My dissertation wasn’t on ghosts, it was on remote attention focussing, a sort of low level ESP. We found a weak trend towards supporting it’s existence but nowhere near statistical significance.

Anyway, you asked for published research and there it is. I think if you took the time to read the literature it would be pretty clear that you haven’t eliminated all the possible explanations apart from ghosts as you suggested. My own view is that it’s entirely possible that ghosts or some type of afterlife exists, but I’ve yet to have seen a single piece of evidence to suggest that they do, so I think it’s exceptionally unlikely.

I expect you’d need a subscription, but you could try sticking parapsychology into google scholar and seeing what it gives you.

Journal of parapsychology.
European journal of parapsychology.

Or try ‘an introduction to parapsychology’ by Irwin.

As it happens, I studied parapsychology in the final year of my degree, so 10 years ago now. It is a real (branch of a) science, and the researchers are a fairly even mix of agnostics, sceptics and wahoos, they generally declare their views as measured by a standard scale. There are plenty of research papers, with very well designed experiments and I don’t recall any that supported the existence of ghosts. What there were, were hundreds of mundane explanations for the sort of anecdotes that some people think are ‘proof’.

If I could be hooped I’d have a scan through the recent literature to educate chewy, but I should really be scanning the literature for my masters dissertation instead.

2 year old Duster here, the model you’re looking at, we’ve done 20k since new. No rust problems, no problems at all actually. We’re very happy with ours, it’s obviously built to a price but I recently did 5000 miles in a Kia Sportage that was £10k more expensive, didn’t drive as well and wasn’t as practical. Had more toys though. I don’t like modern cars so the Duster was perfect for me, and it’s done really well in snow, water and some light off road. I’d say it’s wearing very well inside and out too.

When I bought our last new car there wasn’t any scope for a discount but there was a waiting list. I called or emailed all the franchises in Scotland and said I’ve been offered a car in 8 months, I’ll buy from the person who takes the most time off that. Got one to the spec we wanted in 8 weeks.

Next time around I’d be tempted to do the same, spec a car and a price and call all the dealers, first one to give me the price gets the sale. Cuts out the bull and it’s an easy sale for them, might not work but worth a shot I think.

Settle down angeldust dear, maybe I just think that if you need to move more stuff than your estate car will carry regularly enough to have bought a roof rack and box then perhaps you need a bigger car. There’s also the contradiction of buying an ‘efficient’ car then sticking a big brake on the roof to knock off a few mpg. I only thought it was a little odd, i didn’t accuse the man of voting UKIP, but apparently it’s normal though so carry on.

Is it just me that finds it a bit odd that you’d buy an estate then put your bike on the roof, beside the rood box?

Anyway, I’ve got a 1 series as a (temporary) company car. Only had this one a few days and it’s, well, alright. Nice enough place to sit but probably not as nice as the Kia I had before, which felt just as much or more ‘premium’ inside than the beemer. It drives quite nicely, but not nicely enough that I’d put aside the image and buy one if I were spending my own money.

Attempting to be cool by pretending you don’t care about being cool isn’t really that cool either

My car history is a pretty good demonstration that I really don’t give a crap about being cool! The last car I bought (in 2014) was a 1.3 Peugeot 309 (in red, not sure if that makes it cool), my wife drives a Dacia and I’m seriously considering a Toyota Auris estate as my next company car.

Caring what colour your car is automatically makes it uncool.

I worked at RBS for a year. In that time I did no work, and I don’t mean I did hardly any work, I mean I produced literally no work. My boss and the whole department knew, nobody cared. I used to surf the web and see how early I could leave without anyone saying anything, 2.45 was the record I think. I and think they hired me just to keep headcount up so when redundancies came around they’d have a better chance of hanging on.Seriously spirit crushing stuff.

So how much is it to replace an airbag? According to the sticker in my fiat it’s about a decade overdue for a change.

Maybe this

We hereby grant you a licence to use such rights for your personal use of the Service only, in accordance with this Contract.

