StevieM

Only as naughty as your assumption that all couples are married.

AND the married couple have to pay a 'subsidy' for the 'spare' bedroom that only gets used when the children from a previous relationship come to stay!

Was this a postal vote or have you come back from the future?

Go back a few pages. We've done this one.

That's why I've always spoiled my ballot paper in the past, as I've never had a Green candidate before. This time it's 2 Xs* for Green. (*Parliamentary and Local Council as opposed to ballot rigging!)

As I mentioned earlier, Labour also have some serious form for putting public services in private hands.

Isn't that what Iceland did a few years ago? How did that work out for them?

Only they didn't spend less money in real terms. Instead of borrowing and adding to the national debt, they kept spending off the record books by entering into long-term, over-priced PFI contracts. A bit like buying a hospital from Bright House. As an aside, it's good to see starkly contrasting but strongly held opinions being discussed in a, generally, civilised manner. I think the government should take a leaf out of our book.

Let's look at it this way. 3 years ago I spent A LOT of money that I don't have. It's called a mortgage. I could have said, 'Oh well, I don't have X thousand pounds to spend on a house, so I'll just live within my means and continue to rent.' The thing is, while I have a MASSIVE debt that will be over my head for the next 25 years, it's also an investment in my future. It also means I don't have to pay over the odds rent to a private landlord. If the government needs to borrow money to invest in future economic growth, so be it. I'd much rather they did that than continue to cut public spending while throwing money away on inefficient PFI contracts.

That's basically what I meant. I was just going for the 'tongue-in-cheek' approach.

Democracy works just fine. It's people that are the problem!

Fritz Lang/Bertolt Brecht's 'Hangmen Also Die'.

Anyone fancy a home-brew upgrade? The Grainfather. Apparently, they're going to be demoing at the Waterloo Beer Festival this weekend. Just a shame I can't afford to buy one.

I emailed Smart on Friday about the 404 error and was informed that, as @localzuk already said, there is no longer a Windows version - only Linux. Instead I was invited to download Smart Notebook Interactive Viewer. I followed the link... to a 404, Oops, page not found error. So I emailed back asking for either a direct link to the download page or a copy of the msi only to be told that, er... sorry for the confusion, but that no longer exists either. Doncha just love 'em?

When you use the web version of Express, it offers a download for people 'not frequently connected to the internet' [sic]. Unfortunately, clicking the link results in a 404 error. Nice one, SMART. Since we aren't allowed to installed the full Notebook software on more than 4 machines in a room, I was planning on installing the Express software on the other machines in our suites. Oh, well.

I'm there now! Well, not NOW...I'm in a pub NOW...but this week. They've moved to County House, St Mary's St. As of this morning, they were waiting for BT to reconnect their phone line. It's a good job you posted in the wrong forum first or I wouldn't have seen this. Serendipity rocks!

Private Eye's take on the subject:

I think this is really funny and I would have loved it... if it had been on The Now Show, or similar. However, I have REAL difficulty when political parties of any colour feature their opponents (even satirical versions) in their campaign materials more than their own candidates or policies. Negative campaigning has been a major factor in my decisions to spoil my ballot rather than vote in the past. The fact that the Greens have joined the throng and decided that this is the way to campaign has really disappointed me. Starting to wish I hadn't joined them now.

Controversially, I'm not a fan of Kubrick as a director, but I have to say that FMJ is one of my all-time favourite films; one of only a few to which I can genuinely give a 5* rating. While some of the dialogue is shockingly funny, particularly during the training, the humour is only one ingredient in a very powerful and occasionally distressing movie.

Wow! I knew I was more attuned to Green Party policies than the others, but I scored 100% Green Party! Tree-hugger? Looks more like I'm after a good, hard tree-snog!

Nor Bootle, with a 21,181 majority. (Although that is lower than the 29,442 majority they had in 1992 - but then again, so was the turnout!) That said, we do have a Green Party candidate this time so at least there's someone I can vote for instead of spoiling my ballot paper like I usually have to.

I had an email today purporting to be from Virgin Media saying they couldn't process my last payment and I was scheduled for disconnection. I didn't fall for it but it took me longer than usual to realise as I've never had a Virgin one before. (No! Before you even think it, stop!) Thought I'd post a quick heads-up on here.

Cool! A 'War of the Worlds' re-enactment! Happy birthday

@sparkeh - Oh the irony of posting about a film called 'Before I go to Sleep'... at 10 to 5 in the morning! Perhaps Insomnia would have been a better choice of viewing!

I don't have TV so I can't (although I may watch some of it on catch-up after the event).