Birthday Greetings 06:44 - May 10 with 5578 views | exiled_dictator | so today is my birthday, the double4, and i'm just glad to have made it this far. since arriving here with pretty much nothing but 3 suitcases (all our businesses, houses, cars and assets were confiscated by the State), i believe we have settled well and have had good, but hard working lives. i will be forever grateful to this country for accepting us in, but am sad to see how many people have such bad things to say about refugees in general. not all refugees are terrorists, but some are genuine refugees. peace to all, love to all, and a little more tolerance from some. have a happy day. | ![](/images/avatars/5042.gif) |
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Birthday Greetings on 07:22 - May 10 with 5564 views | distortR | Happy birthday mate, and welcome!..if rather belatedly. Let's make this the no 'sweeping statements' day in your honour. Lets all stop and think before we run off at the mouth. small steps and all that. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Birthday Greetings on 07:25 - May 10 with 5559 views | danehoop | Happy birthday ED. | ![](/images/avatars/1395.gif) |
| Never knowingly understood |
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Birthday Greetings on 07:29 - May 10 with 5553 views | londonscottish | Happy birthday ED. The UK needs hard working immigrants, it's as simple as that. Everyone I know that's come in works their nuts off. Keep it up :-) | ![](/images/avatars/5986.gif) |
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Birthday Greetings on 08:24 - May 10 with 5531 views | CroydonCaptJack | Happy birthday mate Britain (and especially London) could not function without immigrants . | ![](/images/avatars/7509.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Birthday Greetings on 09:21 - May 10 with 5500 views | Toast_R | Happy birthday Exiled. I must pay a visit to your restaurant one of these days. | ![](/images/avatars/1554.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Birthday Greetings on 09:42 - May 10 with 5491 views | francisbowles | Happy birthday fellow R. I have looked back to the beginning of your posts and can only find a rather cryptic first one. For the benefit of me and others who don't know and if you don't mind sharing, what is the background story. I am guessing Zimbabawe? | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Birthday Greetings on 10:20 - May 10 with 5466 views | johncharles |
Birthday Greetings on 09:42 - May 10 by francisbowles | Happy birthday fellow R. I have looked back to the beginning of your posts and can only find a rather cryptic first one. For the benefit of me and others who don't know and if you don't mind sharing, what is the background story. I am guessing Zimbabawe? |
And the name of your restaurant Happy Birthday | ![](/images/avatars/13091.gif) |
| Strong and stable my arse. |
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Birthday Greetings on 10:29 - May 10 with 5463 views | exiled_dictator |
Birthday Greetings on 09:42 - May 10 by francisbowles | Happy birthday fellow R. I have looked back to the beginning of your posts and can only find a rather cryptic first one. For the benefit of me and others who don't know and if you don't mind sharing, what is the background story. I am guessing Zimbabawe? |
nice try, but no. not even close.... iranian. following france's decision to release back the ayatollah to iran and following the subsequent overthrow of the shah and moderate democracy, many intellectuals, teachers, philosophers and people with professions that would question the revolutionary beliefs, either fled or were imprisoned and executed. my uncle was deputy head of the politics department at tehran university, and that meant we were in mortal danger following the changes. there was talk of us going to america, but we managed to get a flight out to germany, where we were supposed to ultimately stay, but there was some intervention by the british government, and we then transferred on to london. for us, the changes were unacceptable; we had worked hard to have a good stable lifestyle, but that changed with the revolution. and although many welcomed regime change, and even now are happy with the islamic state, history will show that it was not as good as people thought. as far as i am concerned, most of today's political instability around the world comes from one country. their beliefs that you must be like us, or we will plant the seeds that will rise up and overthrow your democracy and replace it with what we believe in is just unacceptable to me. the foreign television crews and journalists that report from inside the country simply have no real clue as to what happens inside the country that they report from. secrecy is upmost, and failure to tolerate and follow can mean that you will have a very difficult time. the happy faces you see there are those of a brain washed society that simply doesn't remember how good things can be, and fail to understand or question whet they are told. sort of reminds you of n korea or some other tin pot dictatorship. i was very young when we escaped, so don't really remember much, but many in my family do. don't let them fool you; time is on their side, and