Walsingham

I think it's fairly clear that this is easily the best bit of the internet.

In the same week that we've had a police brutality scandal I was confused by this story. Essentially it revolves around a decision by police to not pursue thieves because they were not wearing safety equipment - and the thieves might get hurt. Which I think is almost unbearably quaint. But perhaps far sighted, since the story details how they went on to have an accident and in fact get killed by not wearing said equipment.

Excuse me?

Why do you need the game? Itunes + guitar = play along to music. The game could/should check you are in tune. Plus you can play along with your mates who don't play instruments.

I'm a bit rusty on ASW, Gortho. But I thought most subs were hit on the surface?

I suppose the point of the portable reactor is that the owner can make a meaningful threat of withdrawing service without a huge deconstruction cost. I'm still very VERY alarmed about the danger of putting one on a ship. I swear to God a lot of decision makers think ships exist in some magical parallel dimension. ...Stick close to your desks and never go to sea... And you ALL may be rulers of the Queen's naveeeeee. (skip to 1.34

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets...-high-seas.html

Oblarg: invent a widget that you can strap to a real guitar that lets you interact with these guitar games...

No, erm, what I mean is that the Talibs are masters of concentration of force - at least so far as the locals are concerned. I shouldn't need to point out that in terms of actual firefights the Talibs still get knocked about by our troops. So it's the ability to concentrate force on a village which is interesting me. Thinking logically I can see two options: increase the force presented by the village a la Malaya, or increase the force available from outside the village. Except that might be really trciky on such a large and disparate scale. Perhaps the thing to do would be to look at this as analagous to the u-boat threat?

I am not sure it's really valid to describe this conflict in terms of Vietnam. If it were then our casualty figures by now would be ten times what they are. The enemy just aren't present in the same sort of numbers and nor do they have the same architecture behind them. I need to think about this some more though. I think the key is the concentration of force. The Talibs are running around in small forces. They hoof up in a given area and the locals support them out of fear as much as anything. What alternative do the poor buggers have? ... more thought needed.

I'm not sure how beneficial it would be to your case if your lawyer would refer to himself in third person and always finish with a cheery " HA, GOOD FUN!" ROFL

I left it enabled, and got used to it in a few days. It's quite a handy reminder regarding general peril. At least it stops every two bit corporation hijacking my bloody computer every ten minutes.

We'd make the wierdest looking party if we actually got together.

Don't get me wrong, Pope, old boy. A few missiles here and there are bound to be handy. But the bulk of the thing is memetic (or something). As for the guns etc, if we know one thing it's that you are your own man, GD. Just don't go kicking off too early and kill some poor bloody sheriff, or get yourself banged up for possessing IEDs.

I repeat, that's why I said in a more humane manner. We don't need to jail them, we just need to control access, keep out the Taliban, and make moving within the urban areas harder for the insurgents. It's my fault for being thick, but would you mind restating your plan?

Or indeed anything which says it is a tiger.

I'm just finishing the second volume of the Flashman books. Royal Flash is a far less military romp, in the style of the three musketeers set in 19th century Europe. It's still a cracking read, and lots of fun, but perhaps less authoritative than the previous volume, as I suspect (sorry old man) but the author had less experience of orgies than of running around a battlefield scared witless. I recommend it.

Weirdly I realised I've gone from looking like a tired Leonardo DiCaprio to a blonde Brian Cox.

Tapeheads. 1988 It's a very bad film. But it has moments of cool, and a couple of laughs. My favourite aspect has to be the self-referential spoofing. All in, it's definitely a watcher if you don't mind rough edges. You know, if you're the sort of chap who makes love in the back of a moving pickup.

Since this has turned into a post-game critique can I go all fey and suggest you engage your emotions a little? If you like the girl and run with that and show her you like her, then you're 99% of the way there. You don't just learn the moves and expect magic to happen afterwards. It's not karate.

I'm not sure tackling fundamentalism, which is an idea is going to happen by lining up thousands of people and shooting them. I'm going to suggest fundamentalism occurs when you either don't think enough, or you think too much. Which means you need two completely different game plans to fix it. Suggestions? EDIT: GD I don't know how to view your arsenal there. Surely we both know that if the Feds decided to crack down on you under some sort of neo-communist super-plan then you'd be screwed. Smal arms would just give them an excuse to predator your house. I'm not having a go at you. I just think if you're sure it's going to happen spend the money on surfing or something fun.

It's an interesting example, Orogun, but one I feel is deeply flawed. The Afghan population isn't the sea in which the fish swim. They're the damn fish. They need to be secured, enabled, and inspired. Not jailed, disabled, and enfuriated.

This will rpobably trigger a natural disaster in itself, but I have to agree with Volo. Mother nature makes species go extinct all the ***ing time. Stripping down to our skids, and running through the long grass laughing won't save our sorry asses (particularly if we wander through hidden thistles). Survival will only ever be sustainable if we can master our environment, and that means - frankly and cruely - that we suck all the support we can out of this dirtball and hike out exploring in search of more.

Tell us more about Weyler's strategy. I was also appalled to hear today how (according to the Gen. Dannat) Brown left SIX MONTHS between meetings with him, in addition to refusing levels of funding agreed in the 1997-1998 defence review. Which leaves me wondering whether the man was properly incompetent, or positively hostile to our own troops. Which you must keep in mind happened over a perid when spending on non governmental organsiations such as arts funding councils and impotent industry watchdogs rose to more than that of the whole Ministry of Defence! ****ing shocking. But on the bright side, perhaps it merely underscores the point that if we have managed to hang on with a total absence of funds or direction, then what will be able to do if we receive some bloody funds and direction!

It gets better with practice, mate.