[GreatBriton]

The British have kept the Pound and are now richer than the French, Germans, Italians and Spanish who all have the Euro.

Of the world's largest economies (US, UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China), the British are now the 2nd-richest in the world after the United States.

The British now enjoy a far higher standard of living than the French, Germans and Italians.



The £2 coin ... Brits are more wealthy with the pound

Brits better off without Euro


By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON
Political Editor
December 19, 2006



THE average Brit is £2,200 a year better off than Europeans because we kept the pound.

Figures show households here enjoy a far better standard of living than in Spain, France, Germany or Italy.

Our “purchasing power” per head is £2,214 higher than the average of the other four major economies.

And it is all because Britain did NOT join the euro, reports The Economist’s The World in 2007 dossier.

The findings are a vindication of The Sun’s Keep the Pound campaign.

But incredibly the nation’s leading foreign policy "experts", Chatham House, last night called for Britain to JOIN the euro, SCRAP border controls and snub the UNITED STATES.

Their advice flies in the face of a study by City experts Grant Thornton showing the UK has boomed while euro countries have nosedived since the launch of the single currency.

The typical Brit is seven per cent better off than the French, 13 per cent above Germans, 16 per cent richer than Italians and 22 per cent more prosperous than Spaniards.

Their countries have been locked into the same interest rate since 2001. Chancellor Gordon Brown freed the Bank of England to fix UK rates free from political meddling in 1997 — and blocked membership of the euro.

The UK economy will grow by around three per cent next year (much higher growth than France, Germany and Italy). Last night a spokesman for the Chancellor said: “Back in 1997, we were dead last of the richer nations when it came to income per head. Now we’re up to second behind the United States.”

Chatham House bosses said Britain needs to distance itself from the US after events in Iraq.

They reported that we need to ditch the pound and drop our immigration policies to prove ourselves “good Europeans”.

But Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said: “This paper is threadbare, insubstantial and plain wrong.”

[email protected]

thesun.co.uk

[BartSimpson]

The EU is just the one-world socialists last gasp before their muslim populations impose sharia on them.

The UK is wise to stay out of it all.

[Clogeroo]

Yes keep the pound.

[GreatBriton]

Rapid-fire grenade launcher will be a welcome Christmas present for Royal Marines in Afghanistan

15 Nov 06

A potent new battlefield weapon will soon be on its way to British troops in Afghanistan.



Packing a punch: New grenade launcher is put through its paces
[Picture: FOCUS]


The Automatic Lightweight Grenade Launcher recently made its thunderous debut during a Combined Arms Firepower and Manoeuvre Demonstration on Salisbury Plain.

In front of a diverse audience, including students from the Staff College and civilians invited along to see how the Army goes to work, a Weapons Mount Installation Kit (Wimik) Land Rover fitted with the new launcher roared through the mud in front of the stand and fired grenades down the range at a mocked-up advancing enemy force.

Job done, the Wimik roared off again to take up position on a sidetrack to be admired by a group of specialist defence journalists and television cameramen.

Colonel Alec Bain explained the role of the new weapon:

"Firstly let me say that the guys who have trained with the kit are absolutely chuffed with it. Traditionally we have used the vehicle- mounted 0.5 inch heavy machine gun to tie down the enemy and allow our people to move freely about the battlefield, but this weapon will increase our ability to do that."


The Heckler & Koch GMG mounted on a Wimik Land Rover
[Picture: FOCUS]

Mounted on Wimik (weapons mount installation kit) Land Rovers or ground-based tripods, the Heckler & Koch grenade machine gun (GMG), which weighs 30kg, is a formidable weapon against infantry and light armour.


Key characteristics are:

Rate of fire is up to 340 rounds per minute, usually in bursts of three to five rounds

Effective over a range of 1.5 kms for point targets, or two kms for area cover

Ammunition is 40mm high velocity and high explosive grenades.

40mm "flash bang" grenades can be fired for training purposes

Wimiks equipped with the weapon carry 10 ammunition boxes, each packed with 32 rounds


Although the heavy machine gun has proved its effectiveness and will continue to be widely used, views coming back from the front line were that this kinetic fire-power needed some high explosive back-up to provide full force protection and security to airfields and forward operating bases.

That is why the MOD has bought 40 of the powerful new grenade launchers to be deployed to Afghanistan in December this year. Colonel Bain said:

"The Royal Marines who will be receiving them have already been trained on the weapons, and are looking forward to getting their hands on them.

"They will be force protection systems which can be used day and night. They will be used predominantly on the back of Wimik Land Rovers, but they can also be tripod mounted for ground use."

