ADPT

And Salmond steps down as First Minister.

Coward.

Honourable thing to do, I think.

What, stir up a lot of hatred and then when he didn't get his way he's left the mess he created?

Really honourable.

He was the driving force behind the referendum. It was an election pledge if I recall. His political future was essentially going to be defined by the result. He lost so he had no option but to go really. That's why I think he did the right thing by resigning.

And Salmond steps down as First Minister.

Coward.

Honourable thing to do, I think.

I always hate it, when a discussion about a certain subject ends in: but you did this!

It's like when my kids fight and a my boy hits my daughter and he says: she hit me three weeks ago! Does that change anything about the situation dealing with now? Ofcourse not. He can't hit her period.

That the Americans might be partly responsible for the situation there, doesn't change the fact IS does horrible things to the people living in Syria and Irak.

Something needs to be done. I am not sure it should be the Americans (or Western countries) though.

Only we (the West) will do anything though.

And by 'anything' you mean shag the shit out of any country thats weak and susceptible and profitable to attack.

What's your suggestion then? Do nothing?

No, my suggestion would be if you didn't bomb places into the fucking stone age and slaughter thousands of people then you wouldn't have situations where people so readily resort to radicalism, it's about the only tenable response from that perspective. You can lie to people in your country and countries around the world but you can't bullshit the people you're doing it too, those people are fighting to reclaim as far as they're concerned, from having been ripped to shit and then installed with mickey mouse administrations.

It's called fighting back. They are presented with a proposition, you either lay down or you resort to the same brand of imperialist mentality as your assailants and hit em back in whatever way you possibly can. In Palestine it amounts to throwing rocks at tanks while they crush your house.

Len, I don't really understand out of all your posts, what your opinion exactly is? What should be (or not) be done in your opinion.

It can be condensed pretty neatly into 'don't bomb the shit out of innocent people'.

So hammering any religious sect you don't like and beheading aid workers and journalists is 'resistance?' Ok.

No, it's extremism, just like imperialism is extremism, the difference is you give em a cause. Also, mercy levels start to run kinda low after the slaughter of a few thousand. Also, how do they know whoose a journalist and whoose a photographer...and why should they trust em? Seriously, you level a fuckin' country, leave people lives in ruin, their familys dead and then you're running about their manor taking pictures going 'Don't mind me, I'm just a photographic journalist!' Shit, i got attacked by two guys at Baker Street station, my crime being brown skin and a beard, simply because of the social climate at the time and people mistrust of folks that look like me, consider how thats translates over there.

So the Yazidi sect in Iraq was targeted because the West made the IS hate them? Attacking them is an expression of anti-imperialism?

I profoundly disagree. I'll leave it at that.

I always hate it, when a discussion about a certain subject ends in: but you did this!

It's like when my kids fight and a my boy hits my daughter and he says: she hit me three weeks ago! Does that change anything about the situation dealing with now? Ofcourse not. He can't hit her period.

That the Americans might be partly responsible for the situation there, doesn't change the fact IS does horrible things to the people living in Syria and Irak.

Something needs to be done. I am not sure it should be the Americans (or Western countries) though.

Only we (the West) will do anything though.

Yup. We'll make it worse. Like we always do.

I'd actually like never too see the UK be involved in Iraq again, just like I wasn't supportive of strikes on Syria but unfortunately given we have our own citizens so keen to join up and butcher their co-religionists and IS's explicitly expanionist nature I don't see this as something we'll be able to ignore.

I always hate it, when a discussion about a certain subject ends in: but you did this!

It's like when my kids fight and a my boy hits my daughter and he says: she hit me three weeks ago! Does that change anything about the situation dealing with now? Ofcourse not. He can't hit her period.

That the Americans might be partly responsible for the situation there, doesn't change the fact IS does horrible things to the people living in Syria and Irak.

Something needs to be done. I am not sure it should be the Americans (or Western countries) though.

Only we (the West) will do anything though.

And by 'anything' you mean shag the shit out of any country thats weak and susceptible and profitable to attack.

What's your suggestion then? Do nothing?

