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Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/26/2014 in all areas

  1. A surprising number of people I've spoken to in work today (in Englandshire) watched the debate last night, even after al lthe shouting and bickering over each other I got the impression that most stayed tuned in until the end. Opinion overall appears to be that it was a total clusterfuck and the NO campaign have offered no reason to not vote YES. You know, even after me telling people the likely outcome will be a NO vote with a 10-15% swing, the majority of the thoughts shared ignore that blindy and ask 'well if you don't want to be in the UK, why don't you **** off then?'. People around here quite rightly couldnt care less what Scotland decides. Yet, when asked, you find most people willing to talk about it agree theyve no love for Westminister or the rows and rows of career politicians calling the shots on their behalf, yet somehow hold a grudge against the minorioty of Scottish people who want a referendum at all? If you aks people flat out, do you think its fair that banks regulate themselves and change the amount of money you have sitting in your pension/house/bank account, without being accountable themselves.. people say of course not. If asked outright, do you think the current first past the post system, which elects hundreds of former etonians and PR men into government is in the best interests of the people whom government was created to protect.. they say no. Ask people if they would rather pay for their health care on top of taxation. Ask people if they would rather pay for their higher education on top of taxation, ask everyone you meet if they dont want a consitiution that writes into law protection of their few remaining privacy and human rights. I hope the people of Scotland are not cowards come September. As I said on this topic earlier, there are working class people all over the world watching Scotland, hoping they do the right thing. A Scottish YES vote will have a ripple affect all accross the EU and around the world, Scotland can force those who still believe the media and the self proclaimed academic/politicval elite can force people to do what they have always done, expecing us to bow at their feet, to take note of what a grassroots movement can achieve. It will breathe live into people at the bottom everywhere, even if it amounts to nothing in the long term, it will prove that people can still have a voice under democracy. When the leaders of NATO, the USA, the IMF, the UK and other organisations of questionable morals firmly level themselves on one side of the arguement, everyone else has to take the oppoiste view, as this is truely a once in a lifetime opportunity for a modern, westernised and rich country to make a decision ons something that actually matters. Party politics and the usual round of electioneering are playschool compared to what Sctoalnd is deciding next month.
    5 points
  2. Billy Stark today confirmed his Scotland Under-21 squad for next month’s European Championship qualifiers away to Slovakia and Luxembourg. The fixtures are the final two of the campaign and features call-ups for Reading’s Dominic Hyam and Sporting Club de Portugal’s Ryan Gauld. Ryan Christie has been rewarded for a fine start to the season with Scottish Premiership leaders Inverness Caledonian Thistle, whilst Sam Nicholson of Heart of Midlothian has also been included for the first time. Goalkeepers Jordan Archer (Tottenham Hotspur*) Jack Hamilton (Heart of Midlothian) Jonathan Henly (Reading) Defenders Stuart Findlay (Celtic) Marcus Fraser (Celtic) Stephen Hendrie (Hamilton Academical) Dominic Hyam (Reading) Ryan Jack (Aberdeen) Jordan McGhee (Heart of Midlothian) Clark Robertson (Aberdeen) Midfielder Stuart Armstrong (Dundee United) Ryan Gauld (Sporting Clube de Portugal) Lewis Macleod (Rangers) John McGinn (St Mirren) Craig Slater (Kilmarnock) Forwards Ryan Christie (Inverness Caledonian Thistle) Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth) Stevie May (Sheffield Wednesday) Sam Nicholson (Heart of Midlothian) * On loan at Northampton Town
    4 points
  3. That's amazing you also managed to get Terry Butcher in the photo
    3 points
  4. I don't like to disagree dad, but I'm not having this. Mulgrew, Commons and Griffiths are all established Scotland players. Ambrose was at the world cup, Zaluskas, Pukki, Bitton and Johansen have all played for their countries. Even one of the subs (MacGregor) has just got a call up so this was no "severely weakened" team. Celtic have a massive squad who I presume train together day in day out in various permutations. In the second half, we passed them off the park. Not my point of view but that of a significant portion of the media - usually grudging in their praise who are recognising that the style of play, regardless of the manager, is attractive and beginning to show signs of being successful. If you think that this is as good as it gets because that's where we are settled at and others will progress as far can I suggest that this team are still learning, we have Foran to return if required and we will improve. Perhaps you recognise this point in your final sentence, but they seem opposing points of view. You are correct in saying that Brill was excellent, but had we converted chances from Tansey, Ross and Christie (all of which were narrowly missed) and got a stonewall penalty in the first half, your