ArabiaTerra

I must admit, I have been alarmed by the BBC News's descent into tabloid, celebrity journalism in recent months. Particularly, Paul Mcartny's divorce (None of our/their business), Madonna's adoption (and subsequent interview on Newsnight, no less), Tom Cruise's wedding (who cares?), the whole BB thing (a real press 'feeding frenzy') and most recently, Naomi Campbell's prosecution for throwing her mobile phone at her housekeeper. On a day when dozens were killed in Iraq the last should never have even been mentioned. I think I'll have to drop them a line suggesting that they dedicate a 1/2 hour of News 24 to this crap then I can make a point of missing it. P.S I totally agree with the above posts about the British Gutter press, I wouldn't wipe my ass with the Sun.

It's been on the news this morning, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6289371.stm, that the police are now threatening to arrest people caught 'salvaging' stuff from Branscombe beach in Devon as the stuff apparently belongs to the Receiver of Wrecks according to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Does this mean that the ancient Udal right in Shetland to keep anything found washed up below the High water mark is now illegal?

Nicely done, Njugle

You can buy them from the fag counter at the Co-op. Though the till receipt they give you might be easily lost.

Can anyone recommend a good Media player for Windows XP as Microturde have gone and updated their one (as they do) and made a right pigs ear of it this time.

Actually, after thinking about this for a while, I think the LibDems haven't done so bad since devolution. They got PR in the Devolution settlement, they've got free care for the elderly at the last election (at least I think that was them) and I would assume they are going for abolition of the council tax at this coming one and we can't blame them for Iraq 'cos they voted against it. Having said that, the SNP have bought my vote this time round as they are going to abolish existing student debt which will save me about 3 grand. As far as independance goes, I do favour it but there will be a referendum so you can quite safely vote SNP for the student thing and then vote No in the referendum.

I second that!

Ha, Ha, Ha......! What f*cking planet are you on? The tories beleive in millions for the fat cats (0.001% of the population) and slave wages for the rest. They even opposed the minimum wage! Don't you remember the Poll Tax? Vote SNP to make sure that never happens again!

Not sure if this warrants a new thread (I'll let the mod's decide) but: Where is the Kings Castle? Or more to the point, Cunningsburgh? Think about it, Konigs Burg or kings castle. It implies the mother of all brochs, but there's nothing there. Are there any old stories or traditions about that?

As far as I can see, drug use does no harm to anyone except, possibly, the drug user. It's the prohibition of drug use that does all the harm!

One of my mates got the 'Magic Roundabout' during his driving test. He failed!

I have just watched Hotel Rwanda on DVD. It's a truly harrowing film especially as it is a true story. The lead character is a true hero of the highest order. It is the best thing I've seen in months. This is a film everyone should see.

A word of warning about the RBS, they are vicious with their charges. They apply them instantly if you make a mistake. None of this namby-pamby waiting till the beginning of the next month stuff for the RBS. Other than that, I haven't been with them long enough to comment on their customer service, though I can tell you that their on-line banking simply does not work if you only have a basic bank a/c. Actually, on reflection, the one thing I have phoned them about, they told me a load of crap. This was the Lerwick branch rather than the South call centre. In truth, they are a bunch of wank*rs like all banks!

We're not talking detterance here (thats a whole other thread ), we're talking prevention. The fact of a bullet in the brain will certainly prevent them fulfilling any mission! Mind you, it's an awfy long fence and full of holes if I mind right. I widna fancy patrolling that when the weather is like it is right now.

Just a thought but... One of the big problems with drug driving is the difficulty of proving that someone is on something at the time of the offence. Most tests, as far as I know, can detect if you have taken something in the past few days or weeks (6 weeks for cannabis I think). It is much more difficult to tell if someone is stoned etc right now. If drugs were legalised, would it be possible to add a chemical marker that would show up in the blood/piss test so that the polis could actually get solid evidence of an offenders state at the time of the crime/accident etc? Any chemists or medical people here who would like to venture an opinion?

I'm sure I read somewhere (I forget where) that the torpedo's were wire guided from the little hut beside the tubes.

I think George Galloway is an opinionated, self-centred, publicity seeking ar*ehole, and then he goes and says something which is right on the nail, exactly what I was thinking and exactly what the rest of our career minded, politically correct, toe-the-party-line politicians should be saying. I don't like the guy, but I appreciate him and I wish there were more like him, both here and in the US.

The suicide bomber might not be deterred, but the country which supplied the suitcase nuke might think twice about it. The nuclear material used in any suitcase bomb can be traced back to the reactor which produced it by analysing the impurities in the material (not all of it is destroyed in the explosion). If London or New York, for instance, were attacked the bomb would be traced back to it's makers. Of course, this would be meaningless if it turned out to be an old Soviet bomb from the Cold War, stolen during the breakup of the USSR, but that just emphasises the need for security and policing of nuclear storage sites and borders. As I've said before in this thread, Trident was never about protecting us from terrorists. It is to prevent other countries from threatening us with nuclear weapons. Look at North Korea, detterrance works! P.S A suitcase nuke is unlikely. The US produced some in the sixties, but they were BIG suitcases which required several men to lift. Any attack is more likely to be delivered by truck or ship. (So thats all right then!)

That'll be...(drum roll).... Moobs!

Birch the little b*stards! Seriously though, is that not the perfect solution? Some severe, but non lethal pain. They won't forget it in a hurry and it is over quickly and above all, it is cheap so a minimum of my taxes is wasted on the scum. It also keeps them clear of Her Majesty's Acadamys of Crime. I don't normally condone violence but I do feel that the Islamists have the right idea here (and I don't often agree with them either).

Sounds like fun! Petrol, Diesel and heating oil, no idea how much tho'.

Them's powerful words... So's them... So it seems you favour a pro-active, ethical foreign policy do you, whodat? Who's first? Zimbabwe? Burma? There's a bit of a mess in Darfur at the moment. And this is just our ex-colonies... Chechnya? Fiji? Iran? North Korea (No, they set off a nuke, remember) And, of course, the elephant in the corner of the room, COMMUNIST CHINA? Where do you start? Where do you STOP! (Looks like securing your oil supply first wasn't such a bad idea.... )

I hope you voted with your pence, and left all the papers on the shelf!

I support the death sentence in principal. I think there are some crimes which are unforgiveable and deserve death (such as premeditated child murder and sexual abuse, genocide, etc) However, I am absolutely opposed to the death sentence as a practical punishment as, without a perfect criminal justice system (and no system devised by man is perfect), you will, sooner or later, execute an innocent person and that is state sponsored murder. In Saddam's case, I think his trial was no better than the show trials of the Nazi or Soviet eras. He should have been put before an international tribunal in the Hague and, if found guilty, jailed for life in Europe just as Milosevic would have been if he had survived and as Karadjic and Mladic will be when we eventually catch them. PS. What was that scarf for? So it didn't hurt?

This, again, shows how important the interconnector is. The case for a causeway/tunnel/bridge accross Yell Sound suddenly makes a lot more sense when combined with a tidal power barrage, ditto for Bluemell Sound. It would pay for itself in a couple of decades, and the maintenance/operations jobs created would offset the job losses from ditching the ferries. A win/win stuation!