Monday 21st September 2015

[Tubby Isaacs]

Well, this qualfied counsellor is definitely struggling. As we know from many cases of bullying and abuse, victims don't talk.

It is no more incumbent on the OPs to produce evidence that anyone "experienced anything" than it is on you to infer they didn't.

This is not simply "a group of tightly-knit rich kids" pratting about dong what they want while drunk. This is a group of seriously rich scions of the aristocracy and what are considered "good" families, being groomed for the expectation that they will be occupants of high office or captains of industry - on the basis of no more merit than I have, and based purely on who their parents are, where they go to school, which university they attend, and which drinking club they belong to assuming they keep quiet about how they are initiated.

This isn't about "inspiration" and getting pissed - it's about the sort of behaviour that you and I, Tubby, would get criminal records for.

See, it would be so easy if there really were not any merit to this lot, particularly Cameron in this case. Sure, all sorts of strings have been pulled for him, but he became leader of his party at 39, played a very skillful hand in the Coalition, and just defied the odds by winning a majority. None of this just follows from going to Eton or Oxford. We don't have to like him, but we have to recognize that he's good at what he does and would probably be good at lots of things. We always make the same mistake when a Cameron comes along, and we'll do it with the next one.

You don't get a criminal record for being in some juvenile club with bizarre initiation, or else the courts would be full of sadomasochists. Pretty full on stuff among consenting adults isn't only tolerated, it's massively commercialized now. Barring James Anderton coming back for "one last case" that's unlikely to change.

[refitman]

The National
‏@ScotNational
Tomorrow's front page from @scotnational ... it's a special Pig Issue!

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click through on that link and you won't believe your eyes ....

ezgif.com-video-to-gif.gif (1.95 MiB) Viewed 8086 times

gif'd it.

[TechnicalEphemera]

There's a petition to remove him on Change

Unless Danczuk's constituency decide they want rid of him nothing will happen. Corbyn chaired an organisation calling a Labour PM a war criminal, Danczuk is annoying but he hasn't gone that far.

He seems popular with his constituents in a seat where UKIP must have thought they had a shot.

Danczuk spread libel about the leader of his party.

Has anybody been accused of libel and has it been proved in court, if not he has spread something that some people believe may be libellous (as is anybody repeating the pig story).

[NonOxCol]

The Scum still pay it, and the BBC still use it. Unbelievable.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/su ... voter.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wont dignify it by calling it "him".

[TechnicalEphemera]

There's a petition to remove him on Change

Unless Danczuk's constituency decide they want rid of him nothing will happen. Corbyn chaired an organisation calling a Labour PM a war criminal, Danczuk is annoying but he hasn't gone that far.

He seems popular with his constituents in a seat where UKIP must have thought they had a shot.

Corbyn became Chair of STW in 2011. Four years after Blair stood down as PM. Danczuk has kept up a lengthy public sniping at current leaders of the party. There's also the fact that he is a shit.

So what Corbyn became chair of an anti Labour organisation, while being a Labour MP. So I really don't think Danczuk talking bollocks to the press is as big a sin. Corbyn was a serial rebel for years, he doesn't have much hope in enforcing discipline now. As for Danczuk, his views are irrelevant because it just falls into the - not you again camp.

Rather have him inside the tent than outside as it limits his behaviour. Otherwise we get 4 years of sniping followed by the likely loss of a seat.

Incidentally I don't know Mr Danczuk personally, so I will have to take your word for his personality.

[ohsocynical]

Daily Mail Day 2.jpg

Tomorrow's another hilarious day on Twitter then....

[rebeccariots2]

Well done refitman. Brilliant job. Thanks.

[TechnicalEphemera]

On a non political note came across this in a PPRune discussion on the risks of late runway changes on take-off.

It starts like a classic 1970s public information film explaining the background to a 70s aircraft accident (it is a briefing for pilots), however stick with it because the footage at the end is amazing. In particular seeing a 747 moving like a rocking chair is incredible (also a good job they weren't a full flight and not all the centre seats were occupied).

File this under very very lucky.

http://youtu.be/tl_wXfSwRzM
[youtube]tl_wXfSwRzM[/youtube]

[RogerOThornhill]

So if the source of #piggate is a "distinguished MP" who was at Oxford at the same time as Cameron, that limits it down a bit doesn't it?

