Zombie

letter in today's Daily Telegraph to Agony Uncle Graham Norton Dear Graham I have this cat called Flo, but nobody likes her. When you try to stroke her she flinches and runs away, and when you do actually get to stroke her she is all needy. We also have a creepy cat called James - he scares all our other cats, and he burps a lot. So I was wondering if you could tell us how to get rid of them, because Mum says that if we get rid of them we can get a kitten. Love from Bronwen (aged 8) Cornwall your reply?

The final result for all 32 councils is No - 2,001,926 55.3% Yes - 1,617,989 44.7% Some interesting factoids - the turnout was 85% - lowering the voting age to 16 probably boosted the Yes vote (change is exciting and more appealing when you're young ) - the 2 Sept YouGov poll predicting a Yes win was a shock - it's likely to have spurred No supporters, who may not have bothered voting because previous polls consistently showed a No win, to get off their butts and hence the record % voting - it's also likely these included a good chunk of women who generally seem to find politics a turnoff BUT who (and this is a deeply sexist remark ) are also more risk averse and therefore were probably unwilling to accept the significant Yes risks that were highlighted during the campaign But it's not over. The UK will never be the same again. Change is a comin' ...

well, she'll still be Head of State for Scotland whatever the vote, just as she is of Australia, Canada and New Zealand - so I guess she'll still be welcome, and they'll probably waive the visa requirement

well I'm very sorry if I've caused your keyboard to shortcircuit from your liquid ejecta but yes, irrespective of his record in a Labour Government, Gordon Brown has been a very "effective and credible presenter" of the Better Together Campaign... for the Scots . Because the Scots are the only audience that matter. How he is perceived South of the border is immaterial. As for HMQ, it was a very clever remark because, as you rightly point out, it could be interpreted either way. Except... we do know her personal view. And that is not from her "private views" which, as you say, newspapers have been reporting all week, it is from her public statements. In 1977 during her Silver Jubilee she made a public speech making a direct reference to those who had “aspirations” of devolved national assemblies, and warned them of the consequences of breaking up the United Kingdom: “I number Kings and Queens of England and of Scotland and of Princes of Wales among my ancestors,” she declared, “and so I can readily understand these aspirations. But I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and of Northern Ireland. Perhaps this Jubilee is a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which union has conferred, at home and in our international dealings, on the inhabitants of all parts of the United Kingdom.” That's pretty damn clear. And in fact she did not act, as you say, "completely constitutionally in the definition given by Walter Bagshot that she has the right to "Advise, encourage and warn", because Mr Bagehot - not to be confused with the attractive Tory stronghold in Surrey - actually stated that the monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn" but - crucially - this only applies to her ministers via regular audiences with the Prime Minister. It does not extend to making statements to the general public that she knows will be widely reported. So, yes, this is one of the rare occasions when she's engaged in politicking. But very subtly. What would you expect from a wily old bird who's known every Prime Minister back to Winston Churchill and who probably understands British politics better than both Houses of Parliament combined

I'd not heard that but it's interesting - Scotland, England and Wales are pretty much in step as regards LGBT rights so I don't know why there should be a bias in respect of Yes or No. Northern Ireland is another matter because of the hard line religious positions of Catholic and Protestant which dominate that country. I can't see the Scotland vote having any impact on Northern Ireland politics because the divide is already deeply embedded and the "peace process" was put in place to keep the two sides together with devolved power-sharing through the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2007. An independence referendum in Northern Ireland is impossible because the whole country would then go straight back to the tribal / terrorist warfare which crippled the country for decades until the peace process.

Sadly much of Salmond's and the SNP's presentation has been directed at stoking up nationalist fervour, combined with provoking anti-English sentiment - which has never been far below the surface for many Scots - by demonising Cameron and implying that he and the "remote Westminster ruling elite" are the permanent embodiment of a Tory-aligned, bullying England scheming and plotting to steal Scotland's resources and impoverish its people. The clue's in the name: Scottish Nationalist Party

this is just like the weekly radio show Desert Island Discs that's been running for 72 years! The Barchester Chronicles, Anthony Trollope The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle The Complete Miss Marple, Agatha Christie - the World's thickest book! http://mentalfloss.com/article/21779/worlds-thickest-book Collected Short Stories, John Wyndham David Sedaris... or Bill Bryson... or David Sedaris... or - aaaarrgh!

