Impasse in Northern Ireland's Race To Be Silly, as the Paisleyite Unionists fail to obtain a court injunction that would prevent the election of a first minister. They do win a blocking motion in the house, but that's only good until tomorrow, and only prevents a vote, not the debate.

Domain Attractions Rev Victoria W:
The lovely Chelle has given me some advice on setting up my own website. I've figured out the registering a name thing (some bastard took muruch.com and wants $200 for it!),
muruch.org? muruch.net? muruch.ie? muruch.us? .ee? .cu?

Life isn't just dot coms...

but as far as web hosting, I'm clueless. Can anyone recommend a low priced, but dependable web host?
My company uses Astrohosts, based in London. Prices are ouch expensive.

paulo:
Why would Victoria want to be hosted under Fidel Castro's regime, though? Beats me.
Dot see you? It's good for a laugh. Once.

The Tories refuse to sign a piece of paper that claims to back Islamic Awareness Week. The statement, put forward by a microscopic pressure group so small it has no memorable name, waffles on about "tolerance" and "understanding", both qualities distinctly absent in all Abrahamic religions. The Tories have declined to sign up because they don't agree with the concept of pledges and awareness weeks. Those are liberal ideas, promoting the victim culture, and nothing much to do with their politics. The other side will use the debate for political capital, claiming that "if you're not with us, you're against us." This is a really simplistic idea, put about by simple people.

The Wonderfulness of Television tvbarn is the coolest tv web site ever to come out of Kansas.

One feature is the Test Patterns, worked by Tom Heald. It looks back at great, and not-so-great, television from history. One entry is pertinent.

November 10: in 1994, a school dance provides no tension or drama at all on ABC's "My So-Called Life." It's just that Brian wants to go with Angela who would rather go with Jordan, while gay teen Rickie wants to attend with Corey, who'd rather go with Rayanne. Nah, too complicated. Let's watch "Friends" instead.

We also learn that Kilcher and Amos are due to appear on consecutive editions of Leno from Tuesday next week (Amos on CNBC Europe 20:30 CET on November 24. Provisionally.)

Over on Slate, they're saying just how brilliant Buffy is, and noting how the show "boasts the least stupid shows ever done on date rape, teen suicide, and seducer teachers." And there's fab acting from Hannigan and Trachtenberg.

byron c go, on 24:
Well... let's see. All I will say about the episode itself for now is that the first hour really was like wathcing a movie, commercials notwithstanding.
It was only the first episode, though. I'd like to see if they can keep this up. Sounds good. Wonder who will pick it up here.

So far, my picks for best new show of the season:
* Undeclared
* Pasadena
* Alias
And thanks for the head-ups on those. More to keep looking for.

"Hey... if the premise of this show really is that everything happens in real time, i.e. one second of story time equals one second of air time, then if I were the bad guys I'd do the dirty work during commercials!" - me
This is the problem (: Gotta love the BBC.

obDawsons Rev Victoria W:
God help me I'm participating in a Dawson's Creek thread. What has that Irish boy done to me? Don't answer! ;)
Shall we list the great things, the brilliant things, or the merely good things. Suppose it depends on how many terabytes of information you want.

Pacey and Jen are the only reasons I like DC. They are adorable and I'd be with either of them...or both of them..but I'm a whore. Anyway! I had the sad revelation this week that there are bits of me in every DC character.
What, even Aunt Amy? Well, yes, there's a lot of Victoria in Aunt Amy. Not sure about the woman who buys chocolates, though.

Sorry, I'm getting confused with Daria there. Easy mistake to make.

What, even Bessie, who comes in, says her line, then leaves for six weeks? I thought that was someone else's role.

Victoria
who got a raise today!
Well, that's good news. Raises are good. More money is good. Yes, I *am* sounding like characters from Buffy.

Concentrating the party's grip on power The final stage of The Party's reform to the House of Lords was unveiled today - to a chorus of disgust from constitutional campaigners, opposition parties, some of the Lords and its own MPs. The proposals in a nutshell:

• Cap the size of the second chamber at 600 members. ..reasonable..
• Axe the remaining 92 hereditary peers. ..nope - keep them on till they want to retire
• Have 20% (120 members) elected directly by the public. ..only 20%? make it 40%
• Another fifth of members - 120 - will be appointed by an independent appointment committee. ..only 20%? try 50%
• Power over secondary legislation reduced from veto to delay. ..an elected component confers veto legitimacy.
• A commission will ensure new appointments contain a minimum of 30% women, and represent the regions and ethnic minorities. ..like this isn't patronising of the worst kind..
• Break the link between new members and titles ..if you must..
• Reduce the number of bishops from 25 to 16. ..how about 0..
• "Capping" the total membership at 600 will take place over a 10-year tranistional period. ..fair call

Earth Comes To Unexpected End Veteran satirical magazine Private Eye marks its 40th birthday by winning a libel action for the first time. The victory, against a crooked accountant, results in a payout of �100,000 from Peter Carter-F uck to the organ.

