Thursday 2nd August 2018

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HindleA
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Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

Morning

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

Cameron's £1.5bn 'big society' youth scheme reaching few teenagers
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/ ... -listeners" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


BBC's Today programme sheds 800,000 listeners
frog222
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by frog222 »

This is even worse than I’d thought, explains a lot .

Momentum dump Peter Willsman from their NEC slate – in direct defiance of Jeremy Corbyn’s office

The row over anti-Semitism is dividing Corbynites as much as Corbynsceptics.

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/s ... nce-jeremy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


“One well-placed source described the row as a “shitshow”. The issue at stake is that Corbyn himself regards the row as a foreign policy issue, confined to the question of how Labour members can talk about Israel, while his critics primarily see it as a domestic issue, confined to the need to reassure British Jews of Labour’s intentions and to take the sting out of the row, which risks derailing a summer of detailed policy interventions from the opposition. Murphy sees the argument as about the right of the Labour leader and the general secretary, Jennie Formby, to make decisions on these matters, and has also criticised John McDonnell, one of Corbyn’s most steadfast allies, for setting out a different approach in public. Both Lansman and Rhea Wolfson, who is standing down from the NEC to run for the seat of Livingston, have been overruled by Murphy on the issue.

Others are worried that Hodge’s lawyers, Mischon De Reya, who defended the historian Deborah Lipstadt against the Holocaust denier David Irving, will “take the party to the cleaners” in court. Another group of dissenters are furious that the row is being allowed to distract from a Conservative Party in crisis and a series of meaty policy announcements from the Labour party. ”

The Israel Lobby are going for unconditional surrender, and going by Corbyn’s appeasing written ‘apology’ yesterday, they are winning.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

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


Exclusive: ministers want to identify policies or practices that may have contributed to rise in demand for food banks


Er
gilsey
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by gilsey »

HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... d-bank-use


Exclusive: ministers want to identify policies or practices that may have contributed to rise in demand for food banks


Er
Did anyone see BBC The Papers last night? There was a person talking utter rubbish about food banks and I didn't catch who she was, not Kate Andrews or Chloe Westley but might as well have been.
Not happy that the BBC have found another one.

Also on this subject Jack Monroe's twitter rant is worth a read.
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by gilsey »

I don't know if we've already had this, a good long read about what's happened since the financial crisis, it's been on my ipad for weeks and I've just got round to reading it. John Lanchester wrote a book about the crisis back in 2009.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n13/john-lanc ... r-the-fall" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the article he says that financial regulation hasn't changed dramatically and has been made even more complex, increasing the opportunities for clever people to get round it.
There are some responses below the article and one of them says this isn't true for the EU, which has already passed some major legislation and is working on plenty more. Hmmm.
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AnatolyKasparov
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/ ... -listeners


BBC's Today programme sheds 800,000 listeners
Not enough.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by frog222 »

gilsey wrote:I don't know if we've already had this, a good long read about what's happened since the financial crisis, it's been on my ipad for weeks and I've just got round to reading it. John Lanchester wrote a book about the crisis back in 2009.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n13/john-lanc ... r-the-fall" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the article he says that financial regulation hasn't changed dramatically and has been made even more complex, increasing the opportunities for clever people to get round it.
There are some responses below the article and one of them says this isn't true for the EU, which has already passed some major legislation and is working on plenty more. Hmmm.
Only read a bit of that, but Lanchester is very good indeed ! ( Except his novel "Capital" , which is far too loooong.)

High tide 'ere so off to the beach !

-------------------------------------------------

Parking these two for anyone interested in the survival of the LP---

I have more sympathy for John McD than for JCorbyn —

john-mcdonnell-praised-anti-zionist-network-ijan-accused-antisemitism

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/a ... tisemitism" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

More, much more!, on Momentum, Barnet politics and appeasement —

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 73501.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by gilsey »

AS at the G finally picks up on the report we had here last week.
new research from the University of Warwick suggests that Osborne’s austerity policies directly led to Britain voting to leave the EU.

The report has been written by Thiemo Fetzer, associate professor in economics at the university.
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Willow904
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by Willow904 »

From the G:
NEWSFLASH: The Bank of England has voted to raise UK interest rates to their highest level in almost a decade.

The BoE is raising Bank rate to 0.75%, from 0.5%. That’s the highest level since March 2009, and only the second rise since the financial crisis struck a decade ago.
Will be controversial.
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AnatolyKasparov
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

gilsey wrote:
HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... d-bank-use


Exclusive: ministers want to identify policies or practices that may have contributed to rise in demand for food banks


Er
Did anyone see BBC The Papers last night? There was a person talking utter rubbish about food banks and I didn't catch who she was, not Kate Andrews or Chloe Westley but might as well have been.
Polly Mackenzie?
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by PorFavor »

Willow904 wrote:From the G:
NEWSFLASH: The Bank of England has voted to raise UK interest rates to their highest level in almost a decade.

