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.

hilary - in this instance, there are genuine and worthy political refugees effectively being forced out of syria through no fault of their own

you may have missed that i also said uk was absolutely right to accept only refugees direct from the syrian camps, who could thus be vetted with a fair degree of effectiveness, and NOT those who had somehow got themselves into europe by other means - far too dangerous, as has just been shown

what you have written, though i hope it is not so, you have no sympathy whatsoever for any political refugees regardless of circumstance
is that indeed your stance?

France Asks European Partners to Join Attacks on ISIS in Syria

French invoke EU constitution clause calling on member countries to aid fellow member country undergoing ‘armed aggression.’

France has invoked the clause in the European Union constitution obligating the other EU member countries to come to the aid of a member who is a target of “armed aggression.” Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian invoked the clause Tuesday, in the wake of Friday’s terror attacks on Paris, at a meeting of EU defense ministers

i wonder if the french have done their homework with the rest of eu prior to issuing this call to arms

time will tell, and not far into the future either

The financial woes of cash-strapped UKIP have been doing the rounds for a while, and now we know why. The party took just £49,334 in donations in the last quarter, as Arron Banks’ money goes towards the Leave.EU campaign instead. Insiders tell Guido that the party still owes Facebook £80,000 for advertising during the election and they haven’t got the money to pay. Staff have been sacked as economies have had to be made.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/17/france-invokes-eu-article-427-what-does-it-mean

France has taken the European Union into uncharted territory by obliging the other 27 member states to come to its defence following the terrorist atrocities in Paris.

Invoking article 42.7, a never used clause of the EU treaty triggering mutual defence among the 28 member states, Paris admitted it was struggling to cope with its foreign military commitments while beefing up security at home in the wake of the attacks, and asked the rest of Europe to come to its assistance.

The request was supported unanimously in what Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French defence minister, described as an emotional and highly charged meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels.

obliging the other 27 member states

that is a very dangerous move for all sorts of reasons, not least that many member states may well tell france to f-off .... in the politest political terms of course!

===========

by the way, i think it should be obligating rather than obliging!

The French have sent the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle to Syria and we have sent a destroyer to give it air cover.

Then what Cameron to ask "Tory" Blair what to do next?

the french can do as they wish, as can uk (subject to parliamentary agreeance)
however, i don't see how the french can demand (obligate!) other eu nations support their action without any democratic process whasoever

The clause was put in the Lisbon treaty after the train bombing in Spain.

Don't forget the comnent above, 'The request was supported unanimously'.

Anonymous takes down 5,500 ISIS twitter accounts , begins leaking personal info . on americanmilitarynews.com apparently .

Well Russia starting to hit , now going after ISIS oil infrastructure , about time really it's been known about for quite a while now . May see crude move up .

hays - defense ministers may be unanimous, but whether or not they do so with the full backing of their gov'ts and parliaments is unclear


victim - little reaction at the moment

I would have thought that France gave advance notice to governments before invoking the clause.

Cyners,

64850 - No, I'm not sympathetic towards refugees. Am I supposed to be?

only as a human being, but then it isn't a given that mothers love their children either

Published on 18 Nov 2015

Sky has launched a new service called Sky Q that blends live and on-demand TV as it tries to compete with the likes of Netflix.
The company described the new platform as its most significant product launch since HD and "a new way to watch TV".
The package will comprise a set-top box and a "super premium package" and will be separate from Sky's Now TV on-demand service.
Experts questioned what it would cost as Sky has not revealed pricing for the product.
Sky's Andrew Olson told Rory Cellan-Jones that it was a new "premium" offering.

Cyners,

That's bollocks, but feel free to paste up your address and I'll be happy to write it in the Lesbos sand.

Lesvos (Lesbos) - more than just another Greek island