NJS

I think its about degrees - a woman politician was shot dead in Pakistan last week by a Muslim nutjob because she refused to wear the veil and had encouraged others not to - now you can argue that he has to be "a bit mad" to kill someone anyway but the fervour with which some people are indoctrinated with Islam (and others) could be said to be a form of conditioning - if its hammered into you that immodest women are "evil" then combined with a disposition to violence something can give too often. Fair enough thugs who beat up gays may not go as far as "God told me to do it" but the fact that someone, somwhere who may have had a say in their early life is willing to say "thats just" isn't exactly helping matters. I've said before on here that I think paedophilia may be "hard-wired" for want of a better phrase and perhaps should be treated rather more than punished (not popular I know). If it is like that I don't think it "excuses" their actions but at the same time thats a bit different than an outside influence "coercing" them into thinking its right which is what I was reffering to.

So Cath do you want a day of Michael Owen's pay or a day of Paul Huntingdons? Maybe you should write to all of our players and ask them to adopt one of you each for the day.

The blasphemy challenge wasn't Dawkin's "thing" - the link may be there but it was created by someone else. The thing you have to realise is that being even able to say what he does is relatively new (and still would have him killed in some places). As he has argued there has been a "taboo" about all out criticism of religion for years. I think the harsh reaction he gets from people like you shows that you're not used to it and I've seen articles saying atheists should back off out of this misguided respect. As I say I don't care what people believe at a personal level but that shouldn't give them any more rights than other people. A good example was the catholic adoption thing. 1.7% of the citizens of the UK are church-going catholics and according to "official" figures 6% are gay. On a simplistic democratic basis the catholic church has absolutely no right to demand exemptions from laws which affect more people than it "represents". I know this was specific to agencies run by them but the same applies to the CofE who wanted to be exempt from the same laws with regards to sex education in their faith scools. They want to continue teaching that homsexuality is "evil". The fact that a large number of the assaults and even murders carried out on gays have this kind of "excuse" and the people actually quote religion means I'd have the bishops on an accesory charge.

He is managing director of hat trick promotions. That was the cause of the fall out I think - probably a moral somewhere there about going into business with your best mate.

Terrorists who truly believe a place in paradise awaits. Barbaric mysoginy of Islam. Sectarian conflicts worldwide. Bishops in the house of lords. Presidents who consult God before starting wars. Faith schools teaching creationism. Churches wanting exemptions from laws to be able to preach bigotry. Anti-abortion campaigns. Anti-condom campaigns relating to AIDS. Anti-contraception campaigns in the third world which increase poverty. Anti-stem cell research campaigns. Child abuse with related cover-ups. Being told I have no morals because I'm an Atheist. Despite my denial of its existence many theists "hope and pray" I will burn in hell for eternity - what a very generous notion for a fellow human. Thats my list off the top of my head - as for Dawkins I think he feels the "dismissal" of evolution (which isn't exclusive to the USA) to be a huge crime which I agree with but feel he doesn't go far enough with the above.

Don't know if its still there but there was a club in Preston called the Warehouse which was absolutely brilliant - went there about 10 times as we used to stop with a mate nearby for north-west games and the two semis.

I agree that its "possible" that there is a God who oversees more than one planet or indeed the universe but as I've said before thats not the God most people believe in. The major religions betray theie "gang-forming" roots by emphasising the "one true faith" and "chosen" parts of their dogma which makes their gang pretty small for this planet let alone any other possible planets. On your second point we've come a long way in the past 50 years in understanding the universe but nobody denies theres still some huge questions. I read today that a landmark in the building of CERN has been reached which will hopefully provide more answers. We should have hope and dare I say it faith that we will be able to find these answers - what we should not do is give up and just say "something bigger than us did it".

When the major religions were formed their view of the world and the "universe" made a sort of sense. Now we know that view is nonsense. Take away the ludicrous history and celebration of violence and genocide in the bible and the Koran and you are left with a few "be nice to each other" platitudes that all human civilisations whether thay are "Chosen" or not have generally lived by - like everything else about us morals have evolved - they were not handed down on stone tablets. As I said before literal biblical creationists strike me as more honest than those who accept "the truth" - one view of God in context makes sense - that same God in the context of the universe is ridiculous. On science Vs Religion itself - my view is simple - you seek knowledge and hopefully find uses for it or you give up any sense of intelligence and recite "God did it" to anything troublesome. If it makes you happy then fair enough but stop telling rational people how to live their lives.

Head On by The Pixies or Wild Horses by The Sundays - in general I hate cover version on principle but those two are exceptions. Worst - Tin Tin Out - Here's where the story ends or that Pet shop boys one where they tried to take the piss out of Where the streets have no name - both capital offences.