No, my suggestion would be if you didn't bomb places into the fucking stone age and slaughter thousands of people then you wouldn't have situations where people so readily resort to radicalism, it's about the only tenable response from that perspective. You can lie to people in your country and countries around the world but you can't bullshit the people you're doing it too, those people are fighting to reclaim as far as they're concerned, from having been ripped to shit and then installed with mickey mouse administrations.

It's called fighting back. They are presented with a proposition, you either lay down or you resort to the same brand of imperialist mentality as your assailants and hit em back in whatever way you possibly can. In Palestine it amounts to throwing rocks at tanks while they crush your house.

Len, I don't really understand out of all your posts, what your opinion exactly is? What should be (or not) be done in your opinion.

It can be condensed pretty neatly into 'don't bomb the shit out of innocent people'.

So hammering any religious sect you don't like and beheading aid workers and journalists is 'resistance?' Ok.

I always hate it, when a discussion about a certain subject ends in: but you did this!

It's like when my kids fight and a my boy hits my daughter and he says: she hit me three weeks ago! Does that change anything about the situation dealing with now? Ofcourse not. He can't hit her period.

That the Americans might be partly responsible for the situation there, doesn't change the fact IS does horrible things to the people living in Syria and Irak.

Something needs to be done. I am not sure it should be the Americans (or Western countries) though.

Only we (the West) will do anything though.

And by 'anything' you mean shag the shit out of any country thats weak and susceptible and profitable to attack.

What's your suggestion then? Do nothing?

I always hate it, when a discussion about a certain subject ends in: but you did this!

It's like when my kids fight and a my boy hits my daughter and he says: she hit me three weeks ago! Does that change anything about the situation dealing with now? Ofcourse not. He can't hit her period.

That the Americans might be partly responsible for the situation there, doesn't change the fact IS does horrible things to the people living in Syria and Irak.

Something needs to be done. I am not sure it should be the Americans (or Western countries) though.

Only we (the West) will do anything though.

And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon England's mountains green:

And was the holy Lamb of God,

On England's pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,

Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was Jerusalem builded here,

Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;

Bring me my Arrows of desire:

Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!

Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In England's green & pleasant Land

That should be the English national anthem.

Woke up this morning, checked the news straight away. Excellent, excellent news.

If Scotland leave the UK, then London'll be next.

We want London to be an independent state within the commonwealth. We are tired of giving all of our money to peoples living outside the M25.

20% of UK GDP is made in London, yet we only have just have over 10% of the population. Where is the fairness in that?

A few of the policies in London would be:

· No tax on petrol (gasoline)

· 15% VAT

· No congestion charge

30% fare cuts on TfL services

and efficiency savings to TfL

. Lower utility bills

So I ask you, people of the UK and of the World.

Should London should be an independent state?

London's economy subsidises the rest of the UK by about £18 Billion per year. Worse, the economy of London, and all the hard work we do, also subsidises lazy scrounging French farmers through the Common Agricultural Policy. Our economy in London is growing at 3.8% per annum, far outstripping the rest of the UK, and funding the health services of fat, heavy drinking smokers in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Upnorth.

Not only that, as well as paying more income and corporate tax than the rest of the UK, because our incomes are higher, we're also paying more council tax, because hardly any of our tax is spent on local services and local councils. Instead, our taxes are used to subsidise failing economies in the rest of the UK and around Europe. London Councils and Local Authorities lose out because they're viewed as "rich", and therefore have to tax their already over-taxed populous to deliver public services.

Such is the underinvestment in London that Great Ormond Street Hospital, the flagship sick children's hospital in the UK, has recently had to launch an advertising campaign for donations, because it is facing millions of pounds of underfunding. This along with the underfunding of our schools, transport system and police forces - as well as the disgraceful and broken border controls of the UK which disproportionally affect London - is a totally unacceptable situation for one of the world's economic and social centres. We could have the best city in the world, a shining light of civilisation, a beacon for other nations - if it weren't for the fact that we have to donate tens of billions a year to people who cannot or will not do productive work, and produce things people actually want to buy.

