Sergei Gotsmanov

Here are some thoughts of the Moscow Ambassador. Pretty difficult times. http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/we-all-feel-like-that-now-and-then.html

A chap up the road (sadly he died three years ago) was captured at Singapore. He went in with 3000 and came out with 300. When somebody stole some rice the Japanese had them standing out in the scorching sun until somebody owned up to stealing the food. Eventually somebody who had not taken the rice courageously admitted to the crime came forward. In front of everybody they chopped has hand off and nailed it to a tree as a warning to others. At the end of the war, when the Japs had fled they were told to stay in their huts while they parachuted supplies in. Sadly one desperate survivor could not wait and was hit by a crate and killed - life had become so cheap that they found this very amusing; that this bloke had survived the years of hell under the Japanese only to be killed by the Allies. It cannot of affected him too much because he always drove a Subaru.

As I understood it Stalin's spies even told him that there was going to be a German invasion but he refused to believe them - he was caught totally unaware. There is also no way that the Russian army had a hope of launching an offensive based on their performance against the Fins. The Russian army was devastated by Stalin's purges of the army and that's why Hitler was nearly able to 'kick the front door in and the whole house would fall in'.

"It is not just Sondje it seems our players have been throwing matches for five years"

Nelson Mandela was a good man of biblical proportions because when released from prison it would have been far easier to have played the warrior leading 'his people' into a victorious and very bloody civil war. Instead, like we should when judging him, he looked forwards not backwards and opted to become the unifying force behind a new South Africa. To achieve a virtual bloodless transfer from black to white rule was extraordinary and something that Mandela can take the lion's share of the credit for.

No Germany went to war too soon in my opinion. If we had taken them on two years later they would have been significantly stronger. We should have gone to war earlier - appeasement failed us.

Brilliant

Consonant please carol

There are normally a few Saints flags in the crowd

I emphasise with Soldier A and can understand why he did it but we are supposed to be the good guys and episodes like this give us the chance to take the moral high ground. What message would it send to the insurgent, if having attempted to attack and kill his foe, they simply tended to his wounds and put him in a camp.

He left Chris Sutton out of the England squad because he would not play for the England B team saying that it was a gateway to the full England team. Matt then scores a hatrick and hits the bar and he ignores him. He gave Matt 45minutes against Italy and then substituted him. Unbelievable.

I would follow Steve's advice but if you get into trouble you can PM me and I can buy some through my season tickets.

I think Siegfried is referring to you in the last paragraph http://allpoetry.com/poem/8499053-Sassoons-Public-Statement-Of-Defiance-by-Siegfried_Sassoon

A great moment in our history

Gibraltar - Danny Higginbottom

I thought we were absolutely awesome. How can Stoke fans not have seen that

That sounded very painful BTF I hope it repairs quickly

Without sitting down with the McCanns, their friends probably at the same pizza place where they ate you cannot really know for sure. Yes their are indicators that they were reckless but I feel sympathy. I would also suggest their campaign to find their daughter is unrivalled and I admire them for that.

Again you are speculating without really knowing the true circumstances. I would suspect that the apartment was only unlocked because they were going to and forth on such a regular basis or somebody else was - that too is just a guess. I just feel very sorry for them because I would not wish what happened on anyone.

No but without knowing the circumstances I am not ruling out that I would have done. I certainly would not have left it unlocked but if I could see the apartment from my table and others were going back regularly as was I then I might have done. Obviously now I would not.

Well in fairness if you ask my children they will tell you that I am a very good parent. What I am saying is that you cannot judge the McCanns as easily as that without understanding the context. I will not let my children have a motorbike when they are 16 I won't let them take passengers until they are 21 - does that make parents who do bad parents?

Well in fairness if you ask my children they will tell you that I am a very good parent. What I am saying is that you cannot judge the McCanns as easily as that.

I can honestly say that I might have, with a group of friends when the children were asleep have gone out for a pizza only fifty or sixty yards away if I had become complacent and the others were doing it - although it would have been very border line. Like the McCann's I would have checked regularly but the one thing I would have not done is left the apartment unlocked.

They were on holiday within a few hundred yards of their apartment, others in their group were going back regularly to check, it felt quite contained they just got complacent and they have certainly been punished for that.

They were on holiday within a few hundred yards of their apartment, others in their group were going back regularly to check, it felt quite contained they just got complacent and they have certainly been punished for that.