Walsingham

You're just a copycat of Walsingham. Anyway, Devastator is awesome, not as awesome as Starscream, but I couldn't find any decent sig-worthy images of Starscream. The quote in my sig is from someone's rant about how its become trendy to be nerdy and people will claim to be a huge nerd just because they liked Pirates of the Caribbean or something like that. He's not just a copycat, he's a gloryhound AND attentionwalrus.

I know it's become especially tough in recent years. I understand there are whole legal companies devoted to just getting the forms filled in right.

I say we pretend to BE apes.

Ah nuts. the question had been on what basis I was saying the US Army tends to hand down light sentences to offenders on foreign soil. I got the from a serving major in HM Army disciplinary body. I really don't know why. It does immeasurable harm to the image of the US Forces. Which is maybe why this one sounds serious. Frankly, my understanding of arab political opinion in the street will be that anything less than execution will be seen as soft. On the other hand the guy did plea bargain a confession, so maybe that was on the table if they had to fight for a conviction.

Cops. You Americans have this really weird love/hate relationship with law enforcement. I've always noticed when travelling how variegated and changeable your cops are. One minute they're relaxed, and vulnerable, almost more vulnerable than regular citizens. The next minute they're these jackbooted nutcases. The next minute they're helping some kid cross the road. Be aware tho - as I discovered when I used to be a journalist - that some government buildings cannot be photographed for legal reasons. Alwasy ask general permission unless you want your equipment confiscated.

Volo, Meta, I think the point is that the boss OUGHT to run his team based on what level of service you are providing. But he/she may not do this, and usually doesn't. Equally, however, people don't become saints by virtue of where they shop and hence you get wrongful complaints. I've always thought the guy who said "The customer is always right" should have been forced to live by that maxim. They'd have run for at most six months. On the other hand you customers/clients are absolutely everything. You exist for them, not the other way round as many service industries seem to think. Losing track of this can and does account indirectly for virtually every nutsup plaguing big businesses today. So when Meta and I say "Don't forget you're there for the customer" we're talking death or glory. This is not about an extra topping, this is about the livelihoods and security of yourself and everyone depending on the business. So like I say, the customer is always vital. I would say you should approach them all as if they are great. But they can be and often are - when they approach you - incorrect. The best approach generally is - with respect - chase down the misapprehension and remove it. On the other hand I have no objection to dealing with the harshest abusers of your hospitality with permanent bars to service. My old boss handed out as many of these as he did firing of staff.He may have been as mad as a trout, but he was fair and absolutely loyal to his people who worked hard for him.

*arrives* Am I late for the geekathon?

Three points: 1) How are we entitled to any citizens gas and power bill? If he has the same responsibilities then doesn't he have the same rights? in the UK you coudn't just hand out his personal data like that legally. 2) He is a former VP and all such dignitaries have SS guard details, plus there's chefs and so on. You're not comparing like with like. There's probably twenty times as many people in his house over the same time period. 3) Doesn't Gore have some crazy all green power vacation house?

Welll, I... hey goddamit! _I'm Spider Jerusalem_!

I tell you it's no sinkhole. "9:2. And he opened the bottomless pit: and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit. Et aperuit puteum abyssi et ascendit fumus putei sicut fumus fornacis magnae et obscuratus est sol et aer de fumo putei 9:3. And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts upon the earth. And power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.* Et de fumo exierunt lucustae in terram et data est illis potestas sicut habent potestatem scorpiones terrae"

I think to a cerain extent I'd not dwelt enough on the fact that Harry volunteered for the Army, and has insisted that he be permitted to go to war with his unit. That's a gutsy thing to do if you consider the fact that there are innumerable ways he could sly out of it. My point was really to contrast his behaviour with the soldier at the heart of this. I was also recently struck by the way other soldiers _strapped themselves to an apache_ in order to try and save a wounded comrade left under fire. What bugs me is not just the soldier in this case leaving his country in the lurch, but also leaving his mates in the lurch.

first of all, that's "faces up to 40 years," not "sentenced to 40 years." if you added up all the _possible_ jail time for multiple murders, it can run into hundreds of years pretty quickly. also, the soldier entered a plea agreement, which always results in a reduced sentence. had the gal in this case pled to a lesser charge, she would not have faced such a harsh sentence possibility. i do think it seems a bit ridiculous, though all we have to go on is the viewpoint of the commentary, which is biased towards the defendent. taks Opinion taken from a member of HM Adjutant General's corps two years ago.

