I’m not sure your side of the conversation is being had in good faith at this point.

I can’t speak for the French. You’d have to ask them. I know there have been integration issues there. The very fast swing towards the hard right is one sign to me that integration has failed badly though. We had no such swing to the right in last month’s elections here thankfully though there is a definite increase in the number of vocal hard right lunatics here unfortunately.

I think a fair question is - are some cultures less open to integrating when they move to a new country? Another fair question is - are the people in the country where folks are immigrating to less open to integrating with the new arrivals?

If the answer to either is “yes” then the societal cost of that lack of integration (or ways to mitigate it) has to be looked at lest we end up in a very undesirable situation that we are rapidly moving towards.

You missed my point entirely which was about integration. I’m not afraid of different people - quite the opposite. I believe experiencing other cultures is essential. I’m very well traveled and really enjoy embracing other cultures.

Last year I went to the wedding of the daughter of Sri Lankan friends who have integrated incredibly well. It was a really cool day out, largely because it was different. I loved seeing the differences - the clothes, the intricate henna paintings on hands, the food etc. About 20% of the wedding attendees were Irish born and I felt lucky to be one of them.

I’m friends with a Palestinian lad nearly 20 years now (to be fair, he only moved here about 7 years ago but we had worked together in the middle east a good bit before that). He’s a gem. I was so happy when he finally got citizenship. He had never owned a passport in his life and had to get company sponsored “travel documents” from Egypt (iirc) if he wanted to go anywhere outside the UAE where he was living statelessly.

The folks I’m talking about there enhance our country. They’re very, very welcome. The issue is integration. Bring your different culture with you. Share it! I’ll share mine too. Let’s change each other a little through our different perspectives.

Of course there is going to be a preference for those that will integrate easily. Why wouldn’t there be?

The Irish didn’t go over there and “civilise” anyone so that argument doesn’t apply.

Poles, Ukrainians, Latvians, Lithuanians and other Europeans have come here in numbers and they’ve been welcomed because they integrated. Many folks from African nations too.

Syrians… Not so much integrating.

Edit: To be clear I’m not in the anti immigration camp. I just think a preference for those of similar culture or who will integrate is natural.

Funnily enough, I don’t think I ever believed in Santa either, so I guess your barometer checks out :)

Yeah, fair enough. I suppose that’s unusual in the West if that’s where you’re from.

I mean it depends on your background a bit. I don’t think kids who grow up on a farm have any doubt.

Fully agree though as a broad rule but there’s an age of innocence that needs respecting IMO. I got told by an older boy I knew when I was just 8 and honestly that was not great. My own barometer is that if you still believe in Santa we’ll have the talk later.

Funny story - Our eldest had some broad strokes when we sat him down but thought from the playground stories that you used a condom if you wanted to get pregnant. I was very glad to clear that little misconception up.

Magnificent. I have hum off and beeps off and love it.

I really liked Nine Days.

I’m starting to think that maybe you’re trolling again. You see I’ve spent lots of time in America, very fond of the place, and a lot of it on the beach.

I spent 4 straight months in San Diego and lived near the beach while I was there. I know that the beach is not a place for fucking in secret. Sure maybe it happens as little or as often as it does in the rest of the world but that doesn’t make it the default function.

Anyway I’m trying to get back to sleep having woken in the middle of the night so I’m out. o/

I would gently suggest trying not to view naked as being sexual for a bit. It’ll probably ease some worry in your mind that you don’t need to have.

I’m gonna break something to you here that might blow your mind… Europeans (and the people in the article) do not go to a nude beach to fuck. They’re going there to feel more natural in nature.

Naked bodies are not sexual unless you sexualise them, which you are doing. The statue of David is a fine example here.

I honestly have never heard of a sexual nude beach in my life before. Maybe they exist where you live.

Edit:

EVERYTHING nude is sexual

If this is your world view I don’t think we’ll ever agree. That’s kinda messed up IMO.

Right. Now we’re getting to the crux of it and I understand where your thinking is coming from but…

Because a nude beach is supposed to be sexual.

This is absolutely incorrect. Like totally wrong. There is nothing sexual about a nude beach.

I’m honestly not sure if you’re trolling or not at this point. We’re discussing nude beaches here. Lazy parenting and kids using bad language is nothing to do with nude beaches.

Like… Nothing at all.

However I still maintain that kids should be treated as if they are as innocent as I was as a kid. I didn’t know what sex was until puberty, and thats the way it should be. Let them have a childhood.

This just reads so… Strange. Nobody is advocating telling young kids about sex.

There is nothing inherently sexual about a naked human body. It’s only weird if you’re making it weird and, well, you are.

Oh that’s a great spot. Didn’t notice it initially.

You may bet your bollix that tank designers are earning really good overtime at the moment.

Well that’s a new one. Looks delicious. I’m a big Cadbury fan.

They still have those where I live I think. Chocolate shavings on top?

I wonder if working conditions have improved recently after this. LOL.

That’s why they’re worth that much. You can’t hoard that much wealth and have empathy. They’re mutually exclusive.

They sound like animals. Glad to see justice being done here.

I am running my own business coming up on ten years now. You need to go and do a “Start your own business” course.

Lots of places have one that is state or local government sponsored so have a look around. It’s good to meet other local entrepreneurs too.

Apart from learning how to actually do business basics you’ll learn about legal requirements, filing taxes, registering a limited liability company etc that are all essential parts of a business.

Many of these things can be outsourced but you need to know about them in advance.

When you write your business plan BE HONEST with your numbers and assume everything will take longer and cost more because it will. I had huge respect for one dude I know who did then walked away before starting and losing money and / or not making enough.

Good luck!

The lad in the picture is Ian Paisley. He was a prominent unionist back in the day. (Unionist being someone in favour of maintaining the six counties in Northern Ireland being part of the UK)

From the wiki page:

Ulster Says No was the name and slogan of a unionist mass protest campaign against the provisions of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement which gave the government of the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the governance of Northern Ireland.

Page here if you want some more reading.

As I recall (and I was young at the time so this may be wrong) it got rolled out for various other stuff.

Catchy slogan in fairness.