Laurence

I agree with what you say in its entirety

In addittion ther as been an abnormal search fo success by the top two clubs. The wages paid have been way out of line with income

I would love to see a salery cap, similar to the NFL in the USA

If that means the top players ( did they get top players ?) may sign elsewhere then so be it.

In the old days there was drift to England anyway, even when players all got paid the same, Scottish footballers like Dave McKay ( Spurs )

dominated English football, why not now? I wonder

Wont all the clubs, SPL and SFL have a vote each in what set up the leagues will be changed too, think that will be enough to ensure new rangers dont get into the top league next season.

I wish I could believe that........I really do....but I'm afraid I don't.

<rant mode on>

After all, why would any punter expect that an SFA which permitted the OF to organise and implement a breakaway SPL, specifically to finance their ambitions to dominate Scottish football and earn a lot of money forever, and who is watching what is going on now, believe that the OF schmoozing mindset had changed?

Why would any punter assume that an SFA, which not only allowed the OF to set up the SPL, but allowed them to set it up so the OF alone were in control of all income engendered through the media, to ensure those two clubs took the lion's share, and who is watching what is going on now, believe that the OF schmoozing mindset had changed?

Let's be honest here...all the other teams involved in the SPL were deliberately, due to the division of income, designed to be the OF whipping boys....with little other purpose than to provide them with teams to beat to top the SPL table and get into the lucrative European market. It wasn't the removal of Oldco which placed the SPL clubs in a difficult position...it was the greed of those who originally agreed to form the SPL at their invitation in the first place which did that.

Why would any punter who has watched the whole fiasco over the last six months since Oldco went into administration (and who could see this coming at some stage) logically assume that anything in the mindset of the football hierarchy, cares one toss about the prestige of Scottish Football, but are emulating our idiot bankers as in the idea that what we can make out of it for ourselves is more important than having any vestige of integrity?

I have been sickened by the Scottish Football hierarchy and members of all three branches who had to be forced by fans to do what was right and not what was expedient to maintain their own jobs and their own teams, regardless of the laughing stock it made of the second oldest national Football Association in the world.

I'd like to see us getting back to the pre-SPL days, as I kinda preferred it when we had no such fecking thing as an elite league...because we knew there were/are not 10 or 12 clubs so good as to be considered elite.....and you can't form a league out of basically two flaming teams buying success and 8 or 10 other teams making up the whipping dog numbers and call it elite...because it has proven that it is not.

Have the other participants in the SPL been happy, really, to be the bit part players in the OF roadshow in the past, while knowing that, due to their own participation in the SPL, they were simply allowing the OF to increase their dominance of the league and Scottish football.......or did the increased income compensate for the fact that, instead of fighting for top place in a fair and equitable league, most teams outside the OF have been fighting all their SPL lives not to be chucked out of the lucrative machine?

<rant mode off.....for the moment>

Anyway if you come from Perth it is a far longer day for you.

Laurence

You want to try it from Coventry

Way I'm going on this site I will get sent to Coventry

Nice place actually I love the Cathedral

Your missing everything Laurence. Get into Inverness at 12:15. Go for lunch. Meet people in pub for chat and a pint or two. Walk out to stadium. Watch game. Walk back to pub to analize what we've seen then get train at 18:40. Its a leisurely, enjoyable day at the footie.

Hi Alex

Thanks for that - I am not a great drinker - with no prostate it goes right through me. But I can have one , Three I am in agony

Which pub do you suggest ? - I can walk if my knees allow it, so not too much of a problem ,

Anyway if you come from Perth it is a far longer day for you.

Laurence

Out of all the examples of potential additional costs which my business may incur, I have to say that this is not siting near the top. Of course, the additional costs which independence may bring may actually be offset by lower taxation (though neither side has yet provided any robust figures to provide certainty regarding the fiscal position for an independent country).

As we are talking about the Royal Mail, all that I would say is that under the current public system things are not exactly rosy. As a company, we now do not rely upon the Royal Mail for important deliveries (other than Special Mail) as we are finding that too many letters and packages are going missing.

In any event for most businesses, the volume of mail in reducing and this is the root cause behind all the issues with reducing incomes and out dated methods of sorting, etc putting pressure on the ability to balance the books. In reality, irrespective of independence, the Royal Main will have to change to reflect the changing pattern of work. I somehow don't see independence impacting on this fact in any real way.

