Roland Butter

Missed that one, but it sounds interesting. Perhaps it will come round again. When I was in Canada I went to a town called St Jacobs near Toronto, where they have a large Mennonite community with a similar lifestyle to the Amish, and that's what got me interested.

Willkommen, Chrissi . I'm sure you'll enjoy the Forum.

Welcome to the Forum, Jenn. I love Toronto (Go the Blue Jays!! )

I notice we haven't had the "evil twin" plot for a little while. Must be due another airing.

Can't top that, Kylie. You win

Seconded. Never understood all the hysteria. Why this obsession with the Beatles, Kylie, when there's so much musical talent in Australia? Rolf Harris, for one ....

Wow! 0/10, Kell. That must be a record low. Sounds like the England cricket team of the literary world ....

??? I don't know what you're on, Louise, but can I have some?

I keep meaning to get hold of Johnnie Walker's book, before I suddenly find it's been deleted! He's an old-time hero of mine, from the days of listening to pirate Radio London (wonderful....Radio....LONDON!) under the bedclothes on a tinny transistor. "Johnnie Walker's Ten O'Clock Turn On Time" was great - he'd just play the same record, back-to-back - it's where I first heard Soul Man by Sam and Dave. Anyway, back at the ranch - is it any good?

Yes, lexie, some poor deluded people believe that - people who'd rather put their trust in the Daily Mail and other irresponsible rags than in the overwhelming body of scientific research and the assurances of eminent doctors and scientists.

Absolutely. I posted because I wanted to: 1) put forward my view 2) challenge the inaccuracies that have crept into this thread.

I'm with Michelle on this. If I'm going to make decisions about my health, I'd rather do it on the basis of evidence, rather than half-baked theories and baseless conjecture. By all means do your own research, but don't assume that, because it's on some nutjob conspiracy theory website, it's true. I should probably leave it at that, but there are so many inaccuracies here, already, that they need to be corrected: 1. The Food Standards Agency - it isn't in the pocket of the food industry. I don't work for the FSA, but I do work closely with people from it, and believe me, they'd find that idea hilarious. Interestingly enough, many food companies think the FSA represents the interests of the "health freak" community. Can't both be right, can they? I do know that people at the FSA pride themselves on their impartiality and scientific rigour, and that they'd find deeply offensive the suggestion that they'd knowingly turn a blind eye to a dangerous substance at the behest of food producers. 2. The tax system - my good friend ii has already put this far more eloquently than I ever could, but here goes ...companies don't pay tax because it gives them influence over government (that's called a bribe). They pay tax because they have no choice - it's the law of the land. Hundreds of thousands of companies pay tax - to conflate this with having government agencies do their bidding is simply fallacious. You might as well say that because frog breeding companies pay tax, the government's in cahoots with them to turn us all into frogs. That way lies madness, and David Icke ... 3. Aspartame causes brain tumours - there's absolutely no scientific evidence to back that up. Already, someone's taken bits of one post, put them together with bits of another post, and come up with a conclusion that simply isn't borne out by the evidence. If nobody else is going to correct it, I will - there's absolutely no scientific evidence that aspartame causes brain tumours. Really, you don't need to worry about that. If people choose to avoid aspartame, then I have no problem with that. I probably do myself, 'cos I don't use sweeteners and try and eat as much "natural" food as possible. What I do have a problem with is when people call on fallacious "evidence" and make spurious claims in support of their decision because, as we've already seen here, that can misinform and influence other people. If you want to know what happens when people choose conjecture and rumour over hard scientific evidence (and I just know I'm going to regret this!) - well, here's what happens: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7819874.stm Sorry for the rant, but there are just too many inaccuracies in this discussion already to let it pass! Final parting words (and then I'll go, promise!) - as Freewheeling Andy has already said on the Forum, everyone ought to read Ben Goldacre's Bad Science.

Welcome to the Forum, Lucybird.

I remember seeing that in a bookshop at least a couple of years ago and thinking "Sounds like she thought up a trendy title and then wrote a book to go with it". 4/10 suggests I was right

Welcome to the Forum, Polly.

Ooops! If anyone's moved by my recommedation to buy it (which is probably unlikely), it's by C L R James, by the way. My fingers apologise ....

You have far too much time on your hands, Bethany ....

I've probably read more sports books than an intelligent human being should admit to, but almost none of them has made an impression on me. The only ones I'd recommend are Beyond A Boundary by C L J James, and The Soccer Syndrome by John Moynihan.

Bridget Jones' Diary in our house. Not my personal choice, but I have to admit the "fight scene" is classic!

Sorry, he's a random grab from the internet! The story of my encounter with the Alsatian is recounted elsewhere on the Forum (under "Pets", I think, a few days ago).

Welcome, Huda. It's great to have you as a member - I'm sure you'll have a great time here.

Welcome to the Forum, Scarlette. Perhaps you'll bring us some of that nice South African sunshine ....

Yep, Bethany, Santaland Diaries is hilarious, although, as I think I said on here before, you'd be advised not to buy it for your maiden aunt! My own favourite is The Groundwater Diaries by Tim Bradford, all the more so for being an unexpected find. It's a "travelogue" of sorts, being a journey round London's "lost" rivers, and being a sucker for anything to do with London, I bought it as a holiday read a few years ago. I didn't realise it was a humorous book, but it had me laughing out loud. Top stuff, as is McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy. I've read the various Tony Hawks books too, but I don't think they're anywhere near as funny as these two.

If there's a knock on the door, it'll be that Jamie Oliver, come to have a word ....