TeeJay

I recall hearing that aligator is one of the most nutritious meats available. I don't think anyone would think of them as being defenseless (although your point is well taken )

You're quite right. I always get their names confused

As people have mentioned above, being picky about manufacturing flaws like this, is perfectly reasonable, especially when the item is supposed to be QCd before being sent out. Manufacturing flaws are very different to inaccuracies in replication, so of course, people are entitled to complain if the item is not meeting a certain standard. Best of luck getting the issue resolved

This is looking to be the best suggestion thus far Of course, I'm looking for something other than a T-shirt...

Personally, I'd buy one of those 'as is', and use it as wall art Always wanted to play the guitar, but never got round to learning.... Best of luck with the business I can't see them being a problem if sold as unbranded replacements

It could work

A bit of an unusual request, but, seeing as folks here are fairly well-travelled, I figured there might be some good ideas. I'm looking for a shirt for an up-coming costume party. I want something which, essentially, will not be a button-down, T-Shirt or Sweatshirt. I'm looking for something non Western. Could be Arabic, Oriental, anything like that, so long as it could be tucked into a pair of jeans (so no long smocks ) Thanks in advance

As Chris Rock said in Friday:

A self-loathing one at that I'm all for people having an opinion, but the self-loathers are the ones which irritate the most. We shouldn't do this... We shouldn't do that... It's all well and good forthese hipsters to be able to have the education, and be able to afford to indulge their opinions, but that still doesn't give them the right to force those opinions on others... Don't like the 21st century and the way things are shaping up? Go live in a cave... (Them, not you, Dani)

Not exactly work safe, but still awesome

I've seen the results of such cyber-stalking, and believe me, it is damn scary. People who behave in such a manner, hiding behing the anonymity of their proxy-servers, making people's lives a misery, deserve whatever misfortune happens to come their way. The US is much hotter on such things than the UK, hopefully it won't be too long before UK law catches up with the nature of 21st Century stalkers... To be honest, it's something which needs to be dealt with by an international agency like Interpol, so there won't be issues of jurisdiction or contacting relevent local authorities and asking them to act. Hard as it may be to believe, it's hard enough getting police forces in different parts of the UK to talk with each other on this issue, let alone other countries... Whoever ripped off that guy's watch collection, is probably going to wind up in a whole World of Pain (one way or another )

I use the word 'justice' loosely Meeting the business-end of a bat, fire-arm or angry mob of homo-repressed rednecks would be sufficient for anyone who dared treat a friend in such a poor manner.

Wow. Would something like this really be an inside job, or, could it just be an insurance job? The only reason I wonder, is, someone would have to be pretty low on the evolutionary ladder to rip off a friend like that, and, it's be pretty hard to keep remembering never to wear certain watches in their presense, or in the presense of mutual friends, for fear of them being recognized. I hope it's not an insurance job, and I hope that whoever's responsible is brought to justice.

As if I'd be wearing anything else

Where has anyone in this discussion said that they condone cruelty to animals? Condoning a method of slaughter is not the same as condoning cruelty to animals. I repeat my question: What method of slaughter do you propose slaughterhouses use? You have not suggested that people all become vegetarian (which would mean not killing animals at all) so you must be happy eating meat. What method do you suggest be used instead? Throughout this thread you have reminded people that it is the methods which you finding intollerable. What is your suggestion that slaughterhouses do instead? It's all too easy to sit back and criticize, without suggesting an alternative.

Oh the irony. There is a huge difference between killing something and torturing it. And you're perfectly entitled to that opinion. Others do not have to share it. Also, the proof is there, that the halal slaughter is more humane than killing with a bolt. At the end of the day, if animals are to be eaten, they must be killed somehow, and, in as humane manner as possible. The most humane manner, being not eating animals at all, and living as a vegetarian. Yet you are not arguing that people should be vegetarians. I agree, animals should not be abused or mistreated, but, given that you object to the methods detailed thus far, what is your solution? What method do you propose slaughterhouses use to despatch animals as humanely as possible?

