NJS

Theres an argument I've read that the main threat posed by religion isn't fundamentalists but moderates which you describe. The problem is that people are so obviously reasonable about it but they provide a shield for the dodgy fuckers. If moderates didn't exist then the fundamentalists would be more isolated and easier to deal with. Whats needed is for decent religious people to take as much as a stand against the extremists as non-believers do. I;m not just talking about the lip service thats goes on at the moment but a strong "we will not tolerate you" ethos.

Even though I consider organised religion to be brainwashing on a monumental scale it takes a particular kind of nastiness and stupidiity to scare your kids as badly as that. If she called herself a "satanist" the kids would be taken off her in 2 seconds - however christians have the usual "respect" getout clause. I could also say that to paraphrase Bill Hicks if she didn't like the beliefs of the other woman she could always try forgiving her.

O'Neill's connection with Sunderland is that his great hero as a kid was Charlie Hurley and so when he played for the Mackems O'Neill "supported" them. Pretty tenuous in reality but you never know.

Fair point again - I just feel that seeing it as a simple "the new manager wants him" and everythings rosy is a bit naive. Thats allowing for Shearer having left as well.

Fair point but the best player at the club was and still is Shay Given - one of those who was pissed off by Bellamy's antics. (I know thats hearsay but no more so than other "evidence" quoted as fact by people)

I can't think of anyone who said Bellamy was shit - not as good as he (or his fan club) seem to think yes but certainly not shit. I don't think a return is possible while FS/Shearer ae involved so I don't see the point in mentioning him. In the summer I'd have loved to have seen us sign Andy Cole but that also was never going to happen for similar reasons.

I'm not a big fan of Rock 'n' Roll but The Buddy Holly Story with Gary Busey was a fine film.

Morrissey and Radiohead are the headliners - wouldn't mind seeing both of them as the latter almost revert to being a "proper" band live but the rest of the lineup looks uninspiring. Details Charlatans and The Magic Numbers would be good but I'm not at all interested in Faithless, Fatboy Slim or The Sugar Babes. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am but I think I'll just see how the rest of the line up pans out and maybe get one off a tout on the day(s) if I fancy it.

I think even if a manager was appointed tomorrow he'd approach it in the same way - you have a list of "would be good" and then also an attitude of who comes up in the summer. I don't think its as "fatal" as you make out.

The next 3 games are the real test - though I'm not knocking the good work thats been done. The eternal optimist in me looked at the fixtures when Souness left and thought a good run could see us 6th at a push - apart from the next 3 which I've almost "written off" I think we can win the rest. If FS does take his time and the above comes off I can see there being a loud vote for Roeder - personally though I'd rather have a "top" bloke.

Tim Cahill Brian Marwood (Keeping it topical)

The sentence is due to the charge - car crime charges as a whole are a joke which is the real problem As I've said before I'd charge anybody who gets into a car pissed with attempted murder even if they don't hit anyone - its just about as reckless as you can get imo.

Roeder mention in the Chron that Bowyer had been excellent in training - if thats the case then why not play him?

I can understand the context of Austria and Germany having those laws but at the same time I fundamentally oppose any laws against opinion/belief/thought. I can see people using stuff like this to justify blasphemy laws which are abhorrent. I also think the judge should have taken into account the recent furore and erred on the side of the right to free speech.

Sky's report on that poll had an interesting figure that the Telegraph didn't use (online at least). 91% said they felt "loyal" to the UK - how many "white anglo-saxon pseudo-christians" would say that? - I don't think I'd agree to that phrase for a start. That doesn't imply betrayal or anything but "loyal" is certainly too strong a word for me.

The thing is LM the last shortlist he used was full of very average managers. Some of them turned us down so we ended up with number 4 or 5 on the list which was Souness. Now as I've said I always thought he was a decent manager which was a factor in me committing the ultimate crime of giving him a chance. I'd do the same for Jewell and I'd do the same for O'Neill both of whom I think are decent enough managers though not much better than Souness. However if Shepherd takes another list soley made up again of very average managers to the exclusion of a couple people have mentioned then its indefensible imo. Especially if he starts spouting shite about betting coups. For the record I fully supported the appointment of Dalglish and even think he was wrongly sacked/left though mutual consent. As has been said many times being better than Mckeag/Forbes etc does not make him above criticism.

i thought the point of any campaign was to make sure that if Shepherd was as ignorant about possible candidates as we all fear then at least he couldn't use the "never heard of him" "excuse" when we appoint Paul Jewell and somebody says "why not Hitzfeld?" I can't see how it can really harm his chances if the bloke is as stupid as those quotes make him look (ie bets should affect choice).

won't happen, the people who make their voice heard ie the most fanatical and the least tolerant, are the ones who will force issues...but thats what I and one or two others have been saying all along while others [like you] have been saying there is nothing to worry about 97335[/snapback] As I said its not the muslims themselves I worry about - its the "over-tolerant" religion apologists like Blair and the BBC. In fact I'm starting to think this Cartoon thing following on from the Jerry Springer and Sikh play may be just the things to finally make people stand up to all of them (religions that is).

Players like Dyer, by running from deep, should be able to destroy it. However , though I think Dyer can be a good player on his day, I don't think he's "clever" enough to do it as well as other players have been (Beardsley, Lee, McDemott come to mind).

So is the implication then that he wouldn't appoint the best candidate just because some "dodgy" people would make money? Thats the question I'd put to him.

One of the organisers comments asking for "a law against religious discrimination" worried me - first of all because there is anyway and more importantly because I can see where this is all going to end and I don't mean just for muslims - we're going to see more protection for all religions which is a huge backwards step for civilisation imo. I just hope as I've said before that the "apathy" that usually defines non-believers/nominally religious turns to a willingness for more people to stand up and say "No, we don't respect your divisive, ignorant, brain-washed nonsense" and we demand the continued right to say so.

It doesn't say he won't go for him - just that he hasn't yet and as has been said the idiot thinks its a betting coup rather than general "hope" for a decent manager.

There was still a bit of "Souness" (but mainly last year) in it in that we started well but faded quite badly - I think the nerves haven't been totally quashed by the returning confidence but we're getting there.

Don't forget Bobby's "1.5m per year write off" though.

So what was all that Braveheart nonsense about? 95856[/snapback] Retrospectively illegal for glorification.