Sylvester

Hmm time taken off work, true. BUT! If everyone is going to funerals then the funeral market would pick up and the funeral directing business would boom, it would reduce the population and thus create (hopefully) a labour shortage, leading to an increase in wages and living standards etc. (if you wanted to look at it from a purely methodical level) Hmm i take your point about landed families and i agree with you to a point. But it would be nice to see Prince Charles get a real job, like a bin man or something! (just kidding, i think travelling around the world to never ending meetings would be tedious, and having to put up with the public spotlight 24/7 would be enough punishment [being a prisoner in your own palace virtually] to warrant that he is doing a real job, one that i certainly wouldn't want) With regards to private companies it would be nice if the companies were totally private, but a government run regulatory body should be set up to keep an eye on their practices (properly i mean, like a governmental policing force to prevent unscrupulous behaviour and price fixing between companies), and that the people had some say in how the regulating body was run. Then there would be less possibility of corruption between the body and the companies. So not total government intervention, but rather minimal government intervention to keep things from falling into inscroupulous practices, but hopefully supply and demand would keep the rest sorted out. With regards to the issue of the euro and related topics, the Pound is good enough, it's worked for us so why change it? as the good old conservative motto goes 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. I was going to make another point but it escapes me at the minute... Oh erm the the drugs issue, i think the key to solving that is not in keeping it illegal (if they want to try them they'll try it whether it's legal or not, a rise may seem apparent if they did legalise drugs but this would be because it would turn from a covert practice into an overt one). I think a greater education and prevention through educating not only the children but also the parents would be benefitial. Ity's about changing social view points... it can be done they have been changed before, changing it from a "it's cool to take drugs" to a more "it'll ruin your life and it's pointless" attitude. The problem would never be solved either way, illegalisation (suppression method) or via legalisation and education (facing it face to face and asking why? method). But my views (i think, well for today at least), still stand [although i see your point and i agree with it to an extent Oli; about it remaining illegal and all, but i doubt it would work effectively, we've been trying it for long enough, and they say the drug problem is increasing!] At the end of the day i believe on an individual level, if someone wants to do something or believe something, who am i to stop them? As long as they don't harm anyone else in the progress. If they do then they must be punished severely for the greater good of all the other individuals, and as a deterent to others.

They always say you should never start off a politics (or a religion thread for that matter) because it creates more problems than it's worth. But the problem is a big one for me... Many of you seem to have formed political views, by that i mean that you know what you believe and you have reasons for it. Now maybe it's because i'm too open minded for my own good, or maybe it's because i've studied political philosopy, but i find that i haven't got a clue what i believe, politically. (the views stated below change with the weather, sometimes i'm less convicted, some times moreso, plus i can see more than one side of every argument) I've tried to see myself on a left-right lines but it just doesn't work, take this for example, I dislike privatisation immensely, because the businesses are in it for the money and screw the customers (just like my dentist, he's making people have dental work when they really don't need it, like that filling of mine which has given me more problems since, except i wasn't the only one he's done this too), negative about privatisation so that suggests i'm left wing. However, i'm not keen on nationalisation cos i don't trust the government as far as i could throw them, look at the state of the railways the Beeching closures of the 60s, all happened under a nationalised network, and Thatcher's spending cuts (if it had been private and she hadn't held the purse strings it wouldn't have been half as bad), this suggests i'm right wing! (Nationalisation is bad) The idea of sharing property equally is just wrong, but i do think people should have fair opportunities. But it should be awarded on merit, not on family status or on how much money you earn. Everyone should have equal chances, but everyone shouldn't be forced to be equal. (if you follow that line of argument) I.e not Communist... if you work hard enough you can have a bigger bit of land than your neighbour, but you both must have an equal chance of getting the land at the start. I dislike the voting system too, these parties all lie and they all do what they want to do anyhow, ideally it'd be nice if we could run it ourselves, but in practice it wouldn't work. Ancient Athens had about the best system going, less beaurocracy (never could spell that word). Also society needs to have strict morals and codes and severe punishments for those louts and loonies that step out of line. The reintroduction of the death penalty would be a good idea too. All drugs should be legalised, as they were in the Victorian period (this is the reactionary line coming out), people have free choice whether to take them or not and if they reck themselves (as long as they don't harm others) then that is alright. (obviously if it was legalised then the under ground dealers which cause the crime associated with drugs would go out of business if the substances, like opium, were available cheaply over the counter). Obviously smoking and drug taking in public should remain banned (or be banned), but in the privacy of their own home i see no problems, unless it harms others, then the punishments for the good of the others should occur upon those causing the harm. Plus only the idiots would do the drugging anyhow. So politically where does that leave me, left or right? I see contradictory beliefs left right and centre. And for the more well read members think John Stuart Mill. Is it just classic Liberalism in practice?

hang onto it Oli, i might be able to fit that in. Might.

I put the wront thing on the link that's why, i tried linking to the picture location, rather than the website it is on, for those that known how to use tags that should be clear. If you can edit it William and lighten the threehalfpence up just a touch then i'll let you enter that.

