DEEJAYKEG

Please don't mock this poor little boy. If you are interested in his story, it is here: http://metro.co.uk/2014/08/20/boy-with-giant-hands-shunned-from-school-after-they-grew-bigger-than-his-head-4839195/

@Sonovabich Here are the voter qualifications cut from the official guide. Yes, you will note that, whilst Scots resident outside Scotland and other British nationals in the UK were denied our say, EU nationals and Irish citizens could determine the future of the union. That was, as one of my pals on here would say, "f***ed up"!

I'm pleased Putin didn't get the result he wanted and NATO remains in place in Scotland. It was the Scottish, not Westminster, parliament that instituted the smoking ban, by the way...

Billy, democracy is a grand thing if everyone enjoys it in equal measures. The way things are at the moment, the majority suffers to appease the minority. The voting system favours the large well-established parties so, whilst none of the "big three" earns sufficient support for an overall majority, I think we shall be stuck with coalitions for some time to come. They are essentially weaker as they have to compromise but, as we have seen with our current shower in power, there can be a stronger partner and its puppet forcing through unpopular and unwanted laws.

This post has been duplicated: see http://www.xtremeidiots.com/topic/48160-minimum-wage/ Perhaps this one can be locked or deleted?

Maybe he needs to learn the Harvard Referencing Style... https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/tutorial/

The reaction of HM The Queen, as reported in the Daily Telegraph, includes: “Now, as we move forward, we should remember that despite the range of views that have been expressed, we have in common an enduring love of Scotland, which is one of the things that helps to unite us all." I don't believe she was using the royal "we" in that context. Though it pains me to disagree with our sovereign lady, there are many of us to whom Scotland is insignificant. I have no family there (or to my knowledge anywhere in the family tree, being of English Celt ethnicity), have never visited and have no ambitions so to do. I like eating Scottish beef, salmon and crab and that is all that interests me about the place. The one positive side-effect of this upheaval among a minority of UK residents (there are probably more Scots living in England than in their home country) is that, at last, there is a focus on improving democracy in England. Scotland has its own parliament governing much of its affairs (with further powers to be devolved) yet sends its MPs to Westminster to tell the English how to live (the West Lothian Question). The media has always been disproportionately loaded with Scots - you cannot watch a news bulletin or a current affairs report without coverage of some remote Highland village or the Scotian accent hitting the eardrums. I'm thankful that we are spared bagpipes for most of the time. Maybe the Scottish universities churn out thousands of Media Studies graduates!

I'll give you a UK perspective to compare against the USA and Canada situations. The minimum wage here is set to rise to the equivalent of $10.60 on 1 October for someone aged 21 or over. For younger workers it is much lower and for apprentices, think around half that. As a previous contributor has opined, jobs that pay this level of wage ought to be gateways into employment and unskilled. However, as another said, companies doing business in an economy with high unemployment are not compelled to pay more to attract recruits. Combine the enduring low levels of pay with a widespread use of "zero hour" contracts here (i.e. you have no guarantee how many hours per week you will actually get to work) and there's a generation who cannot aspire to basic expectations of running a car or buying a home ( the average house price in the UK is now $407,487.50). Add in unrestrained immigration from the European Union whose citizens have the automatic right to work here and the components for the perfect storm are complete. Meanwhile, those at the top of the pyramid are laughing.

Good post. I've passed the link to the video on to a friend who is about to visit the country.

We all know you're an old geezer but I don't believe you are 86 years old! (11 years old in 1939 makes your birth year 1928...) Friday cocktails early?

The figures for population density are revealing. Per square kilometre, they are: Scotland: 68 people UK: 255 people USA: 32 people London, England: 5,177 people

You missed out the "we kicked your asses in the 18th Century" bit...

It doesn't happen often in British politics but common sense prevailed! It is somewhat alarming that over a million adults and children of all nationalities living in Scotland were prepared to depart from the UK when they didn't even know which currency they'd be using. Putting this into perspective, however, ours is a union of over 60m people and about a fifteenth were eligible to vote. As I type, I gather the Chief Idiot of the Circus of Clowns at Westminster is making a speech so we may receive an early indication of how he would propose to calm the Scots. Ironic, however, that he will not commit to giving us all a referendum on our independence from Europe unless we return him in 2015 with a majority. Democracy is not offered in equal measures to all.

Oh, and why the outcome matters to the USA... http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/16/5-reasons-americans-should-be-nervous-about-scottish-independence/

In case it makes the current situation clearer for you, here is the Taiwanese animated explanation (yes, really!) presented in English spoken with one of the worst Scottish accents since Simon Pegg appeared as Scotty in Star Trek!

One of the big betting companies has already paid out on all "No" bets, so confident are they that there'll be no split and citing a 79% probability of rejection of independence. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29232538 In the unlikely event that Salmond et al get what they want, a minor detail is the national flag for the rest of us without Scotland's representation. I quite like the green version that replaces the blue. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25222891 Voting is under way now so we shall know in a couple of days. My only concern is with the future supply of Aberdeen Angus beef, Isle of Skye smoked salmon and Orkney crab terrine. I don't drink scotch whisky and don't care much for their ales either. I wonder how many "sheep and threats" these products will cost us in the future.

http://youtu.be/U9iYfamfByA

"Succeed" is not the same as "secede"... This should explain everything quite well for you:

On this day, in 1940, the Battle of Britain was won: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/15/newsid_3521000/3521611.stm

Four years old and wrongly attributed: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/illcareif.asp

Perhaps this may help but I think mouselad will have solved your problem: http://forum.teamspeak.com/showthread.php/46619-Cannot-write-to-config-files-error-during-installation

I'm just wondering how that thing stays in the air with the wood sticking out the bottom of it, @@Unchileno? Is your catchphrase, "Is that a torpedo plane, or are you just pleased to see me?!" ? Is this a game that would suit my anarchic gaming style?