Sheaf Saint

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.

Indeed. Conveniently for Rupert, it has ensured that all of tomorrow's headlines will focus on what they will inevitably describe as as "appaling attack on an elderly man" instead of the issue at hand, which is that he could not give one single direct answer to any of the questions put to him.

My money is on the latter.

Anyway, back to the point... From the short amount I saw, I didn't see either of the Murdoch's give a single direct answer to any of the committee's questions. All I saw was evasion and waffle. To be expected really, but it was almost cringeworthy.

The BBC keep repeating over and over the same clip where you can't actually see what happened. It appears the man put a custard pie in Murdoch's face. Perhaps he's the Phantom Flan Flinger form Tiswas?

Oh for ****s sake dune! Seriously. I really don't give a **** if i get banned or infracted for this, but you really are just such a f***ing insufferable pr1ck, you know that! HOW THE **** DO YOU KNOW THE MAN IS LEFT-WING!? And what the **** does it matter what his political leanings are.

Sorry mate, I can't see your logic here. Just because his dad has said previously that he thinks he should join Arsenal, doesn't mean that Alex himself actually wants to.

There's plenty more fish in the sea, but make sure you avoid the crabs.

Hang on, how the hell have we managed to allow dune to drag yet another thread into one of his left v right rants about UKIP? dune, seriously... change the f***ing record. It's getting a wee bit tiresome now.

So the one and only person who was willing to testify under oath that the people in charge were lying turns up dead before he gets the chance. Bloody hell! It's David Kelly and the sexed-up Iraq dossier all over again!

OK you make a fair point, and I understand what you're getting at. But what kind of comments did you expect on here? "Jolly good Arsene, you have been wronged and are clearly correct in what you say, and we completely forgive you for trying to unsettle our rising star AOC during the January transfer window"..? Get real. Criticising another manager for these tactics is one thing, but look at his quote regarding Mancini's comments about Nasri... don't know what should be done. I don't spend my time worrying about what other people say because we are focused on our game. But what we want is respect and we don't make these comments about players who are under contract at other clubs. So not only is he being just a tad hypocritical, he is also being an outright liar when he claims that he and Arsenal would never resort to the same tactics, when he has been guilty of it many many times. But hey ho, you must be right. He is a fantastic manager (and I haven't seen any comments claiming otherwise on this thread) therefore we must just shut up and forget about it.

Yep, was just thinking exactly the same. Signed from Bath City I believe, thrown straight into the first team by Nichol and on his home debut against Liverpool set up Paul Rideout for the first goal in a 4-1 thrashing. But that doesn't make me any less skeptical about this particular rumour though. Seems like a WUM to me.

You know what dune? I'm actually very happy (and not really surprised) that there are less EDL morons in Southampton than there are in Portsmouth.

Interesting development. I wonder how much she will confess to, and how much she will try and pin on other people to cover her own backside.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/01/24/2320474/arsenal-manager-arsene-wenger-reveals-interest-in Arsene, you really are a first class pr1ck!

Just watching Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story on More 4. Following the global financial meltdown of 2008, Michael takes a look at the knock-on effect of the capitalist system and exposes some of the truly shocking practises of some of the world's biggest corporations. It makes me f***ing ashamed to part of the same race as these vultures who prey on the vulnerability of working people for their own profit.

I fear we have still only seen the tip of the iceberg yet. Something tells me that there are a lot more revelations to come. What we are seeing being played out by NI, the Met police, Cameron, Miliband, and many many others, is a combined game of chess and musical chairs. All of the players are trying to position their pieces on the board in such a way that it will minimise their chances of being left without a chair when the music stops.