Sheaf Saint

Big LOL at Clotterill in his post-match interview criticizing the lack of professionalism from the Southampton bench yet having to be restrained from lamping the fourth official.

Likewise Ricardo Fuller.

There was a debate about this on Jeremy Vine's radio 2 show recently because a man was convicted for killing his own dog, although in his case it was because he had caused the dog unnecessary suffering by slitting its throat and leaving it to die slowly. A few experts called in and advised that as long as you do it quickly and without undue suffering then there is nothing legally stopping you from euthanising your own pet.

Super fookin dooper! That's made my day that has. :-) How we didn't get a fourth in those last few minutes I do not know. 3 fine saves from their keeper and two glorious chances falling to our two centre backs. I'm sure Clotterill will still try and claim that Forest were the better team and that they were hard done by, but from what I saw on the stream we totally bossed the game even before the sending off (didn't see what happened there though as I lost the stream for a few minutes. Could have done with Pompey getting a goal back against WHU but they had a man sent off and 3 yellows which I'm sure will massively help their season along (haha!) and with Boro and Cardiff dropping points we have opened a nice cushion to 3rd with that. Rickie who?

This is a picture of the set. Condition looks to be good (but in need of a polish, obviously)...

I don't think the lid is supposed to go with the sugarbowl. The feet of the bowl and the engraving on the front appear to be identical to 3 of the other items so it looks like it is a full set.

Most of the items have 'EPNS' stamped on the bottom which indicates they are Electro-Plated Nickel Silver. The piece in the bottom right of the picture appears to be an exact match for this... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SILVER-PLATED-EPNS-TEA-POT-STANDING-FOUR-SMALL-FEET-/260920292901?pt=UK_Antiques_Silverware_RL&hash=item3cc00fb625

I just had a new boiler installed and hiding away in a canvas bag behind where the old water tank used to be I found this little lot... I appreciate that a football forum may be the wrong place to be asking, but are there any antique experts on here that might know if there is any value in it?

No, I didn't. I expressed my opinion that I didn't think they were building one with the specific intent of attacking Israel, and I linked to a video showing the US defence secretary admitting that they are not actually building a bomb - just the capability. Again, you have taken what I posted and interpreted it in your own way. Point taken, but even our own AWE at Aldermaston was a massive secret for many years. Has it occurred to you that perhaps they are using an underground facility simply because they don't want the Americans or Israelis to bomb it?

I'm not going to indulge you any more Alpine. This was an interesting debate until you turned it into yet another 'everybody look at me' thread. I wouldn't mind if you actually took on board some of the comments in a constructive manner, but you seem to be incapable of seeing anything which challenges your viewpoint as anything other than a personal attack on you.

Oh sweet Jesus, I don't know why I am still humouring you but can you honestly not see that there is a world of difference between being critical of US foreign policy based on reasoned analysis and being a 'US-hating leftie?' Throwing stupid, over-simplistic stereotypes at people just because they disagree with you is never going to win you any support, and is one of the many reasons you get so many negative responses from people.

I've just caught up with all of this on 4OD. Very uneasy watching, as TIE '86 was, but a truly heartfelt and engaging series. I don't know how Shane Meadows does it but he seems to know exactly how to get the utmost out of every actor he works with. The scene in episode 3 with the confrontation between Woody and Milky was possibly the best bit of TV drama I have ever seen.

And therein lies the problem.

Not currently, no. But the events following the last elections show that there is some very strong opposition to the clerical rule within Iran which is never far from the surface.

That's because you do, and then you have the audacity to berate other users for exactly the same thing. Is it really any wonder you get so many negative comments when you are utterly incapable of entering into any serious debate without getting all defensive when you are proven wrong and attacking other posters because they don't agree with you?

