Sheaf Saint

Oooooh, I've been looking forward to this for ages. BoB was quite posibly the greatest TV show ever made and I never tire of watching the DVDs. Any idea when this is going to be shown here in Blighty?

Just a couple of points.... 1. He stabbed the guy to death. Just because the lad had broken into his mother's house, does that mean he deserved to be sumarily executed? Sounds like 'excessive force' to me, which is precisley why he has been charged. 2. What the buggering hell has this got to do with the BNP being on Question Time????

How many of the current teams are based in the UK? Ponty????? It would be an absolute travesty if Ecclestone decided that Britain shouldn't have a race just to satisfy his own ego. On a slightly different note, what does everyone think about Jean Todt being appointed as president of the FIA?

Well if it's from the same director as Independence Day it should be worth watching first time round at least. I just don't get what it is about Independence Day... It's undoubtedly an utterly sh1te film, but I just can't help but sit and watch it every time it is on TV. WHY!?

Shame Richard Pryor isn't still around to front that campaign

It would certainly be interesting to see Button and Hamilton with identical equipment. A lot of people criticise Jenson and say he isn't as good a driver as Lewis, and that he only won the title this year because he had the fastest car on the grid for the first 6 races. That may be true, but the same people tend to forget that he had to beat Barichello in the same car who is no slouch and a very experienced professional driver. Personally I don't think you can compare Jenson and Lewis as they are two different types of driver. Lewis is a bit kamikaze at at times; quick and always willing to overtake but makes a lot of mistakes. Jenson may not have the same raw speed and cavalier attitiude but he rarely, if ever, makes a mistake. I would love to see which of the two of them would get the best out of a competitive McLaren, but I'll be surprised if it happens.

Try telling that to the people of Iceland.

Pardon the analogy, but why does everything have to be so black and white? why do you consider anybody who is disgusted by what the BNP stand for to be a 'tree-hugging lefty'? You complain about left-leaning posters throwing insults, but is that not just as much of an insult in itself? My political views may well be left-leaning (if they must be pigeon-holed), but I personally take offence at being labelled a 'tree-hugging lefty', just as much as anybody who is right-leaning may take offence at being called a nazi. A bit of double standards on your part there, if I may point that out to you without you getting insulted by it. If you read through my posts you will realise that I am not claiming that anybody who has a problem with immigration is a racist. Nowhere have I said that, and in fact I made the point that the large majority of the population of this country, me included I might add, do believe that there has been very poor control over immigration over the last decade. I believe this is something that you and I agree on, yes? The point I am making is that Nick Griffin is a vile, narrow-minded, bigoted little man who has a conviction for inciting racial hatred, and that anybody with the slightest amount of intellect and researching skills can see through his veneer of respectability and see him and his party for what they really are. There are plenty of alternative, effective solutions to the immigration problem, but voting for the BNP based purely on their perceived stance on this one single issue shows that the voter is either a) a strong follower of the BNP's views on race (ie racist) or b) completely unable to see the truth of what they really stand for.

See, this is precisely the point I was making in my earlier post. Why is this incorrect assumption continually regurgitated over and over again? Labour HAVE changed their immigration policy, even if it is too little too late; The Tories have laid out in their manifesto how they will introduce a yearly cap on the amount of economic migrants allowed to enter the country if they are elected, and the Lib Dems' stance is similar. This information is clearly available in the public domain, yet still people refuse to believe it and continue to perpetuate the myth that none of the main parties are doing, or plan to do anything at all about the previous immigration policies in place in this country.

Because Griffin showed himself up for what he truly is lastnight: a hypocritical, bigoted liar. If anybody is actually taken in by his constant bleating of "we're not a racist party - honest guv" and genuinely believes that he has changed from man that was convicted of inciting racial hatred, then they must be either a simpleton, or just as racist as Griffin himself.

Nice idea in principle, but the tories aren't in any position to do anything about seeing as they are not the ones in power. I don't think anybody would disagree with the fact that there has been too much immigration over the last decade, but it never ceases to amaze me how poorly educated the general public are about it. The fact is that the current Labour government HAVE changed the policy onimmigration. They HAVE introduced the australian-style points-based system for economic migrants. They HAVE been working with the French authorities to reduce the number of illegals and asylum seekers crossing the channel. Jack Straw was trying hard to make these points lastnight but, alas, he isn't really the right person to get the message across. It seems that no matter how much the government try and publicise this, nobody seems to take it on board. The problem, I think, is that there have been so many scare-stories, myths and downright untruths printed regarding immigration over the last few years by the right-wing political parties and media, that the government could completely close the border tomorrow and still the majority of the tabloid-reading sheeple in this country would not believe it and would continue to perpetuate the scare-mongering drivel peddled by the likes of the Daily Mail. I don't think anybody with half a brain disagrees with Nick Griffin when he says that Labour's free-for-all immigration policy drastically needed to be amended, and many would argue that the measures they have taken are perhaps 'too little too late', but only a simpleton could possibly believe that a vote for the BNP is the solution.

