of ex-wife Julia Fareed in Tai Yuen village.

The killing of Gilson, a British Salvation Army major, has shocked both the island community and her friends and relatives in the United Kingdom......cont

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=109310&sid=31729108&con_type=3

Hong Kong's salt shame.

This story is getting worldwide attention, and making Hong Kong look very stupid indeed. The scary thing is that people this stupid are allowed to walk around the streets quite freely amongst other people, when they should quite clearly all be in a mental correction facility.




From The Standard
Salt shame

Colleen Lee, Samson Lee and NatalieWong

Friday, March 18, 2011

Panicked shoppers stripped stores of table salt in Hong Kong - and in cities across the mainland - amid internet claims that it can ward off radiation exposure from Japan.

The alarm sparked calls from Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok for people to be level-headed and stop listening to false rumors.

Consumers also worry that salt in future may be produced from radiation- contaminated seawater.

The panic-buying pushed up the retail price of salt to as high as HK$30 a catty, from the usual HK$2.

The salt frenzy also hit Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other mainland cities as misinformation crisscrossed the region via the internet in the wake of Japan's nuclear emergency.

Chow said the rumors about salt being a radiation remedy and affected seawater are "totally unfounded.".......cont

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=109275&sid=31697439&con_type=3

Lamma search for missing British woman

Lamma search for missing British woman

17-03-2011

Missing woman Janet Gilson. A search is underway on Lamma Island for a British tourist who has gone missing. Janet Gilson, 64, has not been seen since leaving her niece's home in Yung Shue Wan at around 11am on Tuesday. Her niece, Julia Fareed, contacted the police when she failed to return. Ms Fareed said it appeared that her aunt had left home in a hurry.

ESF parents, stand up and be counted!

ESF parents should leave the ESF schools. These schools are greedy, and are simply holding parents hostage, and causing extreme financial hardship for many families.
These families are often permanent residents of Hong Kong, whose incomes are low, even though they are expats.Not all expats have cushy packages with the financial sector.
Why don't these parents put their kids in local schools?Local schools simply do not cater to children of non-Native Chinese parents. Children are put into lower streams because of their poor Chinese, and the stigma that brings.In reality the Hong Kong government needs to begin catering to these children, their parents pay tax, and they have the Right Of Abode in Hong Kong. Those children of non permanent residents are just that-non permanent and therefore should either pay up or consider schooling elsewhere.
But, and it is a big but, the ESF is fleecing parents , and if parents were to call their bluff and together unenroll ALL of their children in the next academic year, they may find the ESF wankers much more likely to set an acceptable pricing structure.
Parents need to stand up to these fuckers, and 'JUST SAY NO'.
The Hong Kong government also needs to take control of these robbing gits and force fair fees. How about a simple means tested system? From zero dollars per month for the poorest with operational costs subsidised by those coming to school driven by chauffers. If this system is unpalatable for the richest, then I do believe Eton is taking boarders-so fuck off there!


This article appeared in The Standard today.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Serinah Ho
Parents of children studying at English Schools Foundation institutions warn continual rises in tuition fees will eventually force them to seek other options or return to their home countries.

A concern group, supported by 1,500 parents, has accused ESF chiefs of not listening to their concerns while another group has asked a legislator to get the Education Bureau involved.

The ESF said earlier this month it is raising fees by 2.26 to 3.3 percent for the school year beginning in September - its fifth increase since 2006. Since then, fees for primary schools have risen by 29 percent while those for secondary schools have increased 19 percent........cont

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=109142&sid=31658723&con_type=1

LOL

Royal Wedding upset!

Guandong enterprises ltd obviously know something we don't. Prince William seems to have been usurped by his brother Harry.
http://www.guandongenterprisesltd.com/

Not all Muslims are extremists.

Congressman Keith Ellison movingly testifies against labelling all muslims as extremists.

the Mercers on the move: The Serenity Prayer and If

the Mercers on the move: The Serenity Prayer and If

Facebook a top cause of relationship trouble, say US lawyers

Social networking site becoming primary source of evidence in divorce proceedings and custody battles, lawyers say.
Richard Adams in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 March 2011 19.26 GMT

When Facebook gets involved, relationships can quickly fall apart – as Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi have discovered. But dictatorships are not the only ties being dissolved by social networking sites: now Facebook is increasingly being blamed for undermining American marriages.

Even though the rate of divorce in the US has remained largely stable in recent years, American divorce lawyers and academics have joined Middle East analysts in picking out Facebook as a leading cause of relationship trouble, with American lawyers now demanding to see their clients' Facebook pages as a matter of course before the start of proceedings.........continued

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/08/facebook-us-divorces?CMP=twt_atn

Smoking day

Thoroughly enjoyed Smoking day today,they should have it every year. Did my bit, nearly a full pack......wait did I miss something?

