El Pibe

The ever excellent Mark Lynch on the apparent reslience of arab monarchies to the reformist demands of the arab spring. http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/08/31/three_kings

Ha, I braved the cess pool of humanity that is the comments and actually chuckled at "To be fair, homoeopathy has been tested and found effective exactly as much as Jeremy Hunt has."

I think most of those are hurdles to cross once the traffic has risen dramatically. As I said a bit of server space to knock up a web site is pretty cheap to hire from most ISPs or hosting companies and all the firewall, virus malware, backups etc is in place and they'll maintain the apache web server. It's fire and forget from that point of view. It's no point getting comedydog to fork out a fortune for a 256 core unix box now is it and get allll that software in place just for 10 people to log on in the first year is it. Don't scare him off, there's o reason it should be an intimidating prospect, and at the very least he'll pick up some good technical skills along the way. and 'creating databases' is much easier in T-SQL than it is with a front end, though obviously knowing T-SQL is pretty key to that ;-P That said I most forum software installations have the DB side all scripted out. "It is a full time job that requires a lot of work to maintain." Non!! You honestly think this is Admin's day job? You're off your rocker mate.

yaaay problem solved. I thought inects were the way forward, they're hugely nutrient rich and all you need is a bit of stagnant water.

I guess we could eat alot more kelp. Or some sort of frankenfood mangrove rice perhaps?

that HAS to be the Chap Olympics! Marvellous.

Brilliant!!! A bit like the backstory for the orange jumpsuited ones in Austin Powers. Also that Space Invader stripper was something else.

"But isn't this whole debate about the right of Gay couples to tie the knot in a religious ceremony? " I don't think so, isn't it about whether that partnership is defined under the law as a marriage rather than as a civil partnership. Heterosexuals can get married at a registry office, homosexuals can declare that they're under a civil partnership with similar rights to marriage. Admittedly the substance isn't so very different, but the nuances are important to those who certainly feel married but are told they aren't really. the guardian did a quick precis, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/17/gay-marriage-civil-partnerships

I resent the allegation mick, like I'd have that muck in my house. I was going to suggest going over the finer points of some Dostoevsky

It's not brillian, not terrible. It certainly makes you appreciate auntioe beeb all the more, so perhaps people will bash it a bit less in future. NOt to mention be a bit more concerned about the likes of Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson trotting out Murdoch inspired mantras about removing the Beeb's privileged position in our country.

I find a nice cup of tea can solve any situation.

Does this include robbing daffodils from the park? Perhaps automated turrets?

I'm sure Charlie Brown would say "Good Grief!!!"

Maxxi, add Pearce and Winterburn to the first list!

No salsaboy, not nearly generic enough. Sorry Derek the forum has recently been beset by bot generated 'hi I'm new to the forum what gives guys' posts. I too live in Le Village Champion sur le Coline. The dry cleaners by the George Canning has served us well over the years. Pub wise it's more quiet drink than party town, but The George is enjoying its best incarnation in about four years, Hoopers on Ivanhoe is well worth a visit, three screens of sport and a fine range of beer as well as music comedy and stuff. Football team is Dulwich Hamlet by sainburys, and for the rest of it head down the lane and try it out and you'll soon join in the vociferous arguments of Palmerston vs Franknlins, Surma vs Dulwich Tandoori, daffodil theft vs milk bottle theft etc etc

I have to admit, if there is a creator I'm more inclined to think it'll be more lovecraftian than a fount of altruism. Something beyond comprehension that the merest hint of which would drive man to madness and despair. A force for whom we are mere atoms, no more or less significant than ants or sand on a beach or the convection currents in the methane seas of a distant moon or a star crashing into a black hole. The universe is either chaotic and indifferent or has a very black sense of humour, but I see no evidence of a source of love and goodness. But that's me, all nihilistic and hopeless, it's the marmite that does it.

and in the great -mite schism I have to stick with the old religion I'm afraid, marmite all the way (cue joke about motorways)

The first, although I might rephrase that to say "a belief without the confines and rules by which we define 'religion'", is effectively meaningless. That's not to say it has no effect, that warm fuzzy feeling may be beneficial in the same way that, let's say ooooh, homeopathy can be beneficial. I'm just saying that if that belief doesn't define for you a mroal structure or ultimate destiny (good or bad) then it's not worth arguing the toss over. Buddha came to pretty much that conclusion, he finished up saying that religion was hokum and you're better of trying to achieve enlightenment for it's own end, that being inner peace.

I guess there's still a sort of ethnic identification with English, whereas British is an idea rather than a tribal grouping. A bit like people in the states can feel strongly 'American' whilst still identifying with their favoured heritage. That said La Piba reckons I'm the most English person she's ever met and you have to go back at least 300 years (in the bits of family that we've mapped) to find English folk. Ironically of course DNA analysis has shown that all the people from the British Isles are basically one big happy family (ie overwhelmingly meso/neolithic immigrants with a steady stream of foreign influx absorbed over the ensuing 3000 years) meaning the various internal labels are very much cultural/tribal rather than ethnic as such, so perhaps we should all just say if you live here you're a Briton.

"Michael Owen seemed confident this morning on twitter that he would be signing for someone today. Wonder who?" Dulwich Hamlet?

"Bring back UDT" That's just the sort of ignorant thing I expect you to say Otta, you are low self esteem idiotic, God I'm so many cleverer than you. ... Are you sure?

well quite, why not?

Doing it via gujurati -> serbian -> swahili -> english That is exactly what a wedding reception in Paris (Paris wedding) and a sample of the city, you can feast. Honig is a very consistent producer in Napa wine is really delicious. In general, I persuasion, New Zealand Forces of me when it comes to actually sauvs kiwi, grassy, spicy profile anyway, but I can not understand Sauvs light California style. What I like about them is they are a great option for the chard and onion mixture. The couple had come to the show and welcomed two children in this region. Princess Charlene receive flowers as a child, it was clear that a few weeks before the show was painful Albert, who met with the media away from the protest. This event is in the hands of the happy couple with a light hand and looks.

"..anyway, my favourite god is the "Superior Being" in the Time Bandits" I reckon you could be right, least favourite would have to go to Alanis Morisette's in Dogma.

"dunno but you could make a case that the former is based solely on s personal/belief/experience/dogma and the latter is a man made construct" well obviously they're both man made constructs, i think the difference in your examples is one is a personal viewpoint and the other is esentially someone else's. And yes I get your point, but you seem to be missing mine. A number of times people have said that belief in a creator, intelligence whatever, doesn't necessarily have to pertain to a 'set of beliefs/'rules'/rituals'. That's fine if that's what you want to proclaim, but it's really no different to saying 'I believe in ghosts' or 'i believe in Martians' is it? The point is, whilst trying to sound profound, actually basically meaningless.