Guilty or not, they’re idiots. In addition to the five, four others have been released pending further enquiries.

The servicemen are understood to have been arrested after a video was discovered on a laptop belonging to a Royal Marine.

The clip appears to show members of a Royal Marine patrol standing around a Taliban fighter as he lay injured on the ground in a compound.

They were apparently discussing what to do with him and whether to administer first aid but the film is said to cut out before anything happens.

The Royal Military Police have confirmed the man died, sources told The Daily Telegraph.

The footage was discovered after one of the members of the patrol was arrested by civilian police in the UK over an unrelated matter, it is understood.

Some might say the mistake was filming whatever went on. Don’t youngsters these days know that what goes on tour stays on tour? What I’ve seen on rugby tours and stag weekends would spark a dozen divorces if it ever got back, but now everyone has a mania for recording absolutely everything. It’s like the US Marines watersports video a few months ago. Stone the crows, if you’re going to get up to something at least make sure no-one’s got his phone out to capture it, either for posterity or the rozzers when someone blabs or their computer is searched on unrelated business.

Interesting to read that disgruntled fans of Sheffield Wednesday F.C  who vented their dissatisfaction with the football club’s bigwigs in anonymous internet postings may face expensive libel claims after the chairman, chief executive and five directors won a high-court ruling last week forcing the owner of a website to reveal their identity.

The case, featuring the website owlstalk.co.uk, is the second within days to highlight the danger of assuming that the apparent cloak of anonymity gives users of internet forums and chatrooms carte blanche to say whatever they like. In another high court case last week, John Finn, owner of the Sunderland property firm Pallion Housing, admitted just before he was due to be cross-examined that he was responsible for a website hosting a scurrilous internet campaign about a rival housing organisation, Gentoo Group, its employees and owner, Peter Walls. Exposing the identity of those who post damaging lies in cyberspace is a growth area for libel lawyers.

My view is that posting lies is wrong in the first place and so those who do it deserve to be exposed if it causes harm to another person/organisation and the lie can be proven in a court of law. However, posting opinion is another matter altogether and this is where the circling vultures in the legal profession constitute a real problem. Here on the net, I invite you to express your views on many topics and I believe this essential liberty must be maintained, along with your privacy. But just as in private conversation, a degree of common sense has to be exercised as to what is said about whom. Do you agree? 

Mick Fealty, the supremo of the blog Slugger O’Toole, has always maintained that his cardinal rule for all contributors to his site is to ‘play the ball, not the man’.  This means that people who post responses should consider the merits of the article in question, rather than concentrate on the character of the individual.

Apparently, he is blind to that ruling when it comes to any issues I might raise.  Michael Shilliday, one of the Slugger regulars, has mentioned my petition calling for the title ‘Londonderry’ to be kept.  Wow, you should see some of the responses.  I haven’t seen that much scum clustered together since I went to see the flood clean-up operation in Sheffield a couple of weeks ago.  Every apostle of the Ancient Order of Republican Bloggers has come to the fore, each one an individual with a big future behind him.

Cheers, guys.  Every word of invective from the likes of you spurs me on even more. 

Wrote a post on my own site regarding the long-standing injustice to the "Untouchables" in modern India, posting it there after it was rejected by the Korean site I occasionally write for; rejected, I might add, because two Indian reporters didn’t like its’ tone! Fair enough, if they wish to hide their collective heads in the sand, who am I to deny their right to do so?

However, this post is about the Law of Unintended Consequences, and to illustrate my point, I was checking my blog stats and saw a new link had been placed; followed that same link and ended up on a website devoted to pictures and videos of girls doing various poses, sexual routines etc., all on web cameras, etc., etc. I won’t be placing this link on this blog, or anywhere else for that matter, but the strange thing is that my post was all about discrimination, and a single phrase within my blog posting was enough to energise an internet slave spider programme, capture that same phrase and thus place my blog on this other site.

While not being averse to being read by a wider audience, I wonder what the new readers of my Indian ‘Untouchable’ posting would make of that same post, when they were obviously searching for something, well, subtly different? 

No it’s not an invitation to an orgy.  Just letting you all know my new NASA-style computer is ready to kick ass!  The teething troubles are gone, the Internet is powering away at 3 times the speed of light and I’m in the mood to seriously annoy some Lefties and republicans.  Let’s go!

