Seeing as the TV thread seems to have disappeared, I will post in this thread and the mods can move to the old thread if found? How brilliant is Game of Thrones? last nights episode “Blackwater” was without doubt the single best piece of Television I have ever witnessed. HBO have created some quite brilliant dramas in the past The Wire, Sopranos, Six feet under. Game of Thrones imo already surpasses all of aforementioned. I for one have not read the books, so cannot comment on how close the writers diverge from the original story, but the characters have so much depth, the acting is top notch and the sets are beyond belief and to top it all off most of the cast are British and filming takes place in N Ireland. It truly is outstanding.

Benni is without doubt the best finisher at the club and IMO one of the best finishers in the premiership. The problem with him, is not only his fitness and mental state, but also the fact that he can not play a lone target man role. He requires a partner, who will do all the donkey work- Sam obviously doesn’t fancy any of his strikers apart from Di Santo. Therefore whilst Sam is in charge it will probably be best to sell Benni, but with caveat attached- that whatever is generated in terms of funds/wages will be given back to the manager. As it would be pretty pointless to sell a player with Benni's undoubted qualities and be scratching around looking for cheap loans. We only have to look at the disaster that was last summers dealings, when Sam sold circa 28 millions pounds worth of players yet was given a budget of only 12 million in return.

Eddie- Messi is the best player in the World. Stop trying to argue that he isn't. He would shine in any league in the world due to his footballing genius. Utd supposed world-class defence couldn’t get near him.

This one might get a few posters flustered. The Qur'an- translated by M.A.S Abdel Haleem (Oxford World Classics) I have read several verses before but the book iteslf is an eclectic mix of pure myth and recorded history. With a larger emphasis on battle than what I first envisioned.

Cheers for the honesty. At least you admit when you are wrong.

Colin you are either playing dumb or been dogmatic- I can’t work you out. Under the Taliban literacy & Numeracy rates where amongst the lowest in the world- simply because there fundamentalist ideals didn’t allow education to girls after the age of about 14. Having one of the lowest skill bases in the world is hardly a good base to drive forward the economy is it (I won’t even mention quality of life – because the Taliban vision included the banning of music, television and even kites). Women were treated lower than animals in many cases. A radical Islamist (Taliban) does not see a distinction between religion and politics – they are the same. Something we in the West with our secular mindset can’t get our heads around. I suspect that you are simply referring to religion within a western context where the church, politics (and everything else economy, society etc) is separate- this was not the case in Afghanistan. So to answer your question; religion had everything to do with the oppressive poverty stricken conditions that Afghanistan has suffered for the past couple of decades. Unfortunately, for Afghanistan it does not sit on half of the worlds oil to prop its economy up. As for your other examples- They represent amongst the most unequal societies in the world. With 1% of the population been worth more than the rest combined. I reiterate the House of Saud is worth over 20% of its nations GNP- most of Saudi’s interior ( najd) live in absolute abject poverty, with the problem been that Women are treated as second class citizens.

No Colin you have implied that Afghanistan is the poorest nation in the World- It clearly isn’t. Furthermore, you are also implying that conditions in the country are both economically & socially worse since the coalition invasion- again this is in incorrect. Under the Taliban -Afghanistan was the poorest nation on the planet- due to the medievalist, monolithic Islamist vision that the Taliban forced on the populace. Today conditions are horrific in a Helmand and Kandahar provinces due to foreign Jihadist’s trying to overthrow the current regime and expel the NATO & UN forces from the region. Yet the rest of the country is free from foreign Jihadist’s and economically better off than it has been for decades. I just love the examples you have given – Between they sit on over half the worlds Oil & natural gas reserves; coupled with the fact they have low population distributions & low density- they should be economically well off . Saudi-Arabia may have a large GNP – but three-quarters of the population live in abject poverty, with the House of Saud accounting for over 20% of that nations wealth. It is also quite possibly the most intolerant society in the World

Strange that Colin, but every source I have read claims that Afghanistan; whilst very poor is no where near as poor as you suggest. Infact that there are around a dozen nations in Africa whose GDP per capita is far lower than that of Afghanistan’s It also has economic growth of over 12% (some of which can be apportioned to the record poppy crop & International aid) Sources Afghanistan Economic overview List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita I would check the date & validity of your sources Colin. BTW what is your point is it just dogmatism for the sake of it?

