Since the days of Alexander the Great, binge drinking has been a very popular past time - leading to him apparently killing a friend and burning down Persepolis while drunk.

Those are some Great shoes to fill.

Yet, governments, schools and the media have repeatedly tried to teach us of binge drinking's dangers. 

Dartmouth University has taken the lead, instigating a new nationwide policy to curb heavy drinking by their students.

Pour me another glass.

Binge drinking is defined as "the consumption of five or more drinks in a row by men — or four or more drinks in a row by women — at least once in the previous 2 weeks. Heavy binge drinking includes three or more such episodes in 2 weeks."

Seems I don't know anyone who isn't a heavy binge drinker.

Do you think this definition should be changed or should we change people's attitudes? Or should you follow HPD's no fools guide to drinking a lot but not dying?  . . read more

The cuurrent preoccupation of parents and politicians with standards and performance are second order issues. What is really at stake is our understanding of how children learn and the way in which their world views might be challenged and tested by the experiences which teachers and teaching might offer them.

Education as a public value needs a drastic overhaul if it is to measure up to the future needs of our society. It's time for change. . . read more

Harry Potter is now saying goodbye to millions of fans worldwide while breaking box office records. Yet the franchise has finally finished. The British film industry is going to become quite bored and poor, Daniel Radcliffe will be able to stop drinking and continue on the stage while the rest of us might drag ourselves out of this fantasy obsession that seems to have grown since the turn of the century.

Will we stop our hedonistic desires for vampires, hogwarts themed candies and all things ethereal now that voldemort has been slain and the franchise utterly milked dry?

Soon all there will be left to remember of a fantastic series of novels will be an out of order sign in front of a chamber of secrets themed ride somewhere in Florida, the times change, and for me at least I hope our next themed universal obsession shifts towards Rugby Union vandals who enjoy travelling, but we will just have to wait and see!

What will be the next cinematic social trend? Where will it start? Are we soon to say goodbye to Monsters, Magic and Myths?  . . read more

Choose a member of the Royal Family as your partner, any close-up of your partner deserves a 1 x Drink cheers

1 x Drink for anytime the commentators say Britain/British with gusto

1 x Drink anytime you see a Kate and Will tea-towel 

1 x Drink for the naming and onscreen shots of any current or former Head of State

1 x Drink for any time the Charles Diana wedding is mentioned

1 x Drink for any tears, drink again if the person is a member of the Royal family, male or old. E.g Prince Charles = 4 drinks

1 x Drink for anytime Prince Charles looks awkward

Any time Prince Harry appears all players must produce a Nazi salute. The last player to do so must drink

1 x Drink for anytime the Queen purses her lips and looks as if a doctor is using some ice-cold implements on her nether regions

If Elton John is spotted the last person to shout "Candle in the Wind" must drink

Finish vessel and lower Union Jack if the Bride runs 

Finish your vessel if/when the Bride gets given away

Sink your vessel and sing "Rule Britannia" for the balcony kiss

The winner of the game is the last one singing "God Save The Queen" who actually means it.

Are you playing our drinking game? Are you feeling feverently British? Tell us and remember....Disqus!   . . read more

Over half of this goes to infrastructure, defence, security, transport and flood defence. Education, housing and child care mop up most of the rest. What the shopping list lacks is anything on carbon neutrality and much on social equity.

The stuff of British politics is still seen to be to be focused on anything but public value. Why have parties of the left abandoned the challenge of restoring trust in the common good? . . read more

Football makes the famous Australian love of sport look like child's play. Every day there are pages and pages of news and comments while on radio the punters talk about the game 24/7. Funny thing is, none of the players are British! Politics is back-burner stuff; nobody seems to care whether Gordon Brown is doing a good or a bad job and the minority Lib-Dems seem more relevant than the Tories.

Let's save the last word for the weather. Britain has excelled itself with the worst summer most can remember. Cold, wet, bloody miserable. It does make leaving the old dart a pleasure. I can't wait to get back home! Let's pray Mr Howard has really gone away, this time. . . read more

Protestors chained themselves together in the time-honoured fashion of the suffragettes. In contemporary Britain if it’s not 1917, it’s 1959 or 1968. Folks these are NOT the tools of revolution in 2007. Think social networking, identity change and deliberative democracy. The tools are in your hands; the power of mobile technology awaits.  . . read more

This is odd. Not because we shouldn't try and rationalise decisions but because of the choice being proposed. Why not pull the British troops out of Basra and do both? . . read more