Canada Bob

Say what you want about that life pension that Sir Fred is entitled to, afterall it now seems that Gordon knew about it months ago {but kept it quiet}, pity it all came out in the wash. Knowing what we know now, I think we should meet Sir Fred half way... We keep the money, but he gets LIFE... It's a pity the Tower of London is just for tourists aint it...

Maist interesting read on here in a long time, Thanks for yer kind words... well done to both for constructive discussion with respect for differing opinions,(some politicians could learn a bit from u's both) Aye, I guess your right, it's no an easy task to present your argument as forcefully as you feel for it without upsetting folks with an opposed view. Although I've tried to inject the odd bit of sardonic humour into the debate I do feel that this is a very serious situation, one that folks need to assess what exposure they might have, and how to best cope with what's to come. i'm sure there's plenty relevant points on both sides but i'll stay in Caley D's corner as the consequence of Bob being totally accurate would stop me sleeping. That's as good a reason as any :thumb04: Anyways, eh'll split my vast fortune evenly between RBS shares,Euro's,and a few quid stuffed in a mattress. How's that song go ? "two out of three aint bad"... The vast majority of my disposable will still get blown on a weekend on beer,the bookies and fitba and i'll probly just waste the rest. I can think of worse things to do

I've spent some time looking at "The Banking Act" {Thanks for the link Don}, it's a lengthy document indeed but you don't need to get too far into it before you find the following... Special resolution objectives Objective 1 is to protect and enhance the stability of the financial systems of the United Kingdom. Objective 2 is to protect and enhance public confidence in the stability of the banking systems of the United Kingdom. Objective 3 is to protect depositors. Objective 4 is to protect public funds. Doesn't this alone give Gordon and his minions all the authority they'd need to dump sterling ? That statement about protecting the financial stability of the UK is one thing, but the comment about "enhancing" the stability of financial systems and to enhance public confidence, seems a bit suspicious to me. What could they possibly do the "enhance" confidence and stability ? nothing they are doing right now seems to be working ! I wonder if they dumped sterling and took on the Euro if that would "protect depositors" and "public funds" ? There's so much "flexibility" in the wording of this Act, after reading {what's available to us} you could drive a coach and horses all the way to Brussles without anyone even knowing they'd been taken for a ride. I'm more certain than ever now that if Plan A {printing money} don't work, Plan B will be to dump sterling.

Two gay blokes having a chat, one says to the other... What's the difference between a rabbit and a hare ? The other gay blokes says... Well, I've pulled a hair out of your ass, but I wouldn't like to try pulling a rabbit out...

To dilute this 'head2head' banter, although I applaud both of you, your knowledge of the subject matter and appreciate your differing view points, can we all join in? The more the merrier in my book, my only intention is to fire a warning shot across the bows of folks who think what's going on aint a big deal. I know that by raising my concerns it can easily be seen as fear mongering, but the facts are that people are losing their jobs and their homes in record numbers, and it aint slowing down as some might think, it's getting worse by the day. How bad do you think it feels for the families that are seeing their homes repossessed, around 200 families a day are going through that, few if any of them responsible for their own plight. Things are bad here in Ireland, not sure if you guys heard about the 100,000 folks who took to the streets last week end in Dublin ? Northern Ireland is just as bad if not worse, and according to the link below it seems as though Scotland is starring into the abyss too... No "soft landing" here As far as predicting the unemployment rate by the end of this year, I think your 3.3 Million is a bit on the high side, gawd help the UK is that's where it's at. Don't forget that there's already 7.3 Million folks who don't turn out for work every day, someone has to put money into their hands, chances are the State is already carrying them, but how much can you load onto a ship before you sink it ? As for the ? surviving these events, well I've got rid of what I held in sterling, even though the Bank did everything they could to dissuade me, seemed a bit odd that they could even care about me moving to Euro's ! My bet against the ? is partly based on Gordon's Gamble of printing money, how can that do anything but drive the value of the ? down ? That's not the only thing going against sterling, how can it stand alone against the Euro or the $, both backed up by massive and more diversified economies. As you say, Ireland's glad they got rid of the Punt, the ONLY difference between Ireland and Iceland is one letter and the Euro. Whether we like it or not the UK would have been better off if we had adopted the Euro, not that I was ever a fan of it, I still reckon up in shillings, sigh. I honestly think that the ? is dead on its feet, in my opinion it's about to be "counted out", but when it comes to counting my money I'd prefer to do it myself rather than let Gordon do it for me. Just a matter of time before the Market starts to bet against the ? then we'll see a slump, just when we don't need one, everything we import {much of it food} will start to rocket in price, the money in your pocket will buy less, while the food in your stomach costs more. I have a bad feeling about folks waking up one day to be told "the ? in your pocket is no more" remember who warned you if/when that happens. I'll not be lead by the nose either, if what concerns me runs contrary to what Meddlesome Mendelson or Galloping Gordon wants me to think, or say, then too bl**dy bad for them, I'll float me own boat thanks...