Capable of firing up to 340 rounds per minute, usually in bursts of three to five rounds, the Heckler & Koch GMG pumps out 40mm high explosive grenades to a range of 1.5 kms for point targets, or two kms for area cover.

"The Royal Marines who will be receiving them have already been trained on the weapons, and are looking forward to getting their hands on them."

This procurement is the latest in a series of recent firepower boosts for the infantry that have included the belt-fed Minimi light machine gun, the Javelin anti-tank missile, the under-slung grenade launcher for the SA80 rifle and the head-mounted night vision system with laser aimer. Colonel Bain said:

"If the automatic grenade launcher proves as capable and as useful as we believe it is. I'm sure we would like to buy some more."

This article by Ian Carr first appeared in the November 2006 edition of Focus - the newspaper for people in Defence.

mod.co.uk

[Arctic_Menace]

I thought up that idea long ago! Ah well... You snooze, you lose...

[GreatBriton]

FUTURE ARMY TECHNOLOGY IS DEMONSTRATED


New technology gives clues to the Army's possible future equipment

13 Mar 06

The latest military technology was on display on Salisbury Plain as part of a MoD study into new and emerging infantry technology.



An unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) with mounted machine gun.
[Picture: MOD]



The study is designed to give Britain's military an insight into the new innovations in urban defence technology that is being produced – ensuring our front line troops maintain the edge in urban close combat.

John Reid, Defence Secretary said:

"Today's infantryman needs much more than just weaponry to achieve his objectives. Technology for urban warfighting moves forward at a rapid pace. From basic, but vital, kit like protective clothing to the most recent software developments mean our troops remain on the cutting edge.



Cornershot proved hugely successful.
[Picture: MOD]


"On Salisbury Plain we have been able to trial all sorts of equipment in the right setting, quickly dismissing some items and proving the worth of others."

The event, which recently concluded, was a three-week trial for new equipment, which could potentially be brought rapidly into service as "quick win" items should it prove useful and compatible with existing equipment.

This year's event was held at the Copehill Down training village on Salisbury Plain and looked at battlefield robots (Unmanned Ground Vehicles), improving methods of entry into buildings and battlefield tracking and identification.

Equipment on display included:

guns that can fire around corners;

hand held sensors that could be hurled into buildings with high resolution images of the insides being relayed back in real time to soldiers waiting outside

battlefield robots equipped with an array of systems – from weapons to 'mousehole' charges designed to blow access points in to buildings so infantry can gain access.

lightweight thermal imagers

new improved lightweight ladders so troops can get into high buildings

And the process is proving successful. Cornershot, a novel system to accurately fire a weapon round a corner, was initially considered a gimmick.

Putting it to the test in combat scenarios at Copehill Down, however, proved it to be hugely useful, and it is one of the areas that the Department will be looking at closely in the future.



Eyeball being thrown inside a building where it will relay high resolution images back to the soldiers waiting outside.
[Picture: MOD]


And a gunshot detection system, linked to a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) on an automatic turret demonstrated how a sniper could be immediately located, and fire automatically returned in seconds without troops breaking cover.

Likewise, a new "man marker" round, which fires coloured ink with enough accuracy and speed to simulate live firing. Working with the SA80, 9mm pistol and Minimi, man marker rounds provided an unprecedented level of realism for troops training in urban warfare environments.

In previous years the event has helped lead to the procurement of equipment for our front line troops as diverse as battlefield goggles which can protect soldiers eyes from a wide range of ballistic threats (from shrapnel to shotgun blasts) to tough kneepads which help troops from damaging their knees in the urban battlefield.


mod.co.uk

[Clogeroo]

What you need is one of these.

[GreatBriton]

Two men, two matches but worlds apart


Americans Randy Lerner (Americans and their silly names) and Malcolm Glazer own the NFL teams Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Glazer) and Cleveland Browns (Lerner).

Not only that, but they also own English Premiership soccer teams Manchester United (Glazer) and Aston Villa (Lerner).

And, by a strange coincidence, their teams in both sports do battle with each other this weekend. It's Manchester United VS Aston Villa and Tampa Bay Buccaneers VS Cleveland Browns.

In the Premiership, Malcolm Glazer won the battle as Manchester United beat Aston Villa 3-0 today. The NFL game is tomorrow.
************************************************** *************


Malcolm Glazer owns Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United


Randy Lerner owns Cleveland Browns and Aston Villa


Lerner and Glazer go head to head on both sides of Atlantic, writes David Hannigan

Saturday December 23, 2006
The Guardian


Apart from boasting similar losing records and high-profile owners with Premiership clubs in their property portfolios, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cleveland Browns have something else in common. Fans of both teams are far more concerned with their own sides' failures to make the NFL play-offs this season than today's clash between Manchester United and Aston Villa. When the Browns entertain the Buccaneers tomorrow afternoon the vast majority in the stands and watching on television will know little and care less about what happened between the other concerns of Randy Lerner and Malcolm Glazer at Villa Park.

