Sheaf Saint

According to the news this morning, Mr Al Megrahi is preparing to release the new evidence which he was going to present at his appeal hearing, and that it will then be up to the people of the world to act as jury and decide whether or not he is guilty. It will be very interesting to see just what this evidence is.

If that happens, I will eat my own testicles. Al Megrahi is about as far removed from the typical profile of an islamic terrorist as my aunt Betty is. At what point have we heard this guy shouting "death to the infidels?" Oh that's right, we haven't. In fact he was full of praise for the people of Scotland in his statement to the press yesterday. Does that seem to you like somebody who is willing to die in the name of Allah so that he can go to paradise and have his 72 virgins?

Just watched In The Loop Brilliant political satire from the team that brought us The Thick Of It, which will make you laugh til it hurts. Some of the best improvised comedy you will ever see, but at the same time it is actually quite scary because the 'headless chicken' image it portrays of the UK and US governments is so believable. I watched the extras after the film and in an interview with the director (Armando Ianucci of The Day Today fame) he admitted that most of the storyline was based on real research and observations of government ministers' activities. Sharply observed and brilliantly scripted. The funniest film I have watched in a long, long time. 9/10

Interesting you should mention that, but way off the mark I think. Apparently when Al Megrahi was handed over by Libya, the US was given assurances from the UK govt (not the Scottish parliament) that there would be no transfers and he would spend the rest of his life in a Scottish jail. Kenny Mcaskill claims he was reminded of this fact by the US authorities when they lodged their objection to his release, so he wrote to Westminster for clarification. Being the spineless bunch of cowards our ruling party are they refused to comment, so Mr McCaskill was left to make the decision on his own. Gordon Brown can't even tie his f***ing shoelaces without proper consultation. Why on earth would he feel the need to get involved in a dispute between the Scottish Parliament and the US State Department?

Seeing as his health will have deteriorated to the point that he would no longer be a threat to anybody, and that he will be certain to die a slow and painful death from cancer anyway, yes I would have.

I can understand why somebody might be so consumed by bitterness towards somebody for something they may or may not have done, that they could not find it within them to show any compassion or forgiveness. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that nobody close to me has ever been murdered, so I can't say for certain that I would not feel the same way if I ever did find myself in that situation. What I cannot understand is why somebody would decide, and state publically, that an entire nation of people should be ashamed of themselves because they disagree with the decision of just one member of that population. No amount of anger or frustration could ever lead me to that conclusion myself. It would be like blaming the entire population of Germany for the actions of the U-boat commander who gave the order to torpedo the ship my great grandfather was serving on when he was killed.

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