HAL9000

???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- But you conspire on. It's still early days - once I've added the relevant Biblical prophecies and links to the Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and Crop Circles you will be convinced - I'm sure.

Could this have anything to do with the prohibitions imposed during the Mad Cow Disease era - the tail is an extension of the spinal column?

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why the correlation between oil and property, > instead of other assets? How many other assets are purchased with a 30-year loan secured on future value?

Mortgages are long-term investments - the maturity dates of new mortgages fall in or around the projected Peak Crunch in population levels - coincidence or what? Whatever one thinks about banks, the quants who design and value mortgage-backed securities have to make assumptions and forward-looking projections through to the maturity dates. If they even suspected that UK house prices might be closer to 1950s than 2010 levels in 25-30 years time - well, do I need to draw a picture?

Behavioural psychology studies suggest that the more time people spend together the more likely they are to develop a sexual attraction for each other. Familiarity encourages one to covert his or her neighbour's ass - it seems.

It's a plausible scenario - the problem is no one knows how it will unfold: whether it will be gradual and controlled or swift and chaotic. My guess is something like the domino effect. It'll start within the most vulnerable countries and spread across regions and continents until all but a few enclaves of law and order remain - that's where most of the survivors will be. Each swift episode of chaos will be followed by a period of calm until a self-sustaining equilibrium is achieved. Those who can guarantee their own survival (i.e. those in positions of power at the relevant time) will face an interesting dilemma: do they expend precious resources on saving the masses or do they let them go under quickly in order to provide their own descendants with the best survival prospects? After all, the survivors will literally inherit the earth. Of late, I?ve been wondering whether the western banks have already discounted the effect Peak Oil will have on future property prices ? hence their reluctance to lend on real estate in general?

I think it is worth posting the following paragraph from the above-mentioned article in The Oil Drum. I'm unlikely to experience the worst of this but younger members of this forum - and their children - will be alive during the worst of the post-Peak Oil decline in global population levels. The survivors (one in six) will be those who are fully prepared in advance, in my view. The Cost ... Based on this model we would experience an average excess death rate of 100 million per year every year for the next 75 years to achieve our target population of one billion by 2082. The peak excess death rate would happen in about 20 years, and would be about 200 million that year. ... -- The Oil Drum: Peak Oil, Carrying Capacity and Overshoot: Population, the Elephant in the Room - Revisited

Nice venue, good food, great company - another pleasant Curry Club evening. Cheers MP.

I keep getting a strange feeling that the inmates have taken over the asylum ? is there a cure?

I've heard that some suppliers offer a refund if after, say 30 days, one cannot get used to varifocals. Bi-focals?

I've done this with a vacuum pump - the water boils for a while and then freezes solid.

Silverfox: you forgot to add that a domestic chicken should have laid the egg and that it should be cooked on earth, in fresh water under standard temperature and pressure by anyone other than Ladymuck or Tarot.

I can't help feeling it may be a carefully thought-out public relations exercise to dispel any perception of extravagant expenditure during a period of massive public spending cuts by demonstrating that even the heir to the throne is into recycling. If it isn?t ? it?s a lost opportunity.

I'm not an expert on jacket potatoes - I've only ever cooked them in campfires ? cross-cut, wrapped in aluminium foil and buried in the ashes with a knob of butter. I think they'd probably go with anything that's usually served with potatoes - the choice is only limited by one's imagination.

Why not try it before passing judgement? If it works, it should be a fairly simple solution to implement. Let the cooked bacon cool to room temperature to prevent the rashers from sticking together then stack them in an airtight container and store under refrigeration until required. Avoid touching the rashers with bare hands - use tongs - and they should stay fresh for a couple of days at least - but you'll need to confirm that with your food hygiene expert.

LB - if Jeremy's hypothesis is correct - precook the bacon elsewhere in advance then just reheat it in a microwave as required.

The longer the succession is delayed, the greater the risk it passes to an allegedly illegitimate lineage. In a worst-case scenario - would Harry's succession be sealed by a paternity test or would he go the way of his mother?

What are the odds: The Queen abdicates, the succession skips Charles and William becomes King soon after the euphoria of the wedding? One couldn?t wish for a better public relations opportunity to facilitate such an unusual transition, in my view.

The inclusion of "crude oil fields yet to be found" avoids a graph that plunges precipitously towards a cataclysmic future far too close for comfort. I strongly suspect that most, if not all, of the middle-eastern oil producers have been exaggerating and over-estimating their oil reserves for decades in order to retain the political and military support of the western powers. If those reserves were to be properly quantified, the effect on western economies would dwarf the financial crisis of 2008, in my view. Interesting times lie ahread.

Just logged in to find the main frame ranged left with the ads stacked vertically to its right. The page width is fractionally larger than my screen resolution. The site is now functional albeit somewhat lopsided. For what it's worth, from an aesthetic point of view, I would favour a symmetrical layout wherein the adverts are arrayed horizontally across the screen at the top, middle or bottom (or even all three) with a centred main frame rather than the current asymmetrical design which looks a bit odd (to me).

Couldn't improve on MM's recipe - plain butter browned the steaks perfectly: best I've had in a long time. Served with potato and parsnip mash spiced with black pepper and whole grain mustard, a mushroom and wine sauce and steamed carrots. All washed down with a fruity red.

William didn't choose to be born into royalty - he is entitled to marry and start a family just like everyone else - in that, I wish the happy couple well.

I see what you mean - your free offers are aimed at the genuinely poor or disadvantaged? Short of a means test, I'm not sure how one would effectively vet the intended recipients, though. Nonetheless, a commendable ambition: good luck.

giggirl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > the thieves can do absolutely nothing whatsoever > with your card without the PIN number. There are now stick-on, push-through keypads that capture the PIN and relay it to the scammer - so hiding key presses is no longer an infallible defence.

There are huge black-markets for bacon (and ham) in countries where it's banned for religious reasons. And they are often exploited via foreign diplomatic bags!