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Send for Scooby Doo and the Mystery machine to find him.

*slowly backs away* Fuuuuuckin' 'ell. And we thought Spade was bad.

Yes, this wasn't pre-internet but it was pre internet-as-we-know-it-today that's for sure. Actually, I'm not exactly sure when the current "era" we're in started. In what exact year did it all become clear that Google fucking owns our arses? 2009 maybe? I was gonna say 2006 or 7 but I think that's a bit early. But like I said it wasn't a direct rip-off of anything (and more importantly it wasn't a rip-off of a book or short story) so I didn't have to worry too much. (But I felt worried and mildly "guilty" at the time!). Also I seem to remember one or more of my teachers saying stuff like "If you copy something, we have ways of knowing". That sounded scary enough to put me off if I had actually been tempted to cheat. But not quite as scary as it would sound now.

Alright, chillax! I was only kidding ffs. But really I can't remember a single time when they actually explained that difference. They just said "They weren't GCSEs in my day they were O-levels!". So if they were trying to express that point it never came across. I guess maybe I'm talking to a "victim" of the "if you can't perform on exam day, you're screwed" system? Or not? Funny little anedcote-type thing about the whole "improving your grade" thing is that I did a short story for my English Literature GCSE that my teacher said would receive an A grade if I actually corrected the spelling errors. I could never be bothered to do this, despite the fact that it was typed out on Word and all I had to do was click the autocorrect button and then print out a fresh copy. But I couldn't even be arsed to do that. And eventually that was the difference between me getting an A in Eng Lit and a B which is what I would have got. And it would have been my only A too. Damn you wrestling or videogames or whatever dumb crap I was doing at the time..... The point about O-levels was that they were a two tiered system either you would be entered for the O-level or the CSE if you were "less able" The GCSE system was intended to create a continuum that all students took the same exam but there has always been the suspiscion from employers that the new system was 'dumbed down'. I did O-levels but we were guinea pigs for the first proto GCSEs. If I remember rightly an A in CSE was the equivalent of a C in O-Level. Close but CSEs were graded 1-5 so a Grade 1 was equivalent of an O-level. I got 5 O-levels and three CSEs because I made really bad option choices for my subjects. I was told to pick German if I wanted to study Chemistry at degree level but I was really bad at languages. Oh yes, they were numerical grades. I did the same number as you. I screwed up on my languages by choosing to do French, Spanish and German in my 3rd year which totally screwed me up for that year. I ended up doing Home Ec., French and Drama for CSE. My real surprise was getting a B for O-Level in Art even though I was crap at it.

*backs away some more*

Trumpets sound, heavens open and the list of 53 surviving MEPs from the first parliament descends to the Deathlist Gordon Adam (1933- Richard Balfe (1944- Neil Balfour (1944- Beata Brookes (1931- Richard Caborn (1943- Frederick Catherwood (1925- Ann Clwyd (1937- Ken Collins (1939- Richard Cottrell (1943- David Curry (1944- Ian Dalziel (1947- Marquess of Douro (Charles Wellesley) (1945- Winifred Ewing (1929- Adam Fergusson (1932- Michael Gallagher (1934- Win Griffiths (1943- David Harris (1937- Gloria Hooper (1939- William Hopper (1929- Brian Hord (1934- John Hume (1937- Alasdair Hutton (1940- Christopher Jackson (1935- Robert V. Jackson (1936- Stanley Johnson (1940- Edward Kellett-Bowman (1931- Brian Key (1947- Alfred Lomas (1928- John Marshall (1940- Robert Moreland (1941- Bill Newton Dunn (1941- Lord O'Hagan (Charles Strachey) (1945- Ian Paisley (1926- Ben Patterson (1939- Andrew Pearce (1937- Henry Plumb (1925- Peter Price (1942- James Provan (1936- John Purvis (1938- Joyce Quin (1944- Allan Rogers (1932- Barry Seal (1937- Richard Simmonds (1944- Anthony Simpson (1935 Tom Spencer (1948- James Spicer (1925- Jack Stewart-Clark (1929- John Taylor (1937- John Taylor (1941- Frederick Tuckman (1922- Amedee Turner (1929- Alan Tyrrell (1933- Michael Welsh (1942- Some of these went on to have ministerial careers such as Richard Caborn and other are already on the radar like Ian Paisley but assembling a DDP team from this lot would be a leap of faith as many will be tocuh and go for an Obit. However if you have spies in the local press then this could be a good source of information. The 1979 elections were held on the First past the post principal with constituencys being roughly approximated to counties it is only in later elections that we get the regional approach and a move to the D'Hondt system.

Every one of us researches, whether it be making lists, or noting "tips" on here..

Nope, not me, thanks for asking.

Nope, not me, thanks for asking.

Stunning news from Huff Post, a British brain expert reckons Schumi might "never be the same again" if he comes out of the coma. I've often admired Huff Post's "No Shit Sherlock" moments, but this is a corker. Enjoy: http://travel.aol.co.uk/2014/05/11/michael-schumacher-may-never-be-the-same-says-british-brain-expert/?ncid=webmail2

Wow, how ghoulish! *goes back to compiling list of potential DL/DDP picks for 2015*

A couple of months ago, he was interviewed about the death of Tony Benn. Healey looked very well for a man approaching 97. Not as gaunt as in recent years and very sharp. I think he may get to one hundred.