The Last Word

In an effort to enhance the surfing pleasure of BBC News Online readers, we are happy to welcome your comments and observations about the news. Submission guidelines at the bottom of the page.

EYES PEELED
In Potato lorry crashes into house, 20 September, you say: "No one else was injured in the smash." Thought we wouldn't notice the joke, didn't you.
Ray G
London, England

GETTING THEM IN
Of course there's binge drinking in the UK (Binge drinking 'costing billions', 19 September). We have the earliest closing time in Europe, which induces a culture of going out and drinking as much as you can before the pub shuts.
Jane Davies
Reading, Berks

KEEP RUNNING
"France to save 118000 jobs", eh? (New Alstom rescue deal unveiled, 22 September) Surely with the shiny new free market in directory enquiry services, we don't need state intervention when one of the numbers goes belly up? And what's it to do with the French anyway?
Wallaby Testperson
UK

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE
According to the Quiz on modern manners, 17 September, you shouldn't invite smokers to your house if you don't like smoke? What about the smokers being polite enough to ask first if it's OK for them to smoke?
Elaine Kelly
Bristol, England

MINORITY INTEREST
According to David Blaine's spokesman, "99% of people are fully supportive of the challenge". It should be noted at this point that Britain accounts for almost exactly 1% of the world's population.
Arfie Mansfield
Cambridge, UK

READ AND RIGHT
Lord Archer wants to compel prisoners to learn to read before they are parolled (Archer calls for prison reform, 18 September). I trust that none of his fellow prisoners were pretending to be illiterate as an excuse for not reading his books.
Dave Williams
Northumberland, UK

GET BACK
I have just arrived home after two weeks away and I have received 250 e-mails, only three of which were any use, and I sent two of those to myself. I despair.
Terry Byrne
Ayr, Scotland

PARROT FISH
Re Would you eat this fish?, 17 September: I've just returned from a fabulous trip where I've been dining on fish such as mahi mahi, wahoo, red snapper, tuna, broadbill, sailfish, parrot fish and more. After trying those I don't think I could face eating bland old cod or haddock again. They have fish and chip shops in Rarotonga too, and there's not a battered cod in sight.
Jake Perks
Telford, UK

BOYS AND GIRLS
There have been two "women are better are men" articles this week. (Girls top of the class worldwide, 16 September, Primeval shopping instincts revealed, 17 September). What price an article that favours men?
Colin
Luton, UK

EUROPA CURRENCY
According to Professor Tim Naylor, of Exeter University, distant large planets may harbour primitive life which can exist in extreme conditions (Call to extend alien life search, 16 September). In that case, why did Nasa deliberately send the Galileo probe on a collision course with Jupiter so that bacteria it may be carrying doesn't accidentally contaminate its moon, Europa? (Jupiter probe nears fiery end 15 September.) Surely there's a danger that we are deliberately contaminating Jupiter instead?

Neil Peely, Swansea, UK

ALL CHANGE
You ask Were trains any better 100 years ago?, 16 September. They were not. Speeds were lower, even modern local services can maintain speeds that in former years were the preserve of the fastest expresses; safety was pretty appalling as coaches were wooden and fell to pieces in crashes; under-investment was a problem even then; and trains can hardly have been clean and comfortable when they were pulled by dirty steam engines. Due to the many competing companies, "joined up transport" was hardly a priority as each company wished to keep passengers on its own services. The only real things that have changed have been that 100 years ago the railways were the only choice for travelling long distances, whereas now you can take a bus, drive or even fly.
Dylan Hayes, York, UK

ON TRACK
On 16 September, a train derails in London, no one is hurt, rail travel is disrupted, and this becomes the lead story. Six lorries crash on the M1, two people are killed, 4 injured and a large part of the road network is brought to a standstill, but this is only mentioned as a traffic report. Why?
Rob Ballantyne
Derbyshire

ON THE SHELF
A leading supermarket chain has just announced that it needs more people to help stock shelves and stack trolleys. The only qualifications required are that you're honest, hard-working and, in order to help customers find a product that they saw on TV, you must have a degree in media studies.
Norman Day
Birmingham, UK

NARROW BANDED
Chris Carrington should not feel that he is being discriminated against because he lives in a small village (The Last Word , 16 September.) I live in what is supposed to be the second largest city in the UK (over two miles inside the city boundary) and I can't get broadband from any of the telecoms providers. As far as I can see, the broadband revolution has made as much impression on the general population as a rainy bank holiday.
CM Sheard
Birmingham UK

SUPERNOVA
Re: Exploding star hunters make history, 16 September. Well, I suppose they would. It's the first case of spontaneously combusting scientists that I've heard of.
Alexander Robinson
Oxford, UK

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Last Word submission notes

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The Last Word is updated on Tuesday each week.

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