DEEJAYKEG

Well done to her on the successful completion of the event for a worthy cause. I concur with Budman - I guess you don't argue with her...

Welcome!

Welcome, Giggles! See you in Ace Mod!

That's proper snowfall. Over here, the country is paralysed as soon as an inch falls. We don't do snow very well as the really heavy stuff is quite rare and requires a certain wind direction to bring it in from Siberia and Scandinavia. Coincidentally, there's a magazine article on the BBC News web site about the Big Freeze of 1962 that lasted four months (I was 4-5 years old at the time and remember it well): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20785406 "Surprisingly", here in England, it has been raining continually for the past couple of days... I don't think we shall have another drought in 2013! Flooding's really bad around Mikey1799's home area. Is it true that you are obliged to clear the footpath (sidewalk) outside your property or the city fines you?

An East London fishmonger's musical sales pitch joins the UK Christmas Number One contenders now that Warner Music has signed him and released his song as a single. This is Muhammad Shahid Nazir, now known as "One Pound Fish Man"!

By the way, that guy poking you with the sharp object is Chile...

"Look well unto this day, for it is life - the very best of life. In its brief course lie all the realities and truths of your existence - the bliss of growth, the glory of action, the splendour of attainment. For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision. But today, if well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well therefore unto this day... such is the salutation to the dawn." - Kalidasa, 5th Century Indian poet.

Will we be celebrating for a week, again? Have a wonderful time, my friend! Take it away, Stevie...

Whilst amusing, the story is false. See: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/atheist.asp

Should've banned the sniper...

Tipped to be the Christmas Number One in the UK, this is a charity single in aid of the Hillsborough Families legal costs as they seek justice for the 96 Liverpool FC fans who perished in the Hillsborough Disaster.

"Police in Canada have confirmed the first arrests over a heist which saw maple syrup worth $18m siphoned off and sold. After a massive manhunt by local police, the Canadian Mounties, and border security, three people have been arrested and charged with theft, conspiracy, handling stolen goods, and fraud. Five others are also being sought and around 70 per cent of the delectable tree sap has been recovered.", reports The Register. Full article here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/19/maple_syrup_thieves_arrested/

Let the Wookie win... (Chewie, that is!).

Available now via iTunes, Amazon and HMV [Edit to add link to Press story] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2215609/Iona-Fisher-hopes-record-charity-single-raise-money-families-fallen-officers.html

Here are the global stats for firearm-related deaths. The USA is not near the top but about 36 times higher than the UK's and twice Canada's. The one that surprised me was Switzerland but their defence measures mean many people have an assault rifle under their bed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

I hear you, Dark. After our own school atrocity, it became illegal to hold a handgun (i.e. impossible to license one) but, of course, the surrender of all legally-held handguns and the prohibition did not stop firearm-related crime. Only last week, here in a sleepy little seaside town that doesn't even have any police station, police office or (wait a minute)....police officers on the streets, we suffered an armed robbery! The difference is that this sort of event is very very rare indeed and, as for firearm-related homicides, they make the national news because there are so few of them. Yes, tighter controls have made some unhappy but, in the UK, gun ownership is all about country life, shooting game or vermin or sports shooting. There's no cultural aspect to it in a wider context. If you don't live out in the sticks, you don't need a gun and there's no argument. Our laws do allow 14 year-olds to possess shotguns, however (so Daddy can teach them the art of shooting pheasants). Oh, it's also illegal to hunt with bow and arrow here...

I do wonder if it is the right place or, more to the point, the appropriate time to ask such questions? They aren't new ones and I have no doubt that the whole USA is feeling very raw at the moment in a time of severe collective grief. Foreigners like us are unlikely to understand the significance of the "right to bear arms" as our histories are greatly different. It is most certainly erroneous to judge a society in another land by applying our own perceptions of norms. As for "gun control", even if there was a great desire to reverse two centuries of unfettered holding of arms, I do think that the genie is out of the bottle already and the Americans have the sad task of dealing with the continual consequences of their status quo.

Many congratulations to you both. A marriage of this length is testament to the love you share, your mutual devotion and your patience with one another. However, I would like to point out to Simplemod that it is around this time that wives begin to read the thoughts of their husbands... This can be very useful if the thought is "bring me beer" or "I am hungry" but I do recommend you begin wearing this simply-fashioned headgear to preclude any thoughts you don't want to share leaking... You can conceal the nature of the hat under a bandana easily enough. Then you won't have to protest as I do, "Get out of my head, woman!".

Can we take that as a denial that you are not augmenting your pre-Christmas income by installing decorative lights? I agree with the comment about parking charges. We went over there to watch our son perform in a play and a few hours in a multi-storey cost me £16!

:hrhr:

Will dust off COD2 and, hopefully, not see the errors that plagued it when I tried using another server recently. The memorial event is always tremendous fun so expect to see me there!

For those that need Java (a minority, I suggest), the tip about keeping a separate browser with it enabled should reduce the risk. Web sites that run scripts use Javascript not Java, as Sammy says correctly (you do not need Java to run Javascript). The web site that members are likely to visit that does use it is System Requirement Labs' "Can You Run It" - one can still make use of the site even if the tool that would run on your machine does not. You only need to know the specs of your PC to make sense of the information with which it provides you.