I do not denigrate Scotland, the country of my birth and my forefathers.
Feckin hell, yet another ethnic nationalist! Who apart from you should give a toss where you or your forefathers were born? I'll take the opinion of the Polish mechanic who's chosen to make his life here over some expat bleating about his forefathers any day.
That's Mr Dickson told!
Cor, an almost instantaneous echo! Don't remember Stuart bleating about the land of his birth and forefathers.
Of course not! Stuart is a little ray of sunshine when he comes to the fate that will befall Scotland if it votes no.....I expect he can hear the ploughs and salt trucks revving their engines at this very moment.....
Ooh, you are touchy, harbouring a grudge over what someone said to you on the internet is...risible.
Do you want to have a wee chat with Malcolm, maybe?
I wouldn't presume to tell Malcolm what he should or shouldn't say, just as I wouldn't categorise all Unionists as whiny ethnic nationalists (hard as that is on here).
I know its naughty to average averages......but the average of those averages is 60:40.
No, just stupid in the context of taking data points over a 4 month period, as is using the term '60% of Scots'.
Not nearly as stupid as thinking 'visual evidence' is more accurate than polling data though, is it?
Ooh, you are touchy, harbouring a grudge over what someone said to you on the internet is...risible.
I didn't say 'visual evidence' is more accurate than polling data, just a LOT better* than your weedy anecdotes about seeing 4 No campaigners on your street or your 'contacts' at Project Fear.
*Correction, a whole SH!TLOAD better.
You think I'm the one being touchy? You do appear to be somewhat lacking in self-awareness. And lets be absolutely honest you seem to have very little idea about the true state of either campaign beyond your own wishful thinking.
Oh hold on your wrote a word in capitals, sorry that means you must be right after all.
@cathynewman: What if the queen says 'sorry Mr Salmond, but I'm just too busy.' #c4news asks who could be the next Queen of Scots? http://t.co/eagvVh8v2i
I cannot see the Ukranian military taking on the Russians in an organised way. They are too integrated with them, and are largely dependent on them for supplies.
I can see leakage of soldiers and light equipment to the Bandera-ites, but these are only strong in the areas already under control of the new parliament, I cannot see these taking back Crimea and the Donbass, or even the Odessa Oblast.
I can see a standoff developing with a few skirmishes, before new elections, and possibly a more federal Ukranian state as a precursor to formal seperation.
I do not think that the West Ukraine will get a lot of support from the EU, The Right Sector are worse than the Hungarian Jobbik, and this part of the country has more in common with the economy of africa, with incomes to match. It makes Romania look wealthy.
Galicia was a reasonably prosperous place when part of Austria, but it has fallen a long way behind the rest of europe.
Yes, the Maidan insurgents have overplayed their hand.
The faces of the New Ukrainian government remind me of those who engineered the military coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 - "The State Committee for the State of Emergency". Remember the shaking hands of Gennady Yanayev when announcing the coup on television?
A reminder of the events and the use to which Soviet tanks were put by the forces of Russian nationalism!
It is ironic to remember that the trigger which caused the coup was Gorbachev's plan to break up the Soviet Union and that it took place while he was holidaying at the USSR Presidential Dacha in the Crimea.
As Churchill so wisely said in 1939:
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
Labour has said it would not repeal any of the major school reforms introduced by Education Secretary Michael Gove if it wins the next general election.
It seems the hated Gove is doing a good job after all ...
The rising level of vitriol and abuse does seem to indicate a certain lack of confidence in reasoned argument, or the state of the polls
Only 200 days to go lads, then the recriminations can begin in earnest..
An almost perfect definition of bleaty whininess would be categorising bleating & whiny as examples of vitriolic abuse. Man up, your forefathers and land of your birth are ashamed.
Alliance Trust, the Dundee-based investment and savings business, is poised to become the next public company to warn that Scottish independence poses a risk to its business.
I cannot see the Ukranian military taking on the Russians in an organised way. They are too integrated with them, and are largely dependent on them for supplies.
I can see leakage of soldiers and light equipment to the Bandera-ites, but these are only strong in the areas already under control of the new parliament, I cannot see these taking back Crimea and the Donbass, or even the Odessa Oblast.