Well he was given enough rope, and he duly hanged himself with it. Not surprising, and very pleasing to see him make a total idiot of himself in front of what was probably QT's biggest ever TV audience. I hope a few people who had previously been suckered by Griffin's veneer of respectability now realise exactly what a small-minded, nasty little bigot he really is.

And you know this how exactly? :smt102 That still doesn't answer the questions though.

Just a couple of questions,if you will indulge me.... 1. Please could you tell us exactly what your british identity is, and how it has been stripped from you? 2. What problems exactly (aside from prejudice and intolerance on behalf of the indigenous population) have been brought about by what you describe as 'uncotrollable immigration?' Genuine questions. I have heard these reasons trotted out time and time again by BNP supporters and I have yet to meet one that has actually been able to answer them.

Leeds and Middlesborough aren't exactly close.

Arrogantly believing that we know more about the world and the heavens than the ancient Maya did is far worse IMO. It is known that the ancient Maya had an extremely advanced understanding of astronomy that western scientists have only been able to catch up with since the invention of the telescope, and even then it has taken centuries. What if the ancient Mayan astronomers were able to predict a cataclismic celestial event that would happen in 2012, in exactly the same way that modern computer systems are able to predict the paths of comets and asteroids thousands of years in advance? If they knew that something was going to hit the earth at that time and would cause widespread devastation, would that not awaken the survivors of such an event to the need for far more effective resource management than our current throw-away society? Would those left over not need to develop a far better understanding of the symbiotic nature of our relationship with Gaia? It could be that this is exactly what the ancient Maya meant when they predicted a time of great spiritual awakening. You can dismiss it as pure bunkum if you wish Ponty, but more fool you if you do. The Mayan civilisation was centuries in advance of what we in the modern western world would arrogantly expect of people living in those times. It's all very well for us to label them backward savages (as the Spanish did when they invaded - always better to attack that which we do not understand and then claim the moral high-ground afterwards eh?) but the anthropological and archaeological evidence paints a completely different picture, and I think we can learn a lot from them. So before you drop this subject in the bin marked "supernatural bullsh1t" I suggest you do some serious reading on it and form your own conclusions thereafter. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you learn.

Please don't do that. There are plenty of people who take this subject very seriously. I have done a fair bit of reading about the mayan calendar and the end of the long count, and I don't think anyonce can dismiss it. What the ancient Maya actually predicted is that the end of their long count will bring forth a time of great spiritual understanding, and that civilisation as we know it will come to an end, which doesn't actually mean the end of the world. The indicators are there, anybody who knows about the Mayan long count will know that it is divided into 9 underworlds which are themselves divided into 13 heavens, represented by 7 days and six nights. It is interesting that during each of the odd numbered heavens (days) during the current underworld (the planteary underworld) there has been a major breakthrough in technology and communications, each of which has drastically changed our way of life. This was all predicted by the ancient Maya, and they also predicted that in the final few years before the end of the long count, the world would begin to heat up causing more and more natural disasters and that global economies would collapse, both of which have come to pass.

Brilliant race. Best I've seen since, well since Brazil last year I guess. Really happy for Jenson, his drive yesterday silenced a few critics who seem to think he wasn't a worthy champion. I have just one question after yesterday's race though.... Who the hell gave Kobayashi a superlicence? How he didn't get a penalty for all the weaving and blocking he did I will never know.

Sorry, don't think she was still there when I took this shot. Damn!

Bled is beautiful but very touristy. Bohinj is very different, much more tranquil and less people everywhere. We went in March before the summer watersports season began and the place was virtually deserted - we walked all the way up to the Savica waterfall and didn't see another soul along the way. I would love to go back there one day.

A picture I took of Lake Bohinj in Slovenia while I was there in march...

On the point of the main subject, I am pretty much in total agreement with Minty. I try to buy local produce as often as possible, and there is a market within walking distance of my house that allows me to do that thankfully. Price is obviously a big concern to me, especially as I am out of a job at the moment, it's amazing how much I can save on my weekly shopping bill if I realy try. But I certainly do take ethical considerations into account when I buy stuff. For instance, I make it a policy never to set foot in a Shell petrol station due to the shameful and downright inhumane business practises they employ in Africa, and their recent £100m out-of-court settlement which ensured that their involvement in the murder of demonstrators in the Niger Delta would not be exposed in a public legal proceeding. A more unethical corporation you will be hard pushed to find.

That's probably about right because the Co-op do a lot of fairtrade stuff nowadays. But Scummer is absolutely right when he says that there is no one brand. Lots of different brands and supermarkets offer fairtrade coffees now, and some of them are very good indeed. Try the Cafe Direct ones if you can get them (I know Sainsburys sells them).

Really? That's surprising considering how much he obviously loves his drive with Ferrari, as evidenced by him giving it 110% commitment in every race!* *Tongue firmly in cheek btw

Went to see Massive Attack at the 02 Academy in Sheffield last week. Oh.....my......GOD!!!!!!!! Absolutely superb.