Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Ah, I remember leaving an all boys school at the tended age of 11, to go to a mixed school and trying to concentrate on lesson whilst trying not to look out the windows at all those girls running round in gym kit of green knickers and short skirts.
No wonder I left school at 14, without any qualifications.
Mind you, I did learn something of biology, 'It definitely does not make you go blind'.

How school boys can concentrate at all now days is beyond me, looking at how quickly girls develop now days.

I must make clear, that I am not a pervert, and for those that know me, I only carry that rain mac in case it rains (IE as I was taught in the Boy Scouts, be prepared).

Mind you once when the Scouts and Guides had a joint camp, well thats another story.

Strong Earthquake Shakes Northern Japan

A strong earthquake shook northern Japan on Wednesday evening, and a small tsunami was forecast for part of its Pacific coast.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the tremor was 6.8 magnitude. A tsunami of about a half-meter was forecast for Hokkaido island's central and eastern Pacific coast, and for Aomori and Iwate prefectures.


Iwate prefecture, or state, was heavily damaged by last year's earthquake and tsunami. Thousands of aftershocks have shaken the region since then, nearly all of them of minor or moderate strength.

Petition re keeping marriage between man/woman.
Sign if you agree, ignore if you don't.

http://c4m.org.uk/

G/M,

Am I right in thinking you live in Yorkshire?

I'm not against a legalising of same sex partnerships but surely, this already exists in the form of the availability for the couple to enter into a 'civil partnership'.

It seems to me, that there is merely a need for such a civil partnership couple to want to call their partnership a 'marriage'. It would appear such couples also 'want the union blessing', which obviously has to be done in a 'church'. I guess the term 'church' actually means a Christian church. So this means it would need to be either the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church that sanction such a blessing. But they don't want to do it!

Now we find ourselves getting into the realms of hypocrisy. Neither side can seem to want to allow their churches to become involved in sanctifying same sex marriage.

And yet, both sorts of churches seem to me to have lots of bachelor men, who have a very strong feminine side to their personalities and can exhibit gentle ways and caring and loving feminine characteristics. Indeed, there are also lots of 'gays'.

Both of these two church leaderships are mostly comprised of men and so we don't see so many lesbians in these roles. We also persistently keep reading of how a lot of these religious leaders, of both churches, can frequently be sex molesters of children.

So from a 'sex' view point, both sides have lots of 'utter wierdos'. And it's these guys with their typical church leadership 'Religious Dogma' that say 'we can't do same sex marriages'.

And same sex marriages or partnerships for inactive or active muslims? I guess we can totally forget it! I don't think the world is ready for that just yet.

As most will know, I'm an Evolutionist' not a 'Creationist' and I'm also an ex-Christian (C of E) and now a very clear minded Atheist.

From that stand point, I think about the apparent need for this 'same sex marriage stuff' and I do think there is a simple solution to it.

ie. Leave things as they are: Have Marriages (as is) and Civil Partnerships (as is) and let's just set up the law to allow same sex couples to have kids in their families. (Hmmm? I thought they could already do this? eg, Elton John and David Furnish)

Am I missing something?

they may as well burn all the bibles and knock down the churches it is a disgrace
if there is a god then he should destoy the churchs and the evil people who think it is normal

Yep. God should come and inform everyone about what is right or wrong We would then live in peace, no conflicts between varieties of Muslims, Christians, Jews etc. Everyone would be happy and friend, no conflicts or talk of conflicts, only love.

G/M and E/L, Might be worth one of you starting a thread on it's own for the subject perhaps?

Exec,

Agree with the majority of what you have written.
I think any group, or organisation, should have the right to its own creed.
I think those who wish to change the rules can use persuasion of the others to make the changes.
Alternately, they can set up their own sects, religious or other to perform their wishes, but not abuse the rights of those of different views.

It seems reasonable for a couple formed from either sex, or sexes should be able to form a civil partnership, the contract having the same legal rights and RESPONSIBILITIES of a “civil marriage”.

================

I wonder if we could have a ceremony of some sort for those who would like to try out Polygamy?

Perhaps, they should have a psychiatric assessment first.

And then there's this Southampton pub, which is currently called 'The Hobbit'.

Will it stay that way............?

Facebook - SaveTheHobbit

Hi Stan,

Yes, I live in Yorkshire.
And yes, before you say it, I do love sheep!

Cameroons and Ossie's Success Story!


In the Press

A second credit rating agency has given Britain a formal warning that it could lose its triple-A rating because of the government’s high levels of debt. Fitch said it was putting Britain on “negative outlook” until at least 2014 as it argued a renewed crisis in the eurozone or lower than predicted growth could undermine the AAA rating. The decision is embarrassing for the government, coming the week before the Budget and the day after George Osborne suggested Britain’s finances were so stable that the government could issue 100 year bonds, The Times says.

"as it argued a renewed crisis in the eurozone "

Hardly down to our government what is going on in Europe and the current domestic problems are a hang over from the previous Labour government.

agreed, but there is a lot of cash floating around. Probably ten times more 'cash' than two years ago.

