FlyTheNest

TechnicalEphemera wrote:

mikems wrote:Hitler only 'won' the elections after he unleashed terror on the SDP and KDP, set fire to the Reichstag and had his thugs attack and kidnap thousands of opposition MPs, party leaders and organisers. And he managed to get so much popular support because his party was massively funded by Ruhr iron and steel interests who funded his radio stations, his airplanes, his newspapers and his party organisation.

Hitler 'won' because he was the ruling class's choice. But he never actually won a free and fair election. Even after suppressing the two other main parties, the Nazis failed to win a majority and reached only 43% of the votes.

If you have parties that are willing to behave like that and still get the support of the ruling class, then the voting system has little affect on the outcome.

I disagree, My point is you had years of ineffectual governments, which was a side effect of the system. The issue isn't the last election it was the years before it. Temulkars point about the President is a valid one, but my view isn't that PR is entirely responsible, but the electoral system does make a difference in stopping extremism (or aiding it).

There is a reason the Blackshirts didn't break through in the UK, despite the backing of the Daily Mail.

refitman wrote:

RobertSnozers wrote:

PorFavor wrote:

Agree. It's a much-missed facility. I used to (mis)use the thanks button here as a "recommend" substitute (and for other purposes - a sort of catch-all) but I don't think it was ideal as a "recommend" substitute.

'Thank' is better than nothing, but it doesn't allow that direct link between post and response.

There is a way to directly link the 'Thanks' button to the posts they were clicked on. I will have a look when I get home.

StephenDolan wrote:

ohsocynical wrote:Left-wing revolt underway in Ukip

I asked Farage whether this revolt on the left of the right was going to make it into his manifesto. He replied that the manifesto would be written by the party’s NEC, and that those ideas wouldn’t be going into it. But watch out for those voices urging the party to lurch to the left to attract former Labour voters.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... y-in-ukip/

So lots of promises coming Labour voters way. And not a chance in hell of them being kept. What's new?

Flat tax rate, return of grammar schools, abolition of inheritance tax. All on the working class Labour voters wishlist naturally.

ErnstRemarx wrote:

refitman wrote:

RobertSnozers wrote: 'Thank' is better than nothing, but it doesn't allow that direct link between post and response.

There is a way to directly link the 'Thanks' button to the posts they were clicked on. I will have a look when I get home.

Dan - I think it's the ACP under .mods, "List thanks in post". I can enable it now and set the max figure for thanks from 10 to about 40-50. Was that what you were thinking of?

ohsocynical wrote:Looking at Who's Online, do we have a couple more spammers hanging around?

wgqwtkzslqam, wjwidvpurluo

If genuine, then apologies.

ErnstRemarx wrote:

refitman wrote:

RobertSnozers wrote: 'Thank' is better than nothing, but it doesn't allow that direct link between post and response.

There is a way to directly link the 'Thanks' button to the posts they were clicked on. I will have a look when I get home.

Dan - I think it's the ACP under .mods, "List thanks in post". I can enable it now and set the max figure for thanks from 10 to about 40-50. Was that what you were thinking of?

ohsocynical wrote:Looking at Who's Online, do we have a couple more spammers hanging around?

wgqwtkzslqam, wjwidvpurluo

If genuine, then apologies.

refitman wrote:

ErnstRemarx wrote:

refitman wrote: There is a way to directly link the 'Thanks' button to the posts they were clicked on. I will have a look when I get home.

Dan - I think it's the ACP under .mods, "List thanks in post". I can enable it now and set the max figure for thanks from 10 to about 40-50. Was that what you were thinking of?

That's the fella. If you can.

Fracking trespass law changes move forward despite huge public opposition

Ministers reject 40,000 objections to allow fracking below homes without owners’ permission (Guardian)

ErnstRemarx wrote:Done. Don't know how it'll look, and it may require logging out and back in, but it's now in the system...

ErnstRemarx wrote:

refitman wrote:

ErnstRemarx wrote: Dan - I think it's the ACP under .mods, "List thanks in post". I can enable it now and set the max figure for thanks from 10 to about 40-50. Was that what you were thinking of?

