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Post by Yellow River on Jan 21, 2013 17:21:16 GMT
Been very lucky to have travelled a fair bit, impossible to choose just one place but a few highlights for me would be.....
Cities - Venice, Prague, Bangkok, Sydney, Vancouver, Chicago, Boston.
Paradise - Yasawa Islands Fiji.
People & Wildlife - Sri Lanka.
Temples - Angkor Wat Cambodia.
Scenery - New Zealand, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Vancouver Island.
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Post by Yellow River on Jan 19, 2013 7:20:27 GMT
Yesterday evening on the local new it reported that Brize Norton recorded 12 cms of snow (or in old money 5" )
I live in West Oxfordshire and that figure looked accurate.
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Post by Yellow River on Jan 18, 2013 7:43:17 GMT
Light dusting overnight here in deepest West Oxfordshire, now falling quite heavily.
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Post by Yellow River on Jan 15, 2013 15:11:48 GMT
I've been Best Man three times, fairly nervous the first time, however it certainly gets easier as you get older and more confident. a little bit of Dutch courage beforehand helps but don't over do it!
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 22, 2012 11:31:02 GMT
Oxford City's home match v Histon today has been postponed.
United's must be doubtful now.
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 21, 2012 10:00:17 GMT
Get a lorry load of sand delivered, and sign several 6ft plus midfielders?
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 21, 2012 9:57:03 GMT
With the pitch set to continue deteriorating over the next few weeks due to rugby and wet weather, will this influence the type of player who the mangement go for in January?
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 21, 2012 9:05:31 GMT
So Mickey Lewis critisises the pitch and rightly or wrongly blames the condition of it for the injury to Chapman, and the hoof-ball against Accrington in mid-week.
My question is this ; If the pitch continues to deteriorate, (which it probably will due to rugby being played on it and the wet weather we've been experiencing) will the club (regardless of who the manager is) find it harder to attract technically better quality footballers who would prefer to play on a decent pitch?
Or are players on the whole only interested in the money and not particularly worried about the state of the pitch and other facilities?
Even if Wilder goes at the end of the season and rugby continues at the Stadium can we expect route one hoof-ball from now on, and is so, will this cause a fall in attendances?
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 11, 2012 14:57:15 GMT
Thirteen English league clubs backing trial. •Aston Villa •Brentford •Bristol City •Burnley •Cardiff City •Crystal Palace •Derby County •Doncaster Rovers •Hull City •Peterborough United •Plymouth Argyle •Watford •AFC Wimbledon www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20679867
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 8, 2012 8:20:21 GMT
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 6, 2012 17:37:39 GMT
was about to start one for 2013 but theres not really much happening is there? There's lots happening! The Royal Baby for starters, important predictions such as.... Who's the father? Boy or a girl? Colour of hair? Weight at birth? (baby not Kate) Name if a boy? Name if a girl?
