RE: British withdrawal from Northern Ireland

The UK does lots of trade with ROI. In fact I think that the UK is ROI’s biggest trading partner.

Coanda is right about ROI indifference to the problem and they certainly used to have a constitutional clause about wanting NI “back”. Not sure if this is still the case though.

What it still boils down to is that large numbers of people still romanticise about the IRA and give them money and help – the ROI and the US are the two biggest culprits. They need to control their people. I mean hypothetically, would UK forces be justified in murdering US or ROI citizens who fund the IRA? I’d say yes, they would be. If I gave a few hundred K to Al’Qaeda I would expect the FBI to knock on my door at the very least…

It exposes the big problem that countries rarely agree on who are terrorists and who are freedom fighters. And the “war on terror” retoric has just brushed this one under the carpet, an ill advised media-friendly move IMO.

RE: are budget airlines trying to take over europe !!!

The service and also the flight ex-MAN are dreadful. I think KLM’s UK operations are run by KLMuk, which used to be Air UK.

About a year ago, I flew Humberside-AMS with KLMuk, on a very comfy F50. Everyone was friendly and helpful. I think it must be a combination of awful aircraft (F100) and a problem with recruiting quality people at MAN.

The problem, like has been said, is with connecting through AMS on long haul flights. I fly to JNB often, because I connect through there to Ndola on either SAA (ERJ-135) or Inter Air (B727-100). I think I’ll go MAN-LHR-JNB next time with BA or even MAN-CDG-JNB with AF, because they are reasonably good in my experience.

RE: World Summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg

“Sustainable Development” is a code word for communism.

Not sure if that was meant seriusly or not? Besides, in my opinion:

Sustainable Development is a driver of economic activity and will stimulate the economy. Just think of all that extra tree planting, all those smoke filters on chimneys, all those new fridges and TV’s with eco-friendly components, all that valuable material recalimed from old TVs and cellphones when they are properly recycled.

RE: huh?

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 24-08-02 AT 05:51 PM (GMT)]Garry, I see what you are saying and you are correct. It is the old Freedom/Anarchy debate. Without rules (which restricts freedom) we have Anarchy. Which also restricts freedom…

But in terms of freedom of speech, there is a big difference betweem making a threat (eg to kill Buush) and an obviously ridiculous assertion (OBL should have killed more Yanks). Rules are supposed to ensure punishment for the former and freedom to say the latter.

I think the focus of the anger in Europe and elsewhere is that the US is indicating that freedom of speech only applies to Americans. Anyone disagreeing is just “US bashing”.

The same applies to human rights. The issue of Al’Qaeda terrorists being either detained in Cuba or being granted their full legal rights depending on whether they are Americans or not is a good example. So is the refusal to ratify US membership of the ICC.

So back to the original point, the US seems to be disreagrding criticism of their impending Iraqi invasion just because dissenters are mere “US bashers”. Every reason that the US has for invading Iraq has been dismantled on this thread. We have also pointed out the dangers of going in. But we are ignored, because we disagree with Bush…

…Which proves the whole argument, that Bush just “doesn’t get it”. Maybe he should have a nice chat with “General Somebody or Other” from that funny Paki-stan place over pretzels and a Bud.

RE: Iraqi Invitation (Part2)

Geforce,

Hunting is not about killing cute little bunny rabbits. Hunting is about out witting a master of nature and honing your senses to the ultimate challenge. Only a butcher uses a SMG or something hunting. A real hunter uses a rifle, usually they only get one shot. If you miss, that big Elephant is going to kill you. If you hit, you give a whoop of joy, give out enought cash in fees and licences to keep a ranger in his job, protect against poachers and help Elephants stay alive. Hunting is about having a little pop gun between you and certain death!

Anyway sorry, that is way off tangent!

RE: Belgium sells weapons to Nepal

It’s a gallic shug, I’m afraid.

If we don’t sell weapons, someone else will. All countries sell weapons to “evil” client states, even the US.

RE: British withdrawal from Northern Ireland

Wombat, withdrawal is NOT an option. NI is not a colony, it is part of our country. Anyone thiking otherwise is, realistically, pi**ing into the wind!

I can’t think of a solution, because each side is diametrically opposed to the other. The ironic thing is that they are identical people really. Loyalist/Republican terrorists are the same, they just use different execuses.

The only approach is to take the heat out of the situation. Firstly, terrorist funding must be removed (This means YOU, people of Boston and New York!!!). Secondly, the retoric must be hushed up. Religious people need to be gagged, because their words legitimise the feelings of certain people. Priests and Vicars are extremely influential in NI and as such, they should not be politicising. Until these bible bashing types get the point, gagging orders need to be slapped on them. The police need to form an “incitement to racial hatred” task force and arrest 20 or 30,000 yobs and stick them in 5 years of solitary. The guys threatening Neil Lennon (footballer from NI who plays for Celtic, the Catholic team from Glasgow) are good examples.

RE: Flight’s to Holguin, Cuba

The North Korean website showed a line up of IL-62’s and what looked like IL-76’s. Lots of planes considering they only fly 3 flight a week internationally!

Keltic – Tehran options are quite good:

Alitalia from MXP use a 767-300
Emirates from DXB use a 777-200
BA from LHR use an A321
Austrian from VIE use an A340
Lufthansa from FRA use an A340
Swiss from ZRH use an MD-11
Turkish from IST use a 737-800

Couldn’t find any direct Spanish otions though. I bet you can’t fly there from JFK!