First of all I believe that there is more to the Banking Act than we see in what they have published, I believe that now that this Act had been passed that the Government will have the authority to abandon sterling, at a moments notice, if need be. As far as me telling people to take their money offshore, that's not the case, I'm advising people to exchange their money to Euro's at a rate they find acceptable, not a "compulsory purchase" rate imposed by Gordon. Right now Interest rates in the Banks are less than 1% on sterling, if sterling goes down against the Euro, then it's costing folks to hold on to what I believe is becoming an obsolete currency. If folks put their money into a Euro account {at their local branch}, they can access as many ? notes as they want, either across the counter or from any ATM, so I'm not telling folks to ship their cash offshore. Say someone has ?10,000 in what's left of RBS or the like, where rates as low as 0.1% are paid, that gives a return of ?10 per YEAR !!! if sterling goes down 10% against the Euro in the next 12 months they lose approx ?1,000 of let's call it "buying power", in other words their ?10,000 has become worth approx ?9,000, plus that tenner they gave you for backing their donkey. Do you realise that if folks lose ?1,000 in one year it would take them 100 years at the counter rates offered now to get their money back !!! Currencies compete every day in the world markets, but in the race between ? notes and Euro's it looks to me as though the jockey on sterling has just taken the wrong course {printing money}, add to that he's riding 2 Trillion lbs overweight. Anyone who thinks that the Euro is going to come out second best in this event has lost the plot. I've nailed my "one liner" to my mast Don, I'd appreciate it if you would give me your "one liner" in specific terms, rather than in general terms of "if Gordon does this, or if Gordon does that" leaving it to your call vs my call, no matter who does what. Nail your colours to the mast as to where unemployment will be a year from now, where house prices will be, and where the ? will be against the Euro.

I hope you pick up on the intended humour there Don, no disrespect intended. Humour perhaps, but I find it a tad patronising all the same. It's hard enough telling a joke in the Pub at times Don, let alone trying to inject a bit of humour via text, it's just too easy to get on the wrong side of what's being said... no offence was meant... The only time they will be liable to shell out a single penny against any of that is if those who have borrowed are unable to pay up. Looks like that could be this Thursday then... This countries "past perfromance" when it comes to National Debt shows that there's a variety of things that can lead to problems, but it also shows us that we are capable of coming through them. It also shows that we've come through far worse and that we are far from heading towards economic oblivion. I guess that using that logic we could take heart from how Germany went on, a wheel barrow full of money for a loaf of bread, and look how they recovered. So recovery is almost a certainty, well, let's say survival is, but do we want to see that for the next 10 years ? Your first comment there is total speculation, and a fairly wild speculation at that. How can you say that my comments are "wild speculations" based on no more than what you prefer to believe ? that's a false foundation for credibility Don. As to the rest of it, private investors were not/would not have been able to perform a bail out on this scale. They might have had the capital to buy shares but they would not have had the assets required to underwrite the liabilities and bring any confidence back to the market. So do you think ANY of them would have put their money into this pending fiasco ? They haven't denied access to the act, the only thing they are denying access to is details of any future bail outs/rescue bids...and even then it is at their discretion. LOL, get me a copy of it then Don, I'll know your right when I see it in black & white, things that are hidden usually have a reason for being hidden... Causing panic and a run on banks on serves to make matters worse You sure you're not morphing into Lord Mendelson ? sounds like the song he sings... Very much my own person, I'm all for taking action where it's needed, but I'm not one for encouraging mass hysterics in order to sell a few papers. Don, how can you be your own person when [due to being at one time an employee of RBS} you go so eagerly to defend their position ? add to that, with all due respect, you then go on to voice the Governments line ? how does this make you your own man ? I'm not convinced printing cash is the long term answer, Aye, well, you differ from Gordon there... but suffering a bit of a knock on the exchange to get people spending locally again could work. How much money can 7 Million people without any income spend ? no, that's not a typo, that's how many people between 16-64 aren't turning out to go to work in the UK right now, where do they get their money. Add to that the estimated hundreds of thousands of folks who will lose their jobs this year, how can they or even those who manage to keep their jobs help float the boat ? do you know anyone who's not already close to being skint ? I'm just not sure I trust the decision makers to know when to turn the presses off. At least we agree on that... I guess you have conceded that the debt in the 90's in terms of the GDP wasn't even close to the debt we are in now ? It's within 5 or 6%, that's fairly close in the grand scheme of things. Are you looking at the same thing as me ? the National Debt {that you said was worse in the 90's} was never more than 45% of GDP, we now have a National Debt that has already passed 100% of GDP ! How do you get that down to 5 or 6% it's actually over 100% more than it was in the 90's !!! more than that in real terms rather than simply ratios. I think we've taken a knock and are letting on water, but I don't think it's a lost cause...far from it. The same logic prevailed on the Titanic Don... I think we've pretty much bottomed out, and thankfully we've done so in shallow water. "Bottoming Out" !!! yer the only bloke in the UK who thinks that then, we are nowhere near bottoming out... People can roll their sleeves up and assist with the recovery Tell you what Don, when the folks who have buggered the Banks up turn up with their sleeves rolled up, I'll be right there with them... or they can scuttle off to find the next ship. That's already been done Don, they didn't leave in lifeboats, they left in Yachts, well before the sh*t hit the fan. What they don't want... you can have... Anyway, I guess that we have opposing views and no amount of debate will ever persuade either of us towards the others point of view. The only thing that will "tell it like it is" will be time, with that in mind I'd appreciate a one liner from you as to where you think we'll be by the end of 2009. I'll nail this prediction to my mast... Unemployment over 2.5 Million by the end of the year, a 20% devaluation of the ? IF the ? is still around, and house prices down a further 15%.