score analysis would have been turned on it's head. There was criticism of the performance against Dundee, but I'm not sure that you can call it significant. We drew against a team that set out to defend for 80 odd minutes and did so very well. We didn't lose the game and had the lions share of pressure. The only thing lacking in the performance was a goal. Is that worthy of "significant" criticism? On the subject of eating humble pie, does that really need to be done? We are all ICT fans here. Sure Hughes was "given time" by some last year and this years judgement point seems to be slipping from October to Christmas to the end of the season, which is where it should have been all along. Even if we lose to Kilmarnock on Saturday, my personal viewpoint won't change. It certainly won't change any more than it did about Butcher's team that was dismantled by St. Johnstone at a similar time of last season, although that display showed how tactically limited we were at the time and was more worthy of concern than any result this season. I'm glad you enjoyed the game, so did I. However, I wish that more than 5600 or so had enjoyed it. We (the regulars, the committed fans etc.) need to be shouting this from the rafters to get more bodies into the stadium to get behind the team, bolster the finances and allow us to kick on. One final point, remember the last time we played a "weakened" Celtic team - we got cuffed because we didn't have the belief that we could beat them. Sure do now.
    3 points
  5. He's fat he's round he's worth a million pounds !!
    2 points
  6. Goood performance and great result. It may have been a 'weakened' Celtic team but I would be interested to cpmpare the combined salary of their starting eleven to ours. I am sure the difference would be at least five fold and probably a good deal more. Credit to yogi and the coaching staff for this one. He was right we did ride our luck a bit in the first half but so did Celtic the half time score could well have been 2 all. What did confuse me was his reference to the last 25 minutes as being 'like the Alamo'. From where I was sitting, we dealt with Celtic with the utmost ease with hardly a single scare after we scored.
    2 points
  7. Aye OK, it's Bute House, Charlotte Square...........and if you could somehow arrange the latter too....
    1 point
  8. Having had a quick squint through the rules I can't find anything which makes provision for having the draw under such circumstances. The only thing I can think would be a way round it would be to replace the "Killie" and "Rangers/ICTFC" balls with "Killie/ICTFC" and "Killie/Rangers" balls....then depending on the outcome of our game delete as applicable.
    1 point
  9. Thought I'd hold off responding to Oddquine's post at 1056 till after the "debate" between Darling and Salmond to see what they had to say about the subjects. It is clear that Oddquine's plea that someone clarify why an independent Scotland can't use the pound without a currency union needs to be answered by someone in the "YES" camp. Oddquine seems very clear that this is option B and that seems fair enough to me, but the question really needs to be directed to Alex Salmond because again last night he refused to state what plan B was. It seemed to come as a revelation to him when Darling explained that of course he was free to use the pound, the rouble or whatever. Bizarrely Salmond then went on to say there were actually 3 plan Bs! As usual he thought he was being frightfully clever but as we all know, 3 plan Bs means no plan B. He is focused on what he has been told time and time again is not an option yet now he grandly states that he is seeking a "mandate" from the electorate to negotiate for a currency union. This is just mind bogglingly arrogant, inept and irresponsible. What was also of note was Salmond's clear assertion that if there is no currency union (which there won't be) Scotland won't pay it's share of the UK debt. Do we really want to start life as an independent state with the world knowing we are a country that does not honour its debts? As to the NHS, Salmond continued with his scaremongering tactics yesterday and just sailed blithely on completely immune to the utter hypocrisy of what he was saying. Oddquine specifically asks about Andy Burnham's remarks and my response to that is to remind folk that we are engaged in a referendum debate about the long term future of Scotland and should not get over-exercised about speculation voiced as part of the internal cut and thrust of English politics. Let's just stick to the facts and ask questions about how we might cope with the ever growing pressure on the NHS in an Independent Scotland. Fact is that despite their scare tactics of talk about the "privatisation threat", the SNP have increased the involvement of the private sector in the NHS in Scotland. Fact is that despite scare tactics of talk suggesting Tory cuts into the NHS will result in reduced funding here, the current Tory Government have delivered increased public spending to the NHS and are pledged to continue to increase spending year on year despite the post recession austerity programme. Fact is that Scotland gets something in the region of £1,200 per head of population more for public services that the rest of the UK and this gives Scotland the opportunity to provide more public funding into the NHS than the English NHS gets. Much of the greater engagement with the private sector in England