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.

m - I've just read some of the Q&As at the bottom - priceless!

Earthquake hits English Channel

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.9 has struck in the English Channel, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said.

The quake had a depth of 10km and its epicentre was south of Portsmouth, according to the BGS.

Residents in parts of West Sussex reported buildings shaking for a few seconds at about 0800 BST.

Sussex Police, Solent Coastguard and West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said they had not been called out to any incidents related to it.

Small earthquakes are not uncommon in the British Isles.

In January a 3.6-magnitude quake struck 9km (5.5 miles) north-west of Ripon, North Yorkshire.

So the Beckham's have named their new child Harper Seven. The last time I heard that was when a bloke with a hair lip gave me the time.

Harper, is that a girls name, must be.

.

Wonder if she will have a quad bike.

The Murdochs and some of his outfits, The Con and Lab party, Journalists (some say), The police. All in the dock (allegedly) and now an Earthquake in the Channel?.. What next?

Whats next?

Fred admits he idolises David Cameron but he really dreams about being George Osborne.

Phone hacking: MPs summons Murdochs

Raw,

I wouldn't mind somebody hacking Cameron and as his side kick Osborne.

Think of them as Berlusconi and the Mafia.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Put Muddywaters in between them and dump.

I was saddened to hear Gordon Brown's rant in the House. The fact of the matter is that after the "reduced to tears" call from Rebekah Brooks, Gordon still socialised with her and, indeed, went to her wedding. As did Cameron, of course.

They all *rse-licked News International at every turn.

The one person that still looks good in all this is Sarah Brown. She has just ploughed on doing good works. I'm a fan of hers.

The UK EuroMillions ticket-holder who won Europe's biggest-ever jackpot of 161m has claimed their prize, Camelot has confirmed.

The individual is currently deciding whether to go public or remain anonymous.

Since Tuesday, Camelot has been urging people to check their tickets because the winner was losing about 9,000 a day in interest.

The lottery operator had said if the winner did not come forward within 180 days of the draw being made then the money and interest would go towards good causes.

Camelot said on a Coutts bank interest rate of 2.05% gross, the lucky person could be making an extra 9,079 a day.

However, other reports have said that figure could go up to 14,400 depending on where the person deposits the money.

It has not been disclosed where the ticket was bought or whether it was purchased online.


If the money were stacked in bundles of 50 notes, it would be almost 365m tall, almost four times the height of the Big Ben tower.

A Camelot spokesman told Sky News Online it was not unusual for a ticket to not be claimed within a few days of the draw being made because some people take a while to check their numbers.

And he said that occasionally people make bogus claims, adding: "We have rigorous security procedures in place."

He went on: "The champagne is on ice for the winner."

The jackpot numbers were 17, 19, 38, 42 and 45, and the Lucky Stars were 9 and 10.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List 2011, a single winner would immediately become the 430th richest person in the country, ahead of Beatles legend Ringo Starr (150m), but still just short of the Beckhams' league (165m).


The exact amount to be claimed by the winner is 161,653,000 while two other UK-based lottery players scooped 1.7m after matching five numbers and one Lucky Star.

I was just thinking how the Classic comic type magazine introduced a lot of kid's to classic literature during the 50's , does anybody remember them and are they still published.

The 50's. Way before my time, lol. Ask Fred1new.

IMF attacks rating agencies over Irish downgrade



Philip Aldrick, 21:45, Thursday 14 July 2011

The International Monetary Fund (IMF (Berlin: MXG1.BE - news) ) has joined the attack on credit-rating agencies for cutting Ireland (Berlin: IIK.BE - news) to "junk" status this week.

Ajai Chopra, an IMF deputy director, said Ireland has every chance of a full recovery if Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURTRUSD - news) 's leaders can calm markets and that the country should be "judged own its own merits".

Moody's slashed Ireland's rating this week on a read-across from Greece, where private creditors may be forced to default as part of a second bail-out.

"Rating agencies have got it wrong on the upside," he said. "It's naturally possible they are getting it wrong on the downside by overestimating risks."

In its review of Ireland's progress under its 67.5bn rescue, the IMF said Dublin was "on track" and had "good prospects of getting back to market access".

Mr Chopra added the onus was on Europe's leaders "to address the broader issues".

His comments came as Italy's Senate approved a crucial austerity package but paid a high price to get a bond auction away as it moved to distance itself from the debt crisis.

The measures were passed 161 votes to 135 as it increased the package to 48bn to calm investors.Interest rates on the 5bn bond were the highest in three years, causing 10-year bond yields to rise again to 5.6pc

FBI Launches Inquiry Into Phone Hacking



22:40, Thursday 14 July 2011

The FBI has launched an investigation into allegations that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (NasdaqGS: NWS - news) tried to hack the phones of 9/11 victims, an official has confirmed.

The announcement follows calls from senior politicians in the US for an inquiry as shockwaves from the News Of The World (NOTW) phone-hacking scandal continue to reverberate.

The FBI field office in Manhattan (Xetra: A0X9G1 - news) has confirmed it is looking into the allegations against the company, said Sky's US correspondent Greg Milam.

The move comes as Rupert Murdoch and his son James have said they will give evidence to a Commons select committee next week.

They will appear alongside News International chief executive and former NOTW editor Rebekah Brooks.

In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp, Rupert Murdoch has defended the company's handling of the crisis.

He also said it would establish an independent committee to "investigate every charge of improper conduct".

The 80-year-old dismissed reports he would sell his UK newspapers to bring the scandal to and end, calling the suggestion "total rubbish".

In Washington, Democrat senator Jay Rockefeller has been calling for an investigation into whether parent company News Corporation had violated US law because of the British paper's activities.

The allegation of hacking 9/11 victims comes from the Daily Mirror, which said an American investigator had rejected approaches from journalists who showed a particular interest in British victims of the terror attacks.

It cited no evidence that any phone had actually been hacked by the NOTW or any other paper.

If there was any phone hacking of Americans "the consequences will be severe", Mr Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said.

A report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which is part of News Corp, said Mr Murdoch met with advisers in recent weeks to discuss possible options, including the sale of his remaining British newspapers.

The WSJ reported that there did not appear to be any buyers, given the poor economics of the newspaper group.

Meanwhile, some members of the Bancroft family that once controlled the WSJ said they would have opposed selling the paper to Mr Murdoch in 2007 had they known about the hacking allegations then.

"I probably would have held out," Christopher Bancroft said in a story published by the non-profit group ProPublica and The Guardian.

The story was written by a former executive of WSJ publisher Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI - news) & Co.

Meanwhile, politicians in Mr Murdoch's country of origin are also urging action following the phone-hacking scandal.

Australia's government will consider a review of national media regulation and laws, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced.

"I've truly been disgusted to see it. I anticipate that we will have a discussion amongst parliamentarians about this, about the best review and way of dealing with all of this," Ms Gillard told Australia's National Press Club.

The influential Greens Party, which controls the balance of power, has called for Ms Gillard's government to hold an inquiry into whether a new statutory media watchdog is required, with parliament to consider the issue in August.

Interesting to see what the proposed investigations shows of the deals done between the tory party and the Muddydock press.

Seems as if the the Party may have lost its main propaganda machine.

With a government sailing in increasingly choppy water and many bailing out, it must be a relief to see Muddydock attending the HP. (Possibly another takeover bid on the cards.)

Just heard Brookes has just sank herself.

I think there would have been more deals done with the Labour Party. They were cosy with Murdoch for much longer. Don't forget the tobacco advertising payments scandal with payments from F1 racing to Labour under Blair.

Haystack - I take it you mean cosy ! :-)