I'm feeling pretty disenfranchised here - if the chaps get 72 virgins, what do the girls get? And dont tell me 72 raisins they wouldnt last more than a few minutes for me. Can we girls have 72 toy boys perhaps - at least they would last longer

I'd settle for just one male who can be trusted further than the end of the street without either causing calamity, financial loss or requiring his nappy changing (it's not been a good morning ladies!). The Jehovah's visited our street this morning so I unburdened on them...I did notice them edging backwards up the driveway after a while with fixed grins on their faces. We've probably got a big black 'X' marked on our house now as far as the Jehovah's are concerned.

Don't you believe it. Your house will be marked for follow up as you actually spoke to them. In a few weeks they will send the next level of evangelist around for a chat. You don't know what you have started.

Oh dear - bad morning indeed!

Sheesh Ezzie, that required a coffee/monitor warning (wipes coffee off monitor, still giggling at the thought of retreating JWs!)

Interesting, and I'm sure you're right about the origin of the number 72, but I am confused now because I thought we had established that the virgins were in fact raisins.

However, in your quote above, "fair ones" cannot really be interpreted as raisins, and does indeed sound more like, as you say, beautiful women!

Maybe it refers to 'virgin raisins' along the lines of 'virgin olive oil'.

Ok that does sound about right.

So let me get this straight.

If you blow yourself up, and murder a lot of innocent people in the process, then God / Allah will reward you with an unknown quantity (now that it's not 72) of high quality ('virgin') raisins.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm! I'm not QUITE convinced that makes it worthwhile somehow!

LOL do you think this could be a new slant on the mile high club perhaps?

I'm not sure what you mean by this but wanted to give you my perspective on this as a British student at Warwick Business School. Yes there is a predominance of foreign students, mainly from India and the African continent, but it is in no way detrimental to the quality of learning or teaching. In fact, I would say the diversity of the class is something I will really value from the year I've just spent at WBS. Nowhere else could I have received such a crash course on the benefits to be gained by working with and understanding different cultures or, and perhaps this is most important, recognising how very similar we are under the skin.

Working with people for up to 20 hours a day under very stressful situations and having to work as a team with people from all over the world is hugely beneficial for anyone who wants to work in a business setting today. I've learned different business practices, how to interpret cultural differences, and I've also developed very strong friendships with a hugely diverse group of people. So I'm not sure why having 90% of students being of foreign extraction should lead anyone to question why a school should remain "good". The appeal for WBS - and one of the factors by which the FT and other business-oriented newspapers judge business schools - is its diversity as it provides a better, more well-rounded learning experience.

Just my opinion but one that is based on actual experience!

My mum -- RC -- used to invite them in for a cup of tea and try to convert them. She was quite let down when they stopped coming. I think she got the black X too.

Bez

Well, they haven't been back yet, although we do have the Pope staying just over the back of us now. Maybe that's a bit of a deterrant for a while!

I was just reading the Watchtower they left us...it did have a very interesting article on narrowboats, which just left me feeling even more homesick than ever.