Zombie

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

Today the prosecution completed their case with the final summing up. The defence summing up starts tomorrow. This trial's now been going on for over 5 months and I am sick of seeing the face of OP. The sooner this trial is over and this dangerous psychopath is locked up "for life" - 25 years - the better. There, I feel better already

two mugs of Yorkshire tea after an orange (just quartered) with toast and porridge - no need for elevenses then

Thanks for the review. Not seen it, nor the original, and unlikely to - I'm kinda "off" Israeli films now. You "prefer life and movies to be honest about the problems in human nature and society". Personally, if I want realism I watch the news and current affairs or documentaries. For movies I just want to be entertained through escapism. Yes, Hollywood-style fairytale endings are often tiresome and can ruin an otherwise great movie, but they're not necessary - that's what I love about films like Le Fate Ignoranti where the ending, just as in life itself, is unresolved but subtle clues are given for you to work out your own satisfactory ending

I had nightmares last night

...but he won the 10m Individual Gold tonight! with a superb 102.6 back 3.5 somersault for a 516.55 total so domestic bliss hasn't killed his career duh, nearly-nekkid super-buff dripping-wet guys doing eye-popping stuff - I wouldn't like?? :funny:

nice guy, cool car