those seeds are slowly but surely gestating. but i do love london, how interesting it is with so many diverse cultures, religions and ideas that freely function on a day to day basis. from seeing hare krishnas dancing in the street, to watching how patriotic people are towards the royal family, celebrating other cultures like the notting hill carnival, the sheer variety of foods to choose from, tourists from all over the world come to visit; i love this city. it's just the best place to live in. and that's mostly due to tolerance and understanding, respect for others views, beliefs, religions, politics, music and football clubs. there is absolutely no other place on earth like it, and although there has recently been a veil of suspicion, finger pointing and some ugly scenes on the streets, i wouldn't give it up for anything. it's a huge cooking pot with ingredients from all over the place, but it always tastes good to me. just don't let someone piss in it. | ![](/images/avatars/5042.gif) |
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Birthday Greetings on 10:31 - May 10 with 5460 views | MrSheen |
Birthday Greetings on 10:29 - May 10 by exiled_dictator | nice try, but no. not even close.... iranian. following france's decision to release back the ayatollah to iran and following the subsequent overthrow of the shah and moderate democracy, many intellectuals, teachers, philosophers and people with professions that would question the revolutionary beliefs, either fled or were imprisoned and executed. my uncle was deputy head of the politics department at tehran university, and that meant we were in mortal danger following the changes. there was talk of us going to america, but we managed to get a flight out to germany, where we were supposed to ultimately stay, but there was some intervention by the british government, and we then transferred on to london. for us, the changes were unacceptable; we had worked hard to have a good stable lifestyle, but that changed with the revolution. and although many welcomed regime change, and even now are happy with the islamic state, history will show that it was not as good as people thought. as far as i am concerned, most of today's political instability around the world comes from one country. their beliefs that you must be like us, or we will plant the seeds that will rise up and overthrow your democracy and replace it with what we believe in is just unacceptable to me. the foreign television crews and journalists that report from inside the country simply have no real clue as to what happens inside the country that they report from. secrecy is upmost, and failure to tolerate and follow can mean that you will have a very difficult time. the happy faces you see there are those of a brain washed society that simply doesn't remember how good things can be, and fail to understand or question whet they are told. sort of reminds you of n korea or some other tin pot dictatorship. i was very young when we escaped, so don't really remember much, but many in my family do. don't let them fool you; time is on their side, and those seeds are slowly but surely gestating. but i do love london, how interesting it is with so many diverse cultures, religions and ideas that freely function on a day to day basis. from seeing hare krishnas dancing in the street, to watching how patriotic people are towards the royal family, celebrating other cultures like the notting hill carnival, the sheer variety of foods to choose from, tourists from all over the world come to visit; i love this city. it's just the best place to live in. and that's mostly due to tolerance and understanding, respect for others views, beliefs, religions, politics, music and football clubs. there is absolutely no other place on earth like it, and although there has recently been a veil of suspicion, finger pointing and some ugly scenes on the streets, i wouldn't give it up for anything. it's a huge cooking pot with ingredients from all over the place, but it always tastes good to me. just don't let someone piss in it. |
Plug the restaurant, man, we're all waiting. Happy Birthday, by the way. | ![](/images/avatars/1288.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Birthday Greetings on 10:33 - May 10 with 5459 views | stevec | Happy birthday and fair play for overcoming that kind of start. Always good to see how a non Brit, more often than not, appreciates this place more than most Brits. | ![](/images/avatars/6823.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Birthday Greetings on 10:37 - May 10 with 5453 views | Metallica_Hoop | Happy Birthday, much Maiden. | ![](/images/avatars/1335.gif) |
| Beer and Beef has made us what we are - The Prince Regent |
