Jack Straw ? A Cynical Ploy?

[colin]

not just cynical but also hypocritical, seeing as he was home secretary a lot of the time when the opposition proposed the same measures and they were rejected out of hand.

[Deuce Bigolo]

warren zevon rip wrote:

> Whilst not wanting voting to be compulsory as in
> > some countries like, I think, Australia, there should be a
> > 'none of the above candidates' box that one could tick.
>
> In Australia you can vote for "none of the above" can't you,
> Deuce?
>

Very easily

Having worked in 1 election the ways of making your vote invalid are too numerous to mention

Even better is not voting at all and receiving a please explain letter to which I replied "I was sick"...never heard another word or received the mandatory AUS20-00 fine

[Sam Slater]

[quote]The court decides what a "reasonable man" would do but a struggle makes one unreasonable and the instinct to survive takes over.[/quote]

I'm sure any decent court, and judge would take things like 'panic' into concideration. Do we know how many people have actually been imprisoned for attacking an intruder (shooting someone in the back with a shotgun not inc.)?

[quote]Why should a person that attacks you in your own home have any rights at all?[/quote]

Because they're human? Seriously; if I saw someone speeding in a built up area where children were playing, at the next set of traffic lights where I may catch up with the guy, am I reasonable to get out of my car and stab him through the skull? He was breaking the law and putting innocent lives at risk.....

[eroticartist]

Sam,
You seem to think that English courts are fair and just! Most of the "murderers" serving life in England are not guilty of murder but manslaughter. To be guilty of murder,as such, one must kill with "malice and aforethought."
This obviously rules out a person who has been attacked because aforethought requires premeditation as opposed to re-action.
Mike Freeman.

[steve56]

Think hes a bit thick didnt he once say Ronnie Biggs was a danger to the public and should not be freed.

[Sam Slater]

But how much aforethought does it take to decide to kill? 2 months, 2 days, 2 hours or 2 seconds?

I once fought a man who had a chefs knife and I was unarmed. He was a lot taller and heavier than I, but I was faster, younger and had thai boxed regularly since I was seven.

The long and short is that he tried to stab me a few times but I continually attacked him until he dropped his knife. I kicked it away..... I had two opportunities within that fight. Firstly I could have run away and avoided confrontation altogether, the second was to pick up that knife when he dropped it.

He ended up in hospital with a bust retina and nearly lost his site in one eye. Though he was armed the police still told me that I should have avoided confrontation.........and they were right. My decision wasn't a reactive but premeditated. Even if I only had a few seconds to decide, I made the decisions. I should have walked away.....

Neither of us were charged in the end, and I still get satisfaction when I see the guy with his eye drops (none of his tearducts work anymore). I don't regret giving him a good hiding as he tried to stab me after all, but I nearly blinded him, and if charged I would have accepted my punishment.

I reiterate: I made the decisions.

[eroticartist]

Warren,
I did not kill with "malice and aforethought" but in a mortal struggle where I was attacked and wounded. Also my attacker threatened to kill my wife and family and I had no reason to doubt him. Actually I am quite a placid person and it takes a lot to provoke me. I don't like fighting, never have, but will fight if I am attacked. I am a good fighter, boxer,wrestler and martial artist but not usually the attacker. In the cases where I have struck the first blow it was because I was manhandled or insulted and I had to strike back. I like to think that I am a gentleman.
Mike.