Sid comments

In UK supermarkets this year they were selling Christmas goods before Halloween items were on the shelves. I don't want to sound like the old geezer, but I think when I was a kid we had more fun when Halloween didn't involve buying stuff.

I know quite a bit about helium as I used to work in a helium factory. However, I didn't like the boss and quit - I refuse to be spoken to in that tone!

I'm starting to suspect that the Uttamarro I bought is not genuine, even though it's signed quite clearly in biro. That's a thousand yen wasted.

It would've been worse the other way round - if Loubo had died first and Alain Delon was put to sleep and buried with him.

I'm often shocked and depressed by online comments and fully agree that many are insulting, racist etc. However, many people now seem to believe that legitimate criticism is bullying or offensive. This isn't just online - recently I witnessed a shop manager, rather gently and patiently I thought, explaining to a junior employee what they were doing wrong with some procedure. This was followed by a complete meltdown about bullying and feeling threatened. Meanwhile customers are left standing without any service or attempt to sort out the mess created by the incompetent employee.

Doctors have confirmed that due to stress she just cracked up, apparently suffering from shell-shock.

I'd really like to get to the bottom of why people like beach volleyball so much.

It's strange - i wasn't going to comment, but I have this overwhelming compulsion to write something...

I'm guessing that the parking lot owner was worried about damage to any cars parked there. If it gets around that your car might get damaged if you park there, his business would suffer. However, no excuse for the threats and machete. Maybe some kind of net to stop balls flying over might be a solution.

@itsonlyrocknroll

I think it was just carelessness on the part of Times Radio. It was very early in the sequence of events and they stopped reporting the information pretty quickly.

What I find depressing on this comments page is that everyone is talking about immigration and no one seems to be thinking about these poor children or their families. They just want to turn it into a forum to express their political beliefs.

@itsonlyrocknroll

His name was released initially (I actually heard it on Times Radio) when it wasn't realised that he was 17 years old, and then the usual restrictions were applied very quickly.

@owzer

Andrew Tate is completely wrong. The accused is not an immigrant, illegal or otherwise, and was born in the UK. All of this has been widely reported.

@albaleo

I remember the Bulger case well and the identities of the murderers were not released until after they were tried and found guilty.

The usual suspects are trying to make this about immigration. As the accused was not an immigrant it's completely irrelevant. I have concerns, too, about immigration into the UK, but this case has absolutely nothing to do with it.

The rioters were not politically motivated. If you look at videos of the riots there are many teenagers who are just out to have a fight, as are their seniors. They are not local, and hecklers of Starmer were not local. They insult the real locals who are trying to grieve about this horrible incident.

The English Defence League are not some kind of mass movement of the people. They are a few hundred thugs who look for any excuse to cause trouble. One of their leaders, Tommy Robinson, had many convictions for violence and dishonesty before he became 'political'. I'm proud to say that when he came to our local football club to recruit members he was laughed at and had to make a quick exit. I can testify that he's not so brave when he's on his own.

The name of the accused was released in the mainstream press in the UK. He was born in the UK and is not a muslim. You expect this kind of rabble rousing from someone like Andrew Tate, but Nigel Farage is fuelling the fire with his conspiracy theories about a cover-up. How shameful of them to use the sorrow and shock of this terrible event and use it for their own warped political ends. It tells you exactly the kind of people they are - they do not care in any way about these poor children or their families.

A typical evening in my local pub would probably merit about a hundred years of jail time for all the people criticising the British royal family.

Most people in the UK wait around six months to even begin treatment (including me).

Thank goodness there's one religion that bans the wearing of hats! I'm definitely going for that one.

Japan just pipped at the post there by Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, but it's way ahead of Benin and the Congo, so it's not all bad news.

Apparently Pope Francis is a big fan of Roy 'Chubby' Brown, but as he had a gig in Grimsby that day he had to decline the invitation.

When I met my wife I often took her out to dinner and gave her gifts, sometimes flowers or chocolates. Does this now come under the category of 'grooming'?

We're constantly reassured that it's safe, so the obvious solution would be to store it beneath the city of Tokyo.

The latest news that the Princess of Wales has admitted to 'editing' the photo makes things worse by its lack of credibility. Why would she edit the picture to do things like make the hands blurry or to introduce a misaligned hand on her daughter? It's an absurd explanation.

albaleo - I completely agree about voting at 16 in Scotland. Young people who vote probably have a higher degree of engagement with politics than any other age group. Young people who don't care just don't bother to vote. As an old geezer I'm not so sure about being excluded because of my age!

I loved 'All in the Family', but it didn't have the same edge as the British 'Till Death Us Do Part'. It always seemed like a more sanitised version. As starpunk points out, the central characters in both versions were characterised by their stupidity, intended to show how their racist, homophobic, sexist beliefs were idiotic. Alf Garnett, the central character of 'Till Death ...' on whom Archie Bunker was based, always came off worst and was shown up by the decent people around him. Unfortunately, these days 'Till Death ...' is misunderstood by a new generation (who probably haven't watched it) and criticised for promoting racist, homophobic and sexist views. They completely miss the point and it's never repeated on the BBC, almost certainly to assuage these people who don't understand satire.

The word on the street is that Bono will win the Nobel this year. I've been inspired by his song lyrics which really express the human condition: 'In the days when we were swinging from the trees/I was a monkey stealing honey from a swarm of bees'. As far as I'm concerned he has no equal in his insight into the existential predicament of contemporary society.

Eddie Jones is England's most successful coach. Even with their recent decline he still has the best record of anyone. However, he seems to have lost his touch over the last few years and should maybe take on another role. He certainly wouldn't be a good choice for Japan, in spite of his Japanese roots.

ClippetyClop

The figure for 'the monarchy is good for the country' is actually 32%. They give a variety of figures and I think you're looking at a different question.

I only give this figure because I was making the point about young people. After all, the future of the monarchy is in their hands, not old people. I agree with another commenter who stated 'I don't think it will happen in my time'.

According to the UK government's own figures, less than one third of 18-24 year olds think the monarchy is good for the country. In another poll taken before the coronation 75% of young people were not interested the coronation at all and only 18% were. Presumably this minority were the ones 'packing the pubs to the rafters'.

The death of Queen Elizabeth is the beginning of the end of the monarchy in the UK, thank goodness. Especially amongst young people there's very little support for its continuation, and even for this oldie the end can't come soon enough.

Woody Allen did not raise Soon-yi as his daughter. She was the adult adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Andre Previn. Allen had no responsibility for her and very little contact as he did not live with Farrow. Soon-yi turned to him as a refuge from the abuse, psychological and physical, of Mia Farrow and they've been married for 26 years with two children together. Soon-yi is the one who's been silenced here as her account doesn't match the desired narrative of Allen's accusers.

Reading the court records of Allen's trial is certainly instructive. There were no charges brought against him and for good reason. The attempts to railroad Allen were so egregious that even the courts decided there was no way the case could continue.

It's absurd to compare Allen with people like Jimmy Saville or Roman Polanski, both serial offenders about whom there were rumours and complaints for years about their behaviour. Try to find another actress or children who make claims about Woody Allen - you won't find any at all.

I like tattoos if they're well done, but, frankly, most of the tattoos I see are pretty awful. They look like they've been done by a teenager with a biro.