And your little dog, too !

Apparently, there have been a newsworthy number of people who have been moved by recent tragic mauling of a toddler in Wakefield. Moved to the extent that they want to decommission the dangerous dogs they have lying around the house, chewing on the furniture.

Finally ! To me, "The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991" is badly named in that all dogs are dangerous. Having been nipped by a Jack Russell myself, I can say it's not just the ones the size of small ponies that need to muzzled.

In fact, only four types of dogs are banned under the Act :
* the Pit Bull Terrier;
* the Japanese tosa;
* the Dogo Argentino;
* the Fila Brasileiro

Let's extend it to anything with teeth and more than two legs.

Answers To "Stan's Christmas Crossword"

ACROSS

6 DO(US)ING
7 IS-LET : If something "is let" it is occupied
9 INFO : "skinny" in this case meaning "information" - a 4-letter anagram shouldn't have been too trying
10 GAME-KEEPER - Someone brave is "game" and in soccer a 'keeper is the only one who can have the number one on their back
11 HAS-BEENS
13 ATILLA - sounds like "A Tiller"
15 GIFT - German for poison is "gift" and you're always told to beware of Greeks bearing gifts. "Gift" in Swedish means married - but I thought that would be too obscure
17 S(TAR)S - "tar" is a sailor. A ship is an "SS" in crosswordese e.g the SS Titanic. The "stars and bars" was the old Confederate flag(standard).
18 ROSE - too easy
19 BERLIN - Irving Berlin - Bing (25) Crosby was dreaming of a "White Christmas"
20 ESS-TEE-MED - Sounds like S and T and then the Swedish for "with" (gave into the temptation to do something Swedish - so sue me)
23 DRUMMER-BOY - Bing (25) with David Bowie pollute every Christmas with this one.
26 T(I)VO - TV is the box, put 1 in to make TIV and then have 0 on to make TIVO - a digital video recorder.
27 E-PROM - a type of computer memory that keeps what is stored after the electricity (current) is switched off
28 NEOCONS - "Neo Conservatives" are the American right-wingers who made xenophobia and intolerance fashionable for a while - anagram of (no cones)

DOWN

1 SUBORBITAL - anagram of (Rabbit soul)
2 JINGLE
3 OGAM - an ancient kind of rune writing. It's (No game) with the first and last letters removed.
4 SICK-BAYS - A BAY is a reddy/browny horse
5 BLUE - my attempt at a quadruple definition - probably too easy
6 DONNA - sounds like Donner
8 TREBLES - a treble definition ...
12 SLADE - reference to the start of "(So here it is) Merry Christmas" and an anagram of "leads"
14 TURKEY-TROT - A Trot is a Trotskyite or generally someone who is slightly to the left of what is comfortable for you.
16 ICE-FREE
17 SUNBEAM - anagram of "Ban Muse" and refers to the children's hymn "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam", sent-up by the Vaselines and made famous by Nirvana
21 T(OYBO)X - the state is Texas (abbreviation TX), the rest is an anagram of "Yobo"
22 ELVES - steEL VESt.
24 MARX - start with "Mary" (the original Madonna) and change y to x (change the variable)
25 BI-N-G - Someone who is "Bi" swings both ways, and NG is No Good in crosswordese. Reference to Bing Crosby, who I am accusing of nothing of the sort.

If homosexuality is a disease, can I call into work 'gay'?

You've got to admire the sheer optimism of the Spanish clergyman who thinks he can cure homosexuality.

In his family, he reinforces masculine roles by watching professional wrestling with his two sons. He also advises fathers to "hug your sons as much as you can, because if you don't, perhaps another man will".

Aside from the issue about whether there's a "gay gene", it seems obvious that watching professional wrestling will not turn a gay boy straight in much the same way that watching Judy Garland musicals will not turn a straight boy gay.

He seems to have such a stereotyped view of what gay people are. Doesn't he realise that gay people come in all shapes and sizes - some of them are even professional wrestlers and Spanish clergymen.

O little town ...

According to the report on the BBC, the Greek Orthodox contingent wanted to place a ladder over Armenian airspace at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. They were trying to clear up a bit after the Catholic bash on December 25th and before their celebration on January 6th.

Armenians have to wait until January 19th for their Christmas, so were probably a bit cranky after watching everyone else on the planet opening their presents.

In the broom fight that followed, four people were injured and the already-shaky reputation of Christianity for tolerance was badly bruised. Please tell me there's footage on YouTube - would love to see the old guys in robes and long beards square off with brooms - like Jedi Knights with light sabres ...

The history behind the three different dates of Christmas is interesting (well, to me anyway).

The pagan celebration of Saturnalia was celebrated on December 25 in Rome, while Christians celebrated the birth of Jesus on January 6. The pope of the day, Sylvester, in order to abolish the pagan feast, moved the celebration of Jesus's birthday from January 6 to December 25, but the Armenian church had no reason to change the date because there was no pagan feast in Armenia on December 25. Since the Armenians maintain the ancient date of Christmas as well as the old (Julian) calendar, 13 days are added to January 6, postponing Armenian Christmas until January 19 on the modern (Gregorian) calendar.

Anyway, that's the reason why three Christian sects can share the same church and have the celebration of the birth of their founder on three separate days.

And the point to this : these three groups have so much in common. If these guys can't share nicely, how are the Israelis and the Palestinians ever going to get together?

Just to rub it in, Islamic extremists killed Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), whose creed begins "Islam is our faith ...".

Whatever it is that will bring the world together - it certainly isn't going to be religion.

Stan's Christmas Crossword

Across
6 Throwing water on American in the process of taking action (7)
7 Land seen to be occupied (5)
9 Muddle on if skinny (4)
10 Brave one on his back carries a gun (10)
11 Famous once; at least now it sounds as if they at least haven't run out of jelly or coffee (3-5)
13 Dangerous man on horseback sounds like a farmer. (6)
15 Appropriate at this time of year, except the German equivalent is poison and the Greek one is most unwelcome. (4)
17 Sailor in a ship - just add bars to produce the old standard (5)
18 Wine went up (4)
19 25's dreams around this time of year were created by him. (6)
20 Do I hear a letter ? Do I hear the next letter ? With Swedish, this is something that gets respect (8)
23 Little one assocated with 25 at this time of year (7,3)
26 One in box when there's nothing on ? Useful gadget when there's more than one thing on, actually. (4)
27 English-American Party. Memory that lingers, even though no longer current. (5)
28 Right thinking people leave no cones upturned (7)

Down
1 Rabbit soul breaks up. Must fall to earth quite soon. (10)
2 These bells are heard at Advent. Advert ? (6)
3 "No game is endless" - an ancient inscription (4)
4 Unfit horses in medical facilities (8)
5 Rude, cold, depressed and sporty (4)
6 She sounds like one of Santa's reindeer (5)
8 Good darts ! Big drinks ! High voices ! (7)
12 "It's Christmas !" shouts the one who leads. Leads to break-up, one could say. (5)
14 A bird and a communist dance (6,4)
16 Loose diamonds ? (3-4)
17 Jesus' chosen ones ban muse ? (8)
21 Mixed-up hooligan in a state that produces something to keep the nursery tidy ? (6)
22 Santa's helpers in a steel vest. (5)
24 A variable changes and Madonna becomes a radical thinker (4)
25 Sexually adaptable ? No good for a singer with a wholesome image. (4)