and speculation regarding future policy is because their lower level of funding means that they are having to cope with the growing healthcare demand pressures sooner that we will. But even if we may not like their responses or speculation at least they are grappling with the problem. Up here, the gradual but steady increase in using the private sector is proof that Salmond and his crew are well aware of the coming pressures but publicly they pander to the public affection for the NHS and condemn what's going on down south whilst having no public strategy for dealing with the inevitable crisis. This is both hypocritical and irresponsible. Ah, but of course, the NHS in an independent Scotland is going to be protected in the Constitution so we don't need to worry! Obviously there is no need to say how it is going to be protected or paid for - Alex says it will be OK and we can trust Alex. A further point made by Darling yesterday in response to smug Alex claiming the moral high ground over Trident was the Salmond is wanting to shelter under NATO's nuclear umbrella but is not prepared to have the nuclear weapons on Scottish soil. It is worth pointing out that not only is that his line, he expects a NATO partner to pay for resiting them so that he can adopt his hypocritical position. I can understand why folk felt Salmond won the debate yesterday, but it was all show over substance. We are no further forward other than receiving confirmation from Salmond that he won't pay his debts and that finally after 2 years of campaigning he now understands that it is possible to use the pound outwith a currency union. We are left with the usual unanswered questions of what currency we would use, will we be in the European Union and if so, under what conditions? How will pressures on the NHS and other public services be funded? There are other issues of course. One which has received little attention is what plans does the Government have for replacing the ageing nuclear reactors at Torness and Hunterston and the coal fired power station at Longannet which are all due to be closed in a few years time? The SNP's position here is that "The matter of what generating stations will be built, and when, is currently down to the proposals the market brings forward for new or upgraded thermal electricity generation capacity in Scotland." In other words, not only is there not a plan B, there isn't even a plan A! In a few years time a supposedly energy rich independent Scotland could be importing electricity from England to keep the lights on! The sad thing about last night was the inability of Darling to exploit the hypocrisy and lack of substance behind all of Salmond's arrogant and often patronising bluster. Whether or not we break from the Union is a massive decision to make and the people of Scotland deserve to have that decision made on the basis of a clear understanding of what independence will mean for Scotland. The people of Scotland deserve better debate than we witnessed at last night's shout fest.
    1 point
  10. [terrible, contrived tabloid headline alert!] [obscure literary reference alert!] If Celtic get knocked out tonight because their striker scores an own goal, would that be a Maribor Stokes Nightmare? By way of an apology, I will not only fetch me coat I will also provide my own tumbleweed. :tumbleweed:
    1 point
  11. Just FYI, we had a referendum on this just 3 years ago, and 2/3rds of voters chose to keep FTTP and reject PR, including every single region of Scotland.
    1 point
  12. Hes a free agent... MAHNIOOOOOO
    1 point
  13. Manager-wise Rudi Gutendorf has the record for the most international teams managed and signed Steve Paterson for some team in Japan! He's managed Blue Star Zurich, Luzern, US Monastir, Duisburg, Stuttgart, St Louis Stars, Bermuda, Schalke, Kickers Offenbach, Sporting Cristal, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, 1860 Munich, Real Vallodolid, Fortuna Koln, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, Hamburg, Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, Nepal, Tonga, Tanzania, Hertha Berlin, Sao Tome and Principe, Yomiuri (now known as Tokyo Verdy), Ghana, Nepal, Fiji (was so good they brought him back!), China, Iran U23s, China (again!), Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Mauritius (again!), Rwanda and Samoa! Bizarrely, in his playing career he was a one club man and played for TuS Neuendorf for nine years!
    1 point
  14. That's a glaring schoolboy error from me! Scarlet, I was simply being facetious in response to your post #155 which was most certainly 'Cantona-esque'!
    1 point
  15. From The Herald 2002 "Robertson is believed to have beaten off the challenge of Peterhead's Ian Wilson and Queen of the South's John Connelly to the job after Aston Villa's Kevin MacDonald dropped out of the race." Source: The Herald - 27/12/2002
    1 point
  16. oh I am sure .......... the one thing about politics and politicians whatever the colour of their stripes is that pretty much all of them will steal your wallet with one hand while counting their own money with the other ..... and if they can do it to the weak, the old, or children even better !!! only political leader i ever trusted was Jack Layton of Canada's NDP. but the poor bugger went and died literally days after bringing his party from oblivion to the brink of government. If he had lived, he would have won the next election, and Canada would have trusted him.
