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.

Sorry, don't know how to make it bigger and easier to read.

You put height and width figures in the link

Thanks Haystack.

This is the link, could you give a demo as it doesent have the pixel numbers on display.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3yDtb1CMAAtg2x.jpg:large

It's easy to expand on an iPad, but the problem is that the whole page is now in a smaller font!

height="600" width="600"

Before />

I notice Hays talking Clap Trap all day again.......whats new........now this is where the Election Battle will be won.........

Ashcroft National Poll: Con 30%, Lab 32%, Lib Dem 7%, UKIP 16%, Green 6%
Monday, 1 December, 2014 in The Ashcroft National Poll

nice try Hays................start at GO again.

Ed Miliband and Doncaster North: a correction (and apology)
Monday, 1 December, 2014 in Labour Party, Political Leadership, Polling

By Lord Ashcroft

One of the most important principles behind my polling is transparency. All the data from my polls is published for all to see. This is important as it shows the research is done properly, and allows anyone who is interested to get the maximum possible value from the work.

The slightly more uncomfortable but nonetheless crucial side of transparency is that people can see when a mistake is made. Unfortunately that was the case last week in my poll of Doncaster North.

I am grateful to Anthony Wells for bringing to my attention an error in the way this survey was weighted. A mistake at the data processing stage meant that the poll included too many Conservative voters and not enough Labour voters. This made opinion in Doncaster North look considerably less favourable towards Ed Miliband than it actually is.

Corrected data tables are below, as is an amended summary of the results. In a nutshell, Labour lead UKIP by 29 points in Doncaster North, not twelve; Miliband leads Cameron as best PM by 14 points, not one point; Miliband’s constituents would rather see him as PM than Cameron; they give him the highest ratings of the four main party leaders, not the third highest; and they trust Miliband and Balls more on the economy than Cameron and Osborne, not the reverse.

I hope readers will appreciate that I always aim to conduct my research to the highest standards, that data is always checked, and that instances like this are very rare. As ever, I welcome questions and observations on my research, and will always seek to correct errors that inevitably crop up from time to time.

Meanwhile, my apologies to all readers and especially to Ed Miliband.

Come on!!!!!!!!!! How can Jimmy b be voted off I'm a celebrity get me out of here. A major character gone.

Looks like ex-Tory MP Edwina Curry is going to absolutely walk it!

Probably Mel Sykes will come in second.

Was a shock but then again when I looked at the 4 left last night I did wonder if the rapper had a lot of fans out in the open World and it seems yes he as.

Very difficult decision to make how its panned out personaly if it was an open vote Id have gone for that bird from Alo Alo.

Russia intervenes as crumbling ruble echoes 1998 debt crisis
Collapse in Russian currency, which has been badly buffeted by a plunge of almost 40% in oil prices, prompts central bank action

Larry Elliott, economics editor
The Guardian, Monday 1 December 2014 19.17 GMT

Russia’s central bank was forced to step in to defend the ruble on the foreign exchanges on Monday after fears over the economy’s vulnerability to a weak oil price sent the currency to a record low against the dollar.

Moscow was forced to abandon its hands-off policy towards the ruble amid heavy selling, unmatched since the Russian debt default of 1998.

The Russian central bank intervened when the ruble was down 6.5% on the day against the US dollar, and by the close of trading the currency had recouped more than half its earlier losses.

A bounce in the oil price from a fresh five-year low and a sense that the sell-off since last week’s meeting of the Opec cartel has been overdone helped sentiment towards the Russian currency, which has been badly buffeted by a plunge of almost 40% in the cost of crude since the summer.

Data from the US suggesting that drilling activity in the shale oil sector is being affected by lower oil prices also helped the ruble by pushing down the value of the dollar.

Oil is denominated in dollars, so when the US currency falls oil becomes cheaper and more attractive for holders of other currencies.

With Moscow fearful that the drop in the value of the ruble makes Russia vulnerable to capital flight, Ksenia Yudaeva, the Russian central bank’s deputy chairwoman, told newswires that households should not panic. She said the rise in interest rates to 9.5% should encourage them not to convert savings into euros or dollars.

“It’s necessary to explain to people that the yield they get on their deposits at the moment will guarantee a high degree of safety for their savings with regards to inflation. They should think twice before rushing out, losing the yield on their deposits, taking on currency risks and losing money on their currency conversions.”

But Lee Hardman, currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, said falling oil prices were “reinforcing the loss of investor confidence in the ruble” at a time when it was affected by Western sanctions imposed over Ukraine.

At one stage on Monday, Brent crude was trading at $67.50 a barrel, a fresh five year low, before recovering to $71.90.

“There’s a sense that the market got a little bit ahead of itself, and we’re seeing some producer buying come in and it’s driving the market back up,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Oil is still down about 10% since producer group Opec’s decision last Thursday not to cut output despite fears of a supply glut.

Saudi Arabia, the most influential member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, blocked moves by some smaller producers to curb output. The Saudis argued that low prices would ultimately hurt US shale oil production, which analysts say is responsible for much of the oversupply now.

Capital Economics said a degree of calm had returned to markets after weekend talk of a commodity-led meltdown. It said the apparent freefall in crude prices had been exaggerated by thin trading due to the US holiday, adding that the impact of lower energy costs would be positive for global growth.

Pound Sterling - Russian Rouble - 12 Month Chart

As the Russian currency sinks into the abyss, here's a link to the article's very interesting Comments

Everything is positive...lower oil price = go go economy


A couple of pence off the pump price = not a lot to the average punter



Where is the gain? Taxes are still way too high, money pissed up the wall of a go go economy.


Look at the social security budget....up, up, up, who are they trying to kid?

Social Security Budget is up because more people in work = more Tax Credits.

CRAZY.

Skinny employers not paying a decent wage.

Plus IDS and his cock up on universal credit.

Of is interesting that none of Labour's predictions about economic policies under the coalition have come true. Where is the mass unemployment and the double dip recession?

And why have we lost out triple A ratings with 2 of the 3 Rating Agencies Hays??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.

Plus prove to me the Unemployment figure shouldnt have at least 1.5 million added on to it.

And we missed the double dip by a cock hair.

#CameronMustGo

The third most retweeted post was from Twitter user @coolvibes77, a criminal barrister who tweeted a quote from Salma Yaqoob, the former leader of the Respect party who attacked Tory Iain Duncan Smith over his approach to austerity.

that footballer is just a rather nasty bully ...... characterful? .... well perhaps, but then so is alex salmond