Hunt was educated at Charterhouse School, where he was Head Boy,[3] before attending Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a First in PPE. He became involved in Conservative politics while at university, where David Cameron and Boris Johnson were contemporaries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Hunt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

Nick Sutton ‏@suttonnick 27m27 minutes ago
Tuesday's Sun front page:
Exclusive - PM at coke party
#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers

What the hell is going on?

[RogerOThornhill]

Nick Sutton ‏@suttonnick 27m27 minutes ago
Tuesday's Sun front page:
Exclusive - PM at coke party
#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers

What the hell is going on?

Aiming to get a leadership election sooner rather than later where the new man is more Eurosceptic?

[Tubby Isaacs]

So if the source of #piggate is a "distinguished MP" who was at Oxford at the same time as Cameron, that limits it down a bit doesn't it?

Hunt was educated at Charterhouse School, where he was Head Boy,[3] before attending Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a First in PPE. He became involved in Conservative politics while at university, where David Cameron and Boris Johnson were contemporaries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Hunt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nah, Hunt is nowhere without Cameron. Wouldn't be him.

[ohsocynical]

Well, this qualfied counsellor is definitely struggling. As we know from many cases of bullying and abuse, victims don't talk.

It is no more incumbent on the OPs to produce evidence that anyone "experienced anything" than it is on you to infer they didn't.

This is not simply "a group of tightly-knit rich kids" pratting about dong what they want while drunk. This is a group of seriously rich scions of the aristocracy and what are considered "good" families, being groomed for the expectation that they will be occupants of high office or captains of industry - on the basis of no more merit than I have, and based purely on who their parents are, where they go to school, which university they attend, and which drinking club they belong to assuming they keep quiet about how they are initiated.

This isn't about "inspiration" and getting pissed - it's about the sort of behaviour that you and I, Tubby, would get criminal records for.

See, it would be so easy if there really were not any merit to this lot, particularly Cameron in this case. Sure, all sorts of strings have been pulled for him, but he became leader of his party at 39, played a very skillful hand in the Coalition, and just defied the odds by winning a majority. None of this just follows from going to Eton or Oxford. We don't have to like him, but we have to recognize that he's good at what he does and would probably be good at lots of things. We always make the same mistake when a Cameron comes along, and we'll do it with the next one.

You don't get a criminal record for being in some juvenile club with bizarre initiation, or else the courts would be full of sadomasochists. Pretty full on stuff among consenting adults isn't only tolerated, it's massively commercialized now. Barring James Anderton coming back for "one last case" that's unlikely to change.

I'm old enough to be his mother. I have a 53, and a 49 year old, and would know I'd gone badly wrong if I had twisted offspring like him.
So he's done well for himself. I fail to see what's admirable about a job or lifestyle achieved through lying, manipulation, and having strings pulled for him.
Okay so it's always going to be easy for the little shit. But he shouldn't be in a job where millions of people depend on him. And as he is, then he has to deal with the bad side of it.

I guarantee he'll have sat at the dinner table with his set, and had many a belly laugh about screwing the plebs over. The laughs on him now. I hope it carries on for a long time and teaches him a bit of humility. Although I'll not hold my breath.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Nick Sutton ‏@suttonnick 27m27 minutes ago
Tuesday's Sun front page:
Exclusive - PM at coke party
#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers

What the hell is going on?

Aiming to get a leadership election sooner rather than later where the new man is more Eurosceptic?

Worrying isn't it, a man perceived as a moderate (oink) is elected, now with an enfeebled opposition they seek to replace the "moderate" with a true believer like say Boris.

[rebeccariots2]

So if the source of #piggate is a "distinguished MP" who was at Oxford at the same time as Cameron, that limits it down a bit doesn't it?

Hunt was educated at Charterhouse School, where he was Head Boy,[3] before attending Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a First in PPE. He became involved in Conservative politics while at university, where David Cameron and Boris Johnson were contemporaries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Hunt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nah, Hunt is nowhere without Cameron. Wouldn't be him.

The hints I've picked up on have all been pointing towards the other contemporary - the Mail's favoured one in other words. Telling such a tale at a dinner sounds pretty in keeping to me.

[rebeccariots2]

Iain Martin ‏@iainmartin1 9m9 minutes ago
Look, apart from the pig thing, and the drugs, and the fox hunting and the rows with the army, there's tons that is positive in this book...

