NJS

I'm sure when the Tories were in they suggested a law which said that all TV based VCR recording had to be wiped after 28 days to much ridicule but then they were informed that as you say essentially the whole thing was illegal. Audio cassettes can be added to the list of thing which "encourage" piracy - I guess the feeling was that cassettes or videos could at most be shared among a group of friends but torrents could be downloaded millions of times. I think a factor in all of this is that people perceive that something is wrong with the current model. If I buy a CD I think it's reasonable that I can rip it for playing in my car or MP3 player but to be told this is illegal gets people's back up. Then you have the whole £12 for a CD that costs the equivalent of £6 or £7 in other countries.

I think theres a happy medium - a healthy respect and/or simultaneous direspect for the police can work - I know its a cliche but I have a couple of good mates who are coppers and I argue this with them quite often - both are possible.

Interesting, I didn't see any evidence of a blow to the abdomen on that footage, but if can be proven to be directly attributable to the policeman's action then he will go down for manslaughter I guess, and rightly so. Unless falling on your back/kidneys could cause it - he did seem to fall sort of straight back.

Ultimate in cat among pigeons: New PM

The only legal use for blank CDs and VCR tapes is video camera output or at a push data backup (most of which would be copyrighted anyway) so why aren't blank media manufacturers being prosecuted for enabling theft? I do recognise some of the arguments about theft of creative output but the whole thing is a mess.

I agree but they aren't helping themselves very much - there is a case in the Guardian where 2 coppers deleted photos from an Austrian tourist's camera (the bloke was a weird bus/transport spotter) quoting anti-terror laws. Their spokesman then says quite rightly that they don't have the right to do this. This means either they've been wrongly briefed by their superiors (either through genuine mistake or malicious intent) or they honestly think that the new laws give them carte blanche to act like twats. I think getting things out in the open and having a good look at how they do things is overdue - I think what these incidents can do in a positive way is to stop the "unquestioning respect" that a lot of British people have for authority.

My twopenneth is that I don't think Stevie is a racist and sometimes just says thing deliberately to provoke - however I think not taking the hint is a bigger crime than the actual posting.

She wants to be careful - I've seen some of those cop shows on Bravo where coppers threaten to nick people for assault just for touching them - I wouldn't put it past them to charge her with assault for pushing/slapping the copper's back.

I usually end up at an Irish social club around the corner from the train station which is canny - the early kick-off will probably change that this year and I'll end up in HH for a couple.

One of Labour's 97 manifesto pledges was a new public inquiry - a few months of wheedling by the police made Straw drop it.

Loads of good boozers around there, plus you are right next to Shoreditch also. The Water Poet and the Commercial Tavern are both within 5 mins walk of Liverpool St and the aforementioned Golden Heart is also good. Hamilton Hall is awful. To be fair to Danny, it does open early but you get a strange crowd in there. The Gun is decent (and is good for 80s nostalgia when we used to go there straight from the midnight train/clipper) - also don't see anyrthing that wrong with HH.

I remember a few years ago Paul Mariner claimed a goal for England which had grazed him before being deflected in for a blatant OG. Jimmy Greaves made the comment that he'd done a quick calculation and now reckoned he'd score 847 goals in his career rather than 400 or whatever it was. After seeing that I've done a quick calculation and reckon I've seen 257000 police assaults. It doesn't make hitting a woman right or proper but in the scheme of things I'd say it was minor - apart from the effect of making more people lose respect for the police.

I'm quite a fan of that one - Kate or Ziva is a classic dilemma. Watched the House S4 marathon on Hallmark over the weekend and have now downloaded S3 which I haven't seen plus the latest ones (S5) to be watched in due course.

My take on the "classic" Wimbledon side was that their aim was to get the 90 mins over with as quickly as possible with the least possible time for the other team to try and play football - that attitude lives on with Stoke imo (as well as Bolton under Allardyce).

Best of a bad bunch and his return gives us more chance of doing it - I still don't think we will but Barton (and Viduka) would make a difference.

I've always had the impression he was just as prone to niggles as Owen without the abuse as Alex says. This episode is a classic bottleless cunt opt out imo.

The ironic thing about relegation is that if we do what the Mackems did and get rid of all our high earners and then get back up on a shoestring as they did in 2005 with McCarthy, Ashley would be in a great position in terms of low costs. Hypothetical I know but it could turn out better than 3 years of finishing 17th under Kinnear.

In a fit of abject stupidity I decided I want to go to the Villa match. On searching for trains I find that the west coast main line is not open that day which means 3 hours from Euston via a train/coach/train combo. The thing is I can't work out why it's on a Sunday at 4pm - I know the Sky bastards will say that's now the tradition but they can fuck right off. I know the football league will be finished by the Saturday so they can't pull the "affecting" attendances crap like they actually fucking care. (finishes rant after hitting return in error) We also have the case of Setanta shitting on the Mackems exactly as they did to us last year. This all is a great example of why I'm caring about football less and less - the people who run it/exploit it are all bastards who don't care about the people who attend the matches - much like I'm starting to warm to the idea of relegation just to spite Ashley, I really hope football in general goes tits up.

If we do stop up and Shearer stays it would drastically change the summer imo - I think Owen would stay and Martins would be off. (Of course both would leave if relegated).

Hohoho. How naive. It's never the end, man!! NEVER! I like to think of myself as an ultra-cynical twat but occasionally I have to let in a single photon of incredibly stupid optimism just to remain human.

One more point than I expected. Hopefully the end of Ameobi. Midfield lack of creation again - not expecting any change there but still disappointing - will be interesting to see of he tries the supposed 4-3-3 against Spurs.

He has actually, was on the news this morning. Slight Fair play to him although I'd also ask why they are allowed to wear scarves as masks very much a la protesteors which he was.

It would be interesting to see if any "civilian" assaults which produced stress-related heart attacks led to more serious charges.

Not really - last couple of years I've only been to the London games which are always civilised these days and Sunderland. The last two years for the latter I've gone by train/metro and found it a strange mix of very decent coppers and ones who look like they are itching for it to kick off all the time - maybe they are the football fans who feel the tension. I'd fully admit that my attitudes and experiences were formed by away games in the good/bad old days and things have changed a lot - however I'd also argue that the protests we've referred to here and others show that the police themselves haven't necesaarily "calmed down".

My view is that if certain groups - like Muslims, countryside alliance protestors and other "nice" groups are treat in the same way as football fans have been treat for 30 years then the outrage may lead to changes across the board - if thats the kind of "equality" Fop is after then I agree while relishing the squeals of people I don't like in the meantime. (By relishing I'm obviously not talking about the blokes death). Be nicer if everyone was treated with respect but in lieu of that I'm willing to give this a try. I'm not saying coppers should become powerless - just better trained to spot whether members of whatever group they are policing at the time "deserve" a whack or not on an individual basis - not on a "today we hit people/grin and bear it" policy.