After 14 years of shipping using Royal mail I can count on the fingers of one hand the missing deliveries to the UK or anywhere else.

Lower taxation will not happen.

There are 5 million people in Scotland, about 2 million pay Income tax, many of those will pay tax to an English office because their income is generated there, i.e. pensions,

There is no way that 2 million tax payers can finance the budget.

At the moment Scotland get a big fat cheque each year from Whitehall. That is why Scotland can provide services over and above those provided to the English people. That cheque will not arrive after a yes vote goes through.

At the moment the Scottish government is only a glorified County council. It is far more expensive to run the full machinery of government, Scotland will have to be represented in every capital city throughout the world. The salary costs involved in that aspect alone will be enormous. A foreign office will have to be set up, car registration, now done in Wales, will have to be set up. The machinery of tax collection will have to be set up. Banking services , financial services , similar to London will be required. Running a government a proper government will not be easy/

In Southern Ireland I am told wages for public servants like Policemen, Firemen, teaches, are all under what people get paid in the UK

Many of the British military basis throughout Scotland under threat whilst in the UK , will be closed . The British government are not going to worry about Scottish jobs , if their own people need them in Belfast for instance, Military regiments Emperor Salmond has made a big thing about saving, will disappear, if Salmond has to pay the bill. So don't make me laugh with these silly Salmond arguments. The other day Jo Lamont asked Nicola Sturgeon, why was she supporting independence in the Assembly ' The answer was no more illegal wars. How pathetic. If that’s the best she can come up with.

Why the scaremongering any way, If the Royal Mail is sold off and the business of sending letters, and goods to each other ends, then its the same for everyone. Think of all your competitors in England and Wales who are slashing their wrists right now as all they can think off is this air mail fee they will have to pay for their books to be sent over the border. Time to dominate the scottish market my dear man, concentrate on the opportunities that no Royal Mail will deliver ( no pun intended ).

Independence may be the pot of gold you have been waiting on. If it were to ever happen, it will create countless opportunities for people living in Scotland, as all those British companies based elsewhere in the UK will just not have a business or any trade left in Scotland, you could be the new big fish. I can just see it, your new book, Scamazon - how I made my millions, by Laurence

Can a pro separationist not keep saying "scaremongering"

It really grates and it is insulting, to people who are themselves scared of home rule .

It's one of Emperor Salmonds witless battle crys adopted by his cronies to quell arguments, nothing else.

I heard it on TV the other day when an eminent former general of the armed forces , with no axe to grind, was putting a point of view about terrorism and the oil fields. He was defining the role of a new Scottish government, and how the oil fields would have to be kept secure by the navy, and Scotland would be responsible. The only argument against him was the cry of "scaremongering". Not good eneough. The yes campaign have no rational arguments , except the selfish one of grabbing oil revenue. How the yes campaing would cry if the oil was off the English coast, and the English applied for Independence.

Incidently it won't be the same for everyone. Mail order for an Englis seller will atract shipping at a much lower cost, if the letter , or parcel is sent to England. The same parcel coming to Engand from Scotland will be at airmail Eurpean rates. So the book from a scottish seller will be more expensive. So the English buyer will pick the English seller. I lose a sale. Unless of course I take a loss on the price.

Mammoth.

What are you talking about? I never mentioned where she was born? And she is famous, so that hardly counts either. But she's an intellectual lightweight. If that's the 'hand she's been dealt with' then stick to chick-lit and chat shows. She's personable enough but I want our country's leaders to be giants.

She fits in very well with the Camerons, Johnsons, Blairs, Cleggs and Millibands of this world. Where's the drive behind her? Where's the original thought? Where's the economic depth?

We've settled for mediocrity and photo-passable politicians for far too long. I find it madness we have Osborne as the Chancellor in a government with Ken Clarke and Vince Cable in it. Get rid of these poor excuses for pop stars and let's have some serious heavyweight minds.

You called her an idiot

I was trying in a nice way to explain she is the person she is because of the cards she has drawn in life

Just like you are the way you are

People are like computers "Garbage in Garbage out",

Be a bit more tolerant

Or end up like Victor Meldrew

Sorry if I've made you laugh Laurence but, living in Perth, I travel to matches in Inverness by train. I've seen trouble start and I've seen how quick the police appear. I've been held at Aviemore and at Pitlochry for an age awaiting the police because the conductor and driver have refused to move until the trouble makers were dealt with. The conductors may go and sit in their box but the police will have been notified and they will be at the next station stop.