My Dad died 15 years ago - never had a problem with him - he was a damn good man. My Mam who was an inspiration to me in trying to always find the best in people died last May - this may sound preachy but those of you who've lost touch or have problems - I'd echo the urges to get them sorted before....

Its just one person at the moment but you know it will "expand" - its the Da Vinci code all over again - "this novel is pure ficion - I know this to be true by reading the gospel". Re-reading I realise he was probably speaking with his archealogy hat on (like Indy's?) rather than as a gospel believer so maybe I was too hasty but the overall point still stands.

I love the way "the atheists" are so quick to rubbish people's religious beliefs and then whine about the intolerance and hypocrisy of religion. I make no apology whatsoever for pointing out the sheer stupidity of "the bible says it therefore its true". Utter bollocks at that level needs rubbishing constantly while the irrationals have so much power.

I think its nonsense but love the way the Theists say "its impossible" so strongly without a shred of evidence for their version. I saw Cameron on one of the documentary channels claiming some bollocks about Noah's ark - I couldn't work out whether he was just promoting a film idea or is another bible literalist moron - that and the above story supports either conclusion.

Not sure about the date thing but the usual moans about "American English" are down to them not evolving (how ironic) the language as muc as we have. Things like color were how thing were spelled in the 16/17th century but we added the "u" in the meantime. Thet also use words we used to use like "furlough" for a holiday that have fallen out of usage. The classic "aluminum" is however them being twats - they discovered it but blatantly refused to follow the international standard of metals ending in "ium" which we corrected for them but they wouldn't follow suit. Getting back to dates from a geek pov as someone who has torn his hair out over the years because of the way dates work and the different formats I'd prefer it if we could adpopt some kind of Trek like decimal system.

I've read a lot about evolution in the last couple of years and it had previously puzzled me how if we and the chimps had a common ancestor then how come we "left them behind". As I understand it animals only evolve when they need to - things like crocs have stayed the same for about 200m years as they are "perfect" for their notch in the environment. Also we evolved as the forests of Africa gave way to savannah and we had to adapt. My point is that maybe the "pressure" we are putting on the chimps by changing their environment could cause them to evolve at an increased pace with examples like this illustrating it - unless of course we make them or us extinct all together we could see them "join us" in a couple of million years. Then again I was flicking through a Sci-Fi anthology I hadn't got around to reading which has stories which complement "epic" series of novels and the synopsis for one of them has a future in a few hundred years time where we have genetically "uplifted" Chimps and Dolphins to our intelligence level - I can imagine that being feasible.

Reading, V and Muse at Wembley for me.

Best: Dogma Worst: Escape to victory

"a" as opposed to the "the" means Liverpool have 7 you thick scouse bastard.

1. I've finally managed to salvage most of the data from an HD containing my "new" TV to watch which has been dead for about 3 months - fucking ecstatic (it includes loads of movies as well) 2. Finally just about got over a nasty cold which was followed up by a cough which lasted another 7/10 days after 10 days of cold so feel vaguely human - will get back to the gym and out on my bike this week. 3. I've had an itchy arse all day. 4. I logged on to work yesterday and cracked a big problem which has been bugging me all week - woke up yesterday with the solution (self-confessed sad geek bastard). 5. Because of 1,2 and 4 above I think I'll treat myself to a curry tonight (although that might make 3 worse).

Its perfectly possible for a bald woman to be sexy - however I don't think it suits this particular one.

Its the same old story for me - NUFC refuse to be as "professional" as other sides. Bolton/Allardyce/Diouf have decided to stick their oar in in order to stir up trouble for us. Why don't we complain about Diouf's gestures to the crowd when he scored? Why is that Babyaro gets done for "unseen" incidents so easily but other clubs' players get let off all the time. There was an incident a few weeks ago on goals on sunday where two teammates exchanged punches - no red cards and no FA/police charges - why not? Why did nobody point out that Everton continue to attract probably the most racist fans in the EPL as .COM mentioned? If theres any truth in the allegations then fair enough he has to go but I'm sick of us trying to win some "fair play" award while other clubs laugh at us as they get away with murder.

Cheers - just one of those random thoughts that drive you insane when you can't think who it was.

Shite "nu-metal" song about 3 or 4 years ago called "butterfly" - lead singer with fully tattooed arms. Band? TIA

A good read - Was at the match and remember my mate getting a text at 4-1 off my other mate who was in Tenerife with the wife and kids which read: "In a bar full of the red & white cunts - absolute fucking heaven" To give them so much hope and then cruelly take it away was brilliant - much like the disallowed goal from the previous one. Would have liked 5 - 4-1 has bad memory connotations in derbies for me.

Which lower league teams do that? Can't think of any in League One Wolves? I'm sure somebody plays Tom Hark but I can't think who at the moment.