NJS

Yeah simple - make going away so pointless nobody bothers anymore. Chuck in short notice time changes and we'll be laughing.

If you're going to argue religion is rational beacuse of typically human "irrational" emotions like a sense of belonging to a group then exactly the same argument applies to racism. My view is that most if not all "base" human emotions can and should be conquered by intelligence combined with empathy.

Exactly - it's the old "treat them like animals" scenario. Controlling coaches may make sense when we play the Mackems or Boro but the simple fact that whoever makes these decisions can't see why Plymouth deserve a special case illustrates for me what utter cretins they are. I think the "sanitisation" of Football which I've argued before has some elements I don't like, SHOULD have meant a change in attitude from the authorities leading to more flexibility. Theres another article in the Guardian today (as well as one about the Mackem CS debacle) about Stoke fans being mistreated bady in Manchester again (payback for the compen I'd guess) and once again featuring fans being forced to get trains back to the club town no matter where they've come from - something I've had to argue my way out of in the past. I think it's the case that the police are feeling cocky at the moment with the anti-terror laws imbuing them (they think) with extra powers and convenient targets new or old are feeling the brunt of things. I'm not naive enough to think daftness has been eradicated from Football but a lack of recognition of how things have changed is nothing short of criminal imo.

They are and have been building a country for years where they won't get any respect and will have to "rule" by intimidation and fear. From the 70s onwards, Blacks, Gays, Irish, football fans, Miners, various "hippy" protestors and probably most recently Muslims have joined the list of people who are assumed to be criminals because of the actions of a few. I honestly think they will pay for it years to come. As that list of "scum" increases, they will find fewer and fewer people willing to excuse them and their excesses which will be reflected in people not wanting to join them all the way through to people looking the other way when they are in trouble. I will have absolutely no sympathy for them when those days arrive.

Possibly - though sounding a bit un-PC I think implying that it was going to be so much of a danger for the vast majority of heteros may have been a bit much (although I concede that it was a lot of guesswork). I suppose its more of a criticism of people rather than the campaign in that even if they had deliberately exagerrated straight infection rates with the intention of scaring people into safer lifestyles I'm not convinced it worked. I think STD infection rates prove that.

Anyone to the left of LM which covers 90% of the known and unknown universe.

I think the point that the scenario first raised in the 80 when it arose and the ad campaign that went with it in the UK has proved to be greatly exaggerated is a fair one which can be made even knowing the wider worldwide picture. Having said that the number of people including some I know who still don't have safe sex (for a multitude of other reasons than AIDS) is still terrifying - if it had been as "easy" to catch as suggested, the death toll would have been immense.

I'm a huge House fan and can't help thinking that there are so many pathogens out there just waiting for their chance (I know it's dramatic licence and the cases are one in a million but still....) I also think it's well within the stupidity boundary of the human race to release viruses (either deliberately or accidentally) which could seriously threaten the species - as I've said before maybe not a bad thing from a quality of life for the surviving humans but still a pisser for most of us. As you say really good stuff is probably too late for us but I would that that illustrates the ethical side of these advances - I wouldn't mind a life that lasted longer but progressed at a slower rate but wouldn't want to live another 60 years as a 60 year old if you see what I mean.

Renton you seem to be both over and under-estimating the proportion of deaths due to cancer. What I was getting at is that a fair proportion (not sure of exact figures) of deaths are down to cancer of some form. Some will probably be due to "modern" life but I still think its a "natural" killer of all animal life that to some extent we weren't supposed to conquer from an evolutionary pov. I also think cancer is now getting more people who have just survived to a decent age and aren't that unhealthy - my Mam died of lung cancer but my view was that as she was 82 it wasn't the absolute tragedy it would have been if she had been 42 (not diminishing the personal loss of course). However there are atill many other killers out there which would still be around if the magic cancer pill was found. Obviously you and Chez no more than I do but I don't see how "fixing" DNA so it never allowed cells to become cancerous wouldn't help in the defence of viruses or bacteria so "immortality" to me would have to involve some use of a super-efficient immune system (probably via nanobots) to be possible.

Obviously only as interested reader/human, I never assumed there would be a "cure all" for cancer - I assumed the accumulation of all of the different stratagies for all the different types would eventually be "almost certain" to cover everything. I think its also the case that pissers where non-old people get cancers aside, its probably true that our species are "supposed" to succumb to some form of death pretty much before modern medicine now allows.

I don't know what Chez and Renton's take on this is but I've always suspected the limiting factor in the fight against cancer or indeed AIDS is finance - I remember arguing that the £25bn the government wanted to spend on Trident at the time would just about do the trick for cancer. Bollocks or not?

No but perceptually a vaccine which worked as well as the Polio or Smallpox ones would feel the same as a cure to people.

I'd want 33% to increase to 100% before I'd try it. Note also they were all given safe sex advice as well - the danger in a vaccine or cure for HIV is that people will see it as a licence to go bareback again.

Stopping foreclosures would be a good thing in my view - the rabid pace with which the banks pursued so many was the root cause of their downfall. Translating the mortgages to rent until the market picked up again would have been a lot better as the toxic assets would only have been temporarily smelly.

Didn't he give up, then die from cancer anyway? Some punchline that like. Pancreatic cancer though.

It was certainly a shame that after Cole/Ferdinand/Shearer it fell to Martins - not exactly Rob MacDonald but still pale in comparison to the other 3. As long as we get rid of Shola before he gets his hands on it.

Funniest I've seen live or probably on vid - however Hicks is still my favourite because of the edge/cleverness of his material.

There are a few comics who I think are quite funny on panel shows etc but when I've seen them as stand-ups I've not found them funny at all - Noble, Izzard and Moran are examples of those. In contrast I can't stand Alan Carr or Russel Brand on panel shows but have found their stand-up to be excellent.

Nowt compared to when Mirandinha did it...... twice! Another worky little twat (but not as much of a twat as Bellamy) I still consider his riot-inducing badge/kiss wave to the kop in 88 to be in my top 5 moments in Football.

He used to do that for us as well. Yeah but context is everything - don't tell me he doesn't know the context having played for the Scousers.

I'm sure it won't just be me but did anyone else notice a subtle "aeroplane" element to his celebration after the third goal?

Of course the added time is corrupt but how many times did Hughes benefit when he played for the cunts? Roy Keane syndrome I call it - he's forgotten different rules apply for "united" compared to the rest.

Just consulted with my Blackburn workmate: "Good, steady, reads the game well, will be a good player at that level - being kept out by 3 better players".

Yeah but as it happens I'm stuck at work because the trains are completely fucked tonight by a tree falling on the lines

If you appoint someone to a board with the title of executive director (football) then that person has total responsibility for the on field results of the club. Let's cut all the shit about signing players or spotting youth talent or his role in Keegan's exit - that was the bastards title. On that basis relegation is complete and total failure.