CHAPEL END CHARLIE

You are quite correct, you do have to go to the tiresome bother of pulling the trigger each and every time you want to shoot somebody with a semiautomatic weapon - I imagine the NRA must view that as a sinister federal infringement on their constitutional rights. Image of 'Bushmaster' .223 assault rifle employed to slaughter 26 innocent schoolchildren and their teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut in December 2012: Now I for one have no doubt that the framers of the US constitution had weapons of this type in mind when they wrote that wonderful document in 1789.

For your information, I'm a long term admirer of the United States and it's kind and (often) generous people. Indeed, I've been criticised on here for being overly supportive towards that great nation on numerous occasions. So to hear from the likes of you that in fact I'm some sort of hate filled arrogant English opponent of the USA is something of a novelty if nothing else. On this specific firearms issue however too many of my American friends seem to be trapped in a form of national psychosis that prevents them from comprehending what seems to be the obvious truth of the matter to most sane people elsewhere - IE the utterly perverse and irrational attitude many (but not all) Americans hold towards gun control has proven to be profoundly harmful. I'm well aware thank you of the history of the USA and its federal state structure. However, the fact that automatic weapons are not freely available in every single state is unlikely to prove much of a consolation the next time large numbers of innocent schoolchildren are massacred in their classrooms because yet again some mentally unstable adolescent has been able to get his hands on a AR-15 and enough ammunition to fight a small war.

The temptation to blame 'somebody else' for your own failings is always there of course, there might even be some truth in it occasionally. However, there comes a point in time when both individuals and societies have to take responsibility for their actions. If you find yourself beheading helpless captive who has never done anybody any harm, or destroying priceless historical monuments in the name of religion, then methinks you have to take a long hard look at yourself and what you are doing before blaming somebody else. It seems to me that the British Empire can't be held responsible any longer for every single border dispute than happens anywhere in Africa. Similarly, you can't blame those who negotiated the Versailles Treaty back in 1919 for the horrors of Austwitz-Birkenau a quarter of a century later - put yourself in their shoes and ask how could they have possibly known? We can play the 'blame game' forever I suppose and where will it get us? If you want to blame the US for the rise of Islamic extremism then you might as look further back and say that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 started a 'ball rolling' that has just never stopped ever since. And if Communism is to blame, well then perhaps we should take a close look at Karl Marx then ... So let's just blame the Germans for everything then and be done with it.

An individuals 'right' to own a firearm is (in most counties) balanced against the rights of others not to get shot in the street by said weapons ... or in their classrooms for that matter. Explain to this forum why it is desirable that automatic weapons - weapons that have no other purpose than to rapidly kill people in large numbers - should be made available to the general public? I heard some nutjob saying the other day that as both cars and guns kill people, then if you seek to ban guns you should logically also ban cars too! As 'false analogies' go that is quite a ridiculous example ... but one I suspect that you may find compelling.

I find that knives are infinetly better than guns ... especially when I have a plate of fish 'n' chips in front of me. But this is not at all a flippant matter - as anyone who has seen this programme dealing with the manifest pain and suffering the appalling Sandy Hook tragedy entailed will surely confirm. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0551y87/this-world-surviving-sandy-hook

In my on-going pursuit of ancient television I am now watching on the True Entertainment channel early episodes of 'The Avengers in Colour' - from the classic mid 60's Diana Rigg as Mrs Peel era. Even I am too young to really remember this series, so old as they are, they are still 'new to me' if you understand. And what great fun they are, the plots are wonderfully daft, the style light hearted and not at all serious, and as for Mrs Peel's supposed martial arts abilities ... well this really has to be seen to be believed! To add to the fun you also get to see actors who would later become stars at a early stage in their careers - a very young Brian Blessed for instance. All you need is for Austin Powers to somehow turn up in his Union Jack bedecked E Type and this glorious vision of 'Cool Britannia' in all its kitsch 60's pomp would be complete.

