FlyTheNest

Emperor Caracalla tricks the Parthians by accepting a marriage proposal. He slaughters his bride and the wedding guests after the celebrations.

Iceland's Pirate party invited to form government

Giving the Pirate party, which came third in the election, the chance to build a government has been seen as a bold move that is not guaranteed to be a success.
“I am optimistic that we will find a way to work together,” Jónsdóttir said.

Monday
I’m campaigning on the leafy streets of Richmond with my election agent. He stops a passing woman and I ask her if I can count on her vote.

“For mayor?” she says. “That’s still going on?”

“No,” says my election agent. “To be the MP.”

“But I thought you were already the MP,” says the woman, narrowing her eyes.

“I was,” I explain, “but then I resigned in order to oppose a third runway at Heathrow.” Then the woman says she thought I opposed that already, and I say, “I did.” Then she asks if my opponents are all for it, in that case, and I say, “No, they’re all against it, too.”

EU negotiator mocks Brexit Secretary David Davis over Conservatives' shock by-election defeat in Richmond


Following weeks in which European politicians have demanded more detail of the UK’s position, Guy Verhofstadt said he would now finally have something to talk about with Britain’s lead negotiator and that he would ask Mr Davis to explain the defeat.

HindleA wrote:http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2016/12/ha ... dg.twitter


Happy International Day of Disabled People from the UK Government

Party of European Socialists Council Prague
1-3 December 2016

https://www.pes.eu/oc/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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

Corbyn says the populist right has identified the right problems but has 'toxic' solutions

"Europe’s centre-left parties must reject the establishment – or watch the populist far-right win across the continent,
Jeremy Corbyn will warn this weekend. In a speech to Labour’s European sister parties, at the Party of European Socialists
conference in Prague, the Labour leader will warn that the populist right had correctly identified problems with the prevailing
economic model. But he will argue the solutions of those anti-immigrant, anti-EU, and anti-Islam parties were only “toxic dead
ends” that would not solve people’s problems."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 53066.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA wrote:Corbyn is in Prague with other European Socialists Saving Europe. This is pro-EU, I like that.
It's still going on, the live stream is linked below. I'll watch it later.

Party of European Socialists Council Prague
1-3 December 2016

https://www.pes.eu/oc/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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

Corbyn says the populist right has identified the right problems but has 'toxic' solutions

"Europe’s centre-left parties must reject the establishment – or watch the populist far-right win across the continent,
Jeremy Corbyn will warn this weekend. In a speech to Labour’s European sister parties, at the Party of European Socialists
conference in Prague, the Labour leader will warn that the populist right had correctly identified problems with the prevailing
economic model. But he will argue the solutions of those anti-immigrant, anti-EU, and anti-Islam parties were only “toxic dead
ends” that would not solve people’s problems."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 53066.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jonathan Safran Foer: technology is diminishing us

Have you found yourself checking email at dinner, or skipping from book to screen, unable to focus? The closer the world gets to our fingertips, the more we stand to lose (Guardian)

PorFavor wrote:

Jonathan Safran Foer: technology is diminishing us

Have you found yourself checking email at dinner, or skipping from book to screen, unable to focus? The closer the world gets to our fingertips, the more we stand to lose (Guardian)

A beautifully written piece. I know nothing about the author.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/ ... nishing-us

"One needn’t believe in miracles to experience them. But one must be present for them."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/ ... nishing-us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Labour will seek to amend any bill on the Article 50 process to withdraw from the EU, Jeremy Corbyn has reiterated.
The Labour leader told Sky News the party will seek an amendment on "market access and protections", but the referendum result will be respected.
The government's appeal against a High Court ruling that ministers should refer to Parliament before triggering Article 50 will be heard on Monday.
Mr Corbyn is currently in Prague with other left-wing European politicians.
What if ministers lose the Brexit appeal?
The government is expected to lose its Supreme Court appeal against an earlier High Court ruling, which said ministers cannot start the process of the UK's exit from the EU without a parliamentary debate.
BBC News understands that a short three-line bill has been prepared by the government in the event of an Article 50 debate in Parliament, so that Prime Minister Theresa May can still meet her March deadline.
It is not the first time Mr Corbyn has discussed the need to negotiate before agreeing on any potential Article 50 bill.
In November, he told the Sunday Mirror that Labour would not vote in favour of the bill in parliament unless Theresa May agrees to their "Brexit bottom lines".
'Not what we wanted'
On Saturday, Mr Corbyn said: "When the Article 50 debate comes up we will put forward an amendment to it which will be on the issues I've just said on market access and protections.
"We want those to be part of the negotiation but we are respecting the result of the referendum. It might not be the one we wanted, it's the one we've got."
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn told the BBC Labour would propose the amendment to "try to force the government to bring their negotiating position to parliament".
However, the spokesman added that if the amendment failed, Labour "will not vote against the Article 50 bill".
The Labour leader's comments come as Attorney General Jeremy Wright accused the High Court of treating the referendum result as if it were "almost... a footnote" in a document setting out the government's Supreme Court appeal arguments.
Mr Corbyn also gave a speech at the Party of European Socialists in Prague, where he urged progressive parties across Europe to unite against the rise of the "populist right" and accused some "populist right" parties of being "political parasites".

