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.

DICKY TUMMY
Am I the only one to find the notion of Spain being worried about tourists coming in with stomach illnesses somehow ironic? (Bug ship sparks border row, 3 November)
Dave Williams
Prudhoe UK

MISSING THE LAST POST
Which bright spark scheduled the England v Wales Rugby World Cup match for 10am on Remembrance Sunday? I would love to watch the match but also want to take part in the day's activities to commemorate the past.
Gary Gannon
Gateshead, England

GREEN WITH ENVY
"Mr Green managed a pay packet of just £171m this year." (UK's top pay packets revealed, 1 November.) My commiserations to the poor chap.
Jack Wilson
Lancaster, UK

SPAM WILL EAT ITSELF
In reply to Philip Lickley (The Last Word, 28 October), one thing more annoying than spam offering you spam-blocking software is spam asking you if you want to buy the spam list that the spammer is spamming.
Paul Nattress
Worcester, UK

WONDER BRAZIER
In the 21st Century, how do pickets lines always manage to lay their hands on an old oil drum and pallets ready for burning? Are they stored from previous disputes?
Gerald Wiles
London

FIGURE IT OUT
So a government survey has discovered "a strong link between numeracy and literacy and higher wages." (Almost half of adults 'lack basic maths', 30 October) I'm so glad that we've been told that officially.
Tim Webb
UK

URBAN MYTH?
The term "urban" has gradually been introduced and used to denote anything to do with inner city dwellers of colour - the BBC, and especially "yoof" programmers, are now very fond of using it. It would be better if the term African-Caribbean was used.
Lynda Emanuel
London

SEVEN Cs
Good to see that Ranulph Fiennes has run marathons on seven continents, (Fiennes relishes marathon feat, 3 November), especially as there are only six. South America is a sub-continent of the continent called The Americas, much as the India peninsular is a sub-continent of Asia.
Keith Lomax
Chelmsford, UK

NO VICTIMS
Thank you for the remarkable reports about the Baghdad family. The family proves that dignity makes heroes of people when they could so easily assume victim status.
Joris Minne
Belfast

FAR FOOD
Re: Fast food outlets told to clean up, 29 October. So the government proposes to make Fast food outlets responsible for the litter dropped by their customers. Last month we were walking in Wales, and there was a load of McDonalds packaging littering the car park, but the nearest McDonalds was more than 20 miles away.
Ron Cartmale
Stoke on Trent

EVERYONE'S A WINNER
There seems to be an important option missing from the Who should win the Turner prize' vote, 3 November. Where's the "none of the above" option?
Steve Gill
Camberley

FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
Certain readers have inferred from Jan Michelini's - the assistant director of Mel Gibson's The Passion Of Christ - two close encounters with lightning bolts (Jesus actor struck by lightning, 23 October) that God "doesn't want the film made". Might I infer that either God is actually now working as publicist for the film?
Ian Phillips
Oxford, UK

TAKING THE MIC
With it being illegal to drive whilst talking on a mobile phone can one presume that police officers will pull over before speaking into their two-way radios/mobile phones? Or will they be exempt?
Daniel Roberts
Dudley

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Last Word submission notes

We welcome your comments and observations on the news.

The Last Word is updated on Tuesday each week.

When submitting something to The Last Word, please include the web address of any story you are referring to. Please also include your full name (i.e. first name and surname), city/town and country. Submissions should be brief. Long e-mails will rarely stand the best chance of being published.

Don't forget that there are a number of other ways to get in touch with BBC News Online. If you want to point out a mistake, you should do so via the Feedback page. This will initially give you an automated response, but your point will be dealt with by a member of our team.

To take part in discussions about the issues in the news with other users of BBC News Online, go to Have Your Say, where there are always a number of debates taking place.