Robin Cooper calls an Ethiopian programme by mistake

You have won £600,000

Lord Tennyson

"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you... I could walk through my garden forever."

"Who are wise in love, love most, say least."

"In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love"

"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."

"I am a part of all that I have met."

"to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield"

"A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies."

"Nor is it wiser to weep a true occasion lost, but trim our sails, and let old bygones be."

"Better not be at all than not be noble."

"Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die."

"..Oh,yet we trust that good will somehow we be the final end of ill ...

"No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself."

"Hope smiles on the threshold of the year to come, whispering that it will be better."

"Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,

Tears from the depths of some devine despair

Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,

In looking on the happy autumn fields,

And thinking of the days that are no more."

"sometimes the heart sees whats invisble to the eye"

"Half the night I waste in sighs,

Half in dreams I sorrow after

The delight of early skies;

In a wakeful dose I sorrow

For the hand, the lips, the eyes,

For the meeting of the morrow,

The delight of happy laughter,

The delight of low replies."

"A man had given all other bliss,

And all his worldly worth for this

To waste his whole heart in one kiss

Upon her perfect lips."

Charlie Sheen is not filial

This appeared in a Chinese Newspaper!

You couldn't make it up, this has got to be the funniest and most misguided article ever. LMAO!!

(just in case you didn't know, Charlie Sheen's father - Martin Sheen is an actor who played the president of the US in the TV programme The West Wing!)
http://bit.ly/f8lohM

• Source: Global Times
• [10:34 March 07 2011]

By Hao Leifeng

Actor Charlie Sheen is a classic example of the difference in Western and Eastern values and norms.

Ignoring public pleas from his father, Sheen has continued a weeklong media blitz, exhibiting obvious signs of mania. With no firm hand to guide them, Western media has deliberately goaded him into making increasingly delusional statements, more concerned about "winning" higher ratings than Sheen's own sense of pride, or the negative example his brash public admissions about his private sex life and unverifiable international conspiracies could be setting for society.

How many young people have been led astray by Sheen's boasts about his substance abuse and freewheeling sex life? And that was when he was in character on national television, as a randy bachelor in Two and a Half Men.

Sheen attracted 1 million Twitter followers in just 24 hours, yet more evidence that microblogs spread the most unhealthy contagions in society like a disease. Chinese family, coworkers, or the authorities would have taken firm steps to make sure someone like Sheen did not make a public spectacle of himself.

Take Edison Chen, who humbly apologized and slipped away to Canada. Or Li Gang's father, who wept as he sought forgiveness on his son's behalf.

The fact that Sheen continues to embarrass himself unabated, becoming even a hero to many, points to the vast differences in cultures.

His employers are unhappy that he was distracted with prostitutes and drugs, and didn't show up to work on time. Why not take a tip from the Chinese business community, and make visits to a KTV parlor part of Sheen's workday?

And instead of epic parties at his home with porn stars, why not keep Sheen occupied with business banquets?

Sheen goes on television and boasts that he has two girlfriends, who both sleep in the same bedroom. Is he too poor to set up his wives and mistresses in different houses?

In Chinese society, these problems are dealt with delicately and privately. Sheen is like a typical Westerner throwing fuel on the fire with each interview and tweet. It is almost as if he feels no shame and is loving the attention.

Racism, spousal abuse, addiction, politics, mental illness, boasting about mistresses, - these are all subjects best dealt with behind closed doors.

As much as Sheen has lived a life most Chinese men can only fantasize about, our admiration of him can only go so far. He has not only lost face with his public rants, but also crossed a cultural barrier no Chinese can abide.

He ignored his own father's advice to keep quiet, who was once the president of the US. Sheen is a disgrace, unfilial to his father and his fatherland.

Martin Sheen should at once go on television and tearfully apologize on behalf of his son for his inability to keep up appearances and keep his mouth shut.

Hong Kong police pepper spray 8 year old!

Hong Kong police pepper spray 8 year old! Of course the kid should never been taken there, his (stupid) mother is just as much to blame, but that doesn't excuse the police.Whoever pepper sprayed him should be prosecuted!

From The Standard
http://bit.ly/eKZytL

Riot baptism for kids

Colleen Lee, Dennis Chong and DianaLee

Tuesday, March 08, 2011


Parents have been warned against taking their kids to street demonstrations after an eight-year-old boy was pepper- sprayed by police during anti-budget clashes.

Security chief Ambrose Lee Siu- kwong yesterday condemned the violence in Sunday's protest and said it was "quite inappropriate" to use children as "a weapon for resistance."

His remarks came hours after police arrested 113 protesters - the youngest aged just 12 - who blocked the intersection of Des Voeux Road Central and Ice House Street.

All have been released on bail but told to report back to the police in early June.

Protester Elsa Ko said her son Joseph, eight, was pepper-sprayed without warning. "Why did the government and the police in which I put so much trust fire pepper spray without warning?" she asked.