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:From the BBC

Labour will seek to amend any bill on the Article 50 process to withdraw from the EU, Jeremy Corbyn has reiterated.
The Labour leader told Sky News the party will seek an amendment on "market access and protections", but the referendum result will be respected.
The government's appeal against a High Court ruling that ministers should refer to Parliament before triggering Article 50 will be heard on Monday.
Mr Corbyn is currently in Prague with other left-wing European politicians.
What if ministers lose the Brexit appeal?
The government is expected to lose its Supreme Court appeal against an earlier High Court ruling, which said ministers cannot start the process of the UK's exit from the EU without a parliamentary debate.
BBC News understands that a short three-line bill has been prepared by the government in the event of an Article 50 debate in Parliament, so that Prime Minister Theresa May can still meet her March deadline.
It is not the first time Mr Corbyn has discussed the need to negotiate before agreeing on any potential Article 50 bill.
In November, he told the Sunday Mirror that Labour would not vote in favour of the bill in parliament unless Theresa May agrees to their "Brexit bottom lines".
'Not what we wanted'
On Saturday, Mr Corbyn said: "When the Article 50 debate comes up we will put forward an amendment to it which will be on the issues I've just said on market access and protections.
"We want those to be part of the negotiation but we are respecting the result of the referendum. It might not be the one we wanted, it's the one we've got."
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn told the BBC Labour would propose the amendment to "try to force the government to bring their negotiating position to parliament".
However, the spokesman added that if the amendment failed, Labour "will not vote against the Article 50 bill".
The Labour leader's comments come as Attorney General Jeremy Wright accused the High Court of treating the referendum result as if it were "almost... a footnote" in a document setting out the government's Supreme Court appeal arguments.
Mr Corbyn also gave a speech at the Party of European Socialists in Prague, where he urged progressive parties across Europe to unite against the rise of the "populist right" and accused some "populist right" parties of being "political parasites".

George Osborne has defended earning £320,000 in five speeches since being sacked as chancellor in July, saying he is behaving no differently from his predecessors.

In an interview with the Guardian in Liverpool about his plans to close the north-south divide by continuing to build his “northern powerhouse” from the backbenches, Osborne said he did not think people hit by austerity measures would consider his extra-curricular earnings unfair.

“When I left No 11 unemployment had never been lower in the north, there were more people in work here, incomes were rising, the country was obviously not in crisis any more economically,” he claimed.

SpinningHugo wrote:

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:From the BBC

Labour will seek to amend any bill on the Article 50 process to withdraw from the EU, Jeremy Corbyn has reiterated.
The Labour leader told Sky News the party will seek an amendment on "market access and protections", but the referendum result will be respected.
The government's appeal against a High Court ruling that ministers should refer to Parliament before triggering Article 50 will be heard on Monday.
Mr Corbyn is currently in Prague with other left-wing European politicians.
What if ministers lose the Brexit appeal?
The government is expected to lose its Supreme Court appeal against an earlier High Court ruling, which said ministers cannot start the process of the UK's exit from the EU without a parliamentary debate.
BBC News understands that a short three-line bill has been prepared by the government in the event of an Article 50 debate in Parliament, so that Prime Minister Theresa May can still meet her March deadline.
It is not the first time Mr Corbyn has discussed the need to negotiate before agreeing on any potential Article 50 bill.
In November, he told the Sunday Mirror that Labour would not vote in favour of the bill in parliament unless Theresa May agrees to their "Brexit bottom lines".
'Not what we wanted'
On Saturday, Mr Corbyn said: "When the Article 50 debate comes up we will put forward an amendment to it which will be on the issues I've just said on market access and protections.
"We want those to be part of the negotiation but we are respecting the result of the referendum. It might not be the one we wanted, it's the one we've got."
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn told the BBC Labour would propose the amendment to "try to force the government to bring their negotiating position to parliament".
However, the spokesman added that if the amendment failed, Labour "will not vote against the Article 50 bill".
The Labour leader's comments come as Attorney General Jeremy Wright accused the High Court of treating the referendum result as if it were "almost... a footnote" in a document setting out the government's Supreme Court appeal arguments.
Mr Corbyn also gave a speech at the Party of European Socialists in Prague, where he urged progressive parties across Europe to unite against the rise of the "populist right" and accused some "populist right" parties of being "political parasites".

