Walsingham

The whole notion of private healthcare is belied by the nature of diseases. If 50% of the population get sick from, say, swine flu, you lose out. It doesn't matter how good your cover is. there's plenty of criticism to be levelled at bureaucratised national health care. but to me it makes very sobvious sense. And that's ignoring the fact that I wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for the NHS giving me treatment my parents couldn't have afforded.

Wait, what?

Malaria kills milions every year and no one gives a monkey's. I accept this could turn out to be very bad. But there's very little to be done other than buy a pipe and set your jaw firmly.

Seriously, though. Pandemics are a very real possibility at any time. Being prepared for disruption isn't complex. Just lay in some simple stores of food, and basic medicine. It's not like it's a wasted expense, since you will always use them eventually. Just keep the supplies topped up.

I don't see any point in worrying. you should all have laid on supplies in the event of a zombie outbreak. Flu schmu.

If information followed a correlation with pain, then how come sadistic and brutal regimes have successful insurgencies? The fact is it's balls. You can break someone using torture, but there's no intelligence purpose for doing so. Dagon, if you can find me a single professional who claims torture gave them any useful information by comparison with what they get from interview, I'll do some sort of dance to honour your research skills.

I only just noticed this. In honour of the occasion I am going to strip down to my pants and do a dance. Unh unh unh. ...oh yeah.

I think it works like fantasy football. Each person gets a team made up of randomly chosen players from their league. The fantasy team accrues points based on how the players on their team perform in the real world.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...cess-memos.html I can't really express my revulsion on learning that the Bush administartion condoned the use of torture techniques. Condoned them, and it seems, still thinks they were OK. I've explained at length on this forum why torture is the intelligence gathering choice of fools and psychos, and after writing to my MP about this issue just now, I can't be bothered to repeat myself. I realise that Obama would not have been able to release the files without promising immunity from prosecution to key players, but at the same time, I do feel that the top brass ought to be put on trial. This is not simply a question of justice. Having a former VP defend torture merely perpetuates the lie that torture is unpleasant but effective. It is not effective in itself, and rules out the use of techniques like turning agents, which are genuinely effective. The fact that the administration must have ordered the policy over the heads of the generations of professionals who know and accept this is further evidence that Bush/Cheney have grossly mismanaged a vital enterprise.

Temporary mammaries? An intriguing possibility.

As you would expect, Britain is going to be sunny all week. It follows logically that Sweden will be rainy.

I thought there were boobs there. note to self: don't kiss 'girls' in gasmasks.

Um...sure, they count. Why wouldn't they? Americans aren't a race. And you can name a nationality that is?

I thought this was a thread about piracy, not gilded racism? I must have been mistaken, and apologise. I just have one question: if someone is a first generation American, born to, say Swahili parents, can I be racist about them, or do they not count?

What clothing to wear, practically speaking?

It does sound fun. Well done for getting the work. I am going to be convalescing in the garden.

I hope for your sake you're a marine, and not merely an escaped mental patient.

I see.

It's a well known trap to do something initially as a joke, and then fall into do it. It's how you wind up wearing a fedora, or a cardigan, or carpet slippers, or the Victoria Cross.

Yes, but how does a court of law draw the distinction? There are advertising hoardings overlooking a car park near me where drug users congregate. Does that make the owner of the signs complicit? I'm not saying they are innocent, and I don't condone what they did. But my personal conviction is as much use as a paper fart.

Well, its all for the lulz. After all, they cannot measure the single most important factor, individual skill. What about operational skill? Surely where and when you fight is equally important? Otherwise how would a zulu with a spear ever beat a redcoat with a breach-loading rifle? Also, what program are they using?

Didn't someone already make the point that this is like saying a guy who owns a nightclub is guilty if drug dealing occurs on the premises? Bound to get thrown out due to the implications, assuming they get a hot lawyer. I mean good lawyer. er... Anyway, if this sort of thing is to be taken seriously then why not use the same approach as that towards pubs and clubs. Running a server requires a license, the license gets reviewed on automatic renewal unless there is a case aginst you on specific behaviours. You have to make a reasonable effort to halt illegal activity. If you fail then you are banned from owning or operating a server for ten years. Bish bosh, surely?

That looks good, I put it on my list. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I can only assume you were trying to say something but your mouth was clogged with undiscovered deposits of oil.

I used to wear a baseball cap all the time. Then I realised i should just cut my damn hair.