NJS

I've seen the trailers for that - I think both NG and the History channel fly close to the wind on their remit sometimes - History channel programmes on Nostredamus or the Bible being a favourite bug bear of mine.

I think I've said before that in my darker moments I think losing a third of the human race (or more) might actually be good from a big picture angle - the only thing that would do that is something as big as a meteor/comet strike. Agreed, I don't need my darker moments for that thought though. A big plague'd work as well probably given the ease and volume of global people movement these days. Nature'll clean house, sooner or later. Man-made virus from bio-warfare is another possibility - as in The Stand. When you consider Spanish flu killed about 20m in about 1920 it would be "Interesting" from a detached pov to see how the increase in communication/travel would facilitate a pandemic.

There was a lad at the end of my street who was a couple of years older than me who we sometimes hung around with (nowt dodgy) who got into huge trouble for his collection which included some proper rarities in addition to the usual gulls etc.

eOf course, but I think you have to realise that violent crime and murder are extremely rare - and getting more so even if the perception doesn't support that.

Used to be quite the thing round my way that we sat around fires all the time in the half-term (Blackberry week) that usually proceeded Hallow'een. The polis used to tell us off and make us put them out. One of my life's proudest moments is one bonfire night having the fire brigade come out 3 times to our back lane after we staged a "marathon not a sprint" approach to the night.

Where I lived the houses were terraces with back lanes and outside bogs - at the start of the 70s there were a lot of grants available for building bathroom/toilet extensions so we spent a good few years playing in and around building sites and "helping" the builders - happy days. There also used to be a small wooded area next to ST college where we used to climb and light fires - I often think its a miracle I didn't grow up to be a pyromaniac.

I think I've said before that in my darker moments I think losing a third of the human race (or more) might actually be good from a big picture angle - the only thing that would do that is something as big as a meteor/comet strike.

whats that got to do with it ? Why are you hiding behind statistics of totally unrelated activities ? You're suggesting all murderers should never be let out just in case they kill a loved one of yours or mine - I'm pointing out that if you live your life in fear of murder then there are other things more likely to get you killed which could be avioided if you're that paranoid.

Yes - I do fit the cliche of the left winger who's quite right wing on crime - but I also don't want to see people getting 40 years for being in fight that ends in tragedy (not related to this case but you do get odd cases like that). that isn't pre-meditated murder though is it ? But it depends what sort of murder ie mowing someone down in a car that you've nicked, and you don't have insurance is the long haul in my book, for instance, irresponsible and should get the book thrown at them and be seen by the public to have the book thrown at them. We aren't talking about someone having a fight in the Bigg Market here. I totally agree with Alex. Early release is bollocks, it should be going the other way if anything. I agree on early release. As I said in my first point your approach just increases the pressure for maximums all the time - I think a scale is better - though I agree the case you describe is towards the max end.

I'd also add that if you're that worried about the extremely small chance of being a victim that same worry would apply to driving, flying and as suggested on here lately - going to work.

that's the point of course - otherwise you finish up with the old eye for an eye or the Muslim bit where they were going to put out some guys eyes because of an acid attack the Law is supposed to take away the emotive aspects Of course it does, but its about justice, and protecting the public, that means YOU, not vengeance. If someone threw acid into YOUR eye and put YOUR eye out, would YOU be happy for them to get a slap on the wrist and do a short spell in the slammer then walk out totally free ? Laughing at the law and doing it again. To someone else. You've got a serious problem if you can't see this, at your age. You're the classic example of an "I'm alright Jack". Words fail me, they really do, people like you, with their heads in the sand like this, who think they can get off with such actions, and even worse, if they think they can be "cured" or respond to the kid glove treatment. But if justice was individual then it wouldn't be law - that's the point you're ignoring - there's an individual who would demand the max in every case who would have to accept it. I'm sure I could also find some stats that rehabilitation does work for a lot of people but what's the point - you won't read it and if you do you'd dismiss it as not "real life". It only takes 1 "statistic" to get out and kill some other innocent member of the public, to make your kid glove treatment meaningless and "rehabilition" wrong, and THAT is "real life" [if you or someone you know is the victim]. Which is the entire point about do gooders and "I'm alright Jacks" with no regard for the victims. Whats the point though, you'll insist that 90% or whatever can be "cured" so it justifies your point, so long as the victim is somebody else. So what's the answer then - all criminals are shot just in case they re-offend against your family?

