Wednesday 17th February 2016

[HindleA]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/be ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Bedroom Tax is now costing victims £66 more than the DWP first predicted

[seeingclearly]

Toby said he would be out of circulation for a while and not able to be in contact, iirc because no technology for him, he also mentioned tangible physical issues that I have sympathy with, and relate to while knowing I am not anywhere as affected as he said he was. I would like my best wishes to be conveyed to him, whether or not I get to hear about how he is, though if I never heard anything I would always wonder, he is in my mandala whether I am forgetful or not, and I maintain that his daily acts of keeping us cheerful and not down hearted are a special kind of love, and very much missed. Toby, you are missed and cared for here, and when and if it is possible we will throw a party on your return. Hope you are feeling better and are being treated well. If not give 'em what for.

[ephemerid]

OK folks.

I'll try to get a message to him over the next few days - just we are missing him and hoping he's home soon. "Style of thing"!

Thanks for the PMs.

Nighty night.

[seeingclearly]

Following reports on social media that collection trolleys and boxes had disappeared from stores across Scotland, as well as in Hampshire, Lancashire, Norwich and Newcastle, the Guardian has established that Asda, which is owned by the US retail giant Walmart, has removed donation points from all of its UK stores.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... CMP=twt_gu

Are they selling wonky veg off cheaply as their alternative ....?

Apparently we don't deserve them here. I was quite looking forward to them, thought perhaps I'd draw them before consuming them! But really it was the lure of soup, which my son hates and I love.

Veg Deprived of Brum.

[HindleA]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/ ... nings.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Elderly hospital patients given eviction warnings
Amid soaring levels of 'bedblocking' in the NHS, elderly hospital patients are being warned that they could face eviction if relatives cannot find a care home within three weeks


Analysis of official NHS figures by Health Service Journal shows the highest levels of bed-blocking are in Oxfordshire, with three times as many delays as the national average

[ohsocynical]

Every day on Twitter there are appeals for missing youngsters...I've been struck by the empty look in most of their eyes.

[seeingclearly]

I wonder how many calves it took to inscribe the Health and Social Care act, and its amendments etc.? And whether it is the longest piece of British legislation.

I honestly don't know where I stand on vellum, I love to look at old manuscript type things, but haven't had much opportunity to see anything but facsimiles. I deplore the use of young animals for this and am a very occasional consumer of meat with a strong bias against it, especially about overconsumption, but can't see all humans going veggy. If you watched the Chinese new Year festivitiy programmes you'll be forgiven for wondering whether there are still any fish left, let alone animals. The ice fishing section is a genuinely new thing for me, hadn't known of anything that efficient for lake fishing. But I digress. There are modern synthetic durable alternatives to vellum, that are not paper as we know it. Printable and archivable, and I am sad that they didn't make the change because really animals could do with the break, and we could do with ending our abuse of them. I'm not a purist on this but was converted by watching a film called Samsara, which documents the effect of our animal conumption not just on us but on the human workers who do the dirty stuff for us.

[ohsocynical]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 8h8 hours ago

On who is to blame for the current spending cuts:

The current CON Gov: 30%
The last LAB Gov: 32%
Both: 29%
(via YouGov / 31 Jan - 02 Feb)

[seeingclearly]

Every day on Twitter there are appeals for missing youngsters...I've been struck by the empty look
in most of their eyes.

There is a programme on iPlayer about homeless youngsters, very worrying, such a hard life if they cannot couch surf or blag a floor space at a friends. The use of something called synthetic cannabis, which is anything but, judging by the footage, is widespread as it is easy and cheap to obtain. Loss Of hope, and bad drugs? There aren't anywhere near enough hostel places of course, and quite strict terms to get in. Very worrying, and was distressing for me, as I lost touch with one of mine, for several years and know nothing of what happened then, except what I saw when we did get back together. And in fact I heard exactly the same words as one of the youngsters on the programme used. Worse by far than I had imagined. Though I knew a bit from the homeless people who camped out from October till March with our small and only rarely ever mentioned occupy camp. There are some incredibly good people out there working to try and help things, but an ever growing need. I'll give a plug for one here in Brum, Sifa Fireside.

[seeingclearly]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 8h8 hours ago

On who is to blame for the current spending cuts:

The current CON Gov: 30%
The last LAB Gov: 32%
Both: 29%
(via YouGov / 31 Jan - 02 Feb)

Incredible! Nearly six years 'in power' and presumably large swathes still think the global crash was the personal work of Gordon, who is actually the one who prevented the meltdown it could have been. And I guess Ed and Ed authored the cuts too! And Dave had nothing to do with any of it.

[rebeccariots2]

Having now read the G story re the Asda removal of food bank and other charity collection points ... all I can say is Fuck Asda.

I hope it backfires bigtime on them.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Well, well. Credit where it's due Laura.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-e ... m-35599680" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 8h8 hours ago

On who is to blame for the current spending cuts:

The current CON Gov: 30%
The last LAB Gov: 32%
Both: 29%
(via YouGov / 31 Jan - 02 Feb)

Incredible! Nearly six years 'in power' and presumably large swathes still think the global crash was the personal work of Gordon, who is actually the one who prevented the meltdown it could have been. And I guess Ed and Ed authored the cuts too! And Dave had nothing to do with any of it.