Yes! It's Things They Didn't Know On The Weakest Link!

• How to play conkers.
• The Temple Mount in is Jerusalem.
• The inventor of glasnost was Gorbechov.
• Anne Robinson will not ask self-referential questions.
• Milton Keynes is in the midlands. (Look, I just write these down...)
• Camp David is not in Montana.
• Benny, Choo-Choo, Brains. Top Cat.
• One F in professional, please.
• Mr Yellowshirt did not win le Tour de France.
• "It" does not have three letters.
• Mars and Jupiter do not appear in The Nutcracker Suite.
• In three feet, there are not two inches.
• The fruit of the oak tree is not the conker.
• Spain is not an island.
• The last fluff cost �9,350.

Prime Minister Resigns! Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish unexpectedly quits after it became clear he had sublet his constituency office during his time as a Westminster MP, and trousered the profits.

Rose Hits Thorn Charles Windsor, the well known architechtural bore, has been slapped around the chops by a red flower while on a visit to Latvia. The bloom-wielding protester, believed to be a fan of modern building techniques, was taken away by police in Riga and awarded the freedom of the city.

How To Talk Proper byron c go:
Have you been doing your speaking exercises?
"Duhrb-yehr."
"Yes, quite."
On a not-unrelated tip, anarcho-newscaster Christopher Morris has been at it again, using the fact that every paragraph intoned by the Republicans' chief spokesdrone sounds exactly the same as all the others. Bushwhacked (293K).

Now, do you want to be confused with someone who could make that sort of elementary mistake? No? Well, repeat after me:

"Hermionie" (Note: if you can get this right, you're already doing better than Anne Robinson.)

"In Harrow, Haringay and Hackney, happenstance hits hares."

"Polish precipitation prevails in Krakow and Korscoi."

"The mainframe complains about the strain."

Jaeda is yet again clueless, but I've been walking around the house all day saying it.....
it's "dubya" but with a kind of english accented twist
Really?
[says it]
If you insist, old bean. Most learned speakers would attempt to imitate the imitation Texas twang, and use "DUBB-ya." Those who put it into RP might go for "Duhrb-yahr". Or "Wuh," as in "Former Texas governor George 'Wuh' Bush."

It's an MFI Friday day. It just drags on, and on, and on, without so much as anything happening.

Afghanistan's Northern Alliance claims to have entered the key northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. A spokesmullah for the opposition group said the ruling Taleban appeared to have abandoned the strategic stronghold.
The UK Government is to publish statements by Osama bin Laden which it claims incriminate him in the US attacks. A dossier will include details from videos produced by bin Laden and circulated around the Arab world since September 11. "He has made self-incriminatory statements about September 11," Snappy Campbell said.

English professional footballers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in a dispute over TV revenues. More than 99% of Professional Football Association members said they were prepared not to play in televised matches. The PFA is demanding 5% of TV revenues for education and welfare programmes - they've been offered 2%, still an increase on current income.

World politics Sara on bin Liner
I just wish they would catch that stupid osama bin laden person.
Isn't that the aim? Using intelligence and carefully targetted strikes to capture bin Liner to put him before the International Court, in accordance with the resolutions passed in July?

Or is the aim just to cut the head off the hydra, and then be shocked that three heads appear in its place?

it could even make things worse if they caught him and killed him, or even held him in jail.
Have the powers that want to be given any thought to the next phases? Have they given any thought to this phase?

I got an email the other day that suggested kidnapping him, giving him a sex change, and placing 'her' back under the taliban rule
1) If you're going to take bin Liner alive, you may as well put him before the regular judicial process.

2) Isn't there an interdiction on cruel and unusual punishments? This is certainly the latter.

3) Is gender reassignment still appropriate for humour?

Quoting Paulo
>As Iain has already explained, the NATO does whatever the US
>wants it to do.
I doubt thats really true.
Based on which? You make a sweeping statement that is at variance with much of the evidence. Some backup would be appreciated.

On reasons why people dislike the US, Sara quoting Paulo.
>US support to the right-wing dictatorships in
>South America during the 60s and 70s.
although this doesn't sound very nice, A) it was 30-40 years ago.
Big deal. Bin Liner is basing his complaints on the breakup of the Ottoman empire, straight after the *first* world war. Over 80 years ago.

B) you are saying that we 'supported' them - supporting them is different than doing it ourselves,
The US claimed to be supporting human rights, freedom, democracy, and sunny weekends for all. Yet it lends support to regimes that do not grant basic freedoms, are democratically unaccountable, and where it always rains on Saturday.

>Then, there's also the support to dictatorships in other parts of the
>world, as long as they were useful against communism.
again, I don't entirely understand why this would be a reason
The US supports regimes that fail their people, are domestically unpopular, and blocks all outlet for reforms?

