The AM Glass Box
Good morning.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
It's best to post before 10.00, so we can work ideas into our 11.00 meeting.
Listen to PM
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Comments
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Sadly, Stieg Larsson did not live to see the success of his 'Millennium Trilogy', or the great things it has done for Sweden's tourist industry. Nor did he write a Will, meaning there are on-going legal battles over his legacy in relation to his life-partner Eva Gabrielsson.
How many of us risk the same injustices for our loved ones because we have not drawn up a Will?
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Commercial Lighting is going LED. This type is more efficient than Compact Flourescent Lighting. This technology is comming. Article Here
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From the Jerusalem Post this morning.
"Syria has transferred nearly a quarter of its long-range and medium-range missile arsenal to Hizbullah, the Kuwaiti al Jarida reported on Thursday.
Security sources in Jerusalem told the paper that the missiles, now held by Hizbullah, could hit every part of Israel, Channel 10 reported.
Iranian and Syrian officers were reportedly training the Hizbullah operatives in using the new missiles and in operating early warning systems intended to alert the group of Israeli jets."
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If everyone spoke with a Southern English accent then this need for Glaswegian translation would not be neeeded.
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#4
awayanbileyerheid!
>8-D
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#5. Scotch-git
Yeah whatever!
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Be very careful what you wish for. One of my local papers dared to query the behaviour of a recent elected council member of a nearby area and goodness me. If the papers is to be believed the response was less than the normally defence of themselves by an elected local official - with a facts and figures rebuttal etc. It was allegedly sort of "take that back or I will use my influence to get local advertisers to boycott your publication"! And a new MEPs name was allegedly cited too in the response to the local newspaper. An MEP? Now I was scared! lol
Although - it really is NOT funny!
I will NOT mention which Party the local councillor represents but I know the area he was voted in by very well and I restricted myself to a My, my and an (82 years young yesterday) Roger Moore eyebrow.
So how are other local councillers all over the country doing, PM? I look for bouquets too. I try to be - er - fairminded.
My Sainted Auntie. I will sit back and watch for further developments.
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500 more soldiers to Afghanistan?
The solution is not more soldiers but to 1) legalise drugs worldwide and 2) sort out the Israeli-Palestine conflict
Legalising drugs will make poppy growing less lucrative and hence a reduction in funds for the Taliban; reduce petty crime and gang crime with the money saved to be spent on treating addicts.
Resolution of the Israel-Palestine problem will remove a major grievance that motivates jihadis firing up young men to fight for their moslem brothers and sister.
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looternite (2) good news. I'm looking forward to a time when they roll out generally for domestic and commercial use.
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#4
You think it's difficult in Glasgow?
Try Dundee...ananinginaneana
I'm sure Eddie will enlighten those unfamiliar with the patois of the
City of Discovery.
>8-D
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I always found the accents of East Scotland more easily understood than the west coast.
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Sorry Looternite - could you say that again, a bit more slowly please?
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Ln 11, I know what you mean. I can't understand Californians at all.
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QUESTION FOR NILS on the ECONOMY AND A BRILLIANT IDEA FOR STIMULATING THE UK ECONOMY:
The government has spent £millions of our money propping up the banks on the basis that this is supporting the economy. I believe about £22k for each of us.
Would it not have been better for the government to give us each say, £20k to spend on the uk economy by purchasing uk made goods? In this way we would be supporting the uk economy without giving the money to useless bankers..
Phil (Phd in DIY macro economics)
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Appealing idea Phil (14) but not sure how you would define UK made goods these days - is that assembled in the UK, manufactured in the UK using raw materials/parts from abroad, or manufactured in the UK using locally sourced materials? Would limit the options I fear.
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Me and the Billy goats gruff gotta go look under the bridge. Later.
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Pakistan. Need I say more?
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14/15
That sort of policy would put the UK in breach of international obligations to other EU and WTO members. There would also be unintended consequences; if the car scrappage scheme had been restricted to UK manufactures then the distribution and retail chains for foreign cars would likely have collapsed, causing a large loss of employment
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Does anyone else have a thread for 'The Beach' posted by Sequin today at the top of their PM Blog page? If you click on 'Comments' there's nothing there. Spooky.
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AP 15, I have the hard drive from an old computer that has parts made in Korea, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, and, believe it or not, the Northstar (well, that's what it says).
