Christmas Weekend. Sat 24th - Tues 27th December

Post by **refitman** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 9:33 am

Merry Christmas everyone.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 9:39 am

Merry Christmas, everyone!

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 9:39 am

And good morfternoon.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 9:57 am

Busy day today so probably won't be around much.

Happy Christmas all

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 10:03 am

Merry Christmas one and all.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 10:12 am

: Xmas 2.jpg (167.15 KiB) Viewed 16286 times

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 10:24 am

Merry Christmas everyone!

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 10:50 am

Merry Christmas all.

nickyinnorfolk · Post by **nickyinnorfolk** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 11:31 am

Merry Christmas everyone

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 11:39 am

Merry Xmas to all.
(- it was meant to be a christmassy photo,
but the tree ended up looking a bit unhappy.)

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 11:47 am

Fisking Andrew Marr’s delusional view of Brexit

https://jonworth.eu/fisking-andrew-marr ... of-brexit/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 12:01 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... data-shows" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ambulance services face paramedic shortage this winter, NHS data shows

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 12:05 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:Fisking Andrew Marr’s delusional view of Brexit

https://jonworth.eu/fisking-andrew-marr ... of-brexit/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I remember when Andrew Marr was actually good. Some younger people may not, however - it was a while ago now.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 12:10 pm

Richard Coles
‏@RevRichardColes
When did politicians start giving 'Christmas messages'? Get your tanks off our lawn!

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

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 12:18 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:Richard Coles
‏@RevRichardColes
When did politicians start giving 'Christmas messages'? Get your tanks off our lawn!

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

Yes, and bearing in mind most politicians ability for being utterly useless this year, I'd rather they keep quiet.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 12:25 pm

Morning all by the way...forgetting my manners.

So...food shopping done as per usual for a Saturday. Not too bad and as all the tills were manned there was no delay there. And I won a box of biscuits! I think I was Sainsburys gazillionth customer for the morning or something like that.

Now...it's finally time for...wrapping up! Wish me luck - I may be some time...

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 12:30 pm

Merry Christmas, everyone.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 12:31 pm

tinybgoat wrote:Merry Xmas to all.
(- it was meant to be a christmassy photo,
but the tree ended up looking a bit unhappy.)

It's 2016, it's perfect.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 1:16 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Morning all by the way...forgetting my manners.

So...food shopping done as per usual for a Saturday. Not too bad and as all the tills were manned there was no delay there. And I won a box of biscuits! I think I was Sainsburys gazillionth customer for the morning or something like that.

Now...it's finally time for...wrapping up! Wish me luck - I may be some time...

OMG! There's no way I could leave wrapping that late, I'd be having kittens. No, Christmas Eve is the day for vacuuming behind the sofa and trying to remember where I hid all the presents I wrapped already!

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 1:31 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ays-report" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Squalor of temporary housing holds back UK homeless, says report
Failings in system mean users struggle to take steps towards more permanent accommodation, IPPR research finds

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 1:34 pm

Actually from a couple of weeks ago

http://www.ippr.org/publications/the-jo ... ommodation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 1:42 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... tal-health" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vulnerable UK women choosing prison over life on the outside

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 1:48 pm

Express & StarVerified account
‏@ExpressandStar
We DON'T want out anymore: Shock poll reveals Express & Star readers have changed their minds on #Brexit
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/poli ... on-brexit/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

(Sample 10,000 I think)

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 1:56 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:Express & StarVerified account
‏@ExpressandStar
We DON'T want out anymore: Shock poll reveals Express & Star readers have changed their minds on #Brexit
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/poli ... on-brexit/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

(Sample 10,000 I think)

Glad the insanity was only temporary.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 2:08 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:Express & StarVerified account
‏@ExpressandStar
We DON'T want out anymore: Shock poll reveals Express & Star readers have changed their minds on #Brexit
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/poli ... on-brexit/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

(Sample 10,000 I think)

Its a voodoo poll, I'm afraid.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 2:30 pm

This is a bit shocking.

Camber Sands deaths blamed on victims' 'culture' by council
Incident log warned of increasing numbers of ‘non-British visitors’ to beach where seven men died this summer

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... by-council" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 2:40 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:This is a bit shocking.

Camber Sands deaths blamed on victims' 'culture' by council
Incident log warned of increasing numbers of ‘non-British visitors’ to beach where seven men died this summer

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... by-council" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes - I read that yesterday but, as so often of late, words failed me.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 2:40 pm

I doubt the vast majority of people who voted to leave the EU have given it much thought of any kind since, let alone taken the time to consider the negative consequences that they weren't willing to consider beforehand and come to a different conclusion.

