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.

That sounds good , the County of Scotland .

http://order-order.com/2016/07/18/corbyn-miles-ahead-eagle-smith-crash-burn/

MPs vote to renew Trident weapons system.....

Good job .

05 to 21 August 2016

That's 17 days 13 hrs and about 15 mins to the Rio Olympics. And we've yet to hear that Russia will not be allowed to compete.

Check out the following to find out about the severity of their athletic doping scandal:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2016/07/18/russia-committed-the-ultimate-crime-and-now-they-must-face-the-u/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2016/07/18/russia-facing-rio-2016-olympics-exile-over-vast-drugs-scandal/

Just imagine what the problems are going to be like with 'last minute news' like this. Flights, rooms, transportation, blank places on the track and in the programmes, even printing the programmes, etc. etc.

Hmmm?

it used to be the east germans, but then little difference

Have a look at the body contours of some of the English (and other countries) rugby players over the last 15+plus years.


My guess some+ were sucking tabs.

The reason why in the corner of the pitch where some peed the weeds were six foot tall.

What strange habits you have Freda , not for me though .

it would be ridiculous to pretend there is no drug-taking in rugby, but i'ld hazard it's a very low %
you have forgotten that in the last 15 years and a bit more, rugby has become very professional, with the top guys living in a very tough regime of training and specified diet

All About Pippa Middleton's Gigantic, 'G-Color' Engagement Ring – and How It Sizes Up Next to Big Sister Kate's!
BY SIMON PERRY AND MONIQUE JESSEN 07/19/2016 AT 01:00 PM EDT


Pippa Middleton's engagement ring (left) and Princess Kate's engagement ring (right).

So far, the designer behind Pippa Middleton's stunning engagement ring from new fiancé James Matthews hasn't stepped forward – but London jewelers are weighing in.

"It's hugely practical, because it's quite flat and it will be very easy for her to wear," says jeweler Annoushka Ducas, whose eponymous boutique off the King's Road has been a go-to choice of Pippa, her sister Princess Kate and their mom Carole for years. "It's a very timeless piece that will look as good now as it will in 50 years time. It's bezel fit making it a bit more modern, which fits in very well with her style. If he has chosen that on his own then he has done brilliantly!"

Set in white gold or platinum with a center stone at least three carats in size, "the Art Deco design makes me think it could be bespoke or it could be vintage," David Christopher Allen of 77 Diamonds tells PEOPLE.

"It's not indicative of a particular jewelry house or designer, more of a period," he adds. "When The Great Gatsby film came out a few years ago, Tiffany did a collection featuring similar things. It's more of a style by era than a jewelry house. It doesn't scream out one particular designer."

He adds that from the pictures, the sheer size of the octagonal halo of diamonds and the center stone make it a very expensive piece – possibly costing more than $260,000.

"It is an Asscher-cut diamond, and in order to get a beautiful cut the diamond needs to be of top clarity," says Allen. "If it is a flawless stone then it could be £200,000 (about $263,000)."

The ring is strikingly different from the one Prince William gave to Pippa's big sister back in 2010.

That ring, with its sapphire center stone in an oval shape surrounded by diamonds, famously belonged to William's late mother, Princess Diana.

Elizabeth Galton, creative director at Mappin & Webb, a favorite jeweler of Princess Kate's, says the ring's style fits the new bride-to-be.

"Pippa's Asscher cut ring is a classic design with a distinctive Art Deco feel," Galton tells PEOPLE. "However, the octagonal halo of sparkling channel-set diamonds gives it the perfect sense of modernity.

"Asscher-cut diamonds are step cut, which means there are fewer facets than other fancy shapes, such as a princess cut for instance," adds Galton of Mappin & Webb, which just launched their new-look flagship boutique on London's famed Regent Street. "This means the clarity has to be of the very highest quality and close to flawless to show off the stunning structure of the diamond."

Guy Burton, Director of Hancocks & Co. London, notes that the ring "looks like an Asscher-cut, bezel-set with a diamond set halo surround. This diamond halo accentuates the large cut corners of the Asscher and the design has really tried to emphasize those.

"The diamond is going to be at least G color plus," says Burton, referring to the international diamond color-grading system, "as a low color would show up against this halo."

You can watch Trump get the nomination here

http://www.playlivenewz.com/2010/08/watch-cnn-news-live/

or here

http://www.hulkusc.com/fox-news-stream-online/

Just watching Corbyn come out of his house yet again on my TV News and 'dodging the yellow rose bush' yet again. It's quite near to his front door and very much 'in the way'.

He dodges past it every time he comes out of his house - but he can't seem to even recognise something needs to be done about it. Anybody else notice this?

What a twit this bloke is!

What was the point of the referendum?



Amber Rudd and Boris Johnson signal Tories' migration target has been scrapped


Full story here (usual stuff, broken promises)


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/19/amber-rudd-and-boris-johnson-signal-that-net-migration-target-ha/

We'll have to see what happens after May visits Merkel and Hollande too , will there be a softening and different wording from May after .

They will lose the next election ,they must know that.

I suppose also if you don't have targets effectively you can't fail to meet them can you .

Im sure the (disenfranchised) tory party membership are fully behind the unelected party leader and all her works.

TM may be unelected by the tory party membership, but i live in reasonable hope that she'll do a good to even very good job as pm

Why?

because she looks to have a clear idea of direction and strength of character to take us along that route