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.

Frankly I think the Scottish independence idea is a non starter.....it just doesn't make sense...the Scots know it...and it just doesn't add up at all....70% against..30% for will be at a guess the result....only thing left to do is give Alex Salmond a lordship of some kind....with an undisclosed wage (not too much)...and the possible prospect of Edinburgh hosting the winter olympics...(it is possible with the help of our Norwegian friends)...keep everybody happy...

Salmond sounds more stupid by the day. He can have the pound if he wants, but it will just be a name. It won't be our pound as ours is run by the Bank of England and is bound by our exchange rate. Our pound involves the BoE being the lender of last resort. Its use require acceptance of our Chancellor, our budgets, our interest rates, our monetary controls, our bank rules and many other stipulations. He knows all these things and is just trying to con the Scottish public. I am in two minds as to whether I want to be shot of Scotland anyway. Can't we have a parallel referendum asks ng us if we want to tell Scotland to get lost.

It would not be worth having a bet on it all as the odds are rubbish because we can't get rid of them. The answer is going to be NO!

Will they then change the name of the SNP.

The best odds for Scotland voting 'NO' to Independence are about 1/6

In other words, a £6,000 bet on it might well win you £1,000 less any expenses - but you would struggle to get that size of bet put on.

http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/british-politics/scottish-independence/referendum-outcome

It seems like it's a 'Cert' they will vote against independence.

Anyone recommend any potential sizeable bets to make on it anywhere?

LAB ends the YouGov Sun polling week with a 5% lead
CON 33%
LAB 38%
LD 7%
UKIP 12%

What majority does that give the Labour party?

I am sorry the answer may be censored!

I don't know the figs, but it looks like the lesser spotted millibandus would be in number 10, and blighty down the shithole.


Up the workers.

on a less parochial front, FT has laid into Saudi in no uncertain terms ..... below is a short extract .....


Saudi Arabia not only exports oil, but tanker-loads of quasi-totalitarian religious dogma and pipelines of jihadi volunteers, even as it struggles to insulate itself from the blowback; and King Abdullah, in his end of Ramadan address, warns against the “devilish” extremism of “these deviant forces”. Jihadi extremism does present a threat to the kingdom. But in doctrinal terms it is hard to see in what way it “deviates” from Wahhabi orthodoxy, with its literalist and exclusivist rendering of Sunni Islam. Its extreme interpretation of monotheism anathematises other beliefs, in particular the “idolatrous” practices of Christians and Shia Muslims, as infidel or apostate. That can be read as limitless sanction for jihad.

About 80 seats outright majority Fred with labour on 38%.

Its only one poll though.

Think come the day itl be more like 30 to 40 overal majority to labour.

don't rush to open the champagne :-)

Not everyone is blind to it c, but you wont see it on news at ten.



Isis's slaughter of the Yazidi is a new Rwanda happening before our eyes


By Dan Hodges World Last updated: August 7th, 2014


http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100282699/isiss-slaughter-of-the-yazidi-is-a-new-rwanda-happening-before-our-eyes/

everyone deludes themselves about Saudi's stability
there's much underlying unrest and, more importantly, strong fundamentalist support

US President Barack Obama on Thursday night authorised air strikes to halt the advance in Iraq of Islamic militants and prevent a possible “genocide” in a substantial escalation of America’s military role in the country.

what is the view of this board?
do please not get sidetracked down the "gaza route", as that is not the question asked

for myself, i fear the consequences of both acting and of doing nothing at all.
on balance, i just about come down on the side of action, but am happy to leave the amis to do the dirty work

Why not get O'Bammy to have a word with isis's sponsors?


jaw jaw is better than war war (copywrite)

Im for action. Air Strikes and Food drops. (IRAQ)

These barstewards need wiping off the earth.

Hanging Kids and choping their heads of , truly sick.

Max - i'm afraid isis leadership are not of the mentality to talk sensibly, any more than were the mahdi

Yep Cynics right they will never sit around the table and negotiate, they have already made that clear to the World.

This is one occasion that zI agree with the use of force. In a way it is important that this has come to a crisis point. It brings the struggle between extremism and the general population into sharp relief. It gathers large numbers of crazies into one place and makes it easier to deal with them.

Sounds like the present Israeli administration.

as usual, fred fails to answer the question and slithers around it