Sheaf Saint

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14304650 What with the recent assassination of Ahmad Wali Karzai as well, isn't it time that our leaders faced up to the inevitable in Afghanistan: That no matter how long our troops remain there, the local security forces will never have full control of the country. Anybody with even the slightest knowledge of Afghanistan's history will surely be aware that there is just no way that a western-style democracy will ever work in a land that has for centuries been ruled by tribal warlords. The five main tribal groups will always be at each others' throats and no amount of engagement with the population by what they see as a foreign occupation will ever change that. Whether we pull out by 2015, as has been mooted, or we pull out now, the net result will be the same and the country will just descend into chaos again as soon as the we depart. Therefore, surely it is completely senseless to continue to risk the lives of our armed forces on what is a hiding to nothing.

So, one of the excuses being bandied around for the poor growth of the UK economy over the last quarter is the royal wedding in april. Kind of p155es on the bonfire of those who claimed that the extra tourism revenue it would generate justifies the continued public financial support for the royals doesn't it.

I went on one of those once in a lifetime holidays recently... Never again!

No, but you can roll it in glitter

Madness' version of It Must Be Love piddles all over Labi Siffre's original.

How about UB40's entire career?

I truly loathe this man. His right-wing views were considered too extreme even for Fox News for pity's sake - why does he still get airtime!? It seems he is almost as much of a hypocrite as Arsene Wenger as well. Just have a quick read of these two snippets from that article...

Now there's a surprise!

Although I never truly liked Ben Elton as a comedian, I must doff my cap to him for co-writing one of the funniest TV shows ever broadcast: Blackadder.

That is truly horrific. They both deserve to die a slow and painful death for this act of sacrilege!

Total agreement mate. Last week I forgot to take my headphones to the gym so I was forced to listen to the utter garbage that was playing on the PA and accompanying the videos on the large screens. I really felt sorry for today's kids knowing that this is the crap they are being force-fed by the record industry. One of the terrible things I saw/heard was a guy 'singing' (obviously auto-tuned... why do people actually think that sounds good!?) a dodgy version of The Banana-boat Song over the top of the backing track to Robin S's Show Me Love. It was painful to listen to. Can nobody come up with anything original any more!?

So if they don't like Athletico, and they don't like Bilbao, just what the hell do they call themselves!?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swKhPHzPIoU

There is an awful lot of assumption on this thread, considering the cause of death is not yet known.

Drink it cold then!

Just say neigh

And herein is a large chunk of the point. Realistically, why should we be any better off than Albania? We are a relatively small island nation with precious little in the way of natural resources, and our standing in the world is solely due to our hegemonic past where we travelled the world oppressing and enslaving other nations in order to steal their resources.

Yeah, sorry that was kind of the point I was trying to make, but it obviously didn't come across through my righteous indignation! But you are sadly right. How do you tell people who have done well out of our f***ed-up economic system that they can't have their gas-guzzling 4x4 and other toys? The problem is that we in the privileged west have become so used to our affluent way of life that we have become addicted to it. We expect - no, demand - things like cheap clothes and readily-available food and water, but most people are blissfully unaware that the supply of these things often depends heavily on the exploitation of those who do not have the same opportunities that we take for granted. What is required is a paradigm shift in people's consciousness, but I fear that won't happen without some kind of cataclysmic event on a planet-wide scale.

CBS Action are repeating Star Trek TNG from the very beginning as of yesterday. Bejeesus! How dated does this look now? I remember when this was first aired on UK TV when I was at secondary school, and I thought it was the coolest thing EVER! But watching it again now it looks almost as dodgy, in terms of the sets and effects, as the original 60s series.

Can't disagree with anything you say. The global economic model is catastrophically flawed. There are enough resources on this planet (at the moment at least, but population growth is, perhaps, for a different discussion) to eliminate poverty completely, yet we still endeavour to support a system that leans so heavily in favour of an elite of less than one percent. It's f***ng grotesque. One thing is for certain though - it cannot continue as it is. Something will have to give eventually. If you haven't already, I recommend you have a read of George Monbiot's Age of consent, or have a look at the Global Justice Movement website.

I used to love Lilt when I was a kid. I bought a can recently as the shop I was in was extremely short on variety and my god was it awful. How the hell did I used to like it?

I don't have a routine because I am field based, so some days I might have to do a 2-hr drive to be on site at 8.30, and other times I may have a survey only half an hour away at 11am. I'm still pretty crappy at getting up though. I usually set my alarm for about 45 mins before i need to leave in the knowledge I can hit snooze twice and still have time to get a shower and breakfast before I go. But quite often I will have an extra snooze and blame the traffic if I am late getting to site.

If you are not even slightly moved by this then you have no heart...

A quick progress update for those who are interested (probably no-one but what the hell!)... I weighed myself at the gym yesterday for the first time since I started going and I have lost 6 kilos, and this evening I took my bike out on one of my favourite routes (15 miles around the Derwent Valley Reservoir) and I managed to shave a whole ten minutes off my previous best time

Fantastic. Featured on the soundtrack to one of my all-time favourite films.