    1 point
  17. However, pensioners in Canada, Australia and NZ, afaik, are not even getting the annual upgrades those of us who have not paid any NI at all, or have only paid a few years of NI get, as a right in the UK, any EU country or in the USA. Those in Commonwealth countries are entitled to that as well, imo.........or nobody should be getting upgrades if collecting a pension when living outside UK at all. If only it were so simple or as straightforward as that CaleyD ..... although I am pleased to see it is a subject that you and Mr Bannerman can agree on I paid taxes and NI for more than 20 years with a single six-month break in all that time when I relocated from a job in London back to Inverness. I also paid into a private employer scheme alongside that for 10 of those years (I dont know if that fund even exists any more in terms of my pension). If I could have "removed" that money from the economy as you so succinctly put it, I would have done so and used it to kick-start the fund for my retirement over here .... Since 2004 I have also been paying taxes and the equivalent of NI (called EI) over here to fund my mandatory government pension, as well as paying into my work pension, and a totally separate private pension (RRSP). Moving funds 10+ years ago and dumping a lump sum into a Canadian account, apart from being both administratively simpler and likely less of a tax minefield when retirement comes, would have made my Canadian nest egg a whole lot larger by the time I retire! However, that money - a not insignificant amount if I were to calculate it - was left in the UK economy and one would assume has been, and continues to, support the economy however minutely. I didnt have the option to remove it and can only hope it was used wisely by the British government to grow year by year into an amount that is both fair and reasonable when it comes to paying me out later in life. When I do receive the fruits of my "investment", then where I live is - or should be - largely irrelevant. I am not looking for something for nothing, I don't want anything I am not entitled to, and to be honest, at this point in time I don't really care what the £ amount is for my UK pension when I retire in 20+ years time. I am focusing on my Canadian private pension (RRSP) to make sure I have enough to live on, everything else is sugar on top. Had i been able to move my contributions when I emigrated I would not feel I was entitled to a single penny but I was not able to do so. Having said that I also don't believe I should get 100% of a UK resident pension because I don't live in the UK and my contributions were "only" for 20 years out of what is typically a 50 year working life ...... but that may be 20 years more than the small minority you see spread all over the tabloids who abuse the benefits system which is another argument that could be made. HOWEVER, what I do want, and what I know Scarlet has been fighting for for several years in this campaign is a level playing field. Oddquine is right, certain countries do not get any increase in the base pension but others do ..... If I relocated to Buffalo, New York, just the other side of Niagara Falls, I would get a yearly increase on retirement, if I stay here in Toronto, no increase ...... If I retire back to Inverness after missing payments for 30 years? according to the doc from the UK govt that Scarlet linked to I would get treated as if I had paid NI in the UK for all those years I had paid Canadian 'employment insurance' but moving from UK to Australia, Canada, NZ or South Africa nope, nothing. Apparently this is all for legal reasons and tied into reciprocal arrangements but it should come as no surprise that the two of the four main countries to have their up-rating frozen are also the top two countries in terms of ex-pat pensioner population ...... and in Canada's case, the barrier to that up-rating (which was to do with the Canadian portion of the pension) no longer exists end of the day ... I will take what I get, if and when I get it, but the playing field now is a bit like this ......
    1 point
  18. However, pensioners in Canada, Australia and NZ, afaik, are not even getting the annual upgrades those of us who have not paid any NI at all, or have only paid a few years of NI get, as a right in the UK, any EU country or in the USA. Those in Commonwealth countries are entitled to that as well, imo.........or nobody should be getting upgrades if collecting a pension when living outside UK at all.
    1 point
  19. Isn't that wee blonde guy a ginger?
    1 point
  20. Me too, but: On pizza = good thing Managing a football club = bad thing
    1 point
  21. A Celtic supporting colleague is claiming that one of our ball-boys wasn't properly registered......
    1 point
  22. Chris Sutton...glad we avoided him in the end
    1 point
  23. RiG is probably already readying himself for a few 2 a.m. phonecalls from Northumbria.
    1 point


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