"Growing Pains" by Cole Parker

[Merkin]

OK, its a big pool.  So where is the pool boy? Eh? Eh?

[Rutabaga]

That really is a big pool for a private home.  My local YMCA has a 25 meter pool and it seems plenty big to me.

R

PS:  Queen Latifah's NJ house:

 

[Cole Parker]

1 hour ago, Rutabaga said:

 

 

Looks to me like that pool could negotiated in about 15 strokes.  Trip's dad wants him to be a great swimmer, and it's the one sporting activity that Trip has taken to. Might as well train in a competition pool where he can stretch himself.  Besides, think of the effect on visitors who walk out and see a full-sized pool!

[Rutabaga]

Here's a little better perspective on the actual size of the pool.  

 

[Camy]

I'm somewhat sorry I mentioned the pool. 😬

[Cole Parker]

I was thinking the same thing!  🙂

[Rutabaga]

So you’re going to leave us Yanks to try to figure out the difference between England and Great Britain? 
 

R

[Camy]

1 hour ago, Rutabaga said:

So you’re going to leave us Yanks to try to figure out the difference between England and Great Britain?

All four countries have their own parliaments, but they have limited power and are really run from London.

The UK (United Kingdom / Great Britain) left the EU last year in what was termed Brexit. However, Ireland is still part of the EU, and Brexit means border controls between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is upsetting the delicate balance achieved in the peace talks (which stopped the sectarian fighting - Catholics killing Protestants and visa versa).

Leaving the largest trading block on the planet was plainly stupid, but that's politics for you...

[Pedro]

Just to add to the confusion:

Camy’s map shows  ‘The British Isles’ (except Shetland that has fallen off the top)

’Great Britain’ is England, Scotland and Wales.

The full title of the ‘United Kingdom’ : ‘The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’  says it as it is. (Although ‘Disunited Kingdom’ is possibly more appropriate.)

The red blob in the middle of the Irish Sea is not part of England but is the self governing British Crown dependency : the Isle of Man. It used to have a ‘common purse’ agreement with the UK for VAT and Excise Duties. I’m not sure of the post-Brexit arrangements.

The dark green bit is the independent Republic of Ireland (Eire).

FWIW England accounts for roughly 84% of the UK population on just over half of the total land area. Further details here

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom_by_population

I will be interested to see how much the population has moved post-Brexit when our 2021 UK census results are published next year.

[Cole Parker]

What's even more amusing than that is that the UN doesn't recognize the separate countries in the UK while the citizenry does!  It's sort of like Iowa deciding it was it's own country and asking for UN recognition.  

 

C

[James K]

"All FOUR countries..."  Take a look at Wales. It is a Principality. A principality is a state which is part of a larger state ruled by a prince, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne of England, the Queen of England's son. Other European principalities are Monaco, in France, Andora between France and Spain, to name two.

Wales also has it's own language which is compulsory in schools.

So, if you use @Cole Parker example of Iowa, it is like Iowa has a seperate head of state to the President, is still ruled over by the President, because it's his son who was given the little state, but Iowa doesn't speak English, but Spanish, which would be taught in all its schools.

Then we have, Northern Ireland. Why is the United States so pro Ireland and keeping the border to Northern Ireland open, something threatened by Brexit. Here we need a history lesson. The English conquered the island of Ireland, the English are protestant. The English crown then owned the whole ...... country, just like Scotland. The Catholic peasants were suppressed and forced to rent their own land from the English ruling lords, like Scotland. 

The Catholic peasants, a lot of them, escaped starvation by fleeing their miserable lives to start a new life in America. Then there was a revolution, just like in America. The Irish rose up and nearly defeated the English. The difference with the American revolution is, continuing the analogy, Iowa was left English. The protestant English retreated to the north, and there they stayed and are more fervently English than the English themselves.

So in effect the FOUR countries of the United Kingdom, are one country, England, which invaded Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, managed to hang on to (Iowa) Northern Ireland, gave Wales to the monarch's son as a Christmas present and kept Scotland which is still mostly owned by the monarchy.