I can see a standoff developing with a few skirmishes, before new elections, and possibly a more federal Ukranian state as a precursor to formal seperation.
I do not think that the West Ukraine will get a lot of support from the EU, The Right Sector are worse than the Hungarian Jobbik, and this part of the country has more in common with the economy of africa, with incomes to match. It makes Romania look wealthy.
Galicia was a reasonably prosperous place when part of Austria, but it has fallen a long way behind the rest of europe.
Ukraine has its own arms industry that has been working hard to separate itself from Russia. They make amall arms, ammunition, tanks (which they exported hundreds of), armoured vehicles, artillery, jet engines, air to air missiles, spares
Alliance Trust, the Dundee-based investment and savings business, is poised to become the next public company to warn that Scottish independence poses a risk to its business.
For those not interested in Scottish indy - please ignore. For those who are - a couple more interesting (as almost always) pieces from Messrs Macwhirter and Bell, hidden behind Messrs Blairs, Mr Connery and Ms Hedderwick in today's Herald ...
I cannot see the Ukranian military taking on the Russians in an organised way. They are too integrated with them, and are largely dependent on them for supplies.
I can see leakage of soldiers and light equipment to the Bandera-ites, but these are only strong in the areas already under control of the new parliament, I cannot see these taking back Crimea and the Donbass, or even the Odessa Oblast.
I can see a standoff developing with a few skirmishes, before new elections, and possibly a more federal Ukranian state as a precursor to formal seperation.
I do not think that the West Ukraine will get a lot of support from the EU, The Right Sector are worse than the Hungarian Jobbik, and this part of the country has more in common with the economy of africa, with incomes to match. It makes Romania look wealthy.
Galicia was a reasonably prosperous place when part of Austria, but it has fallen a long way behind the rest of europe.
Yes, the Maidan insurgents have overplayed their hand.
The faces of the New Ukrainian government remind me of those who engineered the military coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 - "The State Committee for the State of Emergency". Remember the shaking hands of Gennady Yanayev when announcing the coup on television?
A reminder of the events and the use to which Soviet tanks were put by the forces of Russian nationalism!
It is ironic to remember that the trigger which caused the coup was Gorbachev's plan to break up the Soviet Union and that it took place while he was holidaying at the USSR Presidential Dacha in the Crimea.
As Churchill so wisely said in 1939:
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
I was staggered to see that one of the very first actions of the new Government in Kiev a couple of days ago was to repeal a law making Russian the second official state language of Ukraine.
If anything could be guaranteed to inflame opinion in the East and South of the country it was that action.
Alliance Trust, the Dundee-based investment and savings business, is poised to become the next public company to warn that Scottish independence poses a risk to its business.
The rising level of vitriol and abuse does seem to indicate a certain lack of confidence in reasoned argument, or the state of the polls
Only 200 days to go lads, then the recriminations can begin in earnest..
An almost perfect definition of bleaty whininess would be categorising bleating & whiny as examples of vitriolic abuse. Man up, your forefathers and land of your birth are ashamed.
Alliance Trust, the Dundee-based investment and savings business, is poised to become the next public company to warn that Scottish independence poses a risk to its business.
Firm says it cannot promise the full details of tax policies affecting its products till after indy, or such prior time as Scottish tax policies are confirmed. In other news, ursids defecate in amongst large ligneous plants, and HH the Pope turns out not to be a member of the Free Presbyterian Church.
The rising level of vitriol and abuse does seem to indicate a certain lack of confidence in reasoned argument, or the state of the polls
Only 200 days to go lads, then the recriminations can begin in earnest..
An almost perfect definition of bleaty whininess would be categorising bleating & whiny as examples of vitriolic abuse. Man up, your forefathers and land of your birth are ashamed.
Alliance Trust, the Dundee-based investment and savings business, is poised to become the next public company to warn that Scottish independence poses a risk to its business.
Firm says it cannot promise the full details of tax policies affecting its products till after indy, or such prior time as Scottish tax policies are confirmed. In other news, ursids defecate in amongst large ligneous plants, and HH the Pope turns out not to be a member of the Free Presbyterian Church.
I think we need to know whether this is Project Fear, Operation Dambuster or a joint initiative.
