david_carnell

Heehee....was wondering how long it'd take you Rosie! Anyway, with my past I'm in no position to criticise immorality. Snorky, on the other hand, is undoubtably a paragon of moral virtue.

I be surprised if some Finnish guy at 6'6" and 18 stone didn't have good power! Nonetheless, I'll take a look so I seem like I predicted his success when he cleans up the division in a few years.

In the words of Bill Hicks....."kill yourself, no, really, kill yourself".

KidKruger - Another Great White Hope? His records looks good on paper but I wonder who those 14 fighters are/were?

Is the manipulation of the soft bone skull possessed by very young infants by dubious anecdote-based practitioners dangerous?

I used to get really wound up about politics but these days I'm much calmer.

I was in there for the autumn internationals and the atmospehere was great since all the rugby fans know it's the place to go so there are no footie fans moaning the ball is the wrong shape or asking for another Stoke v Bolton match to be shown. I'd agree with you currently about Oz and NZ. But IF we win the GS or 4 out 5 here, and then have some good warm up matches I think we could get close. Semis should be the goal I think and a win in 4 years time.

And if I can scrape some coinage together before pay day then I hope to be in Hoopers, Piers. Best rugby pub by far.

England still lack genuine world-class players. In 2004 when we won the world cup 3 or 4 would have made a World XV. Currently I'm not sure any would (though 2 or 3 might make the bench). Until that happens we certainly aren't a world force to be feared as of old. The good news is that it's a young team with real talent that is improving with every game. France will be a real test but if they overcome it I expect a GS. And then the real test comes this summer. Can we live with a resurgent Australia and a home-advantage All-Blacks? Interesting article on the Beeb about how Ashton is so effective because he's not playing rugby (union). Wonder whether he'll be figured out by the time of the RWC?

Changes made. Ready....GO!

Cool - keep me in the loop. It's been years since I last played (10 I think) at school so touch rugby might be all I can manage.

On 1 September 1969, a small group of junior military officers led by Gaddafi staged a bloodless coup d'?tat against King Idris while he was in Turkey for medical treatment. His nephew, the Crown Prince Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi, had been formally deposed by the revolutionary army officers and put under house arrest; they abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the new Libyan Arab Republic. The 27-year-old Gaddafi, with a taste for safari suits and sunglasses, then sought to become the new "Che Guevara of the age". To accomplish this Gaddafi turned Libya into a haven for anti-Western radicals, where any group, supposedly, could receive weapons and financial assistance, provided they claimed to be fighting imperialism. The Italian population in Libya almost disappeared after Gaddafi ordered the expulsion of Italians in 1970. A Revolutionary Command Council was formed to rule the country, with Gaddafi as chairman. He added the title of prime minister in 1970, but gave up this title in 1972. Unlike some other military revolutionaries, Gaddafi did not promote himself to the rank of general upon seizing power, but rather accepted a ceremonial promotion from captain to colonel and has remained at this rank since then. While at odds with Western military ranking for a colonel to rule a country and serve as Commander-in-Chief of its military, in Gaddafi's own words Libya's society is "ruled by the people", so he needs no more grandiose title or supreme military rank.[1

They're Englishmen representing their country in India. Of course they're drunk.

All 4 of them.

2 - he'll be gone by Thursday.

WIN! Phew. Well played by the boys from Breda.

13 from 12.... Steady, boys.

23 from 18....

Current 43 needed off 35 balls.....hmmm..... Dutch courage anyone?

Look, did I get elected or not!? Anyway....like the mature adult I hope to be, I've changed my mind. AV is far from perfect (in fact in some instances it's rubbish), but it's better than what we have to enough of a degree that it might be worth a roll. I'm in.

If there is anyone here who is acting as a "manipulative snake" it is only those who seek to conflate those sceptical of major constitutional change with little forethought with climate change deniers who ignore the evidence in front of them; and those who use such provocative language in an attempt to stifle debate. The only one of us denying evidence here is you, Huguenot. AV is less proportional than FPTP. Fact. So if the goal is to make our voting system more proportional then this is an epic fail.

Whilst I do not wish to be associated with SilverFox's unique brand of euro-scpeticism, I am of the opinion that both camps of the AV debate have pan-political support so to depict either as being the last saloon of eccentrics, cranks or has-beens is an unfair caricature. Hueguenot - your assertion of corrupt back-room deals is also a misnomer. We do not elect governments, merely localised representatives who we entrust to collaborate as necessary in our best interests. The current coalition deal is nothing more than that and nothing less than we should expect. Loz - I confess to Guardian readership and limited plagiarism. It's called first past the post as he with the most votes wins. Simples. And that is a mjor appeal for the public. I think a more confusing voting system is not going to endear itself to a public disallusioned with politics when it is little more than a sop. Fundamental voting reform is needed and this, sadly, is not it.

You do know how local elections work, right? You don't elect council workers or local authority staff. You just vote for the councillors themselves, who last time I checked, don't man help-desks mainly because they have other jobs during the day and do council work in their spare time. As for the staff themselves.....pay peanuts, get monkeys. And of course I've never met an ineffective private sector worker. My office is like an episode of the Apprentice. Actually, scrap that. That's even worse.

Huguenot - where would be without your ever incisive wit? The comparison to Australia is meaningless. Not only is their small-population, federal system more geared to AV voting, but it was so damaging to voter turnout that they had to introduce compulsory voting. I don't see how I'm cutting off my nose by arguing that introducing a new voting system, that an independent review found to be less proportional than the existing one, in a bid to have a more proportional voting system is anything more than exposing the inherent flaw in the argument of those who propose it. So desperate are they for "change" (and hasn't this Obama mantra infected our political landscape) that they are blind to the fact that change will make things worse. As a pinko leftie I feel this foray into conservatism on my part is borne-out of a genuine care to see things done properly rather than ram-raid the constitution and land ourselves with a system that no wants, understands or can do anything about. No one will look at AV in 10 years, say "well, this hasn't worked - lets try another form of PR". The idea that this will be a first step to the promised land of STV+ hybrid-shenanigans is utter rhubarb of the highest order.

benjaminty Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So far 148 people have looked at this link and 7 > people responded and in summary: > > Empty my bins > nice flowers on the dual carriageway > Handy man service What would make you happy? Cured my cancer? Found little Maddie? Had a NASA-esque space programme? You asked for good news stories and in one afternoon got 7. We know you have an agenda, the council have somehow wronged you, but until we have 7 horror stories it appears you're in the minority.