Walsingham

True. But they are, as it were collective expressions. Not some individual grandstanding. Anyway, I've no doubt the chap meant well. It's just that to an Englishman it would look crass, and thus the eyerolling arose.

Seems like the guy was busted for fething about during a trial run. Not for killing Lord British.

On a related point http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6570721.stm I feel obliged to observe that in my opinion Cowell was probably expressing cultural disjunction rather than disrespect. We Britishers find weepy grandstanding utterly stinkworthy. To me it would seem as if the contestant, not Simon Cowell, was being iditiotic about the poor people who were killed.

Only if you bring them over here. My calves are all cramped.

I thought this guy was railing against capitalist corruption? And I'll take the odd loon over Five Year Plans that reduce millions to starvation and cannibalism.

Just wanted to report that my dieting and exercise appears to be paying off. This time five years ago I could barely climb stairs my knees were so bad, but physio and determination now see me able to run for 30 minutes, and sprint to a finish! Huzzah! EDIT: You could say I'm improving by leaps and bounds. ....Aaaah how I laughed.

What about us n00b guards?

The incident was awful but this guy is a laugh riot. An alter ego called Richard McBeef, and his 'glorious testament' to NBC fails to arrive on time because he got the address wrong! I have to say that it looks to me as if the second incident was probably more or less off the cuff after realising the authorities weren't doing anything to effectively prevent a second shooting. He probably went more or less to pieces in the two hours in between and the breather gave him time to steady his nerves, and removed any previous 'restraint'. But I'm purely speculating.

You're quite correct. Quick, lock all the doors! Fire all my staff! They're only accidents waiting to happen and stab me in the back!

Was that the one with the guy who lost his sense of humour?

You're saying that you reckon the State Department is just handing out cash out of pure glee, rather than because they know they will make a profit? I can only assume you feel a very different sort of person holds sway there compared with the evil s.o.b.s who started the Iraq war purely for oil.

Absolutely. It' not like being mistaken for a copper will get you attacked randomly in chip shops....

I should point out that Meta and I are not citizens but subjects of her Britannic majesty. The old dear who lives at Buck house.

I'm not sure cthulhu - while I'm inordinately fond of it - is really likely to catch the imagination of the present market.

I'm still baffled as to how you believe looking after the welfare of your own country, from even the most selfish standpoint, is best served by interacting as little as possible with the outside world. Leaving aside military intervention, how in god's name to you propose convincing other countries to buy American goods and services if not with aid and engagement in some cases? If you cut all US assistance abroad your economy would implode as thousands of economic agreements collapsed!

Actually I think all the attention in this case may be positive. Because it is exposing a totally inadequate cornball. I mean a main character called Richard McBeef? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6567143.stm The man was a total idiot. He makes Richard Reid (the shoebomber) look positively dynamic. I would hope it might give other fools pause for thought if it turns out attracting all that attention can just expose you as a *expletive deleted in auto-moderation*.

I liked the intro and cutscenes on Homeworld 1. That opening sequence with the mothership flypast still takes my breath, no matter how many times I see it. Incredible when you consider how ancient the graphics are.

I don't think that the chap chained to teh bed ought to have expected to be abandoned in the event of a fire. It seems a bit callous. And I'm sure this youngster wasn't being stupid. It's apparently quite easy to do. I just find the image hilarious.

I believe it would be something like that perforated jacket around the barrel of a tech-9. Which strikes me as odd. Why not ban guns that look scary if you're being that vague? And I also believe that the guy knew what it was, he was just fishing for the ignorance of the interviewee.

Last man to try and register as Fionavar's a sissy!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/6568235.stm

I believe they said there is no waitning period in Georgia. Pass the background check and you take the gun home right then and there. States with a "waiting period" are in the minority, and personally I think it's a stupid measure. If a guy wants to commit a crime like this, he can wait two days to do it. This kid, if I recall, had his pistol for over a week before he did this. I hate to say it, but if you want incompetent shootings then no waiting could be a good thing. This guy didn't so much cool down as anneal.

I fear perhaps we are both alloowing personal history to interfere with our views. I, for example, would not be here many times over if complete strangers hadn't intervened to save my sorry butt. Ditto my interventions for other people. As I have said before, no man is an island. Likewise no country is. Except maybe Martinique.

I don't want to offend anyone who chooses the S&M thing, but I must say I always found dom males to be pretty much ****heads. I therefore agree with your analysis.

*...* Uncharacteristically speechless.