Another sign of their immaturity was the decision to overrule Julia Timoshenko's announced plans to travel to Moscow to open discussions on a negotiated solution to the crisis.
Interesting that Hague's first public announcement on arriving in Kiev was to urge the new Ukrainian Government and Moscow to enter into negotiation.
I cannot see the Ukranian military taking on the Russians in an organised way. They are too integrated with them, and are largely dependent on them for supplies.
I can see leakage of soldiers and light equipment to the Bandera-ites, but these are only strong in the areas already under control of the new parliament, I cannot see these taking back Crimea and the Donbass, or even the Odessa Oblast.
I can see a standoff developing with a few skirmishes, before new elections, and possibly a more federal Ukranian state as a precursor to formal seperation.
I do not think that the West Ukraine will get a lot of support from the EU, The Right Sector are worse than the Hungarian Jobbik, and this part of the country has more in common with the economy of africa, with incomes to match. It makes Romania look wealthy.
Galicia was a reasonably prosperous place when part of Austria, but it has fallen a long way behind the rest of europe.
Yes, the Maidan insurgents have overplayed their hand.
The faces of the New Ukrainian government remind me of those who engineered the military coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 - "The State Committee for the State of Emergency". Remember the shaking hands of Gennady Yanayev when announcing the coup on television?
A reminder of the events and the use to which Soviet tanks were put by the forces of Russian nationalism!
It is ironic to remember that the trigger which caused the coup was Gorbachev's plan to break up the Soviet Union and that it took place while he was holidaying at the USSR Presidential Dacha in the Crimea.
As Churchill so wisely said in 1939:
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
I was staggered to see that one of the very first actions of the new Government in Kiev a couple of days ago was to repeal a law making Russian the second official state language of Ukraine.
If anything could be guaranteed to inflame opinion in the East and South of the country it was that action.
In the absence of PB.com's "resident expert", here is the Sunday Telegraph's view of who will as opposed to who should win tonight's major Oscar awards:
One more thing, there are perceptible movements on the indyref Odds:
BetVictor have taken Yes out to 7/2 (from 3/1) I think, and made No a greater cert at 1/6 from 1/5.
Similar movement on 32Red: where No has drifted from 1/6 to 1/8.
Rumours of polls, big movey bets, or the Standard Life intervention?
Whatever the case there is now a big difference between, say, William Hill's 1/4 on No and 32Red's 1/8 on No, suggesting there may be VALUE in the former.
I would love to know how much has been traded with bookmakers at these prices.. 32REd are a minnow, they prob haven't taken more than a monkey
As I said to Stuart Dickosn the other day, I don't think you can read to much into Bookmakers moving their prices here.. it is a shallow market with oddscompilers guessing/moving their price on every bet
Betfair is the true market, if there is a big move in price you can see how much has traded.. since Wednesday it seems £13k has been traded (which means half that has been bet) and the price hasn't changed at all
2/9 No 9/2 Yes
Hills 1/4 is an arb, and as people make a living betting the right side of arbs, and bookies go skint laying them, the 1/4 is prob the wise bet if there is one
Mr. Putney, I'd be delighted if Magnussen won. Put a small sum on him at 50/1 (his then odds on Ladbrokes) before testing started. My reasoning was that Button was reportedly worried about having him as a team mate, and if the rumours about Mercedes' superiority were true he might stand a chance.
One more thing, there are perceptible movements on the indyref Odds:
BetVictor have taken Yes out to 7/2 (from 3/1) I think, and made No a greater cert at 1/6 from 1/5.
Similar movement on 32Red: where No has drifted from 1/6 to 1/8.
Rumours of polls, big movey bets, or the Standard Life intervention?
Whatever the case there is now a big difference between, say, William Hill's 1/4 on No and 32Red's 1/8 on No, suggesting there may be VALUE in the former.
