Walsingham

I hate to agree with Volo, but in deciding where to hold the games, surely thousands of people dead is worse than thousands of dogs dead? Come to that, even if dogs were the sodding yardstick, China would lose.

I'm out of advice there, Joe. But for what it's worth, you've got my admiration for toughing it out. ~~ Further delays on a contract we're negotiating. Incredibly frustrating. ~~ Ex of mine found stash of old love letters, and started dropping me texts. Funny how, as I get older, I find some of my best friends are women I treated badly when I was younger. Though perhaps it's just that there's a degree of rawness in someone who's seen you at your worst, and thought the best of you. A special kind of honesty, and the companionship of shared history. Got a little sorry for myself for a bit, but as I say, hearing about Joe made me suck it up.

I'd like to remind people, in case anyone forgot, that i've been saying something like this was inevitable. 100,000 new jobless young men every year spells instability, I don't care where.

You'll have a hard time getting me to switch. In a static position books are attractive clutter. On teh hoof, books get even more useful. You can read it, sit on it, use it as a pillow, tear it up and light fires, leave notes, or wipe your arse. I've even used a book to hit someone in the nose to enormous effect. And all for the bargain price of 50p second hand. Plus it doesn't matter if they get bent, sat on, singed, wet, and never run out of batteries. Take your kindle and sod off.

I agree. I demand the freedom to be a screwup! Hurrah!

How about we load them into one of those industrial diamond making machines and compress them explosively into gemstones?

Does seem a bit silly.

Good point. If they're denying it, then it's obviously true.

The only thing wrong with tha movie clip is that the evil robot looked almost exactly like a fat Gary Glitter. Which would utterly terrifying for a small child. But more hostility provoking to me.

Unless science did something inconvenient, like assert that communism couldn't ever work. Commies tend to get awfully tetchy when that happens.

Very interesting question. My answer would be along the lines of wanting to be master in his own house. Also about setting up a markedly different 'brand'.

Sounds like you may already have one, but I have to say I really liked my Army sleeping bag. Other piece of advice from our staff sergeant: don't sleep with all your clothes on. Makes waking up harder. Aways leave at least one thing to put on on top when you get up. Not much help, I know. But if it does help, then happy days...

WoD, I think if you take a deep breath and reflect on what you're saying then you'll realise a dignified retraction is in order on a couple of points. 1. Enoch's covered most of it already. 2. For a chap who is opposed to violent islamofascists it's rather amusing that you're running around spreading a key plank in their propaganda: that democracy and Islam can't coexist. 3. Describing the IRGC as a bunch of one trick religious whackjobs is waaaaaay off base. The reality is that they are very much involved in all kinds of fun stuff, including property and drug dealing. Not that I know a massive amount more than what one can read in print. ~~ As a slight aside I thought it was interesting that wikileaks also 'revealed' that Iran really has been behind terrorism - thousands of deaths by terrorism - in Iraq. But oddly there have been few retractions by people who asserted it was all lies by the Bush Whitehouse and that really Iran was all peaceful and lovely and misunderstood. Although that may be too far off topic.

They'd look like burnt corpses. Remember, kill the mutant I always forget that one. In my day, mutants were allowed in things like the Guard.

Has to be a photoshop, I'm sure.

That was magnificent. I have to agree. At first I was expecting a couple of gimmicks, but there was some inspired lunacy right there.

Took me ages to spot the fail. W T F !!!!!!!

I agree that this has - against all the odds - mutated into quite an interesting discussion. No time this morning to chip in, tho. Am thinking along the lines of your 9/11 point. EDIT: Quick thought. Is it possible that some chemical reaction analogy might be in order? I'm not a chemist, unfortunately.

Yes, the best thing would be that Mubarak kills thousands of his people and restores his power grip to the pleasure of US foreign interests. *Zing* And how do you see it panning out? We have yet another Deja vu in ME, a country with a leader backed by US and the West, a dictator with a democracy that's a joke. And the majority of people with totally different mind and opinion on number of issues who want him out. If the Muslim brotherhood takes over, you'll have another Iran on your hands. Something the US and Israel would like to avoid at all cost. The key issue now is Mubarak and his followers strong enough to remain in power or not. We'll wait and see... So what's your preferred outcome?

No indeed. But it seems to me, after this discussion that the wikileaks model seems to be attempting to empower the can't think/won't think crowd in a way which can't really work, and in the process endangering them, and everyone else. To use another imperfect analogy, it's like letting allowing the family dog to drive the car for periods of family trips, because it's only fair. ~~ Interesting perspective on Indonesia. Not sure I'd call them a liberal democracy though. Holding themselves together seems to be predicated on using force. Not that the United Kingdom got united by hugs and cake, mind you.

Yes, the best thing would be that Mubarak kills thousands of his people and restores his power grip to the pleasure of US foreign interests. *Zing* And how do you see it panning out?

Ouch. I'm lucky enough to have only found out once that my girlfriend was cheating on me. And that was enough. Ad by lucky I mean it probably happened more than that, but it's the only time I know about.

I've been mulling it over, and it occurs to me that Egypt has been a lynchpin in US policy in the mideast since the Suez crisis. Iran may view backing the MB as the best way of neutralising Egypt from the game; which would leave it as an extremely strong player, comparatively speaking. A radical Egypt would also put tremendous pressure on Israel, and we know how bat**** Iran is on Israel. Further it occurs to me that, having pu t down their own spontaneous demonstrations that the IRGC would be quite expert on coaching the MB in what not to do.

I don't think that's Numbers' point, Zor. Knowing something and that knowledge changing anything is not a direct link. It needs to have two things happen first. Possibly three. I'm thinking on my feet here. 1. The receiver has to interpret the information into a form of useful awareness. This requires some sort of skill, and usually at least a little training. - The public simply don't possess these skills en masse. 2. The receiver has to be motivated to act on the resulting awareness. - Again, the public are often unmotivated to act outside of disaster situations. And disaster situations are the times they are most likely to be suffering impairment the foundations of step 1. 3. The receiver has to act to exert change on the environment producing the information they don't like. This means the skilled understanding of the topic to guide an action plan, and usually some organised effort, which is a function of skill and preparation. - This, again, is a big problem for Joe Public. As the issues surrounding us get more complex, and the rules we operate by expand with them, and our social organisations become so insubstantial that they are satisfactorily expressed by facebook... I really can't see free information helping anything.

Reprinted with kind permission from www.stratfor.com