but only after they’ve been taught enough about the UK to understand our founding principles.

Thing about the UK is that it wasn’t really founded, it just sort of happened, mainly by accident. And there certainly aren’t any founding principles.

From memory, Magna Carta is mainly about preserving the power of individual aristocrats, and putting down the Jews.

Actually, the best first aid kit you can carry is a mobile phone.

If its properly serious, you’ll want help as soon as possible!

broken bones – splint

Can I suggest that, unless you are a paramedic or some other highly trained professional you DO NOT attempt to splint a broken bone.

And you should’t really be giving painkillers as First Aid either.

I take a small first aid kit when coaching kids, but its mainly for psychological value.

I have a bagman support but found I can use a Barley or a Cadet (which is slightly bigger) without it. The lower strap just snugs up tight against the carbon seatpost and stops any wobbling. The saddle does have proper bag loops, which probably helps.

I expect bigger bags would need the support though.

Does this mean that some people are wealthy and good fun?

But are they REALLY happy?

howtf I stop it

Pull the plug out from the wall?

The monthly email I get from Hive tells me that on average my house is 4C colder than those in the surrounding area.

How the hell can it know that?

As opposed to, you know, building a spaceship

I think Elon Musk sank a lot of his own money into SpaceX?

every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.

comes in very handy

Nowt wrong with importing new words and phrases from anywhere. But they should be all judged on artistic merit.(I’m an aesthete don’t you know).

“my bad” scores about 1 out of 10. As does the verb “inbox”. Frightfully ugly.

Have we reached Peak Tatoo yet?

The Victorian naturalist style.

He looks like a young Charles Darwin.

with either incompetent legal representation, or none at all

I think that’s part of Alex Cameron’s argument. And the judge seems to agree with him.

Its on the BBC now.

“red sauce” sounds like a good name for retro themed brothel in East Berlin.

is it true that Catsup is really made out of cats?

20 minutes to make a coffee?!

Best have a pint while you’re waiting

But that nice David chap told me we were coming out of recession and wages were on the up.

Surely you must all be mistaken?

well you could look at it like this:

Beer is essentially some barley and flowers mixed with water and allowed to rot. All made in the UK. Served in England at room temp – so no energy costs, and a beer pump is fairly simple.

Artisan coffee is made in an expensive machine that takes energy to run, whilst the beans have been transported half way round the world, dried/roasted etc.

Or, filter coffee is just stuff that’s been left halfway through the process of turning beans into instant. So how come Artisan is more expensive than Nescafe?

Plus a “something and soda” is normally the cheapest drink in the pub.

The company is CALLED Artisan Roast

I’ve just found their website

The senses of sight, smell, sound and touch form the foundations of craft roasting. All of our roasting team have learned on the job, developing their awareness of these senses, learning when a coffee’s aromatics are at their height, how to caramelise the sugars, and how to unlock the flavor and personality of every coffee.

We have a collection of small but beautiful drum roasting machines at Artisan looked after by a team of passionate dedicated people. The coffee gently tumbles in these drum roasters, slowly developing its full flavour in a traditional roasting style.

No wonder it costs more than the beer!

WTF is “artisan” coffee?

I have always found it rather bizarre that the British Film industry has yet to make either a decent film or docudrama along these lines for the Falklands conflict;

There was something on years ago called “An Ungentlemanly Act” about the original invasion.

And as for ‘haven’t we done a great thing?’…. The abiding impression is that no-one really knows why they’re there, or what it is they’re meant to be trying to do

I assume thats the TV series? Does it carry on after they’ve occupied Bagdad?

And does it include any refernce to pre combat ****? There’s a weird bit in the book were the reporter is watching some guy sat on thelatrine jerking off, just before he goes off on patrol.

Are you sure you didn’t read some other book? Perhaps one of the Halo spinoff novels?

Just Googled it. Was definately Generation Kill. The reporter was embedded with a marine unit for two months during the invasion and occupation of Bagdad.

I read it years ago and still remember it as a very unsettling book.

I think the main problem with the book is that the reporter left the unit just after they had reached Bagdad and “won the war” with minimal casualties (I think one guy got hit by a ricochet and was out of action for two days).

Therefore the whole theme of the book is a bit “havent we done a good thing here and isn’t war great – just like an Xbox game with your mates.”

In the final chapter the reporter did meet a couple of guys from the unit who had sufferered horrendous injuries at Fallujah. But he wasn’t there, so his description of a guy having his arms blown off by an RPG still seems a bit gung ho.

So the book’s not inaccurate, just very one sided.

I imagine A TV series, with the benefit of hindsight from later events, would be much better.

Is that the book about the first days of the Second Gulf War?

I read it a few years ago and found it quite flawed.

the death rate for climbing Sherpas on Everest from 2004 until now was twelve times higher than the death rate for U.S. military personnel deployed in Iraq from 2003-07.

This is mentioned in both articles, and seems to be a completely misleading use of statistics.

A positively saintly 17. you can take me home to meet you mother.

But what on earth is a “douchecanoe”?

Every plumbers, builder, car mechanic etc. pays corp tax

I think only limited companies (and similar) pay corporation tax. Everyone else pays income tax? and the rules are slightly different.

If kids have their own laptops/smartphone/tablet, whats to stop them setting up their own private Facebook etc. accounts without asking permission?

Is there some way you can lock down their internet access?

Invoke the US 5th Amendment – the bit about protecting individuals from being forced to incriminate themselves.

I quite like Bregante’s answer though.

or the Battle of Trafalgar

There was that thing on the telly a while back about the surgeon on HMS Victory. I thought it was pretty good on a low budget.

Battle of Thermopylae?

I think it was done in 1960s technicolour well before the homerotic cartoon

I remember when Moulton bought out their first MTB and it was reviewed in (I think) New Cyclist. The article started off about how the guy woke up in hospital with no memory of the last two days.

I’ve always fancied an AM, but they are very expensive.

Its not uncommon for some the of support cars to get trashed during the race – quite easy to take out a sump on some of the cobbled sections.

Don’t see the problem with the baby’s grave. It looks quite nice to me.

I do see the problem with all the grief type posts on the internet.

When I’m being cynical a lot of them seem to be a bit like pseudo grief. Sort of “look at me, aren’t I caring and sensitive, I can show my emotions better than you”.

When I’m not cynical I just find them to be an emotional mugging. I have enough grief and pain in my own life, I can’t really cope with strangers problems as well.

Having said that, my family did post a few things on Facebook when my FIL died recently. As we are all far apart it was a good way of collective grieving and at least our friends knew we might be down in the dumps for a bit.

I like the addition of “Mi Lady” after every sentance that comes out of his mouth.

Nice touch.

Shows respect that

But is he wearing a tie?

I can sell you a replacement power cable for your microwave that guards against mutant tapeworm, only £350 per metre!

Careful here, there are different power cables for clockwise and anti clockwise microwaves. Make sure you get the right one.

Repost this picture of a candle/rose/cute fluffy kitten if you know a Facebook user who is fighting the urge to become a miserable old sod.

Just use a homeopathic microwave and you’ll be fine.

isn’t God a bit Homeopathic?

Given that the universe is infinately large and God is supposed to be omnipresent?

I suppose he would be spread quite thin :D

Our Price records

C&A are sorely missed

I believ C&A are still quite popular in France?