I would love to know how much has been traded with bookmakers at these prices.. 32REd are a minnow, they prob haven't taken more than a monkey
As I said to Stuart Dickosn the other day, I don't think you can read to much into Bookmakers moving their prices here.. it is a shallow market with oddscompilers guessing/moving their price on every bet
The economic crisis in Ukraine (the real cause of recent events) means that the Ukranian armed forces cannot fight a conventional war, even if they had the will to do so. There are some arms factories and equipment, but the difference in scale and quality is such that anything other than armed militia war is not viable, and that would not regain the Crimea and East Ukraine, not least because a lot of the Ukranian equipment is either made or deployed there.
Fresh elections and a federal constitution that respects the rights of the Russian speakers and other minorities is the way out of this mess, for both parties.
Russia was more or less forced to intervene by the behaviour of the Bandera-ites, who did not abide by the agreement that resolved the Maidan square.
Bandera is a controversial figure, but for the Ukranian nationalists a hero, for the Russian, Polish and Jewish peoples is seen as a fascist criminal, and with good reason. Some of the 15 000 marchers at his birthday rally wore Nazi issued uniforms. The Russian description of the maidan protesters as fascist is not the political hyperbole of Owen Jones it is very much accurate.
I cannot see the Ukranian military taking on the Russians in an organised way. They are too integrated with them, and are largely dependent on them for supplies.
I can see leakage of soldiers and light equipment to the Bandera-ites, but these are only strong in the areas already under control of the new parliament, I cannot see these taking back Crimea and the Donbass, or even the Odessa Oblast.
I can see a standoff developing with a few skirmishes, before new elections, and possibly a more federal Ukranian state as a precursor to formal seperation.
I do not think that the West Ukraine will get a lot of support from the EU, The Right Sector are worse than the Hungarian Jobbik, and this part of the country has more in common with the economy of africa, with incomes to match. It makes Romania look wealthy.
Galicia was a reasonably prosperous place when part of Austria, but it has fallen a long way behind the rest of europe.
Ukraine has its own arms industry that has been working hard to separate itself from Russia. They make amall arms, ammunition, tanks (which they exported hundreds of), armoured vehicles, artillery, jet engines, air to air missiles, spares
During the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, Soviet Russian soldiers posted to occupy Hungary were known to the locals as "дайте [мне ваш наручные] часы" or as we might say "give me your wristwatch".
It was an assertion of superior Hungarian worldliness, even under the suppression of occupation, to wear and understand the function of a wristwatch.
About 2,000 people gathered for a public rally in front of the regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk Sunday afternoon.
Participants in the action were waving the flags of the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union and several public organizations, including the Russky Bloc party that represents the interests of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions.
As speakers took the floor one by one to address the crowd of fellow-fighters for the rights of Ukraine’s Russians-speaking population, a woman activist came out with a proposal to take the territory of the highly industrialized region under control of the people living there.
“I am Russia and I’ve lived my whole life here and have always spoken Russian,” the activist said. “Some circles are trying to impose alien rules on us today but Donbass (meaning the Donetsk Coal Fields as the region is widely known across the former USSR - Itar-Tass) has always been a Russian region.”
The meeting took a decision to resolve the issue of the region’s future in a local referendum and a sign-in campaign was launched for this purpose.
Square Root [8.39am] I don't want to upset you, but the Labour Party hasn't been socialist in government since about 1976. And most socialists (admittedly an endangered species nowadays) wouldn't touch Labour membership with a bargepole. How do you tell a hard-line Tory? By their use of the S-word!
Sure:
1976 - IMF called in and imposes their views on recalcitrant Labour 1997-2007 - Blair: perhaps not archetypal Labour. But did renationalise the railways 2007-10 - Brown: nationalised several banks, increased taxes on the highest earners, etc
So: the only time Labour had completely free will they were pretty leftwing in their actions...
I cannot see the Ukranian military taking on the Russians in an organised way. They are too integrated with them, and are largely dependent on them for supplies.
I can see leakage of soldiers and light equipment to the Bandera-ites, but these are only strong in the areas already under control of the new parliament, I cannot see these taking back Crimea and the Donbass, or even the Odessa Oblast.
I can see a standoff developing with a few skirmishes, before new elections, and possibly a more federal Ukranian state as a precursor to formal seperation.
I do not think that the West Ukraine will get a lot of support from the EU, The Right Sector are worse than the Hungarian Jobbik, and this part of the country has more in common with the economy of africa, with incomes to match. It makes Romania look wealthy.