This is one one of the rare occasions The Queen has involved herself in politics. In 1963 when the Prime Minster became seriously ill there was no proper process to appoint a successor so The Queen acted and used her Royal Prerogative to appoint Lord Home, the 14th Earl of Home, as the new PM.This was not a "purely ceremonial" action and her actions were criticized for involving herself in politics rather than stepping back and letting the Conservative Party sort out their own mess. With Scotland she has made many pro Union speeches during her reign so the meaning of what she said is very clear - don't do it! Yes For many - most? - he's the embodiment of eevill He's been a gift for Salmond: Eton educated, privileged Tory toff - the class enemy. There is a significant cultural difference between Scotland - strongly socialist - and England - strongly individualist. You're right, Addy, to bring in the EU aspect. Membership - and the terms of EU membership - is at the very heart of the debate that's been going on since the referendum was agreed nearly two years ago. You want "a strong united Europe ... single currency, a parliament which is not continuously challenged and hindered by egotistical demands of single member nations" but in many ways that's exactly what's been going on within the UK, just on a smaller scale. It's the tension between a strong centralised government - in London - and Scotland wanting to shake off that centralised control so it can be freed to do its own thing in its own way and control its own money, that has led us to where we are with the vote tomorrow. This has been building up since the 1970s. Strong centralised government has failed.

Just 33 hours to go now to Thursday's referendum - Britain only ever votes on Thursdays. You'll have read / watched the arguments ad nauseam - or not, in which case you won't be reading this - so I won't rehash them. And I won't repeat posts in the two earlier blogs: http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/504/entry-14328-scotland-nearer-to-independence/ http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/504/entry-13245-scottish-independence/ What's emerged in the final weeks of campaigning is the unmatched presentational and political skills of Alex Salmond heading the Yes campaign and the feeble incompetence of the No campaign. Only in the final two weeks has the No campaign had an effective and credible presenter: ex Labour Prime Minister and former Chancellor Gordon Brown. It doesn't matter what rational arguments have been made against independence, or who has made them - including dire warnings from European banks and CEOs of big finance and oil - Salmond has simply deflected them as "bullying" of the little guy, Scotland, by the big bad guy, England. No matter the strength of the arguments against leaving the Union the gap has been closing to the point where a Yes vote is now very likely. Show stoppers like Scottish banknotes have been overlooked. Here's one: vote Yes, Mr and Mrs Tartan Haggis, and you kiss goodbye to this Because the Scots do love their Scottish banknotes. So why has no-one told them they'll cease to exist without currency union? [well, Scots may still have them but they won't have Sterling value]. All three main UK political parties have vetoed sharing the Pound and the politically neutral Canadian Governor of The Bank of England, Mark Carney, has stated currency union will be impossible with an independent Scotland. Whatever happens on Thursday the UK as we know it will never be the same. Even if the vote is No, we will inevitably move to a more federalist model with - shudder - perhaps even a written constitution. The fact is the Union merged five distinct nations into a single State, but centralised unitary government from London - the fifth nation - is no longer sustainable.

Really? Maybe you're not looking - plenty of US and UK TV shows. Can't comment on the US shows cuz I don't watch 'em but the UK soap operas don't denigrate being gay, and the true story Philomena last year had a gay subplot that delivered an emotional punch Games? not a clue - life's too short for video games

good to communicate your position in a professional manner so you maintain the moral high ground and give yourself closure so you can move on. The only issue is whether the "survey" will ever be read by those higher up the food chain with the power and will to make changes and not just get shoved in a file with a "Survey Issued and Returned" box tick for monthly metric reporting

Hoppy birthday Iarwain!

welcome to GA Mattie

that's a general USA cultural thing rather than GA specifically: erotic pics of the male body is plain wicked and corrupting, but anything else is just swell Seem to recall I did a blog on that a while back...

yes, you're quite right but the blogs are at best a backwater and quickly fade from view and memory unlike threads which remain prominent for as long as people want to keep a discussion going

good point well made As you say, pretty much everything does have a political dimension. And there's nothing wrong in that. Nothing at all. The problem is not the politics, it's the Party Politics. The Party Line hijacks reasoned debate because - especially in the US it seems - so many people have chosen to align themselves with the spoutings of a particular political party. This is corrosive and throttles reasoned debate. A good example at the moment in the UK is the upcoming Scottish Independence vote *note to self: must do the update promised for Daddy * where a substantial core is irrevocably aligned to the Yes campaign based on emotion not reason. I can see some merit in wishing GA to be a "nice" place, a refuge if you like, but it is ironic that a US site - the country where free speech seems to be part of its citizens' DNA and defended above all else - should have opted for this.

R.I.P. W_L He was a good worker and met all his performance targets This can be you - if you want it

is puzzled - where are the quirks? No no NO! Not the answer it's the problem! If it's stacked wrongly EVERYTHING HAS TO COME OUT AND BE RE-STACKED!

His time has come... 30 hours to go... tick tock tick tock...

I like Marmite

by 2024 cheap and plentiful food we take for granted in "the West" will no longer be so cheap and plentiful, and access to adequate drinking water supplies will become a major issue in more countries

It's party time! Happy birthday Joann!

what Sasha said - it's a great shame that some media jocks said such cruel and ignorant things about him being "selfish" - depression is a serious mental illness and it does not discriminate between the great the good and the bad. Robin Williams made millions of people laugh - and cry. He made the World a better place.

I would have liked it, but clowns are scary and he's stolen the shiny

he struck me as someone keenly interested in what was going on and with a good sense of humour about life