10 METRO Thursday, September 17, 2009 D Provide for your own Gum: Disgusting and loud If you cant adequately provide for a child then dont have one, simple! Its not rocket science. You made the decision to have children, so deal with the consequences. My husband has been asking me to consider having children for the last five years, but, as I feel that we could not support them financially to the standard that I deem appropriate, I have refused! And until I feel that I have laid the appropriate foundations and can continue to do so for at least the next 20 years, then I wont be having any children. I have paid taxes all my life and would be appalled at the thought of scrounging off the State. Each individual is responsible for their own children. Victoria Aido, how dare you to ask for fines for more than one child! If people choose not to have children, fine, their decision. But there are lots of couples out there who would love to have children, but have to pay thousands of euro before even having any like me and my partner. Do you want to fine people like us too? We are already penalised in some ways. But where I do agree is, if you dont have money to support your children, then dont have more than you can afford! Want-to-be-mom, D4 I get a knot of irritation in my stomach when Im subjected to noisy gum chewers (masticating in public?). But what perplexes me most is that Dublins best-read letters page Metro Mail E-mail letters to mail@metroireland.ie with a name. Or text us. Text MAIL followed by comment and name to 53131. *Texts cost 30cent per message + standard network charges. SP. Oxygen8 Communications, Hospitality House, Cumberland Street South, D2. Customer service number 0818286606 talk to us Get real: The Taoiseach is in no position to be getting up on his high horse and shouting at the rest of us to get real. If he, and the governments, of which he was a prominent member, had got real over the last 12 years, the country would not be in the dire position in which it is today. A Leavy In Brief these people cannot hear themselves. I have no problem with people chewing gum with their mouth closed but seriously, mouth wide open, jaw going at the speed of light and with saliva forming at the side of is just disgusting! So to the girl sitting across from me on the train this morning, and the guy across the desk from me at work, have a listen while you chew! PD Dave, I am totally with you! Ive searched and searched for like- minded people in the television licence debate. Come out, come out wherever you are... And NS, are you nuts? If a guy that had been sitting next to me regularly on the Dart suddenly got off at my stop one day, I would be seriously freaked out. Thats the scariest advice Ive ever heard! So Juxy Jones, go for it! You might be pleasantly surprised not all females are poised, waiting to bite your head off! And think about it, if she was repulsed by you, she probably would have found a different place to sit by now... KM Sendusyour txt Thanks for the chuckle this morning, Angry Dave. Do you like fish sticks? Cartman rules! AB I want to protest strongly to all those rude commuters on the Maynooth line who drag snot up there noses its disgusting! Have you never heard of tissues? And Dave, I agree about the TV licence I have begrudgingly just paid 160 for one and I hardly ever watch RT! Celine Dave, whatever wages you think civil servants are making, youre wrong because the lower-paid ones can just about make ends meet! BM Juxy Jones, why not say hello and see if you can chit chat. Its better than those bloody blaring iPods! Itll make the trip less drab too. AS Pavement rage: caused in others by pedestrians who stop or turn suddenly while youre walking behind them; offenders often touristic in nature. Steve Anyone know where can I get some meerkat-flavoured crisps? Phil txt MAIL to 53131* Mean beanz, Heinz! Tests show Germans are being sold short on a traditional snack IT SOUNDS like a half-baked idea. Heinz has been accused of fobbing off its European customers by selling half-baked tins of beans. German and Austrian fans of the product which for decades has been sold with the slogan Beanz Meanz Heinz say their tins contain fewer beans than Irish cans and are served in a thin, watery sauce. Now, tests show these tins do indeed have less beans than the Irish ones and are served in a sauce with less tomatoes. TheAustrianTimes, an English language newspaper, based in Vienna, compared the other baked beans with those sold local- ly after complaints from readers when Heinz launched its German version, Gebackene Bohnen, earlier this year. Editor David Rogers said: Our 20 testers reported the German baked beans were a pale copy of the origi- nal. Tester Susana Vega, a student living in Vienna, said: If you shake the tins, the contents of the German one slosh- es around. It doesnt with the original tin. The sauce is a lot more watery and its a much paler, watery-looking colour than the thick tomato colour of the original beans. Labelling on our Heinz tin states it is more than half full with beans, while the German version contains less than half. Our beans also have five per cent more tomato than the German product which contains more water, sugar and salt. German Heinz Joseph said he was disappointed with Gebackene Bohnen. I was delighted when the beans went on sale but then I realised they just dont taste the same. Its very unfair to German bean lovers, he added. Heinz said its subtle blend of sauces varied in different countries. If someone prefers the beans they taste elsewhere, perhaps they could get a friend to send them over, it added. By Ross McGuinness Taste test: susane Vega tucks in to the two types of beans Picture: Europics Half-baked? The German beans, top, and the original variety Cruel: I wish to point out the cruelty being inflicted on animals at the Smithfield Market. Notice how the lip of the horse is being squished by a rope, using a tool to turn it tighter each time. Thereby immobilising the animal through pain! Antonio F v1 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html