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Comment by Brad Birch on September 26, 2009 at 10:59

I think the Megrahi case has been really interesting... All the ins and outs and rumoured deals etc... Especially with regards to him being asked to drop his appeal. That really caught my eye because he's been asked, in exchange for his freedom, to accept the guilt for the crime. Which kinda flies in the face of reason. You know, he’s given two options (a) he accepts guilt (through dropping appeal) and is freed, or (b) he stands by his not guilty plea and is kept locked up (if, indeed, this was part of the deal, which it seems to be). A kinda Kafkaesque scenario where all that seems to be important here is finding an easy solution to a case that, politically, has been a hot potato since the tragic day. His guilt has long been questioned, and I wonder whether this had just as much to do with making difficult questions disappear as much as it did political wrangling and, um, compassion. Let us not forget the compassion.

And I suppose the over-arching issue here is the difference between public justice and bureaucratic justice. You know, having the boxes ticked and a name attached might be enough retribution for the judicial system but the public obviously don’t think so. The storm kicked up was momentous. But that hasn’t stopped it all going ahead. How much of a voice do we actually have? And what are the judicial system actually searching for most when they look to solve a case so interwoven with politics as this?

Something I found interesting, not at least because despite keeping a fairly close eye on the case, I’m still none the closer to coming to a personal standpoint. Something worth exploring, maybe?

Comment by Bethan Marlow on September 26, 2009 at 7:08

Should prisoners be punished or rehabilitated?

Comment by Laura Howe on September 25, 2009 at 8:46

Why 10 year old boys would feel they had to do this:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23745124-six-migrant-african-boys-paddle-over-to-spain-in-toy-dinghy.do

Comment by Phillip Mackenzie on September 25, 2009 at 3:21

I would second Guy's proposal.

Comment by Guy O'Donnell on September 25, 2009 at 1:19

How we as a nation treat our serving sevicemen and women.

Comment by Tracy Evans on September 25, 2009 at 0:48

what about all that amazing post-apocalyptic red-haze in Syndey this week? See pics at this link if you haven't seen them already.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plasticbag/galleries/72157622310168099/

themes might be: global warming, drought, desertification, or even:
As the red haze spread around the world, on reaching Wales, the red dragon began to stir.....

Comment by Peter Cox MBE on September 24, 2009 at 9:12

While driving out of Cardiff on Tuesday night (after seeing the No Fit State show Tabu), I noted the incredibly long queue of young (and not so young) people waiting to get into Revolution.

Then I spotted this online news article and connected the two rather obliquely.


The article speaks for itself I think but the stats are a tad on the unnerving side of things. Given today's media world of selling goods with sex images pretty much across the board maybe there's something to explore here - something that ranges from personal intimacy and hugely powerful emotional feelings right through to commercial exploitation on a grand scale.

Brits have had 'indirect sex' with 2.8 mln people
Yesterday, 12:11 pm

The average British man or woman has slept with 2.8 million people -- albeit indirectly, according to figures released Wednesday to promote awareness of sexual health.
Men claim to have directly slept with nine partners while women say they have had six .A British pharmacy chain has launched an online calculator which helps you work out how many partners you have had, in the sense of exposure to risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs).

The "Sex Degrees of Separation" ready reckoner tots up the numbers based on your number of partners, then their previous partners, and their former lovers, and so on for six "generations" of partners.

The average British man claims to have actually slept with nine people, while women put the figure at 6.3, giving an average of 7.65.

"When we sleep with someone, we are, in effect, not only sleeping with them, but also their previous partners and their partners' previous partners, and so on," said Clare Kerr, head of sexual health at Lloydspharmacy.

"It's important that people understand how exposed they are to STIs and take appropriate precautions including using condoms and getting themselves checked out where appropriate."

Comment by Tom Beardshaw on September 24, 2009 at 3:09

Treasure!!