bridge too far

A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. 'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.' 'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.' A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?' Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether 'computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation. The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora'), because: 1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic; 2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else; 3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and 4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it. The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because: 1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on; 2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves; 3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and 4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model. The women won.

Awesome result. I managed to stay awake until about 3am by which time it was pretty clear that he was going to win. I welled up when I saw Jesse Jackson crying

There was NO WAY that was a penalty lol

I thought it was where you had to bang your head against the wall, whilst chanting :smt102

C = cunnilingus?

I think they've deflated him and put him back in his little box.

We've got audio buttons as well? Blimey, this new site IS the dog's bits then

I didn't realise you could do that - I've changed the setting now. Thanks x

Seriously, I don't know if it is a good idea or not :smt102 I might miss a vital patch or something if I do that (is that the right word - patch?)

There's no 'arry drip-feeding the media any more (well, not for Poopey anyway)?

Yep - I've just wasted half an hour whilst my trusty old steed updates. I should have done it when first prompted because, by not doing so, it interfered with the 'spooling' for my printer, whatever that means! I hate the way it just shuts down if you don't catch the message (because you're away from your machine).

Hey - good luck Toomer!

Roswell, I only caught the bit about criminal records in passing but my take on it was that voters were being told that if they had even a minor record (e.g. speeding) they wouldn't be able to vote! Surely that's not right. I think it's a bit disingenuous to suggest that people shouldn't vote if they're not very bright. Would you implement an IQ test before allowing people to exercise their democratic rights? The other disturbing thing I heard (and it is hearsay so I'm not BELIEVING it, just questioning it) is this. The company that makes the counting machines is funded by and owned by Republicans. The company has refused to allow independent verification of the hardware and software. And did you know that, apparently, the US is the only western country that doesn't allow independent observers for their elections - something they demand from countries such as those in Africa and the Middle East. Even the good old UK has independent observers!

I don't know if this is really true, but it was reported on the news over the weekend that in some places potential Democrat voters were told to vote on 5 November! And also that people in the queues were told they couldn't vote if they had any sort of criminal record. Interesting article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7686438.stm

Nope - no contest. You said, and I quote, "people are desperate for Obama without really knowing him at all...and they say that those who read the daily mail are sheep...the irony". You made no reference at all to the McCain campaign. Your logic is fatally flawed

The history of CORGI makes for an interesting read: http://www.trustcorgi.com/about/about.htmx

I THINK (but I'm not sure) that the point he is trying to make is this. People are rooting for Obama 'without really knowing him' and therefore, by some twisted logic must be believing everything they read in the press. However, the logic fails. As St warwick said, we could equally deduce that the people who are rooting for McCain (without really knowing him) also believe everything THEY read in the press too :smt102 Voters can only make up their minds by reading the press and listening to the candidates. It's not the same at all as reading a paper and then joining in, lemming-like, to condemn a broadcast that was largely unheard by those condemning it. It's like comparing apples and potatoes

They're doing a minute's silence for Paula Pooton on Saturday aren't they? Perhaps they'll combine the two?

Will we have 3 posts from Morph tonight, I wonder? I hope so.

You might find this document useful: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/explanatorybooklet.pdf You need to scroll down a few pages, but it's quite clear there that you need either to get Building Control to look at the work if you do it yourself or you need to get a CORGI registered fitter to do the work for you. I think it's Part J of the Building Regulations. As has been said earlier, if you do it yourself and it doesn't get Building Regs approval and it goes wrong, not only will your insurance be invalidated but you could be liable if you caused to damage to anyone else's property (due to explosion for example).

I reckon he meant to write 'African American'.

Has their new stadium got Outline Planning Permission yet? I can't remember. If it hasn't, then only concept plans need to be drawn up for OPP. If it has, then detailed plans DO need to be drawn up but for Full Planning Permission but, FFS, it's only a football stadium. Err - seats, pitch, offices, changing rooms. Not exactly rocket science, is it

The connection between bum cheeks and great crack did make me lol

DST = Deliberately Stupid T wat :smt102

Yep, I'm really worried that the votes will be rigged again. Although how, in the face of all the opinion polls, that could pass without investigation, heaven only knows. But then, this is the USA we're talking about