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Sequin must have realized that The Beach comes out on Friday and deleted it. Or it will appear later to prove me wrong.
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Maybe Sequin is searching her pockets for a Beach photo.
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BNP Membership..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8308582.stm
Developing..
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#23. lordBeddGelert
The BNP allowing in people of other etnic groups, that will be interesting.
Are there any small religious based political parties? If so they also will fall foul of these laws.
I understand that in Europe there are many religious based parties and so they must be breaking the European equality laws.
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Ln 24, Aren't there some Christian Democrat parties?
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I suppose they could change their constitution and then just not accept any new members.
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Sign of a mutiny in the ranks in Labour ??
http://www.labourfuture.net/
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It now seems to be completely gone. It is an ex-Beach.
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#25. David_McNickle
That's one of the European parties I had in mind.
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Ln 29, Thought so.
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The membership requirements of UKIP must be: Only people without a grasp of the real world.
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Bit late for today's AM glass box, but have just discovered that the Halifax will now charge customers £5 per day for unauthorised overdrafts. While I understand that this is money borrowed without agreement (they are charging £1 and £2 a day for authorised borrowing) it seems to me that in a recession this will drive people into serious financial collapse very quickly if they do not immediately realise there is a problem.
Would be interested to know if other banks are doing the same. Seems to me that swapping charging interest on overdrafts at a time of low interest rates for flat rate fees is a way for banks to make quick money rather than the simplified fee structure they are claiming it to be.
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Loternite (4):
Or vice versa, hmmm?
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#32. Anne P.
Has the £25.00 per unauthorized charges been resolved yet?
Perhaps this new scam is a way of getting round new regulation.
They will protect profit before service, they are a bank afterall.
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#33. The Stainless Steel Cat
There are more of us than any other group in the British Isles.
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32 AP
I slipped into unauthorised overdraft with my Co-Op Bank account a couple of weeks ago and was sent a message giving me a weeks grace to get things in order before any charges would be applied.
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#35 ?!?
And your point is?
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#37. Scotch-git
Through shear weight of numbers, therefore the Southern English accent has de-facto become the standard spoken English.
I have travelled through Europe and USA and my accent has been understood with no problems. I have been with a German engineer at a client in Glasgow and he was always looking to me to translate.
By the way where did "outwith" come from.
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Scotch-git, I think he wants everyone at the BBC to talk funny.
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#37. Scotch-git
Mind you the Northern Irish accent is probably the most difficult.
#39. Lady_Sue
Talk funny! Eddie Mair already does.
What you mean is, talk proper like wot I do - 'no wot I mean squire.
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Looternite (35):
In that case, when do you think the whole world will change to speaking Mandarin?
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38 Ln
'Outwith' comes from somewhere other than there.
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#41. The Stainless Steel Cat
All the Chinese I have met speak English, so no need to learn Mandarin (other Chinese languages available).
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They always say that credit is the problem during speculative booms.
But they are always about inflating assets and so CREATING spending power for the priveleged.
Of course if the banks won't advance money for anything else and Mervyn King offers credit as cheap as chips then these specualtive booms are bound to occur.
One is happening NOW, isn't it Nils?
Credit driven? As much driven by 175 billion of quantitative easing money to the markets.
This one is of course unsustainable just like every one always is.
But it won't be Brown picking up the pieces, it'll be Cameron blaming it on government spending.
Well, as I suggested propping up the banks and QE help, but the fundamental problem is the willingness of market makers to rip the rest of us off.
They just stand there declaring their paper assets to be worth 50 per cent more than they were a few months ago. Nice non-work if you can get it.
Let's wise up and take these assets into public ownership
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According to O.E.D. online, 'outwith' is a Scottish preposition. A bit like 'furth.'
Etymology, dunno. But an acquantance with a fascination for European languages assures me that it has been in use since the thirteenth century, possibly earlier.
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#45
My acquantance is actually my acquaintance.
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45 SG
Furth??
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#45. Scotch-git
I first came across this expression when I was working in Edinburgh and I thought it was quaint. Are the expressions outside and without also used, it is interesting how these minor changes come about.
Then there is Carry-oot instead of Take-away.
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#47. lucien_desgai
I know Furth, what's that.
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48 Ln
I believe 'carry-out' to be north american in origin, possibly also dating back to the thirteenth century.
