Kitman

I'd say from memory i've never had sleep parlaysis after a heavy night drinking. I think thats because I pass out and am pretty much unconscious when pissed... its more light and restless sleep that triggers it I think. I'd be tempted to hit the sleeping pills, booze or spliff of a night if I had the thing with the bright lights and radio to look forward to in the morning. For medicinal purposes only of course

Luckily I need to be struck repeatedly with a hammer to wake up in the morning. Does drinking heavily before you go to bed make any difference Ajax?

I always assumed mental illness was the cause of most alien abduction stories. All the interesting parts of the body to test and they always stick a probe up their arse..... Haha sadly you are very misinformed. I could point you in the direction of some very interesting and famous accounts of alien abduction that involves no anal probing but I think that would be another thread entirely. Well maybe I exaggerated. Apparently first bright lights flood the room, there's a high pitched radio noise and then in comes the anal probe. However some subjects are lucky enough to wake up before the probe.....

What's the explanation for the other 1% then? <que X Files music> Michael Barrymore?

.....and then you have a tab and feel better?

I always assumed mental illness was the cause of most alien abduction stories. All the interesting parts of the body to test and they always stick a probe up their arse.....

Is it related to sleep apnea? Brain starved of oxygen etc.....

R Taylor, Simpson, Perch. Plus no back up for Jose. As usual we've economised on the full backs and there's not much chance of anybody new coming in till next season imo. Isn't there somebody in the reserves who could take a step up?

The only one that springs to mind is Norman Whiteside who's now a physio. Surprised he didn't buy a boozer.

Many congrats ! You can call it quits now you've a full set

I agree. If he's convicted of the second assault, there's every chance he'll be sent down imo.

* Cop taps on car window * Officer: "Wind the window down please sir" Gazza: "All right mate, how's it ganning!" Officer: "You were observed driving erratically and over the speed limit, sir. What's your explanation for this?" Gazza: "Ah howay man, you'll have to speak to me agent here." * Puts toy parrot up to window * Toy Parrot: "Fuck off pig! Fuck off pig!" Officer: "Step out of the car, now. And keep your hands where I can see them."

5,4,3,2............. You and your lofty ambitions

I think NUSC (not NUST) has an important role to play overall and could work well if it got back to basics and became a properly ran supporters club, first thing needed though is to remove the ego's and then sit down and listen to what the membership says it wants from the organisation. Isn't the club and the trust one and the same in most people's minds?

Controlling Afghanistan was beyond the British and Soviet empires at their zenith. Typical of the meathead American military to think they could roll in and sort it out where others failed, probably without any planning at all to speak of. And typical of Britain to row in behind the Americans regardless. What I don't really get is how they expected to eliminate terrorism in that part of the world without the ability to sort Pakistani state support for terrorist organisations. Weren't the 7/7 bombers funded and trained from Pakistan (I may have got that wrong)? It all seems a bit pointless when the focus of support for Al-Quaeda and related terrorist organisations has just switched to Pakistan. Is the world a safer place for invading Afghanistan, I'm sceptical based on what I've read in the papers.

It's a shame it all started with high hopes and seems to have ended up nowhere. From a long distance looking on it seems to be a very insular organisation and I wonder whether it has much of a future therefore.

The thing that's amazed me about this was how frank Ol' Red Nose has been with the media. Normally you wouldn't hear a thing from him until Rooney had been transferred. Instead he's spilt the beans in quite some detail. Worried about fan backlash?

Something tells me this isn't about ambition, it's about money. I can't see him hankering to move abroad given he doesn't strike me as very cosmopolitan (could be wrong).

Personally I find benefit fraud disgusting where people aren't genuinely in need and just want to avoid working. I read in the paper the other day that Britain's welfare system has ingrained a dependency culture where people live whole lives not only on benefits but with no intention of even trying to make a living. Sounds like it needs reform but I would hate to think the genuinely needy would suffer. But I wonder if society has double standards on this. Who's ever had building/plumbing/sparky work etc for cash in hand? I know I have. That's VAT evasion if the trader doesn't put it through their books. Or bought stuff "off the back of a lorry"? The black economy puts a massive hole in government coffers, money which could go towards helping the needy.

We employ someone whose entire purpose is to reduce tax paid by the branch - must be nice knowing he's unique. Do you mean your group has a tax manager? It is allowed to manage your tax bill, and most large corporate groups have tax managers, this is nothing sinister. If you mean your UK branch has a tax specialist who spends all day long "reducing tax paid by the branch", frankly I'd ask him what he really does all day for his salary.

I think a Grimsby trawler would be more appropriate than Ark Royal. They could chuck her in the drink on the way out and then catch some fish on the way back, so it wouldn't be a wasted trip at the taxpayer's expense

I haven't got time to go into the ins and outs of it HF but I think you need to distinguish between large companies and private individuals. The latter are much more likely to avoid paying their fair share through elaborate schemes and residency planning. The former aren't, because by and large elaborate tax planning gets in the way of doing business. And you have to weigh up the wealth and employment the latter create against what they pay in corporation tax. Now you may think that they should pay more than 30% or whatever of their profits on taxes, or that all of their worldwide income should be taxed without exception. That depends on your political viewpoint I guess. However the reality is that plenty of other countries don't share the same opinion, including places like ireland, Netherlands and Luxembourg which are damned easy to do business from and welcome british companies with open arms. That's the global economy where capital and labour votes with its feet. If you let the tax system get in the way of doing business, business will just go elsewhere and there's not a lot you can do to stop it. The British rules are a complex mishmash of rules originating in the 18th and 19th centuries with new measures cobbled on over the years as govts and idealogies have changed. They need root and branch reform and simplifying. Tax avoidance at company level is overplayed. There's a punitive regime now where tax avoidance schemes need to be registered with HMRC and anyone promoting these tend to get royally investigated. Loopholes are quickly closed I expect as a result, and people who indulge in tax avoidance schemes need to disclose these too or face massive penalties. It's not the beanfeast it used to be in the 1980s. I'd be much more concerned about British individuals avoiding tax than companies anyway. My sense is that there's a lot of chicanery that goes on around the residency rules, and the minute they get rich they're off to Monaco to spend their money on superyachts.

Carroll strikes me as an idiot. But then he seems to strike a lot of people.....

No chance of Hughton getting sacked now imo. If the transfer window is about to open, it might be different of course.

Wolseley has become the latest company to consider moving abroad for tax reasons. The builders’ merchant proposed a shift to Switzerland as it disclosed a narrower annual pre-tax loss. The FTSE 100 group said on Monday it planned to create New Wolseley, a holding company that would be listed in London but incorporated in Jersey, with a tax residence in Switzerland. Ian Meakins, chief executive, said he had held discussions with the government about keeping Wolseley in the UK but that “their hands were tied by the tax regime”. “If UK tax rates were not so painful to us, then we wouldn’t have to leave,” Mr Meakins said. The move to Zurich, which Mr Meakins said had been under discussion for some time, would cut Wolseley’s underlying tax rate from 34 per cent to 28 per cent, representing a £23m saving in the latest financial year. Implementation is expected to cost £6m. Dissatisfaction about corporate taxes has led to the departure of several companies, among them Ineos, Shire, United Business Media, Charter, Henderson, Regus, Brit Insurance, Informa and WPP. However, the rate of the exodus has slowed over the past 18 months, in part because tax planning became less of a priority for company boards during the recession. Wolseley stressed that it would continue to pay tax on its UK operations and that the 10,000 jobs in the country would be unaffected by the move. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1d857286-ca09-11...144feab49a.html