Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd October 2021

Post by **refitman** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 7:36 am

Morning all.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 7:59 am

Morning

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 9:04 am

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -elections
Weakening the courts, limiting protest, hobbling the elections regulator. If another country did this, what would we call it?

I guess we need some serious opposition.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 11:12 am

As plenty have pointed out to the author, he got the outcome he wanted at the last election.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 2:53 pm

Giving an author his comeuppance might make a few people feel a bit better but it doesn't alter the state of play.

frog222 · Post by **frog222** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 5:25 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote: ↑Sat 02 Oct, 2021 2:53 pm Giving an author his comeuppance might make a few people feel a bit better but it doesn't alter the state of play.

Exactemente !
Freedland

" It doesn’t sound like us. We like to tell ourselves that we live in a mature democracy, our institutions deep rooted. Political competition is brisk, never more so than at this time of year, as one party conference ends and another begins. This is not a one-party state. All it would require is Labour to get its act together – to which end it made a decent start this week – and, with a fair wind, the Conservatives would be out.

Freedland is a safe pair of hands , like Brigadier Widgery from Bloody Sunday in my youth and countless other accessories to Power. One of which is SKS who very obviously supports keeping DICK in post, well they are brother and sister in the same Establishment enterprise !

The whole point of bigging up SKS is that it reassures certain elements of the electorate that there really IS ' a democracy which is working' , with an alternative govt. No matter that he gets nowhere near to power, the important thing is the pretence . Paycheck & expenses for the remaining somewhat Blairite Labour MP's will continue to roll in . What is not to like ?

And even if he does get there, he'll change bugger all because he is a complete fraud --

Keir Starmer is a Long-Time Servant of the British Security State

https://novaramedia.com/2021/03/02/keir ... ity-state/

The joke about BOJO's dad being a toolmaker may come back to bite him, because SKS himself is a prime Establishment Tool .

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 5:29 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote: ↑Sat 02 Oct, 2021 2:53 pm Giving an author his comeuppance might make a few people feel a bit better but it doesn't alter the state of play.

It means that more people see the likes of JF for what they actually are, that is better than nothing.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 5:43 pm

V true allemaal.

Am watching "Kate" on Netflix - v weird and inherently depressing but somehow excellent.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 6:29 pm

Police in Texas have arrested a man who was accused of stabbing a restaurant manager with a pocketknife after being told he needed to wear a mask.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/poli ... 30692.html
Texas man who refused mask arrested for restaurant stabbing

I think it's very important that we are tolerant of folks who refuse to join in the global experiment to protect the world from Covid - even if they do stab people who are doing their bit.

A view is a view (regardless of its validity).

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 6:35 pm

(Does my growing frustration with humanity look big in this?)

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 6:40 pm

Shockingly low percentage vaccinated in the US still - Trump's malign influence lives on.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 7:54 pm

Am starting to understand Trump as as much a sympton as a cause.
Remember when we thought Farage/Brexit/Trump were laughable? Back in 2016 I would never have imagined that if a fatal global pandemic hit, people would be stabbing each other about wearing a mask.

Post by **refitman** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 9:03 pm

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sat 02 Oct, 2021 11:14 pm

Portsmouth girl, 15, dies of Covid on day she was due jab

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-h ... e-58772671

Turns out deliberately infecting millions of kids does have consequences.

Oh and incidentally...

Preliminary results after she was admitted to hospital indicated Jorja had Covid myocarditis, heart inflammation caused by the virus.

You'll remember it was the risk of myocarditis that caused the JCVI to recommend not vaccinating under 18's. Despite clear evidence it was much more of a risk if they became infected. Curiously it's also the main argument used by the anti-vaxxers, who had a friend in the JCVI.

https://bylinetimes.com/2021/10/01/insi ... ory-panel/

Post by **refitman** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 9:31 am

It's just the basics...

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 9:45 am

Quite.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:08 am

Been watching Johnson with Marr, who eventually seemed to realise that he couldn't just let Johnson prattle on so made an effort to keep him to the point. To no great effect.

If you ran it again, paused for fact-checking in between Johnson's dodgy statements, it would probably take 2 hours. He relies on us losing the will to live long before that.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:17 am

Q: But this is about pigs being incinerated, not killed for food, because of a shortage of people working in abbatoirs.

Johnson says they cannot just go back, in all these areas, to the tired, old model, that involved people working on low wages.

But there will be a “period of adjustment” as the economy moves to a higher wage model, he says.

This was his line on HGV drivers as well. If ending free movement was the be all and end all of brexit, shouldn't people be asking why successive tory govts since the vote haven't prepared for this transition?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:35 am

Of course, some - including people generally well disposed to SKS - noticed the "during this campaign" qualifier at the time.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 1:47 pm

gilsey wrote: ↑Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:17 am
Q: But this is about pigs being incinerated, not killed for food, because of a shortage of people working in abbatoirs.

Johnson says they cannot just go back, in all these areas, to the tired, old model, that involved people working on low wages.

But there will be a “period of adjustment” as the economy moves to a higher wage model, he says.
This was his line on HGV drivers as well. If ending free movement was the be all and end all of brexit, shouldn't people be asking why successive tory govts since the vote haven't prepared for this transition?

I thought pre-brexit that a solution to risk of freedom of movement leading to lower wages,would be to impose minimum wage levels on key sectors, but can see why this might have been problematic,

but in current situation could simplify approach by allowing migrant workers, but insisting they get paid higher than industry minimum, would help speed the 'transition' to higher wage model & reduce shortages at same time,. (might cause some outrage & potentially a few strikes though

)

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 2:05 pm

As a result of Covid19 more lower paid workers lost their jobs than higher earners thus average earnings increased, plus the millions who were furloughed on a percentage of their wages are now returning to full paid work, pushing that apparent increase in earnings up further.