Or this

14.2 This Contract is personal to you and no third party is entitled to benefit under this Contract except pursuant to clause 14.1 above.

It’s obviously not he biggest issue in the world, I just think it’s a bit scaffy.

Fair enough, but devils advocate perhaps if more people watched through legitimate means it wouldn’t have to be priced so highly. Unlikely, but possible.

I like fancy restaurants but I don’t have a big appetite so I usually just order a starter and ask people on the other tables if I can have a bite of their main courses.

No, you just asked to use an account that some one else had paid for.

So someone has bought the rights to show a game, and charge people to view said game. Here’s a wild idea, pay to watch the game.

I have a Psychology degree, graduated 10 years ago and now work in HR. I’m doing a Masters in Occupational Psychology, which is kind of like applying science to the more interesting parts of HR and ignoring the dull regulatory bits. Once I’ve finished I’ll either stay in HR and try and move into more interesting projects based work or go consulting.

Psychology is fairly well regarded by employers in that it’s viewed as a science and you’ll have good numerical and critical thinking skills, but an undergraduate degree alone doesn’t open any doors that any other non-vocational subject wouldn’t.

I’ve just seen a tree that would feed my stove for a couple of winters down by the side of the road in West Lothian. Stopped and filled up the 4×4, I’ll be back later to pillage more.

If I’ve learned anything from STW it’s that this accident happened because the overtaker simply didn’t have a powerful enough car. They should issue turbos on the NHS so everyone can make progress and/or press on in complete safety.

There’s no part of Christmas that I don’t detest. On the other hand Hogmanay is great and probably my favourite time of year.

Every now and then I forget how sadly predictable this place is.

For clarity, this is was on a roundabout in a town not in the middle of nowhere. It was clear from the tyre marks on the road that they’d been going around and around and I suppose one of them might just have been watching but I’d bet if you came across the scene as I did I’d bet you’d have come to the same conclusion.

As for what’s wrong with power slides? Nothing, on a track, but on the public road it’s not acceptable. Frankly I’d rather the people who think it’s OK are taken off the roads at the first opportunity before some other aspect of their bad driving gets someone killed or injured.

Well hopefully the fact that the police turned up will at least make them think twice about doing it again.

deceit and snake oil.

Try and keep up, the modern term for this is a “vow”.

Disagreeing with someone isn’t the same as saying they are wrong. You have said the result was “correct” as if there is such an objective “right” result. So in fact, it’s you who is saying 45% of the voters are wrong. I don’t think the 55% were/are wrong. Some of them voted for what they believed, I think some were conned and I hope to convince them to vote the other way next time. One thing we can agree on is that the result was a good one for Scotland. I believe what happens now will lead to the next referendum and will ultimately win it for the yes campaign. It’s going to take longer than we’d hoped but independence for Scotland will happen in our lifetime.

Yes, you seem like someone who isn’t upset at all :D

If farage still had higher approval ratings than any other party leader after 7 years of government and a referendum campaign then I think you might have to consider the fact that you’re wrong about him. But he doesn’t does he, so the comparison isn’t really valid at all.

Again, what whining is this exactly? I think you’d come out of this better if you were honest about why the result has upset you so much. As it is you just seem quite pompous about people having differing views from you, the irony being that this is exactly the attitude towards Scotland that moved so many people to vote yes in the first place.

If you’re trying to appeal to Scottish voters, maybe have a look at Alex Salmond’s approval rating post referendum (and 7 years of government) before you focus your attacks on him. Not everyone loves him but your blind hatred makes you seem even more out of touch.

Who’s going on about the result? I’m a member of the SNP (which is not something I have in common with all 1600000 yes voters by the way) and all I see is looking forward. There’s a lot of talk about how to continue the fight, but precious little “whining” about the result. Maybe in the immediate aftermath as people were hurting but nothing for weeks now.

If you’re honest, are you just lashing out because the vote was closer than you expected and you’re a little uncomfortable about how close you got to feeling rejected? I’m guessing you have a strong affinity with the union, maybe you’re old enough to remember the tail end of the empire, so it’s understandable that you’d feel threatened that so many people don’t feel the same way. Maybe try some of that introspection yourself eh?

