Here you're assuming you knew what was in the mind of the other jurors. It is very hard to believe that 11/12 convicted on "no proof". The more likely scenario is that the 1/12 didn't understand the proof, although not having been there, I can only speculate.

You're also assuming that if you were tried in Britain that the jury would be as incompetent as you perceive the one you sat on was. This is definitely a faulty assumption.

Don't flatter yourself....you are just one of many

Perhaps you should get out then if it is as awful as you try to make out

Obviously you meant more than 1, as you used the plural 'posters' - no flattery happening by me. I also didn't exclusively refer to myself by saying "you must be referring to me in this". That will be decided when certain citizenship issues are sorted out for some of my family. 18 months to go!

I see many of the same problems in the US as I saw in the UK. The trouble is with the UK is that the media love to harp on about all the bad stuff and not big up the good. The US media on the other hand does just the opposite and portray the place as a veritable Shangri-La.

At the end of the day you might have not been able to afford your property if you were born and grew up in France. Even if the land you bought is cheaper, how many young French people there can afford it and would they get a job that pays the mortgage? People who claim they can afford to retire in France are only lucky that they had a strong pound. Some people don't need loads of Land and even in Germany many are happy with a tiny garden or a balcony. We have a half acre site and I enjoy it, but some of my friends just couldn't be bothered having a huge garden. I'm also sure that some people can't afford a farm in Northern Ireland, but others can. Some actually do enjoy living there and I enjoy living in the Rep of Ireland. I speak the language, have a job here and if I want to go to France I can be there in less than 2 hours. Nobody said Britain is the most wonderful place, but people forget that they can only have what they have because they were born in Britain.

Exactly the same in Australia, they will downplay the bad and exaggerate the good. Unfortunately as you say here they do the opposite but it doesnt change the facts.

I just went for a one hour walk around the local country park with a pal and his dog, followed by a visit to the cafe for a bacon and egg butty and a coffee.

While waiting, I perused the Daily Mirror (what a choice they had - Mail, Express, Record or Mirror!)

We counted the number of miserable, negative headlines - I think we got to over 20, before we came to the first positive one, on page 5, about the discovery of a new dinosaur.

If you believe what you read in some of the newspapers, Britain is so completely crap, it's the crappest place on Earth.

Maybe that's to stop people coming to the UK looking for work, benefits etc. I often watch German TV and there was a documentary about Bulgaria & Romania. Because you always hear the positive in Germany, so many poor people believe that everyone can find work in Germany and the government will do anything for them. The people arrived and started complaining that this was not what they expected and they couldn't understand why there was no work for them. People then think the sun always shines and realise that Cologne has more rainfall than London:-)

Checked the Guardian business section early today for stock movements and there is a headline ref the results for Aviva, the largest UK insurer.

Headline reads:

Insurance group Aviva takes £120m hit from UK storms and flooding

small print reads:

'But Britain's largest insurer says turnaround is still on track with 6% rise in annual profits to £2bn'

The market is euphoric with its results and the stock was up 10%, the biggest gainer in early trading.

So much for the value of headlines. Any excuse for something negative.

Even the article proper starts with the same flood damage negative.

I don't think journalists are that smart.

Care to elaborate?

I can see that for the population as a whole, but I think the UK media also celebrates Britain. Look at how many BBC docs there are on the country's places or history. Plenty of lifestyle articles about perfect pubs and villages. Lots of London trumpeting. Etc etc.

Yet the circulation and readership of the papers you mention far exceeds the more 'intelligent' ( I use the word loosely. ) papers.

I think its mainly the news you need to avoid if you want to avoid the negative vibes. Doom. Gloom. Crisis. Terror.

Probably so.