nicoatridge

it is great to see girls joining boys in mixed sports these days - soccer, hockey, touch rugby etc. When they reach a certain age, I guess they need separate shower facilities, but are there any teams where adults of both sexes shower together after a game?

Hi I am planning to have a party for my Arsenal-supporting son and his 6yo French-speaking friends. Does anyone know if there are any DVDs available about Arsenal with a French soundtrack?

Which web sites do you know that provide good details on ski resorts in Switzerland, particularly ones near Basel or Zurich.

I have a computer I bought in Germany, with a German keyboard, but I have installed Windows 7 in English. Most software allows me to choose my installation language but some programs, like HP's Photosmart (not) insists on installing in German, but does not give me any obvious option to change to English. Is there a system setting I can use to overcome this problem?

I have recently been getting intrusive ads at the top of my screen from supposedly reputable companies like the BBC and Capiltal One. They appear even on sites that clearly get not reward from the ads (e.g my own web site displays them!). There is no option to delete the "facility" and this occurs in Chrome, Firefox and IE. I have up-to-date AV software loaded, although following the links I suspect Microsoft is involved (I am using Windows 7). How do I get rid of these ads?

I am having a clearout (in Twickenham) and have a bunch of stuff to get rid of. Lots of book, lots of old vinyl records - mostly in average condition, quite a few bits of household items, old computer equipment, old wooden wine boxes etc, etc. Without spending too much effort, how can I get the best price for all this stuff, particularly the books because they're mostly in good condition and there's a lot of them.

The BBC quotes a study using census data from nine countries which shows that religion there is set for extinction. The countries are Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. Surprised the UK isn't there, maybe it is extinct there already. What do god botherers make of this? Will heaven have NOBODY from these countries and will that affect the diversity of the celestial sphere? Is it really so UNCOOL in these countries to believe in a superior being, even a Flying Spaghetti Monster or Jedi?

I guess the creationists must be right, because if evolution is true God must have decided sometime or other to bestow souls on some type of proto-human. Did he give souls to Neanderthals, or can we trace the existence of souls back to Homo habilis. Did he just say one day, OK you have evolved sufficiently and I've got a Saturday free, so I'm going to start doling out souls to any Hominid who doesn't look too ape-like?

Any Arsenal Fans out there set up an Arsenal Fantasy league yet? Only stipulation is that there are no Tottenham players in your squad? Here is one I have set up if you want to join: 1010370-349921. let me know of any other cool leagues.

During the mourning period for the kids murdered in Norway, Glenn Beck likened them to Hitler Youth? It is hard to think of a more distasteful comment to make. It is clear to me that he cannot stand for any moral values, but is a populist who has learned how to use a soapbox to make money. Can anyone at all justify his comments by giving me an example of something even more vile? it's hard!

Is the term atheist now no longer meaningful? it implies a relationship to religion, i.e. one doesn't believe in God, whereas for most people these days nobody really cares. As long as no religious nutcases are trying to force their religion on you, most of us can go about our lives without worrying about whether there is a God in the same way as you don't go around describing people who don't believe in Father Christmas as axmasists.

Recently in the republican leadership debate a sinister theme seems to be emerging. Namely, that Obama is portraying the USA as a country that is the peer of other countries. This seems to rankle many republicans who seem to suggest America is inherently superior. Do ordinary Americans really believe that, and do they fear that because China will overtake the USA one day militarily and economically that this will challenge US concepts of their superiority?

PS I would much rather live in a world where America was the leading superpower than China was, but that doesn't address the question about the apparent American superiority complex.

Also any Susan Bor jokes?

In 1986 I lived in Wapping and saw the police perjure themselves on a massive scale and consistently act above the law. It seems nothing has changed and the politicians at the time were fellow travelers, afraid of undermining police morale. What chance the Tomlinson inquiry will make an difference? None. Is it too much to ask that a free society can have policemen accountable under the law and upholding the highest standards?

Am I the only one who thinks that somebody convicted of murder should forfeit their rights indefinitely? I'm not saying execute them or treat them inhumanely, it just seems bizarre that you can kill somebody - maybe depriving them of 50 or more years of fulfilling life - and in some countries be out in around 10-15 years especially where plea-bargaining or previous good character play a part. I mean, if I really hated somebody, that would seem a fair exchange. Yet, this doesn't seem to be an issue for many countries. In fact in many countries hey are saying convicts should be allowed to vote even where they may have deprived somebody else of a vote through their actions. This doesn't seem to be a big issue and the hang 'em brigade have got as much moral authority as the rehabilitation argument. What if you were raped brutally, permanently injured or had a relative murdered and found yourself facing the perp in the local MacDonalds ten years later?

I am an agnostic and don't see a problem with people believing in God or not. There are so many variations on the God theme and this whole Catch-22 of God's working being beyond our understanding etc, but consistently it seems to be organized religion that is the problem. Every other Catholic priest seems to be a paedophile (and the Church's history is even more unedifying), most Iman's seem to be at best apologists for terrorist murder and at worst, instigators, whilst Rabbi's allow a religious apartheid to exist in Israel and the occupied territories. In the US there are vicars who think burning the Koran is funny, which whilst it is not illegal is pretty odious. Even Stalin, Mao and Hitler could be accused of being "religionists" in that they created an alternative vision of religion, but with many of the characteristics. So, is religion the problem?

I don't get it.

OK, I live in Switzerland and they speak a German dialect locally, but I only speak English fluently. How do I get Google to stop continually (including gmail) insist German is my preferred language?

I am trying to put the lyrics into my MP3 collection, but have found most of the automated ways to do it pretty useless and still have thousands of properly tagged songs without lyrics. I've developed a neat way to upload and download my lyrics from text files or from a standard MDB (Access) database. Does anyone know a good place to find lyrics held in plain text files or a simple database structure containing lyrics that can be downloaded?

OK, it's December this week and pretty much all the albums and singles that will be around by the year-end are out. So which are the best? And why are they the best? Please tell me what you think are the THREE outstanding songs and albums of the year... and why they will still be being played in 10 ten years time.