The manager had a mighty task when he first arrived here - to quickly put a team together from the wreckage of last summer and then get them to perform. He succeeded in that difficult task quite brilliantly. His next big challenge was to find a way to keep this team of his performing when at least two of its key players - Pelle & Tadic - started to run out of steam. To be fair I see he tried to change the formation again today, but another frustrating goalless performance is just more evidence that RK has yet to devise a method to successfully overcome the problem. This season is all but over now I think, we certainly can't be relegated and we are obviously out of all the cup competitions too. I don't personally believe we look likely now to qualify for Europe either. We may well finish in a similiar position as we did last season, but only time will tell on that. Whatever, Koeman needs to go away and do some serious thinking over the summer about what he's going to do when important players lose their form and how he will change things when other managers seem to have figured both him, and his team, out. This Premier League malarkey may not be quite as easy as it first seemed.

I was at that game and remember this incident well. Was that the same game when a young Robin Van Persie also saw red and walked off with Arsene Wenger giving him a look that would have melted asbestos?

It's pretty hard to argue with the post above. In effect we don't control our borders anymore and that's part of this Faustian pact we have made with the EU. There is just no disputing it - we have exchanged a large part of our national sovereignty in order to promote our trade with Europe. Immigration is as old as time, but this modern mass immigration phenomenon (not all of which is connected with our EU membership of course) has both adverse and positive results on society. We surely are now a more diverse and outward looking people, but we may never recapture the sense of national unity that served us so well in the past. Some on here might do well to remember that we were all immigrants once if you look back far enough. It is perhaps the sudden nature, as well as the sheer scale, of the current wave of immigration that is the root cause to the widespread discontent we now see around us - and I'm no more immune to that feeling of unease than many of my fellow Brits are. This old country of ours has perhaps not seen the like of it since Anglo-Saxon times. On a more positive note, the new immigrants I have personally met have all been decent hard working young people determined to make a better future for themselves. I can't blame them for that because, put in their situation, I might do exactly the same. I should also add that my nephew has married a (lovely) girl of Pakistani descent and their baby daughter will grow up in a new England we of the older generation could hardly recognise - like it or not this is what modern Britain is like now. During the next parliament the British people may get the chance to decide whether they want to try and slow this mass immigration process or not. Along with last years Scottish Independence referendum, that may well be the most important political decision any of us makes in our lifetimes.

By all accounts the newly released horror 'It Follows' is a very good film indeed. I'll just have to go and see for myself I suppose.

For me trying to decided which you prefer between Alien and Aliens, Ridley or Cameron, is akin to wondering which of your children you love the most - IE it's well nigh impossible. I just loved how we managed to fight back against this apparently invincible foe in Aliens, but if you twist my arm THAT scene set in the ventilation pipes between Captain Dallas and the alien may just tip my vote for Ridley. The back story of the making of these two epic films is nearly as fascinating as the films themselves. When the young James Cameron arrived in England to shoot 'Aliens' at Pinewood the clash of cultures that soon arose between this ambitious (and workaholic) American Director and his old school 'tea breaks and going home on time' British crew became intense. The suspicion that the British crew loved Ridley and resented this US upstart probably didn't help. Never mind, director and crew got there in the end and a wonderful film was made - but not without a few bruises being incurred along the way I think. By the way, my all time favorite example of movie trivia is that Veronica Cartwright (the unfortunate 'Lambert' character in Alien) stared as a child actor in the 1963 Hitchcock masterpiece 'The Birds' - where she survived a beastly attack. The same women staring in two of the best films I've ever seen. And remember that fearsome armoured personal vehicle the 'Space Marines' use to such effect in Aliens - well the exterior was actually one of those low aircraft tractors they use to tug jumbo jets around dressed up to look the part, while the interior was a (completely separate) set. When edited together you just can't see the join can you?

A dignified actor, and man, who not only played his part in Star Trek to perfection, he also played a big part in my 1970's childhood. I was going to add that I'll miss him ... but that's silly because if you're in Trek then you are kind of immortal anyway.

I've been trying to forget Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection for years ... Disappointing films, but they do have their moments I suppose.

My apologies, but while I'm at it I might as well spoil the next series for you too. Remember my ursine friend - divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded ... survived! So that's a happy ending for one fortunate Tudor lady then.

