Michael Gray?! Guess he's back from the wilderness! Does this mean we won't be going for a defender as Hughes has found someone suitable?

That isn't actually what that section means. "Execution" means the carrying out of a criminal sentence. The death penalty is actually abolished by Schedule 1, Part III, Sixth Protocol, Article 1 Abolition of the death penalty The death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed. However, Article 2 carries on: Death penalty in time of war A State may make provision in its law for the death penalty in respect of acts committed in time of war or of imminent threat of war; such penalty shall be applied only in the instances laid down in the law and in accordance with its provisions. The State shall communicate to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the relevant provisions of that law. So there is a possibilty of having the death penalty in certain circumstances, although as of now we don't have it in English law. The whole of the HRA can be seen here.

In order to have the death penalty, we would have to leave the EU & also the European Convention on Human Rights - international bodies don't look kindly on governments intentionally killing people... In other news, according to CNN, the UK blocked the arrest by the USA of a guy with links to the London bomb plotters, a month before the attacks happened, on the grounds that he was a UK citizen.

The Brazilian guy's relatives are saying he wasnt wearing a bulky jacket. Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot dead in the head, was not wearing a heavy jacket that might have concealed a bomb, and did not jump the ticket barrier when challenged by armed plainclothes police, his cousin said yesterday. Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the Metropolitan police, Vivien Figueiredo, 22, said that the first reports of how her 27-year-old cousin had come to be killed in mistake for a suicide bomber on Friday at Stockwell tube station were wrong. "He used a travel card," she said. "He had no bulky jacket, he was wearing a jeans jacket. But even if he was wearing a bulky jacket that wouldn't be an excuse to kill him."

Finally... We can have a go about some other British team being awful in Europe & not have people say "Trellborg" at us! Also, who the hell are Artmedia? Sounds like some obscure channel on Sky...

Anyone seen this? London Tube Survival Guide London Tube Survival Guide =========================== Issued by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 24-July-2005 To ensure that you won't end up with 5 bullets to your head, please consider the following important rules of behavior: 1) Never run Even if you're late going to work, NEVER RUN to catch the subway -- only walk slowly (as Englishman Sting sang: "A gentleman will walk but never run.") It doesn't matter if you miss the subway and your Thatcherite employer will fire you. Your life is more important. 2) Light clothing No matter how cold the British climate and the subway corridors, NEVER WEAR A COAT or other thick clothing, since that could look like you're hiding explosives on you. We recommend beach attire only. It doesn't matter if you'll catch the influenza and your Thatcherite employer will fire you. Your life is more important. 3) White skin To avoid being confused with Islamists for "walking while black" (or brown), try to GET A WHITE SKIN -- not even a light suntan because that looks even more suspect (Middle-Eastern). For details, you may consult with Michael Jackson. 4) White neighborhood Living in poor neighborhoods makes you suspect, given the high density of surveillance cameras that will track you on your way from home to the subway. TRY MOVING to a white rich neighborhood. 5) If they're after you If some shadowy plain-clothes gang starts running at you, STRIP NAKED immediately to show that you're not hiding any explosives on your body. If they're muggers -- too bad, but your life is more important. Be ready to accept a full body-cavity search, because these professionals know that any asshole could hide a hand grenade. Can't tell if this is satire or not...

Straw backs down on denial of Iraq link JACK Straw, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday stepped back from his earlier denials that the war on Iraq had nothing to do with the terror attacks in London. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was believed to be incensed at Mr Straw's refusal to admit that the two events could be linked last week, as he believed this clashed with wider public opinion. Political sensitivities over the bombings are at an all-time high and were underlined by a poll which showed that support for Mr Blair's handling of the crisis had dropped by 14 per cent in just two weeks. Yesterday, Mr Straw said he did not rule out the possibility that Iraq may have increased the threat of terrorism for Britain. "It is impossible to say for certain," he told BBC radio. However, Mr Straw stressed that bombings and terrorist atrocities had been carried out long before the war on Iraq or Afghanistan. You do have to wonder why we invaded Iraq, if terrorists were doing their work before 11/9 (I refuse to use the American dating system). I guess he's also saying that the govt's actions brought it upon London...

They're a non-league team. Seeing that the reserves played Ashton Utd (another non-league side) on Saturday, I think it's likely that they'll play instead of the 1st team.

