Huguenot

What? The rubsley story? I suspect our 'London Businessman' hadn't exactly been telling the 'whole' truth there, don't you? My bullshit meter started wanging when I noticed he didn't have any furniture in the place. The thing is, if you establish laws that enable you to throw out illegitimate occupiers without any sort of checks and balances, then it will also be used to throw legitimate occupiers out. People can be such bastards. That's life.

:)) "you are one of hundreds I'm afraid, no offence meant" That was straight out of 'How to Make Friends and Influence People' *chuckle*

Well, here in Singers it's beer o'clock. So I'm feeling like a shandy in a highball.

Just to clarify Ridgley, do you see the bible as a 'literal' truth (as in it really happened), or as a 'metaphorical' truth (as in it communicates difficult ideas by presenting a moral fable)?

Too late. Damage is done.

The law's fine! It just checks that the owner is the owner, and the squatter is a squatter, before returning property as appropriate. I don't see how you can improve on that? On 'squatters rights' (not the same thing), I tend to believe that if you're the kind of tosser that would leave property empty for 20 years you deserve to lose it.

But he wasn't actually cycling when it happened was he? Correlation / causation etc. It's self-apparently life threatening to hold forth on an opinion.

Quite right Narnia ;-) Mind you at 18 I'd have been hard pushed to tell the difference between my hangover and smallpox.

And what about how long it takes someone in Brixton to steal a bus? Have you thought about that? Terrifying. Dwell. Dwell on this.

What about the ones with profits? (geddit?? oh how I laughed)

Well, I think it's hilarious. Can the next one be about misunderstandings with South Asian bus conductors? That'll give me a hearty laugh. If we could have something about Muslims struggling to eat through their burka, that'll make me weep with laughter. What about some hysterically funny stuff about trying to order from Chinese restaurants?

That's very sad :( In a typically lighthearted British approach to the subject though, it is a clear signal about the dangers of lecturing.

Give 'em big joker cards. You can make them out of photcopying them onto A3 paper and sticking them onto art card or polyboard (get at a stationers). That way you can make them walk up to the front of the room to declare them, and you'll have a bit of audience interaction.

I think that if he's at Uni he's over 18 - that makes him an adult who can make his own decisions ;-) TCM is herbalism - there's no greater insight that it can deliver. Like most herbalism, the placebo effect far outweighs the medical influence. Having said that, 'western' medicine comes from herbalism - the only difference is the application of intelligent analysis to the results, and the investigation and concentration of the active ingredients. Antibiotics only treat bacterial infections, not viruses. An X-ray is only going to pick up abnormal tissue growth. This would have been done to rule out tuberculosis. There aren't any catch-all anti-virals, so you'd need an absolute diagnosis to pursue that angle. I don't like to say it, but if it's a recent infection and he's 18.. there are a few STDs that have respiratory symptoms? One solution may be to consciously stop the cough reflex - it damages the throat lining and actually creates an environment that prompts the next cough. Mainly I think that if you leave it be it'll cure itself. It's annoying, but the quest for a solution may be exacerbating it. I forget the actual figure, but it was something like 99.99% of infections are best left to the immune system....

An open question would be 'How do you feel about religion'?

Are you going to add jokers, so that teams can get double points for a round of their choice? If it's an annual thing, it might be fun to make the questions all about things that have happened this year?

"I wonder how they knew that? Phoned home from mid Atlantic to check? Rang the speaking clock?" Not quite, they mainly just looked for anything they recognised on the horizon. The earth rotates at a regular rate, so if you know what time it is according to GMT when you are at noon locally (i.e. the sun's highest point) then you know your longitude. Since latitude can be calculated according to the elevation of the sun or stars, a good timekeeper gave you a good fix. If you keep sailing to the same place, but your timekeeper tells you you're in a different place, then the timekeeper isn't reliable. QED. 'Twas the H4 Chronometer that gave us the British Navy, and the Navy that gave us the Empire.

Squatters will always say a window was open. It's then down to you to prove it wasn't. That process takes longer than an interim possession order so it's mostly not worth the hassle. 'Squatters Rights' is something completely different Pearson. It refers to long term residence 10 years plus. It's generally about the ownership of properties that have been subject to long term neglect by the owner, but have been invested in by the resident. They predate modern property law, and were mainly about stopping bullying semi feudal lords from kicking around the smallholders.

Gerneral Knowledge - What piece of equipment did a video reveal a US helicopter pilot mistook for an RPG when he shot dead 6 unarmed civilians in Iraq? A reporter's television camera

General Knowledge - Which public transport system suffered an unwelcome visit from Dzhanet Abdullayeva and Maryam Sharipova? Moscow Metro (suicide bombings) General Knowledge - Which shopping 'mecca' had to borrow $10bn from its neighbours to tide it over the bad times? Dubai

General Knowledge - With hindsight, which Chief Executive can think of 37 billion reasons why he doesn't just want his life back? Tony Hayward of BP General Knowledge - What unavoidable disaster cost Kenya flower growers over $12m in four days? The Iceland Volcano General Knowledge - Which company caused an international political scandal after admitting its emails had been hacked? Google vs. China General Knowledge - The threatened burning of which book caused US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to 'phone a friend'? The Koran, and Florida Nutcase Pastor Terry Jones

It wasn't an argument about religion in either case. Both were arguments about jewellery. Both of them were allowed to continue wearing their adornments - the nurse on her tunic, and the stewardess under her uniform. Neither of them were willing to compromise because both of the were trobulemakers trying to incite religious conflict.

Hmm. It's probably worthwhile being specific on the Living Wage in London - because it is an official figure distributed by the GLA through the Mayor's office. The figure is currently ?7.85 - which amounts to ?16,328 per year. So according to Sue's wage summary, posties do earn above the 'Living Wage'. If you want to know how it's calculated, you can find it here.

You'll need to talk to the wife about that. General Knowledge - Which domestic weed, the scourge of many a perfect lawn, has been discovered to be world beating source of natural latex? The Dandelion. General Knowledge - To the nearest 20 pence, what does BoJo's GLA Economics team claim is the minimum hourly rate 'living wage' in London? ?7.85 That's more my style :)

Media Which experienced press controller found himself the story of the year when revelations surface about an unsavoury telephone habit? Andy Coulson Which 'Clueless' actress was found dead in her bathroom from pneumonia, anaemia and multiple drug intoxication - without a narcotic in sight? Brittany Murphy Which congenial film star couldn't believe their luck when they were snogged by Scarlett Johansson to make up for their errant partner? Sandra Bullock Which female popstar who found heaven on earth in the 80's unsealed her lips to reveal how she kicked a 30 year cocaine habit? Belinda Carlisle Which TV star died of a Diff'rent kind of Stroke in May this year at the age of 42? Gary Coleman Erm... that's all for now! :)