Indulge me just more time people - my beloved Wolf Hall is finished and I must mourn for it. Sometimes you look back on the past and comprehend how great something truly was only via the perspective of 20/20 hindsight. On other occasions something you instantly fall in love with, you later come to realise was not really all that good afterall. I can't believe that Wolf Hall falls into either category because its greatness is obvious now and surely the mere passage of time can never lessen its appeal. Like all true works of art I think it is destined to transcend time and if I were to predict that people as yet unborn will still be watching and enjoying it when we are all long gone I hope I'm not going too far. This 'off the scale' series ended last night, as it had to, with the execution of Anne Boleyn. What can I say about it ... well I can't do it justice, but if I just said that I've seldom (if ever) seen television drama that was anything like as extraordinarily intense an experience to watch as this was then that will have to do. In a way it was almost like you were standing there alongside Cromwell in front of that scaffold watching this horrible Human tragedy unfold. And when Cromwell gripped his son's arm at the crucial moment, it was almost like he was gripping you too. That is the purpose of all good drama I suppose - to draw you into its own internal world and make you its captive. There's only one possible way to fill this Wolf Hall sized void in my life that has now opened up ... I'll have to get hold of the books.

Yes I admit I am a Nerd, if I had a brain I'd be a Geek too.

Blade Runner, The Terminator, ET, Dune, Aliens ... A pretty good decade to be alive if you were a young Science-Fiction fan with enough spare cash to go to the cinema every now and then.

I've no comment to make about Sir Cliff except to say that he has not yet been charged with any offence and even when/if that occurs he, like everyone else, is considered to be innocent until proven guilty. I will say however that it will be a good day when our authorities apparent zeal in investigating aging celebrities is matched by their enthusiasm to prosecute powerful establishment figures too.

Hmm ... I think if someone is tying so very hard to 'give' offence, then it only seems fair for others to 'take' some does it not?

The sheer idiocy of activating the swear filter on a thread title really is quite some achievement.

Signing players on loan deals who were struggling at their previous clubs, such Elia and Djuricic, may make sense if the reasons they were under-performing in the first place are understood and considered to be correctable. It is of course still early days here for both of these players, but at the moment you can't entirely dismiss the possibility that were struggling because they're just not very good players anymore. This is one of those posts that might come back to bite me on the bum one day ...

Please forgive me for banging on about 'Wolf Hall' yet again, but each passing episode somehow sets a new standard in just how historical drama should be handled. I say without hyperbole that I think in all its long history 'Wolf Hall' may well be BBC Drama's finest achievement - a perfect Tudor jewel of a series that I can't even imagine how you'd possibly improve. In Episode five; 'Crows' we saw two scenes where the tension was absolutely electric. In the first King Henry (Damian Lewis) suffered a fall while out jousting and it was feared that he had died - and the kings death might well have meant Cromwell's demise too had Queen Anne taken the crown. So Cromwell's sense of barely concealed panic, and his utter relief when Henry survived, were both palpable. Later Henry furiously rips into Cromwell in a fit of temper that was volcanic in its intensity ... all I can say is that the interplay between these two fine actors has to be seen to be believed. Just one more episode to go now and I know I shall miss this wonderful series as terribly as I know that it will end terribly for Ann Boleyn. I understand that Hilary Mantel is currently writing another novel that will bring Cromwell's story to its own (equally bloody) conclusion - it seems to me that the BBC should move 'heaven and earth' if need be to ensure that cast and crew are reunited to bring this story as well to our screens.

Well on the face of it the creation of a powerful and fundamentalist Islamic State in the Levant would surely represent the most dangerous threat to the continued existence of the Israeli state that it has faced in many decades. So in the absence of real proof this idea is just too far fetched for me. What is not up for debate is that what started out as a promising 'Arab Spring' of 2011/12 has become the 'Arab Nightmare' of today for countless millions of unfortunate people caught up in its wake. With its crackpot dictator ousted, Libya is now descending into utter chaos. Egypt remains a highly unstable state beset with division, and as for the appalling suffering of the poor people of Syria and Iraq ... well its obvious enough isn't it. What a profoundly depressing thought it is that across large parts of the middle east ruthless despots might actually still be needed to maintain some semblance of law and order in tribal societies that for one reason or another are just not progressing into a better future apace with the rest of the modern world. These are dark days.

Why would he - the club gave him what he wanted.

Well I agree with you, that's what he probably should have done. However few people willing give up substantial amounts of money when they (or their accountant/agent/wife) can devise any way of avoiding that. I don't like it but that's the way of the world I'm afraid - indeed I doubt many of his critics on here would do very differently if they found themselves in a similiar situation.