Yea, heard about it today, talk about an opportunity missed, sigh... Other that that Yngwie, I guess you didn't notice the Caley ht/ft tip I gave for the last match, I got 4/1 over here, but I'm told you could have had 13/2 on the mainland... Betting is a tough game, they don't all win...

No rose tinted specks here, You sure about that, how's that saying go, "when everyone around you is panicking, and you're not, it's because you don't know what's going on", I hope you pick up on the intended humour there Don, no disrespect intended. I'm just looking at the facts/stats and calculating things based on the same formula that's been used to determine National Debt for years and not doing as the press and others are doing now and coming up with a whole new one which makes the situation look far worse than it actually is. I guess you have your own facts then ? let's forget what the papers say, but how can we ignore what the Office of National Statistics reports, or that guy in Canada, he's the Ronaldhino of the Financial world, with almost as many fans these days... I worked in financial services from the day I left school and worked my way from being an office junior for a small local company to a senior analyst/project manager within RBS in under 10 years and did a spell as a compliance auditor enforcing FSA rules and regulations in between....so you don't need to tell me about past and future performance, nor do I need any lessons on how to work the figures.....certainly not from the press. Don, if you insist on saying the Press have got it wrong then you show me figures that disqualify the Office of National Statistics. The only reason that I have quoted the media is because few of us ever source directly from folks like the Office of National Statistics, but most of us do read the papers, or at lest watch the BBC. The media have simply reported the alarming facts, from a credible source. IF the facts {from the same source} hadn't been so bad, would it be OK with you if we believed them then ? The press etc may be getting their figures from the national statistics office, but it's how they are using those figures that's the problem. For the most part they are taking the countries balance sheet and ignoring the assets column, they're then adding possible future debt on top of that figure and coming up with the magical 2 Trillion. As I said previously, using that formulae you could show just about anyone as being in debt to their eyeballs. The problem is Don, the Debts are REAL, we know the exact amount of debt, but we don't know the value of the so called assets !!! How the hell can you put a value on potentially toxic loans, or the value of mortgages on homes when prices are falling 20-30% per year. Let's put it this way, much of these so called "assets" will finish up either written off {at the Tax payers expense}, or they'll be hived off into {what are they calling it} a Toxic Bank, FFS !!! Even if you do accept the figures being churned out by the press, you also have to look at the make-up of them. In past situations were national debt has climbed it has, for the most part, been the result of overspending on areas where the taxpayer will have to foot the cost of repayment. What makes you think that you can see what's coming by looking in the rear view mirror ? what's happening now is a whole new ball game... That's not the case here as the country has taken large holdings in the companies they are bailing out and these companies will give a return that will go towards paying off the debt. Aside from dividend payments from the shareholding, even if the RBS share price only recovered to half of it's previous value the country could still cash in and get back 4 or 5 times what they've paid out. The chances of the Taxpayer ever getting their money back from RBS is slim to say the least, to expect to show a profit from buying shares in a sinking ship is ludicrous... Look at it this way, IF bailing out the Banks was such a great idea how come the ONLY investors are the Tax payers ? I don't see any "Money Men" or "Investment Houses" or any other Governments wanting to back a dead horse... I'm not saying that we don't have a problem, I'm just saying that there's no need to compound the problem with creative, over exaggerated figures to make it look any worse than it is. I'm also saying that everything needs to be taken in context. Let's put it this way, there's no one who denies that bailing out RBS and the other Banks has cost the Tax payers 1.3 Trillion to date, that we know of, if that alone doesn't put things into perspective then what will. My bet is that most folks don't even have a clue as to what a Trillion is, in fact I'd bet that 90% of folks would have difficulty writing enough 0's down to arrive at a Trillion. Not sure why you think the new bank act is so secret. The only "secret" part about it is that any help given to banks will/can be kept under wraps. Now that's clever Don, the content of this Banking Act is Secret, but you know what the content is, or you think you do. If it was as "innocent" as you describe then WTF have they denied access to it, to the extent that you can't even invoke the Freedom of Information Act. I'd venture to say that Gordon has evoked in you {and many others} exactly what he wanted you to think, it's not a good idea to be thinking what "they" want you to think, rather than thinking for yourself, isn't that what you advised us we should be doing a bit earlier ? yet when we do think for ourselves we are branded as alarmists ? I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. It's rarely a good thing when Governments hide things from people, they aren't short on telling us what they want us to believe, but they seem to fall short when it comes to telling us the truth. Causing panic and a run on banks on serves to make matters worse You sure you're not morphing into Lord Mendelson ? sounds like the song he sings... and together with the other parts of the act it helps create a network whereby banks will support each other if/when any of them get into a sticky situation. That's a JOKE, and a bad one at that, you can't really believe that, even Gordon and the rest of his tribe have been complaining about that. Even though the Banks have been refloated with "our" money they still won't lend it to each other !!! let alone lend it back to business or individuals. It is, in effect, about as close to nationalisation of the banking sector in the UK as we can expect to see at the moment and it allows proper decisions to be made on the sustainability of individual organisations as opposed to decisions brought about by media/public frenzy. It is, IMO, the regulation and control that should already have been in place, and if it had been in place may have prevented the current situation getting to the stage it has. It's a wise man, or a fool Don who thinks he knows what's going on, it's not long ago that Alan Greenspan said {in a Senate Inquiry} that he didn't know what was going on, or what would happen, if he don't know, I don't know, but I know enough to keep my head down for a while... the idea of the UK selling out sterling at a rate of 2 for 1 to the Euro is heading from the ludicrous to the ridiculous. Obviously I was being a tad facetious Don, but you know yourself that this scenario could well arise, when it does, remember where you heard it first. The current economic issues are not limited to the UK, they are widespread and many of the large banking countries in Europe are in similar, if not worse, state than us. Is that why the ? is going down the drain ? I guess you have conceded that the debt in the 90's in terms of the GDP wasn't even close to the debt we are in now ? Gordon Brown might be incompetent, but I don't think he's mental. To be honest I doubt it would make much difference if Gordon was either incompetent or mental, either way it won't stop this ship sinking. If you want to survive this Perfect Storm, it's time to find out where the life boats are, or at least grab a life jacket. I'll no be "dancing to the Band" with water round my ankles...

