Bitseach

Ooh cheers Kickchick - you're a wee angel. I'll try some of that and avoid horse stance for a while! I am already doing quads strengthening although very lightly at first until the pain eases with movement, at which point I can then add weights and I've recently found that keeping the knee straight when I'm sitting in my office or at home has eased it off a bit. This is one of the hardest things to do though, as for preference I always sit cross-legged on teh floor, just always found it comfortable! Thanks again. Bits'

No, I agree with you both, Omni and Sai - one doesn't have to be Action Man/Woman or GI Joe/Jane. If anything, I believe that the little changes that we make are more important than the things that people can shout about. However most people could do some form of help in the community, whatever their time or physical constraints. True, I should have perhaps rephrased the poll or added a section like, "couldn't do any more voluntary work if I tried as I do so much now" but I couldn't work out how best to phrase it! (That's kind of my situation also so I voted myself into the voluntary work bit!) I suppose it has increased the volunteer hours that I do now, and 11/9 has certainly made us think and plan a lot more for major incidents, rethinking command and control especially with regards comms and the likely comms breakdown in the event of a majax. I am involved with this planning in my local area and it is quite a headache! However it is also something that we in the UK and in London especially have always had to factor in as we have always had a threat from Irish terrorism (although the last major bomb in London was not from Irish terrorists but from a lone right-wing gun-freak nutcase that left nail-bombs in areas with a high number of Asian, Black and finally gay people in it)(hurrah for closed-circuit TV cameras which were what identified him and led to his capture and conviction). There really are a LOT of crazies out there!

That's Ma'am to you! Wouldn't shed tears in Mugabe suddenly popped his clogs, no! He has killed thousands of his own people by his own ineptitude and by putting his political expediency before the needs of his people to be fed adequately. Don't doubt the need for land reform in Zimbabwe but the area used to be one of the bread-baskets of Africa and now its people are starving because the farms are being over-run by "war veterans" (=hooligans) and whilst we usually only hear about the white farmers being run out of their farms, what is less known is the torture and murder of labourers on those farms and the mutilation and slaughter of livestock and pets on those same farms. I'd say a regime change there would be a good idea and in the current climate, that seems to mean people being ousted by force! So why not? Let's send in the gunships once we've dealt with Sod'em!?! Anyway, I digress... I agree that the sources of the stats I quoted re: Iraq can be interpreted in several ways (although personally I would like to think that the UN had checked out the sources before publishing these figures as the UN is an organisation for which I have great respect but I could, of course, be being hoodwinked!). Also, we agree that it is unconvincing even then that the half million or so children's deaths (IF the data can be believed) are the fault of the Western powers who are imposing the sanctions. Like I said, you don't see Hussein or his family starving or lacking medications, do you? It is his own corruption, poor leadership and megalomania that are causing the deaths, again IF the data can be believed. However, the methodology is one that is often used in epidemiological studies and infant mortality trends are often used as an indicator in population studies so I am less concerned by the fact that they are THOSE data that are quoted. Proving causality is often shakey although if the situation suddenly improved re medicines for children and, with a small time lag there was a concomitant decrease in infant mortality that would add weight to the argument about causality. In science, and especially in population studies, there is hardly ever a black&white case and hardly anything is ever proven - usually there is just "evidence supporting the possibility/probability of"..whatever. Cheers! Bits' (erstwhile genetic epidemiologist, who has published papers on aspects of infant mortality and infant health, although not with regard to this specific environmental challenge!)

Tee hee hee! (such refined, mature sense of humour I have!!) If any Brits ever watch "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", have you noticed the guy called "Thomas W@nker" listed in the final credits?

Boo! Nobody has any ideas. Have you found that anything helps it? Mine's fine when I do running or after a few squats it stops hurting. I looked up in a book which listed similar symptoms and suggested it was the cartilage ligament trapped in something but I am not sure how this information helps me!

LOL @ Bretty - I know the feeling! From now I shall introduce myself as "Master Bitseach". I have an MSc in genetics. Now if only I could have done the Grandmasters Degree course instead!

I am somewhat saddened by the relative apathy of everyone who seemed so keen on action at the time of the atrocity. I really didn't expect the biggest response to be in the "I will do nothing but sit on my backside" column! Surely if society is worth preserving then it's worth actively contributing to, whether by the military (if that sort of thing floats your boat) or by an extra contribution to the civilised society that everyone claims to love so much. However, you youngsters who are just waiting to be old enough to be useful - GOOD FOR YOU! I was in the same boat years ago when I started doing voluntary work as soon as I turned 16 and have never regretted it. Over the years I have given a lot but in doing so I have got as much back as I have given (with interest!). I love my country and would never live anywhere else, and served in the UK military for 5 years. Now I'm out and am back doing an regular job and back doing voluntary work in the community and organising others to do the same because I believe in society and that it's worth a little effort on my part. Don Gwinn, thanks so much for telling us about Son Tao - he sounds like a true brick. I have the greatest respect for his decision to rejoin, especially with a pay cut! Isn't it funny how it's often the immigrants who are more patriotic than the natives and more inclined to do something and get on with it quietly and not just talk about it? Thanks and respect to the society-builders out there!