"There's minimal interest in Manchester United around here," says Bobby Fenton, radio talk-show host on WHBO in Tampa. "People here were briefly interested in the Glazers buying the club back when it was happening but on a day-to-day basis there's little or no interest in anything to do with soccer in England.

The average Buccs fan is so obsessed with the standing of his own team, he wouldn't even know United were playing Lerner's club. These fans are too wrapped up in things going badly for their own team right now. The only thing they are concerned about is whether the Glazers are going to replace Jon Gruden as coach once the season ends."

Two owners doing battle in two sports on two continents over one weekend may have caused a media storm but the gridiron faithful can't be bothered with the whole thing. The apathy in Tampa is matched by indifference in Ohio. Entering the penultimate weekend of a short but intense 16-game season, the denizens of Cleveland's fabled Dawg Pound, its equivalent of the Holte End, are too busy contemplating yet another losing campaign - only four wins - to even consider the novelty of their owner following Glazer's example and purchasing a slice of Premiership action.

"I would say most people are aware Lerner bought a soccer team," says Greg Brinda, sports director of WKNR Radio in Cleveland. "I would say about 1% would know the name of the team. No one cares that he bought a soccer team other than the fact that there is a perception that he might be too involved there and doesn't give enough of his time here. I don't think many people believe he really wanted this team but has an obligation to keep it for his late father. I think there is a basic perception that Lerner is still learning to be an NFL owner."

There's a crucial difference in how the extracurricular activities of Lerner and Glazer play in the two countries. Lerner is revered at Villa Park yet coming in for serious criticism at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Glazer is despised at Old Trafford but even a record of three wins and 11 defeats hasn't seriously damaged his standing in Tampa. In a nation where big business has always been a more acceptable part of sports culture, these supporters regard their owners' overseas ventures as nothing more than typical corporate dabbling by seriously wealthy men. The only problem is that Lerner chose a bad time to develop a roving eye.

"When the team began to show that it was likely headed for another disappointing season, and proved it by sinking quickly to the bottom of the AFC North, Lerner leapt into action and bought a soccer team," writes Barry McBride, publisher of The Orange And Brown Report, an online fanzine. "It's a smart move. The Aston Villa fans are used to futility, and Lerner is now an owner in a league where he can simply throw his family's money at a team and purchase improvement. Why put up with the irritation of dealing with unhappy Cleveland Browns fans when one can be lionised in the Isles? One has to wonder who is running the organisation while the team's owner and president bones up on soccer."

A few weeks back, the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper awarded the man who wore Browns pyjamas as a kid a C-minus for his performance as owner over the past four years and its columnist Roger Brown speculated "that the last person who talks to Lerner is the one who has the most influence on him". Amid a growing belief that he needs to resign as team president in the long-term interests of the club, the Villa owner doesn't help his cause by continuing to live in New York's Hamptons while commuting between two clubs nearly 4,000 miles apart.

Whereas Browns fans would like to see Lerner take a more proactive role in the club's affairs or quit, the Glazers' low profile around Tampa has actually insulated them against blame for the Buccaneers' continuing slump. When Malcolm Glazer purchased a 2.9% stake in Manchester United and began the long process of taking over the club in March 2003, the Buccaneers were the reigning Super Bowl champions. In the four NFL campaigns since, the team have lost 36 games out of 62 and currently boast a side reckoned to be their worst for over a decade. Yet nobody thinks the two issues are related.

"You have to understand that the Glazers don't get blamed at a time like this because people around here remember how bad things were before they arrived," says Fenton. "Nobody blames anything that's happened on their getting involved in Manchester United or being distracted by that. Fans here want owners who keep quiet and spend and, historically, that's what the Glazers have done. They rarely speak in public but for the most part they've given the team every opportunity to win."

The Glazers and the Lerners have crossed swords before, with far more than Premiership points or an NFL victory at stake. Thirteen years ago, Randy's father Al surprised and angered Malcolm Glazer by making an 11th-hour attempt to usurp him in the contest to become the owner of the proposed NFL franchise in Baltimore. On that occasion, neither was victorious. The families have lived to fight another day. Or two.


How NFL influence could change football


Here are some ways in which NFL could change (ruin???) "soccer".....