[Tubby Isaacs]

Here's a possible for the Tory MP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Vaizey" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

Here's a possible for the Tory MP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Vaizey" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not so sure - if this is right.

Conservative commentator Peter Oborne describes him as Cameron's "unofficial ambassador to the Murdoch press".[

[ohsocynical]

So if the source of #piggate is a "distinguished MP" who was at Oxford at the same time as Cameron, that limits it down a bit doesn't it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Hunt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nah, Hunt is nowhere without Cameron. Wouldn't be him.

The hints I've picked up on have all been pointing towards the other contemporary - the Mail's favoured one in other words. Telling such a tale at a dinner sounds pretty in keeping to me.

There was a Tweet today with photo saying the above struggled not to snigger when asked about it...

He's probably making extra sure he steps into the job. Because he will, make no mistake about it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Another possibility? Cameron's college, but might not have overlapped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Harper" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rebeccariots2]

Nah, Hunt is nowhere without Cameron. Wouldn't be him.

The hints I've picked up on have all been pointing towards the other contemporary - the Mail's favoured one in other words. Telling such a tale at a dinner sounds pretty in keeping to me.

There was a Tweet today with photo saying the above struggled not to snigger when asked about it...

He's probably making extra sure he steps into the job. Because he will, make no mistake about it.

I was talking about Boris - he's the Mail's favourite, I believe.

It's going to be a very dirty fight with Osborne. Watched and heard Osborne giving interviews today - he's so clearly being given and taking the opportunities to portray himself as Prime Ministerial material ... you can see how careful he's being with his words and image now - bit of added gravitas etc. Looks as though Cameron has pretty much stepped back and given him the space to do a very long audition.

However - people- including MPs I'd have thought - don't like to have such things pre organised for them so it isn't going to be all plain sailing for him. And the kinds of stories that came out today can't be comfortable for Osborne - it's all far too close to his alleged exploits.

[RogerOThornhill]

@Tubby Isaacs

After Nick Gibb rubbishing the 2007 curriculum last week, I was thinking about doing a post on it and when I looked up someone who had also taken a dim view on it, look what I found.

Mr R Peal: Teacher of History
Mr Peal studied history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, before gaining a Masters in history from the University of Pennsylvania under a Thouron Scholarship. On returning from America, he began his teaching career under the Teach First programme. He taught for two years at a school in Birmingham where he established a school debating club.

Mr Peal took a year out of teaching to work as an education research fellow at Civitas, a Westminster-based think tank. During this year, he published a book on the history of teaching methods and a report about school inspection.

Away from teaching, Mr Peal enjoys reading, cooking and is a keen runner. He is a passionate traveller, as it was visiting sites of historic importance that first fired his interest in the subject of history. Mr Peal is on secondment to the Department for Education during the academic year 2015-16.

http://www.westlondonfreeschool.co.uk/Teacher-profiles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Shocked I was...

What is it about some of these bright young things that they seemingly can't actually settle down to actually teach?

Wonder what he's up to? Probably a "Gosh, your new curriculum is wonderful!" report.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Wow, well spotted!

One for Marklu. Did you see the bloke he thinks is Peale lose it with him again?

[RogerOThornhill]

Wow, well spotted!

One for Marklu. Did you see the bloke he thinks is Peale lose it with him again?

No, where was this?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... -says.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Doesn't suspected Peale bite?

[Hobiejoe]

Post work chillaxing update - C4OD have Black Mirror at the top of their homepage.

*edited* That's not to say it's the most popular, it's just where it is. Like when I posted something similar about an item on iPlayer recently - I think it was the popularity of Corbyn's first PMQ and that it had appeared in the top 40 viewings of that day - and someone suggested that I said it was the most popular.

Gerrumph. Details.

[Hobiejoe]

By the way, exactly how cross am I allowed be to a young head teacher who won't let me take an upset 9yo kid with ASD (299.00 if you were wondering, and so were we until six months ago. He's nine.Thank you Virgin "healthcare") out of school to calm him down after an incident when he hid himself away in a classroom for an hour and a half. The school sends out minibuses to search, calls me and the police.

[ephemerid]

Well, this qualfied counsellor is definitely struggling. As we know from many cases of bullying and abuse, victims don't talk.

It is no more incumbent on the OPs to produce evidence that anyone "experienced anything" than it is on you to infer they didn't.