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I think Carry-out penetrates at least as far south as the Midlands. And I have always loved 'outwith'. It is interesting to consider just how different two languages have to be to count as separate. Although similarly derived I believe Scots was a separate language from English until the sixteenth century at which time I think there were for example several varieties of French - but I'll defer to more learned froggers on that.
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49 Ln
I think you're playing word games with me.
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I told you - just earlier today.
Be very careful what you wish for. A re think just reported about who can and more importantly perhaps - who cannot join a political group? We may well see if it is meant - being put to a vote seemingly - or just - allegedly - verbage to forstall possible legal action.
Anyway if it is true - membership becoming an option - I intend plead the Grouch (Marx) sanction. Not wanting to join any Party or Club that would have me as a member.
Smooth get out clause eh? Question Time next week should be interesting though. Can Edward Mair get that gig too?
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Anne, in Ireland I am often bemused by different meanings for common words or phrases. On entering an establishment in the evening, the locals greet each other with 'Goodnight'.
Whatever does 'outwith' mean and how is it used?
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#47
'Furth' means outside of, or away from. The University of Glasgow employs the word when they give credits for work done in foreign universities, or indeed any university 'furth' of Glasgow.
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#54
Outwith. Preposition. Scottish. Meaning outside, or beyond.
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#48
Outside is common, although we would pronounce it 'ootside'.
Without to us would mean 'bereft of' unless we were singing about a green hill far away.
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#55 Scotch-git
Looked up furth on wiktionary;
it says it is an English preposition and a Scottish adjective.
Link here, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/furth
I think we have moved away from this word around here.
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#54
Lady_Sue,
I love the way the Irish rarely answer a question with 'Yes' or 'No'.
It's usually 'He is', 'She does', 'It will', 'It won't'.
Very endearing.
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#58
My home dictionary is from a Scottish publisher and doesn't list the word at all!
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Bearing in mind that my dad was an economic migrant from the celtic fringe (hence my Scottish surname) me and my siblings have very little knowledge of these language quirks. Apart from wee etc. I can't remember if he ever said little. My daughter remembers when she was little laughing at my dads pronunciation of "Bird" something we as kids dare not do. Still grandchildren are allowed to get away with a lot. Like my son walking on a bit of the garden my dad had just dug over and nothing was said!
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#60. Scotch-git
I wonder if furth is in some way connected to further.
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Scotch-git (57) - There's a very good reason for that. The Irish language has no words for Yes and No. Answers are the verb repeated with or without a negative descriptor.
Many other sayings in English also sound 'strange' because the speakers are inclined to use the syntax of Irish.
I'll not be troubling you with any more on this.
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#62
Maybe a variant of 'forth'?
My Mammy was from Fife. What the English would call a dog the Glaswegians would call a dug. Mammy would say dogue. (sounds like vogue).
She also called slippers 'baffies' which we found hilarious.
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63 PF
If that's true for Irish then is it not also so for Scots Gaelic?
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#63
Would that apply to Scottish gaelic? I've heard it said that there are differences in pronunciation, but when Irish or Scottish are written down they are almost identical.
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lucien_desgai (65) - I honestly don't know about Scots Gaelic, but it is certainly true of Irish.
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(59) Scotch-git, I also find it endearing - as I do most things Irish (save the weather).
(63) Preston, you beat me to the explanation and a far better one than I could have given. Also appropriate because it came from a 'Fair Dinkum' Irishman.
Asked if they would like tea, do they reply in the negative with a "No thanks, I'm just after tea" meaning "I've just had tea" in your neck of the woods? That's one that charms me every time.
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#64. Scotch-git
One of my sisters married a Fifer and she now lives in the mighty kingdom of Fife. her mother-in-law always spoke understandable English but with an accent.
What I noticed was the local Fifer workmen for instance would ask a question and end with ...no!
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Just realised I classified myself as totally foreign when I used "they". Oh dear. I'll never be "one of us".
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Looternite, I love questions like this: "Is that a sandwich? It is."
[Anyone would think I spend my days making tea and sandwiches for all in sundry.]
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#71. Lady_Sue
We are going to end up in "Sorry I haven't a clue" territory if we arn't careful.
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72 Ln
Is that a cross arn't?
