Hamilton Saint

Almost anything? Pro-nazi attitudes? Which implies anti-semitic views? You don't find that offensive? As the great conservative philosopher Edmund Burke once wrote: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." People may be free to express an opinion, but if that opinion is pro-Nazi and, therefore, antisemitic, it needs to be challenged at every opportunity.

This statement in your article doesn't make sense: "Rickie Lambert blasted himself into infamy ...". I presume you have a mistaken sense of what the word infamy means.

The successor to Pinocchio. Next it'll be Porcini. He does it to wind people up. Everything he does is designed to provoke a response.

I wouldn't claim these as "best of the year", but here are four albums released in 2013 that I have listened to over and over: The Next Day by David Bowie Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada Electric by Richard Thompson Another Self Portrait (Bootleg Series, Volume 10) by Bob Dylan

Leaf blowers - whoever invented this item should be shot. Half the time, landscapers are using them on a windy day! What is the point. Get out the rakes and use some muscle power. It's good for you and doesn't waste energy.

People who make a statement - for example, where they went yesterday - but lift the tone of their voice at the end of the sentence as though it's a question. It sounds like they're telling you something, but then want you to confirm that what they've said is true. Weird! There is a particularly Canadian version of this - people ending a statement with the word "eh". "It's a pretty cold day today, eh."

A middle-aged relative of mine has finally established his first serious relationship. He posts on facebook every other month or so an announcement that it is their xth month anniversary together. Yesterday it was their 25th month together. He thanked her and expressed his undying love; she thanked him back. Nobody else seems interested. And posting pictures of pets? Are owners of Siamese cats particularly guilty of this? I know a couple.

Yes. This is rampant over here in radio interviews. Interviewer will ask question; respondent will begin answer with "So, what we did was ...". Why? I can understand "well", but "so"?

The best "worst" kick? Le Tissier's tame, grass-cutter shot that beat Man U goalie Taibi.

So many people have only a vague and dubious knowledge of religion and philosophy - their own, those of other people in their country, those of other cultures around the world. They just shouldn't bother arguing about things they know so very little about! And it's clear that hatred is fueled by a double brew of fear and ignorance.

I went there in 1986. My wife and I took a day-cruise in a small boat run by a couple of young, hip guys. I always thought of them as Cheech and Chong! A wonderful day out on the water sailing past nearby islands. Had lunch on a beach at midday. As richie said the food in Turkey is great. An amazing difference from often-bland Greek food.

I have two mental images of the guy: 1) wiping the ball with his shirt before delivering yet another of his "famous" long throw-ins (that achieved nothing - well 997 times out of 1000, that is); 2) jogging aimlessly back towards our half of the field in order to do vaguely something ... now, what was it? Then there were those 2 wonder goals at Arsenal. Where did that come from?!

There is a revolving door connecting government, industry and the defense department. Upper management figures move across these three levels of society with ease. Di ck Chaney is a good example. Many areas of industry are tied into the military (aircraft manufacturing, for example). War is good for business. The last Iraqi war, for example, seems to have been conceived by the Bush administration as a golden opportunity for U.S. corporations to "clean up" once the armed conflict had ended. Another element in the situation is what people have dubbed "the technological imperative". The military-industrial complex invents, develops, and manufactures new weapons systems. These highly technical weapons get tested - but there is always the push for them to be used in actual combat: cruise missiles, for example, drones, cluster bombs, etc. "If you have 'em, then use 'em." The military is offered new toys by big business; it pushes government to provide the funds to purchase them; foreign policy is manipulated in order to push for war, so that industry can reap profits from the manufacture of more weapons. It's a cyclic system. [And, parenthetically, the U.S. gun culture is part of that, too. Private collectors are driven to acquire even more sophisticated weapons; they start with hand guns, and move up to assault rifles and machine guns.] As I said before, the U.S. exists as a permanent war economy.

Or, Lovren will move right because of Hooiveld's comfort on the left.

Agree with this!

It's to do with a sense of domination or, even, oppression. The English can feel smug and condescending, because of their history of domination; the minority groups feel resentment because of their sense of being ignored, or exploited. It is the difference in the power relationships which creates grievance and resentment.

The U.S. exists as a permanent war economy - the result of what Eisenhower identified as the "military-industrial complex". What drives the U.S. now (and Britain in the past) is not an altruistic drive to "police" the world, but a desire to secure its economic self-interest. More and more, in the future, this will become a struggle for natural resources: oil, natural gas, fresh water, etc.

Nationalism is fine, as long as it doesn't become a xenophobic kind of jingoism. American nationalism, for example, often manifests itself as an ugly exceptionalism; they truly believe that America is the greatest democracy in the world - that their system, per se, is better than any other. That kind of nationalism is unhealthy - it needs to be tempered by a certain amount of internationalist spirit. You can feel a pride for your own - a pride in being English - as I do, and still admire and respect other peoples, other nations.

Al Jazeera were thinking of adding the American cartoon programme The Flintstones to its schedule in the Middle East. Concerned that there might be some xenophobic opposition to such a move, they conducted surveys in all the countries of the region. The survey simply asked respondents if they would want The Flindtsones included in the schedule. Opinion was split in the United Arab Emirates; in Dubai, for example, they do not want it, but those in Abu Dhabi do.

"It [southampton's Academy] is a great breeding ground for players to do well at bigger clubs". What an attitude! They can't do well at the club that trained them and formed them?

No, just wrong. She had a "different view" about Pinochet in Chile. She was wrong on that, too. And bad!

I think they chose clapping because they were concerned that some reactionaries, with no sense of historical perspective, would break the silence by yelling out "he was a terrorist!" HTH

Yes, she opposed apartheid; but she also opposed sanctions.

Proud to recall that Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (who was generally a supporter of Thatcher's economic ideas), vigorously opposed apartheid in South Africa and took the lead amongst Commonwealth leaders in pushing sanctions - disagreeing strongly with Margaret Thatcher on that issue. Mandela never forgot Mulroney's support on this crucial matter.

You mean this, don't you? 'As revelled in by me yesterday evening'.