That's really informative, thanks for the article

As someone who has moderated a forum, I'd just like to make a few observations: The way which Neil treated other forum users (which was tollerated for a considerable length of time) would have got him instantly banned on the forum I moderated. No ifs, no buts, a straight out ban. Some forum rules are universal, namely, treat others with respect, and do not attack other forum users. Neil did this on numerous occasions, sometimes overtly, sometimes very subtly, sometimes just passive/aggressively. Either way, that in itself warranted a ban. The fact he was not, shows he was given considerable leeway by the admin team With regards the 'flipping' of his status, with any admin team, seperated by timezones, one mod may make a decision, such as giving someone a 'time out', but, the next mod (or forum owner) may think that it doesn't warrant a 'time out', so may rescind it. The initial mod, seeing the status change, may feel their action was justified and re-instate the time out, and the next mod (or forum owner) may feel that it warrants a permanant ban and simply enforce one. While an explanation of what happened with Neil's account has been given by the admin team, I am simply highlighting how such a scenario can occur, without there being some 'hidden agenda', simply because it is a situation I have been in myself, which others may not always appreciate, if they have not moderated a forum before. While as moderators, we may have taken different approaches and responses to things, the forum owner gave near-complete autonomy, and would always back any decision mods took (often siding with the most permanant option). TWP did state that he was considering retiring anyway, it could be that he was being given time to make a decision, rather than having one enforced upon him, possibly, because he did not have a thread dedicated to him, with a series of customers wanting their orders filled. As stated (I believe by Ken) above, the intention was only to suspend Neil's account as a dealer untill he had fullfilled the group buy, after which, it presumeably, would have been re-instated, or, he would have retired on health grounds. But. When he then made threats to Admin and others, that made it a totally different issue. As has been said numerous times. Neil was not banned for being unpleasant towards forum members. Neil was not banned for not fullfilling his obligations as a dealer (even after he made the post where he threatened to post a member's watch with the intention of it being confiscated by customs) He was banned for threatening the forum Admin. If someone comes into your home and threatens you or your family, do you: a ) let them stay in the lounge, or do you: b ) kick them out With regards the PMs. I agree with the point that they should have been archived and emailed to Neil once he was banned. But. Considering he had posted about the difficulties he was having with his eyes, what is the point in sending someone messages they can't read? For him to complain that he is not given access to his PMs, and then when he is granted access to them, refusing to read them? What's that? Cutting your nose off to spite your face? Being given an offer and spitting it back? Great attitude there... People have said that off forum, Neil is a totally different character, and that's fine, but why feel the need to act like such a c*nt towards people on forum all the time? Why assume such a persona? Why not just treat others with the respect demanded towards himself? Is it too much to ask for someone to behave in a civil manner, when they demand that others treat them with deference and respect? There is a reason I never wanted to do business with Neil, and that, is it. Wether he would have done business with me (as he claimed he would not) is irrelevent, as I would never have wanted to initiate a transaction in the first place. Dealers can choose who they want to do business with all they like, that is their right and privelage, but, that right and privelage also extends to clients as well, and, clients have the right and privelage to choose who they initially wish to seek to do business with. Not to get too far from the topic of Neil's health issues (which were also key to this whole debacle) with regards that condition, most people who suffer from blepharitis use their ointments in the evening, and prior to going to bed, so they are not hampered by the blurred vision during the day. They don't put them in during the day and then complain when they can't see clearly. That's just common sense. As for glaucoma, my cousin developed it in his mid teens, but still went on to become a solicitor (he's now early-mid thirties and leads a perfectly normal life.) As yet, I haven't displayed symptoms, but, knowing there's a family history of it, I know it's something which could eventually happen, so it's something I get regularly checked for. For someone who claimed he would not be online much due to his eye conditions, prior to his ban, Neil spent plenty of time reading these threads, even after he had posted that he was logging off, and, has made posts on RG since then as well. I hope this means his condition is improving. As has been mentioned previously, if people want to contact Neil, they can do it via RG or Skype. I am not making this post to 'stir things up', I'm just trying to give an impartial view of things as someone not involved with the group buy, but with experience as a forum moderator. Happy Easter folks, May peace be upon you all.

I think it's safer to say that cancer mortality rates are on the decline (which is good) I remember reading somewhere that everyone knows 'someone' who has either had cancer, or known someone else who had... I was simply meaning that 200-1000 years ago, people weren't dying from cancer, it appears to be something of a 'new thing' (relatively speaking, of course ) Indeed, a fantastic idea. I'm hoping Silix made that donation to an animal welfare charity on my behalf. I recal there was some schepticism at the time as to if it would happen/do any good... Absolutely Happy Easter, folks

I disagree. If we have high occurences of cancer now, because of no knowledge as to what causes it, why were older generations (such as your great grandparents) not dying of cancer? When they had even less knowledge about it, and when many people had a standard of living which, by modern terms, would be considered poverty... Malnutrition (people often not even eating 3 square meals a day) people drinking like fish and smoking like chimneys... People working hellish hours and dangerous conditions, yet, they weren't (as a generation) as affected by cancer as the modern world is. That rather shows that knowledge of causes is irrelevent to incidences of it. It doesn't matter if someone knows about an illness, if they're going to develop it (for whatever reason) it's going to happen. Personally, I'm of the opinion that cancer is somehow related to our 'modern lifestyles', and the amount of radiation being thrown about by our everyday gadgets, but that's just a theory...

A bit like fuel companies keeping environmentally fuel sources down... Which definitely doesn't happen

It depends primarily on the strap. Even a 127, when worn on black aligator, looks incredibly smart

Not at all No one I'd even show the movement to would know what it should look like, so it's not as if they're going to start pointing and laughing I'm going to wait to buy any more reps, but not because of a lack of swan necks