Friday 22nd April 2016

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:29 pm

Willow904 wrote:http://www.somersetguardian.co.uk/MP-Ja ... story.html
North East Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has raised £5,000 for the Brexit campaign by auctioning off the chance to enjoy afternoon tea with his former nanny.

Is there a money-back guarantee should the successsful bidder not enjoy the experience? I mean, "Nanny" might be a crashing bore.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:40 pm

Well - back from work to find a right interesting discussion about music and icons in the making. When I posed the question I suppose I was thinking about the truly groundbreaking people who somehow create something very new - and whose influence spreads beyond their music - influencing culture and other aspects of our lives. I think both Bowie and Prince did that.

I asked a young un I know what she thought this morning - she's about 30 and a dancer so listens to and works with a load of music. She reckoned she couldn't think of any really groundbreaking and likely to be enduring artists. Her opinion was that there are just 'so many' and 'so much' out there now that it's harder to stand out and that most artists seem to be around for a few years and then gone rather than carrying on and carving out a lifetime's work.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:41 pm

I am especially grateful for the suggestions of newer bands etc we could listen to.

I will certainly be looking out for Bathtub Shitter.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:44 pm

Mirror Politics ‏@MirrorPolitics 3m3 minutes ago
Exclusive - Official probe launched over John Whittingdale's trip to Amsterdam with escort http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/st ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Good. He could do with an official probe IMO.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:47 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Mirror Politics ‏@MirrorPolitics 3m3 minutes ago
Exclusive - Official probe launched over John Whittingdale's trip to Amsterdam with escort http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/st ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
Good. He could do with an official probe IMO.

That's all very well but - are we to take it that you've just volunteered to be the official?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:52 pm

PorFavor wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Mirror Politics ‏@MirrorPolitics 3m3 minutes ago
Exclusive - Official probe launched over John Whittingdale's trip to Amsterdam with escort http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/st ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
Good. He could do with an official probe IMO.
That's all very well but - are we to take it that you've just volunteered to be the official?

No, no, no no no nonononoooo PF. I think we FTNers would have to draw strawers for that burdensome task - or put out an advert on a very specialised dating agency.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:56 pm

brief power cut
restoration has the entire neighbourhoods' alarms going off simultaneously
Lights Went Out Fine Finally Some Peace

Bonnylad · Post by **Bonnylad** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 2:56 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:I am especially grateful for the suggestions of newer bands etc we could listen to.

I will certainly be looking out for Bathtub Shitter.

I'm willing to bet you haven't uttered that phrase very often!

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:04 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Mirror Politics ‏@MirrorPolitics 3m3 minutes ago
Exclusive - Official probe launched over John Whittingdale's trip to Amsterdam with escort http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/st ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
Good. He could do with an official probe IMO.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:06 pm

Bonnylad wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:I am especially grateful for the suggestions of newer bands etc we could listen to.

I will certainly be looking out for Bathtub Shitter.
I'm willing to bet you haven't uttered that phrase very often!

A band that really doesn't need a plug.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:15 pm

Just read on Facebook that Percy Sledge the soul singer has died.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:16 pm

tinybgoat wrote:
Bonnylad wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:I am especially grateful for the suggestions of newer bands etc we could listen to.

I will certainly be looking out for Bathtub Shitter.
I'm willing to bet you haven't uttered that phrase very often!
A band that really doesn't need a plug.

Boom boom.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:20 pm

ohsocynical wrote:Just read on Facebook that Percy Sledge the soul singer has died.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:22 pm

ohsocynical wrote:Just read on Facebook that Percy Sledge the soul singer has died.

Last night, amidst the grief surrounding Prince’s death, Twitter decided to kill off Percy Sledge too - despite the fact that he died over a year ago.

http://www.gigwise.com/news/106595/twit ... a-year-ago

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:24 pm

Percy Sledge died about this time last year.

Re. the probing of Mr.Whippy - he's already paid good money for that, I reckon.....

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:27 pm

New Patrick Butler article on his cuts blog - it's good.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:29 pm

Universal credit: tough love for low-paid workers
How will jobcentres handle ‘complex and contentious’ plans to force workers to work longer hours or face losing their benefits?
http://www.theguardian.com/society/patr ... id-workers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How will Jobcentres deal with Universal Credit in-work progression (IWP)? Or rather, how will job centres cope with around 1m new “customers” by 2020, many of whom don’t want to be customers (because they have a job) and can’t understand why they should be?

Clues can be found in a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guide, stamped “internal use only and not to be shared with external partners or claimants” which popped up this week on the work and pensions select committee website...

These govt depts seem to be bloody useless at managing not to leak / publish their supposedly internal / confidential documents. Someone should be screaming loudly about how this govt is clearly a threat to national security with their bumbling.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 3:31 pm

Steel crisis: they do not give a shit
You’re about to get a textbook lesson in neoliberalism

https://medium.com/mosquito-ridge/steel ... .b4e2o5rfh

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 4:08 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:I am especially grateful for the suggestions of newer bands etc we could listen to.

I will certainly be looking out for Bathtub Shitter.