An example. Suppose that George Bush Jr became president tomorrow, and passed a law decreeing himself president for life, in spite of all the internal opposition. And suppose that he was backed in this by Europe, Africa and Japan. Would the American in the street (that's you, Sara) like this? Would you feel no resentment against those countries propping up the corrupt Bush regime?

As far as I've read (and I've read a lot about this lately) we are helping the Palestine people get rid of the Israel people,
What have you been reading, exactly? The history is that the US was a fervent supporter of Israel's expansionist policies until a very few years ago, and it's only in the past few years that there has been opposition from Washington to the settlement policies in the occupied territories.

how they could get killed by Israelis wih our weapons when we're trying to help the *palestines*, I don't understand.
The US is not trying to help the Palestinians. When push comes to shove, it is helping the Israelis. The policy shift in the US has been to accept that Israel should retreat to her 1967 boundaries, which was the centre piece of the Camp David proposals rejected by Palestine last year.

in which case its not actually the US doing it, but companies within the US - big difference.
Not really. The US requires government approval to export arms and munitions.

On the spread of US culture
I tried syaing that it was the *corporations* that want it to be like that, not actual americans
So if you disagree with the policy, what are you doing to change it?

(I mean, who would want to go to Paris, if it was exactly like one of our cities???),
What does Heather think about this question? Is Paris just like Dallas?

even though the UK has a LOT of american companies, they are usually missing out on somethings that the americans get
Value for money, usually. The exchange rate is *not* USD 1 = GBP 1, no matter how often the companies like to think it is.

Watched This Week

Shafted! Robert Kilroy-Slime oozes his way through a promising but slightly flawed game show. Improvements? 1) Reform the scoring. 2) Compose decent music. 3) Replace Slime. (ITV, Mon 8:30)

Mutant X A drug that changes people doesn't work. In a show that's all about accepting what you are, and having pride in it, this is the central message re-iterated. (Sky1, Wed 9)

Buffy Riley takes the chopper at last (BBC2) and Oz comes back for a moment (Sky1)

The Irving Trial Notorious Nazi historian loses a million in failed attempt to clear his name. The logical improbability in the concept of "Nazi historian" with a good name escaped him. (Radio 4, Thu 8)

The Race Thailand to Singapore, via skulduggery and sabotage. Not that the presentation is interesting. Improvements? 1) Tighter editing. 2) Replace Keith Duffy as waffle maker. (ITV2, Thu 10)

Friends Joey can't believe what Rachel did in her college days. Chandler can't believe Ross's outfit. Phoebe and Monica can't believe the fuss about nothing. We can't believe Rachel got into college in the first place, and how come this is the first we've heard about it in seven years. (C4, Fri 9)

My So-Called Life Graham tries to bond with Angela. Yes! (Trouble, Sun 7)

The Mole Eggs, take aim. (C5, Sun 8)

Conan O'Brien Anne Robinson *and* why Osama bin Liner is unhappy. (CNBC, Sun 9:15)

The Rest Of The News

World President Tony Blair, in an attempt to further the aims of the war coalition, met the heads of government of France, Germany, Italy and Spain at Downing Street before flying off to Washington. He also planned to meet the King of Jordan, on a state visit to Britain, and General Pervaiz Musharraf. Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said, on a visit to Bahrain and Qatar, that in the Western attack on Afghanistan �we are not attacking Islam. This is not a conflict between two great world faiths. Sadly, it is a necessary conflict.� In a speech Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave the Confederation of British Industry the impression that Britain would not adopt the euro in a hurry; a Treasury report on technical studies of the five criteria for joining the common currency suggested that they would be hard to meet. British Airways� profits in the quarter to 30 September fell to �5 million. Marks & Spencer�s first-half profits rose 20 per cent to �220 million. The number of homes in Britain with access to the Internet fell from 40 to 39 per cent. At least a third of British women will have an abortion by the time they are 45, according to figures from the Birth Control Trust. In the Test Valley, Hampshire, a hotline for victims of racial harassment has not received any calls at all in its first six months. The government urged British Muslims planning to go on the haj to Mecca to be vaccinated for meningitis, from which ten pilgrims died last year.

United States B-52 bombers attacked Taleban troop positions in Afghanistan. Four thousand Pathan tribesmen from Pakistan crossed the border to join the Taleban forces. A CIA office, specialising in monitoring the United Nations, was destroyed in the collapse of the World Trade Center on 11 September, according to the New York Times. New York firemen demonstrated near the wreckage of the towers because the city has reduced the numbers sifting the debris, leading to human remains being mixed up by the lorryful. Police made arrests at Trenton, New Jersey, near the sorting-office through which anthrax-infected post had passed. Half a million people and 625,000 livestock were evacuated from the path of a hurricane in Cuba. Officials from the International Monetary Fund visited Turkey, where the currency has fallen by 60 per cent this year against the dollar while a million people have lost their jobs. The Pope beatified eight people, including two Greek-Catholic clergy who died in prison in Slovakia under Communist rule.