silverfox

Thankfully Professor Stephen Hawkins hasn't taken that route Steve T and instead of whinging about the cards life has dealt him has got on with it and made invaluable contributions to scientific thought. And I bet he ould tell you a thing or two about quality of life. My thin end of the wedge reservations aren't confined to the terminally ill wishing for release from unbearable suffering. My worry is within a short time it will become 'expected' for people (mainly elderly) who are judged by some spurious criteria to be no longer productive members of society to top themselves for some misguided utilitarian view of the good of the majority/society.

Interesting article on this in today's Times by Matthew Parris who is pro ending his own life but against legalising assisted suicide "I oppose legalising assisted suicide I will take my death into my own hands. The State has no business giving me the authority to die ? or the authority to live http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article6735530.ece

I'm not suggesting murder, rather the danger of undue influence or pressure being applied by relatives and interested parties (for various reasons)leading to a person feeling they are a burden. Some may profit from this. The quality of life argument is relative and can be insulting to handicapped people or people who have suffered bad injuries. If a person of rational mind decides they want to end their life (if that's not a contradiction) in most cases they are able to do this unassisted. Why is there a need to legalise assisted suicide?

Nay. Thin edge of the wedge. If I was dotty Aunt Doris and worth a penny or two I'd be very wary of my nieces and nephews.

Can you spare a few of the old filament type? Can't stand those eco ones, it's like reading with an oil lamp

Isn?t the idea that time started with the big bang so there wasn?t any ?before?? It would appear Brendan that the answer is not necessarily. That would make sense if time was seen as linear. Scientists are now debating what time is, how is may have several dimensions, how it may bend back onto itself, how it was faster at the big bang (allowing inflation) than it is now.

Jeremy said: '...The existence of God is physically impossible, as is "afterlife"... I may regret entering this debate but here goes. However noble the intentions of this new 'The Drawing Room' section, questions such as 'Is there a God?' will not be resolved on this forum no matter how intelligent the participants are. However, I'm going to stick my neck out on this one and say I do believe in God, and by that I mean a supernatural omnipotent being who has called this universe into existence. Yes it is a question of belief and I have no tangible proof. I believe partly because I am not convinced by arguments that try to discount the existence of God. A number of things trouble me but perhaps the biggest is in the science versus religion debate of the Big Bang. Even accepting that the 'Big Bang' theory is in all probability correct, it still does not answer the question of what caused the Big Bang, ie, the pre-existing conditions which allowed the point of singularity to spark into existence, create all the matter/anti-matter and elements which form our universe. Scientists now propose theories seeking to explain this such as multiple universes continually sparking into existence and dying out again: or string theory where all-pervasive waves of energy populate a multi-verse and spark universes into existence where they touch. It's all too intellectual, complex mathematics for me, as fascinating as it sounds, and in my opinion is just a competing belief system. Evolution doesn't trouble me. By definition it's not beyond the wit of a supernatural, omnipotent being to put in place a primeval soup from which unlimited life forms can emerge and evolve (including Attenborough's eye-boring worms). The theory of evolution doesn't disprove the existence of God. These are only two examples. Over the years I have tried to read and understand some of the great minds on this , albeit in an amateur way (let me qualify this by saying in the Western Tradition), flirting with philosophy and theology. And on a more modern level regard the writings of athiests such a Richard Dawkins in the highest esteem, while remaining unconvinced about his arguments. As an intelligent species occupying a position in the outer suburbs of an unremarkable galaxy in a universe teeming with billions of galaxies and countless stars I find it hard to believe it is all some sort of an accident, mere chance. In fact I understand that the mathematical probability of humans evolving from all the variables borders on the absurd. In short, my point in picking up on Jeremy's "The existence of God is physically impossible..." statement is that we are still trying to work out what the universe is, how it works, what are it's physical laws, how do they break down as in black holes, how many dimensions are there, does time bend back onto itself etc to dismiss the possibility that higher forms of existence and consciousness can exist.