Galicia was a reasonably prosperous place when part of Austria, but it has fallen a long way behind the rest of europe.
Yes, the Maidan insurgents have overplayed their hand.
The faces of the New Ukrainian government remind me of those who engineered the military coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 - "The State Committee for the State of Emergency". Remember the shaking hands of Gennady Yanayev when announcing the coup on television?
A reminder of the events and the use to which Soviet tanks were put by the forces of Russian nationalism!
It is ironic to remember that the trigger which caused the coup was Gorbachev's plan to break up the Soviet Union and that it took place while he was holidaying at the USSR Presidential Dacha in the Crimea.
As Churchill so wisely said in 1939:
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
I was staggered to see that one of the very first actions of the new Government in Kiev a couple of days ago was to repeal a law making Russian the second official state language of Ukraine.
If anything could be guaranteed to inflame opinion in the East and South of the country it was that action.
Moronic and suicidal. /
Maybe, that is exactly what they want. Ukraine is , after all, a made-up country. The eastern side is predominantly Russian, the western part was once part of Poland.
Square Root [8.39am] I don't want to upset you, but the Labour Party hasn't been socialist in government since about 1976. And most socialists (admittedly an endangered species nowadays) wouldn't touch Labour membership with a bargepole. How do you tell a hard-line Tory? By their use of the S-word!
Sure:
1976 - IMF called in and imposes their views on recalcitrant Labour 1997-2007 - Blair: perhaps not archetypal Labour. But did renationalise the railways 2007-10 - Brown: nationalised several banks, increased taxes on the highest earners, etc
So: the only time Labour had completely free will they were pretty leftwing in their actions...
Renationalise the railways?!? Surely only the track infrastructure - and only because the commercial company Railtrack screwed up big time so it had to be taken over by Network Rail. Rather like the East Coast passenger service more recently. And Network Rail is hardly nationalisation in the good old Attlean sense ...
I think not so much an independence referendum, but a referendum on transferring allegiance from an existing union to a less than democratic neighbouring superstate.
Now where else do we see that? and I do wonder whether she is willing to reveal whether she has taken legal advice on entry to the CIS? and whether she is expecting to keep currency union with the Kyivian auld enemy?
About 2,000 people gathered for a public rally in front of the regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk Sunday afternoon.
Participants in the action were waving the flags of the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union and several public organizations, including the Russky Bloc party that represents the interests of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions.
As speakers took the floor one by one to address the crowd of fellow-fighters for the rights of Ukraine’s Russians-speaking population, a woman activist came out with a proposal to take the territory of the highly industrialized region under control of the people living there.
“I am Russia and I’ve lived my whole life here and have always spoken Russian,” the activist said. “Some circles are trying to impose alien rules on us today but Donbass (meaning the Donetsk Coal Fields as the region is widely known across the former USSR - Itar-Tass) has always been a Russian region.”
The meeting took a decision to resolve the issue of the region’s future in a local referendum and a sign-in campaign was launched for this purpose.
Square Root [8.39am] I don't want to upset you, but the Labour Party hasn't been socialist in government since about 1976. And most socialists (admittedly an endangered species nowadays) wouldn't touch Labour membership with a bargepole. How do you tell a hard-line Tory? By their use of the S-word!
Sure:
1976 - IMF called in and imposes their views on recalcitrant Labour 1997-2007 - Blair: perhaps not archetypal Labour. But did renationalise the railways 2007-10 - Brown: nationalised several banks, increased taxes on the highest earners, etc
So: the only time Labour had completely free will they were pretty leftwing in their actions...
Renationalise the railways?!? Surely only the track infrastructure - and only because the commercial company Railtrack screwed up big time so it had to be taken over by Network Rail. Rather like the East Coast passenger service more recently. And Network Rail is hardly nationalisation in the good old Attlean sense ...
Square Root [8.39am] I don't want to upset you, but the Labour Party hasn't been socialist in government since about 1976. And most socialists (admittedly an endangered species nowadays) wouldn't touch Labour membership with a bargepole. How do you tell a hard-line Tory? By their use of the S-word!
