I'm back, and for those that were wondering, no I was not beaten down by the fierce banter nor did I need to take medication. I've been away on a cse without internet access and so am amazed to see the power of this thread. It is now attracting new posters who clearly have not read from the beginning and hence repeat old ground. This means that the thread has now reached a critical mass and has the capability of living forever, or never dying (depending on your point of view). Congratulations to the original poster.
You are in for a treat as I will contribute later, having clarified my thought processes in happy hour, but for starters, let me just say that if you do not see eye to eye with the likes of JF on this one, perhaps this issue isn't as black and white as you'd like to suggest!
FS Bell, (very young to be an SNCO!) before dismissing opinions contrary to your own as rubbish do a little research and compare John Farley's experience to your own.
As for trotting out my quals, that was merely to demonstrate that I am not actually retarded as suggested by, I believe, Deliverance. Hopefully we can discuss this at a slightly higher level than the 'that's rubbish', 'you're mental', 'your mum's fat' level.
TTFN
By the way, Wizo, can you tell your mum to give me back my slippers.