I thought everything was the control and the responsibility of HMG.

Many seemed to think that with the previous government "rule".

Mind with the U-turns and broken pledges I don't suppose one could say the present mob is in control of themselves or the country.

They don't even know which direction they are trying to go.

Spending their time learning and repeating Mantras by wrote.

The previous government said no tax increases and then upped taxes more than previous governments.

USD Core CPI m/m 0.1% v consensus 0.2% previous 0.2%

http://www.moneyobserver.com/issue/features/black-gold-mine

March 16, 2012 - 10:39am | Mike McCudden

Investors are looking to profit from likely mergers and acquisitions in the oil industry, says Mike McCudden.

Oil stocks have been the flavour of the past few months as M&A fever has taken a progressively tight grip on the sector.

Burgeoning tensions in oil-producing countries, with Iran at its core, is piling pressure on the oil companies to find as much black gold as possible, as fast as possible.

This has led some speculators to predict the price of oil could reach the heady heights of $150 (£95) per barrel in the months ahead.

Rising oil prices have caused the value of the so-called super-majors – BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Conoco Phillips – to go up anything between 5 per cent and 12 per cent in the past year. Investors increasingly believe the quickest route to more oil is through acquisition of minnows.

This is largely because the top oil companies only control a not-so-super 6 per cent of the world’s oil and gas resources. The rest is by-and-large under the control of the rather more spicy parts of the political world such as Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

So, as Iran controls an estimated 17 per cent of the world’s oil reserves, and there is talk of air strikes on their shiny new nuclear facilities, trade embargos (including a European embargo from July 1st) and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the oil price is naturally only going to do one thing....go up.

Couple that with the growth of emerging markets and the current absence of Libyan oil and you have the perfect storm for sharp price spikes, even though the spikes themselves will ultimately slow growth.

Regardless of all the clever new ways to extract the black stuff, a spike will arguably bring about an abrupt end to the US led global rally in equities, which recently saw a return to 2008 levels. The US relies on 60 per cent of its oil from foreign markets and consumes 20 per cent of everything that is produced. US will become a net exporter of liquified natural gas by 2015.

Furthermore, as 70 per cent of the futures market for oil is controlled by speculators, no matter what political pandering, the US’s thirst for oil is well-documented and the market price will be dictated to it, not by it.

Also, if more and more countries turn their back on Iran we do not know if the West’s allies in Saudi Arabia will have the capacity to meet demand.

So where should investors look for potential companies that have found oil and may attract a bid in the current climate?

Let’s first be clear, it doesn’t come without risk. Bowleven (BLVN) investors found out in late February that all bids do not necessarily lead to a takeover. Dragon Oil came sniffing around but didn’t bite leaving investors staring at the smoke of a 30 per cent share price fall in five minutes.

On the other hand, if the temptation to get involved is just too overwhelming, do your homework, so you’re not left wearing the blindfold and pinning the tail on the donkey.

Remember, mergers and acquisitions activity attracts all the spivs so be careful what you read and take bulletin board comments with a pinch of salt – as if you were hearing it from a man in a pub.

Pick shares that are fundamentally sound and preferably have some of the black stuff already. Alternatively, for the gamblers out there, you can have a riskier punt.

Here are some of my ideas.

Potential targets

Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) 265p – Solid well, updates and rumours Exxon that may be interested in an acquisition in the area. Investors appear to be bullish on more imminent drilling updates.

Circle Oil (COP) 24p – Performing well. Recently upgraded recoverable reserves where it has licences by 30 per cent.

Xcite Energy (XEL) 130p – Recently upgraded estimates for the potential of its Bentley Oil field in the North Sea. Analysts say extraction will be complicated although they do expect further output upgrades to come.

Victoria Oil & Gas (VOG) 4.4p – Production in Cameroon bearing fruit and looking to other ventures.

Fancy a punt?

Bowleven (BLVN) 95p – Recently got hammered on the back of a failed bid approach by Dragon Oil. There have been concerns over the company’s ability to raise funds to continue operations in the past but there are other firms in the area who could replace Dragon as a potential suitor.

Gold Oil (GOO) 3.9p – Market awaits positive news from its next Columbian drilling update.

Night Hawk Energy (HAWK) 4.25p – Announced a work-over programme on existing wells in Colorado and planning five new wells this year.

Aurelian Oil & Gas (AUL) 19p – Company is actively looking for a buyer and announcing a licence extension in Poland could well help them find one.

Leni Oil & Gas (LGO) 1.35p – The market appears to be optimistic over operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Max Petrolium (MXP) 13p – Hampered by all sorts of weather problems affecting drilling operations in Kazakhstan but investors remain optimistic.

For the record I do not own any shares in the aforementioned companies and do not plan to in the coming month. Good luck out there.

Mike McCudden is head of retail derivatives at our sister website, Interactive Investor

Investment themes

Don't worry about Iran. They are so much under pressure internally.

War is the best option for them. I hope none of the countries move towards war. Obama is doing great job.

No mention of Afren , Cyril ?