In case you are wondering where I’ve been for the last week, I have been busily buying a new computer system with enough memory to power Cape Canaveral.  However, I’ve been having (and am still having) some teething troubles getting everything I need loaded on the hard drive.  As soon as everything is back up and running I will be resuming blogging.  It should hopefully be by the end of this week.

They always say impersonation is the best form of flattery.  Could be.  In this case it comes from the lowest form of humanity.  The anonymous bladder bag who styles himself ‘Pimpernel’ has set up a website purely to allow his republican comrades to wax lyrical about ATW in general and myself in particular.  This eponymous waste of an effort has even been linked by the tumescent Gaskin.  I’d have thought he would have been better off linking to websites warning of the dangers of gastronomic overindulgence (LOL)! 

Is using my name to title a website without my (hitherto) knowledge or consent even legal?  I’m really not sure.  Suffice to say that if David believes it to be a threat to the integrity of the site he and I have dedicated ourselves to over this past three years, I’m sure he will take advice on how to stop it.  Meanwhile, sit back, have a giggle and see the only forum pathetic Provo fanatics have in striking back.

UPDATE – ‘Is he in heaven or is he in hell?’  No, the Pimpernel is sat in front of his computer daring me to challenge him to a lawsuit (a term I never even mentioned above).  As if I would waste one penny of my hard-earned money on someone who is idiotically obsessed with me to the point of going to the trouble of creating a carbon copy website.  I wonder what he’ll do next.  Who knows, I might even come home to find next door’s white rabbit bubbling on the stove (ROFL); or a tape in my car with a label saying ‘play me’.  I’m not going to waste my time refuting the various erroneous accusations of this uber-saddo.  However, as for the ‘advertising’ the pleasure’s all mine.  Let the rest of cyberspace appreciate just what an unadulterated moron you really are. 

I see that my decision to stop respondents posting has caused a little controversy in certain ranks.  I feel, therefore, I should make it clear that my decision had nothing whatsoever to do with Ulster affairs, and everything to do with ridding myself of the dross who set themselves up as considered commentators.  As I said last night, every moment of life is precious, so why should I waste time having to justify my opinions and beliefs with people who aren’t fit to lick my boots.  It was brought to my attention that commentators on another site (the owner is well aware of which site I mean) have been spewing forth banal tripe.  I hope the following comments give more seasoned and intelligent readers a clear idea on why I decided to permanently disable readers’ comments here: 

‘Mad Mc Cann and Crazy Dave, lick my balls! lol’
Liam

‘Just checked it out JG. He has finally threw the toys out of the pram. It must have hurt him to see his mentor Waco getting embarrassed by the stubborn Mr Gaskin.

That’s it nobody better reply to this post *sound of toys falling from pram*’
Tony

‘I noticed he tries to carry on the fine tradition of that fascist site by praising the arse licking tame Taig types as well. I’m not sure that all those guys are different people you know. I mean Waco uses McCann to stir up controversy. Would he be adverse to using sock-puppets to move the conversation along.

I think not!’
Tony

‘I too was a bit insulted that I was excluded from the alpha-scum and Provo-adoring lists!’
JG |

‘finally something the wee xenophobic cunt has written i can agree with

PS. not sure if i should feel honoured he named me or ashamed I care’
Anonymous

‘this comdedy is getting better and better
this comments ban won’t last,
nutters like mcCann have to be actively "hating" its their raison d’tre.

seems like you’re doing fine chris, hats off to you, you’re lasting the distance. I Wonder if "I Wonder" is on form too– you probably form a good pincer attack’      Parcifal   

‘hehe, the Mad Dog is still lurking around here keeping an eye on things – Anyone seen the article ‘Legends in their own Narcissism’.

What a high opinion you have of yourself you tosser! lol
You sound to me more like a lonely sex starved saddo’    Liam

‘Yeah I saw that article. What can I say, he needs a shag!’   JG

‘Sadly andrew will only ever know the affections of rosy palms and her four sisters lol

LOL i cant wait till he threatens me lol

well that and the fact his bald head wont reach my chin lmao’  Anonymous  (Is ‘Chin Imao’ the owner of the local Chinese take-away?)

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I GIVE YOU THE VERY FINEST IN IRISH INTELLIGENCE!