I for one. It always brings me back to a school report. Yes one physics teacher (or was it a maths teacher?) once said of one of his pupils that he would not amount to anything... his level of intelligence was so poor that he'd fail to achieve anything in life. That pupil was Albert Einstein, and yes he really did totally screw up his elementary school education, he could not learn within the system. Now how can a man start his life of doomed for failure and yet figure out one of the key formulas in physics? E=MC2 (yes that shouldbe squared) I know quite a few people that cannot read or write, but they are no less a person, some of which have done more good for their fellow man than has an highly educated person who currently resides in Downing Street and calls himself Prime Minister. It's more to do with upbringing than education (education does help), but bad grammar doesn't mean a person shouldn't vote. Some people find it easier to communicate in words than in writing, i'm not much good at either.

must be this quality or better... (this is about the worst that will stand a chance) Yours are too dark to see anything. This one is darker than i'd like (and thus it wouldn't stand much chance) Try it now, it should work! http://www.coinpeople.com/forums/album_pag...php?pic_id=2037

probably... the pictures must be at least this quality... http://www.coinpeople.com/forums/album_pic...php?pic_id=2037 (before we had pictures that were smaller or worse/darker and no-one voted for them, the coins got eliminated in the first round every time, many people vote on eye appeal alone, not on rarity value or anything) A bad picture of a 1933 penny would get slaughtered by a good picture of a 1934 penny. (no two ways about it).

Slight ding! I'd happily enter that into the Ugly Coin Comp!

You'll have to do better than that with the picture, otherwise i won't be able to enter it, cos they won't vote for what they can't see...

Former US President and Hollywood star Reagan has died aged 93, just thought since we'd mentioned him on here just the other day, it was a bit of a shock. He had however been ill for some time with Alzhiemers (Sp?). Requiescant In Pace

There was only one of him - so Requiescat in pace (singular). Alas for the decline of Latin i've never studied Latin.

I don't really respect any modern world leader, except perhaps Churchill for a job well done, although he had flaws. Mind you Lord Such on the other hand...

About the GWB speech (there must have been more than one cos i heard no Iraq stuff), i meant i liked the way he retold some of the tales of the people that were there. Tales of the survivors and tales about those heros that did not survive. That's what i meant.

coin universe... (this is the world forum part) http://forums.collectors.com/categories.cfm?catid=6 Coinpeople is actually more world dominated than US dominated. If you think it's too US i suggest you avoid RCC and cointalk, and every other coin forum. Many of which talk about nothing more than slabbing, lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, State Quarters, VAMS, Will the dollar bill ever be scrapped?, will the 'penny' [cent to us] ever be scrapped? and god forbid something that annoys the hell out of me, errors! If i never see another post about error coins it won't be a day too soon.

Many agree with you Custard. I don't know enough about his policies to comment, but from what i gather they are a bit Thatcherish, which is enough for me to politically disagree with him. But it's still a sad loss for his family and the people that knew him, plus the Americans that followed and agreed with his policies.

George Bush actually did a pretty good speech there. It was quite moving. (Better than the French one at any rate)

I for my own reasons agree with you on that issue Oli. Dignity.

John Smith, coin dealer in York. (He's been there for longer than anyone cares to remember, i think he's been there since the '70s i think, perhaps a bit longer) He now recognises me when i walk in his shop, all i have to ask is, "Got anything for me today?", and he'll say either "nope no Charles II's today i'm afraid" or "i got some new sixpences in" Very friendly, very patient and very laid back.

It gets worse Oli... I spent that on 2 sixpences. Actually i'm wrong i've just found the reciept, it was £470 I sold the dealer my St George reverse sovereigns (Much prefer the shield ones), for £450, which then went straight on two of his lovely sixpences, a 1676/5 (£275) and a 1675 (£195) repectively. I spent another £20 in cash for and Henry III silver penny (he deducted £10 off for me, because i'd just sold him all the gold which he needed). And believe it or not the penny is my favourite of the three, albeit the cheapest by furlongs.

Hold on to your chair, but i once spent £450 in one sitting...

E.g John Penny| .925 Ag| JN1D | Class 5C | 1210-1216 | Canterbury | Simon | F | Hoard find some dirt in fields | £40-5 OR Charles II Farthing | Sn | C2FA | (Class/type blank) | 1684 | (mint blank) | (moneyor blank) | AVF | Some edge corrosion

i lay mine out like this... Coin|Alloy|Ref (Coincraft ref)|Class or Type|Date|Mint|Moneyor|Condition|Description|Value

I never used to bother, then i started keeping a handwritten record, followed by an excel one which got deleted during reboot, but was hopelessly out of date at the time. I then made a new one on Word, a few weeks ago after selling most things off, i went back to excel.

Well you see i think he's scamming and he knows it's not worth that much, he'd refuse to buy my £2 coin anyhow... he ain't the mug, but he's hoping one will bid.

I've got one of those, do you think he'd buy it off of me for a remarkable bargin of $100?