pap

The indigenous people were turfed off between 1968 and 1973. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depopulation_of_Diego_Garcia Not sure what the present day population is comprised of.

Been chatting with an islander from Kuda Huvadhoo. According to him, no-one is too comfy with the idea of saying that it was definitely MH370 they saw, but was reported to be much bigger than the seaplanes they routinely see over the island.

I very much enjoyed your entry for the "Most tenuous justification of Tory policy" ever award. That's what you were going for, right?

Resolution is going to be incredibly important, not just for the families of the missing, but also to ensure that we don't create any kneejerk legislation based on unresolved events. Without knowing precisely what the problem was, confidence will be lost in the industry and we may see draconian, but ultimately needless legislation created from the uncertainty. Right off the top of my head, you could argue that we need to have some form of international ID ( the two Iranians on-board under different documentation ), more checks on pilots (suicide theory), more systems on planes (failure of telemetry).

Probably explains why your Eton educated well-to-do's are so sh!t.

Aren't you pre-supposing that pilots had control of the plane? We live in the age of drones, after all.

I'm still not subscribed to any particular theory, but the little we do know suggests that most systems were inoperable while one remained transmitting. I don't think that you can rule out a nation state being responsible for its disappearance. The link Tim posted basically said the same thing as you did. "No it isn't. It's all made up". The only conclusion that the article allows you to draw is that the eyewitnesses on Kuda Huvadhoo are just plane-imaginin' fantasists. No alternative explanation (another plane, etc) exists, and yet there are locals that insist the government is lying from the few English tweets I can find. If a lack of evidence prevents us from reaching a definite conclusion on the fate of MH370, it also prevents us from ruling much out.

With a complete absence of evidence, I don't think you can take anything as read.

A lot of people over at the DIF reckon that the plane landed in Diego Garcia, citing the sighting as something that supports their claim.

Now you're leaping a little. There's no evidence to suggest that the story was fabricated, except the government refusal. As for your list of potential co-conspirators, are they really all required here? Does CNN have radar and military installations in the area? Why do you insist that all of these other agencies need to be involved? I think that potentially some do, but the reports really come from one place. Discredit it there, propagate the story and you're done.

Like I said, a lot of this stuff has been debunked with just a government say-so.

Nor me. Many of the proposed theories have been debunked on little more than a government statement. There seems to have been no follow-up on the Kuda Huvadhoo sightings either. http://www.ibtimes.com/malaysia-airlines-flight-spotted-maldives-examining-latest-theory-mh370-1562221

I'm not saying it's right wing only. I'm asking for the opinion of a right winger. Seems to be against the rules to answer a simple question.

Nah, let's deal with the broad for now. Irrespective of whether there is any design to do so or not, seems like the weakest in society are having a very tough time of it. A lot of people have taken their own lives, others have had to rely on loan sharks, etc. From the right-wing perspective, isn't this just survival of the fittest? Is there a small part of you which says "f**k them"? Serious question.

I've had it on PC for over a week. There were some initial technical problems, although I believe that they are dropping a new patch very soon, if not already on the PC. I share your concern that EA have been p!ss-poor at launch, but then they're not alone. Blizzard have made most of their money through World of Warcraft, yet even they dropped the ball big-style when releasing Diablo III. I think it's a symptom of the age, rather than the developer. Titanfall is a multiplayer game; that's always going to leave developers with elements outside their control (such as the number of people rushing to get in on day one, or the crazy things a large volume of players can find). As for the game itself, it's very good but as I've said before, ultimately limited. The core gameplay is a lot of fun, but it doesn't really get away from the fact that it is very COD-like. The big changes are the verticality and the killstreak mechanism. Titans and burn cards effectively replace killstreak rewards. One week after purchase, it's a case of diminishing returns. Don't think it'll get a look-in again until inFamous is done.

Made you go over and apologise though, didn't he? Don't worry nipper. You're not the only person to have gone missing on that thread.

Yeah, tell that to all the people who've taken their lives as a result of recent policy, if you can. Cost of doing business, trousers? Eggs for an ideological omelette?

Why are you smooching up to Schmeichel, S Michael?

I can imagine loads of people going for the Aldi jobs. They are reputedly well paid for the skill-set required. The level of interest is staggering; to subvert trousers' point, hooray for jobseekers. The numbers somewhat lance the myth that no-one can be arsed. As for the forced placements, I've always thought them to be little more than slave labour, with the added disadvantage of taking paid hours out of the economy. There were a couple of lads (presumably placement) in TESCO Old Swan talking about "Frank Lampard flicking the bean" - this is a relatively new development. I must say, I rather enjoy crude humour. The old lady that has come in for teabags, or indeed Christine Bleakley, mightn't be as amused. Veering swiftly back onto serious subject matter, I wonder if the jobs are really out there - this ratio of applicants to positions would suggest not.

That's 37.5 people applying for each job. If the trend continues, you'll soon need to win a talent competition to get a shelf stacking job. Patent the concept before Simon Cowell does.

1,500 people queue up for 40 jobs. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/10717308/Thousands-queue-for-chance-to-work-at-Aldi.html

Where does this leave the Kuda Huvadhoo sighting?

Indeed. Refinement should be part of every profession. There are things I did in my early career that I'd never bother with now, largely because I got burnt, learned from my experiences and found more reliable avenues for success. If we had a team of old duffers consistently making elementary mistakes, it'd be a different story. We've got a young team that lacks a bit of experience and second half grit, especially with our current absentees. Sometimes the best time to tinker with something is not when it's doing well, but when it breaks.

With the amount of people I've seen suggest that Saints are on their holidays, local travel agents must be doing a roaring trade. I don't think we are. Our called up players are doing very well. With the amount of stories linking the likes of Lovren elsewhere, they've also got something to play for. Also, aren't Chambers and Clyne playing for the RB spot? I'd argue that all the young players with the exception of Shaw are playing to stay in the team. It's a tag that gets applied to most teams in our situation. Swansea got it writ large last year because they accidentally won the League Cup as well We will hear a lot of this (heard it on Football Weekly already). Doesn't make it true.

Disagree. If the lessons learned from one loss are applied successfully, the benefits can be long-term.