LongTimeLurker

Until Yes is consistently 60%+ between elections a referendum is no sure victory for the Yes side. This issue will probably drag on for another generation before there is resolution. The sensible thing for the SNP to do would be to play the long game and wait for the older generation to depart the scene but they can't as most of their supporters are not rational. Arguably pushing too hard too quickly could result in the Quebec scenario of a compromise Devomax type party emerging and taking control instead because people get sick of the whole thing. Doubt it though as the post-Brexit UK is more of a push factor than ongoing Canadian federalism under NAFTA.

Can't move beyond seeing politics through the prism of a Westminster style two party system paradigm by the looks of things and doesn't understand that even 'unaligned voters' will still do the tribal headcount thing under certain circumstances and will tend to have more of an aversion to the other side's hardline party than their own. DUP support is fraying at the edges to both TUV and the Alliance party and realistically it's only possible for them to stop one of those trends from happening in the new post-Brexit reality. Odds on it will be the former they will go for although it remains to be seen whether they are really mental enough to have a young earth creationist as leader in 2021. What is more difficult to predict is how garden centre Prod voting patterns evolve in future. Suspect the Alliance party will have a clearer plan on how to deal with an NI protocol future than the UUP and should do well on that basis but time will tell.

Sure bud whatever.

I know you are basically at the wind up and you all too obviously are not a Rangers supporter but that's really not what Peter Robinson was trying to do after Ian Paisley got put out to pasture over the chuckle brothers stuff with Martin McGuiness. He moved the DUP towards the centre to try to maximize the Unionist vote against Sinn Fein. Neither Peter Robinson or Arlene Foster belong to the Free Presbyterian wing of the DUP. One had always represented the more secular urban working class (to put it euphemistically) portion of DUP support, while the other started out in the UUP. Edwin Poots genuinely would be something close to the political wing of the Old Testament. His father was a close associate of Ian Paisley back in the late1960s as a Free Presbyterian when what later became the DUP was first being launched.

If the bookies favorite Edwin Poots replaces her, you will soon be able to notice the difference on the bible thumping angle between the occasional mild mention of scripture to keep some of the punters happy and a sincere belief in batshit crazy notions like young earth creationism (around 4000 BC or so from adding up all the ages of people in the Bible from Adam onwards).

She's Church of Ireland (i.e. Anglican) rather than Free Presbyterian so she probably isn't into the more cranky theological stuff. Surprised she lasted this long given the scale of the damage that Brexit has done to Unionism in a NI context and her considerable role in enabling what ultimately unfolded. Odds on the calculation is that the next leader has to be able to appeal better than she can to working class voters that are liable to swing over to TUV as things stand at the moment. Lots of political careers hinge on that so not surprising the MPs and MLAs would be so ruthless about it.

...according to posts elsewhere they may be trying for the Midland League now but you will have no doubt seen those already. I have no idea if that's accurate and have no strong opinion either way on whether it should happen if it is.

Letham's facility appeared to be better than the most basic of previous cages like the one Leith used at Meadowbank and potentially closer to what Blackburn have with a bit of work so not immediately obvious why they would be rejected when other recent successful applicants like Hillfield Swifts, Rosyth, Kirkcaldy & Dysart, Thornton have been given a grace period to get their ground up to standard. Edinburgh College are reigning Scottish champions at Uni/college level and are said to be sharing with either Spartans or Civil Service Strollers. They have a campus in Granton so that makes sense geographically.

...whose first club as a player and manager was Cowdenbeath who are not out of the woods yet.

you appear to have been whooshed

Also being tweeted about:

Just like Tayport.

So that presumably would mean Edinburgh College, Syngenta, Bo'ness Athletic/Thistle?, Bathgate Thistle, Armadale Thistle, Whitburn, Fauldhouse United, Stoneyburn, West Calder United, Livingston United, Pumpherston as the eleven to be voted on by the existing members.

