GRIMLY FIENDISH

Sounds a bit like Within Temptation....

These "ratings agencies" are downgrading the likes of Greece, Portugal, Ireland, etc, to basically save the US, they're clearly acting in the interests of the US Fed and Goldman Sachs.. If the US gets downgraded, we all know the Fed, IMF, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, etc, are fukked....

...Or paying off Coppers/giving ex-Coppers jobs at News International for "services rendered"..... <_<

Well, this is one of the things that Max and Stacy have been discussing throughout their reports... Although, there is a threat against the US now, they may actually go down to a "D" if they default....

UPDATE... Max and Stacey reveal how the IMF and the Bank-sters plan to securitise and trade the Acropolis and every other asset that Greece has.... They get everything, the Greek people get nothing.... PtIDKtaTz3M

If Scotland did gain full independence, I would seriously consider moving back, possibly to Edinburgh or Glasgow, I only really moved away in the first place to go to University in London and just ended up staying.... :lol: I would miss all the great mates I've made down here though, so I dunno.....

Of course, we all know that this would never in a million years be abused in any way whatsoever.... Just like The Patriot Act wasn't...... Oh, errrrr...... -_-

Congress prepares repressive Internet legislation Source - Russia Today While some lawmakers are leaning towards a legislation that would cripple the internet and give the government the power to wipe websites offline, a group of professors have penned a letter to Congress protesting the proposed Protect IP Act. The letter comes from three “law professors who teach about write about intellectual property law” and urges Congress to reject the Act, which is currently on hold in the Senate after Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) put a freeze on it back in May. The Protect IP Act, if approved, would give the government the power take websites offline and censor search engines after copyright infringement claims are made by the content in question’s actual owner. Last month screenwriters stood up for the bill, speaking in front of Congress about what the passing would mean to them. "There's a popular misconception that when you steal content, you’re only stealing from rich corporations who don’t need the money," said Gina Gionfriddo, a television writer and member of the Writers Guild of America. "But Internet piracy really takes income out of my pocket, out of the pockets of actors, writers, directors and technicians who create these programs." The attorneys that wrote a letter last week object, however, and say that, “although the problems the Act attempts to address . . . are serious ones presenting new and difficult enforcement challenges, the approach taken . . . has grave constitutional infirmities, potentially dangerous consequences for the stability and security of the Internet’s addressing system and will undermine Unites States foreign policy and strong support of free expression on the Internet around the world.” "At a time when many foreign governments have dramatically stepped up their efforts to censor Internet communications, the [Protect IP Act] would incorporate into U.S. law – for the first time – a principle more closely associated with those repressive regimes: a right to insist on the removal of content from the global Internet, regardless of where it may have originated or be located, in service of the exigencies of domestic law." The lawyers add that the Act would threaten the security of the Internet at large and would damage web sites worldwide, not to mention challenge the already-existing Internet freedom in America but also the First Amendment.

Yep, we should be uniting against the Ben Bernankys, the Alan Greenspans and the Goldman Sachs... This is an AMERICAN investment banking model which has led to this disaster, simple as... And shame on the IMF and ECB for following the flawed model.... The IMF has a new head, but she's just another Western European, so I dont expect anything to change tbh....

Don't spend it all in one place, dude.... :lol:

Personally, I'm Pro-European, but anti-the European Parliament, and the way it conducts its business..... I dont care if that sounds contradictory.... -_-

Greeks fighting austerity trap Source Russia Today Greece will officially tighten its belt even further after the parliament voted for massive new austerity cuts required for a new EU-backed transaction of 12 billion euros. The prime minister’s budget has received 151 votes from the 300-seat legislature – enough for the plan to be passed. The cuts are believed to lead to massive bailouts and, according to the unions, to a further deterioration of the situation with employment in the country. Thousands of people have been protesting against the new austerity measures since Tuesday. At least 46 people have been injured in clashes with the police, who used tear gas to disperse protesters, trying to prevent them from breaking into the parliament building in Athens. The protesting Greeks do not want to pay the debt, which they say they did not create, says Despina Koutsoumba from the country's Civil Servants Trade Union, who is with the demonstrators in Athens. "Capitalists want the employees and the working class to pay for this crisis. We say 'no'. We say 'tax the rich people'. We say 'don't sell anything this country owns'. The public debt they say we have to pay is not our debt! We didn't decide on it. We didn't ask for it!" she told RT. The bill will leave Greeks impoverished and put the sovereignty of Greece itself under question, the activist believes. When parliament votes for it, the ruling party will be out of power after the next election, she promised. "They are trying not to hear us. The Socialist Party that governs now has lost everyone who voted for [them]. They said one thing before the election and they do other things now. They are leading our country to a catastrophe and it is something we will not tolerate! It's a matter of life or death for the people of my country!" she said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So, 151 traitors vote to sell out tens of thousands of years of Greek culture and history..... RIP Greek Democracy...... :(

What, maybe 10p each.....? :P :lol:

Are they maybe having a go at him and attempting to discredit him because he's maybe getting under the skin of certain people.....?