I don't know if any of you have actually read the report {linked above} by the guy in Canada but if you have and you don't see the writing on the wall you never will. I've followed this guy for years now, not for "investment" advice as such, nor for tips on shares or bonds etc, but to get a weather eye on how currencies are trading against each other. Ever since we went to Canada 27 years ago we held money in sterling and {obviously} in Cnd $'s, but when I started trading {in perfumes & cosmetic products} with companies in the US we also kept a considerable amount in US $'s. If you don't keep a watch on how these currencies trade against each other if can cost you a fortune. I was lucky enough to read an article by this guy some years back, and he's been spot on as to how currencies have traded, this lad knows his game. After reading his latest report I honestly think that Gordon will sink the ship, mind you I think Gordon's lifeboat will be at hand if/when he needs it. Heilandee, we would all like to see the future through rose coloured glasses, but I fear that those who don't see what's coming will be the ones who suffer most from it. We are already at the point where the British Government can't speak openly and honestly to us, they'd much prefer to put a spin on everything they do. "Quantitative Easing" sounds a lot better than "We are going to print more money", so that's the phrase that falls on your ears. If folks allow their ears to be spun off, and their eyes to be shaded, how can they know what's really going on ? Most of us prefer to look on the bright side, and in most instances that helps us, even through difficult times, but if we can't recognise an iceberg looming up ahead of us then we deserve what we get. A few days ago I thought this would simply be a rough ride, after reading that last report and then speaking into the late hours with my accountant in Canada, I've got rid of the ? notes that I had changing them to Euro's. I believe that Gordon is skating on VERY thin ice, it's a fair bet that quantitative easing will start to devalue the ? the more money Gordon prints the less each ? will be worth. Printing money is a desperate gamble, and if you get it wrong then you could cripple the currency. I have zero confidence in Gordon, and not much more in any of the others in Westminster, it's not a team that I fancy betting on. I have reason to believe that there's a good chance that the gamble will go wrong, the ? could become obsolete, overnight, we could well wake up one Sunday morning to find that "the ? in our pocket" has gone the way of the dodo. If that happens your ? notes could be exchanged {for you} at a rate set by Gordon, I'd rather pick me own rate than wake up one day to find that's happened. I'd advise anyone who has a fair bit of money to get into Euro's now, what's to lose ? you can have an account in Euro's and still draw all the Sterling you want from a Bank or an ATM, the benefit of being in Euro's is, as the ? sinks your money becomes worth more. The reverse could happen, the ? could rise in value against the Euro, but if you think that's going to happen you'd be better opening an account with BetFair than any Bank. I started my comments off {a couple of weeks ago} with some concern, I'm now seriously concerned as to what's going on in the UK, the least I can do is flag it so that folks might have a closer look at what's going on, in the hope that it may save a few folks from the full force of what I think is heading towards us.

