The rain in Spain.

Although there is no doubt terror cells would make a big hit if they managed to carry out an attack during Christmas and there must be somebody out there planning or hoping for the next attack, as evidenced by Avon Lady's link, Christmas itself is currently lying at the crosshairs: unlike terror victims, it has more than one enemy, many of them being supposedly those who should be defending it.

Those who pervert our beliefs/convictions are a greater moral danger than those who deny/oppose them.

Where does he call the IRA republicans...?

Last paragraph

Oh yeah, sorry, now I see it. Didn't read it carefully enough. But can you please explain? I'm young and ignorant and was born during the very end of the Troubles. But isn't that what the IRA are? Republicans vs. Loyalists. That's what the conflict was... right? I'm not taking any sides. Just need an explanation because I like anything to do with Irish history (of course I don't like the troubles... you know what I mean).

No, they are not republicans. They call themselves republicans of course, but can you show me how blowing up a memorial service is in the service of liberty, equality or fraternity?

the attacks this crimbo started this july the usual onslaught from the big shops comercialising and destroying the crimbo spirt to make us spend a bomb and go into debt

No. No, I cannot. You got me on that one... Guess I just need to look up "republicanism" next time.

Thing is if I was a terrorist I wouldn't go for something big like the PM or even hitting parliament.

If these guys were smart, they'd hit things like supermarkets, supermarket distribution centres.

The major supermarkets only have a few big centres. I think in Scotland Tesco only have about three. How hard would it be ot get a large enough truck, fill it with something explosive and incendiary and in a coordinated attack drive through the front door and blow it up.

hmmm....Answers on a post card.

See the number one hobby in the UK is shopping or so it seems, so if these terrorists really want to hurt the brits hit the shopping centres.

Saying that if they took out IKEA and any other lifestyle store I won't be complaining.

I could never understand why some Brits and some Irish cant get along. It reminds me of some Jews and some Arabs.

Is it a Religious thing?
Is it a Blood fued?
Is it a Government thing?
Is it all of the above?

I'm sure I dont know the details and if I heard the details I couldnt believe them because this BS has gone on for longer than any of us has been alive.
I'm fairly sure that noone knows the original reason for acting as these people do.

OOOHHH sure sure "they took my families property back in 1041 A.D. and killed my some of my family and raped some too"

I guess some people cant flush a toilet. They have to keep a reminder of the past.

That's basically the gist of it AFAIK (along with a couple of other things)... Stupid really.

its all about history and some peoples lack of ability to get past it and over it partialy because its instilled at a very young age into people by there parents live in the now not the past and things willl get better

I'm going to revise this statement a little. I think it's really more to do with the fact that the British gov't (specifically Lord Trevelyan) during the famine withheld corn surplus from the Irish (that the Irish had farmed themselves) so they could export it for profit. If Trevelyan had not done this, the Irish would have been relatively well off. Instead, the British gov't starved 200,000 Irish souls :nope:. That is where the deep roots of hatred come from (but come on, that was 150 years ago). The IRA use this, among other things, as an excuse to blow up innocents.

I'm all for a united Ireland, but there must be some other way.

Actually British/Irish anomosity lasted past 1041 :roll:. Ireland has only been independent from Britain for just over eighty years.

The Famine, or An Gorta Mor, was not engineered by the British, but they did nothing to help. The main reason for the British military presence in Ireland was to safeguard the food & livestock shipments. The Famine would have been devastating anyway, but the British involvement was negligible, hence some resentment. They could have done so much. And your figures are a little off. the consensus is that between 750,000 and 1 million died between 1845-49.
Also, even if these shipments had not been flowing out of the country every day, the people would not have been "relatively well off". The system of inheritance was egalitarian instead of primogenitural (sp?), each son would get a part of the family land, as opposed to the first born. This brought a lot of people down to subsistence farming. Emigration was already high, and during the Famine over 10% of the population just left.

The IRA (as we know know it) was a reaction to the British presence in Northern Ireland. A sectarian state existed, with a discrimatory police force. I'm not defending the IRA, but they werent blowing up pubs in Belfast because of the Famine.

As regards a united Ireland, I don't understand it. The very fact that 60-70% of those living in Northern Ireland dont want to become part of the Republic speaks for itself. The economic mess that the North has become, along with the success of the South, warns against taking in a crippled economy.

and the minor point that North & South have only ever been unified under one ruler: the British Crown. Who the hell cares?

I don't know enough about the animosity between Ireland and Britain to make a call on this one.

I do know that protestants and Catholics would be fending against sharia law the way Britain is.