Imagine what we could do with an extra £18 Billion a year, and without having billions extra stolen from us by lazy foreign farmers, who can't be bothered to make an honest living? £18B would fund 6 new crossrail projects a year. £18B would fund over 150 more Great Ormond Street hospitals. £18B would fund brand new schools across London - with the best teachers, the most modern teaching facilities, the newest and most up to date books. £18B would fund a new, tougher, quicker immigration system - to make sure that the people we let in are genuinely needed in our economy - and we turn around those that aren't. £18B a year would mean an end to our council housing crisis - and would allow us to work with developers to build tens of thousands of new affordable homes for people with low incomes.

That's why we need to become independent from the UK. London and the Home Counties have suffered too long under rulers that take and take and take, and never give anything back. We are the engine room of the UK economy, but we have the money and taxes we produce stolen from us and given to others elsewhere. Then those people, in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall have the sheer cheek to turn around and ask for independence from us, when we make their pitiful lives possible through our hard work!! So before they assert their independence, we should assert ours, and see how they like it. London has the best workers in the world from within the M25 and outside in the Home Counties. London and the Home Counties boast 4 out of the top 5 universities in the UK. London has 5 major international airports. We in London and the Home Counties have all we need to set up our own successful state.

When we do this, we will live in one of the richest and most successful countries in the world. It will have education and health systems to rival the best in Europe. We'll be able to take control of our borders, and make sure those that come in aren't bomb-makers, and are genuinely useful to the economy.

Furthermore, we'll be able to modernise our transport system without raising prices to unacceptable levels. Housing will be cheaper for those at the lower end of the market. Moreover, we'll be able to pay less taxes for this, rather than having to pay more to bail out Africa. We'll have a high standard of living, but with a low tax economy.

But that's not all. We'll also be able to renegotiate our treaties with Europe. Of course, we're all for free trade with our neighbours, and for celebrating commerce and economic activity. That's what the EU was meant to be about - it was meant to be a free trade zone of economic and social cooperation. What it's turned into is an excuse to leak money to French farmers, and Spanish fishermen. If we became independent, we could keep the free trade, but ditch the subsidies to lazy unproductive industries. We could benefit from the economic good points of Europe like the Scandinavian Countries and Switzerland do, without getting dragged down by its outdated "socialistic" bad points.

Reading that you can begin to understand why so many Scots want to vote yes. A stunning lack of awareness.

The Union Jack won't look quite the same if the YES vote wins.

Wales...green background. Problem solved.

St. David's flag is black and yellow. Would be fitting to go with incorporating that, although green would look good too. Plus we can say the black represents the Cornish should they start agitating...

Polls closed. It's almost done.

It's strange to think that by this time tomorrow the country you were born in may have effectively ceased to exist.

I'm also quietly sad to see the way the nationalists seem to have effectively painted anyone who disagees with them as some sort of traitor or coward.

2000AD (it's spin-off anyway) with it's own, inimitable take.

I'll admit to not knowing much about the SNP, but I agree that Labour was a nightmare when it came to the right to privacy. In the last election, I was stupid enough to believe that the Lib Dems were sensible (on this issue and others), which is a lesson learned.

Can somebody please explain to me what the Lib Dems have done that's sooooooooooo bad? I mean as far as I can see the worst that can be levelled at them is that they've not really done a lot and delivered on all their election promises. I mean duh! As the minority partner in a COALITION what do people really expect?

Betrayed everyone: see everything they used to believe in and university fees etc.

Well were they really at fault for the fees or was it simply a Tory policy pushed through because they were the majority partner?

Thats the point they're trying to make, they didn't utilise their minority standing to any particular effect.

I'm just asking how much leverage they could ever really have.

That's always the question with minority partners in any coalition. There is leverage but it's got to be used strategically.. Pick fights constantly and before you know it, it's back to the polls and there's no guarantee you'll be back in power.

And its instances like that where a statesman truly shows his worth.

If there's one thing Clegg's never struck me as, it's a statesman. None of the current crop do.

I'll admit to not knowing much about the SNP, but I agree that Labour was a nightmare when it came to the right to privacy. In the last election, I was stupid enough to believe that the Lib Dems were sensible (on this issue and others), which is a lesson learned.