The history of the United Kingdom is very far from being one of a democracy for the people, one might argue America had a lucky escape, rather like the Republic of Ireland. Scotland wants independence but those English lords which own all the ...... land, obviously don't want to lose their wealth and give it to the people. The British government will say they already voted, but who th hell voted, the English living in Scotland. The Scots, born in the country, but living outside, were disenfranchised, they didn't get to vote. And why did they leave? Like the peasants in Ireland went to America, they left because they were being starved to death by the English.

The story of England is a less than glorious affair, which you should be only too aware of in America, because you were forced to revolt just like the Irish, the Scots, and the Welsh.... God Save the Queen! Or revolution and independence. History has two sides to the story.

 

[Camy]

10 hours ago, Cole Parker said:

What's even more amusing than that is that the UN doesn't recognize the separate countries in the UK while the citizenry does!  It's sort of like Iowa deciding it was it's own country and asking for UN recognition. 

Humph. You should watch 'Passport To Pimlico.' (a classic Ealing comedy) before you scoff at our eccentricity.

Also, one of my ancestors apparently founded Maryland... and I'd like it back, if you'd be so kind.

[Nigel Gordon]

13 hours ago, Cole Parker said:

What's even more amusing than that is that the UN doesn't recognize the separate countries in the UK while the citizenry does!  It's sort of like Iowa deciding it was it's own country and asking for UN recognition.  

 

C

Actually Cole the UN does recognise the separate countries. The membership of the UK is stated as being the membership of the United Kingdom of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is noted that Wales is missing.

[Nigel Gordon]

2 hours ago, Camy said:

Humph. You should watch 'Passport To Pimlico.' (a classic Ealing comedy) before you scoff at our eccentricity.

Also, one of my ancestors apparently founded Maryland... and I'd like it back, if you'd be so kind.

A film very well worth watching.

[Cole Parker]

I don't think you really want Maryland back, Camy.  Baltimore is located there, and it still might be the murder capital of the U.S.  Also, and perhaps more importantly, Maryland may be the worst team in the Big Ten.

[Nigel Gordon]

1 hour ago, Cole Parker said:

I don't think you really want Maryland back, Camy.  Baltimore is located there, and it still might be the murder capital of the U.S.  Also, and perhaps more importantly, Maryland may be the worst team in the Big Ten.

I don't think Camy actually wants the people, just the land. You can keep the people. We just need some land where we can put the Ulster Unionists once the reunification of Ireland takes place. The last place we want them is over here.

[Camy]

1 hour ago, Nigel Gordon said:

I don't think Camy actually wants the people, just the land. You can keep the people. We just need some land where we can put the Ulster Unionists once the reunification of Ireland takes place. The last place we want them is over here.

You're quite right, Nigel. The land is the thing... and the banks. But no Ulster Unionists. They can, along with the entire cabinet, move to St. Helena.

The Maryland diaspora can camp out in the grounds of Mar-a-Lago.

[Cole Parker]

You have your Ulsters, we have our gentle folk who attacked our capital and tried to overthrow our democracy with no idea at all what they'd like to replace it with.  Why is this the age of a return to Authoritarianism?  We tried that a couple of times in Europe and it didn't work well.

[Camy]

Ah, growth spurts. I remember those.

[Rutabaga]

2 hours ago, Camy said:

Ah, growth spurts. I remember those.

I remember some kind of spurts . . . 

 

R

[Camy]

1 minute ago, Rutabaga said:

I remember some kind of spurts . . .

That's it! Stand in the corner until class ends...

[Rutabaga]

Hmmm.  This isn’t a cliffhanger, it’s a stiff-hanger. 
 

R

[Camy]

5 hours ago, Rutabaga said:

Hmmm.  This isn’t a cliffhanger, it’s a stiff-hanger.

Concur!

Also, I'm somewhat miffed that Trip and Tanner know more about Europe than I do.

Let's get back to the size of the pool...

 

[Cole Parker]

You guys break me up!

C

[Rutabaga]

Aha!  A new character, Jason Patel.  Here is a possible image:

R