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 6, 2012 15:43:04 GMT
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 6, 2012 13:33:58 GMT
At the beginning of 2012 I started this thread and I posted these predictions, well here we are almost 12 months later, a chance to review.... SportSuccessful Olympics. a record haul of medals for Team GB. We came 3rd with only USA & China above us, fantastic effort from Team GB. Golf; Rory Mcllroy wins another major. USA PGA Winner, more majors to come surely.Europe win Ryder Cup. Unbelievable comback by the Europeans to win 8 out of the 12 singles on the last day at Medinah Tennis; Andy Murray wins a Grand Slam event Superb stuff from Murray this year, wins the US Open, as well as an Olympic Gold, also runner-up at Wimbledon and a Olympic silver medalist in the mixed doubles Cricket; Test series wins against WI & SA, drawn series against Pakistan & SL. Disappointing Test cricket year for England a win and a drawn series against WI & SL respectively, defeats against Pakistan and SA, currently however a great chance of a historic series win in India.Football; Euro2012 winners Spain, England semi finalists (go out on penalties) Most peoples favourites Spain are the Champions, England do go out on penalties but alas in the QF's.Manchester 1st & 2nd in Premier League. Hardly a brave prediction but nevertheless accurate!OUFC; Reach league 2 play-offs. Constable sold 'to balance books' Very disappointinmg end to the season as we miss out on the play-offs, Constable wanted by Bristol Rovers but offer doesn't meet OUFC's valuation.WeatherIt will be a BBQ summer. On dear!EuropeGreece defaults & leaves EU. Well they're still in the EU ...just, a default by any other name surely.A major bank run on a large French bank. Didn't happen, still think there'll be a major bank casualty before this finacial crisis is over.Riots across many parts of Europe, particularly bad in Greece, Spain, Italy & Portugal. Plenty of unrest and riots across Europe, don't think it's getting as much media coverage as it might due to Royal wedding, Olympics and other stuff at home.Germany & UK will form some sort of alliance. What was I thinking???Arab SpringArab spring will continue and spread across the Arab world with much loss of life. A bloody revolution emerges in Iran. Syria has a civil war on its hands, who knows what's going on in Iran?UKUnemployment soars to record levels. Down slightly, more people taking part time work, confounded by increase in the number of benefit claiments.Inflation continues to be above 2% target. Lastest figures 2.8%? even higher for necessities, - Food, Gas, Electric, Rentals, Clothing, Fuel.Wage rises stagnate & continue to be below inflation. Yes, we're all (well most of us) getting poorer.House prices continue to fall by between 5-10%. Closer to 2%, the fall is greater in real terms when inflation is taken into account.Inner city riots in summer of 2012, plastic bullets and water cannon will be in mainland UK. Summer evenings too cold and wet for riots Royal wedding & Olympics give the country an unexpected feel good factor.Coalition will hold together - just. Cameron will come under increased pressure from right wing of Tory party, Boris & David Davies will be seen as a major threat to his premiership. Europe as usual is the Tories achillies heel, there's no doubt that Boris is gaining in popularity, but PM material?Yvette Cooper become 1st leader of Labour Party (more likely in 2013) Ed Milliband has perfomed better than I thought he would, I now don't see a challnge from within his own party.There will be a series of Islamic terrorist attack in London. Thank goodness this prediction was 100% wrong.USAObama wins a 2nd term as President. Wins quite easily in the end, Romney didn't convince.I wonder what 2013 has in store for us?
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Post by Yellow River on Dec 1, 2012 11:49:22 GMT
1-1
United winning the replay after extra time.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 15, 2012 16:43:59 GMT
Crikey this story is a one big can of worms So we have Cameron saying that we mustn't have a witch hunt against gay people...... Philip Schofield to face disciplinary action..... Victim alleges that Liberal MP Cyril Smith abused him...... David Mellor calls children's home abuse victim a weirdo..... Former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis arrested in Saville abuse probe.... Where will all end?
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 15, 2012 12:15:08 GMT
Ainsley Harriott. Andrew Castle. David Dickinson. Krusty Allsop. Artem (from Strictly come Dancing) CJ (from Eggheads) Gary Barlow. Jim Beglin. Smug git (from Houses under the Hammer) John Bishop. That bloke called Lemon.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 8, 2012 17:40:19 GMT
ITV presenter Phillip Schofield has apologised after he handed David Cameron a list of Conservative politicians possibly involved in child sex abuse allegations that may have made the names identifiable to viewers.
Schofield made the blunder while handing the prime minister a list of names he had gathered from the internet on ITV1's This Morning on Thursday.
The prime minister declined to look at the list, warning that it could "turn into a sort of witch hunt, particularly against gay people".
