Emperor Oli

Shorthand is what secretaries used to (some still do) write. They used it when their Superior was dictating a letter or a memo. All it is is squiggles etc which represent the sounds of the words. It is remarkably quick and quite easy to decipher - or so I've been told

I wouldn't leave 10secs - the Ebay server is very fickle with me at any rate "Re-enter" this "Press" blah blah blah.

No, Penny Master, sniping ain't a person, it's a thing you do, particularly if you have a broadband connection. About 45-60secs before the end of the auction, put your bid in (snipe) and hopefully the previous bidder won't have time to place a higher one et voila! The coin is yours (this practice is frowned upon by many and I hate it when i'm caught out by sniping but it's a good way to win auctions).

I don't mind either. Typing is advantageous for me as it's quick but I like writing and I'm learning shorthand which is hellish - all squiggles and dots. My writing is pretty neat and swirly but I smudge it occasionally as I'm left-handed.

I'd grade it AUNC personally - it's a heckuva lot though for a penny! Sniping will win it though

Stop being pedantic - if it's on BBC, he'll port it to here for ease of download to those who want it instead of going to the BBC for it.

Are you sure it is acutally uncirculated? The hair below-right the ear looks slightly flat, as does the majority of his beard but maybe it's just me!

I'd go for poor on the fact that it is worn but also that it has been cleaned.

Oh how true Sylvester! Now shoo, thou mammering pox-marked miscreant! A word of advice: nobody like people posting in all caps, so don't do it - it's just manners.

This guy has an ambitious "Buy it now" price but his starting one isn't too off mark ;-)

That means, by extension, predecmal.com

I agree but the point I was making is that unemployment is exceedingly low, not, as your you statement suggested, high.

British unemployment has hit a 28-year low - 930,000 people, one of the lowest figures in Europe.

Bear in mind that's the available manpower which is excellent for a country of that size. Japan's major weakness, however, is their need to import tons of goods. Their invasion of Manchuria (L.o.N failure blah blah blah) was a move to get natural resources, as well as land.

Yes, you even replied to the topic!

Oh hell no! Communism sucks! Are you serious? The Japanese economy is one of the strongest in the World - only the USA has a higher GDP ($3.651 trillion to $10.45 trillion). It's available military manpower is 25,405,779 which is not to be sniffed at! I doubt an Arab state; oil is due to run out in about 30 years and peak oil will happen before then. The USA may not even fall by then, we all have to wait an see.

In time though, America will fall. All great countries reach a zenith and then fall; Rome, the Ottaman Empire, the British Empire etc. It's predicted that China will be the next big superpower when it happens.

At that time however, the U.K was poor. Even though it had a huge empire, all its money was tied up in that. Without fiscal backing from the U.S, we couldn't have survived. Remember that the U.S (before it became involved) was dead againt the "European War" as it was in isolation and by not rolling over to every U.S command, our relationship could have been jeopardized.

Undoubtably but Sylvester's comment was WWII and I was addressing that however your point is still a very germane one. IMHO, we were right to follow the U.S into Iraq as that strengthened the transatlantic ties. I would rather be with America than Europe any day!

Chris said he'd endeavour to get them on the site but we have no luck so far.

Screw pensions - property is the way to go, haven't you heard? As for the Churchill-FDR thing, Britain was in dire straits and needed American help, lend-lease simply wasn't as good as a country standing side-by-side. However much you want to debate it, the war simply could not have been won without help from America.

MSN Hotmail, William, is an email service whilst MSN Messenger is a chat service where one can talk to others who have it. One uses their Hotmail address (called a .NET Passport) to login to MSN Messenger.

Heyho chaps. For a while now I've only photographed my coins but I've found I can't pick up the fine detail on my, well, finer coins! So I'm going to have a bash at scanning them but I have a few questions (aimed at the older peeps here as they have more experience!): 1) Do you put some padding behind the coin. Say if you were scanning the obverse, would you put some padding behind the reverse to stop it being damaged by the top of the scanner? 2) Do you scan on the highest setting or do you find the middling ones do just as well? Thanks in advance!

What I'm wondering is did they have the technology then top actually put them in the cases without being touched? I think they are probably AFDC (if that's a grade!)