Putting our differences apart , Please tell me how you get to the games on time, and how do you get home after an afternoon game.

When I tried to get to the match on Saturday. The timetable meant I was in Inverness well before the game , and caught a train back after 6.30 pm

Not very satisfactory so I used the car after that.

Maybe I'm missing something?

I will lose it in two ways

One because all my parcels to the rump UK will be more expensive

Two because my books will be more expensive to buy because Amazon ( my main website ) will ask the buyer to pay Airmail fees

Since the beginning of August I have sold 73 books - I have not checked how many are non Scotland but say at least 40 habve gone to England and wales , on current Royal mail rates I will have to pay over £2.00 more in shipping fees

This is based on the Royal Mail staying in Scotland.

If Independece scares the Royal Mail off or an Indepent carrier gets the Scottish contract I feel the amount will be nearer £200 a week , these are just ball park figures, Yes I am scared, it is like buying an ICT season ticket every two weeks. Remember I sell a lot more around Christmas.

name='starchief' timestamp='1344444096' post='346653']

Robert Peel, Pitt the Younger, William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, David Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill, Harold McMillan, Harold Wilson...err....Louise Moensch...I think not.

One more self-obsessed idiot gone. How about politicians with a bit of life experience? A bit of intellectual weight behind them? Not these professional poodles that have never known the stress of sacking or being sacked when it actually meant something.

You have to take the cards dealt you in life. Whether you are born in the Higlands , New York , Stratford ( East London) , Brighton , Pakistan, Alabama or wherever. You can't call somebody an idiot for not being famous or having a silver spoon in there Cow and gate at birth.

If you do you have a mamouth chip.

Run the stranger out of town syndrome , How very cowboyish

I won't need to employ my business skills if we don't get a rubbish yes vote.

Will I?

Getting back over £100 a week won't be easy.

What are these important issues other than pumping the parish water supply.

Medal table from INDIA 2010

India did well I am Amazed

http://en.wikipedia....mes_medal_table

Not sure again if the Northern Ireland guys could train over the border.

Well if burkas are allowed, why not balaclavas?!

Fantastic I knew somebody would find a suitable response - superp

Well done to the staff on the Main line I applaud them

But off on the branch lines around Glasgow late at night , I for one would not risk my neck challenging drunks on a train

I remember once I had been to a party in London, and I was well gone. I was travelling to Sussex on the last train from Charing Cross to Hastings - There were so many drunks on the train , although I was one of them, I was petrified with fear, for the safety of my wallet more than anything.

I went and hid in the loo , I missed my stop because I was asleep, ended up in a sleepy little village station, with nobody there , I rang the wife to cme and get get. Fell asleep on a bench , till the wife found me a couple of hours later. Drunks on trains in the South East of England are a nightmare. If the guard stopped the train, I am sure he would get beat up.

So The Industrial Estate next to the stadium will be Jam Packed with Celtic supporters cars on their visit

That's if anybody tells them parking is not allowed by the roadside

Surely one side of the road is OK

I park in the City Centre near the bus station and go in with my bus pass. I find getting out of the car park a nightmare.

Read my post you lot before shooting me down, this is a serious , if the Royal mail goes it will cost mail order business' like mine a lot of money. All mail from Scotland outside of Scotland and visa versa . will cost a lot more. Post Offices will close, and a lot of mail men will lose their jobs. If you buy from Amazon or any other mail order supplier in Engalnd you will pay a lot more and wait a lot longer. It is bad enough now if you mention the Higlands but because Scotland is in thee UK we get the parcels. Wait and see how this will change, my guess is a lot. Just because Salmond has brain washed you lot dosn't mean you can't think

post stuff abroad and to england and local adresses. Find they arrive on the same day usually, especially Danish and Scandanavian countries similar to Scotland, and it doesnt go by airmail. Post with the Royal Mail to Inverness is crap, used to work for a national company, and post from London and Edinburgh and Dundee to Inverness always took a day longer than to the rest of my team based around the Highlands.

Maybe it will be a good thing Royal Mail, UPS or German Post may be better. Never heard complaints about German Post and have relatives in Germany and Denmark.

I post 10 to 20 parcels aday

I know what I am talking about

I am talking about a loss of Income not speed

Once again the yes campaign put up a crap argument

Didn't realize that scaremongering was a business.