Sewerage schmewerage. I say there are sightless troll in there who will come streaming out. but it'll turn out that the only reason they're so vicious is that they're RUNNING from something.

You have a rich career waiting for you in the State Department, mon amis.

Fethed if I know.

I think Tigranes is right. I used to have people come at me all the time saying"I don't mean to get angry with you." Which was very decent, but i would interject that in fact since I had volunteered to be customer services I WAS the person to get angry at. Of course it's hard for them to really cut loose at you at that point. What bugs me is when a customer service ape is being lazy or toeing the company line so closely they have forgotten why they're there. But then it always annoys me when people put procedure before purpose.

Sewers big enough to have whales living loose in them, apparently. I'm telling you we need to get an aircraft carrier down there and some tanks. Because either Satan or Godzilla are coming out of that damn hole.

Curse you, postmodernism! I'll get you next tiiiiiime... *ahem* Anyway, Jan Jansen is great. I've never laughed so much at a computer game.

*gasp* A fellow Brit running Vista? You must have sold us out to some wealthy foreign power, you devil. How did you get so rich? With my gigantic City bonus. Actually I don't work in the City, and I'm not technically a Brit. But shhh. *halfwitted puzzlement* but when... how... who... arghh.....

It certainly was. When people looked back at my character it would be to simply say that whatever her other faults, like becoming the Goddess of Murder, she did understand whhat was right and wrong. Namely killing Drizzt was right. Cretin. "Oooh... what a merry dance!" I ask you. Who WOULDN'T kill someone like that? The queen would kill someone like that at a garden party. Which a canape. Using only her inspired fury. A hero? Don't make me laugh. There wasn't one evil plan I've foiled which wouldn't be better than spending half an hour in that simpering idiot's company. I'd rather be eaten by capuchin monkeys. *pure incandescent rage* In fact I'm dangerously close to playing it all over again JUST SO I CAN KILL HIM.

On reflection I don't care what it is provided it has Minsc and Jan Jansen in it. Although I'm thinking they'd make a great film noir detective duo.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/p...am=1&bbwm=1 The above link should take you to footage of a 340 foot hole that has opened up in Guatemala. Now I know I've been watching very little besides my Buffy the Vampire Slayer collection these last few days, but I'm thinking hellmouth. 340 foot almost perfectly circular holes don't just open up like that. In any case it swallowed people. The authorities are blaming a burst sewer main. I ask you. What kind of crazy sewers do they have in guatemala?

I wouldn't have graded you an A unless you'd done it on a diving board over a pool.

Firstly, people don't magically become non-jerks when they choose to shop with you. You're bound to run into some if you work in CS for long enough. Something else to bear in mind is that it is a firm and fast rule that the more trivial teh offence the greater the customer fury. A company I once worked for once put a man 3,000 pounds in the red and got his cards cancelled, he was very mildly put out and wouldn't hear of compensation. Whereas on both occasions where I was threatened with violence we had delivered goods within the stated delivery time in perfect condition. I do think that if a customer is being bizarre it's probably because they're venting about something else that is going wrong in tehir life. That or (as I once discovered) they happen to get off on sadomasochism. no fooling. I knew in one case because the chap wa trying to bully me while ordering things about the Marquis de Sade. A fact which I managed to discretely slip into the conversation "I'm sorry, sir. I'm confused. Are we talking about 'Mastering whips and chains' or 'Abusiveness for beginners in leather'?" Having said that the rise of question lists, and the demise of good people management makes dealing with most customer services like dealing with the living dead. Wherever I can I avoid such companies like the plague. The place I worked for had a very integrated customer service policy. We were allowed, at even the most junior levels, access to anyone up to and including the managing director at any time. Which wasn't perfect, but did get more done than most.

I have to say i agree with Enoch. I think that our best bet is to put some kind of stereotypical Jamaican in charge of the counter-Iranian plan. Relax until internal Iraian politics changes the situation. If we merely patted them on the head and smiled indulgently this would upset them far more, and undo their primary aim. However, to take this line is untenable in today's climate for two reasons: 1. North Korea requires the complete opposite, and our cretinous publics won't stand for different strategies; 2. Ahmedinejad's rhetoric about Israel and the holocaust is both scary and offensive, which is worrying for anyone seeing him with his hand on the nuclear trigger and indiciative of teh kind of fruitbats who may have it in future. It is also possible that all of this is a ruse as part of an agreement with e the US. Past CIA officers have said that when the US wants Arab reformers to remain in power the first step is to give them a covert understanding and allow them to say as hurtful things as they like in public.