Sheaf Saint

No, what I am trying to point out is that the BNP have a large following and now have 2 seats in the european parliament based primarily on false propoganda, whereas Choudary and his followers are just a small band of radical dreamers whose future vision for Britain is about as likely to materialise as Pompey's players' wages, and who do not in any way present a threat because they are just a publicity-seeking laughing stock. I fear this is becoming a pointless discussion. The fact is that none of us knows exactly why the UAF have not publically stood up against Islam4uk. Maybe they only exist in the first place to combat the BNP and everything they stand for, and don't want to enter into a religious argument due to the sensitivities of some of their members. Maybe they are so busy trying to thwart the efforts of the BNP/EDL to gain supoport that they don't have time to concentrate on minority radical groups. Maybe they simply don't understand the meaning of the word fascism. Far too many maybes and not enough facts in the equation.

So? all this proves is that the Met Office has lost its impartiality. Are they the only organisation in the world campaigning about climate change now? No, of course they aren't. The Met Office are just a tiny bit-part player in the grand scheme of things. Just because The Met Office are seemingly using the issue of climate change for their own political agenda doesn't in any way prove it isn't happening.

I'm simply putting forward a possible reason why the UAF haven't come out in opposition to Islam4uk. Some on here seem to be claiming that their silence on the issue is a sign that they support Choudary's little tea party, whereas I am merely suggesting that they probably don't but do not feel the need to state that publically. I could of course be wrong. For the record, I am not a member of the UAF, nor do I plan to become one; I do not support the BNP/EDL, and I do not condone Islam4uk. So I guess you are correct when you say I am against it all.

Come again? :confused:

I really enjoyed the LOTR films upon first watching. I am one of the few people on this forum it seems who has never read the trilogy, so I had no frame of reference when sitting down to watch them. Visually, the films are utterly absorbing; they boast some of the most breathtaking landscapes and battle scenes that you could ever hope to see in a film. You cannot deny that Peter Jackson's vision was huge, and he went a long way towards realising that vision fully, but I do think he fell short in some areas. Some of the dialogue is awful. It is overly mawkish in parts, and one or two of the parts were badly cast IMO. However, the biggest flaw with all of them, and the sole reason I cannot watch them any more, is the fact that Elijah Wood's acting goes from average/poor at first, to just downright crap/annoying towards the end of the third film. He is supposed to be the hero/main protagonist of the story, but I find myself almost wanting Gollum to smash his brains out with a rock so I don't have to see his gormless, single-expression face again. Shame really.

Please elaborate...

Indeed. At least we had an academy full of decent/half decent players to fall back on when we fell out of the prem and had all our best 1st team players poached from us. What have they got?

And this is probably why the UAF aren't bothering with Choudary's little publicity stunt, because they recognise that it is just that - a publicity stunt by an irrelevant little group who have received far too much airtime and column inches already. On the other hand, the stand up against the BNP/EDL because they are seen as much more of a threat than this joker and his pathetic little band of mates.

I think you do them a great dis-service by claiming that they do not. Just because they aren't shouting from the rooftops about it doesn't mean it doesn't concern them. And I haven't seen or read anything about the UAF condemning the EDL or BNP for what they proposed to do if the march went ahead either.

Russell Osman?

Very interesting article, and some of the comments left on there are identical to my own views on it: that the bags themselves may be a very small piece of the puzzle, but our lazy reliance on them is indicative of the general ignorance towards the larger issue regarding the amount of unnecessary packaging that the stuff we consume is sold in.

Whether they are made from recyclable material or not is irrelevant IMO. The fact is that billions of them end up in landfill each year because people can't be bothered to recycle them. The same people who can't be bothered to take their own bags to the shops and who don't realise that when you throw stuff away, there is no 'away'. If charging 3p a time for them makes people think twice about using their own bags (seriously, how hard is it?) then I am all for it. Agree with your comment about driving to the shops for a packet of biscuits though.

