pap

And you'd be right. But still, 6,000 people owning 2/3rds of the country. That can't be right either. At least the lottery is fair.

You've kind of made my point. There are going to be kids finishing university that are saddled with debts. Your kids have an advantage over them. I'll freely admit that I'm going to pay for my kids bills. It's not like I've left them a load of money, but the net effect will be the same. They'll be in a better position than kids who've had to pay their own way. If you were being charitable, you could say this an instance where my duties as a parent override my general principles. If you weren't, you could call me a hypocrite. Both would be true. However, the sort of investment that we're making in our kids (and your father made in you) is small-fry compared to the problems associated with those who have more to pass down. I'm talking the likes of old money, monarchy and the like. A nastier side effect of inheritance is that six thousand people own two thirds of this country ( 40M / 60M acres ). I don't see how that is remotely justifiable, especially given the high prices we all pay for housing.

First, if we're living in football stadiums, I think there is something slightly wrong with the housing allocation system But it's a good question. Who gets what? Right now, we're saying "if your dad owned it, so do you". That doesn't strike me as a particularly good system either. Historically, it has called all sorts of problems. I wonder how many cases of fratricide have been committed to benefit from the inheritance system. Seemed to happen all the time with kings. I wouldn't be the sort of person to want to smash down the palaces of the mighty just because of what they represent, so who would you give the big stuff to? How's about as a reward for public service, where the place you live in is a recognition of what you've done for your country / fellow man? So for example, if you do great public deeds, you get to camp out in a mansion for a couple of years?

I said I expected the view to be challenged So is it your contention that ownership of the world should be meritocratic? It certainly isn't now.

I like Kelv a lot, but I'd like to see us strengthen the goalkeeping position. What exactly is the situation with Craig Gordon? Why is he out of contract? I was very impressed with Kaspar Schmeichel at the Leicester game. Kept them in it.

Been thinking a lot lately about the concept of inheritance. Cards on the table, I've never inherited a bean. Money tends to go the other way in my family, but hey, you gotta look after your mum, right? So perhaps the fact that I've never been a beneficiary of inheritance sours my view of the concept. At its heart though, there is something distasteful about the concept of inheritance, namely that it conflicts with a bunch of other things that we in Western societies are supposed to believe. Things like meritocracy, like fairness and even (on a scientific level) natural selection. It also creates problems with resource allocation. Look at the vast tracts of land in perpetual inherited private ownership, or the gross disparities of wealth in the world (and the lengths/tricks pulled to ensure that those disparities are maintained), or indeed, the fact that you have to spend decades working to own a piece of it. My personal view is that we should all own a six-billionth of the world each, and that inheritance has a pernicious effect on society, creating endless conflict between (for want of better terms) the bourgeoise and the proletariat. I'd expect that view to be challenged. What's your view on inheritance? Good or bad?

Think I'm going to be watching this from Chez Pap in Liverpool. I've been umm'ing and err'ing about potentially turning up on the day, but I've got too much to do this weekend to accommodate it. Hoping we do a bit better on TV than we have in our last couple of outings.

I'm not saying that the Nazis had the right idea. Bit sad to see similar sentiments drummed up here. Scum of the earth, machine-gunned, etc. Still, if it makes you feel better about yourself on an Internet forum...

Whereas in real life, Hitler thought a little bit bigger than a field. It is reckoned his regime put half a million of them to death.

I've been listening to the Django Django album. This would be an early standout track:- But the rest of the album is really starting to worm into my head now. Highly recommended if you can deal with a bit o' quirk.

I still don't even know if its okay. My other mate won't wear replica shirts to games home or away, but he owns some.

As someone who only gets to around six or seven games a year, I am not very up on matchday etiquette. According to my mate, it's okay to wear replica shirts to away games, but only "kids and nonces" wear them to home games.

Storm in a teacup.

Brilliant result tonight. We need to win on Saturday to make sure the title goes to the final day of the season. I'd expect Reading to get all three points on Saturday, but if we can get a result at Boro we're going to be breathing down their necks while they're away to Brum.

I'm rather enjoying this.

I am re-reading the fourth entry in the Song of Ice and Fire books (a.k.a Game of Thrones). No spoilers, but each chapter is named after a character. It's mostly written in the third-person, but the author italicizes anything in the first-person voice. It's a pretty neat trick. I've wasted my life. I'm 37 years old and am spending my time on an Internet forum. I should have my own harem by now. What the f**k am I doing here? Anyway, in the fourth book, he only focuses on half the characters - which meant you discovered little about some of your favourites. I felt like I'd been jipped. Going back with suitably-lowered expectations, I'm really enjoying it for what it is and spending more time absorbing it. Excellent series by the way. I get the impression that George R. R. Martin is quite the anglophile.

As the season draws to a close, the amount of football being watched in Chez Pap has increased dramatically, particularly as a result of Liverpool's success in the two cups ( two of my scouse house are reds, unfortunately ). I have to say, I do not always reciprocate in the football watching stakes. Ms pap will dutifully watch every televised Saints game with me, showing enthusiasm at the appropriate moments. I tend to bundle up to the pap cave when she starts watching Liverpool. This is where my story begins. Every time I'm hiding away upstairs while she is watching Liverpool, our pooch unfailingly zooms upstairs - even going to the extent of scratching my door if it is shut, which in any other circumstance, she doesn't do. Only when Liverpool are playing. At first, I thought the dog might be an Evertonian. She is a scouse dog, after all. However, I snuck upstairs during the recent FA Cup Semi-Final Merseyside derby, and the pooch is scratching at the door again, so she doesn't like Everton either. The dog will sit and watch Saints games. Now really, I'm left with one of three conclusions. The first is that the dog simply doesn't enjoy seeing the normally immobile Ms pap fly from the sofa after the Reds get the ball in the back of the net. The second is that, like myself, the dog has tired of Ms pap's evangelical punditry and has decided to forgo it altogether. The final conclusion is that the dog is a Saints fan. I think she's a Saints fan. What do you reckon? Is your pet a Saints fan too?

I nominate drawing an imaginary halo around your head in a swift circular motion.

I shall be working while I listen to this tonight ( no trip down - 2 games on the trot wiped out April's fun money ). Big game. Looking forward to it. Just could do without a 4-4 thriller

Didn't say they were boring, me old fruit n nut I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Wigan are in a weird place. They're building the fan base for the long term, trying to poach as many Wiganers away from starting to support the big North West clubs, but to do that, they need to be in the Premiership. Unfortunately such projects take a generation.

Big lols @ Alps playing the victim again. Can we have some wallowing too please, Alps?

Who can say no to an open entry?

I agree with you in principle, but frankly, it would be funnier if they didn't.