The end of another day here in Scotland..
It's getting on to our winter.. such as it is.. and while the weather may well be the staple of conversation starters here.. other issues dominate the talk in the pubs..
Burma.. the idea of a military junta keeping a democratically elected government out of power for decades.. monks, nuns, and protesters again being gunned down in the streets of the Capital..
The economic ties binding China.. Britain.. France with the junta and the selective language being diplomatically applied to those in power, the military, in obvious efforts to appease those of us.. the Americans, British, French.. who share a sense of outrage.. rather than seriously having any effect on the events which will continue to unfold in that Asian country..
The Burmese people are less a consideration to our economic machine, than is the oil and gas the junta has contracted to supply..
Many a sage nose has been tapped, with a wink of an eye, at that thought..

And then there's Gordon, a man who could well be planning a call to the polls for us..
The signs are there.. before the Labour Conference shut down this noon hour, recruiters were already talking with local campaigners.. Gordon himself is mute, but will meet this Sunday with the hierarchy of his Party..
At this point, the consensus along the bar is that Labour would take a majority.. That while many of the policies Labour has been touting of late have been stolen directly from proposals made by the Tories two or three years ago.. policies Labour ridiculed and voted down at the time..
Policies dealing with issues the likes of immigration.. home security.. legal liability of those who intervene to stop a crime they might see being committed..
education.. the value of 'family'..
All former Conservative bills.. all voted down.. but now, popular stances..
And whether or not Labour can follow through on, or even afford, some of the planks we'll see laid over the next couple of weeks, is essentially irrelevent..
It's popularity that seems to be the push at the moment..
And that would point to the possibility of an early call for an election..
It would also take a lot of the focus off the Conservative Convention.. itself set to start next week..
David could find himself fighting for column inches, at a time he should be dominating the national political spotlight..

But the talk gravitated back to Burma..
How the State media is telling those not at the protests that the international media is "lying".. that now it's confirmed 9 protestors, one a Japanese freelance Photographer.. died when government troops opened fire on the crowds.. How david Milliband, our Foreign Secretary who's in New York at the UN has assured us that harsh sanctions will be placed upon the Burmese government..
But there was almost the look of a deer, caught in the headlights of an onrushing Mac truck, in Davids eyes..
He knows full well, that little the West does is going to have any effect on the junta.. That it will take definative threats from India and China for anything other than quiet amusement from the three Generals who control 'their' country..
And that will depend on what value India and China see, in maintaining the goodwill of Wesern investors..
Russia will have something to say on this as well, having contracted with the junta to build a nuclear reactor for them..
A complex issue.. much shaking of heads..
But all in agreement at least on one point.. that in the short run, the Burmese people are screwed..