Whitey Grandad

This is scaremongering. Even the direst prophets don't expect it to happen. Don't worry about it.

Obstruction is rarely given, if ever. There are technical offences which warrant an indirect free-kick, such as a 'backpass'.

Point taken.

Karl Marx actually (and it was religion). Orson Wells was also wrong about the cuckoo clock.

You and I agree.

The question is 'was he tripped' or 'did he trip'? The first is a foul, the second isn't. I can't speak for the rest of the match but this was a very poor decision, and I speak as a member of the referees' club.

Are we safe from relegation yet?

The fall of the Soviet Empire and the loss of its subsidies had a far greater effect on Cuba than the American trade embargo.

Can you see them playing in orange instead of blue? They'd probably change their name to Easymouth too.

How do you measure the degree of a country's capitalism/socialism/communism? Is it by the proportion of GDP that the government controls? In my view, once it gets over 50% that country is more communist than capitalist.

I'm also learnig italian. You're never too old to learn something new. It beats watching television these days.

Indeed it was! I used to play for the IBA in a team of 5. I always played white because of my gung-ho attacking instincts whereas our accountant used to play black because he was naturally cautious.

How can you possibly tell? Back to Michael Foot, I'm sure he would have loved to have been part of the debate that we're having now.

If it makes you feel better, the Navy vetoed the toilet bowl because our new carriers would scrape their bulwarks on it when they docked.

It's even worse than that. Take a look at this: http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/imagePopUpDetails.html?id=690550330 The amount of water and air are so small that it can't be true, can it?

Replace 'best' by 'worst' and I suspect you will have a lot more answers. I suppose it all depends on your point of view.

I'm no more a tory than a labour luvvie. In many hours of discussion with our north american friends I seem to be a social democrat, along with most other europeans who were present. There is a place for government and there are services which only a central government can provide, but what we have now is overgovernment and at an horrendous cost, probably by a factor of 2.

... discuss. I don't know, give us a clue.

Good for you! I used to play in the Southampton chess league many years ago. It's a brilliant way to spend an evening and very cheap. I used to find that a pint of beer would often help my attacking instincts. I never would have believed that 2 and a half hours studying a chessboard could be so relaxing but it totally clears all other thoughts out of your head. There was a school in an american city that introduced chess lessons for its pupils and found that it was a great aid in getting them to think ahead and plan what there were going to do. I would encourage you to look around for a local chess club who would be delighted to accept you, no matter what level you play at. Good luck and have fun.

Does full employment mean that evey mother has to go out to work? It was Harriet Harman who said that 'mothers who don't work are a problem'. We are all treated as 'economic working units' who, if we're lucky and do as we're told might just be allowed to keep a little pocket money for ouselves, and perhaps a cup of tea on Wednesdays.

Oh please. They've been in long enough now that they can't pin the blame on anyone else.

The decline of manufacturing has accelerated considerably under the last few governments, who happen to have been Labour.

In America it was Clinton who 'encouraged' the banks to lend money to the 'poor' so that they could buy houses. The rest is history. Economically we have sufered far more from the recession than the rest of Europe.

[quote=Fuengirola Saint;643009 Market forces eh? Is that the same market forces that almost forced the collapse of the banking sector? Could you answer me if the market is so ****ing great why has it needed billions upon billions of government bailouts across the globe to keep it going? Could you tell me why it´s ok to privatise profit but nationalise losses i.e RBOS,Northern Rock,GM,AIG Fanny Mae etc In Britain that has been as a result of this government's obsession with the banking and financial sector and the mistaken idea that it makes money (or used to). It doesn't. It only creams some off the top from the true 'wealth creators', i.e. the manufacturing and trading sectors. The public and service sectors are secondary areas which depend entirely on the former.

Those struggling to earn some money are worried about their wallets because money keeps being stolen from it to subsidise other members of society - and I don't mean the rich because there simply aren't many of them about, unless you mean those in the public sector.