Saintandy666

Here's Adlington - apparently not expected to win gold again.

I felt it needed to be pointed out again as people seem to think it's over already!

Calm down. We didn't win any medals on day 1 last time round either and went on to do our best since ages ago. Give them a chance. There's only been one day.

It has been absolutely fantastic. Brilliant. Better than the Beijing ceremony.

Interesting post. Just clarify what I meant by collectively, I didn't mean cabinet, more just by a close knit group of the PM and his allies(and I guess enemies as well!). And I do see your point about confidence, but I still think that global factors are so strong, it might not make a whole lot of difference. A lot of people are apparently calling for Vince Cable now, who I think would make a great chancellor if he was allowed a bit of breathing space. For example, I think his plan for a government investment bank would be a good idea to get money flowing again. But of course, this is all hypothetical and George Osborne will still be chancellor as long as Cameron is PM, bar some major personal scandal.

We might very well have the technological ability to adapt, but the planet won't and other animals won't either. And when you start messing with ecosystems in a fast and aggressive way they start to break down.

Would who is chancellor really make much difference though? Ignoring Gordon Brown who is an exception... aren't most decisions made collectively?

I don't mind him. He always worked hard on and off the pitch and always put in the top effort without ever moaning. And I doubt he arranged this thing with this boy.

Dunno who you're talking about!

Why call them the benders? That furthers your argument how exactly... And good, if Scotland do it, people in this country can see how when gay marriage is legalised, civilisation doesn't collapse.

I think you can have too many subforums. Tbh, I think there are too many at the moment, but oh well, doesn't really matter!

No, my dear friend. I wish I was able to do that though. Sounds like great fun!

I dunno. I doubt it, Syria could just build its own. Also, by looking at some information, it appears Iraq and Syria didn't get on very well in the 90's and didn't even have diplomatic ties for a while, only renewing them in 2006.

Why the hell did we give something like security, when it is so important to a private company which is naturally going to want to maximise profit and save on costs?! Madness.

Puncheon is apparently happy now and definitely wants to stay. All he is motivated by is premiership football and now he sees a chance of that.

All to do with furthering tissue engineering, which I did a massive project on last year. It's exciting stuff, and if this helps us towards growing a heart for heart transplant operations, then I'm all for it.

He has the talent to be in the first team. If only his attitude was up to that. We shall see this season.

Well, he wants to move to a London club to be close to his family. But I doubt any will take him on, because his attitude stinks. He had the potential to be a great player, and I think he showed that at Blackpool. A solid premiership player, but again... his attitude stinks so until that changes...

No doubt now though, the usual people will say that Batman is the new Marilyn Manson and still ignore the fact that their high gun crime rate might just be linked to the free availability of guns.

You are taking it to ridiculous extremes though. Oscar Pistorius is still running... quite clearly, if he was in a device that did it for him, that would be different.

I wouldn't want Dune banned. The lounge would be more boring without him.

And his body is his body and he has to deal with what he has been dealt. If he is good enough to compete, good on him. I'm glad you are getting into the spirit though... bar the last sentence, I'd agree with all of what you say. Edit: and you seem to be confused... where was I arguing that if people have longer legs they shouldn't be allowed to compete?! I thought I was arguing that that is okay.

That's different though. I would never be able to run like Usain Bolt even if I had been trained from birth by the best in the business. The fact is that I'm just not built for it. For whatever genetic reason, that's just the way it is. We are all different, and sometimes those differences mean we have 'advantages' in certain sports and sometimes elsewhere.

What about this scenario then? Athletes in the past have had a mutation in the gene that codes for the receptors that regulate the release of the hormone erythropoietin which controls the number red blood cells in your blood, increasing them where oxygen is sparse and decreasing when it is plentiful. Some athletes in the past have had a mutation that basically means that they continuously have high levels erythropoietin which means they have tonnes of red blood cells which means more oxygen transportation which means they are able to go on for longer with comparative ease. (People have taken drugs in the past to replicate this effect and promptly been banned.) Is that fair? That athletes body is different, just not in such a visible way. I just think all our bodies are different and if he is good enough to compete at the Olympics, then good on him.

Cork on