Sheaf Saint

well clearly not all of them have shown any forgiveness. It was depressingly inevitable (although, I admit, understandable) that we would have american relatives on TV yesterday speaking of their outrage at this decision based on their bitter need for revenge and their blind faith in the justice system that convicted him in the first place. One woman who was interviewed said "The people of the UK should be ashamed of themselves" - as if an entire population is at fault and should be condemned for Kenny McCaskill's decision. I find it amazing, but not in the least bit surprising, that people can allow their blinkered hatred to influence them into making such ridiculous generalisations.

Many have, yes. And many also don't believe he is guilty either. That speaks volumes IMO.

From Wiki... It would seem that the principle of 'beyond reasonable doubt' has been scandalously overlooked in this case.

I really don't see how you can draw any comparisons between the two men. McGuiness was always open and proud about his involvement with the IRA, and yes I find it pretty sickening that he now finds himself in a position of such power in the NI Assembly because he clearly is a murdering bastard, and he has never denied this. Please could you explain how this relates in any way to the case of Al Megrahi - a man who was convicted on extremely dodgy evidence and has always maintained his innocence?

Firstly, his conviction in the first place was shaky to say the very least. I've been doing some research on this today and it appears that the man who positively identified Al Megrahi as the man that bought the clothes which were found in the suitcase which contained the bomb was 'buttered up' by the Scottish police, and that this is pretty much the extent of the evidence against him. Secondly, he did not 'lose' an appeal in 2002 - he was not given permission to lodge one in the first place. Not the same thing at all. The Scottish govt agency that investigates miscarriages of justice reviewed the case in 2007 and agreed that he had very good grounds on which to lodge an appeal, and he was subsequently given the go-ahead. Thirdly, the reason he has dropped his latest appeal is because it meant he would be allowed to go home to Libya to live out his days. He was given the option of dropping the appeal and going home, or continuing it and living out the rest of his life in a Scottish prison... What would you have done? Read his full statement from today here Does that sound like the words of a murdering terrorist to any of you? Not me. I thought the whole point of terrorism was to admit to carrying it out so those they oppose, and indeed the rest of the world, know who did it. Don't all islamic terrorists go round screaming things like 'death to the infidels' or similar? I am well aware this is a poor stereotype but just making a point: Al Megrahi clearly does not fit that stereotype in any way. I'm sorry if this offends those who believe strongly in the integrity of the US and UK governments, and in the principle of 'An eye for an eye', but I do not believe this man was guilty at all, and I am saddened that by giving him no choice other than to drop his appeal, the truth will now never be known.

I thought that was in Peru????? :smt102

Exactly. I admit I don't know the ins and outs of the case, but it has been suggested for many years that his conviction was about as safe as a taxi ride with a blind driver.

You may see it as namby pamby bollix Delldays, but what the Scottish Justice Secretary has done is completely consistent with Scottish law. Do you believe that he should have bent the rules according to their own justice system just to bow down to what Hilary Clinton wants?

I won't hold my breath Delldays, we're still waiting for you to eat your own sh1t after we made the playoffs in 2007

Earlier this year my GF and me stayed in a little town caled Divača in Slovenia. A proper little one-horse town with just one guest house (pictured) and where nobody spoke a word of english... We only stayed there for one night as it is close to the Škocjan caves we wanted to visit, then we headed down to the coast to a beautiful little fishing town near the Italian border called Piran...

So is today the deadline day for paying back the £20m to the South African bank?

He came across as a true gentleman. Very sad news indeed. Rest in peace Sir Bobby.

David Speedie. Was gutted when he signed for us. I remember us playing Coventry at the Dell once and he seemed to spend the entire 90 mins trying to get anyone in red and white sent off.

I don't think it's nailed on that he will win the next GP. He has been out for nearly 3 years now and will not get to even drive the car prior to Valencia. His fitness will not be up to what it was either. He will also be at a disadvantage in that he has never raced on this circuit before and won't get the chance until friday practice. Still gonna be interesting though.

Young F1 driver with limited talent accuses experienced team principal of being obsessed by money and having no friends. This is only going to end one way I'm afraid. Bye bye Nelson.

Portishead - Roads. There's probably quite a few Portishead tracks you could choose from but this one is by far the most powerful. Saw them do it live in at Manchester Apollo last year and I was nearly in tears by the end of it.

There are reports now that Massa might suffer permanent damage in his left eye, so we may never see him in F1 ever again I really wish him all the best. He's a far more accomplished driver than his team mate ever will be IMO.

I'm currently reading Philip K D1ck's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep', which as most will know is the novel that Bladerunner was based on. never actually read any of his work before and haven't watched Bladerunner since I was about 17 so thought I would give it a go. Very strange book so far.

Watched Persepolis the other night. Hugely enjoyable french animation charting the life-story of a girl growing up in Iran during the revolution. I understand it was based on a graphic novel which itself was based on the real-life experiences of the author Marjanne Satrapi. Very moving and in parts very funny - the story charts Marjanne as she grows up and relocates to Vienna to escape the Iran/Iraq war. Well worth watching - 8/10

First I've heard of it, but I wouldn't rule it out completely. Perhaps our F1 mole Ponty could enlighten us.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/massa-doctors-encouraged-by-signs-of-improvement-1761980.html Good to hear. A friend of mine suffered a similar head injury in a motorway paile-up last october and he's only recently gone back to work. They can take a long time to recover from so I reckon it could be some time before we see Massa driving again. All the best Felipe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8166851.stm Not sure exactly what changes Maclaren have made recently but what a turnaround! Will be interesting to see them challenging at the front with Brawn and Red Bull

I thought Eto'o was going to pompey with Villa and Silva though

I would just like it to be known that I too would be willing to act on behalf of these players pfc123 - seriously, if you believe this then you are living in cloud cuckoo land. Do you really, genuinely expect eto'0, Silva & Villa to sign for Pompey, just because they are hoping to appoint Maradonna as a global ambassador? :smt075

I came across a thread on another forum recently discussing the demise of the local pubs in the UK, and one poster claimed that it is because a very large majority of local pubs are owned by national companies, chains etc.. who have massive debts to pay off due to the recession. This combined with the amount of duty to be paid on alcohol at present means they are much better off selling the property for redevelopment than they are continuing to run the pub as a viable business. I'll try and find the link - it's an interesting discussion.