Walsingham

I would have said the guy was being a jerk. But I got the same story waaaay back around the time I first joined this forum. i tried to play Fire Warrior without ANY graphics card beyond the basic intel one. In an absolutely classic case of bad customer service I rang up THQ feeling simply morose, and finsihed feeling incandescent and patronised. All I needed was the verbal equivalent of a hug and I'd have trotted away and icked myself. Instead this snotty bastard wound me up by telling me I was a fool. I was obviously being a fool, but being told so was not ...helpful. Anyway, I took the game back to GAME (the store) and the manager very kindly, and without any requirement to do so refunded all my money.I always buy my games from them if I'm getting in the highstreet.

I saw that on terrestrial in the States. I can't say it really impressed. I was listening to LIving colour doing Sunshine of Your Love, which is from the True Lies soundtrack. I wonder how that's held up.

Surely you mean Manu Chao?

You give me a pot head stuffed with cheese, herbs, and chili powder and I'll eat it!

You're saying a burger wouldn't taste good if stuffed with cheese, herbs, and baked?

I doubt that would halt it. The fact is that we can only appreciate a limited range of persons, and feel loyalty accordingly. Even within units of the Army, fighting side by side you get divisions (no pun intended).

Well, anyway, I don't think this is about religion.

I misread this as your notion of what sconstituted employee sabotage. Now that really would be cool. Make the burger taste delicious then demand to know why the customer was putting up with bland rubbish!

Troo dat. Actually, back on topic I was interested to see that we haven't pulled out of Basra so much as pulled out of a palace in Basra, and moved a few miles down the road. U public relations exercise if ever there was one.

Provided you have an objective function, of course ther's an optimal solution! I agree that the Iraqis should decide. But by the Iraqis I mean the people in a democratic fashion. Not simply hand over everything to dingbat former baathists and fundamentalist radicals. They aren't Iraq any more than we are.

I agree. But don't expect Sand to budge an inch.

1. I appreciate your thanks. But you haven't answered my question. How will Iraq govt only troops prevent escalation of the violence to outright genocide? 2. I am not suggesting the majority of casualties are amongst Coalition troops. The majority of casualties are quite deliberately civilian. If Coalition troops are the cause of the violence it seems odd that they should not be the focus of the violence. 3. You can quote a one off comment from a general if you like. I have friends in the Forces and the lengths they go to as a group and as individuals to avoid civilian casualties are extraordinary. They regularly place themselves and colleagues at risk to do so. This does not excuse the deaths. However, since teh efforts far surpass those in any previous phase of human warfare I think the Coalition should not be accused of being callous murderers. 4. Your hypothesis that the insurgency was about throwing out the 'invaders' certainly holds water for the thousands of Saddam's fedayeen who initiated attacks with that goal in mind. It is also true that opportunists like the Mehdi Army saw the Coalition as an obstacle to seizing power for themselves. However, given that the freely elected govt of the Iraqi people has not once asked the Coalition to leave this undermines your theory completely. As does the relatively small scale (in numerical terms) of the insurgency. Neither types of insurgents have freedom in mind. 5. Lest there be any unfortunate confusion, would you confirm that you do not endorse the actions of the insurgents who are often from other countries and commit deliberate acts of slaughter, and destroy mosques like the one Yuusha showed?* Would it not be more fruitful to direct your energy towards demanding THEIR return home? *Yuusha, I can tell you with 100% certainty that an air attack on a building that was so obviously a mosque would have had to come from the highest level, and only after the utmost provocation. Coalition commanders are not bloody stupid and will do just about anything to avoid such attacks. The video clip you linked to omits any context.

samm, I obviusly bow to your superior knowledge on the topic, but I ask again how on Earth that could be regarded as 'soft'!

I assume you know the one about making baked schicken taste like fried chicken by coating it with cheese and breadcrumbs?

I dunno about that. Once political entities get to a certain size they rapidly go down the toilet. The biggest advantages are military.

I used to boil up coffee old school in an ordinary pan, but I made meself ill with too much caffeine. Still use it, but only on special occcassions, like writers block.

Who is?

Good idea. The liver'ss like the appendix. The sooner it swells up and bursts the better.

There must be a story in there? No Nestle = No Instant Coffee = Dead Gorth Just to add a few more candies that springs to mind, now that I've had my instant coffee... Ferrero makes some good candy, the Mon Ch

Im stilll pleased by my realisation that I enjoy watching it because finally big muntas are having to face others their size.

Consider for a moment what it would mean if in your country there were incidents in which a foreign army killed civilians, including the killing of a 5-yr-old girl and entire families with their children. Would this army be a stabilising influence? You know, there are 20 times more civilian deaths in Iraq since the war started than civilians killed on 9/11. Think about how many civilians were killed in the twin towers and times it by 20, and that's how many civilians have been killed in Iraq, all in the name of freedom. 1. I can follow your argument. Can you see my point about the removal of heavy Coalition forces will permit outright ethnic cleansing and civil war? I base that on my understanding of the former Yugoslavia, the Rwandan genocide, and the British pullout from Eire. If you disagree I would ask on what grounds. 2. I cannot square your argument with the fact that the majority of attacks are occurring against civilians not 'occupation' troops. 3. Coalition forces have certainly killed people who ought not to have died. The only thing I can say is that it is a focus of policy and immense effort that this should not happen. 4. I don't believe it is fair to say the 40,000 (possibly more) casualties have died for freedom in the sense that you mean, that being at the instigation of the Coalition. The majority of casualties have quite deliberately occurred at the hands of - or by virtue of chaos caused by - an insurgency characterised by total barbarity. They have therefore died for freedom only in as much as they have died at the hands of people who aim to deny them freedom.

I agree. That is when I eat there.

Whereas football, and particularly Manchester Inc are a bunch of ballet dancers hoofing a bag of hot air about. Um... rather like the Duma. Rugby is NOT american football. For starters it doesn't involve wearing 20lbs of armour. Nor does it involve tight leggings (or at least it doesn't at any decent level). Rugby is a game of raw violence, like putting a pig and a walrus in a box and shaking it. But most importantly it is a rare opportunity to see large violent men picking on each other for a change.

Nope. This happens every couple of weeks. You should have seen us last year. Two threads a day at least.

1. Reeses peanut butter cups 2. Kit-kats* 3. Any of those really sour sweets covered in sugar 4. Candied marmosets 5. toffee * I can't eat kit-kats because I support the nestle boycott. But I like them so much!