The BoE is raising Bank rate to 0.75%, from 0.5%. That’s the highest level since March 2009, and only the second rise since the financial crisis struck a decade ago.
Will be controversial.
Apparently, the average mortgage (which Sky considers to be around £200,000!) will "only" increase by around £20 per month so people won't be too affected! Really?
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

Your average broadcast journalist isn't bothered by "only" that amount of money, for sure. That is a big part of the problem.
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RogerOThornhill
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by RogerOThornhill »

Morning all.

It would have been my old man's 90th today so had a long walk through the park and (and had a good look at an Edwardian suburb on the way) to get to the City of London crem.


Alas, poor Priti…

Tory Priti Patel's claims of Remain cheating in Brexit poll dismissed by election watchdog

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ ... n-13021145
The Electoral Commission has dismissed claims from Tory Priti Patel that Remain campaigners broke the rules in the EU referendum campaign.

Ms Patel had called for the elections watchdog to either investigate spending by Britain Stronger in Europe (BSIE), the official Remain campaign or end its inquiry into Vote Leave.
Excellent.
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Willow904
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by Willow904 »

PorFavor wrote:
Willow904 wrote:From the G:
NEWSFLASH: The Bank of England has voted to raise UK interest rates to their highest level in almost a decade.

The BoE is raising Bank rate to 0.75%, from 0.5%. That’s the highest level since March 2009, and only the second rise since the financial crisis struck a decade ago.
Will be controversial.
Apparently, the average mortgage (which Sky considers to be around £200,000!) will "only" increase by around £20 per month so people won't be too affected! Really?
It's true it's a small rise off a small base but it's the first time it's gone above 0.5% in a decade, so the signal it sends is big. Not to mention, what is different now which prompts a rise that wasn't the case over the last 10 years? The answer is not a lot and that's what makes it controversial - see D Blanchflower tweet below - especially as the decision was unanimous, which really wouldn't be the case if this was a purely economy based decision, because the indicators Carney says it's based on are so very marginal (if not imaginary).

Danny Blanchflower
Danny Blanchflower
@D_Blanchflower
·
5m
good BOE presser question on group think

given no data to support the rate rise - as in NONE - wage growth slowing....
All based on forecasts been terrible last 19 times so this rise clearly lowers the credibility of MPC and likely will have to reverse -output gap clearly bigger
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by PorFavor »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Your average broadcast journalist isn't bothered by "only" that amount of money, for sure. That is a big part of the problem.
Yes.

Don't they realise that other people are living on a knife-edge, financially? £20 per month can be make or break for many.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by gilsey »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
gilsey wrote:
HindleA wrote:https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... d-bank-use


Exclusive: ministers want to identify policies or practices that may have contributed to rise in demand for food banks


Er
Did anyone see BBC The Papers last night? There was a person talking utter rubbish about food banks and I didn't catch who she was, not Kate Andrews or Chloe Westley but might as well have been.
Polly Mackenzie?
Yes, that's the one, I thought she looked familiar. Thank you.
Of course she would have no interest at all in denying the link between austerity and food banks, would she. :roll:
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/c ... 146302.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Employment Support for Carers: Government Response to the Committee’s Thirteenth Report


https://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campa ... ing-carers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Carers UK comments on Government's response to Committee recommendations on supporting carers


"Even modest recommendations such as the alignment of the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold with 16 hours at National Living Wage are dismissed in today’s response."

Participation may be used against you,in our case removal of work possibilty at all barring unaccepteable abandonment even if substituted support would have been forthcoming at far extra cost.
Last edited by HindleA on Thu 02 Aug, 2018 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

A darn close thing that CA as a stand alone survived at all under the ruse of UC to put the we value carers stuff in context.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

IDS didn't even know the difference between unpaid carers and care workers,proudly boasting monies to offset the bedroom tax for non residential(overwhelmingly of course paid workers),a kick in the proverbials for those charged for daring not to want to sleep standing up.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

[*]
gilsey wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:
gilsey wrote: Did anyone see BBC The Papers last night? There was a person talking utter rubbish about food banks and I didn't catch who she was, not Kate Andrews or Chloe Westley but might as well have been.
Polly Mackenzie?
Yes, that's the one, I thought she looked familiar. Thank you.
Of course she would have no interest at all in denying the link between austerity and food banks, would she. :roll:
I thought that Demos (who she represents) were a relatively "sensible" think tank. Perhaps not, then........
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