Yes - I do fit the cliche of the left winger who's quite right wing on crime - but I also don't want to see people getting 40 years for being in fight that ends in tragedy (not related to this case but you do get odd cases like that). Neither do I. That's not the sort of thing I was on about btw. I caught a bit of that Strangeways doc and that paramedic who killed the his ex-girlfriend who was going to testify against him on rape charges wants putting down. It's an absolute disgrace that he was out of bail when he killed her. That sort of thing makes my blood boil. I suspect he would have killed her anyway if he had the chance once he got out. That said, he was alleged to have raped her 9 times so if it was down to me I'd have thrown away the key anyway. There are obvious cases that arise like that and represent chances to fix the system - its the suggestion that the whole system needs chucking out in favour of some kind of pre-modern society. I think we do claim cultural superiority over a lot of the world mostly correctly - and a semi-decent justice system which isn't perfect by any means is a good example of that.

Yes - I do fit the cliche of the left winger who's quite right wing on crime - but I also don't want to see people getting 40 years for being in fight that ends in tragedy (not related to this case but you do get odd cases like that).

that's the point of course - otherwise you finish up with the old eye for an eye or the Muslim bit where they were going to put out some guys eyes because of an acid attack the Law is supposed to take away the emotive aspects Of course it does, but its about justice, and protecting the public, that means YOU, not vengeance. If someone threw acid into YOUR eye and put YOUR eye out, would YOU be happy for them to get a slap on the wrist and do a short spell in the slammer then walk out totally free ? Laughing at the law and doing it again. To someone else. You've got a serious problem if you can't see this, at your age. You're the classic example of an "I'm alright Jack". Words fail me, they really do, people like you, with their heads in the sand like this, who think they can get off with such actions, and even worse, if they think they can be "cured" or respond to the kid glove treatment. But if justice was individual then it wouldn't be law - that's the point you're ignoring - there's an individual who would demand the max in every case who would have to accept it. I'm sure I could also find some stats that rehabilitation does work for a lot of people but what's the point - you won't read it and if you do you'd dismiss it as not "real life".

I'm quite ambivalent towards Pardew in general but that is fucking laughable.

Fucking beggars belief When was the last time you were privileged to be in St James whe we stuffedour local rivals 5-1 ? How long before it happens again? The infamous chicken dance? Come back from 4-0 against Arsenal with 30 minutes to go ? Tiotes volley? Give your head a shake !!!! I have stood and applauded at the end of worse seasons than this and would have done again if I was still going but apart from those two games and the Villa game we have been generally shit at home this season - the best performances have been away.

I've always thought it was to protect themselves from people who claim they didn't receive the goods to ensure they have right of reply.

The thing is if you reflect public or family opinion in sentencing then there would be no scale (if that's the right word) because everyone would want their loved one's killer's to get whatever the maximum is. I think there are "degrees" of murder and there should be a scale - though accept the starting point might be too low for a lot of people. Child murderers are probably the hardest to get right - even if Venables hadn't re-offended I'm sure there are many people who thought 10 years was too short anyway. I thought it was too short but would lean against 30 years plus as I think writing someone off at 10 for life, no matter what they've done is wrong.

Hopefully Allardyce will finally get his comeuppance (I haven't checked whether he was there at the time - just hoping)

It's called Firefly and is rated very highly indeed. I'll let you google some reviews so you don't feel I'm cherry picking them, but IMDB scores it 9.4 out of 10 It was probably designed to, but I can't imagine the film working in isolation to the series - you needed the character's back stories to understand the film properly imo.

As an afterthought the preview of next week's Gadget Show features a report on relaxtion/massage stuff which promises more flesh on show - one for the perv flag in the calendar.

I fucking love Suzi Perry but Polyanna's tits were fucking breathtaking on there tonight.

Sadly stereotypical and misinformed view ... those ars*holes in London take the oil from our waters and give us a wee patronising backhander - it's akin to getting stabbed in the back, mugged, £200 quid lifted out yer wallet and the bassas throw a tenner back at you for a taxi to the hospital - we're bowled over by your generosity Of course the expertise and finance to discover and exploit the oil was all Scottish..... That's a bit of a daft point. The Saudi's were little more than nomads living in tents but still managed to capitalise on their oil. The other main benefactor of North Sea oil is Norway; were they somehow more advanced than the primitive Scotttish? Its often said for it's size Scotland is the most inventive country on the planet, and it's hard to disagree really. List of Scottish inventions. I know but I think its not a bad reply to the implication that ALL of the revenues are or should be by default Scottish.

Sadly stereotypical and misinformed view ... those ars*holes in London take the oil from our waters and give us a wee patronising backhander - it's akin to getting stabbed in the back, mugged, £200 quid lifted out yer wallet and the bassas throw a tenner back at you for a taxi to the hospital - we're bowled over by your generosity Of course the expertise and finance to discover and exploit the oil was all Scottish.....

From our building management: So on a daily basis we cope with severe but are now expected to get excited because of a substantial threat which is less than severe.