So Bob, you're argument in support of what the press is saying is to quote even more press? Give me a break!!! Yea but, No but, I also go on to show you where they got their information from, the Office of National Statistics, they aren't paid to lie... You're an intelligent man in your own right, and I'm sure you understand the basic concepts of balancing the books. I think we are now into unchartered waters Don, no one knows what to do, or how this will all end, more than likely if not in Blood and Sweat {as the jobs are gone}, but most likely in Tears... If we choose to include things like mortgage debt, then surely that needs to be balanced off against the fact those mortgages are secured against assets...and, you can't include borrowing/debt that is yet to happen. That's like saying a person is in debt because they've got ?1000 owing on their credit card and ignoring the fact they have ?5000 in the bank or saying a person is in debt simply because they have a credit card and might use it. The concept is laughable. IF the situation that we face was that simple, or anywhere near it, we wouldn't be in the shyte we're all in now, when we're talking about Trillions it's like Black Holes, our sums don't add up anymore.. You talk about people being charged with Treason and hung if this had happened years ago....it did happen years ago, on several occasions and it was many times worse than it is now. In fact, when you look at comparable figures (not the grossly exaggerated ones), then the current "recession" isn't much worse than it was in the mid 90's and it's a damn site less than it was from the late 60's to the mid 70's. This recession has come out of the blue, hardly anyone saw it coming, neither did anyone expect the speed, or the momentum that it carries. Believe me, this will be the worst recession in living memory, we are already seeing thousands of jobs per day lost, not to mention 200 homes repossessed every day !!! this nightmare has only just begun... If you then go back to the end of WWII you're looking at a recession that was off the scale at 150% of GDP....a figure that would be around 300% if you used the calculations being banded around in the press today....god forbid we go back to the late 20's when a comparable collapse of the banking system caused real problems. The 150% you quote can't be compared to where we are now. The War Debt seemed high because it was being measured against a low GDP. Employment was very low {after the war}, so that skewed the ratio. Believe me, looking into the rear view mirror won't tell you what's ahead of us, there are no charts for these waters, nor can anyone credibly even guess how long we will be in them... People need to learn to think for themselves more instead of taking what the papers and press print as fact, I'm all for people thinking, yet the reason that we are in the shyte now is because they didn't "think" in the first place, they just voted for the colour rather than the man or his policies, and for the most part they'll do the same again... and the press need to be held more accountable for the nonsense they print. Kinell Don, some of the papers print nowt but bollocks, single syllable bollocks at that, who holds them accountable for dumbing the Nation down to it's Lowest Common Denominator... Then again, what the papers printed re the 2 Trillion is easily traced back to a credible source... Look at the whole "bird flu" thing, if you believed what was in the press then Armageddon was imminent...the reality was a few cases dotted around the country and Bernard Mathews getting some free press. It's the exact same thing that's happening now, yes the National Debt has taken a bit of a hike but it's still easily within manageable range...a fact born out by us recovering fairly quickly from much worse situations in the past. Fair comment, but, folks who have a functioning brain can usually sort wheat from chaff, add to that Don, some of the Editors play with the minds of the