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HindleA wrote:IDS didn't even know the difference between unpaid carers and care workers,proudly boasting monies to offset the bedroom tax for non residential(overwhelmingly of course paid workers),a kick in the proverbials for those charged for daring not to want to sleep standing up.
oh for chrissake!
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citizenJA
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:---
I thought that Demos (who she represents) were a relatively "sensible" think tank. Perhaps not, then........
(cJA edit)
Demos is a champion of people, ideas, and democracy. We bring people together. We bridge divides. We listen and we understand. We are practical about the problems we face, but endlessly optimistic and ambitious about our capacity, together, to overcome them.
---
We innovate and look forward. We believe in the power of change to improve lives and we live by that philosophy. We experiment with new ways of doing research and propose bold policy solutions. We’re looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the next decade. We don’t see problems, we see the opportunity to come up with new solutions.

https://www.demos.co.uk/about/
(cJA emphasis)
It's not a lengthy 'About Demos' statement
Sloppy advertisement

edited trying to clarify my post
I've read and liked some Demos' publications too
In my opinion, a mission statement ought not have such a glaring contradiction in it
It's a small thing, I know
Last edited by citizenJA on Thu 02 Aug, 2018 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Good-afternoon, everyone
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by frog222 »

So the FireBrigadesUnion disagree with Momentum who disagree with the Leader’s Office who disagree with John McD who …

or something like that .

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... tisemitism" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Trebles all round at a certain embassy !
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

The abolition of the audit commission has ensured that there has been no official agency to publish embarrassing reports about the impact of cuts on councils’ financial health or, even more awkwardly for Whitehall, on the asymmetric nature of the government’s approach to achieving a zero deficit.
- Tony Travers
Northamptonshire’s financial woes are just the tip of the iceberg
2 Aug 2018
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

The Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service (NHS) in England, a UK government agency operating at arm’s length to ministers, has played a key role in the audit, inspection, performance improvement and regulation of local authorities and other local public service providers in England since its creation in 1983. It developed a significant role in supporting the local government efficiency agendas of Conservative governments from 1983 to 1997 and was central to the 1997–2010 Labour governments’ ambition to improve the performance of local public services.

Following the May 2010 general election, however, the incoming Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government moved quickly to reduce the Audit Commission’s budget, terminate some of its functions and require all its local audit work to be outsourced.

Shortly thereafter it stated its intention to legislate to abolish the Commission and introduce a new locally managed system for auditing local authorities. The announcement of the proposed abolition emerged without prior consultation with the agency itself, or with stakeholders in the wider local government public service community.

The proposal was justified by a narrative of improved accountability and efficiency, reflecting a combination of the ‘localism’ and ‘austerity’ agendas being pursued by this new government. Somewhat surprisingly for such a major and unexpected organisational change the announcement was not regarded as contentious.
- Katherine Tonkiss & Chris Skelcher
Abolishing the Audit Commission: Framing, Discourse Coalitions and Administrative Reform
Published online: 29 May 2015
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citizenJA
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

"Revealing the information could encourage the exploitation of differences of opinion for political or personal purposes and result in greater constraints on Ministers in putting forward their views, to the detriment of properly discussed and informed decision-making. On balance, we consider that the public interest in maintaining the convention of collective responsibility outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the information redacted."

- FOI release
Abolition of the Audit Commission
Request: For information about the abolition of the Audit Commission.
1 November 2010
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citizenJA
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

citizenJA wrote:
The abolition of the audit commission has ensured that there has been no official agency to publish embarrassing reports about the impact of cuts on councils’ financial health or, even more awkwardly for Whitehall, on the asymmetric nature of the government’s approach to achieving a zero deficit.
- Tony Travers
Northamptonshire’s financial woes are just the tip of the iceberg
2 Aug 2018
Good article and some excellent posts below the line
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

frog222 wrote:So the FireBrigadesUnion disagree with Momentum who disagree with the Leader’s Office who disagree with John McD who …

or something like that .

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... tisemitism" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Trebles all round at a certain embassy !
Willsman brought it on himself tbh.

The rumour that somebody in Momentum leaked the incriminating footage is an........interesting one.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by frog222 »

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
frog222 wrote:So the FireBrigadesUnion disagree with Momentum who disagree with the Leader’s Office who disagree with John McD who …

or something like that .

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... tisemitism" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Trebles all round at a certain embassy !
Willsman brought it on himself tbh.

The rumour that somebody in Momentum leaked the incriminating footage is an........interesting one.
AK , agreed he was apparently an idiot . The whole thing is a ghastly tangled web !
A number of those involved don't seem to have grown up since they began in student/youth politics . But I don't like the idea of them being put on trial for thought crime, I find that very disturbing .