I didn't even mention Iraq or Afghanistan. I know that the action in Afghanistan was approved by the UN. You think that somehow balances the fact that Iraq wasn't???? Dear lord! I raised the point about Indonesia because it is a shameful episode in very recent history that was almost completely overlooked by the mainstream media. This reinforces my point that western governments, in particular the US and UK, are not the courageous, honourable swords of truth and justice that we are expected to believe they are by the propaganda we are fed. If you know anything of history you will be aware that one of the most important methods of garnering support for any military action is to influence what is reported to the public to make it appear that the cause is a noble one and that the action is necessary. In other words, use the age-old notion of good versus evil and portray the enemy as the evil one. I know the world is never as black and white as that. I was taught to question everything and believe nothing other than my own sense of reason and logic. If in your mind this equates to holding an irrational obsession then fine, so be it. It is clear from this debate and many before it that there is nothing I can say that will ever convince you to re-evaluate your own preconceptions.

So partially true then. Which only exists in the recesses of your mind. I'll ask again - why do you think I have an irrational obsession? If you want to be taken seriously then you can't just make those kind of accusations against people and refuse to qualify them.

Just how do you arrive at that conclusion Alps. Serious question - How do you get the idea that I have an irrational obsession?

Or you could look at it from the viewpoint of learning lessons from history and ensuring those mistakes are not repeated. The last century is rife with examples of US-led imperialism (for want of a better word) causing global problems where none existed before. What makes you think anything is any different now? Take one example - the US-backing of Suharto's military coup in Indonesia. He went on to orchestrate the murder of millions of his own people and pocket something in the region of $30bn of loans from the world bank while consigning huge numbers of people to poverty. But we didn't do anything to stop him because he opened up the markets and allowed global corporations to exploit the workforce for their own gain. Free market at any cost. In the late 90s when the US and UK governments were bleating on about the potential human rights disaster in Kosovo, Suharto was committing atrocities against his own people while we sat back and did nothing - simply because he was using hardware sold to him by British arms companies. Can't upset one of our best customers by threatening him with military intervention now can we? Why did this not receive the same level of press coverage as Kosovo? Because that's the way those in charge wanted it - making sure that only what they decide should be reported makes it into the mainstream media. I know you will claim this is all irrelevant but the point I am making is that the US/UK governments have shown in very recent history what they are capable of when it comes to aggressive foreign-policy, and I have seen and read nothing to convince me that anything has changed.

What's the matter with you Alpine? Just because your insistence that Iran is responsible for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism has been shown up by numerous posters to be catastrophically wrong, you seem to now want to paint us all out to be hate-filled anti-semites. You pop up every now and again to fire a broadside at anybody who is reasonable enough to treat what we are spoon-fed by the media with a healthy degree of scepticism, you don't provide any evidence whatsoever to reinforce your own viewpoint, and as a result you continue to make yourself look more and more foolish. How about this.... An admission less than a week ago from the US defence secretary that Iran is NOT attempting to build a bomb, yet we are still expected to fall in line and accept their view that Iran is an international agressor that must be stopped at all costs. If that isn't enough to convince you then I really don't know what else will.

How do you arrive at that conclusion exactly? If you look a little further down the wiki page (cited, in case you are dubious of the authenticity of it)... But of course, this doesn't get reported on western news channels because it doesn't have the same sensationalist impact as claiming that he wants to wipe Israel off the map. None of this, to me anyway, paints a picture of a madman who wants to engage in genocide.

Regardless of where I found these, there do not appear to be any quotes anywhere from people claiming that the translation used by the NYT, BBC etc... was correct. They have been universally denounced as inaccurate, and the quotes confirming this on wiki all have citations.

You assume that I am relying on newspapers. Far from it. A little research shows that many language experts have confirmed it as a mistranslation... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/260107offthemap.htm

No, it's not even remotely the same thing. Calling for an entire country to be wiped off the map is nothing like calling for a political regime to be removed. Not even the same ball-park. And you think that because I take the time to investigate the truth behind what is reported on our news channels, that means I am against my own culture? If the culture you refer to is the culture of controlling what information is reported to the public in order to gain support for any possible future military action, then yes I am firmly against that; as any sane and rational person should be. Just because I live in the western world, doesn't mean I will blindly accept everything that is fed to me by our political class in the belief that to do otherwise would be against my own culture. My inherent sense of reason prohibits such submissive thinking.

And you wonder why some people take exception to your posting style!