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 6, 2012 11:35:50 GMT
Likes us??!!!! He f*cking HATES us man!! Or rather he did hate us until the halfwit got a taste of how the world actually worked about two years into his disasterously poor presidency. He spent the first year appeasing the Muslim world which failed spectacularly whilst treating our PM like a piece of shit. Jesus, does anybody actually pay any attention to world affairs (apart from LG who probably rightly cites Ford and Carter whose circumstances were admittedly significantly preferable to Obama's so it may be cruel to judge him on the awful mess he's made too harshly). Seriously though, do you people actually think he's done OK? Seriously? I think you must be on a different news feed to everybody else. The Obamas love Her Maj, and Cameron has even been on the campaign trail with Obama. but, but, but,....... Fox News says Obama is Bad and Romney is Good.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 6, 2012 11:30:21 GMT
I find the London housing market bemusing, and somewhat annoying. There are a ridiculous number of £1,000,000+ properties in and around central London. I saw a three bed apartment in St John's Wood on sale for £7 million the other week! I know that, as you say, most of these buyers are foreign, but who exactly are they? There can only be so many Saudi princes, Russian oligarchs and international financiers around. Whoever they are, money is usually no object. They see what they want and pay whatever they need to get it. It's just not a "normal" market and screws the whole property market for everyone. City of London money is much over-emphasised. The number of traders and executives getting massive bonuses is actually quite small, and the amounts involved put few of them in the "anything at any price" bracket. Apparently there's quite a lot of Chinese money coming into London paying silly prices for property, also wealthy people taking their money out of Greece, Spain, Portugal and finding a temporary place for it in London. As you say skews the whole property market for the rest of us. High housing costs must make it very difficult for the average person who lives and works in london.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 6, 2012 11:17:12 GMT
I do believe in the general premiss of buying British, I don't believe we are as loyal as other countries. I used to have a 10% rule, where if there was an equivalent British product within 10% I would buy that. I don't stick to it as much as I used to but I probably should go back to it. It applies to everything though, from fruit'n'veg to cars. Buying seasonal veg helps ensure its British. Hear hear We are absolutely rubbish in this respect. I always try and buy British if at all possible and it amazes me that most people don't even care. I try and support small local independent businesses if I can, local pub, shops, electrician, plumber etc. If you don't use it you'll lose it.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 6, 2012 11:08:36 GMT
Just out of interest I wonder who Cameron would prefer in The Whitehouse, Obama or Romney?
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 6, 2012 11:03:52 GMT
House prices continue to fall. House prices in the UK are dropping gently, according to figures from major mortgage lender Halifax.
Its latest monthly survey shows that prices fell by 0.7% in October, to an average of £158,426.
This left house prices 1.7% lower than they were a year ago.
The lender's housing economist, Martin Ellis, said most of that annual drop had taken place in the past few months and reflected the poor state of the economy this year.
"Signs of a modest deterioration in the trend in house prices continued in October," he said.
"Prices in the three months to October were 1.2% lower than in the preceding three months. This was the fifth successive decline in this measure of the underlying trend.www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20203378Fortunately for some, by their very nature national averages hide a wide range of stories and prices are not dropping everywhere across the country. Of course that's true, however not everyone lives in the SE of England (despite what the media might have you believe) I suspect that if you took London's foreign investment money out of these figures the average house price would be even lower.In similar vein, people have their own personal rates of inflation, dependent entirely on what they buy! Obviously not everyone's expenditure increases by the national rate. The national rate of inflation is about 2.5%, if you can live without food, clothing, heating , fuel then perhaps you might be able to live in line with the 'official inflation figure.As far as properties are concerned, it's all about supply and demand. I've no idea what the overall story is in MK, but in our enclave where big detached houses are still in short supply and sought after they are at least holding. Not just supply and demand, also available credit, and the amount of forbearance shown by the lender as people find it harder and harder to pay their mortgage despite record low interest rates. If the market was allowed (rightly or wrongly) to run its natural course without Government/Bank of England interference then prices would fall even further.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 6, 2012 10:26:07 GMT
According to the Halifax stats average house prices were at their peak Aug '07 @ just under 200K, 5 years later and the latest figures are 159K. I can see this trend continuing for at least the next 5 years, perhaps a reduction on average of 2% per year until prices are low enough to make them affordable to first time buyers. However another factor to take into account as to when prices become affordable is the ability of first time buyers to save for a deposit. With the costs for necessities (eg food, clothing, gas, electric, petrol) way above the 'official' inflation figures, and wages not rising at he same rate as these necessities. The average age of first time buyers is now 37 and rising. The Government/Bank of England is desperately trying to stop a collapse in house prices with a policy of little house building, and record low interest rates. And what will be the effect of the massive amounts of money printing that's going on in a few years time House prices continue to fall. House prices in the UK are dropping gently, according to figures from major mortgage lender Halifax.