Boris Johnson does the rounds claiming the increase is somehow a result of the brilliance of his own government when in fact it's a temporary blip caused by a virus that has killed millions of people.

So now we live in a country where the Prime Minister is stealing credit from a disease.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 3:08 pm

Good afternoon.

So how are different aspects of 'levelling up' going?

Oh.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 4:44 pm

Time for him to go I would say...wouldn't be at all surprised if Central Office are begging him to stay on until after conference is over.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 5:21 pm

I mean, there are people who think this sort of stuff.

But for a public official to feel the need to say those things *at that particular time* is genuinely baffling.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 6:05 pm

This is the quality of person the tories put forward, the previous one was rubbish too, in her own way.

Post by **refitman** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 6:24 pm

'Diana the Musical' anyone?

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 6:31 pm

again: quite

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 7:04 pm

Oh terrific...HT turned crank leader of his own little pressure group goes to the DfE and takes his Campaign for Common Sense (sic) with him I presume.

Zahawi appoints former head Mark Lehain as policy adviser

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/zahawi-appoin ... y-adviser/

After six years at Bedford, Lehain went on to lead Parents and Teachers for Excellence, a campaign group for education reform founded by Dame Rachel de Souza, the now children’s commissioner.

Lehain also served as interim director of the New Schools Network, a government-funded charity, for a brief period in 2018.

He is currently director of the Campaign for Common Sense, which has published research on culture war issues including gender identity and “wokeness”. He has also been a senior adviser at communications agency PLMR since February.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 7:05 pm

Well this is terrifying:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 31447.html
Tories pledge six-month prison sentences for climate activists blocking roads

I like that campainging to save the planet could be criminalised, whereas ignoring public health measures that might save people's lives (wearing a mask) is considered a basic freedom.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 7:30 pm

Fortunately there is still Fat Bear Week:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... eek-alaska
Alaska to choose most portly and hibernation-prepared bear

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:04 pm

Summary of the CPC in the G:

Queues for petrol and mass culls of pigs at farms because of a lack of abattoir workers are part of a necessary transition for Britain to emerge from a broken economic model based on low wages, Boris Johnson has argued. But the British Meat Processors Association said Johnson was talking “nonsense” about the reasons for the problem in its sector. (See 3.07pm.)

Senior Tories have urged Johnson not to give up on low-tax Conservatism. (See 6.49pm.)

The conference has opened with a battle cry against “woke aggression”, with cabinet ministers decrying “cancel culture” and expected to rail against leftwing bias at the BBC.

A Tory MP has said that he hopes the current HGV driver shortage will lead to supermarket supply chains being dismantled. “It will mean that the farmer down the street will be able to sell their milk in the village shop like they did decades ago,” Chris Loder said. (see 4.10pm.)

The Conservatives’ young women’s group has called for an investigation into “the apparent culture of misogyny in the police”, piling pressure on Johnson after he faced down calls for a major independent inquiry.

Oliver Dowden, the party co-chair, has confirmed that the party is rethinking its planning reforms.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:22 pm

And then he goes and spoils it all by writing something stupid for "that" paper.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:29 pm

Went to a favourite local restaurant tonight with a friend for the first time since Covid. It was great, food was as good as it had always been. Then we went to pay. For some (ahem *tax avoiding* ahem) reason they were now cash only. "No problem," thought I as there was a cash machine at the post office a few doors down...but it was out of order. All the other cash machines in the area charge apart from a garage about 10 minutes walk away so I ended up leaving my friend there as a hostage and walked there and back in the rain.

Upon my return we had a brief to and fro about why they didn't say cash only on their website or window, while they wondered why I'd walk so far to avoid being charged a pound by a cash machine.

I'd call it a score draw.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:53 pm

Can you imagine the reaction if a left wing Labour MP said they wanted supermarket chains "dismantled"?

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 11:02 pm

As with the N Yorks PFCC, you have to wonder where they find them.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 11:04 pm

Sky'sGoneOut wrote: ↑Sun 03 Oct, 2021 10:29 pm they wondered why I'd walk so far to avoid being charged a pound by a cash machine.

tbf, I wondered that too.

Glad you had a good meal.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 11:05 pm

I hate to see you so frustrated Gilesy.

I'd offer you a drink if I could. I'm on Lidl's London gin. Not through choice, half their shelves were empty. I went in to buy sausages to make a casserole and they had none, not a sausage. So I bought a bottle of gin instead. A temporary fix. Until I can get some sausages.

What a time to be alive.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Sun 03 Oct, 2021 11:19 pm

gilsey wrote: ↑Sun 03 Oct, 2021 11:04 pm tbf, I wondered that too.

It's a matter of principal innit? Why should I be charged to take out my own money? I mean I understand that since the intentional destruction of our manufacturing base a large part of the UK economy relies on parasitising every single financial transaction but someone has to take a stand.

Tonight that was me, grimly striding to the garage cash machine in the rain.

Or it could be that I'm just a stingy bastard.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 12:06 am

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 12:12 am

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 12:43 am

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 1:04 am

Marc Almond would have been banned from this forum given some of his previously expressed views.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 1:13 am

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 1:31 am

It would appear that under the right circumstances I can be quite the romantic.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 1:37 am

Marc Almond was on TV today waxing lyrical about Kathy Kirby. Don't know how I came to see (some of) it. I think I was drifting in and out, as per usual.

Ages ago, I saw him in a concert on TV with kd lang. They were quite impressive together as I recall.

Night night.

Sky'sGoneOut · Post by **Sky'sGoneOut** » Mon 04 Oct, 2021 1:40 am