Sure:
1976 - IMF called in and imposes their views on recalcitrant Labour 1997-2007 - Blair: perhaps not archetypal Labour. But did renationalise the railways 2007-10 - Brown: nationalised several banks, increased taxes on the highest earners, etc
So: the only time Labour had completely free will they were pretty leftwing in their actions...
Renationalise the railways?!? Surely only the track infrastructure - and only because the commercial company Railtrack screwed up big time so it had to be taken over by Network Rail. Rather like the East Coast passenger service more recently. And Network Rail is hardly nationalisation in the good old Attlean sense ...
But the railway should be taken over. It will be widely popular.
Square Root [8.39am] I don't want to upset you, but the Labour Party hasn't been socialist in government since about 1976. And most socialists (admittedly an endangered species nowadays) wouldn't touch Labour membership with a bargepole. How do you tell a hard-line Tory? By their use of the S-word!
Sure:
1976 - IMF called in and imposes their views on recalcitrant Labour 1997-2007 - Blair: perhaps not archetypal Labour. But did renationalise the railways 2007-10 - Brown: nationalised several banks, increased taxes on the highest earners, etc
So: the only time Labour had completely free will they were pretty leftwing in their actions...
Renationalise the railways?!? Surely only the track infrastructure - and only because the commercial company Railtrack screwed up big time so it had to be taken over by Network Rail. Rather like the East Coast passenger service more recently. And Network Rail is hardly nationalisation in the good old Attlean sense ...
Square Root [8.39am] I don't want to upset you, but the Labour Party hasn't been socialist in government since about 1976. And most socialists (admittedly an endangered species nowadays) wouldn't touch Labour membership with a bargepole. How do you tell a hard-line Tory? By their use of the S-word!
Sure:
1976 - IMF called in and imposes their views on recalcitrant Labour 1997-2007 - Blair: perhaps not archetypal Labour. But did renationalise the railways 2007-10 - Brown: nationalised several banks, increased taxes on the highest earners, etc
So: the only time Labour had completely free will they were pretty leftwing in their actions...
Renationalise the railways?!? Surely only the track infrastructure - and only because the commercial company Railtrack screwed up big time so it had to be taken over by Network Rail. Rather like the East Coast passenger service more recently. And Network Rail is hardly nationalisation in the good old Attlean sense ...
But the railway should be taken over. It will be widely popular.
Not suggesting otherwise for a moment - I was just surprised that Mr Charles regarded the collapse of Railtrack as nationalisation in the more generally accepted sense.
An interesting piece in Modern Railways this month BTW suggesting that the DfT has been spinning stats to do down the nationalised (and profitable) East Coast operating company in its anxiety to get it back to the private sector.
Renationalise the railways?!? Surely only the track infrastructure - and only because the commercial company Railtrack screwed up big time so it had to be taken over by Network Rail. Rather like the East Coast passenger service more recently. And Network Rail is hardly nationalisation in the good old Attlean sense ...
But the railway should be taken over. It will be widely popular.
The current system is working well if you believe the study that showed that the UK's railway network was the second most popular in terms of satisfaction in Europe, and first amongst large networks.
It's easy to get fixated on whether it should be nationalised or privatised, or a combination. What we need is what works, and sadly that is where the idiotic my-ideology-only get in the way.
Not that I'm against renationlisation per se; but that is just one option amongst many, and it would be disastrous to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's all too easy to forget just how bad BR was. (Or alternatively, how well it did with the limited money granted by central government).
Comments
Oh hold on your wrote a word in capitals, sorry that means you must be right after all.
The faces of the New Ukrainian government remind me of those who engineered the military coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 - "The State Committee for the State of Emergency". Remember the shaking hands of Gennady Yanayev when announcing the coup on television?
A reminder of the events and the use to which Soviet tanks were put by the forces of Russian nationalism!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KRTPh1PAek
It is ironic to remember that the trigger which caused the coup was Gorbachev's plan to break up the Soviet Union and that it took place while he was holidaying at the USSR Presidential Dacha in the Crimea.