The binary thing of being judged AS, or not AS by committing a "TROPE", seems utterly crazy to me when there are violent extremists out there in society ?
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Buried UK government report finds fracking increases air pollution
Report was with ministers in 2015 but only published three years later, days after a key fracking permit was awarded

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -pollution" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm angry
Hydraulic fracturing is the worst energy policy in the UK
Or any other country, for that matter
It's end-game strategy for fossil fuel portfolios
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citizenJA
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

Report: Potential Air Quality Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction in the UK
27 July 2018

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/rep ... ort_id=967" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by frog222 »

citizenJA wrote:
Buried UK government report finds fracking increases air pollution
Report was with ministers in 2015 but only published three years later, days after a key fracking permit was awarded

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -pollution" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm angry
Hydraulic fracturing is the worst energy policy in the UK
Or any other country, for that matter
It's end-game strategy for fossil fuel portfolios
Thanks for that , and the one on the murder of the Audit Commission.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by AnatolyKasparov »

frog222 wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
Buried UK government report finds fracking increases air pollution
Report was with ministers in 2015 but only published three years later, days after a key fracking permit was awarded

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -pollution" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm angry
Hydraulic fracturing is the worst energy policy in the UK
Or any other country, for that matter
It's end-game strategy for fossil fuel portfolios
Thanks for that , and the one on the murder of the Audit Commission.
Sounds a bit drastic :shock:
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by gilsey »

citizenJA wrote:
Good article and some excellent posts below the line
Like this
Here's an extract from Hansard 2013 .........

Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)

4. Which county council has set the lowest council tax in England. [148140]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)

Councils are in the process of setting their budgets for the coming financial year, and we will, as a Department, publish official figures in due course. As well as recognising areas such as Lancashire that have done superb work in cutting council tax, as has Dorset by 5% this year, I can confirm that Northamptonshire county council currently has the lowest council tax of any county without a separate fire authority.

Mr Hollobone

Northamptonshire county council is proud to have the lowest county-council council tax in the whole of England, and it has frozen its council tax for the past three years. Will my hon. Friend the Minister congratulate Councillor Jim Harker and his team of Conservative councillors on Conservative-controlled Northamptonshire county council on delivering the most affordable county-council council tax in the whole country?

Brandon Lewis

I am absolutely delighted to give those congratulations. It is superb to see Conservative county councils across the country, of which my hon. Friend’s is a particularly good example, working hard to deliver cost-effective services for their residents. It is also appropriate to say, while I am at the Dispatch Box, that his district council should be commended for the excellent work it is doing on freezing council tax. It is taking this financial settlement in the right way and looking to the future in terms of how it can deliver growth for its area and thereby create real benefit for its residents locally.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by citizenJA »

@gilsey
That's the one!

Goodnight, all
love,
cJA
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by gilsey »

AnatolyKasparov wrote: I thought that Demos (who she represents) were a relatively "sensible" think tank. Perhaps not, then........
I've just checked to make sure I didn't misunderstand what she said, I was washing up at the time.
"It's certainly true that the more food banks there are, the more people will go to them" was how it began. "Complex causal pathways" featured too.
From about 8.40
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b ... s-01082018" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by Sky'sGoneOut »

I've finally found something stupider than a Brexit voter.

Meet my brother's chickens.

Image

There's actually another one but it was in a sulk after I caught it trying to eat a dead baby sparrow and had to chase it round the garden because I didn't think he'd want his chickens developing a taste for flesh. I've never dealt with living chickens before and frankly I've had flies bouncing off an obviously open window that were smarter than these things. But perhaps it's what we're all going to have to do, well those of us with gardens at least. Go a bit 'Good life' to top up our 'adequate food'. But even then these are rescued battery hens so are at the pinnacle of egg laying productivity and between the four of them they manage an average of 2 eggs a day. I'm guessing the feed costs more than those are worth. Apparently it's against the law to feed them kitchen scraps because they might develop mutant powers of something. I gave them some mushroom stalks but nothing seems to have happened so far.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by tinybgoat »

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ch-senator" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Europe should try to keep the UK in the EU by improving its offer on an emergency brake on the free movement of people, first made before the 2016 referendum, the chair of the French senate’s European committee has said.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by tinybgoat »

Mark Steel:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/an ... 6.html?amp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"The fact that Corbyn didn't yell abuse at a Holocaust survivor definitely makes him antisemitic"
So maybe this is a formula for trying to resolve the matter. We should all agree that a) there is antisemitism on the left, and that hasn’t been conclusively dealt with; b) Opponents of Corbyn have cynically exaggerated this for their own purpose; and c) Both things can be true at once, because as extraordinary as it seems, it’s possible for two different sets of people to both be talking shite.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

The kidney machines cause renal failure view.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

That wasn't a problem in the '30's.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

Or indeed anytime before
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

Interest rate rise just after abolishment of SMI.
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Re: Thursday 2nd August 2018

Post by HindleA »

If you are sick/disabled you shouldn't be mixing with the hard working .Not so much a nudge but a fucking flashing light of obviousness.
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