That's the fella. If you can.

Done. Don't know how it'll look, and it may require logging out and back in, but it's now in the system...

RobertSnozers wrote:

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:

Hobiejoe wrote: Indeed. It's bad enough that shipowners crew their vessels with inexperienced and/or poorly qualified people, but for HM Coastguard to do so is disgraceful.

Disgraceful but inevitable, given the level of cuts this Government has made (and continues to make) to the Coastguard budget. proportionally higher than the savage cuts being made to the armed forces. They have been warned that these cuts will cost lives, but money is more important than people to this bunch of thugs.

http://coastguardsos.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Absolutely. I follow someone called @CoastalJoe1 on Twitter and he has daily stories of the progress of government cuts to coastguard services. Also, I believe RAF Air-Sea Rescue services are being transferred under the banner of the Coastguard (contracted out, obviously, but presumably now paid for from Coastguard budget)

Edit: Coastal Joe is connected with the website referenced above

ErnstRemarx wrote:

ohsocynical wrote:Looking at Who's Online, do we have a couple more spammers hanging around?

wgqwtkzslqam, wjwidvpurluo

If genuine, then apologies.

Oh dear, I appear to have deleted them.

JamesLyons @SW1James
Follow

Rushanara Ali has quit Labour frontbench over Iraq vote
5:17 PM - 26 Sep 2014

mikems wrote:TE,

Not sure what we are disagreeing about!

I would say the reason the fascists didn't win in the UK were many and varied, but mainly because they could offer no advantage over traditional conservatism for the ruling class. In Germany there was no real equivalent of our tories on the right, which was split on class and religous lines i.e. a catholic right-centre party and a peasant right-centre party etc and more than one variety of fascist until the Nazis won that squalid contest.

The main bulwark of the ruling class in German politics traditionally was the army and the landed aristocracy - and it was the army that did a deal with Hitler to get him the presidency, thinking they could control him, though by that time the Nazis were very much in the pockets of the big industrial concerns and the armies political weight had declined considerably after the defeat and restrictions imposed by Versailles. The aristocracy had been reduced in power by the abdication and end of the Hohenzollerns. That's why the Nazis could prosper - they offered a new and strong bulwark against 'socialism' and the KPD for those with wealth and power.

Instability was guaranteed in Germany, but there was no such instability in Britain, less for the fascists to feed on by way of ruling class disarray and a relatively weak communist party - indeed even the Labour party and its minimal threat to ruling class interests, wealth and power was weak and divided post MacDonald.

Yep, the move to transfer ASR from the RAF to civilian contractors was begun under Labour and continues apace. The budgetary situation is quite complicated, as some of the funding comes from the Department of Transport who have a statutory requirement for the provision of rescue for civilian aircraft in distress under the 1948 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation; this used to be delegated to the RAF and Royal Navy, but a contract was signed last year for this to be taken over by Bristow Helicopters.

It makes sense, sort of. The armed forces ASR units primary role is military search and rescue, the retrieval of downed aircrew and sailors in distress; their visible role - rescuing civilians at sea, on the coast and in mountainous areas - was tolerated by Whitehall as it provided good training, maintained crew currency and was damn good PR! But the problem was that the aircraft used by both services, the Seaking, is in desperate need of replacement; some of the RAF airframes in service are the best part of thirty years old, a couple of the naval ones (although upgraded significantly) are even older! There is no budget to replace them like for like with Merlins, so the role was returned to the M of T and the fleet is being run down over time. End of an era.


EDIT - If I ever have to ask for my coat I think it is safe to assume it will be the anorak in the corner.

RobertSnozers wrote:

refitman wrote:

RobertSnozers wrote: 'Thank' is better than nothing, but it doesn't allow that direct link between post and response.

There is a way to directly link the 'Thanks' button to the posts they were clicked on. I will have a look when I get home.

Thanks!