Hmm that 32% is pretty much the Tory vote share and I guess they would say that. What needs to shift I guess is the "both" response. Folk who feel that the political establishment has completely failed them. Which in many ways it has.

[RogerOThornhill]

Oh dear...

[rebeccariots2]

Blimey. Tim Montgomerie has - according to Newsnight - announced he's leaving the Conservative party. Not quite sure what the tipping point is meant to be but probably linked to the EU stuff.

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Tim Montgomerie resigns from the Tories!

[PaulfromYorkshire]

snap snap

[rebeccariots2]

Ah - hadn't seen your post first Roger. Thanks for that. Still blimey.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Tories don't really need members or councillors or MEPs. Mayor of London would be useful, but it's mainly media and MPs for them.

[RogerOThornhill]

Incidentally, I notice from the twitter that there was a conference today about no platforming at universities.

It wasn't until just now that I saw that it had been organised by Spiked - hardly a surprise...but...being a bunch of libertarians their position is quite clear.

We must have the freedom to hate

http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/ar ... sT417R4amV

The behaviour of these campus censors speaks to one of the key problems with measures against hate speech: the way they rebrand certain people’s genuinely held beliefs as ‘hatred’ that must be stamped out. The student union at Derby severely restricts the rights of Abort67, a pro-life organisation, on the basis that it’s a ‘hate group’. Anti-Islamist speakers have been banned from campuses on the grounds that they ‘could incite hatred’, presumably of Islamists. Islamists themselves have faced student censorship because, in the words of one LGBT society, they ‘preach hate’. Students have sought to ban feminists who don’t believe transsexuals are real women, claiming they could ‘incite hatred’ against trans people.

Well, yes, yes they do.

Are they really saying that there should be no limits on people like that being give a platform? Not sure people whom seem enthusiastic about this would agree totally with that.

Elsewhere...

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... lub-claims" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In explaining his decision to resign, Chalmers wrote on Facebook: “A large proportion of both OULC and the student left in Oxford more generally have some kind of problem with Jews. The decision of the club to endorse a movement with a history of targeting and harassing Jewish students and inviting antisemitic speakers to campuses, despite the concerns of Jewish students, illustrates how uneven and insincere much of the active membership is when it comes to liberation.”

So presumably Spiked will tell them that they shouldn't be allowed to have concerns and it's entirely fine to have anti-semitic views being aired.

Somehow I doubt it...there's a middle ground between no platforming and the Spiked "anything goes" but the two sides are shouting past each other at the moment.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Spiked can pay for the policing when somebody invites Geert Wilders along so he can "put his case".

[HindleA]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bo ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Boy with no arms and legs told he must prove he is disabled to keep his benefits

[HindleA]

Perverse incentive to get money for needless face to face assessments kerching

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ha ha. How bad is the second of these.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbcyK3QXIAECW_6.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's worth clicking on the link, honestly.

[Tubby Isaacs]

If it sounds like it makes no difference at all, then you're right.

And even more hilariously, they already passed a bit of law that made the same (non) point in 2011.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Nice Scoop of the Year award from Chris Cook/Newsnight on the closure of Kids Company.

A very good journalist indeed.

[Tubby Isaacs]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/f ... nstitution" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here come the Proper Left.

Complete with the silly Greece argument.

[HindleA]

Full list of awards:-

https://rts.org.uk/award/television-jou ... wards-2016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"undeterred by the involvement of one of their organisation's own executives.”

[citizenJA]

Goodnight, everyone.
love,
cJA

[mbc1955]

Ha ha. How bad is the second of these.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbcyK3QXIAECW_6.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's worth clicking on the link, honestly.

Which roughly translates as "We can go back on our word any time we want, but you can't. Thrrrrrrpppppppp!!"

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ha ha. How bad is the second of these.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbcyK3QXIAECW_6.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's worth clicking on the link, honestly.

Which roughly translates as "We can go back on our word any time we want, but you can't. Thrrrrrrpppppppp!!"

Upon which, the others point out we can't.

[HindleA]

Guardian on Tim M.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ance-on-eu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/f ... t-brussels" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
David Cameron set for a battle of brinkmanship at EU summit

[HindleA]

Private Eye has highest circulation figures for 30 years.

[seeingclearly]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bo ... ar_twitter
Boy with no arms and legs told he must prove he is disabled to keep his benefits

How dare they have policies that do that to people living with such a level of disablement. Not in my name and not in the name of anyone I know. What kind of people don't understand quadruple amputee and meningitis? Simply appalled at this.

[utopiandreams]

I may repeat this in today's thread but Stephen Sackur is speaking to Krzysztof Szczerski, the foreign policy advisor to the Polish President on HARDtalk just hours before the talks in Europe. Here's hoping there are far more Citizens of the World than Ashcroft suggests. Commiserations to our very own гражданка btw. As i say, let us hope that he is mistaken.

[utopiandreams]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/f ... t-brussels
David Cameron set for a battle of brinkmanship at EU summit

From the above...

If he wins, his supporters will say he deserves a place among the list of transformational prime ministers after securing Scotland’s place in the UK in one referendum and settling Britain’s membership of the EU in another.

Delusional I'd say.