Westie

Just a question as a non-expert to an expert, but wouldn't inciting an offender to the production of child pornography for potential blackmail purposes (where one of the potential victims is her son), along with her minor violence and her potential to do further harm, plus her documented mental state be enough to at least suspend her competence to make binding decisions until a court rules her fit?

Well, though this was the point of what the Lawyer said to Will though wasn't it? I think what the Lawyer is saying here is that they might be able to ensure his father grants his agreement, using the fear of a scandal. The emphasis is on avoiding the court battle and getting everyone to sign off on it. It wouldn't be that hard to show that Jeanine doesn't have the mental competence to object surely? My view is though that JP will step in long before this goes toward emancipation. The fact is that Will's sexual escapades and the fact that he has such emotional damage would show him to be an unstable young man. Will wouldn't want to risk being removed from his family only to be placed into some kind of care; but if JP suggested to Will that he would take guardianship over him, I'm pretty sure Will would sign off on it. I'm pretty sure he would sign off on his Aunt Claire too, however I think that the friction this would cause within the family (that one sibling had taken the other siblings child) would be too great, whereas the parent riding in to correct a mistake would be more palateable. This does however have the potential to blow the family apart. I can see a huge split here. A major family war, where everyone will come out a little scarred and damage will need to be repaired. Examples: His shareholding notwithstanding, Stef could remove Brad from his positions at their investment firm and at triton, if he felt that brad's judgement was impaired.

Well. a Madoff storyline wouldn't mature for 8 more years in the story, so I don't think it can be that. But a bad investment perhaps? Some bad assets in the master trust? Or is there something IN Wade's trust that she needs to control for leverage elsewhere?

There is something slightly deranged about Elizabeth Danfield. It would be interesting to know whether she is drinking again. She is showing a terrible lack of judgement here, because Wade knows about the pictures Alexandra Carmichael was using to blackmail Elizabeth - just because Brad freed her from that, doesn't mean he would continue to permit her freedom if she tries to hurt someone he cares about. It does raise the question, why is she so desperate to get her hands back on Wade's money? If its just about "control" then thats gonna be really lame. Nobody who needs control would risk so much to gain so little. I think that she NEEDS control of that money for some reason?

Hey - that wasn't meant as whining. Seriously. I love in depth posts on an obscure character. But you've taken it almost to an obsession. Reading your posts is like listening to a belieber talking about Justin. All I'm saying is, don't get so strung out on one character. I know JJ has your birthday and your name and you feel a connection, but I think sometimes you get so focused on JJ (and other characters you Care about such as the HW crew) you miss the sterling qualities of some of the other characters. You are - when it comes to CAP - one of the most insightful contributors in this forum. What I'm trying to say is, if you apply that insight to other characters - without the JJ bias - you would probably enrich your own enjoyment of the forum, as well as ours. Please don't take it personally, I'm just challenging you to change your perspective a little. And since I'm now sounding like my college English lit tutor, I'm gonna shut up now ;-)

Dude. Give. It. Up. I just can't be subtle about this anymore. JJ just DOES NOT MATTER. he is a useful side character. He's a prissy little bitch. He has some nice entertainment value. But I cant believe so much time in this forum is spent talking about a vaguely interesting peripheral character, that quite frankly isn't particularly likeable. Will is the most interesting of the Kids, and even he isn't interesting to narrate a whole story on his own. The reason "JJ" hasn't really talked about why he loves figure skating is that, apart from a few occasional occurrences, we don't hear from JJ at all. Because (and this bears out my point) - he isnt anything but a side player with a VERY bit part. That might change in the future, but unless JJ changes too - I really hope we dont hear too much more of him.

Poetic License allows the distortion of facts within an appropriate context in order to enhance a story, or (more usually) to make a scenario "fit" with a story. However, two points I want to make with regards to this. The first is that Mark strives to ensure that stories remain accurate and puts a lot of work into it. When he - very occasionally - does something "big", he usually gets called on it in the forums. My second point is that any artistic license is dependent on context. So when you have a story that strives for accuracy, making a defining point of the story something so improbable (and almost impossible) as an east-west transversal of Cape Horn - without the protagonist commenting on the daunting and potentially fatal nature of that particular event - I dont think you can cloak that in "artistic license". The final thing I want to mention is that many people within the community here, would see these stories as a starting point for their own education. A fascination about the era is something many of us have in common. I think counterpointing the story with relative fact, here in the forums, provides a richer experience for us as readers. West

If you don't mind me saying, this is more about your personal proclivities than anything else. Mark hasn't spent particularly long developing these peripheral characters. No more so than he did with other characters in the past that just fell to the side. There was Tom, who disappeared between CAP and 1968, there were the kinds Brad went to school with, and actually I think Mark gave almost as much time to Matt's friends in bloodlines. The fact is these are just peripheral characters. Useful when needed, but you can always throw them away. As for my own personal taste, Im not really one for turning the CAP series into an extended 90210 or gossip girl. Mark's writing is better than that.