errr- The Taliban are from Pakistan

I find our post rather strange. Virtually all the sources I have come across both mainstream academic, left, right all agree that along with counterfeit goods, exporting heroin is the largest source of income for global terrorism. Before the last Islamic reformation (before 1990). Turkish gangs were by far and away the largest importers of Heroin from Afghanistan into the UK, however this has changed and Kashmiri gangs are monopolizing the market. I have provided numerous sources to back up my claims on the drugs trade been the chief funding tool for global Islamist terror. As for you banging on about the media and other people calling the Jihadist’s in Afghanistan Taliban- does it really matter what they are called? They are the same Deobandi—Wahhabi Islamists that ground the country of Afghanistan into the dirt. Making it the poorest nation on the planet. I get the impression that no-matter what evidence is presented to you; that you have made your mind up and will take the same dogmatic approach as many other posters. Drugs for guns: how the Afghan heroin trade is fuelling the Taliban insurgency A UK Government spokesman has stated that Osama Bin Laden 'has been closely involved in the Afghan drugs trade and has encouraged major traffickers in the past to flood Europe and the US as a means of undermining and destabilising'. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1590827.stm http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/dfasa030107.htm

You are talking out your backside. The Taliban are not even from Afghanistan they are originally from Pakistan and are of Pashtun origin. The Taliban follow an extremist version of Islam called Deobandi which is taught throughout the Madrassas in Pakistan and was part of the reason why the British taxpayer is paying money to re-educate many of the Madrassa followers. The difference between Columbia and the Afghanistan is that; whilst I accept( to a lesser extent) cocaine finances far-left guerrilla groups in Colombia, the money is spent on fighting the government of Columbia ( in a typical political asymmetrical localised conflict)- The situation in Afghanistan couldn’t be more polarised. UK citizens are importing heroin as means to fund terrorism against there own citizens and other Western citizens that don’t follow there monolithic vision of society. The Heroin trade is controlled by Islamists the Cocaine trade is controlled by people who couldn’t give two hoots about religion.

Firstly you are making a distinction between religion, politics and society- Within tribal Afghanistan and Kashmir this simply doesn’t exist – It is called Islamism. The other distinction one must make between Cocaine in Columbia & Heroin in Afghanistan – is Cocaine is sold purely to make drugs lords richer, Heroin from Afghanistan is imported into our country by Muslims to partly fund terrorist activity. I agree with the rest of your posts in regards; to the ideal economic, political and physical conditions that Afghanistan offers.

There is an implicit link to the spread of Heroin from Afghanistan and the growth of terrorism in the UK. Research has highlighted that a major heroin transit route exists from the UK Kashmiri population importing drugs via Iran/Turkey through mainland Europe to their adopted UK homeland. Along with the sale of knock-off goods- it remains the greatest source of income for those pedalling the radical terrorist message in the UK. However, the growth of the Heroin market in Afghanistan is accelerated by the fact that the country has constantly been at war for the past 30 years. Creating ideal political, social and even geo-physical conditions for the exportation of the poppy crop. One fact that seems to elude most people is that the poppy seed from which Heroin is cultivated; flourishes when the earth is disturbed or burnt- both of which is synonymous with bombs, shells etc making Afghanistan the ideal palce to grow the crop.

Yes, but they were foreign nationals on holiday, how could this work- you would have to do thorough check on every single tourist who were to take flying lessons each. I can't see where ID cards would work. As far as the hamburg cell- some where on CIA watchlist other weren't.

You’re missing the point; a piece of plastic is not going to stop home-grown terrorists who are UK nationals. The government needs to channel its funds into a designated ethnic-integration police task-force. Which it will not as it would be deemed being not ‘politically-correct’. Who solely concentrate on issues such integration, stemming the tide of radical ideologies, policing religious figures ( making sure these people are vetted & monitored) stopping the flow of narcotics & knock offs from abraod- which funds terrorism & ultimately force individuals who do not want to be part of a democracy out of the country or into prison ( should they break the law).