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.

The UN cannot do a thing as Russia and China have veto's on the Security Council and China is supporting Russia over the Crimea.

If you really want to understand what is going on in the Ukraine then watch this video made at the Frontline Club on Wednesday. I have been a member for a few years and was in the audience.

The Battle for the Future of Ukraine

http://www.frontlineclub.com/first-wednesday-13/

There were Russians and Ukrainians asking questions from the audience.

The speakers were

Anne Applebaum is a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate. She is author of Gulag: A History and Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56. She also directs the Transitions Forum at the Legatum Institute in London.

Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political writer and commentator. He is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford and has written extensively about the recent history and politics of Europe.

Olexiy Solohubenko is news and deployments editor at BBC Global News. From 1996 to 2003, he was head of the Ukrainian Service which, as the first recruit from Ukraine, he helped to set up when he joined BBC World Service in 1992.

Richard Sakwa is professor of Russian and European Politics and head of the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. He is author of Putin and the Oligarch: The Khodorkovsky-Yukos Affair, The Crisis of Russian Democracy and Putin: Russia’s Choice amongst others.

Hays,

You have friends in "high" places and move in a rarefied atmosphere and as yet seem to have absorbed very little from the contact.

Lofty dreams, or dreams of loftiness.

Just watched Sunday Politics show on BBC 1,

Andrew Neil just interviewed IDSmith.

Total ,liar totaly in denial.

What a fu-k up this man is.

Alders Id appreciate your view as I know you as a political enemy but at the same time I appreciate your views and respect you as an individual.


nb, please remember this Im a self made millionaire but I always respect my humble working class start in life.

Very akin to cynic and Hays whom were dealt a silver spoon.

IDS did an excellent job of putting forward the benefits changes. It was clear that the data that Andrew Neil had was out of date and plain wrong.

IDS "The Truth is!"


When somebody uses that phrase I switch my recorder on or reread what I am reading!



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

The present torrid party seems to be coming as "the truth is party" and the kipper party as the party of "yesterday's men and women, who never were"!

Goldie

Thank's for what you said about me. My humble working class start in life was living in two room's in Gunniness Trust buildings , Hammersmith. No bathroom , no running water just a cold water tap on the landing shared between another 3 familys, and a communial bathouse that tennants good use once a week.

Go on then Hays explain the following......

1, massive increase in food banks

2.Pay Day loans.......massive increase.

3.Shoppers using Neto and Liddle

4. Public sector workers...... no pay increase for 4 years

5.Tory tax breaks for the top 1%

6. Massive increase in Charity Shops

7.Business bankruptys at highest level ever.

8. More young people on traning courses in history.

AND WE GO ON AND ON.


\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\PATHETIC GOVERNMENT.

Alders cheers mate.


Respect.

Come on England.

We have discussed food banks before. There are just more food banks in new areas. The number of people served per food bank has remained pretty constant since 2004. In fact the average number per food bank has fallen slightly.

Pay days loans have increased due to heavy advertising.

Shops like Lidl are attracting more people due to opening more shops.

Charity shops are the scourge of the high streets. The move from retail to online has meant empty shops. Charity shops pay special low rates, have no staff costs, get their goods for free. The rise of charity shops has stopped landlords from lowering rents as should be happening.

THE SUN IS OUT!

THE SKY IS BLUE!

ISN"T IT GREAT!

BEATING THE WELSH TOO!

Pay day loans increased due to advertising.

Ummh


Not due to perceived need.

I suppose the punters could purloin what they perceived as necessities.

i wonder if payday loans really have increased much if at all .... it's just that they are now advertised widely whereas before the pawn shops or loan sharks were the unseen lenders of debatable morality

It is an advertisement of torrid policies.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you have the FT Weekend read article:

"We need economic rehab not a quick fix of cheap money" by Nigel Wilson CEO of Legal and General Group.


It is a reasonable appraisal of the the present government's economic failure and outlook.

I must start reading more quickly again:
"
Another interesting article from the Comment page of the FT weekend;

"States are born by accident but sustained by ardour."


by Timothy Garton Ash Prof of European Studies at Oxford.

-------

Have to admit I am married to Slav.

Initially I didn't realise that Slav stood for "enslaving", which she has done in different ways for 50 very odd years, but she has explained some of the past history of the area.

The Ukrain and that region have had a tumultuous history and standing back hoping there will be little blood shed and not too much economic "hardship", may be the best solution to the current problems.

Nick Clegg saved Britain and Gordon Brown saved the World ?


"Don't let anyone airbrush out our role. Thanks to the heroic efforts and sacrifices of millions of people we have been able to pull this country back from the brink. Under extraordinary pressure we have achieved extraordinary things.

"And no matter what our critics say, when the history books are written they will say that, most extraordinary of all, the country was put back on the right track by a party which had never been in government before but which had the guts and the courage to do what it took."

To be honest, the Libs have done a pretty good job as part of the coalition. There are some policies that I don't like that come from the Conservatives and the Libs. It has been a good compromise. I would still prefer a Conservative government. The Libs are not worth considering for government any more than UKIP. The debate between the Libs and UKIP are certainly between the right two parties. It will be one silly party making silly points to the other. It may be worth watching just for the entertainment value.

Passports please. Thank you. Thank you.

Passports please. Thank you. Thank you.

Sorry Sir/Madam. All fluids must be in sealed containers and you can't have more than 100mls of fluids in total.

Passports please. Thank you. Thank you.

Would all passengers please note that we check for fluids but not for fake passports.

Passports please. Thank you. Thank you.

but it's almost certainly only because the plane blew up, intentionally or otherwise, that these stolen/tampered passports came to light
don't forget that malaysia is still very much a 3rd world country so will lack the sophisticated kit that we have over here (say)
and how many other fake passports are there in circulation round the world? ..... thousands for sure

Tories to hire NK election strategist for next general election.




North Korea's Kim Jong-un elected to assembly without single vote against


Supreme leader wins unanimous support of his district on 100% turnout as secretive state goes to the polls


Associated Press


theguardian.com, Monday 10 March 2014 05.44 GMT


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/10/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-elected-assembly-vote-against