This is not simply "a group of tightly-knit rich kids" pratting about dong what they want while drunk. This is a group of seriously rich scions of the aristocracy and what are considered "good" families, being groomed for the expectation that they will be occupants of high office or captains of industry - on the basis of no more merit than I have, and based purely on who their parents are, where they go to school, which university they attend, and which drinking club they belong to assuming they keep quiet about how they are initiated.

This isn't about "inspiration" and getting pissed - it's about the sort of behaviour that you and I, Tubby, would get criminal records for.

See, it would be so easy if there really were not any merit to this lot, particularly Cameron in this case. Sure, all sorts of strings have been pulled for him, but he became leader of his party at 39, played a very skillful hand in the Coalition, and just defied the odds by winning a majority. None of this just follows from going to Eton or Oxford. We don't have to like him, but we have to recognize that he's good at what he does and would probably be good at lots of things. We always make the same mistake when a Cameron comes along, and we'll do it with the next one.

You don't get a criminal record for being in some juvenile club with bizarre initiation, or else the courts would be full of sadomasochists. Pretty full on stuff among consenting adults isn't only tolerated, it's massively commercialized now. Barring James Anderton coming back for "one last case" that's unlikely to change.

If you are a member of "some juvenile drinking club with bizarre initiation" which happens to be the Bullingdon Club, you do not get a criminal record for vandalism when you trash someone's livelihood and get daddy to pay for the damage.
If you are a pissed-up bunch of oiks from an ordinary background behaving in the same way, you get arrested and charged. If you are an ordinary bloke who nicked a bottle of water during a riot whilst not rioting you go to prison.

If you are a posh person doing illegal drugs it's youthful high jinks, and a caution is the worst you can expect. If you are a member of the hoi polloi from a council estate and do the same drugs, you will be done for possession and have a criminal record for life.

Cameron and his ilk are not "good at lots of things" any more than you or I, Tubby. They get where they are through privilege and preferment, they are not treated in the same way when they break the law, and this is not about "unusual" sexual practices.

The Misuse of Drugs Act does not apply to them, it's for us. Criminal damage and vandalism is what poor people do, prison terms and ASBOs are what poor people get, and the same behaviour from the Bullingdon Club is just a bit of fun and it's just what they do.

We will have to disagree, I think. Pig or no pig, Cameron is a lazy lightweight who presides over laws that he and his friends don't think apply to them but are very quick to apply to you and I.

[LadyCentauria]

By the way, exactly how cross am I allowed be to a young head teacher who won't let me take an upset 9yo kid with ASD (299.00 if you were wondering, and so were we until six months ago. He's nine.Thank you Virgin "healthcare") out of school to calm him down after an incident when he hid himself away in a classroom for an hour and a half. The school sends out minibuses to search, calls me and the police.

I can't say exactly how cross you're allowed to be but I'd say at least a 8, on a scale of 0 to 10. (No level on my scale authorises the use of physical force...) It's good that they instituted a search and alerted both you and the police but I'd be very surprised if the school were so large that it took an hour-and-a-half to search the premises – that might be true of Stowe but not of many primary or prep schools! - and if they didn't start searching the school itself, too, as soon as they realised he was missing, then I'd add at least 0.5. As far as taking him out of school to help him calm down is concerned it's not as if he were being intentionally disruptive in order to get out of school - he did not leave the premises, either - so it isn't being 'rewarded' for 'undesirable' behaviour. If there isn't a 'safe space' - a designated quiet room or a school garden to walk/sit in - then I, personally, wouldn't stop a parent taking a distressed child out for a while, on the understanding that they returned as soon as possible. I'd want the teacher (and perhaps the class) prepared to just accept him back in, too, with no more fuss than if he'd been sent on an errand, excused for the loo, or been to the dentist.

I'd also want to get to the bottom of what it was that triggered his need to go and hide, so that it could be avoided in future and to help him find a coping strategy. Our local primary has a 'quiet bench' in each of its two gardens and a quiet room just off the library, where kids can go at times of stress – and because they all know that that's where you go, what you do, that is what happens. One of the pastoral team (which includes pupil 'Friends') goes to join them after a while but just sits quietly by, keeping an eye, ready to listen if need be - and armed with tissues. Dare say you'll be writing a pretty stiff letter but also asking that some system be planned, or adapted! Hope your lad'll be ok.