Affentitten

The curious paradox is that by doing this under the umbrella of whistle blowing, they're actually discouraging people to become whistle blowers. Because their anonymity is no longer safe.

What's with taxing charities anyway? Don't they have not for profit status?

Yes. They allow your bag to remain clipped to the Banana Split mobile as it rolls over and crushes your jar of Vegemite.

What gun is this? It looks like something out of Aliens

Well don't forget the original and the best!

I think you have a misunderstanding of clinical depression. It's not about being sad because you haven't been able to afford a holiday this year. Much of it is to do with far more negative life experiences (like abusive childhood, bullying, bereavement, relationship failure and all the rest) coupled with some chemical imbalance that creates a kind of feedback loop.

Effective treatment of anxiety and depression is never a binary thing. Those who take only the pharma route will tend to show less improvement in the long term. Those who only do some form of therapy ditto. The studies show that those who use the medicines AND undertake therapy leading to more positive life reflections are the ones most likely to come out the other side. I do think that saying "Gee I should reflect on how lucky I am" as a route to treating chronic depression is so naive as to be a joke.

And imagine doing it in every type of weather as well.

I usually avoid gun control threads like the plague, but the point you raise is in line with the per country stats above. See how low Israel is? Yet that's a country where it's not hard to spot soccer mums with an Uzi slung over their shoulder.

It also depends on when in the Middle ages you are talking about. Prior to about 1200, lifestyles were much healthier because the big towns hadn't really started to become that big and scarcity of food was not an issue. Limited travel and trade kept communicable disease epidemics at bay. Certianly we know that in Saxon England of around 1000A D people were much healthier than they were 300 years later, based on examination of skeletons. They were closer to our height as well compared to the slum dwellers of the Industrial Revolution too. Around 1315 you then get the Great Famine and some weird weather events plus extended warfare between the English and French and European demographics and health standards fall apart for centuries.

I think it's fair to say that the number of knights did not equal the number of super-fit and highly trained knights. Just like any period of military history there were the old, the young, the inept and those whose families had bought them their entry to the club regardless of merit. Tournaments were indeed a reflection of the relative rarity of real combat. But I suspect that tourney fighting had about as much to do with battlefield combat as fencing does to real swordplay or boxing does to a viking tavern fight.

Some people criticise US customer service because it is 'fake' and sycophantic. But I say, give me fake friendliness over genuine surliness any day!

To some extent it also seems to reflect a difference in the 'professionalism' of the two forces. The French seem to have persisted for a long time with the elan vital approach of a bunch of nobles pretty much fighting individually, with great glory to be won by the people in the front of the fray. The English seem to have worked out earlier on a more 'combined arms' approach with better formation discipline.

I recall also a study done on the soil of the Agincourt area, which was a glutionous clay. When it's wet, it takes something like 250% of normal effort to pull your foot out of it. More I guess if you've got 40kg of steel on your back! Gunnergoz, not all knights were at the peak of their prowess. Knighthood was a status, not a career choice. And the ranks at Crecy and Agincourt were not made up exclusively of 22 year old males who ran half marathons for fun and could get down and give 300 press ups. King John of Bohemia comes to mind. Gladiators fought regularly and would have had plenty of training. Medieval knights would go years between real battles.

Well you also need to factor in that the population of Manchester alone was greater than most Australian states in their entirety during the period you refer to. So that's a much greater incentive to jump into the fray.

I find the whole Eddie the Eagle thing bizarre. And I don't mean bizarre as in 'wrong'. But bizarre because I am an Australian and the need for kindergarten kids to be taught about what to do if they come across a gun just wouldn't be on the radar here. For which I am grateful. But then, somebody from say, England, would feel the same way about all the time we spent in primary school being taught about venomous animals and what to do when we encountered them or were bitten by them!

I was meaning more that you have a market where you have things like the Daily Express competing head to head with the Daily Mail for pretty much the same market nationally. That doesn't happen in Australia.

Is there no end to parental anxiety? "I'm devastated because my son behaved like any other 4 year old."

Which is probably my point. I think it's all got a bit uber.

Its an MOD press release about a lucky escape. They've spun it to put the emphasis on the equipment.

Soldier thanks his helmet for lucky escape in Afghanistan A British soldier has had a miraculous escape after the strap of his helmet was shot off during his first patrol with his new unit in Helmand province. Bombardier James Hallam, from 148 Battery, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, has been in Afghanistan since April 2011 working with the Warthog Group and the Royal Marines of 42 Commando, but he recently joined the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF). Bombardier Hallam was deployed on Operation POT KHANJER 20 to search compounds in a known insurgent area to the east of Lashkar Gah when his brush with a Taliban bullet occurred. The soldiers, Royal Marines and engineers who make up the BRF inserted into the area by helicopter and then moved out on foot to carry out searches of buildings where it was believed explosives used in IEDs were being made. This was Bombardier Hallam's first operation with the BRF and no sooner had they landed on the ground, than the troops came under fire. During the exchange of gunfire, an insurgent bullet flew past the side of Bombardier Hallam's head: "It was pretty punchy, I could hear the bullets whizzing past me and all I was focusing on was firing back," he said. "I knew that one had come pretty close to me because I heard the noise, felt the heat, and the force of it knocked me over. But it wasn't until later that I realised just how close it'd come." Bombardier Hallam picked himself up and continued to return fire. A few minutes later, once under cover, one of the officers asked Bombardier Hallam what was wrong with his helmet. The bullet which knocked him to the ground had hit the clip on the underside of the rim of his helmet, completely severing the strap. Amazingly, despite being just millimetres from his face and ear, the bullet left no mark on Bombardier Hallam's head: "I thought the strap had just come loose during the contact, but when I reached up to feel for it, it wasn't there," he said. "I took my helmet off and could see where the round had hit the rim, breaking the clasp. It was shock more than anything. I can't believe it came that close to me - I am a seriously lucky guy!" This is the third time that Bombardier Hallam has deployed to Afghanistan. During the three tours, he, like many of those who've served in Helmand, has found himself in some dangerous situations, but he admits this is the closest he's ever come to being seriously injured. However, he said it's not made him very popular with his new unit: "When the lads heard what had happened, obviously they were as surprised as me and were glad I was OK, but then they were all saying 'don't sit next to me' because I think they reckon I'm jinxed!" The helmet will now be examined by experts from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory based out in Afghanistan who carry out an assessment on any equipment which is damaged in the line of duty. However, once the necessary tests have been completed, Bombardier Hallam, who has been in the Army 11 years, is hoping he'll be able to get it back: "That helmet saved my life - there is absolutely no doubt about it," he said. "I don't think I'll be able to wear it again because of the damage but I'd like the strap at least to carry around with me as a bit of a lucky charm." Just two days after his close shave Bombardier Hallam was back out on the ground on another operation with the BRF. He said he's not nervous about what might happen: "Having been to Afghanistan several times, the kit we've got on this tour is brilliant and so much better than anything I've had before. The new helmet and Osprey [body armour] is a massive improvement on the last one I had and even the new pelvic protection is great. So, I reckon as long as I try and keep my head down, I'll be fine."

Oh no argument about the dog's breakfast that was 1st ed. A dire example of what happens with no proof reading or professional editing plus only using insiders to play test. But with the higher editions it just seems that the rules have blown out to almost unworkable magnitude. The volume of character classes, special attacks, skills, feats, bonuses etc just seems too heavy. You get a fight between a high level ranger and a monk and it almost becomes like two tax lawyers citing legislation.

Pfft. 4th. Give me a fat orange demon idol with gems for eyes any day.

But can she use a sword and bow as a straight M-U? Plus she does refer to herself a as a thief.