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.

I will third your proposal after CC seconds it.

Cynic,

"here was someone intelligent and non-partisan who had something sensible to say"

Because you agree with him, or he agrees with you.

Hays,

Are you still a member of the public, or do you float above it.

Fred - LOL ! I'm a member of the public, so I'm obviously stupid.

.

neither one nor the other actually fred as i am not entrenched in a view as to the "correct" course of action

mnamreh - 29 Aug 2013 20:22 - 28347 of 28347
dc

"Llock Cho"?

Second generation Welsh-Chinese?

Nah, just missing the 'bops'.

.

cynic, so you don't have an opinion about a course of action, does that give you a right to disagree with anyone who has a definite view regarding a course of action? One of the great things about sitting on a fence and not having an opinion is that you can never be wrong.:-)

Syria crisis: Latest updates

Norman Smith Chief political correspondent, BBC News Channel tweets: Conservative Edward Leigh says he does not believe PM will ever hold crucial second vote on #Syria because he knows cannot win it: "We were lied to over Iraq... we will not go down that road again."

on balance, i think there needs to be some highly visible, short and sharp action though i am unsure as to its format .... i don't think it will dramatically alter anything per se but it should certainly be a strong warning shot

i think that is the right and arguably moral action for a responsible pm and country to promote both as an individual country and as a key member of UN etc.

i do NOT think that all the insular claptrap that has been coming across is any better than that - i.e. claptrap

There is another fruitcake on the loose, Kim Jong, who is having his subjects murdered on a daily basis. Are the USA and Britain going to step in and do something about that situation as well?

and mugabe too ..... however both mugabe and kim jong (i'll take your word as to his misdeeds) operate in isolation, whereas syria immediately affects the whole m/e region

Oil!

.

Perhaps America is acting for the Saudis. The Saudis have been trying to bribe Russia with a oil deal and the Saudis have the oil America wants . Mind you America has a lot more in house oil now ie Texas and shale.

Frequently Asked Questions How much petroleum does the United States import and from where?

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=727&t=6

no skinny; for once i don't think oil per se is not the driving force ..... it's the danger of a very calamitous escalation of instability within the region of which oil is only part of the equation

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

and you'll all be glad to know, that's about the last you'll hear from me for another week as i'm off to france tomorrow for our cycling jolly

cycling and jolly! Hmmm a bit incongruous.

http://garethrees.org/2012/01/10/shadwell/

Has anybody ever seen persons on bicycles talking and laughing and looking jolly, like persons engaged in any other amusement? Never, I swear. Doubtless they can at a pinch, but in practice they don’t. All their attention is given up to the road and the machine. With set faces, eyes fixed before them, and an expression either anxious, irritable, or at best stony, they pedal away, looking neither to the right nor to the left, save for an instantaneous flash, and speaking not at all, except a word flung gasping over the shoulder at most. It is this strange and unhuman gravity which excites the ridicule and hostility of the street cad and of the dull-witted rustic alike. The enthusiast will indignantly deny the description, but I ask him to look at his fellow. Did ever pastime wear a mien so sombre? The bicyclist has reason, for let the attention wander for more than an instant, an the odds are heavy on a spill. The machine is so excessively crank;11 it cannot stand the slightest shock. To ride it safely entails a double strain—a general one on the nerves and a particular one on the balancing centre. The latter does not affect everybody, but I am certain that it affects some very seriously. People differ in balancing capacity as much as in an ear for music or a gift for speech; and it costs some riders real and constant effort to keep their equilibrium. They show it by suffering from headache at the back of the head, where the balancing centre is situated. The general strain on the nerves affects everybody, but some people “have no nerves,” and therefore do not suffer. The naturally timid and anxious feel it very acutely. Apprehension works their senses up to a high pitch of tension, and puts a severe nervous strain upon them. Then certain persons are specially susceptible to the work thrown upon the optic nerve by the rapid succession of impressions received when moving quickly. Hence the headache commonly caused by looking out of the window on a long journey—“sick headache” or migraine. That is exactly the sort of headache many bicyclists complain of.