gcol

Personally, I can not decide whether a murderous lunatic is best in the graveyard or the nuthouse, as long as he is prevented from harming me and mine. Once he has shown his propensity, he has to be separated from civil society. Where is law and order if this sequestration is not done, and if those we are forced to elect to govern us fail in their duty of care and protection, of what use are they?

But sound, people insist, can not travel through a vacuum, so when is a vacuum not a vacuum?

It has been done. There is a common word for it, bestiality, and a more polite one, zoophilia. For the perverted who want evidence, google "ape bestiality". For sub-texts in popular fiction, consider planet of the apes, tarzan and King Kong. The lowest dregs of the porn industry exploit it. I await a thread on the subject "bestiality...Is it normal human behaviour, like homosexuality?", and a battle royal between cruelty to animals activists and the "everything is O.K. between consenting animals". perverts.

Because it is so often for selfish and transitory gratification.

So, because we know we are intelligent enough to know we are going to hell in a handcart, and too dumb and selfish to put the brake on, that makes us smart?

A true gent would never go out without a hat, for protection, comfort and being well-dressed. He would doff it as a mark of respect when greeting a lady, and would automatically take it off when relaxing indoors, and certainly in bed. I am glad I have my, er, built-on hat for protection. And I know the ladies appreciate its symbolic withdrawal when demonstrating the ultimate affection. Those without one are surely less of a gentleman. Cavaliers forever!!! Down with roundheads, may they get trouser rash and sunburn.

There is nothing like a good disaster to stiffen patriotic resolve and get a country into the war mood. Whether or not it was a government plot, it certainly came at the right time. But then the Spanish train and London tube attrocities have given rise to no conspiracy theories, because the invasion had already taken place, and so were not politically necessary.

1. Scottish ghosts:. Must be the clan McGhoul of killikrankie. Didn't know they had infested Kilbarchan too. He was beheaded for tart'n aboot, ye ken. Just in case we were supposed to be talking about spooky ghosts, and will soon be telling ghost stories, here goes: Wife was woken in her hotel room by three children playing dabs (knuckles). They were quiet, did not disturb her, she went back to sleep. At breakfast she mentioned it to a companion. A waiter overheard. "What were they wearing? long white nightshirts". Oh, that's a new one, can we put it in our booK?" Apparently the hotel was well-known for visitations, but they did not publicise it. My wife was not purturbed, just said that it was strange how the children had entered and left a locked room. Wife often polished the knick-nacks in church. Often there was an old lady kneeling in the front pews who never spoke. Wife mentioned it to someone else:"oh, you've seen her too. Dressed in grey?". "She just appears and disappears, we don't bother her and she doesn't bother us". There you are, not all ghosts are nasty.

As I said before: Intelligent maybe, but smart? I sometimes doubt it. Loony bins have more than their fair share of super intelligent psychopaths, n'est ce pas?

Fewer ghosts now, in the digital age. Ghosts dont like digital. Some years ago, on the Isle of Wight, the ghosts used to come and go depending on the tide. Not a lot of people know that the aether is affected by salt water. Er... today is April the 14th? Must have lost a page on my calendar.

So on a scale of artistic merit from 1 to 10 you would give it.........?

Intelligence is relative, surely. Against what are they being judged? Against any co-existing life form? Against us? There was no reason for them to be more intelligent. They were top of the heap, kings of the hill. You might just as well ask "why are humans not more intelligent? Against what can you compare? Intelligent does not, arguably, equate with smart. We may be more intelligent, but we are not smart enough to see the ecological precipice towards which we are rushing.

Is it not? How can you be sure? "Rap or crap?" is neither a sentence nor a meaningful question. As written' date=' it is an invitation to express a preference for one of the other. I would prefer a good crap, personally, just an opinion of course. Had the subject been [u']"Is rap crap"? [/u]Then we could have had an argument about its merits. I reckon: 1. Rap is crap. 2. Rap is opium for the already brain-dead. 3. It is a great scam for making money from kewls. 4. On a scale of 1 to 10 of artistic merit, it scores an infinite negative. If crap rap is the direction that civilisation is going, then armageddon can't come soon enough.

This only works for one truck passage. When the trafic flow is steady, the deflection will be static. Bad luck, unless you allow only one vehicle on the bridge at a time. The truckers union would be at your door.

Hey, who said the dinosaurs were not intelligent? Show me a dinosaur IQ test. Can't, can you? They were smart enough to exist for a few million years, which is a lot longer than homo sapiens looks like doing at the present rate of progress. They were smart enough not to destroy their own environment.

Don't take the bait of his pseudo-existentalist non-questions. He is already in a heaven of his own imagination. Unfortunately he seems to have a Jacobs ladder enabling him to descend to earth fron time to time. Burn the damn ladder.

If you google "gold toxicity" you will find some research that indicates gold can have some long term mild toxic effects: but however, wedding rings are not pure gold, it is always adulterated to increase hardness. To be serious, then, one should examine the toxicity of the adulterating metals. I have also read that even 100% pure gold is never actually so, and one of the impurities most difficult to erradicate is lead. So absolutely pure gold? Probably non-toxic over human lifespan, but common or garden wedding ring alloys? Doubtful. As for copper and silver cooking ware, they react to acids in the food, producing at least verdigris, which is harmful. dont know about silver. A question for Woelen? I can prove that gold is bad for your health, though: Try carrying 1million monetary units of gold, compared to the same value in high value paper money. Which will break your back? Case proven.

If they are going nuclear for peaceful purposes only, then praise Allah. If trying to build the bomb, better pray to Allah, and dont go to Israel for your holidays, and re-excavate that old nuclear shelter or donate a few million dollars to the government and book a ticket in a VIP bunker.

And the Pope is a closet Presbyterian.....

Just realised.... It is not the heaviness of the gold, but the burden of the commitment the ring signifies that weighs you down. A wedding ring made of feathers might seem just as heavy.

There are two possible well known syndromes here. One is layzabed, the other is workshy. They can both be treated by the necessity to pay the mortagage, rent, or foodbill.

If you have to ask that sort of question in these forums, rather than going to a doctor, you are definitely sick. Whether in body or mind or both.

When asked for advice on which course of action to take, I am cautious. I have to decide whether they are: 1. Looking for confirmation or support for something they have already decided on. Here you have to listen between the words and interpret the body language, then answer between neutral and enthusiastic to avoid an argument. 2. Asking for a genuine alternative opinion. This should be pleasing, because your honest opinion is obviously valued. This answer requires the most care and thought, because you have some responsibility for their ultimate decision. 3. Asking practical advice based on your own experience how to do something. This is the easy one, you either know or you dont.