I thought the "First Flight" and "Emerald Knights" animations were better than this tbh.... Probably because they were done more by people who were into the comics rather than something like this that was just done for commercial purposes.... Naah, it's not that great when you stack it up against "X-Men First Class" or "The Dark Knight"

Bear in mind that the show is based on a series of books, so I guess if Ned Stark dies in the book, he dies in the show.... ;) I really need to start reading these books.... The finale was excellent, and the next series looks like it's going to be a very tasty one indeed.... I can see Daenerys being seriously pivotal in season 2, and am anticipating a pretty serious horror element as the Black Watch marches beyond The Wall... This is by far my favourite show of the year, and it merits its 9.5/10 rating on IMDb, as it's a show of serious quality in terms of its production, writing, acting and direction... But then, you expect high standards from a network like HBO, who consistently produce excellent quality programming....

Yeah, and, err, how long did he have that plastic bag over his head for...?? I'm thinking hypoxia and suffocation would result within minutes..... :lol: :lol:

Yep, I thought the same to, AND about The Cure's abomination "Friday I'm In Love"..... Which was probably even worse.... I never forgave Robert Smith for that one... Or for "Wild Mood Swings"....

Cable was a bit of a prat to be sure, but he was basically the victim of a Media "Honey Trap" as well... One could almost say it was "deliberate".... -_-

From Guardian Online.... Liam Fox's Libya statement is almost comically short of detail The statement is almost comically short of detail – especially when compared with the figures the US military has provided to Congress and, to a lesser extent, the figures the French government has published too. In their attempt to shut off the debate, the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence may have unwittingly spurred on critics who will now demand a more comprehensive breakdown of the finances. The £120m figure is an estimate, based on current spend, of the extra cash the MoD needs to continue operations in Libya, over and above the money that was already in the budget for day-to-day training and exercises. The figure does not include salaries, but it does include the cost of the fuel being burned by the ground attack aircraft, Apache helicopters and reconnaissance planes. This is just one area in which defence experts are bound to raise further questions. The RAF has been involved in relentless activity over Libya in the last four and a half months. We know this because the MoD tells us so. And although ministers will not give a breakdown of how many sorties have been made, the cost of nightly missions by multiple aircraft will be huge. The fuel costs of the Typhoon and Tornado aircraft alone are estimated at £25,000 per hour, per mission. Each mission lasts for about four hours. The running costs of the ships in the Mediterranean are not inconsiderable either – estimated at £90,000 per day – although the MoD will rightly say that some of those involved were already destined for operations, and therefore the department had money in the bank to pay for them. It is possible that all the sums add up but, without further clarity, questions will remain. The £140m spent on munitions reflects the enormous costs of some of the weapons being used by the British military. Tomahawk cruise missiles, Paveway, Storm Shadow and Brimstone munitions do not come cheap. Cruise missiles are £500,000 each. The military will want firm assurances from the Treasury that the stockpiles will be properly replenished, and the First Sea Lord, Sir Mark Stanhope, recently said he had been told all submarine-fired Tomahawks would be replaced. But the MoD admitted that the Paveways may not replaced like-for-like, the suggestion being that the money might be better spent on other weapons. The RAF will want to have a say in that. Again, without the detail, it is hard for observers to know whether the figures provided are realistic or not. The respected defence analyst Francis Tusa, who has spent his career gathering details of MoD procurement and spending, was unequivocal. "In my view, they are telling fibs," he said. "And the stupid thing is, the National Audit Office will go through this in a year or two, and then they'll be found out. I simply don't understand why we cannot have a proper breakdown of costs." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, it's apparently £260 million in the past three months... But no break-downs in what is being spent where, so who knows if the figure is actually correct.... So, assuming this goes on for year, the figure will top £1bn... If we have a situation where "boots on the ground" are necessary, then costs of operations will spike dramatically.... Can the nation afford this in a time of "austerity"...?

D'oh.... Forgot about that.... :blush:

And, don't you just love the way Cameron is "talking tough" to the Germans... "Britain will not be part of an EU bail-out of Greece"... Yeah, Dave, whatever, just forget about the fact that Britain is still very much "on-the-hook" if Greece defaults anyway because of our IMF commitments.... Twat.... -_-

It was Royal Bank of Scotland that got bailed out, so, your point still applies...

That makes three of us then mate.... :lol:

So, they do it in increments over a period of time if that's likely to be an issue... I still say it's a gimmick and likely to be used as a tool to get us all believing that the banking institutions are all "nice and fluffy" and make us all forget how much they dry-humped us, the Greeks, the Spanish, the Irish, the Icelanders and the Portuguese....