As Churchill so wisely said in 1939:
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
cretin, liar, bleating and whiny
The rising level of vitriol and abuse does seem to indicate a certain lack of confidence in reasoned argument, or the state of the polls
Only 200 days to go lads, then the recriminations can begin in earnest..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26405714
Man up, your forefathers and land of your birth are ashamed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10670411/Scottish-independence-Alliance-Trust-to-warn-of-risk.html
http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/forget-the-dam-busters-iscotland-would-be-oil-rich-and-creditworthy-even-without-.23565915
http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/a-little-more-conversation-a-lot-less-friction.23554892
If anything could be guaranteed to inflame opinion in the East and South of the country it was that action.
Moronic and suicidal. /
;-)
Interesting that Hague's first public announcement on arriving in Kiev was to urge the new Ukrainian Government and Moscow to enter into negotiation.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/oscars/10665111/Oscar-predictions-who-will-win-who-should-win.html
As I said to Stuart Dickosn the other day, I don't think you can read to much into Bookmakers moving their prices here.. it is a shallow market with oddscompilers guessing/moving their price on every bet
Betfair is the true market, if there is a big move in price you can see how much has traded.. since Wednesday it seems £13k has been traded (which means half that has been bet) and the price hasn't changed at all
2/9 No
9/2 Yes
Hills 1/4 is an arb, and as people make a living betting the right side of arbs, and bookies go skint laying them, the 1/4 is prob the wise bet if there is one
32Red may have only taken a monkey at 1/8 but the monkey is probably 12.5 times the value of the firm's balance sheet.
We live in dangerous times.
Fresh elections and a federal constitution that respects the rights of the Russian speakers and other minorities is the way out of this mess, for both parties.
Russia was more or less forced to intervene by the behaviour of the Bandera-ites, who did not abide by the agreement that resolved the Maidan square.
Bandera is a controversial figure, but for the Ukranian nationalists a hero, for the Russian, Polish and Jewish peoples is seen as a fascist criminal, and with good reason. Some of the 15 000 marchers at his birthday rally wore Nazi issued uniforms. The Russian description of the maidan protesters as fascist is not the political hyperbole of Owen Jones it is very much accurate.
http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/15000-people-attend-march-ukraine.html
http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/elizapalmer
It was an assertion of superior Hungarian worldliness, even under the suppression of occupation, to wear and understand the function of a wristwatch.
About 2,000 people gathered for a public rally in front of the regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk Sunday afternoon.
Participants in the action were waving the flags of the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union and several public organizations, including the Russky Bloc party that represents the interests of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions.
As speakers took the floor one by one to address the crowd of fellow-fighters for the rights of Ukraine’s Russians-speaking population, a woman activist came out with a proposal to take the territory of the highly industrialized region under control of the people living there.
“I am Russia and I’ve lived my whole life here and have always spoken Russian,” the activist said. “Some circles are trying to impose alien rules on us today but Donbass (meaning the Donetsk Coal Fields as the region is widely known across the former USSR - Itar-Tass) has always been a Russian region.”
The meeting took a decision to resolve the issue of the region’s future in a local referendum and a sign-in campaign was launched for this purpose.
An independence referendum? Oh eck.
1976 - IMF called in and imposes their views on recalcitrant Labour
1997-2007 - Blair: perhaps not archetypal Labour. But did renationalise the railways
2007-10 - Brown: nationalised several banks, increased taxes on the highest earners, etc
So: the only time Labour had completely free will they were pretty leftwing in their actions...
Now where else do we see that? and I do wonder whether she is willing to reveal whether she has taken legal advice on entry to the CIS? and whether she is expecting to keep currency union with the Kyivian auld enemy?
An interesting piece in Modern Railways this month BTW suggesting that the DfT has been spinning stats to do down the nationalised (and profitable) East Coast operating company in its anxiety to get it back to the private sector.
yup, more or less marking it out
http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/uk-ranked-second-in-european-passenger-survey
It's easy to get fixated on whether it should be nationalised or privatised, or a combination. What we need is what works, and sadly that is where the idiotic my-ideology-only get in the way.
Not that I'm against renationlisation per se; but that is just one option amongst many, and it would be disastrous to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's all too easy to forget just how bad BR was. (Or alternatively, how well it did with the limited money granted by central government).
I wonder, if the Russian border does extend that far west, would Transnistria in Moldova seek to join Russia?