Your Letters
So, "A complete ban on smacking has been rejected by ministers, after a review suggested most parents opposed it"? Of course they oppose it, they're the people who risk going to prison if they're caught doing it. Surely it would have been better to ask the opinions of an impartial group of people (after all, I'm sure most burglars would support the legalisation of breaking and entering, but that doesn't mean the government should listen to them)
Michael, Exeter, UK
The photo illustrating your put me in mind of the classic guidebook "The Art of Coarse Acting" by Michael Green. I can't think why...
Michael Hall, Croydon, UK
Rob, Cambridge (Letters, 23 Oct)- Sheffield FC played each other. They were a football CLUB, which meant that all their members would come along and divide themselves into two teams, one week it might be married men vs non-married men for example. They invented many of the rules we see today such as throw ins, corners and...erm...heading.
Andrew Burnip, Newcastle upon Tyne UK
Oh, how splendid! Two related examples of nominative determinism in one day: a Mr Child who's a consultant at a fertility clinic () and a Mr Goodchild who appears in a story about instilling proper social values in children ().
Adam, London, UK
Your map in the Going Postal II article fails to include the Isle of Man - I know it's not part of the UK, but neither is the Republic of Ireland and that got included....something one of our local journalists refers to as Miss Isle of Man syndrome!
Paul, Isle of Man
Going Postal Global: back in May my brother sent me a parcel from Memphis using the US postal service, which I never received - even though they sent someone else's signature as proof of delivery. Only last week the parcel was returned back to him - giving the reason that it was not delivered to me because I was dead!
Claire, Nottingham
Re the . Sheffield is south, Coventry is south, Newcastle is south. Inverness on the other hand is North. Dead simple. It all depends on where you are standing.
Alex, Aberdeen Scotland
Re the North-South divide. As a Northerner now living in the South, my favourite road sign is still the one on the M80 around Stirling signposting "Glasgow and the South". Nuff said !
Paul Greggor, London, UK
Apparently Elizabeth I was a "woman who ruled unelected" (). So that would be a queen, then?
Edward Green, London, UK
I had always thought of commodity traders as being brash, loud yuppie-types in city centres, but the watching developments on the Turkish Border filled me with admiration. Wow, there's nothing like getting information first-hand, is there?
Bob Peters, Leeds, UK