Can somebody please explain to me what the Lib Dems have done that's sooooooooooo bad? I mean as far as I can see the worst that can be levelled at them is that they've not really done a lot and delivered on all their election promises. I mean duh! As the minority partner in a COALITION what do people really expect?

Betrayed everyone: see everything they used to believe in and university fees etc.

Well were they really at fault for the fees or was it simply a Tory policy pushed through because they were the majority partner?

Thats the point they're trying to make, they didn't utilise their minority standing to any particular effect.

I'm just asking how much leverage they could ever really have.

That's always the question with minority partners in any coalition. There is leverage but it's got to be used strategically. Pick fights constantly and before you know it, it's back to the polls and there's no guarantee you'll be back in power.

looks terrible. why can't the Scots just simmer the fuck down?

I doubt we'd go with that. The Welsh might finally get some representation on there.

As for Scottish independence, I'd rather not. One half of my family's from Scotland. I'm not happy with the idea of the country I was born in being torn up.

You ever wonder how we manage Dazey, living in this brutal totalitarian state?

One, you never give a child an Uzi. Even African Warlords know that.

Yep, they give them Kalashinikovs.

I came across this video looking to make sense why parents in the US want to teach their kids to handle guns so young:

I am disturbed by the guns manufactured specifically for kids.

That's just revolting! I'm just...... Wow.

No words.

Why do you find it revolting teaching a kid how to proper operate a firearm? I learned to shoot before I attended grade school. By the time I was 9 years old, I was hunting small game after school. In the rural South, hunting and firearms are a way of life.

We here are appalled at how willingly Britain and Australia handed over their rights to own, keep, and shoot firearms, and hunt.

EDIT: This is a tragic accident that shouldn't have happened, and had the instructor followed protocol, it would not have happened. Tens of thousands of kids shoot every year without a serious incident. But I guess the anti-gun ideologues, and those ignorant of firearms, will take this very rare accident and run with it.

You can own firearms in the UK. You can hunt with them too.

I actually think teaching kids gun safety is an eminently sensible precaution if they're going to grow up in an environment where they will regularly be around guns, like in rural areas. But that was an uzi and I am struggling to think of any logical occaison where a child's going to come across one of those.

This fucker was from the Islamic Republic of Great Britain. If you want to find all the Al Queda terroists, just look in Britain; they are all on benefits. Today there was a person in white Pyjamas on the BBC discussing how Britain should have sharia law. Mosques pollute our British landscape.

Mosques don't bother me. What does is how the unwillingness to seriously confront what's going on in some mosques and amongst the communities they serve is starting to bear some really bitter fruit.

Following the shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old outside of St. Louis, law-enforcement offers have faced civilians in gear designed for war.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/ferguson-police-face-civil-rights-protest-dressed-for-military-combat/375962/

Why are they in combats?

I am the last person that should be defending the police right now. (Don't ask). That being said, they were probably in their standard riot gear, expecting some sort of riot. Nothing unusual there, imo. (In terms of why they were wearing "combat gear"). As for their actions, that is 100% on them.

I think you misunderstood me, KK. My fault, I should have been clearer.

By 'combats' I meant camouflage. I know police will wear body-armour and helmets for riots but that lot in that photo don't look like police they look like they're off to war.

Following the shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old outside of St. Louis, law-enforcement offers have faced civilians in gear designed for war.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/ferguson-police-face-civil-rights-protest-dressed-for-military-combat/375962/

Why are they in combats?

Just switched to the BBC and seen the news. What a shame.

RIP.

Hope so!

It would be a fantastic acquisition but I'm not holding my breath. Look at all the gossip from the last two days about Vidal.

I think I'll go with playful.

Seriously, some people...

Germany were the best team throughout. Messi? The guy is so fuckin lazy when he does not have the ball; he plays like Berbatov, strolling around the field there with no work rate whatsoever. There is no way you can compare him to the likes of Maradona and Pele. No way.

His winning the Golden Ball is a bit of a joke. Again, apart from a couple of runs, he was pretty anonymous. Still, FIFA couldn't give it to Neymar so it had to be Messi...

This World Cup has been an absolute pleasure. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Obrigado Brasil.