Well do you want to know where the data are from or do you want to close the thread? Anyhoo, the "statistics" would appear to be from those "pinkos" at "Unicef" - the United Nations Children's Fund - and are based on the huge increase in infant and child mortality since sanctions were imposed by the west on Iraq. Read all about it at http://www.unicef.org/newsline/99pr29.htm The gist of it is here: "if the substantial reduction in child mortality throughout Iraq during the 1980s had continued through the 1990s, there would have been half a million fewer deaths of children under-five in the country as a whole during the eight year period 1991 to 1998. As a partial explanation, she pointed to a March statement of the Security Council Panel on Humanitarian Issues which states: "Even if not all suffering in Iraq can be imputed to external factors, especially sanctions, the Iraqi people would not be undergoing such deprivations in the absence of the prolonged measures imposed by the Security Council and the effects of war." " Another interesting opinion piece comes from the bane of oppressive regimes everywhere - Amnesty International - at http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/MDE140112002?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES\IRAQ [Although I selected Iraq to find this article, they do of course have sections for every country in the world's state misdemeanors, including the UK and USA as well as traditional dictatorships such as Iraq, China, Korea etc.] The AI article mentions the thousands of innocent Iraqis killed by Sod'em Hussain himself, just to show some balance, as he tested out his chemical weapons on some (thousands of) tribespeople who didn't agree with him (free speech is *such* a good thing, doesn't everyone think?). Unfortunately as he was our enemy's enemy at the time (Iran was the bigger headache in the 80s) the UK didn't seem to care. Presumably the USA was the same. The really pitiful thing is that Hussein does not give a flying foxtrot about the half a million children who probably would have survived to adulthood were it not for the oil sanctions - one doesn't see him or any of HIS children starving or lacking essential medicine, does one? My sincere wish is that there will be a stable alternative to Hussein's regime when he gets the kicking he so richly deserves. One would certainly not want a power vacuum in the area to destabilise the area even further - anyone for a 3rd world war in the Middle East? Apparently this was the reason for his not being "slotted" after the Gulf War. Certainly the British Army was willing and keen to continue the limit of exploitation as far as Baghdad (from some of the tank company and brigade commanders I spoke to about it after the event) but the political leaders (the other Bush) at the time did not permit it. The saddest part of the aftermath of the Gulf War was that there were insurrectionist movements who conducted several uprisings at the time, but as Allied security services suddenly withdrew their support they and their families were all butchered by Hussein's chicken"poo" cowardly soldiers. And when we've achieved "regime change" in Iraq, can we do Zimbabwe next? Now Robert Mugabe, he's a w*nker! I hope this thread is not now closed due to the addition of these pesky statistics! Much more interesting to debate the purported validity of the stats than see them as a detraction from an argument!! Bits' (ex-British Army)

As chh said, could be a regular old haematoma (posh name for a bruise, when all is said and done). This is where something causes the small blood vessels - capillaries - damage and they leak blood into the surrounding tissue. A severe bruise will often be 3-d as there is some swelling local to the injury. Some people find the herbal ointment "arnica" very useful to dissipate normal bruises and if you can get a cold compress onto the injury site early on you can reduce the swelling (and thus the pain) considerably. However, if this bruise persists and does not start to reduce in size and go through the normal sequence of colour changes or if you get bruises which are persistant or not caused by a known injury you should see your doctor for sure. A bruise should be starting to fade and/or reduce in size after a few days.

I have recently developed pain in my left knee when it bends through about 5 degrees of motion when my knee passes from flexed to extended. It is sharply painful but with repeated motion becomes fine. The pain is on the inside, between the patella and head of the femur. Anybody had this or knows about this who could advise? It's fine if I run but not so good in the motion of getting out of a chair, or the first few revolutions of cycling! Cheers folkies. Bits'

Try using press-up stands rather than doing knuckle press-ups, unless you don't mind horrible bony protuberances where you used to have knuckles!

Anyone doing "planks"? I can only manage about 30s then have to rest before trying again. Do side planks too ("discovered" them in a Pilates class!) but ended up with a sore elbow!

True, but then he could have been high on crack, impervious to pain and I could have been knifed, shot, punched, kicked in, dragged off and raped, or God knows what.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/ the news from the BBC https://www.sja.org.uk/ St. John Ambulance home-page https://www.thehungersite.com/ donate for free https://www.therainforestsite.com/ ditto https://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ ditto https://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ ditto http://www.nspcc.org.uk/donate-4-free/donate-mainhome.asp ditto (UK only) http://www.met.police.uk the boys in blue

"I saw three ships sail into sight" "The Leith police dismisseth us" "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?"