Comments by Scott Yearsley

Rowan Williams is a good man, overwhelmed by the spectre of a schism and unsure of the right path to tread between liberals and conservatives. As a nonbeliever, I am not particularly concerned with doctrinal wranglings; rather, I will remember how he used his platform to speak for the poor and needy.

It is unlikely that whoever replaces him will be as generous-hearted, and that is something to be sad about.

And 'tata' or 'thankyouthankyou' means goodbye. Frankly, I'm offended that people are so grateful to see me go.

I can't be the only one who occasionally and unthinkingly says "thank you" to our robot slaves. Particularly, ATMs, as they generally work absolutely fine. If there were a way I could be uncivil to a supermarket self-service machine, and be sure that said machine would feel hurt and reflect on its poor performance*, then I'd be a happier customer.

*Do you have your own bag? Place it in the bagging area. UNRECOGNIZED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA. POLICE HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED.

It never stopped Bush from getting elected.

I thought I was above such lazy jokemongering, but clearly, no.

His or her own school.

"They filmed the first two Harry Potter films in Gloucester Cathedral, and they're going to film sex there too."

Made that mistake in Italy. In fairness, 'il sesso' and 'il sesto' are pretty similar.

Is he shitting us?!

Sorry, all.

@Doghouse, I had a similar experience: I assumed that the French words had roughly the same meanings in both languages. Not always a safe assumption, though.

Oh my, he's Richard Attenborough...

If the police do protest, they should prepare to be kettled by legions of students.

Wouldn't that mean he was speaking Arabic one fifth of the time?

Barad-dûr.

... I really need to get out more.

I'm fine with the Royal thing; it'd be odd to have the historically-recognized Carlos II followed by Charles III (unless he plumps for Jorge VII, of course).

I do wish my name could be translated...

The authorities could have avoided much of the violence if they'd allowed the quiet majority who just wanted to go home the leave to do so. Instead, they kettled us in and lit the match (sorry for mixing metaphors).

You are right, though: a protest needs proper targets. The Cenotaph and Mr and Mrs Windsor should have been left alone.

I hasten to add that I perpetrated no acts of violence or vandalism. My friends and I were peaceful until the end, which came after two bone-crushing hours on Westminster Bridge with the barest of regards for our human rights.

Mais, c'est une révolte?

Seriously though, I was at the UCL sit-in until I got exhausted and my essay crept up on me. We get the sense that universities are treated as business with the minor annoyance of having to teach students every now and again. It took several days for the management to open a dialogue with the protesters - what does that say about the regard in which the students are held?

I think a large part of the problem is that we feel excluded from the decision-making process about our universities' future. Those of us who *did* vote for a party whose manifesto declared opposition to fees were later betrayed, so can you blame us for feeling like this?

I'm not sure whether this will peter out (sadly, I have no vigour left in me for the current round of protests) or whether it will escalate in the coming months and years as the fee rises near their introduction. But the concerns are there, and they won't go away, so it'd be nice to be listened to for once.

Il faut que les Français lightenuppent.

*sighs* Did we intentionally lose the American War for nothing?

There's also "to testiculate" which is to use your hands expressively while talking bollocks.

This is something I love about the Economist, actually. Amid all the serious analysis, the godawful puns. Life shouldn't be taken so seriously.

@willoyen, students, naturally, to whose number I also belong. This Quite worried about getting PhD funding, so right now I feel like protesting as well.

Down with this sort of thing!