Huguenot

Rest of the world loved it as far as I can see!

Is it true that in Ireland, catholic schools teach haitch, whilst Protestant ones teach aitch? Apparently this also happens in Australia?

On the abbreviation either is fine, but I wouldn't use an abbreviation in a prose document. Aren't the other two items likely to be very specific to national laws of the countries in question? In English capacity and responsibility are not the same thing at all. One is capability, the other is culpability. The limits of sovereignty issue is about the conflict between the rights of the state and the rights of the individual. For example the issue whether an individual has basic human rights that exceed the rights of the state to limit them. There is no 'answer' to this debate, it rages endlessly - a particular example being the 'right to life' compared with capital punishment for heinous social crimes. Or alternatively the rights of followers of particular religions to ownership of certain patches of land.

Can you get insured against that kind of thing?

Haha, no. :) The guy's name was Toru Kumon, and half a century ago he created a method of immersive teaching for kids who had particular needs! It's now a franchise. No pun intended.

I didn't realise how much the Brits were in favour of banking secrecy and benevolent tyranny Quids - seems much has changed since my time. If Britain were as small as London, it would already be a tax free state with three bedroom terraces at ?3m, but it's not. I meant economic superpower EP, China's already there. Few more years yet for India and Brazil.

I think that depends what perspective you choose. I was making a global generalisation about the weakness of sterling. I guess whoever said that to you was simply trying to take a two dimensional snapshot that simply compares sterling with the euro, rather than a basket of global currencies. Generally though, I'd still regard sterling as weak against the Euro. Only a few years ago it was ?1.50 to the pound. Although it's increased around 15% this year, it's still only ?1.25. Hardly a position of strength in that context. Somebody making an observation about property investment regarding the Euro would probably be making the observation that sterling is only likely to weaken against the Euro in the long term. Certainly a Euro without peripheral players like Greece would strengthen wildly. Ruinous for the continent, but parasitic investors and speculators wouldn't care. To be honest, since I can't see the UK being much more than a bit player on the edge of 3 to 5 world superpowers of Europe, the US, China, Brazil and India I can't see sterling going anywhere but down in the long term.

Why are you interested in it?

You've confused the attractiveness of London property with the Euro crisis. The attractiveness of UK property is to do with the devaluation of sterling by around 30% in 2008 due to the credit crunch. This meant that overseas buyers could get 50% more for their money. Whilst industry and exports remain depressed there is no likelihood of a significant increase in the value of sterling over the next few years. A global economic depression may generate a requirement for investors to repatriate/liquidate money, but as with the rpevious observation, the world's jogging along the bottom of a depression at the moment and I don't see any significant changes ahead.

Octopuses and football tournaments. If you predict a financial storm every year, some years you're going to be right. It doesn't make you a genius. Besides, his terms are so wooly that he could claim a financial storm every year since records began. So what's his real contribution? Nothing but grist to the 'end of the world is nigh' mill.

I think most 'blokes' wouldn't be so vain as to boast of their superiority and self regard. That's not so much high self-esteem as autofellation.

Southern Africa. Best bits were Botswana and Cape Town. Can't recommend Botswana enough, although you need to check the time of year for animals. Okavango or Chobe rivers :)

I once had a peculiar discussion on an unrelated issue with a couple of yanks about visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children. It was clear that they felt very strongly that this was a completely reasonable pursuit, completely in conflict with my liberal British instincts. They cited several lines from the bible in support of this (there are a couple of lines against also). I've since found out that this a pretty pervasive belief - that the families, neighborhoods and societies are culpable for the activities of people within the group. This means that they can all be punished for the actions of an individual. So although I hate to say it, the American belief that you can label all individuals within houses, neighborhoods or nations as 'combatants' just by virtue of proximity is the normal line - it's only us Brits that find this shocking.

How about a cathouse? Would shift the cocottes from Barry Road and Tyrell Road and keep them warm in the wee hours?

Pastafarian church? Only if you're a blood relative of course...

What do you think that tells us NN?

Hahaha :)

No. Really? ;)

Did you read that in the Mail silverfox?

BTW, for the Jewish, there is no doubt that circumcision is about ritual indoctrination into a tribe and a symbol of subordination to others. There is no doubt in the relevant scripture that this is a symbol used for the execution of power and social control: Genesis 17: 10-14 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant . And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

I would have thought it fairly obvious that physically mutilating someone is a pretty powerful tool for social control. It's a symbol of the subjugation and disempowerment of the individual compared to the will of others. They carry this symbol with them for life in the guise of permanent physical scarring unavoidable even in their most private and intimate moments. Whilst I'm sure that many gentiles may protest the impact of such procedures, the members of the Jewish community still carrying tattoos from the camps will be fully aware of the power of this permanent mutliation. Supposed arguments about health benefits are illogical - the practice originated in prehistoric societies where this kind of injury was more likely to result in death than longevity. The politicans in Zimbabwe chose to be circumcised, the Cologne ruling is not banning circumcision per se, but banning its imposition by others without free will. The idea that something should not be made illegal because it'll go 'underground' is completely illogical. Horrific female circumcision practices continue 'underground', are you suggesting making this legal?

Quids, you've been arguing that the Euro is a bad thing for Greece because it doesn't allow them to devalue the Drachma to create competitive advantage. What would devaluation have done to a fixed annuity? Sames as QE. You can't try and take the moral high ground here. Besides,fixed annuities are silly tools anyway - with inflation at only 3% they'd be worth only half the original value 20 years into a retirement. The long term history on inflation already demonstrates that we're never at the level in the long term.

Copy and paste is the 'new' opinion

And of course delightfully overlooks that controlled inflation (or quantitative easing) is the most exquisite and satisfying way of depriving the top 1% of the population who have acquired so much of our wealth of the right to enjoy it. The biggest opponents of quantitative easing are those sitting on stuffed bank accounts. If you're anti-QE and you're not in that gang then you're a mug.

Effort to change subject sounds like ping pong ball in tin bucket shock.