Tony.London Suburbs said: ... Just experimenting alomg the lines of Amo,Amas,Amant,Amamus,Amatis etc... Sorry TLS, can't let it go seeing as if it was drummed into me ad infinitum - Amo, Amas,Amat, Amamus, Amatis, Amant

Ermmm ... running away from a latin tempered wife instead of giving her a good seeing to, a blade 2 cheap cut and no hair wash, and a man named 'Keith'. Bit suspect if you don't mind me saying

I shall be out of the office until Monday July 27 because my (higher salary bracket) Director has called a three-line whip week-end bonding session to improve office morale. Human Remains (HR) has furnished me with the itinerary: Day 1 Friday July 24: Arrive Snowdonia 8pm. Drinks reception, dinner (local farmers' market ingredients). Please have your two-minute 'If you were an MP3 player what music would would prefer your owner to download?' powerpoint presentation ready to be delivered between the hors d'oeuvres and champagne sorbet courses. Day 2 Saturday July 25: 6.30am Breakfast (organic, locally sourced). 7am Power walk up Mount Snowdon (compulsory). 8am-1pm Opening presentation from Director 'Overview of (defunct) business model and where the hell do we go from here?' 1.05pm-2pm Lunch (carbon footprint neutral, locally sourced from Dai's deli). 2.05pm-5pm 'It's a knockout' - relaxing afternoon of fun and team-bonding games such as dress up in a chicken costume and undergo an army assault course. 5.05pm-7pm free time. 7.05pm sherry. 8pm Dinner. Please have your two-minute 'If you were a corkscrew, would you uncork a wine that wasn't French, Italian or Spanish?' powerpoint presentation ready to be delivered during the petit four and (fairtrade) coffee. Day 3 Sunday July 26: 6.30am Breakfast (organic, locally sourced). 7am Falun Gong exercises at summit of Mount Snowdon (no experience necessary). 8am-5pm (lunch is for wimps) seminar 'How to re-apply for your own job.' 5.05pm-7pm free time, pack your bags. 7.05pm Welsh Wine - introductory tasting session. 8pm Dinner. Please have your two-minute 'Is it only twits who tweet on Twitter?' powerpoint presentation ready to be delivered while the cheese and port is being served. 11pm-2am 70s Disco (Mungo Jerry tribute band) 2.05am Carriages NB 9am Monday July 27. Debrief and skills assessment 'Are you in the right job?'

immaterial said: "I miss ol' Keith (North Cross road ... Decent conversation; laying into the Royals, the forces of Privilege, Blair's lies in dragging us into Iraq, the gentrification/trendification of Dulwich. Always lively, humorous dialogue as he delivered up the best crop in the parish... Good barbers are like cabbies; community psychologists in their own way, sharing stories and information, interpretations and insights..." This, immaterial, is why I give the likes of Keith a miss. Not that I'm suggesting there was anything wrong with Keith. Rather, if I'm trapped in a barber's chair I'll bite my tongue and agree with any old tripe he may be saying in case his scissors/razor should accidently slip and give me a mohican. Also, I've never understood the Educating Rita thing about psychoanalytical coiffeurs. It may mean something to women but it's not manly. Just cut my mullet the way I've had it cut for the last 25 years and keep your number 3s to yourself.

Sorry Moos Work/live unit =brothel

pied-?-terre = somewhere to doss down during the week Studio flat = bedsit Mews House = no longer good enough for horses to stay there

Dog Kennel Hill = Sunset Strip Goose Green = Central Park Lordship Lane = Avenue des Champs-?lys?es EDT = Harry's Bar Somerfield = Macy's

Loved these two headlines in today's Daily Mail 'Go back to your disease-ridden country!' What the French said to British schoolchildren with swine flu Thousands of French chipmunks carrying potentially fatal diseases heading towards to Britain

What are the facts here?

I don't understand this MP. Please explain

Sorry W**F, I'm currently in negotiations with a number of restaurants on Lordship Lane who have expressed an interest in reproducing these dishes under licence to liven up their menus in the light of recent comments on the forum

Over the years the places Estate agents told me I was living in didn't match the reality Shoreditch = Haggerston, horrible place West Hampstead = Kilburn, you could hear the din from the legendary Biddy Mulligans Stoke Newington Ladder = Tottenham, not far from the football ground Canary Wharf = dodgy BNP enclave off Trafalgar Road on Isle of Dogs Dulwich triangle = Peckham borders

Righly so Muley

Yes Muley, why do you ask?

Two 'dishes' that spring to mind from my days of returning to the bedsit having drunk the week's food money are: Weetabix Omelette and Spaghetti (al dente) with an oxo sauce. PM me for recipes if interested.

Folding chair...check. Flask with hot coffee...check. Dog-eared copy of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire...check. Earplugs so don't have to listen to others' life stories...check. Right, I'm off to join the queue at William Rose to get some reduced off-cuts. Like Oates, I "...may be some time..."

Many years ago my uncle bought a reduced fresh turkey from Birmingham Bull Ring market on Christmas Eve. When he unwrapped it at home it only had one leg (true story). Does this count as a rot shop?

...that is off the highest quality... Unfortunate typo