I'm not saying that's a strong enough reason to keep women out of combat, but it would be lousy to lose a life needlessly, even if it were through their own misplaced sense of chivalry. Although surely soldiers are supposed to protect their comrades anyway?

My guess is that it does happen (reprimands, I mean, not necessarily being thrown off the plane, because it seems it was Hailey's reaction that led to the ejection) to straight people, but it would never be considered newsworthy. Here, there is the angle of potential discrimination to consider, even if I think this…

Couldn't agree more. There is nothing more cinematically satisfying than seeing two truly likebale characters fall in love. And yet it happens so rarely. We are in dire need of charisma recently. Please try and find some - in the meantime, William Powell and Myrna Lot do me fine.

Yes, you're quite right. Reading back over my last couple of posts, I do seem to have started wandering into a false dichotomy. I still feel it's inherently wrong to award or penalise based on accident of birth, but in the grand scheme of things I suppose it's more important to focus on the ways in which non-white…

Okay, you're talking at me as though I don't know about the vast equality gaps between white and black people as groups, which is not true. I'm no expert, that's for sure, but it is a subject which I've read a lot into because I find it interesting. My issue is specifically with AA - it too often misses the people it…

Probably because if we tried to pass a law that crusty old white chairmen could appoint their sons-in-law to the board, there would be uproar? The average person in the street does not approve of the old-boy network, nepotism, exclusion etc. either, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will approve of affirmative…

How about being raised in a single parent home, which btw a larger percentage of minorities are?

I'm not unaware of racial inequalities, but they are something that we tackle in general because they affect people generally - it has no place on an individual's application. If racial inequality has affected their lives significantly, that will be shown by their socio-economic circumstances. Which is what I'm…

No one in my family had ever been in education past 16, and was that considered when I applied to my insititution? Yep, sure was. And rightly, too, in my opinion. A good friend of mine is of mixed African/West Indian heritage, but went to a private school and was brought up in a well-off household by a mother with a…

There may well different circumstances between the white kid and black kid - ie, growing up on X amount of money in one city/state may be just about enough, whereas in another it might be very hard to get by. Moving around a lot as a child, having to take care of a sick relative, attending a terrible school. All of…

Although I feel I should add that this stunt strikes me as kind of dumb. I understand why making judgements based on race is wrong without having to have it explained to me through cupcake maths.

If I were to sidle up to a bake sale and see that Native students were only being charged 25 cents for a baked good that a Republican guy's mom made, my mind would immediately go to genocide, and I'd probably conclude that the very least that we could do to make up for the Trail of Tears is to give all Native…

I can just hear him stammering "Now, how can you go into the lady's washroom dressed as a man? ... The issue is at hand."

And I hope they win enough money to keep them in candles for years to come.

Did the Coen brothers write the dialogue for Ed Kikkert?

Thank God someone trotted this one out. I've watched it a million times, and yet I still had to click it again. Something about it is so soothing.

As another poster already pointed out (I just felt it needed reiterating) this is not a nightclub, and these aren't the small, fighty equivalent of showgirls. I have a good friend who has been Thai boxing since he was about 10 and competitions were frequently held in Labour Clubs, Working Men's clubs and other social…

Couldn't agree more. Prisoners are provided with the basic means to live by taxpayers, not to have their personal wishes catered to. Medical facilities are there to keep inmates alive. Anything extra you get by not murdering people and working like the rest of us.

Remember when you could just blame all your woes on the fact that you were a nerd? "Oh, I'm all awkward and quirky and whatnot and so guys don't go for me... Well, I guess I'm just not one of those Hollywood hotties."

I have no doubt that these people think what they are doing is right, and I understand why they feel that way so I'm not going to curse them out or anything. If I sincerely believed abortion was murder, I'm sure I would do the same. But my opinion is merely theoretical - having actually lived through that experience,…