Walsingham

Not necessarily. Releasing non-strategic prisoners hardly adds measurably to the total number of militants. Plus they will cause all kinds of panic on the assumption that some may have been 'turned' or are being tracked by the intelligence services.

Relax, man. I diagnose an overdoes of all those female hormones you bathe in. I prescribe a 3lb rare steak, chargrilled, and staring at a live grizzly bear for ten minutes daily.

I would agree that 'creep' in the use of these terms devalues them, and undermines anti-terrorist action. It's lazy at best, and downright seditious at worst. Officials who indulge are a bigger strategic threat than many AlQ fundis. I'd like to see a couple sent to Gitmo pour encourager les autres.

I believe the 'orthodox' human sciences view is that as women get more status and are capable of independent earning, the more a niche opens up for men who are pretty and not much else. Personally, I think it's because women feel under a lot of pressure to take charge, and they want a bloke who's non-threatening, to lighten the stress.

I know from experience it will take a while for me to understand this has happened. But it is a real loss. He was a good man, and like Fio says, he understood and was part of what makes the community worthwhile. For the minute I just take 'satisfaction' knowing that he fought like a bastard and was suffering last I heard. No sense in suffering to no purpose. Glad it's over, for his sake.

LOL "Yeah. Yeah. Dude looks like a ladaaaaaay" This is kind of my objection. It's interesting to me that so many 'hot guys' from the last twenty years look like women. Compare that to the 1950s-1980s.

If I may make a harsh point gently... tactical 'what ifs' just make the whole debate sound ludicrous.

Cool. I shall have to trace a copy.

I think there's something wrong with me because all I thought, looking at that was "I wonder how much baby poop is now in those hedges" ~ Misread headline from the BBC. "Escaped Cow's Head for Housing Estate." More correctly should have read "Escaped Cows Head For Housing Estate"

...None of which can have surprised anyone. Promising it under those circumstances is blatant lying. Hardly a change you can believe in or whatever bosh he was selling.

Funnily enough, I don't think I've ever heard a South African complain abou tthe film. It's so transparently over-blown. Plus, you know, apartheid: evil.

Yeah. I only discovered about two years ago the scale of the deaths involved. Can you imagine if there had been a rising, rather than a transfer of power?

I'm not sure if you are referring to me personally, I've always expressed the opinion that the President has a lot less power than people give them credit for. But with the NSA and Drone strikes, the complaints about the President being Big Brother are as loud as they have ever been. I've been unimpressed by Bush and Obama. The last really effective President for me was LBJ. I don't agree that Obama has no power. But I would certainly agree if you mean it's only 'soft' power. Presidents are more than capable of exerting influence on a limited policy bandwidth. Provided, you know, they aren't a total ***ing amateur with no chops.

I don't want this to sound like a knee-jerk excuse, BUT... You have to remember that Britain was divesting itself of every colony/dependency it could, as fast as possible. It was an economic imperative, post-war. But if you read the correspondence flashing around the Colonial Office and in Hansard you can see this general tide of opinion that most of the troubles in these countries were caused by us. And that as soon as we left it would all be pretty much fine, because the locals would have to fix things, not just blame us. This view, I have to say, strikes me as being tantamount to the popular view these days that Britain shouldn't have been there in the first place. My own view is that a lot of the problem comes down to local cultures which emphasise partisan tribalism over national interest, and 'face' over pragmatism. You get fractured negotiation which is temperamentally incapable of behaving sensibly to resolve conflict. I don't think that perspective leads to healthy states. Period.

Well, at least she has confidence in you. She obviously wants you fronting the business every chance she can get. ~ Partly inspired by Guard Dog I agreed to having my ex come to visit. Neither of us are in the market for anything serious, but there's a hugely relaxing aspect to having someone from long ago come to visit. It's like, you've fought like banshees, and got all sweaty together, and consequently all the lies, and all the politics, and all the false modesty just gets chucked in the bin. You can just say "My feet hurt" and all that means is - give my feet a rub. Having said that it is still kind of cool, because you can also be very decorous and almost more romantic, without worrying about going too far and freaking anyone out. But it is also kind of sad. Because frankly age is starting to take its toll. You can ignore lines on your own face, but not on someone you are smiling at.

If you haven't already read "The Utility of Force" I'd recommend it.

I won't say he's making me 'humid', but Maj. Bunny Colvin (played by Robert Wisdom) from The Wire makes me sit up straight and listen.

I hope for everyone's sake she's not a honey trap that's gone off.

Conversely I can't stand being called 'sir'. The English in particular only ever call someone sir if it's illegal to just call them 'scum' to their face.

Ah. The old "I just failed so now you guys are all sub-****" response. Nice. Well, I'm sorry if my comments are not to your liking. I simply don't put Iraq debacle above or below homophobia. And I'm profoundly sorry that you seem intellectually satisfied with that.

You will note that 'modern' PR suggests that it is always better to push a different good when caught doing evil. So, "I smash puppies, but give away free ice-cream" is a better line than "I smash puppies, but those specific puppies were bastards."

Ah. The old "I just failed so now you guys are all sub-****" response. Nice.

I note that no-one has ventured anything beyond a single undated photograph with which to summarise Iraq's current state of affairs.

@Exodiark. Being from the same country as Steven Fry I think you need to have a good hard think about your argument. Mentioning a handful of other 'ethical' issues doesn't make your case very clearly. On what basis does Foxconn components equate to making capital punishment for being gay? Or being raped for being a low caste woman? On what basis does British colonial history make modern Britain complicit? Both stephen Fry and I are modern Britain. I'd appreciate you being a bit more ****ing specific if you're accusing me of something.

How is that girl not hot? If I made that girl smile I'd be happy for a week.