I'm sure some people have regrets about how they voted (both ways), but suspect these would be the instant regrets of people who were never sure about their choice in the first place.

I get the impression quite a few leave voters have been waiting a long time to vote us out of the EU and they will always be happy with their decision, even if the economy tanks and immigration only grows greater and greater, because they got their country back. When your aim for voting out is so nonsensical, there is no instance in which it is demonstrable that you have failed in your aim.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 2:47 pm

HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ays-report

Squalor of temporary housing holds back UK homeless, says report
Failings in system mean users struggle to take steps towards more permanent accommodation, IPPR research finds

That's our cooker.
I want royalties on that image.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 2:49 pm

HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... tal-health

Vulnerable UK women choosing prison over life on the outside

It's the new Dark Ages.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 2:55 pm

Willow904 wrote:I doubt the vast majority of people who voted to leave the EU have given it much thought of any kind since, let alone taken the time to consider the negative consequences that they weren't willing to consider beforehand and come to a different conclusion.

I'm sure some people have regrets about how they voted (both ways), but suspect these would be the instant regrets of people who were never sure about their choice in the first place.

I get the impression quite a few leave voters have been waiting a long time to vote us out of the EU and they will always be happy with their decision, even if the economy tanks and immigration only grows greater and greater, because they got their country back. When your aim for voting out is so nonsensical, there is no instance in which it is demonstrable that you have failed in your aim.

Leave voters are Brendan O'Neill's heroes of the year.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/12/le ... roes-2016/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here’s the best bit: many of them voted, not out of self-interest, but for what they think is the greater, democratic good.

Yes, that "greater democratic good which presumably includes English judges deciding on points of English law"...

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 3:08 pm

Hello everyone.

Just popped in to wish you the compliments of the season.

Whatever our differences, I hope we all wish for a better year in 2017.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 3:13 pm

Talking of the Spiked crowd...I found a fantastic bit of echo chamber nonsense yesterday.

Snowdon is of course with the Institute of Economic Affairs. Hardly the sort that you would expect people supposedly of the left to hang around with.

The author?

http://www.zero-books.net/authors/josie-appleton" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Josie Appleton is director of the Manifesto Club

Part of the whole Spiked/Institute of Ideas grouping.

And the book itself comes with a glowing bit of puffery from someone called Dr Ellie Lee, Director of Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, Reader in Social Policy, University of Kent

http://www.zero-books.net/books/officious" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kent eh? Where Furedi and Joanna Williams hang out. And...

In 2010, with colleagues from The University of Kent, set up the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, based in SSPSSR. I’m also a Director of the Institute of Ideas and I frequently discuss my research in the media, read more here or see my activity tab.

And lastly...the associates of the Centre for parenting Culture includes...

https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/parentingcultu ... ho-we-are/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Frank Furedi

Frank Furedi is Emeritus professor of Sociology, University of Kent and Visiting Professor, Institute of Risk and Disaster Reduction, University College London.

Well I never...how very cosy...

And now...back to the wrapping.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 3:19 pm

From RoT's article above:

No, it’s the response to Brexit and Trump that has been disturbing. Especially the response from the fuming liberal media and the less guarded sections of the political class.

Their contempt for ‘low information’ Americans, for American white women who don’t have college degrees, for supposedly xenophobic Brits, for the North of England, Welsh workers, tabloid readers and the uneducated, has been truly alarming.

There's something in this, of course. Donald Trump wasn't a maverick outsider foisted upon the US political classes by rebellious voters - he was the officially endorsed Republican candidate. Who are more stupid and more culpable? The American public who voted for a Republican candidate or the Republican party members who made him their candidate in the first place? Is it not they who are ultimately responsible for every hideous mis-step he may take?

And as for Brexit - who offered the British public the opportunity to leave the EU and all the economic turmoil it will entail? The Prime Minister, ffs. And who campaigned to leave? Government ministers. And which party did the most leave voters come from? The Conservative party. Hardly a bloody revolution of the discontented working classes. People voted to leave the EU because it was offered to them as a viable option by "outsider mavericks" like Johnson, Gove, Rees-Mogg and Fox. So if it transpires that Brexit is a stupid idea, I know who I'll be holding responsible and it won't be ordinary voters, thick or otherwise.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 3:40 pm

RIP Rick Parfitt

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 3:44 pm

ephemerid wrote:Hello everyone.