Though Canada is a good comparison, given how similar the countries are in terms of size, etc.

Scaremongering you are dead right I am scared of losing £100 a week. So you would be

Why is it every time the No campaign put up an argument the yes campaigners bawl "Scaremongering".. Change the record.?

Charles I was told after the firearms ban all the British gun clubs were closed down ( Including the one in the House of Commons)

The shooters I am also told now train in France

I think we did get a medal in the Clay shooting ( called traps or similar) catogory but I'am not sure.

Not sure again if the Northern Ireland guys could train over the border. added without comment.

Mind you I believe game hunting wild deer) is a National Sport in Scotland So somebody up here should be able to shoot

As someone who has a contract with Royal Mail which is worth over £12,000 a year, I am concerned on two counts

1) Is the proposed privitisation of the Royal Mail

I am told it may be bought by UPS or German Post

This may have serious consequences for the Highlands and other parts of Scotland because red vans covering many miles to deliver letters does not seem to be economical

Anyway as Royal Mail has a contract with the UK it may be hard for that aspect to change.

2) Indepenence - a yes vote will be very serious for users of the Royal mail

I have asked everybody ( I can ) how Royal Mail in Scotland will be affected

The best I can come up with is every bit of post to England Wales etc will be treated as overseas, and will have to go Airmail rates, even if you live in Gretna and are writing to Carlisle.

That is the best case scenario

If Royal leg it out of Scotland and it is privitised and sold off , Highland post will cease on a daily basis, maybe a weekly trip will follow. This is the case in Canada, which used to be Royal Mail.

The above may have an affect on the Post Offices throughout The Highlands, I don't know.

But it may

My mail order business needs a pick up at least 3 times a week. I could use UPS but that is very expensive -

Watch out you yes voters.

Anyway let us wish Louise the best in her new life in the USA

The spin off is a certain Labour gain

How can the poor guard enforce this rule?

The drunks will laugh off his atempts to stop them drinking

Quite simple. He or she will phone ahead to transport police who will board train at next stop.

Don't make me laugh Alex

I worked for 3 years as a manager on British Rail

The guard hides in his cabin too scared to come out

The Transport Police only turn out if there is a major crime.

And in any event at some sleepy higland station how many highland police do you think there are on duty.

It's a free railway at night, no guard has the bottle to confront the drunks or the smokers, I know from bitter experience.

check these out - Who would be a guard ?

http://article.wn.com/view/2012/07/09/WPCs_arrested_for_abusing_train_guard_while_drunk_as_they_tr/

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2012/01/20/north-wales-train-guard-hospitalised-after-attack-55578-30161006/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-170744/Safety-row-train-guards-strike.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1385273.stm

www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2012/06/04/train-guard-assaulted-at-starbeck-railway-station/

Scolympians at this Team GB thing in Englandshire have contributed into double figures of the gold medals. Funny how sport breaks down barriers, a lot of the sports people who train in England also represent other nations. Why do we seem to think that this would change if we seperate from the union. Will we chuck out all the "foreigners" that we have here in Scotland - I think not, and if they are born in Scotland the majority would represent Scotland. Think people completely underestimate what passion people have in being Scottish, as I rarely hear anyone Scottish who will ever call themselves British, unless they go to Castle Greyskull with the other Orcs.

The Parish Pump syndrome will never die!

Why is the little man always starts the bother, in the school yard or in the pub, the big guy just smiles.

Think about it ?

By The way I am told the correct terminology is not Independence but as defined by dictionary

Secession (derived from the Latin term secessio) is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals

When the South tried to leave the USA they were known as secessionists

also the Irish leaving the Union was known as secession also Northern Irland leaving the Free state after only one day was also called that too.

WE all had our teenage favourites mine was Marilyn 50 years since she died and she still makes the modern high rollers look 2nd rate

http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/08/03/13106983-marilyn-monroe-pop-culture-icon?lite

So you think she should leave her family just to stay on as an MP? The woman has a life outside politics and her husband lives and works in New York so she has decided thats where she wants to be. Good on her.

I never said that, I like her, so I will be sorry to see her go,

Good novelist too

What a goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will live long in the memory - Everybody at my fire station cheered that one .

In the Munich world cup I think, When England failed to qualify

If we had a proper Great Britain football team, I mean a proper one, Qualification would be a sinch

The Rugby lot have the British Lions which seems to work?

The Davis cup in Tennis as well