Utterly and completely pitiful.

So Labour will propose an amendment but vote for the Bill anyway once it is defeated.

The Conservatives have accused Labour of trying to "frustrate the will of the British people" over Brexit, after Jeremy Corbyn said they would seek to table an amendment if the Supreme Court rules there must be a vote in Parliament.

"We are respecting the result of the referendum. It might not be the one we wanted but it's the one we've got," he said.
"We are not going to block it. We don't think it is right to do that but I do think there may well be a considerable body of MPs on both sides who would support an amendment which does require a trading agreement with Europe in future."

However the Conservatives said the move was clearly designed to delay the Brexit process while limiting the Government's room for manoeuvre in the negotiations.
"Yet again, Labour have shown they want to frustrate the will of the British people by slowing down the process of leaving the European Union and trying to tie the Government's hands in a negotiation," a Conservative spokesman said.
"Labour are utterly out of touch with the values of working people across our country. Only the Conservatives can be trusted to respect the outcome of the referendum and make a success of Brexit."

tinybgoat wrote:Maybe a slightly different slant on things-

The Conservatives have accused Labour of trying to "frustrate the will of the British people" over Brexit, after Jeremy Corbyn said they would seek to table an amendment if the Supreme Court rules there must be a vote in Parliament.

http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk ... 65872.html

"We are respecting the result of the referendum. It might not be the one we wanted but it's the one we've got," he said.
"We are not going to block it. We don't think it is right to do that but I do think there may well be a considerable body of MPs on both sides who would support an amendment which does require a trading agreement with Europe in future."

However the Conservatives said the move was clearly designed to delay the Brexit process while limiting the Government's room for manoeuvre in the negotiations.
"Yet again, Labour have shown they want to frustrate the will of the British people by slowing down the process of leaving the European Union and trying to tie the Government's hands in a negotiation," a Conservative spokesman said.
"Labour are utterly out of touch with the values of working people across our country. Only the Conservatives can be trusted to respect the outcome of the referendum and make a success of Brexit."

edited: missed a bit.

tinybgoat wrote:Maybe a slightly different slant on things-

The Conservatives have accused Labour of trying to "frustrate the will of the British people" over Brexit, after Jeremy Corbyn said they would seek to table an amendment if the Supreme Court rules there must be a vote in Parliament.

http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk ... 65872.html

"We are respecting the result of the referendum. It might not be the one we wanted but it's the one we've got," he said.
"We are not going to block it. We don't think it is right to do that but I do think there may well be a considerable body of MPs on both sides who would support an amendment which does require a trading agreement with Europe in future."

However the Conservatives said the move was clearly designed to delay the Brexit process while limiting the Government's room for manoeuvre in the negotiations.
"Yet again, Labour have shown they want to frustrate the will of the British people by slowing down the process of leaving the European Union and trying to tie the Government's hands in a negotiation," a Conservative spokesman said.
"Labour are utterly out of touch with the values of working people across our country. Only the Conservatives can be trusted to respect the outcome of the referendum and make a success of Brexit."

edited: missed a bit.

gilsey wrote:My thoughts on Castro.
I've never heard any suggestion that he was ripping the country off, unlike your average dictator, and unlike some notionally 'democratically elected' leaders.
Counts for something in my eyes.

Theresa May will reportedly challenge MPs and peers to “defy the will of the people” if she loses a crucial Supreme Court battle on the right to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 53446.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vegetarian café receives barrage of online abuse for refusing to accept new five pound note
'I'm a nervous wreck. I can't handle this level of vitriol. People are finding every kind of criticisms like blowing up our pictures to see what kind of shoes we have,' says owner Sharon Meijland
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 53906.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;