Quote from JamesF1 :

RAID array failure, incompetance by the hosting company, much lost data in fragmented little chunks that needed to be reassembled manually (and that work is still continuing)... it's been a nightmare to fix.

good to hear it's getting better James

Quote from durbster :

Being a uniquely American problem, I think it's fair to assume that it's something deep in the American system that's at fault. A lot of countries have civilians that are armed (don't the Swiss have more guns per person?), so it's not simply a matter of having guns, it's how they're treated.

Anyway, the gun discussions have been done to death so I won't go there. Personally I think part of the problem is the paranoid censorship that America seems to cherish. US tv and films are the best example of this, where anything considered a threat is blurred all swearing or even a hint of a mention of horrible things like drugs is muted.

So kids grow up watching this fantasy world, where nobody swears, everybody who does bad things dies (usually gets shot ), and the ending is always happy. Drugs are bad, guns are bad, swearing is bad, being angry is bad, being nice will bring you all you need.

And then you grow up and discover the real world. You meet people who do drugs and find that they're not suffering horribly, in fact it's like some of them are having a great time. How can it be!?

You see somebody with a gun and see the respect and awe they bring. You see people swearing without any consequence and you see complete arseholes with beautiful girls on their arm. You're nice and polite to people, and yet you don't win the lottery, you haven't got the girl, loads of friends, a great car and nobody's paying you the attention you deserve.

How can it be? You've been lied to all this time. You've made it to your teenage years and only just now discovered that sometimes life kicks you in the balls. Nobody mentioned this, it all looked so easy.

You can't handle it. You get angry.

That is probably the clearest way I have heard anyone describe what might be happening!