In addition, we musn’t forget this pitiable attempt at ‘humour’  from The Phantom.  We’ve had ghosts of Christmases past, present and yet to come.  He must be the ghost of Christmas the rest of us would rather forget about.

Being rid of types like this.  Why, it’s like cleaning the last vestiges of dog excrement from your best shoes.  Such relief!!! (LOL).                                                                       

I have been doing a lot of thinking about my role on ATW over the past 24 hours.  One of the biggest mistakes I think successive British governments made was not hitting Irish republicanism hard enough and not taking sufficient strides in incapacitating its ability to hit back.  I’ve realised it is utterly ridiculous to have such a strong belief with regards to the treatment of republicans as a whole and not to practice something similar on this blog.

I am, and will remain, an unashamed Unionist.  Nothing by way of insults or propaganda by republicans who not only seem to saturate this site, but many others as well, has done anything to lessen that belief.  If anything it has made it stronger and more strident.  I reject the notion of a ‘united Ireland’ under any circumstances and would wish that this future scenario (whatever its obvious remoteness) would be one tainted by massive political, economic and social upheaval on a scale large enough to make it utterly untenable.

I realise that I am somewhat of a hate figure for Irish republicans.  Fine. However much they detest me couldn’t even scratch the surface of my reciprocal loathing.  Yet here I have been, for three years and more, facilitating their poisonous opinions and initiated personal insults.  For what?  I don’t even believe in their so-called ‘right’ to live in any part of the United Kingdom, so why am I allowing my articles to become beacons of attraction for such Alpha-scum as Sean, Gaskin and Smcgiff?  If I believe the British State should have incapacitated the ability of Irish republicans to strike back, why do I not practice my belief by, henceforth, closing all my articles to response?

So that is what I’ve decided to do.  I will miss open debate with decent respondents such as Colm and Kloot.  They may have held what could be described as ‘soft nationalist’ opinions, but they tackled them in a pleasant and courteous way.  It is such a pity they too will be denied the ability to post responses.  Talking Point will be an obvious casualty of my new approach.  What won’t be different is the tone by which I describe those who adhere to Irish republican principles and, in particular, those who support Sinn Fein/IRA.  My patience with republican readers is at an absolute end.  If you believe (as I do) that every moment of life is precious, why waste it arguing with Provo-adoring filth?

Journalists would not tolerate everything they write as launching pads for a diatribe of hate.  Why should I?  I won’t be alone in choosing not to allow comment.  Many other weblogs do the same.  David and Samuel may have the tolerance to continue permitting such types to forward their contemptible opinions.  I do not!!!

PS. Apologies for the lack of articles over the last couple of days.  I’ve been attending to the business of helping my nan settle into her new surroundings.  There will be posts tomorrow and Monday.  On Tuesday I journey to Malta for eight days. 

Hi all – hope you all have had a good Easter break! I’m just back and I wanted to thank my fellow-writers for keeping the place alive over the past several days. Now then, where to start? OK – do YOU believe in the concept of "civility enforced" when it comes to blogs?

I picked up that it is being suggested that readers should be warned when they are reading blogs that may contain "crude language", a draft blogging code of conduct has suggested. The code was drawn up by web pioneer Tim O’Reilly following published threats and perceived harassment to US developer Kathy Sierra on blogs.

The code begins: "We celebrate the blogosphere because it embraces frank and open conversation." The draft says people should not be allowed to leave anonymous comments. Blogs which are open and uncensored should post an "anything goes" logo to the site to warn readers, the code suggests.

Well, I understand what Tim is trying to do but I disagree. I don’t agree with this sort of regulation. If people want to come here and post anonymously that is fine by me.  I prefer it is people leave their name, but again, how do I know it is a real name? If someone’s posts content that I find obscene or offensive, I reserve the right to delete it and ban them. This happens rarely and I find that most of those who come here are civil and make fair points. Let’s be clear, when you enter ATW, our rules apply but thousands of you seem happy to visit and we are happy to hear from you. So I rather agree  with blogger and commentator Jeff Jarvis, who calls this attempt at imposed regulation "misguided".

"This effort misses the point of the internet, blogs, and even of civilized behavior. They treat the blogosphere as if it were a school library where someone… can maintain order and control. They treat it as a medium for media. It’s a place. And when I moved into the place that is my town, I didn’t put up a badge on my fence saying that I’d be a good neighbor. I don’t need anyone lecturing me and telling me not to be disagreeable."