Still no answer – why on earth do you think those people who want an independent Scotland shouldn’t campaign for it, shouldn’t support the parties that represent their views?

Have you ever thought of going into politics yourself, given that you know better then us what’s best for us? I’m sure you’re a paragon of virtue and your honesty would brig the voters out in their droves. Hell, why not stand against Salmond, then you can really expose his “lies”?

THM can I ask why it upsets you so much that a large proportion of the Scottish people want independence for their country? You seem to be taking it very personally. Are there any other political views that you deem worthy of SingTFU? Perhaps if you just tell us what we are and aren’t allowed to think, campaign and vote for things would be a lot easier.

That first question is genuine by the way, I’d love a straight answer rather than some childish rant about Alex Salmond, but I’ll not hold my breath.

My 90s Clio had a fifth quarter on the gauge, after zero, I don’t think it was meant to though. Used to get an easy 70-80 miles after the light came on, on fact come to think of it the gauge was rarely above zero or the light off. I once filled up after pushing my luck to the extreme and the (I think) 40 litre tank took 42 litres out of the pump.

Given that most people think they’re a better than average driver, when in reality the distribution is probably bell shaped, how about you take some time to consider that you are probably a worse driver than you think you are?

This thread is great! For the next referendum I don’t think we should have a Yes campaign, just let loose the unionist zoomers and let them do the job for us. I’m convinced some people on here are double-agents.

Overcrowded? Not really. Densely populated yes but didn’t feel overcrowded to me. Congested? No more than anywhere else. It has a population the size of Edinburgh, comparing the two I’d say it’s a lot less crowded and congested. Less of a dump, too.

The staggering arrogance of some people never ceases to amaze. “The Scots voted no” in one breath, “whinging Scots” in the next. “We” in one breath, “you” in the next.

The result was no, but at least 45% of people in this country want it to be independent. The third city in the uk doesn’t want to be in it.The “there, you’ve had you’re little vote now back in your box and we’ll hear no more about it” attitude is ignorant in the extreme. If you can’t understand that you don’t just give up on independence then you’ve no appreciation of the strength of feeling. The Tories won the last election (sort of), why are we having another one, can’t those labour lot just accept the result with good grace? Why did we have a devo vote in 97 when we’d already had one in 79?

There’s been a surge in support for the SNP, and the other Yes parties and movements since the result. Exactly who the hell does anyone think they are to tell us we what we should support?

Actually, maybe it’s insecurity rather than arrogance. “Leave? Don’t you love me any more?”

I’m in that 3-24 month bracket and the way the scheme works (you get a benefits pot of 25% of basic salary and allocate it to pension, take as cash etc) I assume that means that all contributions are considered company contributions. That 25% pot isn’t as good as it sounds though, the basic salary is lower to compensate.

Well that was much less painful than expected. Called the pension dept of former employer and once they were happy I’d spoken to another provider about the transfer they’ve given me a 3 month extension to the deadline. They did confirm that I’d have lost the lot if I let the deadline pass.

The letter from my old employers is brief, and pretty clear: I must transfer the value of my pension investments to another registered pension provider or lose rights to any benefits from the plan. It’s not possible to have my fund paid to me as a lump sum.

Old employer didn’t do matched contributions as such, had to allocate a certain amount to pension from your “value account” (there’s a clue!).

I’m contacting both companies this morning.

Edit – it’s a few grand so I’ll be suitably annoyed with myself if I lose it!

Morning bump.

To be fair I left the last job almost 3 months ago and forgot about the letter until now, so I’m not blaming anyone else. It doesn’t seem quite “fair” that they can just say if I miss the date then I’ve lost it. Fingers crossed the receiving company can help me out and get things done in time.

Blair without a doubt. I don’t actually have strong feelings about Thatcher, I can see good and bad in her. But Blair is a dangerous, self-serving, war-mongering lunatic who did much to create the world we live in today. If he’s not insane then he’s pure evil.