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Birthday Greetings on 10:38 - May 10 with 5453 views | londonscottish | Love this part; "but i do love london, how interesting it is with so many diverse cultures, religions and ideas that freely function on a day to day basis. from seeing hare krishnas dancing in the street, to watching how patriotic people are towards the royal family, celebrating other cultures like the notting hill carnival, the sheer variety of foods to choose from, tourists from all over the world come to visit; i love this city. it's just the best place to live in. and that's mostly due to tolerance and understanding, respect for others views, beliefs, religions, politics, music and football clubs. there is absolutely no other place on earth like it, and although there has recently been a veil of suspicion, finger pointing and some ugly scenes on the streets, i wouldn't give it up for anything. it's a huge cooking pot with ingredients from all over the place, but it always tastes good to me. just don't let someone piss in it." Great post ED. | ![](/images/avatars/5986.gif) |
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Birthday Greetings on 15:10 - May 10 with 5403 views | francisbowles |
Birthday Greetings on 10:29 - May 10 by exiled_dictator | nice try, but no. not even close.... iranian. following france's decision to release back the ayatollah to iran and following the subsequent overthrow of the shah and moderate democracy, many intellectuals, teachers, philosophers and people with professions that would question the revolutionary beliefs, either fled or were imprisoned and executed. my uncle was deputy head of the politics department at tehran university, and that meant we were in mortal danger following the changes. there was talk of us going to america, but we managed to get a flight out to germany, where we were supposed to ultimately stay, but there was some intervention by the british government, and we then transferred on to london. for us, the changes were unacceptable; we had worked hard to have a good stable lifestyle, but that changed with the revolution. and although many welcomed regime change, and even now are happy with the islamic state, history will show that it was not as good as people thought. as far as i am concerned, most of today's political instability around the world comes from one country. their beliefs that you must be like us, or we will plant the seeds that will rise up and overthrow your democracy and replace it with what we believe in is just unacceptable to me. the foreign television crews and journalists that report from inside the country simply have no real clue as to what happens inside the country that they report from. secrecy is upmost, and failure to tolerate and follow can mean that you will have a very difficult time. the happy faces you see there are those of a brain washed society that simply doesn't remember how good things can be, and fail to understand or question whet they are told. sort of reminds you of n korea or some other tin pot dictatorship. i was very young when we escaped, so don't really remember much, but many in my family do. don't let them fool you; time is on their side, and those seeds are slowly but surely gestating. but i do love london, how interesting it is with so many diverse cultures, religions and ideas that freely function on a day to day basis. from seeing hare krishnas dancing in the street, to watching how patriotic people are towards the royal family, celebrating other cultures like the notting hill carnival, the sheer variety of foods to choose from, tourists from all over the world come to visit; i love this city. it's just the best place to live in. and that's mostly due to tolerance and understanding, respect for others views, beliefs, religions, politics, music and football clubs. there is absolutely no other place on earth like it, and although there has recently been a veil of suspicion, finger pointing and some ugly scenes on the streets, i wouldn't give it up for anything. it's a huge cooking pot with ingredients from all over the place, but it always tastes good to me. just don't let someone piss in it. |
Thank you, I hadn't gone back as far as that in my mind, coming up for 40 years now. Respect to you and your folks for coming with nothing and making a fresh and, I hope, successful new start. I would agree it was that pivotal moment that unleashed the horrors that have frequently occurred in numerous countries since then. Prior to that it was bubbling away in a few hotspots and underground movements but since then it has spread around the globe. Glad you like the city and country so much and commiserations on getting hooked on the Rrrrrs! | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Birthday Greetings on 13:01 - May 12 with 5254 views | MoonshineSteve | Happy birthday from here too. | ![](/images/avatars/1247.gif) |
| I am still Steve but no longer in Dagenham. |
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Birthday Greetings on 14:43 - May 12 with 5211 views | FredManRave |
Birthday Greetings on 07:22 - May 10 by distortR | Happy birthday mate, and welcome!..if rather belatedly. Let's make this the no 'sweeping statements' day in your honour. Lets all stop and think before we run off at the mouth. small steps and all that. |
Bloody Taurus' they're all the same with their down to earth, practical, methodical, epicurean tastes, finely tuned senses, and an eye for beauty, but the're also painfully intransigent. However, they're kind, gentle, hardworking souls who are loyal, steadfast and although known to be somewhat frugal, will generously lend a helping hand to family, friends, or even strangers. Happy Birthday! Why QPR?! | ![](/images/avatars/8614.gif) |
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