scotspine1

it's nothing new, been going on for years - Osama Saeed (a former aide to Alex Salmond) the man that headed up the now defunct Scottish Islamic Foundation wants to see the creation of a new Islamic Caliphate and was a Spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organisation. The SNP Scottish Government gave him over £400,000 of UK taxpayer's money. He now works for Al Jazeera in Qatar. Islamic lobbying group with links to SNP faces closure (From Herald Scotland) Osama Saeed: The return of the caliphate | Politics | The Guardian http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/press/quilliam-alert-scottish-national-party-to-endorse-islamist-candidate/ His cousin is Humza Yousaf, an SNP MSP, whose job titles now include Minister for Europe and International Development and Minister for External Affairs and International Development serving in the Scottish SNP Government. .

Interesting little list there, I take it you would include IRA atrocities as well? .

Yes, in much the same way that your Christian upbringing and subsequent rejection of it has made you impervious to conversion to Islam and any other religion. You still retain a Christian ethos wether you like it or not. .

just be thankful the Spanish fought off 700 years of Muslim rule. Trying to diminish the significance of Christianity on western civilisation by only highlighting it's lowest points tells me almost everything I need to know about you and almost nothing about Christian Europe. .

Christian belief may seem irrational to a lot of people today but it's worth remembering that that 'difference' and strength of belief saved Europe from becoming part of a vast Islamic Caliphate under the control of the Ottoman Turks. We owe a lot to what used to be called Christendom (or Christian Europe) for the freedoms we have today. To dismiss it's pivotal role is to completely underestimate the significance of how it shaped the way we live now. If the forces of Islam had indeed defeated the Christian armies of Europe at various decisive battles in history we would all now probably be Muslim, for which the punishment for apostasy is death. The mere fact you're sitting here discussing religion in such an open and safe way lets you know you're in a 'Christian' country or if you'd prefer.....a 'post-Christian' country. I suppose what I'm saying is that we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss Christianity out of hand. It could easily be argued that that Christianity or at the very least - a Christian ethos forms a large part of the DNA of modern western civilisation/democracy, a way of life much of us take for granted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto .

There's no intrinsic value of being in a state of "not playing chess" just like there's no intrinsic value in your chess/scuba diving analogy. There is however intrinsic value in choosing to be an atheist, for example....it can help you give meaning to your life in ways that "not playing chess" cannot. "Not playing chess" is just another way of saying "nothing I do is of interest" I think that would describe your own current state of mind, yes? .

Unlike "not playing chess" or "not scuba diving" Atheism is a condition defined by what it denies. It can only exist in a world where the rules are set by believers, once belief in God disappears atheism ceases to have any meaning. Until that time non-believers will be known as atheists.

interesting points being made here on the Islamic community and it's apparent ambivalence towards Islamist extremism - [ame= ] [/ame] .

Good on Andrew Neil for telling it like it is - great description of ISIS and all Islamists at 0.53 [ame= ] [/ame]

the second guy doing the cutting in the vid at 0.40 was using the bow saw correctly, notice how he doesn't need to bend right down low. That's the whole idea, they should bring them back into production for that reason alone. Pete, there was a bow saw that was designed for clearing smaller diameter scrubland etc. Think it was a Homelite. The shape wasn't as extreme as the one in the vid. .

Agree about quarters or thirds on a big pruning job, nice work Reg, looked like an enjoyable day, proper climbing, welcome break from the big conifer removals no doubt? Good idea with the girth hitched re-directs

yes those were his exact words Mull just wanted to hear a rant, he misses the old Arbtalk Indyref debates, was only too happy to oblige. I'm not a politcal person and really couldn't care less about politics, but I still think Osborne was very wrong on tax credits. Most reasonable people do.

he needs to switch to decaf

GreenGui, I think you'll find the correct spelling is Vwala

I agree with Cameron that Corbyn does indeed hate Britain and would happily see the traditions, culture and institutions of Britain abolished so that all that was left was a neutered/gender neutral multi-cultural politically correct hellhole, a sycophantic satellite state of the EU, essentially just another hub in the utopian global village. He is also an anti-semite, a curious condition for a man who proclaims the benefits of a multicultural society.

Maybe your parents should reduce the rent to offset the cut in tax credits Two Acres and GreenGui..... couple of Marxist landowners thriving via neoliberalism Nice post Kevin.

Your parents are profiting from private property yet you praise Corbyn, a self proclaimed Marxist. You don't see the irony? Corbyn has said he'd implement a right to buy policy for private tenants. How do your parents feel about that idea? Being forced to sell their rented property to a tenant? By the way I don't agree with Osborne's tax credit cuts for working families, it's a stupid move. .

I'm sure I mentioned it before on the forum a few years back, it's based on the Homelite XL2, it was the first saw I used as a kid in the 80s, adapting it to the 346xp was relatively easy but I had to get a specialist engineer to make it work and function properly on a daily basis. I wouldn't go bigger than the 346xp though, although it is possible, so in theory you could have a twin trigger top handled 660.

I have a custom built top handled 346xp which I occasionally use one handed, great on big removals. I cant show any pics as Husqvarna would want to copy it.

Stihlmadasever, do West Dumbartonshire bring in outside arb contractors for their street/park trees etc, If so who do they use? Cheers, TC

RobertT a member on here from Stirling has trimmed it before. Pretty sure they did it with a colossal MEWP and hand shears.

Great vid Reg, cheers for posting, good points on compression vs sideloading and sling placement. Reg's ziplines work well with those big conifers, a controlled speedline can be better for big spreading oaks, beeches, Scots pines etc, you can use a combination of zipline and controlled speedline in the same tree as well. Let the small branches run (zip) then control the bigger branches with a second lowering line. This vid has a bit of that at 0.30 onwards - [ame= ] [/ame] .

the point was that you need to confront a problem head on not ignore it and hope it goes away. The vast majority of people coming into Europe in recent months do not want to properly integrate into European culture, their religion demands of them total devotion to Allah - this is the opposite of the idea of multiculturalism, it's a monoculture and you and other self defeatist people like you would stand by and watch it all unfold, indifferent to your own demise. Listen carefully at 0.36, you think that's the voice of tolerance? [ame= ] [/ame]

it's already happening, this report outlines attacks on British mosques by muslims. This is what happens when an immigrant population refuses to integrate. Multiculturalism is a failed experiment. Multi-ethnicity is fine, but when people import their culture and religion wholesale it can only ever lead to problems. Sectarian hatred at the heart of British Muslim community | The Times .

[ame= ] [/ame]