readers {same as the Government does, you know, weapons of Mass Destruction, London could be wiped out in 8 minutes, and all that}, well the Editors know what their readers thrive on, so they churn the shyte out for them... I don't suppose you've ever wound some ****er up in your time ? I think we've all done that... It didn't take us anything like 30 years to recover from far larger recessions brought about by either WWI or WWII, nor did it take us 30 years to recover from larger recessions of the late 60's into the 70's, Don't forget that it took us 60 years to pay the Yanks back what we owed them. But, you're talking about recession when I'm talking about the National Debt, it don't really matter how long the recession lasts, it'll still take at least 30 years to pay off Gordon's Gamble. There is a sting in the tail though, lets say that the recession lasts just one year, and then things get back to some sort of normality, you know when interest rates go back to {say} 6%, that means that we'll have to pay the 4.2 Trillion in 12 years or less to get rid of it ! A mighty burden that would be, but if we close a few Hospitals, cut back on the NHS in general, and all the other Government services, I suppose we could do it, {I am being facetious}. At just 6% the 2.1 Trillion doubles every 12 years, if interest rates go up to say 10% the debt doubles every 7 years, I'm b*ggered if I can see how it can be paid off. It's like a bad two horse race really, one horse is carrying 2 Trillion on it's back when unemployment is heading for 3 Million, so although interest rates are low, there's less fekkin workers to pay the debt off. The other horse with 2 Trillion in the saddle finds better going, with a Million more people employed, but interest rates have gone up to 6%. I don't know which horse I'd like to see my wages on... and problems during the 90's which saw National Debt at comparable levels to what they are now were cleared up in 5 or 6 years....so where anyone gets the idea that it could take 30 to 75 years to recover from the current situation is beyond me. According to Official Statistics the National Debt during the 90's was never higher than 45% most years it was a lot less than that, the worst we have seen in living memory was 1970/71 when the debt ran up to 71% check the chart below, we are already over 100% of GDP and gaining speed. To make it worse, we're going into a recession where Debt will go up and GDP will drop like a stone, making the weight of debt a terrible burden to the Nation, and everyone in it... National Debt Ratio I've not made the chart up meself, I got it from here... History of the National Debt... The more people listen to the scaremongers the worse it gets and that allows the scaremongers to paint a blacker picture still, which makes people even more scared and the whole thing feeds on itself unnecessarily. You've no been drinking with that r sole Mandelson have you, he says that we can't say anything or even think anything unless it meets with his approval... It's not true, and even if it is, you've not to talk about it !! What's this Banking Act they have just brought in ? why is it Secret ? I've never known a Law to be passed in the UK that the content has been withheld ! you can't even get a copy of it via the Freedom of Information Act. They say "it's just to protect the Banks" but, they have already done that, and if that's all this Act / Law is about then what makes it secret ? Wouldn't surprise me if we all wake up one day to be told, "We have abandoned the ?, it's now an obsolete currency, but don't worry, this wont affect the ? in your pocket, you can take that down to RBS where we will exchange them for Euro's at a rate of ?2 for 1 Euro". Fair enough they couldn't do that now, they'd have to bring in a New Law, and if they did that we'd know about it wouldn't we, unless they kept it Secret... Anyway, that's just my 2 cents worth, here's what they think in Canada... They think we're knackered...

