Verbal

'English' or 'white'?

Brilliant! And it's in the first language of our cretinous royals!

Ask someone like Anoushka Shankar or Nitin Sawhney to come up with something that reflects the country's multi-ethnicity.

Life's a piece of sh!t When you look at it. Is a good verse to get to earlier. That's the only problem I can see with the obvious choice.

"No person in their right mind would try to sit on a 5m crocodile." Good line for a tombstone.

Hadith. Getting confused with Cadiz presumably

Sadly, the majority of women wearing the full burqa in this country are from South Asia (or of South Asian descent), where historically there is no tradition or requirement to wear the damned thing. Until the 1970s it was pretty common in Pakistan's cities to see women in midriff-baring saris. And anyone who went on the hippy trail until about 1970 will confirm that miniskirts were not uncommon in Kabul. And yes, you're absolutely right: most muslims wear ordinary clothes!

No it doesn't. View of his Bottom is right for once. But in any case, arguments about what's in founding religious texts are ultimately pretty futile. The Quran was written from the 'memory' of Mo's dream revelations about 100 years after he had them. In the meantime, all manner of petty rivalries and scores were being settled in the drafting of the religious documents associated with the birth of Islam. This is especially true of the 'hadiz', which are the actual source of all this veil nonsense, and which had largely been forgotten about until the Saudis decided to export Wahhabism, a particularly nasty and crude version of the religion.

Arguing with you is (as someone once said) "like trying to nail jelly to a greased piglet". Is it ever possible for you to stick to the subject at hand?

0 for 2, as the Americans say. Perhaps you could try something a little less ad hominem?

I thought 'The Ghost' was pretty good. A far worse crime was 'The Tenant'. But none of this is the point. This is not about defending his actions - nobody would. It's about due process, both in the US and internationally. Compare the Swiss court's and government's actions with those of the British government in the case of Gary McKinnon. The Americans thought they could win extradition by simply getting on their high horses - and were prepared to refuse Swiss requests for documents that related to the original plea bargain. My guess - actually more than that - is that the British government would still have folded in the face of such a refusal.

Did you read the NY Times article?

Well, maybe this is better than long post, no time...!

'When'?!

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/07/12/world/AP-Roman-Polanski.html?_r=1&hp Thank heavens for that. And credit to the Swiss for not being bullied into extraditing Polanski into the oblivion of the US prison system and its 'without parole' mentality.

Even if, as someone quite rightly said, it's all about sex?

That's what Dawkins says. Or worse: the idea of a watchmaker is wrong.

Have a gold star. Section 44 is a police-state measure used by to harass British citizens based on no 'intelligence' whatsoever. In more than ten years since hitting the statute book, and after thousands upon thousands of pointless, occasionally abusive 'stops', it has trapped a grand total of 0 terrorists. A word of advice: if you're ever stopped under Section 44, NEVER give your name and address. The police are only allowed to ask, not demand, under the Act. But if they succeed in getting your name, it will automatically be added to a centralised Section 44 list. There is no prospect of your getting it removed, and no guarantee that it won't be used against you.

Shouldn't there be some sort of penalty for winning games against fellow strugglers with players you don't own?

Yes, and the real problem is going to be with the presently disappearing glacier systems that feed the five great rivers of Asia.

Because one has nothing to do with the other?

I liked The Deputy - very 'Ventures' sounding - and Revolution Song (which is really good but could do with some tightening up here and there, i think) sounds like it could only come of Manchester. If you're up that way and looking to get a video made later this year I know some people who might be able to help you out.

Not had tripe. No food invented by the Scots could possibly be good for you. In Madagascar, I've been offered fried maggots served with live soft shell crabs that are cooked in front of you and then eaten whole. Pretty good! One of the least yucky things I've eaten, I'm sorry to say, is whale. It was served raw, dipped in a Korean sauce and then placed on a sizzler thingy for a few seconds. Tasted like the tenderest beef you could imagine.

Food and rugs from stupid animals? I have higher standards than you, evidently.