Well in this case.... Yes :-p

Err, no I wasn't. I should learn not to doubt myself. The point of my now deleted post was to say that the proposed route that Granger is meant to take is not possible for his ship - or at the very least incredibly difficult. Going WESTWARD towards the indies around cape horn is exceptionally difficult. The "roaring forties" come from the west. In addition what we now know as the antarctic circumpolar current pushes easterly. Given that given that Granger would be unable to take on food and water along the Spanish controlled South American coast, his last stop would be the Caribbean before he hit Australia. All that time battling against winds and tidal flows going in the opposite direction. Magellan of course, DID transverse from east to west, from Atlantic to Pacific, but he DID NOT go around the Cape. He went through the Magellan Strait. However, it should be noted that this is controlled by the spanish, and would not be a possible route for Granger. The so called "clipper route" ran the other way, catching the roaring forties in the atlantic, avoiding the unpredictability of the sea south of Africa somewhat, catapulting along to Australia and the East Indies. After completing trade, the clipper would catapult around Cape horn going from West to East, and try and catch a good current to aid the journey to Europe. Given that the journey to the indies in one direction would be barely possible, and in the other direction would take 9 months even without a detour to fight the Spanish, I have to conclude that either Granger will NOT end up in the indies, or he will miss out on all the good action in the Mediterranean the following year. That said, if anyone can find me an example of transversing the atlantic to the pacific around cape horn prior to 1922 (this is the first example I found), I would be happy to think myself wrong again. West

Comment deleted because I was completely wrong -

Are you kidding?? It's freakin awesome! 2012 in abstract looks like one athlete giving another athlete a blowjob.... What's not to like...?

What a great chapter... The only disappointment was realising that due to the timescales involved in the trip to the West Indies via south America, Granger would not be available for the real action that starts around 9 months after the date in the last chapter. The Mediterranean becomes a battlefield, with Nelson re-entering the sea after a British absence... Some spectacular victories such as the battle of the Nile culminating in a reassertion of British navel superiority... I'm sure Mark will make it up to us though with a tantalising story that looks like it will last many more chapters yet! West

I can't vote on my phone, but I will when I get home tonight, but I prefer Wade. Actually the preference is mostly about story... I prefer the more intricate plot lines of complex stories, which is why my favourite was millennium. Stories that are more soap opera than substance just don't do it for me. Don't get me wrong, Mark's sheer talent as a writer will always keep me coming back - but teen drama isn't as interesting to me as a more tangled web. That said, I suspect that The teen drama is easier to write than a highly complex story like millennium (though I might be wrong) - and do its necessary to avoid burning out mark's creative talent. Finally, I agree with Sharon. If there were more options on the poll, the horny guy would ALWAYS choose Matt as narrator. But the guy who just loves the stories? Stefan is KING

I really loved the latest chapter. Interesting point to raise though.... Surely Will is the ONLY kid janine actually has parental rights with anyway... The others are Bitty's kids to whom she was the nanny. Brad is their legal guardian, and she is essentially the "help" who later had a kid with Brad. With signing over parental rights for the one kid that's actually hers, I'm not sure she would have any real rights left... To anyone West

Once, when he wanted to visit London (from Spithead, I think), he was refused permission and told by his admiral that he was allowed only as far as his barge could go. So he had the barge loaded into his carriage and took it to London. He also had a rather nice baritone singing voice, though apparently he was much more fond of dirty sailors songs than the contents of the parish hymnal.

You guys are all concentrating on the plot. I didn't get past the 1st Paragraph. The latest chapter briefly mentions Lord Henry Paulet, who was later Vice-admiral Paulet. Famous for being dismissed from the service, and then reinstated under clemancy by George III, he was a famous eccentric with a fascinating story all of his own. I do hope we run into him again ...

Not sure you can call those examples brutalist. true brutalism for me, is Preston Bus Station...

Anyone else missing wade? Too much teen drama for my taste I guess....

Im so lucky this year.... Paya and I live just 10 minutes from the olympic village... We have a plan to snare Tom daley ...

I'm slightly drunk now (after work drinks, a little out of hand), but justifiable homicide is an american term - certainly not one used in the british justice system

Again, you are making assumptions about when I started in my job, and how long I have worked in the industry. I'm not going to argue with you on the specific detail. I will just say that you initially quoted "$100k for a one man IT department" - but then you start talking about data analysts and input staff. For all I know you may be right about the charity's costs. what I'm saying is compared to the corporate world for equivalent support, they are paying over the odds. For the record, on my experience, I did all my qualifications while working, because I couldn't afford university as I was estranged from my parents at that time. I started work at 18, as an analyst/programmer, moving on to specialise in Management Information and Business Intelligence. I took a sidestep into Project Management and head of business unit (accountable for all costs), and then I was head of IT in a division with a £350m turnover. I was later headhunted and relocated to London, and now work in the City. So when you say you have "seen a lot more of the industry", you probably need to stop being so arrogant and consider that other people have been there too.

You are assuming something about my experience (and about the European and UK procurement model) that isnt true. I am familiar with the US market, because it's my job to be familiar with it. In the UK we actually use a very similar model as the US use, and in any event companies I have contracted or worked for have US parents. I'm telling you WL, based on my professional expertise, that you are wrong.

There are already two lines of claimants to the Throne of France, but regardless the title "King" or "Queen" of France was never claimed by UK monarchs. The actual title was "Ruler of France". The Queen does however claim the title "Duke of Normandy" (Note Duke, not Duchess), and in this guise she continues to rule the channel islands.

A small sized one person IT department costs $100k a year to run? I dont know too much about American charities, but I know a HUGE amount about the management and running of an IT department, and even more about IT procurement and compliance. If charities are paying such costs for a one man band IT solution, then quite frankly they are loosing money through incompetence.