"Hong Kong is a safe place, so I thought there was nothing wrong with bringing children on to the streets to air our views. Can we no longer do this in Hong Kong?"

Ko, a mother of two, said taking her son to the protest was part of his "civic education." Joseph was treated at the scene and went to school as usual yesterday. His 12-year-old sister did not join the protest.

Ko said she would have removed her son from the scene had the police warned they would use pepper spray.

But Lee said that, as far as he knew, police issued several warnings before using pepper spray. Officers used "minimal force" only after some protesters clashed with the police and refused to disperse.

Responding
to Ko's accusation about an absence of advance warnings, Lee said: "If this really happened, I would feel regret."

But he added: "No children should be brought to clash areas as they are not psychologically mature yet. Violent scenes could set a bad example for them. As I have said many times before, no matter how noble protesters' motives, or how just your actions, resorting to violence will make your acts unlawful."

One of the three police officers injured in Sunday's clashes remained in Queen Mary Hospital last night. After visiting him yesterday, Commissioner of Police Andy Tsang Wai-hung said the officer was injured around the waist and could not walk.

He warned protesters that seizing or pushing police barricades will be seen as a challenge to authority and will lead to prosecutions. Those who disrupt road traffic or movement of people will be forcibly removed, he warned, while all officers have been authorized to use pepper spray on "those who are particularly violent."

League of Social Democrats chairman Andrew To Kwan-hang, who was among the 113 arrested, admitted he was unable to control some of the rowdier protesters.

Pan-democrat lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said the rowdiness in protests is a warning to the government that social discontent is escalating.

Birkenhead according to Urban Dictionary

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=birkenhead


A part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral that is Full of scallies, chavs, and criminals. Don't go there alone unless you wish to have J20 bottles thrown at you by some group of skinheads and then have your body thrown onto the M53 motorway! The main road running through the grottiest part of Birkenhead is plastered in flowers and memorials for the various idiotic bastards who attempt to cross that road whilst a shower of Citroen bangers barge through almost every red light. The traffic lights are covered in jizz any way so there really isn't any point of having them. Basicly a complete Shit-dump of a town with a fucking corrupt police service..
Birko 1: Oi there ladd. You fuckin' wanna go to maccy D's laa'?
Birko 2: Ahh sorry lad. I'm busy grinding me bird no shit?
Old Normal Women: Your girlfriend is 10?
Birko 2: You fuckin' got a problem granny? Fuck off you twat before I fuckin' stick a knife down you!
10 year old girl: Oooh, Gimme a fag mate
Birko 2: You fuckin' give me a blow job fist!
Police Man: What the hell do you think you're doing having sex in the middle of the street!?
Birko 1: *Grabs police man round the neck and pulls down*
10 year old girl: WAH-HEYYY!
Police man: You get off me now!
*All the passer's bye on the birkenhead street stare at the naked kids smoking cheap cigarettes attempting to assualt a police officer*
Normal 16 year old: Holy Shit! -_-

2.

Truly, the arsehole of England. 99% of people lack any culture of any kind.
Wirral Metropolitan Council have yet to decide (after 100+ years) what to do with the area. Much fine architecture is surrounded by horrible red brick pregnancy advice centres (eg the Brook).
The square which is situated in no man's land (Beatties car park) should be avoided at 2am (precisely) at all costs.
There have been attempts at cleaning the area up, getting rid of the smack heads, etc. These attempts are possibly futile, unless the scally element is removed via sterilisation, bombing, etc.
The police force in Birkenhead have all but given up on reinforcing any justice in the area, and now pull over cars - you will never see a police officer on the beat - ever
All that concerns a typical Birkenhead scally, is Reebok, Budweiser, Half Price jewellers bling, a shitty Saxo with a massive exhaust, and birkenhead market.
Jade Goody is the patron saint of Birkenhead.

Screaching, cross dressing Lily Savage came from Birkenhead.

Everyone up north is so nice ... apart from that Birkenhead.

When someone from Birkenhead comes on a radio talk in (Pete Price) - expect the most ill informed, misguided opinions you will ever hear.

Note to bankers!

Mitch Benn (British comedian)
Next time the financial sector say "if you try to regulate us we'll just take our business abroad" can we PLEASE call those fuckers' bluff?
Like the nation at large benefits from your self-serving presence in any way. Sick of being blackmailed by these pinstriped hooligans.
You're just a drain on our moral and material resources and the sooner you all piss off to Dubai to play golf with Jim Davidson the better.

My sentiments exactly!

Wonton

Christopher Mercer
Went out last night, with the express purpose of getting absolutely fucked or pissed or slaughtered(all 3 mean the same for those not familiar with UK slang), didn't succeed, but am now home at the relatively early time of 4.30am enjoying a lovely bowl of noodles with Choi sum, Tofu, fish/meat balls,wontons,and chicken. Quite content really!

Nice voice

Hello?