DaveR

Hey Alan, why don't you go tell them that they're a pair of effete middle-class nancy boys, not proper sportsmen I'd pay to watch that

"If the West didn't back, or bring about, the abuse by often externally imposed leaders, of the citizens of many countries worldwide in order to control their resources to keep our economies afloat, I doubt anyone would listen to the likes of Al Quaeda in the first place. Their hardship is directly related to our economic buoyancy. If they lived in countries whose leaders and economic systems were not imposed on them by the West to the detriment of the majority of their people, do you really think they would hate us as much as they do?" As has been pointed out, most of the 9/11 bombers were Saudi - hardly a country with a leadership imposed on them by the West. Indonesia? No. Pakistan? No. I could go on. As for ecomomic buoyancy, the whole of the Islamic world is far less important to the UK economy than the US, or the EU.

"Every where another "al qaeda" atrocity occurs is not motivated by a desire for a global caliphate, but by disenfranchised people with real grievances. You police against it and talk behind the scenes. " New York. London, Madrid?

"Do you accept the assertion that if rugby wasn't a fringe sport then it would be highly unlikely that Dulwich would have two ex pupils in the England squad?" No This youth club has had various players in the England football team, and there are similar places in London and Merseyside.

"measures with teeth" - we invade Saudi? Malaysia already is a democracy, with an Islamic party participating in elections. And how exactly did we tacitly support the Algerian Junta? I am all in favour of encouraging democracy wherever possible, but you cannot ignore that the ideology of Al quaeda is explicitly driven by hatred of our way of life, and is wholly intolerant of all the values of a liberal democracy. In the long term the idea must be to detach this ideology from other conflicts, which is what I understand is being attemprted in Iraq. I don't see how dialogue with Al Quaeda itself is going to help

When you start dialogue with Al Quaeda, what are you going to offer them? Parliamentary seats in Algeria? An Islamic government in Malaysia? The rhetoric in the 'war on terror' comes from both sides, and the last time I looked Al Quaeda were claiming they would only be satisfied when they have established a worldwide caliphate. It's pretty well accepted that the Kurds are the largest 'nation' in the world without a counrty, and the Turks (as well as the Iraqis) have always refused to compromise with any kind of autonomy. I'm no fan of Bush but it makes sense to try and resolve regional conflicts which are capable of a political settlement. Al Quaeda hardly falls into that category

Or in France, Italy, etc. I played for a team in Italy years ago, and there it was seen as a way to be different in a country where football is an obsession. Similarly, I once toured in the US, and a lot of the local players had made a conscious choice not to play American football because they thought it was boring. In both countries, playing rugby was also associated with drinking lots of beer, which I'm sure was part of the appeal! Rugby will never take over from football because you can't play on tarmac As to the best athletes, these days the physical demands are so different, it's not an issue.

The National Audit Ofice consistently refuse to sign off the accounts of the DWP because they simply don't know how much they lose to fraud. If you include under 'fraud' anybody receiving more than their strict legal entitlement, it is a truly massive sum. Tax credits are a similar scenario, with the added glitch that the way the system is designed means that millions are overpaid every year with little prospect of reclaiming more than a small proportion of it. The willingness of doctors to provided certificates to anyone who asks for them has led to a huge rise in the number of people receiving benefit on the basis that they are unfit to work, although there is little other evidence to suggest that there genuinely is a health crisis amongst the working population. It's a mess.

"I trust you people who are slagging off these things don't have any cushion covers or tea-light holders or shiny coffee grinders or vases or any such things in your houses." Agreeing to have these things in the house is one of the (many) 'silent vows' of marriage

poverty map Hope this link works Map of ED in 1898-9, colour-coded by household income - after recent 'gentrification', are we back at about the same mix?

"you can't beat a scouse accent".......if you want to get stopped and searched

Thorpe estate in Sydenham has v nice houses but is now no cheaper than ED (judging by what's on the market currently)

Mudford Sock, Sandford Orcas, Queen Camel (and West Camel), Carey Fitzpaine, Compton Pauncefoot, Kingsbury Episcopi - all within about 20 miles of each other in Somerset

There may be a genuinely interesting debate to be had about how demographic changes within a relatively small and well-defined community can result in some sections of the community feeling disenfranchised - particularly when shops and services appear to focus their attentions on one group to the apparent exclusion of the tastes of others. LL may well now be far less welcoming place for the childless (or indeed the elderly or those with low incomes) than it was say 10 years ago. I say it may be interesting....... My 'stay at home' comment was solely because it appears that Domitianus' unfortunate combination of sensitivities rules out both the ground and upper floors of Le Chandelier - but he is, of course, free to take his tea wherever he pleases.

Dom don't try and dress this up as something profound, when all you really want is somewhere quiet to have a cup of tea and a cake Stay at home

Deciding not to have kids may well be a simple lifestyle choice, but I think for most people deciding to have them, and the experience of raising a family, is a little bit more significant than that. Agreed that there are a lot of kids in ED, but that's because it's a nice place to have kids. I don't think that family size is any bigger here than elsewhere, or that living here causes people to have kids who otherwise wouldn't. Dom, we all know already that you don't like kids - whyy don't you just leave it at that?

Is it worse than your phobia about children (and, I seem to remember, your morbid fear of breast-feeding women)?

Dom, I think you'll find the instinct/desire to have kids extends beyond ED and has been around for a while. If somebody decides not to have kids, that's up to them, but not having any because of a desire to thereby save the world strikes me as a bit odd. No dissonance in my house - just kids.

A v. popular chant for visiting fans at Craven Cottage

"Where were you when you were sh*t?"

I asked the binmen this morning what happened to my brown recycling wheelie, and they said they do quite often get tipped into the lorry 'by mistake'

Over and out.

I'm with *Bob* in that no LL curry house is in the same league food-wise as places in Tooting, Whitechapel, Southall, Green Street etc. Of all of them, I like the Curry Cabin. Mirch Masala in Norbury used to be v good, but last time I went it had smartened up and the food was nothing special (tho still v cheap)

"Until the market value of the mortgaged properties falls below the amount of the mortgage loans?" - and the mortgagees are unable to meet the repayments. Being in negative equity doesn't mean you will default; on the contrary, most people will try and stick it out. I'm not aware of any evidence that Northern Rock, or any of the others, have a riskier mortgage book than any other UK lender.

The problems experienced by Northern Rock, and the cause of jitters regarding A & L and Bradford & Bingley, is that each of them borrowed large amounts of short-term money and used it to make long-term loans i.e. mortgage advances. They are all still essentially solvent because those mortgage loans still have the same asset value. The US sub-prime mortgage problem e.g lots of borrowers defaulting and doubts as to the value of the security has resulted in no-one really knowing which financial institutions are exposed to losses, and for how much, so Northern Rock find themselves unable to borrow short-term money in the markets, and had to go to the Bank of England. It's true that the government won't let any of them go under, but you have to hope that some lessons will have been learned.