Ian84

Hi Royd, I can see where you're coming from but to me its not what someone says but how and why they say it that determines whether or not its funny. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people out there who could have made the same cleverly worded statement and it would have been funny, even to Edwards. The fact is Ann Coulter said it out of hate and I for one have absolutely no respect for the woman.

Personally I thought it was a terrible episode. Everytime it flashed to grey's subconcious it annoyed the hell out of me. I really dont know what the producers were thinking

A few weeks ago in Miami Airport the guy working behind the desk at one of the Foreign Exchange booths was talking to the girl in front of me about the £ sterling she wanted to exchange. He seemed genuinely shocked to find out that $US wasn't accepted in the shops in Britain!

Great song! Makes me homesick though

Wow, I think $25,000 per year served is a pretty raw deal when you consider the mental trauma/humiliation/loss of freedom for all those years. I feel really sorry for the guy.

According to the Times, the sentence must be carried out within 30 days of the final appeal. The appeal itself could take months.

That's true. I think the guy is actually going about this in the best possible way. He may not agree with his oath, but he took it and seems to be carrying out his duty according to it anyway. I can respect that.

Hi Andrew, As a note, the article didn't mention anything about him being an Irish nationalist, only that he changed his name to the native Irish spelling. I on the other hand am Irish and simultaneously a member of the UK armed forces. My take on toasting the Queen at mess dinners etc is this: if she is willing to allow a young fella from Ireland to come over here and get paid to fly around in her aeroplanes, then I am certainly willing to have a drink on her the odd time. It's something I often get asked after a toast.

Tommy Tiernan, on what it means to be Irish, "It means I'm not FUCKIN English!"

I recently went on attachment to Waddington just up the road from Coningsby and got a personal tour of all the BBMF aircraft from a holding officer on the squadron. Trying to crawl around in that aircraft is pretty tricky!! I cant imagine doing it in combat!

Apologies for trying to be helpful.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this (perhaps it's interpreted differently elsewhere) but in the UK the term "Paki" is generally found very offensive and considered racist. Its a similar sort of expression as the word "Nigger". Just a heads up.

When I worked on Grand Cayman I spent a lot of time in the water with stingrays and would happily jump in with them today if I was on the Island. Steve was unlucky and his is a profound loss to those who care for the welfare of animals everywhere. RIP steve

My dad had a bottle of olive oil and a tube of toothpaste taken off him the other day. They didn't seem to mind the highly flammable boat repair/adhesive chemicals he had though

I'll keep an eye out for him

You're right on the mark there. I don't understand how people can bang on about the "land of the free" while simultaneously supporting the indefinite detention of potentially innocent men, thousands of miles away from their homes and families. Had these guys actually been found guilty of anything, then I wouldn't really care that they took their own lives/been killed. The fact is, they weren't. To me that is an absolute disgrace. It is hypocrisy beyond a joke. This reminds me an awful lot of internment in Northern Ireland during the 70's. A lot of good that did.......

Your certainly right there. I beleive that in such an event a property owner should be entitled to take any action to satisfy HIMSELF that he is no longer in danger. Leaving the decision to others, after the fact, as to whether you were justified in whatever action you took is not right and places too much burden on the victim, not enough on the criminal. Some Americans wouldn't let him get that far But you wouldn't know anyone like that right?

I'll be honest, I have no idea about the particulars of the law regarding these issues. All I can say is that If I was broken into, I would most likely fend off the assailant with a knife or a bat (or a lamp

Hey Scooby, I've lived in the UK for the last 2 years. I have never met anyone, here or at home in Ireland who has been faced with a situation where having a gun would have been any use. Nor has anyone I know had a gun pointed at them. Conversely, when I worked abroad, of the few americans I knew, 2 had been robbed at gunoint. I do think the legal system can be a bit of a joke sometimes, and the thing with the knives is moronic but I think that is a seperate issue to gun ownership. What I beleive a lot of american pro-gunners dont understand is the atmosphere over here. Nobody fears being shot because its so rare that we dont even think about it. If I lived in the US, I'd buy a gun just cause they're cool, but I get to play with them in the military anyway

Fred Phelps, in a letter to Saddam Hussein, November 30, 1997 Wonder whats stopping him........as far as I'm concerned he should go do us all a favour

This story is about a woman in Wales who was recently tried and found not guilty of indecent exposure after sunbathing nude in her garden. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5014450.stm It got me thinking, are we as a society too prone to demonising natural behaviour? Are we too prudish? I also heard that it is possible to be classed as a sex offender for the tamest of offences involving exposing parts of your body, eg taking a leak, or mooning someone while drunk! Not sure how true those are though. Think it might have been in another thread. What do you think?

Wow, that does sound like an awesome school! Thanks for the input everyone

Hey all, This post was inspired by a conversation I had with my aunt who lives in Virginia and has 2 kids in school there. We were talking about the US education system because my brother wishes to attend university there, starting next year. Several things about this worry me slightly. During the conversation my aunt said she felt that school in the US was easy and often oriented more around the kids having a good time than anything else. She also said that her 15 year old son does not get homework, which is a bit of a shock to me having gone through the Irish education system! When the subject turned to university she told me that the first 1-2 years of university in the US would generally lead to a student being at the same level as someone just about to leave school back home (Ireland). The subject came up again when a friend of mine declined the chance to study for free in California for a year. This was because had he attended there he would have had to take US post graduate courses in order to make up the credit for what should be a 3rd year undergrad degree. So, my main questions are: 1. Is it worth my brother spending 10's of thousands of dollars on an education that wont really challenge him and which he could get for free at home? 2. Is my impression of school in the states way off? Cheers, Ian.

Thermo sucks Top Gun is awesome!!

I doubt they'll understand what it is. When I was six I tried to tune in some cartoons on the tv but ended up getting the playboy channel (or something similar). I didnt know what it was and just left it on then went and got some cereal. When my mum woke up and saw me eating my breakfast and watching playboy all she said was that its normal for grown ups to be naked and there was nothing wrong with it. Dont worry about it man, I know plenty of lads who've found their dads' stash!