Messages

Donald Sinden

It's gas hearing the yes side talking about the bond between England and Scotland......poor aul Wales is like the ugly sister

What about Norn Iron ! We exist !!

I 'LOLed' at Dec's piece.

It's comedy gold.

And for the other side of the argument.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100285695/to-save-the-union-we-have-to-say-it-out-loud-britain-is-the-greatest-country-in-the-world/

To save the Union, we have to say it out loud: Britain is the greatest country in the world

How do we explain that poll – the one that put the "yes" vote above the "no" vote in next week's Scottish referendum? It's partly down to Alex Salmond's clever job of turning the election into "more misery under the Tories" vs "an independent socialist utopia with free kittens for all". But the bigger problem is that the "no" campaign has relied far too much on negativism and what has sometimes sounded like economic blackmail: leave the Union and your economy will collapse. Little emotional case for Britishness has been made. The nationalists have been free to play the romance card without challenge and to sound like the more authentically Scottish voice in the campaign. The nationalist narrative has been helped by two factors:

1. Pro-Union Scots have taken it for granted for so long that Scottishness and Britishness are one-and-the-same that they've never felt the need even to think about it. Hence, they haven't found the right words in the past few weeks to articulate it.

2. Westminster has failed to provide a single, charismatic, unifying British voice to head the pro-Union campaign and make the case for nation-as-family. Where is our generation's Churchill? Or Hardie or Bevan? David Cameron has remained removed from the action out of fear of causing offence with his accent, while Ed Miliband has clumped around Scotland looking like a gap year student discovering a strange and exotic land. The Scottish referendum has horribly and embarrassingly exposed the metropolitanism of our political class – as well as its dearth of imagination.

All of which points to one inescapable conclusion: to win this thing for the Union, we have to start thinking and talking like Brits again. We have to remember what makes us who we are.

I don't know why voters haven't been reminded of this, but we are a Union that wins wars. We licked Napoleon, we licked the Kaiser, we licked Hitler and we licked Galtieri. And what did we fight for? For a nation bound by a common language – that of Thomas, Burns and Shakespeare. For traditions of free speech, religious tolerance, property, democracy and civil rights. For each other as neighbours and cousins (we were multi-cultural before the Left dreamed up the term). We've committed sins together such as slavery and imperialism. But we've atoned for them together, too: abolishing the former and ending the latter with remarkable courtesy. We fought overseas for a better way of life here, for a welfare state that has its flaws but is rooted in a commonly held Christian decency. And, most of all, we've fought for what is our home. The gardens of England. The wild valleys of Wales. The rugged, gorgeous coast of Northern Ireland. The calm, frosty waters of the mysterious lochs. Britishness is defined by its soil – by the fertile earth that kept us all for centuries. The land may be temporarily governed by Tories, socialists or even treacherous Lib Dems. But don't, as Alex Salmond does, mistake our government for our country. The former is always controversial, always hated by someone. The latter is immutable. The lark will continue to ascend long after this campaign is over. The bluebell will bloom every spring – nodding in the highland breeze as if silently concurring on an eternal truth.

We are not a political project that changes course from time to time. Rather, we are a nation. Nations are above Left and Right, and you stick with them even when they are wrong.

Everyone in Britain has the incredible fortune to be living in the greatest country on the Earth. Probably in history. Of course, every nationality thinks that about their nation – but what makes us unique (and maybe this is key to our greatness) is that we don't like to talk about it. And although it's admirable – call it "classy" – for us to value modesty above ugly chauvinism, remaining quiet about our virtues means that when times are tough then we may not be able to explain why patriotism should triumph over self-interest. If the Scots are edging towards leaving then it's partly because they think they can do better alone and are still waiting for a reason why they should put the endurance of the wider nation first. To save the Union we love, we have to talk more openly about why we love it. Why, in ages past, so many men have died for it.

So for the next few days, can we please stop being self-effacingly British and instead be obnoxiously, proudly British? Proud of the country that invented economics, the internet, the principle of trial by jury, and James Bond. Proud of our economy, our army, our communities and our role as a global power. Proud to be part of a country that millions of people overseas look at and admire as a beacon of wealth and human rights. A country we are, by the grace of God, fortunate to call "home".

This should work. High Ulster Protestant culture - burgers, vomit, cider, Lambeg drums - will surely swing it

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/ni-orangemen-to-march-in-edinburgh-ahead-of-referendum-1.1921768

Orange Order members from Northern Ireland are set to march in Scotland to demonstrate their support for a No vote in the upcoming independence referendum.

A Belfast-based spokesman for the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland confirmed that Irish Grand Master Edward Stevenson would travel to Edinburgh with other senior Orangemen.

Maybe they could bring over some of their old "Ulster says NO" banners

Draft grades for the Walter Payton 'B' Championship

        Red Hand Helmets        A
        Faithful Turfmen        B+
        Galway Bay Tribesmen        B+
        Rehab is 4 Quitters        B
        Crossmaglen Hitmen        B
        P's Team        B-
        AD's Team        D
        GO's Team        D
        L'Esprit de Biff        D
        Big Apple Orchards        D

Celtic play in Glasgow and Glasgow is in Scotland.
The English league won't happen.
Unless the SFA, IFA, FAW and FA all fold into a UKFA which won't happen.

Bullets and Burgers (and Beer)

What could possibly go wrong?

Can anyone find what was the actual wording of the oul Rule 27 abolished in 1971?

"Any member of the Association who plays or encourages in any way rugby, football, hockey or any imported game which is calculated to injuriously affect our National Pastimes, is suspended from the Association."

... so I've just sent the dreaded relegation invite to Big Apple Orchards.
...That give us three promotion places to fill, as well as 3 relegations from Division 1. 2 of them have not re-registered, so that means we can bring 5 up from division 3 from last year.

Or how about just bringing up 4 and handing out another relegation reprieve?

What authority will women be given?

All the authority they deserve.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28844131

James Alexander Gordon - One the most recognisable voices of my youth, and I'm sure many others of my generation... He was the football results before Sky and saturation coverage came along. If you were waiting the away teams score you knew whether they'd won or not by the change in tone of his voice 

I am glad I am not the only one who noticed that.

And golf

Golf was invented by the Brits. We need to stop playing golf and make sure that no GAA club has a golf outing. To do otherwise would be giving in to imperialism.

[I think it more than possible that they will pick up 12-18 points more at home against the weaker team]

I'm bullish about United. I think it more than possible that they will pick up 12-18 points more at home against the weaker team and be far more competitive against the top 4/5 that United were abject against last season.

United were good against the weaker teams last year. Here is a table VS the bottom half
http://stats.football365.com/2014/ENG/PR/vbothalf.html
Utd were second overall.
Against the top half they were 10th
http://stats.football365.com/2014/ENG/PR/vtophalf.html

Has to be AP McCoy by a mile. 4000+ winners and 19 times champion jockey. Add into that the injuries and punishment he's taken plus his constant battle to maintain his weight and to dominate his sport for over 20 years in an unbelievable achievement in anyone's book.

At least part of his success has to be down to getting the pick of good horses.