Vardar Skopje colours and the name Suns wasn't exactly a heavy camouflaging of their Macedonian heritage so does it really make a difference if they are slightly more blatant about it now? Verdict: fight probably would have happened anyway.

This tweet makes a reasonable point: That was my impression as well. Reasonable to assume that the first game not going ahead on Saturday shows a decision or decisions associated with how the two tier 5 league champions were declared is under some sort of active appeal process at the SFA rather than SPFL level?

It would be a Club 42 type format apparently with the bottom HL club playing off against a winner from the licensed champions of the feeders. What isn't clear is how many clubs the HL intends to operate with moving forward so it may take a while before there is any need for relegation.

Dalkeith Thistle got an extension to June 22nd to prove they were in full compliance so Talbot and Meadow may have also been given time to get one last box ticked: GROUND IMPROVEMENTS: SFA CLUB LICENSING Brief update: Work is well underway on our extension to the pavilion. This is to create toilets in both the home & away dressing rooms - the last bit of major work required to make the ground compliant with SFA Licensing criteria and suitable for women's football. The club has been given a deadline date of 22nd June 2021 to provide evidence of full compliance with the Entry Level criteria, and we're confident everything will be in place by then. It has been a busy lockdown period off the park - the committee has worked extremely hard to get the club into such a good position, in difficult circumstances. All being well, we hope to host some Scottish Cup action next season when things get back up and running again. We are very grateful to Midlothian Council for their investment in the property - These improvements would not have been possible without the help and support of our local Councillors Stephen Curran, Colin Cassidy and Margot Russell.

I wouldn't be shouting that last bit from the rooftops on Fitba North until all the paperwork gets processed and approvals are provided, but Downfield, Tayport, North End, Violet, Broughty, Lochee United (assuming, as is also necessary with Tayport, devil's illuminations are on the way), Lochee Harp, Coupar Angus, Kirrie, Forfar WE and Brechin Vics really can't be so far away on ground related issues on entry level and Carnoustie Panmure are a strong enough club that they can be expected to get it sorted as well.

Serbian gangster rap can be comically terrible:

Kelty have a countdown counter on their website for a 3 pm Saturday kickoff: https://keltyhearts.co.uk/ Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick from what was appearing on there.

Have the SFA not already announced the dates for Kelty and Brora as the next two weekends just as the SPFL has provided dates for the extra four SPFL2 games minus the actual clubs that were going to be slotted into each fixture later based on league position? If so, the absence of publicly announced referee appoinments isn't necessarily an issue. The clubs do know already with near certainty where and when the games are and have been able to plan accordingly.

Maybe the SPFL need to allow time for some sort of appeal on Tuesday night's SPFL games to be received to be sure they completed the 18 games on Leagues 1 & 2 OK and hence finally be in a position to announce the subsequent games?

Very difficult to get that through the SPFL's voting system.

Messed that one up on the odds but still unusual enough to be suspicious when it happens to be the two clubs that would provide the largest final gate share to the cup organising organisation in question.

If Old Firm semi is option 1 and there are options 2 and 3 as well. The first time around you have: 1 (1 in 3 or 33.3333% chance) 2 3 The next time to have it happen twice in a row: 1 1 (1 in 9 or 11.1111% chance. That is 3 to the power 2. 1 2 1 3 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 1 3 2 3 3 The next time to have it happen three times in a row: 1 1 1 (1 in 27 or 3.7037% chance. That is 1 in 3 to the power 3. 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 1 3 1 1 3 2 1 3 3 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 1 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 3 1 2 3 1 3 3 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 1 3 3 2 3 3 3 So by 8 times in a row there is a 1 in 6561 (3 to the power 8 ) probability of it happening by chance rather than fraudulently. If you don't believe me there are websites that explain this sort of stuff in more depth: https://www.calculator.net/probability-calculator.html?cal4pa=0.33333&cal4par=8&cal4pb=0.3&cal4pbr=3&calctype=series&x=79&y=18#series