Ken Tone

With respect, I think most of you are missing the point here. The issue is what using the word 'pleb' says about the person saying it, not any offence caused to the police officer ...who didn't say he was offended by it btw. The reason why the media have focussed on the word 'pleb' in the phrase "you ****ing pleb", and not the generally more offensive word '****ing', is that it indicates that Mitchell still has the mindset and attitude of a spoilt public schoolboy -- he thinks he is above the rest of us , and we mere 'plebs' should recognise that he is more important, and that he is above the rules that apply to mere ordinary people. Bear in mind that most of the cabinet went to public school and are independently wealthy, and that they are continuously desperate to prove that they do NOT have this mindset , and you can see why this is news. Add to that the implication that Mitchell has since lied about what he said, and he doesn't come out of this incident as the sort of person I want running my country for me

Indeed, but Forester has been bettered by Patrick O'Brian now IMO.

Thanks .. presumably they top that particular league? It woud be fitting if the guiness book of records had an entry for it! (Sorry about the double post. Thought I'd deleted the first one. Am obviously a technical incompetent)

Thanks .. presumably they top that particular league? It woud be fitting if the guiness book of records had an entry for it!

No -- they only smashed up half the town!

Can anyone remind me please btw? I am trying to remember how many times they have been in administration, in total, as opposed to just recently?

It's at times like this I wish I hadn't blown my cover on POL. Must be hilarious over there at the moment. Frattoniser and co must be apopleptic with rage by now. They've spent so long trying to convince everyone, in the face of all common sense, that the £167,000 of pledged money that they have in the bank was enough to buy and run a football club, that they'd really started to believe it themselves.

No idea about the Alfred, maybe the police stirred them up? But by the time I got to the ground ...shocking traffic on the A34 and M3 .... there were far more 'loose' groups of away fans walking along Belvedere Road than usual, and some were definitely looking for trouble, with no noticeable police presence. Saw one throw his drink across the road at a harmless family group of Saints fans for example. Assuming the 'fat bastard' was the one I saw being led along in front on the Northam, he had got a bit carried away celebrating their goal. Ran down to the front but didn't actually go onto the pitch, so it was a bit harsh to eject him. Clyne -- Again no idea about the steward, but IMO he was bloody silly to get himself booked for celebrating. If he'd got himself sent off for a relatively innocuous second booking after that ......

Gosh ..someone who still tries to use the OS! Didn't think anybody looked at it any more.

Seems rather an expensive way of boosting a few egos!

And above Liverpool

Not so pap I'm afraid, or at least the net cost to society as a whole outweighs the tax See ...[TABLE] [TR] [TD] A report by the Policy Exchange in 2010 estimated the total cost to society of smoking to be £13.74 billion. This includes the £2.7bn cost to the NHS but also the loss in productivity from smoking breaks (£2.9bn) and increased absenteeism (£2.5bn). Other costs include: cleaning up cigarette butts (£342 million), the cost of fires (£507m), the loss of economic output from the death of smokers (£4.1bn) and passive smokers (£713m).8 [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE] [TR] [TD]The Treasury earned £9.5 billion in revenue from tobacco duties in the financial year 2011-2012 (excluding VAT). 16 This amounts to 2% of total Government revenue. Including VAT at an estimated £2.6bn, total tobacco revenue was £12.1bn.17 [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] oh and [TABLE] [TR] [TD]Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the primary cause of fatal accidental fires in the home and have claimed the lives of 1200 people in the UK over the past ten years. In 2010-11, smokers’ materials accounted for 96 deaths in Great Britain - over a third of all accidental dwelling fire deaths [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] So it may be wise not to live too near to a smoker !

I have no problem with smokers choosing to damage their own health -- hugely increased risk of cancer, heart disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, impotence, kidney failure, macular degeneration blindness, gum disease, asthma, etc, -- and the law over smoking in public places has improved things for the rest of us signifcantly, so the risks from passive smoking are much reduced Of course smokers do still stink, but I suppose the rest of us just have to put up with that! (You may have guessed by now that I'm a non-smoker btw)

Didn't know there was anyone trying to do this. How far has she got? Why no publicity?

Please note .. Portco Ltd has no connection whatsoever with Portpin Ltd Just thought I ought to make that clear

Coventry is indeed a bigger club that portsmouth, still one deep in trouble, but not as deep as PFC ---hence my reversal of' frying pan' and 'fire'. Lots of stuff on the web to the effect that Robins is about to be named manager there, but no confirmation that I can see, which does make you wonder. It would be a delicious extra little titbit in the PFC feast if Appleton were finally to walk out on them after all the loyalty talk

That would be out of the fire into the frying pan for him, at least I suppose!

Maybe he did. It would have sunk.

There is a wonderful irony in the money for Oxlade-Chamberlain paying for years of running the academy ....with him having come from portsmouth , sent to us by his father, their own coach. Money they could have received if they'd invested in an academy instead of spending eg, £120k a week for an ageing England centre half.

It should also be noted, that SOS Pompey have stated that should this occur, then their most likely of steps would be to organise both protests and a season ticket and match to match boycott. This in turn would see a massive decline in season ticket sales. The likelihood is that Portsmouth FC would return to administration within 12-18 months. Please accept this is a fact. Let's be honest, that is the most likely outcome of any of the takeovers currently on the table.... without any boycott. The trust simply do not have enough money. Genuinely I do admire their efforts, but other fans have not supported them enough. Fewer than 2000 pledges and a few half-hearted promises from some local slightly dodgy businessmen wanting publicity, does not add up to enough to run a football club with even the massively reduced debts that PFC still has. In fact they are unlikely even to be able to run the club on a day-to-day break-even basis. Costs will outweigh income.

Lol. He's quick isn't he? I do wonder what sort of life the bloke has. He's so bitter and twisted. Can't have family obvously, but does he have a job? - Does he speak to real life women? Has he ever got off Portsea Island?

I'm no more worried than I ws just after the wigan game. That was the only one we ought to have got points from -- didn't expect anything from the other 3 It's wroth noting that if we beat Villa, we are probably going to be above Liverpool in the league -- well certainly at first, but also probably even after they play Man u on Sunday. Let's keep a sense of poportion for while yet eh?

Shudders....

What's going on? When I signed in this morning, this thread was only 6th or 7th in the lounge list. Slackers!

What always strikes me amongst the various OTT hyped up and politicised comments is the issue over re-sits. (Much of the 'evel' coursework that parents could do for their kids, has already gone from most (not all) GCSEs, though interestingly it remains in some IGCSEs, so now Gove is leading a witchhunt against the modern format of modular exams sat at various points during a course, which means that results can be improved by a re-sit later. This is apparently 'A Bad Thing'. Yet this is the format used throughout much of society outside schools and colleges. How would the public react if told that you could only have one go at say the driving test, no re-take allowed if you fail first time? How many of you passed the drving test first time? (I did btw!) How many accountants or similar professionals amongst you, passed all your professional qualifications first time? What are we actually trying to measure when we examine children? ... is the real big question