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Sue (68) - I certainly do say: "I'm just after tea"
And although I might not say "I have an awful hunger on me" I know plenty who would use that Irish construction.
Irish also has a 'continuing present tense'. That's the reason for Irish people saying (although not so much now) things like "I do be walking" or "They do be cutting the corn". It's all just Irish translated into Irish-English.
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#73. lucien_desgai
Could be.
74. PrestonFirmlie
"They do be cutting the corn".
That's what they say in rural parts of East Anglia.
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'Outwith' is, I believe, very similar to the earlier use of 'without' as in 'There is a green hill far away, Without a city wall'.
Have always heard it as meaning pretty much the same as 'outside'.
As for Scots Gaelic, if I remember correctly, if someone asked you a question and the answer was affirmative, you'd say 'Tha' (pron much the same as 'ha'), meaning he/she/it is.
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Er - that was a bit sketchy. Could be I am, you [s] are, we are, you [pl] are, they are, as well.
But I think we have a frogger from the Western Isles, so maybe if they see this we could get a definitive answer?
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#76. Frances O
I first saw this "outwith" term when I was working in Edinburgh and I saw a sign by the door reminding staff who were "working outwith normal hours to ensure the door was locked". I thought it was an Edinburgh expression.
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Frances (76) - Your 'Tha' has the 'Tá' (Yes, I am) in Irish.
Of course some people take the view that the Irish for 'No' is actually 'Yes'.
This was recently proved to be 100% true as evidenced by the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
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Throw the cow over the fence some hay.
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I still occasionally say red up (tidy up/clean up) and nobody knows what I mean. I was working on an archaeological site in Portchester and a black guy from Pittsburgh knew. It is commonly used in that part of Pennsylvania (New Castle, where I was born, is north of Pittsburgh) and is originally Scots, I believe.
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Ln 35, The words barn door and bolted come to mind.
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Ln 38, Where youse been in the US?
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S-g 46, Forget it.
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#83. David_McNickle
some of the least well known places are:
Cincinatti, Ohio
West Lafeyette, Ill.
East Lancing, Michigan
San Diego, Ca.
Louisville,
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Ln 85, My best friend, formerly of Cleveland, lives near Cincy. Oh no, another clue for U No Who!
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Ln 85, A difficult medical procedure, Lancing, Michigan. Almost as difficult as Wheeling, West Virginia.
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As an American you will know what the draw was for places like West Lafeyette and East Lancing.
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Ln 88, Lafeyette, I wasn't there.
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Ln 88, Although I think it is Lafayette. You can Google the famous quote.
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#89. David_McNickle
Sorry mispelt the name:
West Lafayette.
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Ln 91, Hook airs?
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Preston (79),
;o)
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#92. David_McNickle
Are "Hook airs" associated with American Universities?
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Re MP's moaning about following rules and getting shafted for it. In 1987 the EU was in the process of implementing milk quotas. England was a net importer of milk and therfore not a contributor to the milk lake. The conservative minister of agriculture at the time was Mr. joplin. He went around the UK telling dairy farmers any plans for expansion that they had could be carried out as we would not be signing up for milk quotas.
Quotas were introduced and back dated meaning England was well over quoata and due to pay super levy if it was not brought into line. Did the government help? No. Result, tens of thousands dairy cattle slaughtered, many farms facing financial ruin,and the tragic loss of young lives through suicide. They felt responsible for talking their parents into investing in modernising their farm.
Did this ever make the headlines in the papers or the news?
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#95. skipman
You ask "Did this ever make the headlines in the papers or the news?"
I can not remember this.
The media probably had their eyes on something else, that the Thatcher government wanted us to be concerned about. Oh yes, rising house prices, council house sales, selling off utilities, de-regulation of the City, de-mutualisation of building societies and other things.
Dairy farmers - long way off the Murdoch led media.
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Preston@74: they say "do be" or "does be" commonly here. Thanks for explanation in your para.3. It makes perfect sense.
Yours @79: LOL! I'm yet to meet anyone (save one local county councillor) who voted 'Yes'. Odd that.
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Do be do be doo...
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There was a milk strike in France this summer ...
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Go on then, Sid . . .
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Sorry, PF - there's no punchline. I was following on from skipman @ 95. Lots of milk dumped/given away. Don't remember it on our news.
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100 PF
The cows held a ballot and returned to work.
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