I think the number I have now should be enough to win Cor Blimey Clacher, you've tempted fate, you'll no finish in the first three now !!! Big swings all over the place when those at the top pick losers, its upto me and CaleyD to not cut our throats while scraping for the title or else neither of us will get anything.. its impossible for me not to be competitive though..! Blimey, you've jinxed CaleyD too now Bring it on I say, OK, it's 11pm, tell us what you've been drinking :thumb04: I can tell looking at the pattern of bets people are putting down that nobody here has my knowledge I'll have a pint of what you've been on... too many people placing momentum bets on teams who win 2-3 games in a row, with no heed given to the crap theyve beaten on their way to building form. All the folk backing East Stirling a few weeks ago are testament to that. What's rattled yer cage, you've no been watching University Challenge have yer ? I have to say there's been some strategic selecting though, you know about the side bet of a grand that I have {don't say who with though}, well he's been trying to psyche me out, rather than pick his own, and look where that's got him. CaleyD has picked some great games for draws sadly and there will be alot more of them to come! Joe seems to be picking games with easy winners for now, think the top 3 is sewn up between us, B*gger, you've jinxed Joe as well now, cheered me up no end, the gap is opening up now for Foinavon :018: Here's one for you then, let's call it "Deal or No Deal" what would you take NOW for your chance, I might just buy you out, look at it this way, a quid in yer pocket now will be worth a fiver by the end of the season, the way Gordon is going, take the money Clacher, Banker offers 200 quid...

You want to get on that horse before they change the odds, the thing is the low interest rates are a result of panic by the Government, not knowing what else they can do, other than throw money at everything as the ship sinks.. Once their money runs out, and it will, the folks who are left holding money will be the ones who "come to our rescue" and at that point they'll set the interest rate, and it'll be nearer 15% or as high as 30% if/when they lend it out. It wouldn't surprise me if the b*stards who have stolen the Nations wealth are the only ones left with any money at the end of all this, ask yourself how much meat they'll want off yer bones if we finish up begging off them. This is a dangerous game, one that is almost impossible to win, the best thing to do when times get bad is to keep yer head down, make sure that you get rid of as much debt as you can, before it comes back to haunt you. IF the low interest rates prevail it'll still take 25 years for the Nation to pay off the debt, but, if interest rates rise then it'll take 70 years or more to pay it off. During this time you can expect that every service, benefit or pension provided by the Government will be reduced {to say the least}. The bottom line is, every man, woman and some children turning out for work today could be working for the rest of their life in an attempt to pay off this horrendous debt. My guess is that at some point in the next year or so, we'll wake up to be told... "The ? is no more, but this doesn't affect the ? in your pocket, we have adopted the Euro, at a rate of ?2 to 1 Euro, there is no need to panic, this measure will help us get back on our feet and to export British product",, at that point you'll know yer goose has been cooked, cooked most likely by that Banking Law they just passed, the one that they won't let anyone see, not even via the Freedom of Information Act.

We'll never get it right while we're getting it wrong... As long as we blaming each other, based on our personal political stripe, the ones who are responsible, that's the greedy b*stards who have just about ruined the country are laughing their b*llocks off. It's time to place the blame at their feet, or better still, a rope round their necks Years ago folks who did this much damage to the Nation would have been charged with Treason and hung, or worse... Say what you like about the Daily Mail, {the paper for those who can read "joined up words"}, I haven't seen anyone suing them on this topic recently... Here's what the other papers had to say... The Torygraph... Daily Mirror The Guardian The Times Daily Expres These reporters should be hauled over the coals for their gross over exaggeration, it's bad enough without them trying to sensationalise it even more. Seems to me the papers got their info from here... It's 2.1 Trillion, says the Office of National Statistics !!! Looks like the Daily Mail was 100 Million quid out... Couldn't even find any comment in the Sun or the Star, the top "search" in the Star was for Britney Spears, and my guess is readers of the Sun don't get much further than page 3.

It's getting more like George Orwell's "Animal Farm" by the day... At a time where thousands of folks are losing their jobs... Unemployment soars... and every day hundreds of honest decent folks are losing their homes... Record jump in home repossessions 5 Million folks waiting for a Council House !!! Those "more equal than the rest of us" are awarding themselves wage increases of 47% !!! whilst pocketing as much as a Million quid in "Expenses" {tax free expenses that is}. A Million quid, Tax Free !!! You just can't trust the B*stards... No wonder they are afraid about people taking to the streets... Don't they think these things would p*ss us off They aren't laying down about it in Ireland... 120,000 take to the streets !!! Just a matter of time before it happens in the UK, but... Be careful, they are watching you... Looks like it'll be a tough few years for most folks, but not for those with "second houses" or public expense accounts.

