SoulGirl

This is an overly simplistic view to take of the situation. Collective punishment - constituting in borders, checkpoints, curfews and separation barriers - is an abuse of human rights which comes from the assumption that an entire nation of people are responsible for the actions of individual terrorists. It's akin to what happened in Northern Ireland not more than thirty years ago and it should never be allowed. It's very easy for people who enjoy all their human rights to disregard freedom of movement as inconsequential but to actually live with these encroachments on your daily life makes life incredibly difficult and forces people to live in inhumane conditions.

^ beautiful song ryansgirl, my friend sang 'we've only just begun' at a wedding recently with myself and others on backing vocals and it brought tears to my eyes. a really appropriate song. i want 'let's stay together' as my wedding song!

that movie rocks! wanna add it to my list too!

^ my friend clive has played with them! they're cool!

it seems like no-one here would date me cos i like rap, hip-hop, chart music, a bit of country and heavy metal! as well as many other types of music, i hasten to add! personally, i couldn't go out with anyone who didn't as least like, if not love, jeff.

in ireland we don't have police. we have gardaí síochána, which means defenders of the peace, and they are unarmed. gun crime has become a bit more of a problem in recent times but on the whole i believe the fact that the gardaí are unarmed has kept the criminal aspect largely unarmed. i don't like guns. i don't see the need for them, certainly in my society. i think that gun violence is naturally increased along with gun ownership. i believe that the whole 'right to bear arms' thing is a load of rubbish. the only time a legal gunowner, who keeps his gun at home, will be able to use the gun to defend himself is if someone breaks into their home. in ireland we recently had a case of an elderly man living alone on a farm who had been terrorised by a local traveller and shot the man as he tried to break into his home. he is now serving six years in jail because he shot the man in the back as he was trying to retreat. that man was not a murderer. he was terrified out of his wits and he shot the man to protect himself, then shot him again, presumably because some kind of adrenaline took over. i can't say what i would have done in the same situation but i know i wouldn't have had a gun to begin with. neither did the intruder.

i would like to state clearly that i am not antisemitic and i do not condone acts of terrorism and i do not want israel wiped off the map or anything like that. i have friends from israel, palestine and lebanon (i mean literally from there, not second-generation) so i see the argument from all sides but i am inherently anti-war and very opposed to the recent actions of the state of israel.

the word palestinian has about as much history as the word israeli. regardless of the biblical aspect, the state of israel did not exist until 1950. it could not be created without the land coming from somewhere and the site they chose was by no means a no mans land. i love the fact that people complain about the antisemitic press and then read such drivel as larry miller puts forward. his article is nothing more than biased poorly-researched incitement and it makes me sick to read it. i also love how he suggests that the jews, being oh so civilised, would never celebrate the deaths of muslims and yet he talks so triumphantly about the "bad guys" (do we really still want to operate using the mentality of eight-year-olds?!) being "D-E- you get the idea". yeah, the "bad guys" and the three times as many civilians who were killed at the same time.

No, academic sources, thank you very much. I'm quite careful about the research I do. And whether or not Israel is portrayed unfavourably in the media, in comparison with other countries who are also engaged in human rights abuses, is fairly irrelevant in my view. It's still happening and it's still wrong.

kevin, her theme song 'roxie' is one of my party pieces! you rock!!

Are you for real? Do you honestly believe that Israeli Jews do not engage in human rights abuses? Here's some information that would contradict that view: 742 children under the age of 18 have been reported killed by Israeli military between September 2000 and July 2006. Homes and sources of income have been destroyed by Israeli military. For example, in 2002 the Israeli army destroyed more than 2,000 Palestinian homes, without giving prior warning to the inhabitants, who were not allowed to salvage any of their belongings. Vast areas of agricultural land were also destroyed and tens of thousands of trees were uprooted. The loss of homes and sources of income have had a devastating effect on some Palestinian families. Millions of Palestinian refugees live in terrible conditions and abject poverty with no hope of returning home and many of them without any citizenship. Freedom of movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is radically undermined by over 600 military checkpoints. The border checkpoints in place in the area are seen by the UN as a human rights abuse and a significant obstacle to the economic prosperity and social wellbeing of Palestinian families. Since September 2000, most members of the workforce previously employed in Israel have been prevented from going to work due to mobility restrictions, with adverse economic effects. Families are prevented from traveling to hospitals, places of worship or nearby villages to visit family and friends. Sick and elderly people are forced to stand for hours at checkpoints, regularly denied entry to Israel for no reason and often abused by Israeli military. Delays at checkpoints have had a massive impact in the area of health and in 2003 the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that in the previous three years, more than 90 people died in ambulances waiting at checkpoints. Blanket curfews are regularly imposed on all Arabs living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) but not on Jewish settlers who are illegally living in the area. The Israeli Ministry for Housing continues to give permission for more Jewish settlers to move into the area, although it is contrary to international law. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) continue to construct a separation barrier, dubbed the apartheid wall, which places further restrictions on the movements of Palestinians, although this is in explicit defiance of a UN SC resolution. There have been more UN Security Council resolutions criticising Israel than nearly any other country. There is certainly blame on the Palestinian side due to the acts of terrorists and I do not in any way condone acts of terrorism and granted, these do not compare to mass murders which have occurred in other countries, but it seems ludicrous to call a country which has persecuted Palestinians from its very inception one of the most decent countries on earth. How do you define decency anyway? If it's through human rights records, Israel rates quite poorly. And although it is well-known that there is much anti-Israeli bias, the facts speak for themselves. The way Israelis treat Palestinians is in no way decent.

