Rather have a knee jerk reaction and nothing fall out of the sky except volcanic dust, than the remote opportunity of one or more airliners suddenly converted into gliders with nowhere suitable to land and people complaining that no one took the situation seriously…

I mean, did anyone complain that shutting down all air activity was a knee jerk reaction in 2001?

You have a pay grade?

BURMA!

Sorry – was just seeing if Charlie’s suggestion really worked…

They are not world leaders: just as power crazy as the next despot maybe, but not to be listed in this thread.;o)

It has already been voted one star by somebody, and has been most of the evening – if not longer.

As it is I still cannot see where to vote…

Iceland has lowered the warning level to aviation from a volcano in Iceland from “red” to “orange”, its second-highest level.

However, authorities said there was “no indications that [seismic] activity is slowing down” and added “an eruption cannot be excluded”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28917495

Isn’t orange still a little sort of reddish…?

Wasn’t actually thinking in terms of money or ransom. Merely in terms of resources. The major element lacking from the current response to the islamic fundamentalists is the will to commit long term to eradicating them.

Here’s a concept: how about the countries affected tell us what is needed, the countries around those countries, so that we are not held responsible for barging in like Rambo in a jockstrap eager to be seen to do the right thing as we see it? It is a party that we are not necessarily invited to: our military is giving advice, our reporters are there, even our experts are somewhere around the locale – are they really needed or wanted?
No: I don’t like the idea of our extremists being there and murdering people, but they are and whilst we can jump up and down now there is very little we can do until and unless they return; we can make claims about revoking their passports and denying them re-entry to Britain (should they actually try to come back) but unless the crazy ideas about interning all Muslims actually happen we are about as effective as my two year old daughter standing at the waters edge, waving her fist at the sea and yelling about the tide making her feet wet.

Wasn’t advocating indiscriminate locking up. It would be relatively simple to make a statement that certain type of behaviour and comments are not acceptable. For example declaring that Europe should be under sharia law potentially would be relatively mild but not acceptable, stating that all non believers should die would be the other end of the scale. If you wish to live in Europe and partake of the freedoms, lifestyle and quality of life neither of these statements would be compatible with such a desire.

Sounds a bit like thought-crime to me. And if we’re on the subject of making criminal claims how come they haven’t prevented idiots (ok, some are drunk, but not all) from ending up locked away for making stupid claims about having bombs in their luggage? Some of the younger Muslims might make claims such as you mention just to gain kudos from their mates, etc.
Maybe you want all European-based Muslims to make a pledge that they will not do naughty things?;o)
Making pledges never stopped our politicians from back-pedalling or even just plain ignoring their previous promises…

How dare you. Just because jonny g thinks i’m a lefty doesn’t make it true!

Oh, please!!! John is confused enough as it is – let him have just one grand assumption he can call his own!

Here is a hypothetical situation, the law prevents me from advertising with a sign of my house (For sale but not to Muslims) as being racist which of coarse is correct! However if I was to admit for viewing when selling our home and being my wife has collected pig ornaments could I then be done for racism when not advising what is on show inside ?
At the same time putting a sign up explaining why Muslims would not be advised to view would this also be viewed as racism even though I am trying to accommodate their beliefs by not offending them ?

I imagine that if they are in the market for a house, and they have gone to look at yours, then a few pigs that won’t be left there after you’ve moved isn’t going to scrub the deal. Lets face it, if they were really that extreme then they would probably not be happy with living in a house that had until recently been occupied by infidel unbelievers. But my local corner shop sells bacon and the Daily Mail, in fact if he hasn’t got what you want in the shop he is happy to get it for you: maybe he is leading his customers into a false sense of security?

More hypothetical, slightly off topic, stuff.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]231244[/ATTACH]
http://terriblerealestateagentphotos.com/page/6

Would you sell this house to Jews or advise people of colour against viewing it?

In short Geoff, they are narrow minded, bigoted zealots with no humanity and no comprehension of anything but blind and misguided adherence to their extreme beliefs.

Only the extremists, Charlie. And, to be fair, that is a description that could be directed at quite a few social groups: I once met a landowner (lord of the manor-type, made sure that everyone he met knew exactly how many hectares he farmed) who fitted your description perfectly: he made claims that no government was going to stop him hunting foxes on his land, because it was his bloody land and his bloody foxes and they would have to lock him up and throw away the key before he’d stop. He claimed fox hunting was a humane way of controlling the population; a farm hand intimated that should the hunting bill come into effect then his pack would be ‘retired’ the same way the elderly and infirm hounds were disposed of – cheaply, with a hammer. Never did find out what happened to the pack.

Their extinction is the only way forward.

Is that a direct, translated quote from Mein Kampf, by any chance?

Boris for PM

Because he advocates guilty until proven innocent for people who have Middle Eastern skin tones and follow a non christian religion?
Remarkable, isn’t it, that we can go for decades with the same laws and be internationally regarded as a safe pair of hands as far as justice goes, yet throw in a few career politicians with very little or no experience – certainly worldly – and we can wave goodbye to our reputation. The world now regards us as evidence-falsifying war-mongers, lined up alongside a gung-ho nation happy to torture prisoners in secret locations (preferably not on their own soil) with both apparently eager to jump into war seemingly (it appears internationally) to boost their leaders reputation at home.
How is Boris going to prove that any Muslims returning to Britain have been in Syria – especially since they are hardly likely to come directly from Syria or have a Syrian entry visa in their passports? If someone is trying to hide where they’ve been they will float around from airport to airport, maybe use a ferry or hire car, train, or bus to cross borders. Is he proposing that every Muslim returning to Britain is a potential terrorist, simply because they have been abroad? That’s an awful lot of Muslims to check up on, especially when the chances of actual fighters returning from the front line for a little R’n’R with the relatives is probably rather small; those coming here to do bad stuff are likely to be as clean (as in unknown, untainted) and pure as the driven snow (and any bad stuff happening in Britain would probably be done by residents hopefully fingered to the security services by others unhappy at what the bad guys are proposing; more reason not to upset resident Muslims).

But the proposal to change the law from being innocent to guilty until proven is a dangerous one: where does it stop?
Once the government sets the precedence that one group is to be treated differently from others (unless the others look like them, of course) then the line is crossed. Don’t disagree with those in power – because you are regarded as a subversive your phone might be tapped and your communications intercepted. Freedom of speech is dangerous and might upset the balance of power, letting in people those in lofty positions would rather not defer to. And don’t question what is happening around you, speaking out shows you to be an enemy of the state…

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

Never stop speaking out.

Justice to my mind is best served in the countries involved – as it would if you were a British drug smuggler in Indonesia or a murder in the U.S.

If they survive to have justice served on them.

As we appear to be timidly reluctant to take meaningful action against our enemies in this country perhaps the way forward is by the use of surrogates, of whom Syria is just one.

What action would you like taken, John?
Snatch squads waiting outside mosques? Internment or deportation to IS territory unless each adult shops three potential terrorists? Or just the traditional lynch mob doing what mindless lynch mobs traditionally do – although best move everyone involved with any sort of muslin out of the area, just to be on the safe side, you know how brainless the mob-mentality gets… Please be a little more explicit John!