It was the new manager syndrome that I was banking on, mind you they'd already shown that the week before, so even 4/1 for the ht/ft thing looked good to me, best I could get round here, but I'm hissed off that I could have got 13/2. Other than that, I'm making steady progress in the Naps Comp, from 20th or so a few weeks back to 7th is it now, even though The Falcon is trying to psyche me out, but he who laughs last and all that...

I'm still a few quid down on the week, but it was sink or swim by 3pm, I'd have been in the shyte if Caley hadn't done the ht/ft thing for me. If it hadn't have been for the hole in the wall I'd would have been short of readies, as I am now, until the bleeder pays me on Monday. The dint waste any time banking the 2,100 quid I lost on Friday night, obviously Bookies don't expect to be paying much out, all they keep is a 1,000 quid float...

Damn, damn, damn, I've been robbed twice then hey, I went to the Bookies to get me money and the ***** offered me a cheque !!! what use is that to me, I've no bank ore here to pay it into. To add to my chagrin it's the same Bookie who I dropped 2,100 quid to on that Wigin Rugby game, and 100 quid EW on that horse that's still running... I asked him where "my money" was, the cash I gave him last night, he said they'd banked it, the b*stards, said they have a policy of not keeping more than a grand in the shop. Fair enough but they could get another shop to send cash round, Hills do that... Anyway, I got me money back, just about broke even over the last two days, well I will be level when they pay me on Monday, FFS... at least I'll no be tempted to have a bet on Sunday... To think that I could have got 13/2 though, what a sh*gger, best I could get ore here was the 4/1 on offer, and they had to phone that in before they take it, sigh... I fancied Caley today to pull that off, it was ore the odds, 'specially with the new manager syndrome, everything to play for, and how well they payed in the last game... wish I'd had more on, but I was short of readies after that Wigin fiasco...

When Madonna first moved to England she said she wanted to feel more English. She is now an unmarried, single mother with three kids all from different fathers. Job done !

Off to the Bookies now...

C'mon Ref, blow the fekkin' whistle, me nerves are frayed...

Weighed in !!! 2 bowt now !!! I'll eat me bleedin' hat if they can't hold on the now, just 15 minutes to go...

I'm on me knees here, the horse got beat, so it's sink or swim now on the Caley result, I'm up at ht with 600 quid on the ht/ft bet at 4/1, sweating me b*llocks off now hoping that they'll be able to keep Hibs out...

Well Gordon won't come unstuck because I'll tell you why Gordon will come unstuck Rod... Betting is a HARD game, even when you're backing certainties like Wigan RLFC @ 2/7 last night, you can easily come unstuck, but at least I have the choice of what I bet on, Gordon doesn't. No matter what rotten cards are dealt him he has to back them, if he doesn't he has to walk away from the table. On average Gordon's Gambles are a Billion times what I bet, yet if he comes unstuck it's not his money he's lost, and right now it's not just the Taxpayers either, it's every man, women and child in the UK, to the tune of 33,000 quid. Fact is, if we were measuring it on a Taxpayer base, it would be 100,000 quid per taxpayer, odd how the have moved the goal posts on that too, normally they'd talk of "so much per tax payer" but now that the numbers are becoming astronomical they say it's "so much per man woman and child" to drastically averaging the amount down. I don't mind going in up to me neck on a gamble, but I'd never dream of putting myself into debt for the next 20-30 years, add to that if I was daft enough to risk the gamble I'd want to pick my own cards rather than bet on those thrown at me. As the song says, there's a time when to hold 'em, and a time when to fold 'em, Gordon should have folded them, he simply don't have the money to throw at every lame duck.

Oh, No, the mobile's gorn off again, this time from me Irish mate, I told him about my bet last night and that I'd signed the pledge, but he says "you have to back Pasagai" {1:50 Newcastle},tells me how I'll get me money back. Just looked in the Racing Post and it's 14/1 so temptation in mind I'm off to the Toals Bookies. Seeing as how I'll be in the shop I'm taking the 4/1 against Caley for the ht/ft result, I reckon if they win today they'll go for it early...