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Spook, clearly a considered and well researched post. So much of our understanding of this conflict depends on the narrative we are listening to, and I personally tend towards the Palestinian narrative more than the Israeli one. Setting that aside, because I just don't think it's worth getting into a long polemic about who's version of history is the correct one, can I ask what your favoured solution for the Palestinians is? I think everybody surely accepts that there is a huge and legitimate grievance there: there was Palestinian state shared by Jews and Arabs, there is now only a Jewish state.

Well, CNN, BBC and AJ were all pretty much even handed, although one or two of the 'experts ' they drag out on these occasions were vituperative about Putin and Russia. I tend to go with Sara Firth, as she obviously has the inside view, and she is by no means the only journalist to leave RT in recent times, The point is, their editorial content is governed by their 'style rules' not by journalistic input.

I was pleased by the interview with Sara Firth on CNN yesterday evening, in which she explained her decision to resign from RT. Flicking between CNN, AJ, BBC and RT in the hour or so after the news of the crash broke, it was glaringly obvious how biased RT's coverage was. Within minutes, they were blaming Ukraine, before anything at all was known, even the location of the crash site. Firth said in her own terms that they are handed down standing instructions on how to handle any breaking news, and rule number one is 'blame Ukraine'. http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/18/mh17-russia-today-reporter-resigns-sara-firth-kremlin-malaysia

I think LDV you make a good point. Actually, nearly all the single straight people I know have used dating web-sites. I wonder whether that is a reflection of my age-group, where finding single, separated divorced people to connect with is a bit more of a challenge than it would be for younger people. I don't think there's much of a stigma left, unless you happen to be very tightly wrapped. It's an obvious way to use the web.

Cream

Men use the word ironically in relation to themselves, but pejoratively in relation to women. Immature men especially, as they might see sexually experienced women as threatening, and those same men need to boost their own egos by boasting. It is best to avoid it altogether in my estimation. Dating sites are fine, by the way. Give one a try, they allow you to message one another a bit before you actually meet to see whether you will get on and whether your expectations are the same. I would suggest that the advertising that the service uses tends to give a clear indication what the target audience is - those wanting casual encounters at one end of the spectrum and those wanting long term relationships at the other.

Overshot

Geller

Thoroughly recommend "All About My Mother" and "Volver" for more by the same director (Pedro Almodovar)

20% of the distance to the moon sounds pretty close, and as Albert said we haven't had much notice. Presumably, there is plenty more stuff out there like this, although I assume that the really big asteroids are tracked or at least would tend to be picked up further away. An 11m asteroid sounds like it is just a bit smaller than the object that caused the Tunguska event in 1908, estimated to have been several 10s of metres in diameter. When one of these objects nexts hits the Earth, it will potentially be pretty noticeable, given how much human settlement has spread across the planet. Keep in mind that whatever caused the Tunguska event released energy in the same sort of range as a thermonuclear weapon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event

I think the apparent enigma just demonstrates that we haven't fully understand the mechanisms that gave rise to complex life firms. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicellular_organism#Hypotheses_for_origin for some hypotheses on how complex multi cellular organisms arose from single celled ones. Note that they do not require stepwise, mutation by mutation, changes. Finding specific gaps in Darwin are easy - he didn't have the data that life scientists have today. Nevertheless, the general truth of the evolution of species by natural selection remains the best, most rational, explanation we have. What is surprising is how far the data fits the theory. For example, the DNA of the human genome very clearly confirms the cladistic relationship between humans, chimpanzees and the other great apes. EG do you have a theory that stands up better to rational analysis?

I think that is right (!) that your political outlook will colour your view of this issue. However, what we have now is a monopoly franchise granted by government, and repeatedly extended without competition by government at the request of the incumbent. That surely is bad practice - it doesn't happen when a rail franchise term expires in the UK., for example. However, I don't suggest a franchise framework. If the UA is cancelled with the SP in place, they will immediately face the possibility of direct competition. That will provide a stimulus to them to keep competitors at bay by securing their market through pricing and service levels, rather than through reliance on the UA as at present. As the UA effectively underpins their £242 million debt, the need to compete would be pretty acute.

How do the Manx public control sea routes at present? I must be missing an important element of local democracy. I think it is all to easy to raise spectres like daytime weekend passenger trips only, but if the demand for more than that is there, it wouldn't happen.

The point is, Lost Login, you have the choice on Liverpool and London routes. Gatwick, Luton and London City are all viable for travel to London & SE, and whilst there might be a few people who choose (say) LCY because they have to go to meeting in Docklands, for many, they are interchangeable.