Spike that pigskin
The standard football goal celebration is long overdue a makeover. Expect tearing your shirt off and making a shushing gesture to be replaced by the NFL standard mass Bill Cosby-style funky jive dancing, provocative "spiking" of the ball in the opposition six-yard box and a 30-stone centre-half in tight, shiny trousers doing the Bruce Grobbelaar spaghetti legs.

Soak the manager
The traditional handshake to be phased out in favour of sneaking up behind the gaffer and pouring an enormous tub of Lucozade Sport over his head, thereby ruining (a) his extremely expensive black cashmere overcoat; and (b) any chance of that improved contract offer.

Half-time spectacular
It's time for football to raise the light entertainment bar. The standard penalty-shoot-out-with-club-mascot-in-goal could easily be replaced by a 15-minute musical extravaganza starring Eminem, Barbra Streisand and Metallica, with at least one flesh-flashing "wardrobe malfunction" plus a heavy metal version of God Save The Queen. We can keep the raffle though.

Jazz up the roster
Having endured over a hundred years of professional football players with names like Alf, Gary and Keith, an injection of NFL exoticism can't come soon enough. Look forward to a future England XI made up of men called things like Chuck Tieclip and Jamal Johnson-Cheeseburger III.

Break it up a bit
Regularly exhausted by being made to concentrate for a whole 45 minutes (with half-time and then another 45 mins), football supporters would welcome a US-style dumbing down into easy, bite-sized chunks. Expect to see Premiership games interrupted every two minutes by George Foreman trying to sell you his revolutionary fat-draining pasty-warmer.

Get some specialists in Gridiron squads are all about specialisation: kicking teams, kicking return teams, Sunday afternoon at 3.42 with the wind from the south-west teams. Expect Premiership clubs to respond by employing a player whose sole job is to hoof the ball absolutely miles every 10 minutes while everyone else rushes after it. Although, those who saw Martin O'Neill's Leicester City may suspect he's already thought of this one.

Barney Ronay

guardian.co.uk

[Arctic_Menace]

$1:

Americans Randy Lerner (Americans and their silly names)

Oh, and British names aren't? Get off your fucking high horse before I pull a "Mask of Zorro" on you...

[stratos]

Interesting I did not know that the owner of the Browns also owned a soccer (football) team. I'm a browns fan but live so far from them I get little news about them except for the scores of games. The Browns are not a very good team again this year. Going to be a while before they become playoff contenders.

All that said I'll be rooting for them come sunday.

[Arctic_Menace]

Gibsford, Langdon-Browne, Coddle, Hooligan.


Hey Clogeroo, see what we mean by this guy being an ass?

[GreatBriton]

Rwanda wants to join the British Commonwealth

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former French colony Rwanda has applied to join the British Commonwealth rather than joining the French equivalent. Rwandan relations with France have deteriorated recently over France's involvement in the Rwandan genocide

Algeria (another former French colony), Yemen, Sudan, Israel and the Palestinian territories also hope to join the Commonwealth next year....


Rwanda seeks to join Commonwealth




The consequences of the 1994 genocide are still being felt


Rwanda says it is applying to join the Commonwealth, despite its historic association with Francophone countries.

Co-operation Minister Rosemary Museminali said she hoped its application would be approved during the 2007 Commonwealth summit in Uganda.

Relations with France have deteriorated in recent months after a French judge implicated Rwanda's President Paul Kagame in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

Mozambique is the only Commonwealth member without historical UK ties.

It joined the organisation 11 years ago.

A Commonwealth team led by former Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson is to consider the application.

Algeria, Yemen, Sudan, Israel and the Palestinian territories are said to be seeking to join in November next year too.

Currently, the Commonwealth group has 53 member countries - mainly made up of countries with colonial ties to the UK.


Row

The 1994 shooting down of a plane carrying then Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana triggered the genocide in which around 800,000 people died.

President Kagame has dismissed accusations of his involvement in the killing of his predecessor - accusing France of actively supporting the killings during the genocide.

France denies involvement in the genocide and says its military interventions helped Rwandans.

Diplomatic relations between Rwanda and France have broken down and Rwanda has expelled French organisations working in the country.


news.bbc.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------

And some Canadians have the cheek to call the Commonwealth "old-fashioned" or "obsolete."

[Arctic_Menace]

I was unaware that one could simply join the Commonwealth. I was under the impression that one had to be under British rule for an extended period of time...

[hwacker]

These guys can bugger off

Algeria, Yemen, Sudan, Palestinian territories.

[RUEZ]

Arctic_Menace Arctic_Menace:

I was unaware that one could simply join the Commonwealth. I was under the impression that one had to be under British rule for an extended period of time...

That's what I thought too, Commonwealth members were just former colonies. Do we really want to be part of something that anyone can get in to?