Briatore's main defence seems to have been 'Moseley had it in for me... it's not fair!' This may or may not be true, but it is irrelevant because the original ruling was correct regardless IMO. He was guilty of cheating and bringing the sport into disrepute, therefore his ban should have stood. Can the FIA now appeal against the appeal ruling? And if they can, will they bother?

Got round to watching Let The Right One In lastnight, after reading some glowing reviews of it. I looved the atmosphere of it. The bleak 1970s Swedish housing estate existence was a perfect backdrop for the film, which is atually a very heartwarming take on the age-old vampire story. But rather than the 'good vs evil' theme you would normally associate with vampire films, you're never really sure who you are supposed to be routing for in this one. The young boy Oskar, who is the main focus of the film, is initially shown to be an innocent 12-year old who is the victim of bullying at school, but as the story unravels it is clear that he has a bit of a dark side to him, which is written and acted supremely well. There are many little quirks to the screenplay, little things that happen later on that make you think back to little things that were alluded to earlier in the film, but were done so subtley that you have to think about it rather than having handed to you on a plate. A wonderfully engaging film that I could happily watch again and again. 8.5/10

How does he smell?

I know your lol on the end means you are just being a bit flippant, so this isn't really aimed at you, but it genuinely amazes me that people can be so lazy as to not bother to take their own bags to the supermarket, and then complain at having to pay 3p for a carrier bag. The culture of convenience that has grown in this country over the last half a century is genuinely astounding.

To be fair, that isn't really to do with climate change - it's more to do with common ****ing sense.

Out of interest, how much is your carbon footprint tax bill for this year DD? I haven't received mine yet.

We had about 20-25cm in sheffield yesterday. I tried to get to work and ended up having to abandon my car after I tried to be clever and take a shortcut to avoid the traffic. Didn't occur to me at first how hilly that route was and I got well and truly stuck. Had to walk 45 mins home in just my work shoes which have zero grip on the soles. All good fun!

Looks more like they are doing the timewarp!

Portsmouth train at eastliegh yeah? And the PFA, whose job it is to reepresent the interestd of professional footballers (like a union) have arrived there this morning. I assume that means they have come to discuss what happens when they don't get paid today.

To be honest though, Dubai ain't exactly the model of social perfection either is it! Sounds like a pretty despotic place from what I've heard.

I would have hoped that I had made it crystal clear by now that I understand that perfectly. It's all the people who want to blame the whole of Islam for the actions of this neo-fascist organisation who do not seem to be able to make that distinction and whose understanding I question. What these extremists want is for a 'them and us' culture. They would like nothing more than for all westerners to fear and marginalise all muslims because it suits their agenda. And judging by some of the posts I have read on this thread and on other forums, I would say they are succeeding in getting their wish.

Well considering Jesus is actually one of the prophets in the Islamic religion as well as christianity, I think I can say without fear of contradiction that you were taught wrong. See what I mean about lack of understanding?

So you throw the bleeding heart liberal tag at me, and I throw the knee-jerk reactionary tag at you, and we carry on making generalisations and failing to understand each others point of view. I can see there is no point in us further engaging in this discussion if that's the way it is going to go. I am in the fortunate position of being able to look at it objectively, so I don't think it is for you or me to decide if it is a disgrace or not... it is down to the families receiving it. I have read the letter and FWIW, and I appreciate I am probably going to get flamed for this, despite all of his deluded ramblings, I cannot deny that he does make one or two very valid points. However, I do not expect grieving families to see it that way, and I certainly cannot blame them. Choudary clearly thinks he is doing the world a favour by introducing them to Islam, just like the religious crusades were intended to spread the word of god in the dark ages or whenever it was. If he thinks he is going to get a positive reaction to his letter then he is as deluded as his followers who believe that 72 virgins await them in the afterlife. And this is precisely the point I was making earlier... He has no understanding of our culture, in the same way so many of us have no tolerance of his. As long as that is the status quo, there is no hope for any progress to ever be made.