55DegreesNorth wrote:

Yep, the move to transfer ASR from the RAF to civilian contractors was begun under Labour and continues apace. The budgetary situation is quite complicated, as some of the funding comes from the Department of Transport who have a statutory requirement for the provision of rescue for civilian aircraft in distress under the 1948 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation; this used to be delegated to the RAF and Royal Navy, but a contract was signed last year for this to be taken over by Bristow Helicopters.

It makes sense, sort of. The armed forces ASR units primary role is military search and rescue, the retrieval of downed aircrew and sailors in distress; their visible role - rescuing civilians at sea, on the coast and in mountainous areas - was tolerated by Whitehall as it provided good training, maintained crew currency and was damn good PR! But the problem was that the aircraft used by both services, the Seaking, is in desperate need of replacement; some of the RAF airframes in service are the best part of thirty years old, a couple of the naval ones (although upgraded significantly) are even older! There is no budget to replace them like for like with Merlins, so the role was returned to the M of T and the fleet is being run down over time. End of an era.


EDIT - If I ever have to ask for my coat I think it is safe to assume it will be the anorak in the corner.

Afternoon.
So, who is going to do the military search and rescue, if the RAF hasn't got any choppers and the experienced pilots are taxiing oil workers?

Patients are being neglected, hygiene is inadequate and staffing problems are affecting care at the only NHS hospital run by a private company, the health service care watchdog has concluded.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has made a series of criticisms of Hinchingbrooke hospital in Cambridgeshire after inspectors found problems during a four-day visit last week.

In 2012, Hinchingbrooke became the first hospital in the NHS to be managed by a profit-making firm when it was taken over by Circle in a 10-year contract worth about £1bn. Around 160,000 patients a year are treated there.

The regulator has outlined its concerns in a letter to the hospital, which has been leaked to the Health Service Journal. It was also critical of the hospital’s management and demanded urgent action to resolve weaknesses inspectors found.

RogerOThornhill wrote:I assume this is one Envy of the World story we wouldn't hear about from the usual suspect...

Patients neglected at privately-run NHS hospital, watchdog finds

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014 ... e-hospital

Patients are being neglected, hygiene is inadequate and staffing problems are affecting care at the only NHS hospital run by a private company, the health service care watchdog has concluded.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has made a series of criticisms of Hinchingbrooke hospital in Cambridgeshire after inspectors found problems during a four-day visit last week.

In 2012, Hinchingbrooke became the first hospital in the NHS to be managed by a profit-making firm when it was taken over by Circle in a 10-year contract worth about £1bn. Around 160,000 patients a year are treated there.

The regulator has outlined its concerns in a letter to the hospital, which has been leaked to the Health Service Journal. It was also critical of the hospital’s management and demanded urgent action to resolve weaknesses inspectors found.

Thought he'd been suspiciously quiet today.

Spacedone wrote:Nigel Farage actually said he was "parking his tanks on Labour's lawn". It's Nigel Farage getting hold of tanks that I'm worried about...

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

And - thank you.

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:

RogerOThornhill wrote:I assume this is one Envy of the World story we wouldn't hear about from the usual suspect...

Patients neglected at privately-run NHS hospital, watchdog finds

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014 ... e-hospital

Patients are being neglected, hygiene is inadequate and staffing problems are affecting care at the only NHS hospital run by a private company, the health service care watchdog has concluded.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has made a series of criticisms of Hinchingbrooke hospital in Cambridgeshire after inspectors found problems during a four-day visit last week.

In 2012, Hinchingbrooke became the first hospital in the NHS to be managed by a profit-making firm when it was taken over by Circle in a 10-year contract worth about £1bn. Around 160,000 patients a year are treated there.

The regulator has outlined its concerns in a letter to the hospital, which has been leaked to the Health Service Journal. It was also critical of the hospital’s management and demanded urgent action to resolve weaknesses inspectors found.

Thought he'd been suspiciously quiet today.

He's had a busy week; and, besides, I expect he'll all be too busy preparing for their own conference, those cups of tea won't serve themselves.

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

And - thank you.