Lost Login, there is direct competition on the Ronaldsway to Liverpool route where you may choose between Flybe and Easyjet, and on Ronaldsway to London where you may choose between Flybe and Aer Arran, and between Luton and Gatwick options for Flybe. Yes, supply will match demand as closely as possible. That seems like a sound principle to me.

I am happy to stand corrected regarding craning vehicles off and on SP vessels. However, Manx Line did introduce true Ro-Ro services with a linkspan. My point is that competition generates innovation. It's quite true that the IoM Government would lose control of it's sea routes. That's part of the point - the market would 'control' the routes, responding to demand. I also take your point regarding existing vessels. The point is, that commercial players would be free to respond in any way they believe to be viable. Air and Sea are not totally different markets. They compete directly for foot passengers, as Mark Woodward has stated on the SP web site. However, even if they were completely different, that does not mean that a free market regulatory approach is not applicable across the two markets.

Doing away with the UA and letting the market provide solutions isn't a utopian dream. It is how air services to and from the Island are provided, and the outcome for all of us appears to me to be very positive. We have three daily routes to London provided by two operators, daily routes to Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow. We have innovative route start ups such as Gloucester and Anglesey, and weekly flights to Geneva. Over the years, operators have come and gone, but we are still well served. Most of the moans about air services on this forum seem to be about the publicly owned elements, the airport itself and regulation. I realise that having a free market for sea services might well lead to the loss of uneconomic services, but that would only happen because there was not enough demand on those routes to allow operation at a profit. We would see innovation, perhaps the 'drop off' freight stops on established Irish Sea routes that other posters have mentioned. Remember, it was competition from Manx Line that introduced Ro-Ro services in the first place. The Steam Packet were still craning vehicles off and on their vessels in a fashion appropriate to the 1950s!

If the market is there, there would be services. The services would be commensurate to demand. There is no point trying to compel an operator to run services that are uneconomic, that's just a recipe for inflated prices. The UA should be torn up and free market economics allowed to operate. We may well end up with a single operator, although I doubt the IoMSP with it's burden of debt would last very long.

Not at all. Mezeron showed that even with the disadvantage of no access to the Ro-Ro berths, and ships that were a third of the tonnage of the Ben, they could take a significant share of the market. On a level playing field, they may well have succeeded. If indeed there is only a market sufficient for a single operator, let us not have a stitched up government agreement based on that premise, let the market decide. We will receive a truly sustainable service that way, a service appropriate to the market.

Not to mention Hovertravel, foot PAX between Gosport and Ryde. No, I think Isle of Wight is quite different commercially and operationally. However, I think the principle of free competition is a good one. The market would provide us with a sustainable service at good prices if we opened up Ro-Ro to direct competition. Prices now are too high because of the Steam Packet's need to service their £240 million debt and because they have a monopoly on Ro-Ro services under the user agreement.

Thick fog in the Mersey overnight Friday/Saturday delayed the Friday night Seaforth departure until mid-morning Saturday, arrived IoM Saturday evening. IoM to Seaforth from Friday delayed for the same reason. My guess is that yesterday's non sailing was knock-on from that, especially if Graylaw transferred to te BMC because of the disruption.

That appears to be Mark Woodward's opinion, too, given that the IoMSP are raising freight charges rather than cutting them. But I think the Packet has been complacent and that attitude probably continues. If Mezeron aren't making enough money, they might respond with more aggressive pricing. Be interesting to see how it pans out. I don't think the IoMSP punters need to be too concerned. All the apocalyptic noises Woodward made when Mezeron's daily Liverpool/Douglas service came in turned out to be just a load of hot air. They have retired one ageing fast craft that was at the end of it's useful life and re-jigged their schedules accordingly. Probably would have happened anyway.

How much freight are Mezeron carrying? I see the ships depart (they arrive a bit early for me!) on a daily basis, sometimes stacked high with containers, sometimes not. Can you share your information?

Remember, you can only see the deck cargo on the Kurkse & Kalana. There are also containers inside the ship's hold. If the Ben was indeed full of freight, great. The Packet have obviously been bleating about nothing. Or, of course, it might be Christmas ...

It being Christmas, there is bound to be a bit more freight than usual, which might account for the Ben being full of trailers occasionally, especially the night time crossings. Personally, I'm with those who have said leave well alone. The Steam Packet would bleat, wouldn't they? I've noticed that since they shut Mark Woodward up, their utterances have been a bit more measured. Let's see how this competition pans out before panicking. My guess is that their £243 million debt will bring the IoMSP down if faced with sustained and effective competition. But there is a profit to be made on the IoM/UK routes, both pax & freight, and that will ensure that there will be services into the future. Who owns those services & what the sustainable level is remains to be seen.