The Kintyre Forum

Gerry Adams.Poacher turned gamekeeper?
Martin McGuiness.Poacher turned gamekeeper?
Mandela? Please discuss.

Back in General Jacks day this one would be fun.

Bear in mind that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.Nice one Gizmo.

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead." — Nelson Mandela.

Whilst there is no doubt Mandela contributed hugely to the demise of apartheid I think we are now getting into overkill in the praise.. One comment on Radio 4 yesterday (I know, I know, and I read the Mail, it comes to us all, doesn't it Bill) was "He was the greatest man who has ever lived."
Oh! Come on now.

My sentiments exactly Roger & gismo, and nothing wrong with R4 either. Who the heck want's to listen to local tosh and bed sales anyway......... I'm in a Bolshie mood today!

As an aside.Mugabe asked Cameron if he knew where he could get rocket launchers and assorted weaponry.Cameron allegedly gave him Lenny Henry`s phone number.

Why was Mandela not able to influence his near neighbour Robert Mugabe in his apparent destruction of Zimbabwe? or did he?

I'm with you Shona. Many years ago when I was young enough to think I could change the world and was a member of Amnesty International, we had to send postcards to political prisoners and one was Mandela. I was overjoyed when he was released from prison but that changed to something else when after 27 years in jail, he forgave his captors and reach out to them in peace and reconciliation. I have never forgotten that so today, although I agree he may not have been the greatest man in the world, I am in awe of his compassion, his dignity, his personal strength and his intellect in a world where political gifts like his are so few. This is the great example he has left us and I for one will always be grateful.

let's also remember the role that Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative government along with various American administrations played in supporting the apartheid movement. This all seems to have been swept under the carpet now, but those of us who aren't getting news from the Daily Mail and other state run propaganda machines know otherwise.

Does anyone else think that fake signer at the speech-making has to be the most optimistic man in history?
How the hell did he think he could carry it off?

well if Cameron, Clegg et al can get away with pretending to have our interests at heart, perhaps this guy thought he could get away with a similar stunt. Quite frankly seeing that bunch of hypocritical, self-serving, delusional fantasists that pass as leaders attending a funeral for a man who stood for everything they have done their best to trample over, was quite sickening. But in this day and age nobody questions anything any more, they just put up with the shit they are fed, accept leaders who are incompetent and interested only in feathering their own nests. The thought that it doesn't have to be this way, never enters the heads of many in the general populace. Educational dumbing down, mass hypnosis through television, brainwashing by the mainstream media and lives spent in fear of "others" have led to the perilous state of affairs we now find ourselves in. But for many onlookers, the practice of sniping at anyone who sticks their head above the parapet with an alternative view is an acceptable pastime.I truly despair.

while sending off that last riposte,it entered my mind that I could not think of a leader of any particular race who had anything significant to say on the state of mankind and where we are at the moment. The last person I took any notice of, as regards having something to say about humankind was Martin Luther King. This then got me thinking about Jimmy Reid, another great orator and compassionate human being. Yes there are a few of them out there, but sadly nowhere near enough, to beat down the oppressive hand of globalisation. The only man I can think of today is Dr Cornell West, he resides on the other side of the Atlantic, how we need somebody such as him to speak out in this country.

“You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people.”
― Cornel West

Two oxen are to be ritually slaughtered at his funeral today.Is that really necessary?

Oxtail soup, YUM.