This will always happen, unfortunately. Some people can't resist. I doubt they'd do it in person (unless they were really sick / stupid), but the anonymity of the internet makes even the most prissy person an internet egomaniac, who becomes intoxicated by the exuberance of their own Verdana verbosity, to paraphrase Dizzy.
I've had a few instances where I've argued quite aggressively with people about Hillsborough including at both my and the mrs' (nm) work place. Doesn't help that I live in Notts so there are a lot of Nottm Forest fans about that believe and hung on to every word Cloughie said. With you living in Nottm at the moment I'm sure you will have come across it too (assuming you've been in Nottm since before the revelations about the Police and Ambulance Service etc were made, not many have argued since).
No, mate. Benjamin Disraeli. The inspiration for the superb album Disraeli Gears (Cream, Clapton band not the nightclub). Yep, a few times. You just have to ignore the idiots. If I didn't, I'd be in gaol (I still prefer that spelling!) long ago!
I was brought up not far from Walton Gaol (now HM Prison Liverpool or somesuch), so that spelling seems normal and more elegant to me, too. When I first went to senior school and they asked me where I came from, when I answered Walton, someone would always say "Oh, what was your number?" They seemed to think that was funny......
I had an ex-girlfriend from Woolton village and she had similar issues, as Woolton sounds a bit like Walton. I've always prefered gaol to jail. The Ballad of Reading Gaol (Oscar Wilde), or The Ballad of Reading Jail (written in a parallel universe by an American Oscar Wilde equivalent?). I'm not a massive Wilde fan but he had his moments. Rossini once said of Wagner that, 'he has good moments but awful quarters of an hour'. I feel the same way about Wilde. He had good phrases, but horrible plays. Plus, his bons mots would be better received if he didn't repeat them ad nauseam throughout his works.
Notable birthday today: Jimmy Carter Roger Williams History today: 1958 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) replaces the 43-year-old National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in the US. 1960 Nigeria becomes independent from the UK. 1961 The Federal Republic of Cameroon is formed by the merger of East and West Cameroon. 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson debuts; Carson will remain The Tonight Show host until 1992. 1964 The first Free Speech Movement protest erupts spontaneously on the University of California, Berkeley campus; students demanded an end to the ban of on-campus political activities. 1964 Japanese "bullet trains" (Shinkansen) begin high-speed rail transit between Tokyo and Osaka. 1971 Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida, the second of Disney's "Magic Kingdoms." 1971 First CT or CAT brain scan performed, at Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London. 1974 Five Nixon aides–Kenneth Parkinson, Robert Mardian, Nixon's Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell–go on trial for conspiring to hinder the Watergate investigation. 1975 Legendary boxing match: Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in the "Thrilla in Manila." 1979 US returns sovereignty of the Panama Canal to Panama.
I reckon a dedicated location is the way to go with this emotive subject. However, it would need to VERY carefully monitored.
