pap

Had quite a good day of it drinking wise. The only real mis-step was going to the Welkin, which was just full of people stuffing their faces. Stopped off at Flanagan's Apple for a bit, then headed up toward County Road. The Wetherspoons just by the ground was a good mix of home and away fans, decent banter. Walked back past Anfield, jumped a taxi and ended up in the Shiel, a place I have been meaning to visit for some time. Snoring on the couch by ten, though

Bit sh!te today. Was at the game, so obviously cannot comment until the big boys of the media have their say, but it honestly looked like we lacked any sort of "score strategy". Until we work that out, think we're going to struggle.

Now in Thomas Frost Wetherspoons on County Road. Good mix of hone and away fans.

In the Welkin ATM, but it's sh!t. Flanagan's Apple next (Mathew St)

Sounds great in theory, but the sh!t really needs to hit the fan before people start to truly consider socialism as a means of repairing society. We've seen this before. Rebuilding after the second world war, the New Deal in depression hit America. In both cases, socialist principles were used to get societies out of the mire. Voter apathy is nothing new. I think the attitude that all politicians are smarmy careerists is a relatively new conceit, but see enough Parliaments and you start to realise that it's the same dog and pony show, although with different coloured ties and slightly different crazy plans ( Labour: invade Iraq, Tories: privatise NHS ). Irrespective of who we vote for, we all get to experience the detachment from our politicians when they get elected, and then do pretty much whatever the Chief Whip tells them to. Life, as we live it, is little more than a well designed distraction. Most people are the bipedal equivalent of sharks; have to keep swimming to breathe. We don't a great deal of time between swims, and when we do, we're more likely to have some fun for ourselves than ponder all the different ways we're being greased up and put over a barrel. Yet, to continue the shark analogy, we're still swimming, still breathing and it's only when enough people can't do either that you'll truly see proper scrutiny of the inherent inequalities of society. Wealth redistribution between rich and poor is inevitable. You only need to look at history to see that the "have nots" frequently turn over the "haves" when the differences between them get too stark. It normally ends in violence. I suppose the real question is whether we have the wit to buck the trend and deliver fairness without a bloody revolution.

Right, heading into town in about an hour. Any word on pubs?

The missus just rang me from TESCOS and said the magic words "Do you want FIFA?". Yup, initial impressions are good too. I like the new training modes, and I've just given Pompey a nice hammering. I very much like the way Pompey programmed themselves into League One with crap players! Ramirez is class from initial impressions. Just had a go on the live fixture mode. Obviously it's all an iteration on last year's game, which I own, but very impressed so far.

I agree. I really loike the Sf'ampton accent. Really.

Southampton, although I can go posh when I need to.

The Lib Dems are onto something with Mansion Tax in that it is not easily avoidable. Shame it's them that are proposing it, really. Land tax would be better. For starters, I think it's introduction would suddenly free up a load of land that people like owning now, but would be less attractive under a taxed system.

Sons of Anarchy rolls on with perhaps its most important episode yet, in terms of the overall direction of the show. Major character death this week, and it was not very fun to watch. Will inform the rest of the series. Sh!t just got real ( or at least, slightly less ridiculous than normal ).

I would second ZepSaint's welcome to the Muppet Show, although I should point out that most of my politics lessons take place over at The Lounge New Academy for Troubled Tories. I waffle on incessantly, but I suspect it's in one ear and out the other with most of them. I do like trousers though. If there were ever an "adopt a right winger" program in SaintsWeb, he'd certainly be my choice.

Do you think that the police get involved every time someone doesn't pay a bill or deliver goods? I would be interesting in hearing JackFrost's assessment of how seriously the old bill are going to pursue this £150 miscarraige of justice.

What is your evidence that a crime has been committed? They will want to know.

The problem with the "hide in changing room" plan is that you have to get in there in the first place. The girls who work there are very bored. Counting three items all day can be very onerous, so they are bang on any attempts for a bloke to sneak in there. To do as you suggest, I'd almost need to go dressed as a girl. That has all sorts of complications. Adam's apple for a start. Is that how one goes about the hide in changing room thing?

Soz. Should have replied to this earlier. Thanks. Investigations are great, although this one is not the hardest to solve. Out of interest, hypo - what were you paying £150 for?

Hmm. The depressing spectre of tactical voting. Voting because you dislike someone or simply want to pick a winner, rather than out of any genuine conviction. I'm not sure how big a factor tactical voting is. I know that the local Labour lot implored people not to vote Lib Dem so we'd keep the Tories out of Government. Not really onboard with the concept myself. I love the way you leave bits out Lord D, because it really does make your points so easy to dismantle. You are of course, referring to the 2009 MEP elections, in which UKIP managed to get 3rd place on the back of a massive protest vote. Oh, and about half as many people turned out. Looked brilliant when it was just a one-liner though.

I'm not really arguing that, TDD. You made the point that our present arrangements might be a window into how PR might look. Under PR, the Lib Dems would be in a much stronger negotiating position, as they'd technically represent far more people. The disproportionate proliferation of Lib Dem policies depends largely at which numbers you look at. If you look at the 57 seats, yeah, it does look like they've got a lot through. If you consider they got 6.7M votes out of the 29M that were cast, it looks like a poor return.

Not really the same thing. If the last election had been decided in a reasonably true proportional sense, the Lib Dems would have over 152 MPs to the Tories 228. http://frigsociety.com/2012/07/12/popularity-contest/ As it was, the Lib Dems got 57 seats. The Tories got 307.

I'm watching the press conference at the moment. There's a bit in the interview where a reporter says "this time last week you were getting sacked...". NA turned on him pretty quick. Reminiscent of Fergie. Get in there Nige! Anyway, ahem, Everton vs Southampton. I'm not going there to watch us lose. That may happen, but got to have a bit of faith. Plus there are genuine reasons to be cheerful. Both strikers off the mark. I know that Jay Rod's goal was against Sheff Wed, but he'd score that goal against most teams - movement and speed were that good. His movement was good all game. Rickie is going to be in his element up there, and his goal against Villa last week was delicious. I've been a Saints fan long enough to know that Goodison is not a happy hunting ground. Everton are normally kryptonite to us and they're probably spoiling to give someone a hiding after getting done by Leeds. We lost 4-1 last time I went. Will probably lose again, but we've got a few surprise packages, such as Ramirez and Lambert (he is a surprise to most of these players), that could make the difference.

I hope Zeppy wasn't too broken up by my vicious attack. It was meant only in jest, and you're right - we should be getting more people to post. One thing though, how come it is okay for Zeppy to lurk on this forum and NOT OK for me to lurk outside the Selfridges changing rooms?

And a good job that you're a lurker too, if this post is anything to go by! What's with all the full-stops? Do you suffer from a specific form of narcolepsy that has you briefly napping on the full-stop key? Mods, I'm outraged. I want my money back.

I once interviewed a chap who had a different last name to the one on his CV. "Er, we thought your surname was Carter". "Yeah, I had a row with my Dad so I changed it". He didn't get the job.

Arf! This your defence, Lord D? F**king plebby, if you ask me. Do what your masters tell you and learn your place! Brown was a nob though. No denying it.