for me to identify with any character enough to play them, they'd have to be a bit of a trainwreck! so probably angelina's character in 'girl, interrupted' or something... but seriously though, i haven't a clue! will have to give this one some thought...

i have her album and i love it - it's really sweet soulful summery pop!

naturalement

i just finished 'the kite runner' by khaled hosseini. it's an amazing book about an afghani man living in the united states who is returning to his childhood home of kabul after many years and facing the demons of his past. it is stunningly written, a truly impressive debut novel. it was the first time in ages that i found a book which i couldn't put down. the subject matter is a little harrowing at times and i left mascara all over my pillow last night from crying but it's nonetheless very readable and worth the heartache. i would thoroughly recommend it!

phil. honey. must you spoil my fun?! if you want to go camp at a music festival, camp at a music festival. if you don't like camping, don't do it! if you're only idea of a trip away is a four or five star hotel, fine, suit yourself. i want to go to a music festival with all my friends and family and have a weekend of fun and games. i am looking forward to watching the bands, camping, meeting new people, staying up late, having a few cans at the tent, playing music, having a few uncomfortable nights' sleep, getting sunburned/muddy/locked/wrecked, all the stupidly fun stuff that comes with a music festival. i do not want to arrive in the car just before the first band, stay in a bed and breakfast and go home after the last band on sunday night. i'm not a &*%&ing celebrity!

my brother and i are ridiculously obsessed with that movie! a friend and i got it out randomly one night and loved it so much we watched it twice in a row and again the next morning with my brother. we now own it on dvd! friends come in all sizes, yes they do!

good god in heaven, i've been avoiding this thread for the simple reason that i knew it would result in a psychological implosion but in the true drink and post tradition i've abandoned my good intention and plunged right in here. basically, i'm screwed. i would say i second nearly every movie that i've seen which has already been mentioned! timlizzy - you kick serious a$$ for mentioning death to smoochy! joe - your list rocks! here is a pretence at a definitive list. i love movies far far too much for such a thing to ever exist: The Usual Suspects Pulp Fiction The Indiana Jones Trilogy Star Wars Episodes III - VI Godfather I and II The Lord of the Rings trilogy The Die Hard movies Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan Batman Batman Returns Batman Begins Terminator 2 The Back to the Future trilogy Se7en Fight Club American History X 25th Hour Kill Bill Vol.s I & II The Deer Hunter Full Metal Jacket Elephant Last Days The Shining The Exorcist Amelie Finding Neverland Big Fish Lost in Translation Being John Malcovic Adaptation Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Schindler's List The Pianist La Vita É Bella The Thin Red Line To Kill a Mockingbird Crash Dead Man Walking The Green Mile The Hours The General The Silence of the Lambs Chinatown A Clockwork Orange LA Confidential Fargo La Haine Goodbye, Lenin! Die Fetten Jahren Sind Vorbei Der Untergang Dances With Wolves Dead Poets' Society Leaving Las Vegas Trainspotting Face/Off Casablanca Blade Runner Scent of a Woman Man on the Moon Amadeus Empire Records The Commitments Almost Famous Moulin Rouge Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet Zoolander This Is Spinal Tap The Life of Brian The Meaning of Life The Holy Grail The Big Lebowski Death To Smoochy High Fidelity Some Like It Hot Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Singin' In The Rain The Sound of Music The Wizard of Oz Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (original) Breakfast at Tiffany's Billy Madison Kung Pow: Enter The Fist Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Road to Perdition The Royal Tennenbaums The Life Aquatic Old School Anchorman Shaun of the Dead honstly, that is but a drop in the ocean.

that's sick, she's like eleven! and shawn's daughter! i take it you meant julia!!

i heard a rumour that a friend of mine catherine was recording backing vocals on their upcoming album but haven't been able to substantiate that online! i like them!

as do i! nina is savage! i love her version of 'strange fruit'. she had a fantastic unique soulful voice. i bought tickets for me and my boy to go see her but she fell ill and the gig was cancelled and then she died. i really regret not having seen her live.

i LOVE this album - it's one of my favourites. for those who think they don't recognise it, 'glorybox' is probably the most famous song with the refrain: give me a reason to love you, give me a reason to be a woman, i just wanna be a woman the sample they use was also sampled by the 411 in their song 'teardrops'. the second most well-known song would probably by 'sour times': nobody loves me, it's true, not like you do. i love singing beth gibbons' music. 'roads' is probably my favourite track, although i find it very hard to choose!

That's from a slogan for a German car manufacturer, maybe Audi or VW, "Vorsprung durch Technik". I translate it to mean 'Progress through technology' but maybe farin will correct me!

your lucky son, i heard it was great! i didn't manage to get a ticket but i'm going to saturday and sunday at electric picnic and i'm very excited about it!

"Reach Out and Touch Soulgirl" "Can't Do It In Real Life? Do It On Gisela." "Have You Forgotten How Good SoulGirl Tastes?" "How Do You Eat Your Gisela?" those are actually kind of offensive! as das would say, awesome!