The way the talk was going it sounded as if The Aussies thought that all they had to do was turn up. They know better now and I expect they'll take the next test very seriously indeed. If they go two down!.....
The first real change in playing altitudes by England for some many years Very positive very encouraging
Utterly dismayed at the Government's response to terrorism (yet again). We hear again and again that we will never give in to terrorists and that we are better than them because we have democracy. Whether 37% of the voters siding with the government is another issue (happy to discuss!), but my main point is that after every atrocity we are apparently very happy to give up that little bit more of that freedom we are supposed to cherish - you know the stuff that makes us better than them. So now we have the Government deciding that you can't go to Tunisia. Not advising you to not go, but telling you not to. Sure you can go there, but you can't get travel insurance as it's against Government directive, so effectively the same thing. That after no actual intelligence regarding an attack, but because they think there might be one. I wonder how many analysts it took to come up with that! This stinks of the Government wanting to appear to do something after the event, and as usual doing the wrong thing. We need education and to be treated like adults, not being told what to do. That is what I think democracy is - plus of course the (effective) freedom to go to Tunisia if I want (incidentally a relatively moderate Government that we should be supporting). By education and being treated like grown ups I mean things like saying that you can't stop the terrorists 100% of the time, but if you want that sort of security you will have to be giving up a lot of your freedom to do so. IMHO the terrorists have won again.
"Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin. I can’t believe someone can’t knock over this safety first apple cart by saying, "Why not quit being cowards? Our enemies killing some of us is now, has always been,and will always be the price of existing. Don’t let it make us compromise our principles one iota, and treat them as what they are, which is criminals. Don’t give them the dignity of being fighters or soldiers, which is what they aspire to. Sadly, the US has realized that inflating these panto villains and wind up merchants into a major threat justifies more zillions for defense contractors, and others follow suit. ISIS and friends are the new anarchists: able to kill people, but unable to take control and keep it anywhere. Islamic fundamentalism leads nowhere and amounts to occasionally deadly chatter. On the other hand, we need to take a look at what can be done for young men who lack jobs, homes and wives around the world. They’re the ones who’d rather kill an enemy of any conceivable stripe and feel like a hero for once than continue what amounts to an intolerable existence.
The obvious problem in dealing with this kind of religious terrorism is, that it's far more difficult to stop people who don't care if they die themselves, so long as they take you and as many others as possible with them.
Especially if you are responsible for setting up Saudi Arabia in the first place and continuing to trade with them, not to mention Israel.
The Saudis are a devious bunch, I used to go there on business. They're trying to play both sides. But, as Churchill said, "An appeaser feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last" ISIS is a crocodile!....
Very true. I think you have to be philosophical about dying yourself. It won’t happen, of course. People will continue to run around screaming. But it should happen. The same people who don’t give a second thought about driving to work, where they have a much greater chance of dying, support their society becoming dysfunctional to fail to eliminate a much smaller threat. Quite aside from the way the US and UK have plotted and killed to keep power and wealth away from Muslims, the current state of affairs is remarkably beneficial to two groups: war industry types and Muslim extremists, whose role model can fairly be called Osama. US war industry types trained Osama. Islamic fundamentalists will win a few more civil wars (because we fight them, and everyone hates us), demonstrate in a few more places that they have nothing resembling a recipe for effective rule, and, eventually, become passé. Everything else is just a matter of how much we get our tits in a twist, how much money we shovel into the war industry because of it, and how much freedom and how many rights we sacrifice to this pointless cause--perhaps permanently.
Very well made points Nowsuffering. You are also right about giving up freedoms permanently. We never get them back. I should also mention that I am an ex member of the armed forces who stood ready to fight the Soviet Union because I firmly believed in the freedom that the West stood for compared to that regime. Now our freedoms have and are being continuously eroded. And (as I hinted at before) I'm becoming increasingly upset by our electoral system, which is simply not democratic!
What's so dangerous about this particular threat is firstly, they have no fear of death. In fact most of them welcome it in the assurance that they're going straight to "paradise" where, I believe, the latest tariff is 72 virgins!! Each, that is! Yes, we need to stand up to them, clearly. However, we need to be aware that a war with us is what they want, so we need to stay shrewd and composed too. They are convinced that this war between the believers and the infidels (all of us) is what was prophesised, and what God wants. Many of their actions are deliberate provocations to draw us deeper into combat and hasten the onset of this war that they want with us.
There was a Spurs old boys reunion at Ledders' wedding over the weekend, with Alton Thelwell, Anthony Gardner, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe showing up. As well as Kyle Walker, who isn't a Spurs old boy.
Some shot. Full on the volley too!... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ores-outrageous-40-yard-volley-against-bolton
Chris Froome destroyed the field today in the TdeF. To take over four minutes out of last year's winner over the last eight km is mindboggling.
"Chris Froome destroyed the field today in the TdeF. To take over four minutes out of last year's winner over the last eight km is mindboggling." Not at all. Nibali did not have the legs yesterday. In fact some were saying he just gave up period.