I'm sure I shalln't bother. I can't imagine the level of creativity applied to the music being any better than that applied to the band's names, and I got fed up with twelve-year-old humour the day I turned thirteen.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 4:31 pm

Gutted at the loss of Prince, a true genius, but I'm not sure there are none any more.

I would offer Eminem as a contemporary star of brilliance. Genius? Too soon to say!

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 4:43 pm

FWIW,in-work "support" not a new thing,I had to attend the job centre whilst claiming CA and working,until a campaign stopped this requirement,sadly this is only solidifying previous attempts and conditionalising previously "voluntary" arrangements and an inevitable consequence of a decades old bilateral aggreement to be harder than the previous Government,despite,largely feigned horror when in opposition.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 4:44 pm

37 famous people we've said goodbye to in 2016

http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/ ... o_in_2016/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 4:49 pm

Welsh Labour ‏@welshlabour 16m16 minutes ago

UKIP say they'll AXE the budget for:
✂ Flood risk management
✂ Warm homes
More: http://bit.ly/1U8p0m4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
#Wales2016

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 4:56 pm

Chris Cook on the DfE...

Is the Department for Education fit for purpose?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36107204

The DfE is replacing its permanent secretary. Happily, the new candidate has a lot of operational experience. He will need it. A critical question for education today - facing teacher shortages and a wave of curriculum changes - is whether the DfE itself has the capacity to administer the system, let alone drive improvement. There is good reason to be sceptical that it has.

This is a live political issue: the recent White Paper said the remaining local authorities 15,000 schools should be divorced from their current overseers and added to the DfE's workload. There's been political pressure to drop that pledge. I can tell you that the mandarinate is nervous about it, too. That White Paper needs a working Whitehall.

There was some entertaining tweets around whether the DfE should be placed in Special measures and sponsored by a better-performing department...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:12 pm

What an interlude we've just had.

Furious buzzing coming from the corner of this room - high up next to the ceiling. Both of us concerned that we could have the beginnings of a wasps nest being built in the loft or ceiling cavity. Investigations commenced with a lot of caution.

The puzzle was finally solved when we isolated the noise to the main electricity / fuse box. Mr Riots took the front cover off and a very tired and unhappy bumble bee dropped out onto the floor. He's been put back outside where he belongs now. How the hell does a bumble bee get in the back of the fuse box?

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:15 pm

Where would they find a better-performing department?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:35 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:What an interlude we've just had.

Furious buzzing coming from the corner of this room - high up next to the ceiling. Both of us concerned that we could have the beginnings of a wasps nest being built in the loft or ceiling cavity. Investigations commenced with a lot of caution.

The puzzle was finally solved when we isolated the noise to the main electricity / fuse box. Mr Riots took the front cover off and a very tired and unhappy bumble bee dropped out onto the floor. He's been put back outside where he belongs now. How the hell does a bumble bee get in the back of the fuse box?

Ah. I know that one. I evicted that scoundrel from the bedroom TWICE. Yesterday and the day before prior sun up.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:39 pm

Hi nesters, I am reporting from the public facing end of the NHS, who have been offering me their good kindness in great measure since Tuesday. It is a fab hospital with people from everywhere working, even a fair number of disabled people. The only complaint I have is their over dependence on lactulose and paracetamol..... why the heck do we want to sell it all..... oh, thats right, we don't really.....

Hope your week has been good and your weekend will be better.

seeing clearly from a room with a view.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:47 pm

An amazing interview by Eddie Mair on Radio 4's PM. One of the most moving things I have ever heard.
Wow. Listen to it if you can on i-player.

The interview's with a man who was kept for 23 years in solitary confinement in a US jail, on death row, for a crime he did not commit.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:50 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:What an interlude we've just had.

Furious buzzing coming from the corner of this room - high up next to the ceiling. Both of us concerned that we could have the beginnings of a wasps nest being built in the loft or ceiling cavity. Investigations commenced with a lot of caution.

The puzzle was finally solved when we isolated the noise to the main electricity / fuse box. Mr Riots took the front cover off and a very tired and unhappy bumble bee dropped out onto the floor. He's been put back outside where he belongs now. How the hell does a bumble bee get in the back of the fuse box?

Looking for somewhere to set up a colony?

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:52 pm

seeingclearly wrote:Hi nesters, I am reporting from the public facing end of the NHS, who have been offering me their good kindness in great measure since Tuesday. It is a fab hospital with people from everywhere working, even a fair number of disabled people. The only complaint I have is their over dependence on lactulose and paracetamol..... why the heck do we want to sell it all..... oh, thats right, we don't really.....

Hope your week has been good and your weekend will be better.

seeing clearly from a room with a view.

I was just wondering if you were all right...Hope they get you sorted soon....

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:57 pm

Hope you don't have to enjoy NHS hospitality for too long Seeing Clearly.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 5:59 pm

Barack Obama says that the UK would be "at the back of the queue" with regard to trade deals post an exit from the EU.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:14 pm

Farage is also repeating the story about the first thing Obama did when becoming POTUS was get rid of the Churchill bust.

Farage said it had been there for over 70 years.

Farage is wrong, yet again.