He's still interested in Anelka, despite the fact that he'll cost £10m! Souness told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle: "...Kevin Keegan... said Anelka was one of the best strikers he's worked with. If we do get him, we know he'll do the business on the field." He added: "Off the field he has a more settled family life now. But he's not a big socialiser. He doesn't go out and he's not a playboy." It'd be fun to see who storms out first: Le Sulk or Sour-puss

Football 365 don't hold out much chance of him staying with the Geordies for very long: Graeme Souness (Newcastle United) - 4/1 Favourite Could he possibly beat Uncle Bobby's record of contriving to get sacked in August? Well, as he's starting with a weaker squad, considerably less managerial nous and the support of roughly five per cent of the Toon faithful, you'd have to say he's got a fairly good chance. He said himself: "If I last another 12 months in this job I will have done well," - but the bookies clearly think he was being a tad optimistic. Facing Arsenal and Man United within the first four games does not bode well for Newcastle on the pitch - especially as Souness seems to have misplaced his strikeforce - but the real problem will come with the first fight or court case of the season. At least when he 'loses the dressing-room', we won't all suspect this Newcastle manager has literally got lost and ended up in the car park. Oh dear!

Well Bliar was warned by the security services in the run-up to the war that it would lead to a higher risk of being attacked by terrorist...

I agree - religion is just an idea; ideas are meant to be challenged, no matter how much you believe it to be true. Religion doesn't define who you are, it's merely a viewpoint with little or no evidence that it's correct. Also I find it kinda difficult to base your entire life on somehting which was written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago - it might be a good starting point, but your ideas should have some acknowledgement that society has changed since the religous text(s) were published. This applies to ALL religions, esp Christanity, Judaism & Islam - the Old Testament (the basis for these 3 religions) might have been good when it was written, but how many people think women should be punished for being raped (Levictus 19: 20-22), or that gay people should be put to death (Lev 20: 13)? Slightly off-topic, but this is the reason I'm opposed to that clamping down on making religious jokes Bill that the govt have passed, as it will just limit people's ability to criticise religion, but you can criticise other ideas, not matter how honestly some people take them.

Well I think you'll be OK - last time I checked the sun was still moving across the sky...

Thought I'd be the 1st one to say - this proves we've signed Benni!

Surely the Anglo-Saxons would also be kicked out - after all they came from Germany! The only people with a right to complain about Johnny Foreigner are those of Celtic blood

From the Independent Police and intelligence agents are investigating the theory that a gang of white "mercenary terrorists" was hired by al-Qa'ida to carry out last week's devastating attacks on London The theory was given credence by the fact that the security services had no advance warnings, suggesting that the bombers were not known extremists. Police and intelligence agencies admitted yesterday they were caught off guard. Maybe it is an Oklahoma City style attack? Do we have a Timothy McVeigh on our hands?

Was anyone listening to Radio 5 on the day it happened? They were interviewing (mp3) a guy whose company were running a drill of a terror incident at the same time & same locations as the attack! There's a transcript of the main part here. POWER: At half past nine this morning we were actually running an exercise for a company of over a thousand people in London based on simultaneous bombs going off precisely at the railway stations where it happened this morning, so I still have the hairs on the back of my neck standing up right now. HOST: To get this quite straight, you were running an exercise to see how you would cope with this and it happened while you were running the exercise? POWER: Precisely, and it was about half past nine this morning, we planned this for a company and for obvious reasons I don't want to reveal their name but they're listening and they'll know it. What are the odds on a terror attack taking place in the exact same location & same time as a terror drill?

Exactly... how do we know when we've "won"?

Wondered why I'm feeling a bit sore down there..

They don't have to be screams of agony...

Will the new home shirt be released today then?

Seeing that we're playing West Ham 1st, does this means that they'll be in a relegation battle like the last few teams we've started off with? Anyway, what's wrong with getting 4 points for winning each of our 1st 6 games? Maybe they'll give us bonus points for scoring more than 1 goal!

Don't want to crush your childhood memories but wasn't Shearer's home debut against Arsenal? 324337[/snapback] Yep - we won 1-0. He scored with a goal which was deflcted over Seaman... Not the last time that happened! The Forest game was a few weeks later - the one when Mark Crossley threw Colin Hendry's header into his own net

I've been a fan since the late 80's, when my Dad dragged me on as a little boy! So it's around 16-17 yrs - not bad for someone in their mid-20s! The first game a remember was a 2-2 draw with Sunderland, after coming from 2-0 down. We watched it from the Riverside... Aah... them were the days!

I bet Michael Jackson is a bit annoyed with you...