Maybe Refitman and Ernst could rustle up Goodnight button next

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

And - thank you.

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

And - thank you.

Teachers have not had enough opportunities to observe and learn from good or outstanding teaching in other schools.

Since the school became a sponsored academy in 2012 there have been three principals or acting principals.

Since the school opened, leaders, managers and governors have not been effective enough in ensuring good teaching for all pupils and tackling the legacy of underachievement. Until recently, the academy sponsor had not provided rigorous support and guidance to the school leaders. A much more robust system of support is now in place.

ErnstRemarx wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote:John Rentoul retweeted
Isabel Hardman ‏@IsabelHardman · 36s
In a press briefing after his speech, Farage conceded that the party wasn't going to win in Heywood. Post with that and other lines shortly

Fingers crossed...

I expect them to poll well in H&M, perhaps come second. Did I mention that the Tory candidate is the Tory group leader here in Bury. And, yes, he is as big a prick as you might expect. If he's third to UKIP the next full Council will probably be most amusing (it's streamed live if you fancy a laugh).

yahyah wrote:@AngryAsWell

Have posted the link in Troll Busters. It's now located above the Daily Politics.

http://flythenest.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just a reminder for others - please post anything there that you think provides clear argument or information that may be useful on topics, particularly for the pre-election period.

StephenDolan wrote:

ohsocynical wrote:Left-wing revolt underway in Ukip

I asked Farage whether this revolt on the left of the right was going to make it into his manifesto. He replied that the manifesto would be written by the party’s NEC, and that those ideas wouldn’t be going into it. But watch out for those voices urging the party to lurch to the left to attract former Labour voters.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehous ... y-in-ukip/

So lots of promises coming Labour voters way. And not a chance in hell of them being kept. What's new?

Flat tax rate, return of grammar schools, abolition of inheritance tax. All on the working class Labour voters wishlist naturally.

AngryAsWell wrote:

ErnstRemarx wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote:John Rentoul retweeted
Isabel Hardman ‏@IsabelHardman · 36s
In a press briefing after his speech, Farage conceded that the party wasn't going to win in Heywood. Post with that and other lines shortly

Fingers crossed...

I expect them to poll well in H&M, perhaps come second. Did I mention that the Tory candidate is the Tory group leader here in Bury. And, yes, he is as big a prick as you might expect. If he's third to UKIP the next full Council will probably be most amusing (it's streamed live if you fancy a laugh).

I did half wonder if it was a ploy - like "Oh we know we will loose" (so they don't miss any purely protest votes - they won't win anyway so might as well vote for um) followed by "Gosh!! we did it!!"
Hope not

AnatolyKasparov wrote:It is indeed very unlikely we will see any kind of upset on the 8th - not least given that the election is on the 9th

We need a return to a more traditional primary education, with ‘the three ‘R’s.

A grammar school in every town.

UKIP would ensure that there is only ONE exam board for GCSE’s and ONE for A Levels offering ONE course for the relevant subject. Ending the option for schools to choose the easiest syllabus available.

To prevent a repeat of operation Trojan Horse, UKIP would ensure that an OFSTED investigation would take place if 25% of parents and governors signed a petition expressing concern.

crap the target of 50% of school leavers going to university.

Scrap tuition fees for able students pursuing courses in the sciences, technology, maths or medicine

AnatolyKasparov wrote:It is indeed very unlikely we will see any kind of upset on the 8th - not least given that the election is on the 9th

Point-scoring not pint-sinking at Ukip conference
As energy and conviction drains from main political conferences, some of it is flowing into Nigel Farage’s ragged insurgency

Standards of literacy and numeracy at primary level are now “better than they ever have been” as a result of improvements made over the last decade, according to Mike Cladingbowl, the inspectorate’s national director for inspection reform.

AngryAsWell wrote:So, are the Guardian going to come out for kippers?

Point-scoring not pint-sinking at Ukip conference
As energy and conviction drains from main political conferences, some of it is flowing into Nigel Farage’s ragged insurgency

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