Hell's Kitchen & the Gay thing

I really, really don't mean to be offensive here, and this is a genuine question. Is shirt-lifter a derogatory term in and of itself (such as nigger is) or is it a "descriptive" term that can be used derogatorily (as can many other terms/words). I guess what I mean by this is that the word 'gay' in and of itself is not derogatory as it is descriptive, although it can be used to cause offense, whereas 'nigger' is pretty much agreed to be offensive in any context due to the history and background of the word. Is shirt-lifter a word like nigger, or is it just another euphemism for gay (such as 'friend of Peter Mandleson' or 'bats for the other side') which are apparantly perfectly acceptable and non-offense in descriptive contexts.

Twenty20 World Cup

Looks exciting so far - Chris Gayle got the Windies into a great position which they then managed to throw away in a way that only the Windies can ;-)

How will England do? Not sure - can't predict anything in this competition, but I would think we will see increasingly high scores as the players get more used to the tempo and style of play - I would hope for a final or semi-final with a successful run chase of over 300. Not sure if we'll see it, but one can hope. How England do is up to how they are on the day(s) - they are confident which is a great start and should make it through to the Semis if Pieterson and Maschercanas can fire together against Australia / South Africa / New Zealand. Beyond that it's anyones - much better to watch than the Rugby though.