DZJ

I've never understood the use of punch cards or electronic voting machines. What was wrong with a cross on a piece of paper? No electronics to go wrong, no ambiguous bits of card, just a cross (and it even lets you protest by spoiling your ballot in all sorts of imaginative ways!)

Incidentally (and I know this thread is about concealed carry) what are the laws on carrying unconcealed? As in wearing a pistol openly in a holster?

You must drink some incredibly weak beers.

The BBC is reporting that Saddam has been transferred to Iraqi custody, so I can't imagine he's long for this world...

Just looked these guys up on YouTube, and they're great. On Westboro Baptist Church: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBrKmoIhFLQ Bloody hilarious.

In the same sense as the above mentioned Scarlet Johannson/Angelina Jolie scenario? [And incidentally, does toying with the idea of a lawyer for the fundamentals of science qualify as a theological discussion? Or are we still safely in the murky realm of metaphysics?]

Hehe, like I said, a really good lawyer.

I'm thinking we need to hire a really good lawyer, and get some of those laws amended. I can think of all sorts of handy changes.

This is just out of curiosity (and because you probably have the stats more readily on hand than I do, whereas I wouldn't know where to look for them), but how often when a firearm is recorded as being 'used in self-defence' is the weapon actually fired? Or in other words how often is merely seeing a gun sufficient deterrent to a criminal?

I'd be interested to find out what Goode really knows about Muslim values and beliefs.

What a bizarre piece of legislation. Also, Maurice Gallipoli is an awesome name.

mmm, Sam Smith's....some of the finest ales in Britain, yummy.

I thought there was a US constitutional amendment about unwarranted search and seizure? [edited for embarassing speeling eror]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6123236.stmAl-Qaeda plotter jailed for life An al-Qaeda plotter who planned to kill thousands of people in the UK and US has been sentenced to life and told he must serve at least 40 years in jail. Dhiren Barot, 34 and from London, had admitted conspiracy to murder. He was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court. Edmund Lawson QC, prosecuting, told the court Barot had planned to unleash a "memorable black day" of terror. Mr Justice Butterfield said it could have caused carnage on a "colossal and unprecedented scale" if successful. 'No noble cause' Barot, a former Hindu who converted to Islam, is also wanted by US authorities over charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in the US and in Yemen. The judge told him: "This was no noble cause. Your plans were to bring indiscriminate carnage, bloodshed and butchery first in Washington, New York and Newark, and thereafter the UK on a colossal and unprecedented scale." After Barot was sentenced, Home Secretary John Reid said the case showed "the terrorist threat remains very real and serious". The prosecution conceded the police had not found any evidence that materials had been acquired to carry out the plans, but said officers had also failed to find weapons to which Barot had access. Defence lawyer Ian Macdonald QC referred to the main part of the conspiracy as, in Barot's words, a "rough presentation". Mr Justice Butterfield said that Barot had not achieved any of his terror goals and that, on the evidence, he had not "moved to the final stages of achieving them". But he added that this was no thanks to him. Mass damage The court heard Barot prepared meticulous plans for al-Qaeda figures on a series of synchronised attacks in the UK. "The central plan was for the construction and deployment in a basement car park underneath a building of an improvised explosive device using gas cylinders hidden in limousines," Mr Lawson said. Mr Lawson added it was to be launched simultaneously with other attacks including a dirty bomb, an attack on trains, and the hijacking of petrol tankers to be rammed into a target. In the document, Barot had written his primary objective of the project was to "inflict mass damage and chaos". The court heard Barot's plot also included plans to detonate a bomb under the River Thames to flood the Tube network and potentially drown hundreds of commuters. Barot also planned to strike a number of US financial institutions. His plans for bombings in the US were initiated before the 11 September attacks, and Barot is not thought to have had any advance knowledge of them. Barot's plans were found on a laptop computer seized during a raid on a house in Gujarat, Pakistan, in July 2004. The Muslim convert, from Kingsbury, north-west London, was arrested by armed police the next month. Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch head, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, called Barot a "determined and experienced terrorist" who attended training camps in 1995. "For well over two years we have been unable to show the British public the reality of the threat they faced from this man. Now they can see for themselves the full horror of his plan."

The first video reminded me of why I am so proud of Britain's servicemen - because while they fight with the utmost professionalism, skill and bravery, they are the same time decent and humane. Reminded me also of Col Tim Collins speech to his men of the battlegroup of 1/Royal Irish Regiment. We go to liberate, not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them. There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory. Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see -- and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing. Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you. If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and mark their graves. It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive. But there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow. The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam. He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity. It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly. I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts. I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please. If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest -- for your deeds will follow you down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation. (On Saddam's chemical and biological weapons.) It is not a question of if, it's a question of when. We know he has already devolved the decision to lower commanders, and that means he has already taken the decision himself. If we survive the first strike we will survive the attack. As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there. Our business now is north.

Funnily enough, he did spring to mind as the juiciest recent scandal, but I think I lost something in translation. To be honest that whole hoo-hah around that was extremely distasteful - I despise the tabloid press (I'd be amazed to discover that they have any kind of standards)

Well, Britain DID have the recent one who literally was a "crap" politician after dropping Cleveland Steamers on prostitutes. Or were they dropping them on him? Must have missed that one. What was it about?

And there was me thinking Britain had some crap politicians... [Incidentally, do I detect an oh-so-subtle anti-Republican theme emerging...?]

Yeah, but at least it would be easy to find after a cutaway...

I salute this man's bravery and sacrifice. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

Wow, from the Chief of the General Staff and the PM, to a dead journalist, to a children's nursery rhyme in the space of 15 posts. Gotta love Speakers Corner!

On what information do you base that guess? The facts as they are known are that the civilian vehicle the injured Mr Lloyd was travelling in was heading away from the scene when it was fired upon. How that can be taken to be a threat, at any range, escapes me.

Maybe they could borrow an armoured bulldozer from the Israelis. Sure it would do the job.

Looks like that article has been updated since I posted the link.

More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6044938.stm Would seem congrats are in order to the police and security services on (presumably) both sides of the Atlantic.