Churchill sat for the sculptor, Jacob Epstein, in 1946.
There were two castings of the bust.
One was given to the White House in 1965 and is still there.
The other, along with other art works, was loaned to Bush much later.

So neither copy of the bust had been in the White House for over 70 years.

NonOxCol · Post by **NonOxCol** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:19 pm

Re Prince etc: the only contemporary COMMERCIAL artist I can think of who might inspire widespread grief in future is Beyonce Knowles. I rather liked her last album and I have enjoyed a lot of her songs, but in no way am I making any claim that she is on a level with true icons from the 70s and 80s. Kanye West is like Boris Johnson to me: I just don't get it at all. That Glastonbury show last year was absolute, self-obsessed toilet (thankfully George Clinton/Parliament/Family Stone were on afterwards). Gaga, dare I say it, is the darling of those who think the identity politics is more important than the music; her interesting period was very short-lived IMO.

The one I am terrified of losing, the one who probably (after McCartney) has the greatest legacy, and now the only one left in my triumvirate of those who had the longest and most varied or influential musical "imperial phase", is Stevie Wonder.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:23 pm

Here till Monday at least, maybe longer, they need to get me mobile.By some freak combination of events I came in for an infection last sunday, It was cold here, and I couldn't stop shivering, And something went in my lower back, so not sure at all how long things will take. And I was excited by the snow!

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:28 pm

seeingclearly wrote:Here till Monday at least, maybe longer, they need to get me mobile.By some freak combination of events I came in for an infection last sunday, It was cold here, and I couldn't stop shivering, And something went in my lower back, so not sure at all how long things will take. And I was excited by the snow!

They've forecast snow again this weekend so restrain yourself woman !!!

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:32 pm

Here till Monday at least, maybe longer, they need to get me mobile.By some freak combination of events I came in for an infection last sunday, It was cold here, and I couldn't stop shivering, And something went in my lower back, so not sure at all how long things will take. And I was excited by the snow!

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:32 pm

Good wishes and hugs to you seeingclearly. Hope they get you up and ready to go home very soon.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:32 pm

Faisal Islam ‏@faisalislam 1h1 hour ago

Obama shoots down post Brexit trade deal: "some point down the line - might be UK-US deal, not any time soon - UK at the back of queue"

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:35 pm

I'm dreading Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison bowing out ....

Like PfY I was wondering earlier if Eminem might make the 'groundbreaker' status. Don't know how truly widespread his influence has been beyond music though. Similarly Kate Bush.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:36 pm

Lord Daffyd Elis-Thomas, the thorn in Leanne Wood's side, could be chucked out of Plaid Cymru for endorsing Labour's candidate for elected police commissioner in North Wales.

He's asking Lib Dems, Plaid & Tories to vote for Labour's David Taylor to 'stop UKIP in their tracks'.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/polit ... d-11223621" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:38 pm

Is it bloody Edwina Currie week? I can't switch on the radio without hearing her spout some piffle. I've got turning the radio off sharpish down to a T.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:39 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:I'm dreading Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison bowing out ....

Like PfY I was wondering earlier if Eminem might make the 'groundbreaker' status. Don't know how truly widespread his influence has been beyond music though. Similarly Kate Bush.

& Leonard Cohen, and Dylan.

Our generation was so lucky, we had really talented creative artists.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:39 pm

seeingclearly wrote:Here till Monday at least, maybe longer, they need to get me mobile.By some freak combination of events I came in for an infection last sunday, It was cold here, and I couldn't stop shivering, And something went in my lower back, so not sure at all how long things will take. And I was excited by the snow!

cJA

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:41 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:I'm dreading Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison bowing out ....

Like PfY I was wondering earlier if Eminem might make the 'groundbreaker' status. Don't know how truly widespread his influence has been beyond music though. Similarly Kate Bush.

Kate Bush is too peripheral to be a great. Awful voice too.

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:41 pm

Hope all are well and that Mr Ohsos treatment are getting underway, I havent been able to get online for a few days, have to go back and catchup.

Terrible news about Prince this year really seems like rhe year that the twntieth century is disappearing from sight. Lots of comments on loss of Victoria Wood too, alao very sad, neither were that old. Unless you own a mobile device the lifts are your friend.... no need dor the news, just try the spoken version. On matters political quite pithy.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:42 pm

Well it seems that the POTUS has basically pulped, pureed and pulverised Boris

No wonder the latter had his meltdown in his latest Torygraph piece (all but embracing "birtherism") Barry absolutely terrifies the Brexiters, and rightly so.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:43 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:Is it bloody Edwina Currie week? I can't switch on the radio without hearing her spout some piffle. I've got turning the radio off sharpish down to a T.

She's whinging about Diane Abbott now.
What is she doing on a comedy show ? As funny as a dose of thrush.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 Apr, 2016 6:45 pm

@ohsocynical

Going back to your earlier post linking to the "37 people . . . . . . 2016" article - the death of Abe Vigada who appeared in "The Godfather" and "Barney Miller" (and, presumably, other things) reminded me of how much I used to enjoy "Barney Miller" and how much of a crush I had on Hal Linden (who's still alive).