Its latest monthly survey shows that prices fell by 0.7% in October, to an average of £158,426.
This left house prices 1.7% lower than they were a year ago.
The lender's housing economist, Martin Ellis, said most of that annual drop had taken place in the past few months and reflected the poor state of the economy this year.
"Signs of a modest deterioration in the trend in house prices continued in October," he said.
"Prices in the three months to October were 1.2% lower than in the preceding three months. This was the fifth successive decline in this measure of the underlying trend.www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20203378
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 5, 2012 13:42:21 GMT
if your single and on normal wage you have no chance of getting on the property ladder . But that's no difference to yesteryear, My parents could only afford to buy as a couple in the very early '60's Why do people think they should be able to buy on their own? In the 1960s we had a good supply of different sized coucil houses for rent. Many people never considered buying their own house.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 5, 2012 11:55:53 GMT
According to the Halifax stats average house prices were at their peak Aug '07 @ just under 200K, 5 years later and the latest figures are 159K. I can see this trend continuing for at least the next 5 years, perhaps a reduction on average of 2% per year until prices are low enough to make them affordable to first time buyers. However another factor to take into account as to when prices become affordable is the ability of first time buyers to save for a deposit. With the costs for necessities (eg food, clothing, gas, electric, petrol) way above the 'official' inflation figures, and wages not rising at he same rate as these necessities. The average age of first time buyers is now 37 and rising. The Government/Bank of England is desperately trying to stop a collapse in house prices with a policy of little house building, and record low interest rates. And what will be the effect of the massive amounts of money printing that's going on in a few years time
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 5, 2012 10:28:07 GMT
MP Tom Watson's blog Worth a read....here'a small extract The hacking scandal was about the police failing to follow clear leads of wrongdoing by powerful people. They could do this because politicians turned a blind eye.
This is potentially worse. Some of those powerful people involved in a cover up may well have been – and could still be – powerful politicians.
I’m not going to let this drop despite warnings from people who should know that my personal safety is imperilled if I dig any deeper. It’s spooked me so much that I’ve kept a detailed log of all the allegations should anything happen. www.tom-watson.co.uk/2012/11/10-days-that-shook-my-world
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 2, 2012 15:29:23 GMT
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 2, 2012 13:00:04 GMT
Guido Fawkes' blog If the lawyers don’t spike it, tonight’s Newsnight could be pretty spectacularly explosive. Bureau of Investigative Journalism hack Iain Overton has been working on a major story that is currently being legalled. Iain Overton@iainoverton - tweeted If all goes well we've got a Newsnight out tonight about a very senior political figure who is a paedophile order-order.com/2012/11/02/explosive-newsnight-in-pipeline/
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 2, 2012 11:12:32 GMT
Some lenders are already offering 95% mortgages again, despite continuing uncertainty in the housing market. One thing is for certain - we never learn. but, but, but,........that nice man from the estate agents, you know the one with the shiney suit, gelled hair & a good helping of Brut 33, said that house prices doubled every 7 years. Free money.
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Post by Yellow River on Nov 2, 2012 10:25:03 GMT
Stick with 4-4-2
Team as before .
Changes ;- Cox in place of Chapman, Raynes replaces Mullins.
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