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.

MaxK - 15 Jul 2015 11:32 - 61479 of 61482
I make it 20% of the workforce need to vote to strike..hardly onerous.

No. It is not 40% of 50%.

It is 50% turnout for all strikes and a minimum of 40% of ALL those entitled to vote, voting in favour of the strike if it involves public sector strikes such as health, education etc.

If there were 100 members of the union then 50 must vote with a simple majority of those. At least 26 in favour.

If it was public sector and 100 members of the union then 50 must vote and 40 must vote to strike instead of 26 as would be needed in a simple majority of voters.

Prefer Sturgeon to Osborne!

Or perhaps Hay's mother!

GREECE - a very sobering comment
Tonight's Greek parliamentary vote remains the biggest event risk for financial markets, with the very real possibility that the resolution found between creditors and Syriza could be all for nothing if it fails to find approval with politicians in Athens. The Greek crisis is certainly not over yet. We’re only at the start of several national votes which potentially could derail the bailout. Beyond this, the IMF's criticism of the plan highlights the concern that, without any form of guarantee of debt sustainability, the deal would just be a sticking plaster on a debt wound that would continue to grow.

There is another problem. The IMF thinks that Greece's debt will rise to in excess of 200% of GDP and that without a 30 year repayment holiday, they can't repay the debt. The IMF rules forbid them from lending money to countries that cannot repay it. Part of the deal agreed on Sunday involves the IMF lenging substantial sums to Greece.

Another problem...we are on the hook for some of the bailout money, regardless of what dodgy dave has said.

From ABC News...

Trump Campaign to Reveal Wealth Details: 'I'm Really Rich'
WASHINGTON — Jul 15, 2015, 9:17 AM ET
By JEFF HORWITZ Associated Press

It's June 29, 2015, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump smiles for a photographer before he addresses members of the City Club of Chicago, in Chicago. As other presidential candidates fight to raise money, Donald Trump is reminding everyone he's already got a lot of it.

The celebrity businessman's campaign is expected to reveal details Wednesday of his fortune, which he estimated last month at nearly $9 billion when announcing his Republican presidential candidacy.

If accurate, that number would make Trump the wealthiest person to ever run for president, far surpassing previous magnates like Ross Perot, business heirs like Steve Forbes or private-equity investors like Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee.

"I have a Gucci store worth more than Romney," Trump told the Des Moines Register last month, referring to the fashion company's flagship store in New York's Trump Tower.

On an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Wednesday, Trump said the personal financial disclosure forms will be filed Wednesday or Thursday.

"The numbers will be far in excess of what anybody thought," he said. "I built a great company."

How much the personal financial disclosure form will reveal is uncertain. Personal financial disclosures generally require candidates to list the value of their assets within broad ranges, with "above $5 million" as the top bucket. Many of Trump's holdings, such as Trump Park Avenue in New York, or the hundreds of millions he says he holds in cash, would far exceed that upper limit.

Even if Trump were to include a detailed summary of his assets and debts, skepticism about his net worth will likely remain.

Trump, for example, valued his personal brand and marketing deals at $3.3 billion when he announced his candidacy. Forbes Magazine, however, valued his brand at just $125 million. And that was before Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants cost him business partnerships with companies such as Macy's and Univision.

Trump in the past has taken umbrage at suggestions he might not be as fantastically wealthy as he says. In 2009, he sued author Timothy O'Brien for defamation after O'Brien wrote that Trump's net worth might be as low as $150 million.

Trump lost the suit and a subsequent appeal. In a deposition, the panel of appellate judges noted, Trump conceded that his public disclosures of his wealth depended partly on his mood.

"Even my own feelings affect my value of myself," Trump said.

(Associated Press Writer Frederic J. Frommer contributed to this story)

Update. Sorry on the Trump wealth thing. That was so 'last month'.

Just 18 days later, this is 'this month' and so it's actually $1bn more:

Donald Trump Claims He’s Worth More Than $10 Billion

From BBC

Greece faces an immediate cash crisis. Banks have been shut since 29 June.

Mr Tsipras has warned banks are unlikely to reopen until the bailout deal is ratified, and this could take another month.

Mr Tsipras has sold out...for whatever reason.

Anything he says should be disregarded as a matter of course.



http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/07/15/the-euro-summit-agreement-on-greece-annotated-by-yanis-varoufakis/#more-9207

He had to sell out or leave Eurozone/EU.

With those conditions it was better to stay in?

They thought so. It is the fault of the stupid finance minister who resigned. He thought he could play them and get a better deal in the end he got a worse one.

a vote for Boris

fred - i know you have bugger all to do all day, so you might care to entertain both yourself and us by researching what % or how many members of cabinet or similar of each party went to oxbridge since 1945

Cyners,

I thought you'd squelched Old Bollock Chops ages ago. Why are you bothering to reply to him?

Stormin' Corbyn on course to WIN the Labour leadership as veteran socialist surges into 15% lead

Shock internal polling shows Jeremy Corbyn leading by up to 15 per cent
His campaign has been boosted by surge of union members joining Labour
Unions can sign up 'affiliated supporters' to vote in Labour leadership race
There are 250,000 Labour members and 30,000 extra union members
But Unite chief Len McCluskey claims he could sign up 70,000 members

By Tom McTague, Deputy Political Editor for MailOnline

Published: 10:45, 15 July 2015 | Updated: 18:55, 15 July 2015


Hard-left Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn is on course to win the race to succeed Ed Miliband, shock internal polling has revealed.

Mr Corbyn, a veteran socialist who believes Ed Miliband was not left wing enough to win the election, is understood to be leading rival candidates by up to 15 per cent in the first round of votes.

The 66-year-old backbencher has already shocked Labour MPs with the surge in support he has enjoyed among ordinary party members since joining the contest at the last minute.

He has collected 40 nominations from local parties - second only to the bookies' favourite Andy Burnham and ahead of shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper.


The revelation is a major boost to the veteran left-wing candidate Jeremy Corbyn, 66, who was endorsed by Unite to succeed Ed Miliband earlier this month




More good news here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3162074/Boost-Jeremy-Corbyn-hard-left-Unite-union-boasts-flood-Labour-leadership-race-70-000-supporters.html

who is BC?
anyway, i almost never squelch anyone at all, and if i do, it is rarely for very long ...... in particular, i don't like being "bullied" into the necessity of taking such action