Just popped in to wish you the compliments of the season.

Whatever our differences, I hope we all wish for a better year in 2017.

..and the same to you & yours ephemerid, 2017 can "only get better" ...... I'm sure

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 4:08 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:RIP Rick Parfitt

Yeah saw that. Sad news.

Never a fan but SQ probably made more money for John Fogerty by covering Rockin' All Over The World than Fogerty made out of all his solo albums. And of course that gets played whenever we win - although sadly, that isn't that often these days...

55DegreesNorth · Post by **55DegreesNorth** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 4:22 pm

Afternoon folks,
And a happy festive period to all, present or lurking. 2016 will be a good year to see the back of. Here's hoping for a better year to come.
So, here's an article about Newcastle from the Graun. Quite accurate, surprisingly.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016 ... bs-culture

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 4:34 pm

Number of urgent operations cancelled in England hits record high

NHS cancelled 446 urgent operations in November, almost double the number in the same month last year (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... hs-england

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 6:02 pm

#Make2017MadderThan2016

https://twitter.com/hashtag/Make2017Mad ... 6?src=hash" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

fedup59 · Post by **fedup59** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 6:05 pm

Evening all

Just want to wish everyone a restful/happy holiday.

JustMom · Post by **JustMom** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 6:23 pm

Hello all, Hope everyone has a very happy xmas and a much better 2017.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 6:43 pm

ephemerid wrote:Hello everyone.

Just popped in to wish you the compliments of the season.

Whatever our differences, I hope we all wish for a better year in 2017.

I wish you and your loves many happy new years, Ephemerid!
Apologies for getting to your message late.
I love you, that doesn't change.

xx
cJA

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 6:47 pm

Willow904 wrote:There's something in this, of course. Donald Trump wasn't a maverick outsider foisted upon the US political classes by rebellious voters - he was the officially endorsed Republican candidate. Who are more stupid and more culpable? The American public who voted for a Republican candidate or the Republican party members who made him their candidate in the first place? Is it not they who are ultimately responsible for every hideous mis-step he may take?

And as for Brexit - who offered the British public the opportunity to leave the EU and all the economic turmoil it will entail? The Prime Minister, ffs. And who campaigned to leave? Government ministers. And which party did the most leave voters come from? The Conservative party. Hardly a bloody revolution of the discontented working classes. People voted to leave the EU because it was offered to them as a viable option by "outsider mavericks" like Johnson, Gove, Rees-Mogg and Fox. So if it transpires that Brexit is a stupid idea, I know who I'll be holding responsible and it won't be ordinary voters, thick or otherwise.

(cJA edit)

Hear hear

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 8:06 pm

Theresa May ended her 2016 Christmas message "with a tribute to those working over the holiday period."

“Having grown up in a vicarage, I know how demanding it can be for those who have to work over the Christmas period...”.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 8:20 pm

citizenJA wrote:Theresa May ended her 2016 Christmas message "with a tribute to those working over the holiday period."
“Having grown up in a vicarage, I know how demanding it can be for those who have to work over the Christmas period...”.

Yes, because delivering a sermon on Christmas day is pretty much the same as doing a 12 hour shift in a hospital* or on a police patrol.

*which, as it happens, is where my other half is right now...

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 8:37 pm

Best Wishes to FTNers for Christmas and the New Year. Kepp warm and well and happy.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 8:41 pm

And the Merriam-Webster word of the year is... http://on.mktw.net/2igmeLx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 8:47 pm

David Head ‏@DavidHeadViews 53m53 minutes ago
Wishing those peddlers of prejudice & fear, the staff of the #DailyExpress & the #DailyMail , a truly salutary Jacob Marley night tonight.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 24 Dec, 2016 9:13 pm

What did the Brexit vote reveal about the UK?
Mark Easton

"In the true blue Cotswolds, I met a Conservative Party member who despaired that, in his own words, two whole aisles in his local Tesco had been given over to Polish food.
He was not a racist, nor even a xenophobe, but he was frustrated that cultural change had come to his neighbourhood without notice or consultation."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38301495" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I despair that there are people so bigoted that "foreign food" scares them!

He also says (as do many) that:

"One person in eight voted UKIP at the 2015 general election - 3.8m people - but the party has only one MP, Douglas Carswell."

Do they never stop to think that if we had PR the UKIP vote may not hold up. People use them as a protest vote depository, knowing they will never win under FPTP. Change to PR, and because of the uncertainty, people may go back to Tory or Labour.