TopGun

Love the part about Portpin not wanting to buy the club until the big wage earners are removed. Classic catch 22 for Pompey. How much longer can TB drag this farce out?

Love it.

The total transfer money available will be dependent on the contracts agreed with the first couple of signings. If Rodrigez agrees personal terms that substantially reduces his salary if Saints are relegated this season then that allows more flexibility with the current transfer budget which could be balanced by parachute payments.

Not for me. Sends all the wrong signals. I'm sure Adkins is laughing his head off at the Daily Mail.

Do we need aircraft carriers? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18237029

I don't wear branded trainers. Just good quality ones.

And presumably you think that England has a trade surplus...

Do we need carriers or are they a red herring? Future long-flying UAVs with payloads, attack subs and effective air defence on destroyers such as the T45 might be enough for most scenarios. Aerial dog fights seem a bit WWII blighty. We're in a perfectly capable position, for example, to deter Argentina from attacking the Falklands with an attack sub, a T45 destroyer and six typhoons at Port Stanley. I'd argue that there isn't enough redundancy within those very capable forces to replace them if things went wrong - say a T45 got sunk. We'd possibly be better off spending the carrier and RN F-35 money on additional attack subs with cruise missile capability, T45s, typhoons and UAVs.

Good analysis and explanation.

Spot on Buctootim. Scotland has huge renewable energy potential and already exports wind generated electricity to England now. When tidal and wave becomes commercially viable, which it will within 10 years, Scotland will be very well placed. England would stand to benefit from this also though as it's likely that Scottish electricity exports to the continent via planned interconnectors would be transmitted through England before offshoring. Additionally, evolving technology will also mean that the oil and gas reserves surrounding Scotland that are currently non-economically viable to extract will offer a short term second fossil fuel boom (though probably not as big as the 1970s - 1990s).

I ran with the Commonwealth Games baton 10 years ago in Blackpool. Not quite Olympic, I grant you, but I handed it over to Cannon and Ball

All irrespective of being under a transfer embargo currently, so yet more drivel from the News.

Both Allen and Jordan Cross write endless streams of drivel. I'd imagine one will be for the chop soon enough as there's not enough L1 news each day for both of them to be there.

Perhaps I should have used the word "jaded".

Having binned three shirts today because they have got ragged about the collar and look a bit discoloured I'm interested to learn from other posters who have to wear formal work attire what shirt brands you prefer for smartness and longevity. I've tended to mix it about based on sales and opportunistic purchases but most of my shirts in recent years have come from M&S, simply because I hate shopping for clothes so don't go elsewhere much for such items. M&S shirts seem ok to me but not that great. The quality seems to differ quite a lot too. I have bought two shirts recently online from Charles Tyrwhitt which seem better quality but yet to discover how they last. For ease I normally wear single cuffs, but sometimes prefer double cuffs for an outbound client trip. Any tips for decent quality and formal style shirts?

Maybe BC is going to let his henchmen have a chat with Ben Haim and co...

"I will get my money back." BC. Leopards don't change their spots so I'm expecting all the flesh left on the carcass to be scraped clean and the bones ground up for animal fodder.

He's never added anything that has made a side successful. He just plays for himself. The point has been made a few times now.

Good to see we're all in agreement on this one!

Like the analogy.

Agreed. Waste of band width.

Except he can't sell the high earners on contracts any better than TB so will be loaded with them sucking money out for a year or more. The way I see it is: Option 1: Chainrai buys and operates the club on a shoestring in order to pick the carcass clean as quickly as possible before liquidating Option 2: The Trust somehow cobbles together enough coins to be accepted by TB and then goees into meltdown via infighting and no additional cash ending in liquidation Option 3: TB recognises the above outcomes and puts the animal down anyway

As anticipated, the election of Hollande has slowed work at the proposed EDF nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/14/hinkley-nuclear-power-station-delay

George Osborne demonstrates his people touch fantastically. One hopes he has talent elsewhere. As the OP I get first rights on John Redwood being a fish when he tried to sing the Welsh anthem as the Welsh Minister of State. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIwBvjoLyZc Any more classics?

This. Phil has the daft logistics spot on.