MarkW

Exactly , so wouldn't you want to make sure your letting the right people in to your country and not ones that want do you harm ... I was referring to their politicians, judges and clerics more than their general population, most of whom emigrate because they don't like it there any more than we would. Anyway, that's a tangent. Trump just doesn't like most foreigners - especially ones who worship the wrong imaginary supernatural being, which is why he hasn't proposed extreme vetting of Christians despite Timothy McVeigh being a Catholic. His travel ban isn't about keeping America safe (he'd do something about the sale of automatic weapons to any nut job who walks into a supermarket if that was his concern), it's about pandering to his own xenophobia and that of the degenerate shit-kickers who voted for him, and who blame foreigners for their own limitless inadequacy. You have to ask yourself how much more likely Muslims living in the US are to be radicalised now they have a president who openly says "we don't like you, we don't want you, and we're going to put you all on a register."

Plus, what Trump is doing in the US is a massively retrograde step, dragging it down to his level of vindictive and ill-informed spite and nastiness. The Middle East, on the other hand, has been beyond the moral pale for as long as I can remember.

Trump and Farage both peddle a repulsive brand of lowest common denominator politics, shamelessly gulling the credulous into believing that their brainless bullshit is the unvarnished truth others fear to speak. It was Samuel Johnson who said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel, and so it is. No matter how intellectually impotent or morally repugnant the stance may be, they just dress it up as patriotism and denounce the detractors as traitors, then sit back in the deluded belief that they've delivered the coup de grace.

Aghh! It's the Daywalker!

Err... You forgot car crashes , drowning , getting your dick caught in your zip and bleeding to death. And death by Y-fronts... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536081/This-just-fight-Ex-Marine-33-kills-stepfather-ATOMIC-WEDGIE.html

Jim Hacker: You will agree that so far my premiership has been a great success. Sir Humphrey: Oh, indeed. Jim Hacker: Yes, and I have been asking myself: "What can I do to continue this run of success?" Sir Humphrey: Have you considered masterly inactivity? Jim Hacker: No, Humphrey. A Prime Minister must be firm. Sir Humphrey: Indeed. How about firm masterly inactivity?

Err...

And with the Daily Mail's usual grasp of the English language they don't know the difference between 'flaunt' and 'flout'.

You've got to laugh at people signing a petition to ban Donald Trump from visiting the queen on the grounds that he's a crass and vulgar racist whose privileged position allows him to say deeply stupid and offensive things with impunity. She's married to Prince Philip, after all..

Let's just say that when the tourist brochure says 'Norwich is coming into its own' they mean it.

You're from Norfolk then?

Actually the most deadly to humans is Araneus inciwincii. Get bitten by one of those and you'll need an emergency shot of the antidote: 10 millipedes of triceratops.

...when he said the crowds at his inauguration looked small because of the white coverings.

Like in Attack of the Crab Monsters: 1957 Academy Award winner for best use of a papier-mache crustacean.

You did right - the cheap ones never bring any charlie...

Nice pets! I'm an entomologist, but do occasionally branch out into arachnids when required. I remember telling my kids (specifically with reference to spiders) that it is wrong to kill something just because you don't like the look of it, but then John McCririck appeared on the telly and undermined my whole argument. I went hunting for king baboon spiders during one of my trips to Kenya a few years ago. As I was poking around in the thigh-high vegetation I realised that none of the natives had followed me in, and were all standing out in the open. "I'm guessing there's a reason you're all standing over there..." - "Yes. Mamba."

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? My company is tiny and employs six people; this client is a multinational, multi-billion dollar giant that employs over 120,000 people, takes nine months to pay its bills and still has the audacity to ask for discounts.

This sentence appears at the bottom of a tender document I received yesterday from one of our biggest clients: "Please indicate on your quote the discount you will provide should you be awarded this contract." This is my response: "If we are awarded this contract our assumption is that it was either because we were the cheapest, in which case a further discount is unnecessary, or because you recognise the quality of our work. We have always worked on the basis that you get what you pay for, so if you could confirm the lowest level of scientific competence and regulatory compliance you are prepared to accept we can adjust our quote accordingly. In any event, you may consider the fact that we have so far resisted the temptation to impose late payment penalties on your shamefully tardy accounts department sufficient reward for your custom." I'm just letting this sit over the weekend whilst I decide whether or not to send it...

Only just seen this thread, so hopefully it's not too late... I hired an Electra Glide through Eagle Rider in California last March, for a 2-day jolly at the end of a conference. They were great, but expensive (the 2-day Harley hire cost the same as hiring the Mustang for the preceding 10 days). They were also ultra helpful and very accommodating when my plans changed at the last minute. I picked up and dropped off in Monterey and went down Highway 1 along the coast through Carmel and Big Sur to San Luis Obispo (site of pilgrimage for me as it's where my beloved MusicMan Sterling and Stingray basses were made). I was going to head on down to LA but the weather was starting to turn so I headed inland a bit instead. The guy in the Monterey shop was great when I collected the bike: he gave me his personal mobile number in case I had any problems out-of-hours, but didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I told him that I didn't need the SatNav (they call it a GPS). He liked this new term, and said he'd add it to his collection of favourite British words, top of the list being 'w*nker'. He went on to explain that although he doesn't let his kids swear in the house, he makes an exception for 'w*nker' because it makes them feel cosmopolitan. Apparently it's used most enthusiastically at their dinner table: "Pass me the ketchup, you w*nker..." That sort of thing. Lovely.

That does sound pretty rank mate!

Aye, we still lament the demise of aldicarb in the EU - a damn fine pesticide. There was pretty much nothing that walked or crawled that couldn't be killed with that stuff. Interestingly, its withdrawal from the market some years ago coincided with all those complaints about Jersey Royals not tasting like they used to. Maybe they're like Iceberg lettuce - it's only the Amistar they spray on them that gives them any taste. And what pesticides we do have left have gone all soppy. Back in the good old days they had manly names like Stomp, Ambush, Cyperkill, Reaper, Enforcer, Prokill, Sniper or Tombstone. Nowadays they've all got fluffy names like Harmony, Flute and Adagio. I don't know what the world's coming to...

I'm just looking at the safety data sheet for aldicarb, a pesticide we use as a reference chemical in the lab. Under 'Properties' it says 'Strong sulphurous odour'. A bit further down, under 'Hazards' it says 'Fatal by inhalation'. I can imagine how they discovered this, probably with the help of someone on work experience: "Now then lad, I need to fill in this form. Have a good sniff of what's in this bottle and then tell me what it smells like. Don't spend too long thinking about it though..."

Guitarists wife just sent me this one from Saturday's gig.

We haven't even got a proper band photo! Three years ago we decided we ought to get a demo CD done at the recording studio in town. I think we're homing in on a date to do it...